Massively overbuilt bean tripods

Last year my pole bean structure fell down, 3 times.  Once really wasn't my fault, as the tree behind it was throwing branches at it in a mega windstorm.  The other times were, as I had used standard tomato stakes to hold up the ends, but the bean load was just too much.

This year is different.

I used 3 full 8' 2x4s for each side, angling them to get a final height of just over 6', the height I can comfortably pick beans without having to haul a ladder into the garden.  The horizontal stringer is an old  clothesline with clothesline tensioner, abandoned by a previous owner.

The vertical stringers are bits of binder twine from the straw I use as mulch.   At the end of the growing season, it's easy to pull the twine out and compost the beans.

I've seen some people use page wire fence to grow beans on, but unless you have goats, it's really a pain to strip off the old beanstalks in the fall.  Leaving them there for multiple seasons promotes rot.

Here's some hooks Nigel and I made last year.

They are fun, but I won't presume I know enough about forging to instruct anyone.

However, I needed some matching fasteners.  Rather than make some screws from scratch, I bought some standard machine screws from the hardware store and put the heads in the forge.  Heating them up red hot and then bashing them around with a hammer gets just the right look, while the other end remains unchanged.  The hooks and screws are then warmed with a torch and painted with beeswax.

They have been hanging in my kitchen for almost a year now, no noticeable change in finish.

I'm interested in making more, contact me if you'd like some.

 

Trip to the glassblowing studio

Nigel and Dan recently invited me to Flow Glassblowing, where they have been taking lessons, which they quite enjoyed.

 

Martini-O-phone

Music - shaken, not stirred.

I made this a few years ago and recently discovered it as I was doing some cleaning.

The guts are a M+S Paia stereo microphone kit, and the result of a trip to the liquor cabinet and plumbing section.

It's for sale on my Sculpture site.

The case that it came in was a box, and quite boring, but functional.
The body of mine is a martini shaker that I was about to get rid of which I took with me to the plumbing section.  The neck of the shaker just happens to fit into a brass sink drain pipe.  The shaker is stainless, so I can't solder it, but I pinched it between the lip on the brass tube and a copper pipe splice, soldered in place.

The pipe then get's soldered to a large 90 deg copper elbow.  A M+S (mid side) mic needs 3 elements which are housed in a straight 1/2 inch copper coupling, and 2 90 degree elbows jammed in and soldered in place.

The elements are epoxied to two wires that stick out from the body.  Because the case of the microphones are connected to ground, I isolated them using a primer coat of epoxy to avoid ground loops.  The brass screen cage also is attached with epoxy because it has to go on after the microphone elements, so I can't use a torch to solder, lest I melt all of the wires.

 

The finish on the body was made by "painting" the stainless shaker with a torch.  This has aged quite well, no noticeable degradation in the 2 years I've had it.

I think the best idea to come out of this project are the free form knobs carved with a rotary tool, labels burnt into the end with a soldering iron.

this one looks like it needs more finishing oil to make it more shiny.

 

The joys and dangers of sharp tools, or alternative nut shaping techniques

I've recently come into some old hand planes that belonged to my grandfather and one probably from his father.  When well polished (I use whetstones, up to 8000) they are impressively efficient, even in this day of power tools.  They also don't make dust and are quiet, two advantages when working with an infant under your jacket.  The rocking motion also puts him to sleep.

That's not what this post is about though, as there's lots of info out there about plane sharpening and use.
I'm in the process of building a guitar and need to shape the nut.  Usually this involves lots of sanding, a painfully slow process I avoid whenever I can.  Instead I set the plane on my lap and started taking nice fine shavings off the side, leaving a perfect finish.  The nut is made from cow bone and doesn't seem to wear the edge.

the only problem is...
------------------Warning: After the break, there be blood-------------------

Pea pod earrings

While the idea certainly isn't new, her's my take on the 3 peas in a pod earring that I made for my wife for Christmas.  Quite simple construction, I started with a piece of paperboard and some scissors and cut until I got the shape that I wanted.  I then traced them out on to a thin sheet of brass I had and with pliers folded in to a rough pod shape.  The peas are made by melting some (lead free plumbing) solder with a torch.  I soldered the ends first, then slipped the peas in and with a dull chisel bent the pod around them.  Finally I used a fine brass wire wheel on a rotary tool for polishing.

This will probably be my last earring like thing I make.  A bit too small and fiddly, a bit too much like the electronics I do for a living.

trellis

I hate the standard trellises.   I think they are ugly and cutting them to shape is a pain, usually resulting in splinters.

This one is made from spruce 1 X 4 's that I resawed in half on the bandsaw, since I didn't have a table saw at the time.  The "apex" is bolted together with threaded rod and nuts, the ends are screwed to the breezeway and then trimmed to length with a handsaw.

Unfortunately the nasturtiums that we planted at the base last year didn't climb.  This year we will try morning glories, hopefully they will do better at hiding the industrial area from the residential section of our place.

I was going to use my radial arm saw to rip the boards, but because they were 8' long I would have had to swivel the saw to get enough length before then ends hit the door.  Bad idea.  Too much wiggle.  Just because you can do it with the RAS, doesn't mean that you should.