Douglas Alpenstock

I'm glad you have a solution for the moment. I thought it was odd that it wasn't a 240V system, which is standard for well pumps. I suspect you're right, the previous owner jury rigged it to save money on the pump.

Even with the 20A breaker (which should be safe given the wire), at 120V you already have a 9V line loss before the final run to the pump. So the pump is running at a lower voltage, which makes it run hot (counterintuitive), which draws more current. The only risk is a reduced service life for the pump. Naturally these things fail at the most inconvenient time.

Yes, something like that. It's hard to describe in words yet completely obvious when you look at the handle.

M Ljin wrote:You are saying they are made of young poles though?

Yes, I am confident that is the case with many of my garden tools. There is no way you could get that grain from a sawn log.

Though your point is well noted -- I can see how axe handles, for example, could be sawn from larger logs. Hm! Interesting.

The handles I am talking about are clearly a single piece of wood, carefully grown for tool handles. They have not been sawn. You can trace the tight grains as single strands from top to bottom.

M Ljin wrote:

Jay Angler wrote:

M Ljin wrote:Unfortunately my handle broke again, at the end of the handle sleeve.

One thing I learned is that most handles have a "strong directions" and a "weaker direction". Hopefully one of our wood workers will pitch in and explain how to make sure the "strong direction" will be the direction most likely to be being stressed when the tool is being used properly.

I think this was one problem. My guess is the strong direction is where the curve of the stick goes with the force of the tool being used, not against?

My observation is that a quality wood handle has two sides with a "tightly packed  grain" and two sides with a very broadly spaced grain. This is obviously how the wood grows, so we work with it.

The tight grain, ideally, runs the entire length of the handle and that is what gives it its strength. The orientation, however, depends on where the most force/stress is expected. In the industrial grade tools I have, shovels have the tight grain oriented on the sides. Hoe- or axe- style tools for digging/chopping have the tight grain oriented top and bottom. Since these tools cost a fair bit, and hold up very well, I have to assume the manufacturers know what they are doing.

John Weiland wrote:[ On a lark, I had angled grinder in use that day and ground off the rust on the fork to reveal the problem.  There indeed was a pin through the head, but the pin heads had been fused so cleanly with the fork head metal (welded?) that planning a removal procedure looked daunting.  I was able to drill out one side of the pin, but the non-drilled side is well afixed....even after pounding the drilled side with a punch.  Any suggestions for completing this job would be welcomed....Thanks!

Well, I faced this yesterday. And despite the complex methods I suggested in my earlier post, I was in a hurry. So I took a battery angle grinder with a cutting blade and zapped off the rivet head in 30 seconds. The "welded" rivet shaft fell out with two taps of a hammer. So much for finesse.

This year we are reliant on native bees. Our Bumblebees and two varieties of native/mason bees are busy on our apple trees and I assume on the native saskatoon bushes. Perfect.

However: We have seen many years where the cycle of flowering and the availability of native pollinators was out of sync. Tame honeybees can get into operation much earlier in the season or when there's a surprise cold snap.

Native bees plus honeybees is a belt-and-suspenders method of keeping your pants up and ensuring plentiful harvests. My 2c.

M Ljin wrote:Bump! Nettle soup is very tasty and good to have around. I’ve been having it with nettles, ramps, garlic leaves, dame’s rocket, wild sweet-cicely, miso, and beans.

Nettles are a wildly invasive species here. Ten years of hand-to-hand combat. Still I'm willing to don my Viking helmet and welding gloves in a good cause.

But you can't just tell me "soup is nice." I need to know the recipe that will make mortal combat with nettles worthy of the risk. Eat the enemy!

John Weiland wrote:[ On a lark, I had angled grinder in use that day and ground off the rust on the fork to reveal the problem.  There indeed was a pin through the head, but the pin heads had been fused so cleanly with the fork head metal (welded?) that planning a removal procedure looked daunting.  I was able to drill out one side of the pin, but the non-drilled side is well afixed....even after pounding the drilled side with a punch.  Any suggestions for completing this job would be welcomed....Thanks!

The first option is to heat the rivet head with a small propane torch (a plumber's torch) to try to break the rust weld by expansion and contraction.

The other option is to turn the rivet head into a crude bolt head that you can grab with a big vise-grip. I'd use an angle grinder and cold chisel. Then you can twist and pull on the rivet head.