Finding wealth in waste....

No they would not keep large animals out.
When I used sturdier ones, as chicken tractors, my goats jumped on them, smashed them, fortunately no chickens were harmed.
The idea is to keep chickens and squirrels out, and they work for that job.  The fence keeps the goats out!
To keep monkeys out you would need a chain link cage, able to support their weight, with a good top on it, and likely padlocks on the doors!
It does seem to me, that the chicken wire decresed pests too.  Many pests parents are moths, and they find flying through the chicken wire difficult, they still managed to get some eggs laid, but less in cages than outside.

I'll be using dogs again to keep monkeys away. When I had 4 big dogs I had no monkey troubles. Might even get me a little fox terrier too to keep snakes away. A ranger from the snake park suggested that.

Interesting ... about the chicken wire keeping more moths from laying so many eggs. That is a neat discovery. Worth remembering.

Chelle

Does anyone have experience with refilling ballpoint pens? what's a non-toxic ink that can be used ("soy-based")? if I use the same thing as was in it in the first place when it came from the store that's OK, but I'd love to go even better. I use a lot of pens. I just realized I've not been seeing the waste here, or the opportunity--opened my eyes now to another thing.

I googled and you can buy refill bottles for fountain pen ink (not "pen refills" which are already in a plastic tube, but refill for fountain pen), but it doesn't list the ingredients in the ink.

Or is there a cheap way to make ink at home??? add blood-thinner to some chicken blood ? thanks!

Thanks!

Joshua Myrvaagnes wrote:

I googled and you can buy refill bottles for fountain pen ink (not "pen refills" which are already in a plastic tube, but refill for fountain pen), but it doesn't list the ingredients in the ink.

Or is there a cheap way to make ink at home??? add blood-thinner to some chicken blood ? thanks!

Thanks!

I use fountain pens a lot.
The problem for commercial fountain pen ink producers is that they need to add anti-microbial/anti-fungal preservatives to the ink, so that the ink isn't filled with growth by the time you buy it and use it. Also, they want to create ink that is consistently of the correct fluidity to flow from the pen nib, but not so fluid that it never dries properly on the paper, so using some particular (pretty nasty) chemicals make that easier, and cheaper.

There are natural preservatives, for example, the (expensive) ink maker J Herbin uses Campeche wood tannin in one of their specialty inks - http://www.jherbin.com/specialty_inks.shtml
but they don't recommend using the resultant ink in a fountain pen, you might have to get a specialty writing instrument. J Herbin inks have a great reputation, and the company advertises that the use "all natural dyes" but I have no personal experience with them yet.

There are many ways to make your own ink, the first google'd response I got was from ehow.com - http://www.ehow.com/how_4794552_fountain-pen-ink.html

I haven't tried making my own yet, as I have a friend who gives me ink for free, but I'd be interested to learn how it works out if you try making some yourself.

There were a lot of ink recipes back when "pen" meant an angle-cut goose quill, because everybody made their own ink. By the time fountain pen technology came along, though, inks needed to be somewhat standardized to flow properly from the pens, not leak, and not dry up inside the pen. The lesson I take from this is that if you want to experiment with ink recipes, use a quill pen at first. Once you've got a recipe that works well with a quill, then you can try to figure out what it would take to make it work in a fountain pen. That way, initial disasters will be much cheaper, or at least much less hassle.

Thanks guys, good points. I don't have a lot of quills, but I do have a lot of dead ballpoint pens. You can take the thing out of the middle, cut it at an angle, cut a split in the tip, and presto, instant "quill!"

Dan Boone wrote:There were a lot of ink recipes back when "pen" meant an angle-cut goose quill, because everybody made their own ink. By the time fountain pen technology came along, though, inks needed to be somewhat standardized to flow properly from the pens, not leak, and not dry up inside the pen. The lesson I take from this is that if you want to experiment with ink recipes, use a quill pen at first. Once you've got a recipe that works well with a quill, then you can try to figure out what it would take to make it work in a fountain pen. That way, initial disasters will be much cheaper, or at least much less hassle.

My other half had told me tales of re-filling ballpoint pens, so I've just picked his brains. This is what he came up with.

When he was a lad (hehe - all his stories seem to start with that these days...), he thinks probably in the late 1940s, his granddad would send him to the local papershop with a notice saying 'Ballpens refilled - 6d each.' To me that sounds awfully expensive, but he assures me that at that time ballpens were significantly more expensive than fountain pens and were considered to be rather a luxury item. You could buy spare parts, including balls and needles and ink in tube a bit like a toothpaste tube. He tells me that the ink was much thicker than the sort used for fountain pens, and was glycerine based.

To refill, first the needle would be pushed down from the top of the pen, pushing the ball out. Then the nozzle of the ink-tube would be attached and the thick, gloopy ink would be squeezed up the tube. Finally, the pen would be poised over the ball and pushed down so that the ball snapped back into place.

Hopefully some of that info may be of use to you, or at least passing interest. Good luck with your project!

Vera Stewart wrote: J Herbin inks have a great reputation, and the company advertises that the use "all natural dyes" but I have no personal experience with them yet.

I have now obtained two J Herbin inks. They are very nice and smooth. But I'm still not sure what exactly is in them!

Robert Ray wrote:This could turn into an interesting thread on creative re-use.

Here are some worthwhile Youtube channels for frugal people who want to re-use things from the waste stream — tools, household and homestead items.  Good restoration techniques and tips.

TysyTube Restoration
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIGEtjevANE0Nqain3EqNSg/videos

Diy Random
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUcY98XpVpt_YLe-r4ukQzA/videos

Live With Creativity
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoCm2vuLPpNZI2ZnlFZFQIg/videos

Restore It
https://www.youtube.com/user/stevieabz/videos

Really Random Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKWkhqAHjW4x2oRK_yzpxlA/videos

Gear Show
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWKqh_3cb6cDiz2ICWc-5Sw/videos

Chelle Lewis wrote:Coconut shells.....

That's awesome, Chelle -- a lot of people would have stopped at composting them. Have you seen my thread on calabashes?

I can tell you, my mother was upset when single use plastic bags were banned in her state -- while they were in use, she never had to buy trash bags. As for me, I am continually amazed by how much discarded clothing there is lying around the Dominican Republic -- I can't walk down a road or beach without finding some. To me, it is material for my sewing projects.