Joe Moon

Thank You

Emilie McVey wrote:What program was used to create these?  I need to know to tell my computer what program to open it with.  Thanks!

They are PDF files.

For opening the files, it is often suggested that Adobe reader is used, but I find it a trial by stodgy dough to get it working.
PDF Xchange Editor is the best. Its faster and lets you edit the files aswel as view them. Without any Adobe fuss.
https://pdf-xchange.eu/pdf-xchange-editor/index.htm

Often your Windows file manager can unzip the folder, and if not, 7zip is the best for that. Much better than Winzip.
https://www.7-zip.org/

Barbara, I would use a mattock on ground that is too hard to dig into with a shovel. I have it for metal detecting. It can also cut roots if necessary.
Another tool for moving stuff around on the surface is the garden Hoe.

Regarding a Nibbler, they cut very slowly but leave a much nicer edge than the snips.
Nibbler attachments for drills are also available but I think its easier to control hand tools.
If for example your making a camping stove from a tin can, you drill a hole first (12mm - 0.5in) then get the nibbler in and start cutting.
You can cut in curves if you want, you'll see how much you can turn it without crunching up the edges.
You also get a nice 2mm curl of metal when your done.
If I remember right, they will cut soft metal like Aluminium to a thickness of around 2mm, and hard metal like steel much thinner, like 1mm at the most, but check with the tool shop first.


Regarding a Gourd, my thoughts are that its such an awkward shape and slippery surface that you'd either use rubber bicycle tube or cloth to wrap tightly around it, so you can hold it steadier on your knee, get it in a headlock, or have an assistant help.
You might try using a jigsaw to make the bird hole, but they can be very dangerous on full power. I'd recommend get one with a variable speed, just like a drill.
Also you can get smaller ones for crafts, like this Proxxon. Very informative video here...


Regarding a drill press and other bench tools, get the owner to show you how to use it. Its the best way because you get the safety lecture, and you find out what to do and what not to do.
That goes for the lathe, welder, bench grinder, chop-saw and basically anything that can take your arm off. No tool is intuitive and its not worth getting hurt so take the lessons first.
It also removes the mystery to get advice and get your hands on and learn that way. Take your time.
If you don't mind a bit of bad language, check out engineer AvE. In this video he shows a tip for using a holesaw with a makeshift apparatus for applying pressure to cut steel tube. (notice the drill speed is slow)


So since we're into metal work now, its suitable to tell you of the most useful tool in the shop, an angle grinder.
Dangerous bit of equipment, keep it away from the kids and the incompetent neighbour, and like those other things, get safety lessons first.


Also you need to know about Brazing. Its like welding without the heavy equipment, just need a blowtorch, brazing rods, safety gear and some practice. Brazing temperature is a little over twice that of soldering.


Don't be intimidated by heavy tools, the more experience you get with them the better you become, but you always need to respect their power!

Also, there is no author's name on the original post

I see an extra margin on the left side (pic 1), below the first post from the comments onward
I'd suggest either have no margins, or one either side

Also seeing some shit and irregular spacing, but nothing I can't live with (pic 2)

Having coffee and some chocolate bread

Intel core 2 quad 2.4 gHz Q6600 64 bit 8gb ram
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Firefox 61.0

It seemed like the heater was working fine.
She said that it failed to heat the air in the house, both when the fire was lit and afterwards.
To me, it is most likely that the house has leaks for heat to get out and cold air to get in.
Perhaps her old stove pulls its air down the chimney?

I have seen a video some time ago where the guy was talking about cold air being drawn into the room to fuel the rocket heater.
He said it comes in through all the gaps, and his solution was to place a vent in the wall near where the fire would be.
I have seen another solution where an inlet pipe (for air) came down inside the chimney from outside, and into the fire chamber.

There is another version where an air intake has a flap valve to open once the stale room air has been burned, and you just want the new fresh air to be warmed.

In this video, Paul talks about an air vent.

Hi Danijel,
I have no data for you, but some ideas, and you may find they have their own data after some digging.
I know that if your house is well insulated it will be cheaper to heat as you won't have huge energy losses.
Many people build their own homes from local materials and are very happy with them.
You might research Earthships and other house styles such as Yurts, steel containers, Hempcrete and Cob houses.

Cob is perhaps the oldest building material, and some early structures are still standing hundreds of years later.

I like to design and make alternative energy generators and devices.
All of them are designed as simply as possible, with materials available in any hardware shop, nuts, bolts, threaded bar, wood, etc.
Often there are other things like magnets, bearings and wire, and for the most part they would have to be bought specially.
But even there, wire can be recycled, magnets can be made, and bearings can either be recycled or re-purposed from other things like shopping trolleys and skate boards.

Accessibility is the thing.
In technology and language alike, the simpler it is, the more people get it.

I strive for efficiency in design and function.

I'm a huge fan of smaller tools. Apart from being generally cheaper, they take up much less room. I still have several tool bags though.
(Sorry, I cannot figure out how to restrict the size of these images)    - (edit: Thanks :) I changed the rest of the images)

Tin snips used to be like big scissors for metal but when the factory men were all called off to war, they designed an easier snips for the women who then had to work in the factories making planes, etc.
Those new tin snips (aviation snips) are now the standard. They use a compound action, a kind of gearing system to cut easier, but when fully extended are still quite large in the hands. Nothing wrong with using both hands though.
The yellow ones are straight cut, many people don't bother with the left cut or right cut.
They all leave a rough edge and sometimes creased up metal in their wake.


You can also get aviation nibblers for making nice smooth edged cuts in aluminium and other soft metals.
Similar to a Monodex Nibbler, this will cut without crunching up the edges


I also have a bench hand drill press, good for making perpendicular holes to get nice right angles in projects. You attach a normal drill or a dremmel to it.
I bought mine from ebay.


You might look into jewellery making tools, they are often smaller and usually only used for fine work. You can break them on large projects.

Some gardening stuff can be smaller too, like the Border spade. Not only is the spade lighter but you don't have to lift a huge chunk of earth with it.
I'm tall so I needed a spade with a longer handle, and what I ended up doing was cutting back the width of a Fiskars spade (for metal detecting) with an angle grinder.
(with an angle grinder you need to cut in several moderately paced strokes instead of one slow stroke, so as to avoid melting the metal and ruining the annealing. If that happens then heat up the spade where you've softened it, then quench it to harden it again)
My spade modification. I also ground a sharp edge on the tip


When checking out tool sites, the cheapest things are often the smaller ones, such as bench vises, pick / mattock, etc.

Jeweller's ring clamp


hand mattock