News from the Ranchhouse

Living off grid in January

2009-01-18T07:51:00.000-08:00

Happy January.
I say that because I am an optimist. I do not use an exclamation point because I am also a realist. LOL. January is a tough month on the ol' homestead. It was last year also. This year we are more comfortable than last though and I will explain what we have done to improve our situation.
During the spring and summer last year we worked hard on getting the barn done. We did not make it, but we did get a third of it under roof and with walls. Well, we got almost all of the walls, but just roof on a third. Plywood and paper anyway. No tin yet. However, that allowed us to put our rabbits into a warmer, more secure place. It also allowed us to breed them, so now we have 50 little rabbits running, er, hopping around.
I still have to clean off the tents, but now they are all separate and are a cover for the cows and Llamas. Don't know if they appreciate that or not since many times I find them standing out in the rain or snow anyway. But, the real danger is now gone there.
We still have frozen water lines. Argg. Unlike last year though, we have not missed any showers! We did moved to an every other day shower thing to conserve water, but the lines from the house to the water shed, for the most part, did not freeze. They did, but I put a propane heater out there. So, I added the cost of the heater - 200 bucks! and I also had to run the central heater to help heat under the house. as it froze up one morning (3 degrees out). I had disconnected the line from the spring and drained it, so it was good to go as soon as the weather warmed up and the spring thawed.
That worked in theory. In real life, it worked for December. January thaw came. We had gotten about 6 to 800 gallons of water from the neighbor. Warm temps prompted me to connect the spring. I did and it worked great. Then I got greedy. after a week or two, once it cooled back off. above freezing, but not much. 34 day time temps and 29 nite time. I should have disconnected and drained. Then the night before I planned on doing it, it got down to about 25. Fat lady sand. Line froze up. I disconnected and the spring is still running, but the line to the shed froze solid.
Judy thinks it will be like 2 weeks. The sun shows back up over the hill around the first of Feb. Then all we will need is a couple of nice days and not freezing nights and we will get it back. I do hope we can make it without hauling more water.
We watched LEs Stroud's movie last night. Called Off Grid. They decided to do what we have done and wanted to show that it can be done without being rich. Also they wanted to do it in a few months. HA. That is typical of we westerners. We think we can push a button and have things done. He even hired people to do all the work, well, most of it. After a year, they were barely in the house. I think it is a must see for anyone considering this lifestyle. There is a steep learning curve that many will not make. It does not really lessen once you are in. There is a ton of learning and a ton of stuff to do. We have chores every day. We have solar maintainence issues and we still have to get our pipes buried and there are days that I want to quit from frustration. There is no going back for us now though. We are happy. I have few regrets.
The snow is almost gone and with it the promise of spring soon coming. I look forward to getting the barn done, the greenhouse up, the water lines buried and the road more like a drive than a trail.
Good hunting.

Life gets in the way

2008-12-14T08:13:00.002-08:00

Well, here I am, sitting at my table, typing away. All the while, the snow is falling and the temperature too. It has been a long time since spring. Things got a little crazy around here, but a lot of things got accomplished too. Not all I wanted done but, a lot more than I probably would have if it were not for my wife's sons.
Joseph showed back up and needed a place, so we let him stay in the old trailer, which he never fixed up. He started out ok and did stuff around here, but after a couple of months, it was back to the kid doing chores and a fight to get anything besides feeding animals done. He eventually left for Bakersfield and is now sponging off of his Father.
Don, Judy's oldest son came here sometime this summer. What a difference. We had a hard time slowing him down. He worked all day, every day. Way beyond what was expected for "rent" He stayed in the house, in the sewing room. He was here until Mid-November, then went back to Portland to look for work.
during his stay, he helped to get the barn done enough for the rabbits to move in and enough wood to last us through the winter. He helped his Mom with anything she needed. He helped us in our food booth at the fairs around the area. It was a good time and I appreciate his help. I hope he found the help he needed from us.
For me, I have been on this learning thing for years, in regards to God and Jesus and the Bible. Growing closer to him. I started to feel like I was not getting the truth, so I started looking for the truth.
I remember the fellow saying to me; "Are you sure you want to know the truth". I felt like I was being asked if I wanted to take the blue pill or the red one (for those that have seen Matrix).
Since that time, my life has changed in ways that I can barely describe. When I learned some of what I have learned, I was physically ill. I thought I would throw up. I had been lied to my entire life about things, lots of things. Almost all things. Oh, I knew that it was wrong to have a Christmas tree in the house. You can read that easily in Jeremiah 10:1-6. What I learned shook me to my roots. Even the days of the week and the months on the calendar are pagan in origin. There is a lot of information on the net. I can even give you a good book to read on the subject but, until you are really ready for the red pill, do not ask. I don't believe that Yah will hold accountable the good Christian people that thought they were doing right. After you know the truth, then you have to make a choice and that choice is maybe the most difficult one of your life. You are not just accepting Christ. You are choosing to OBEY him.
Many people think that we are free from that because he died on the cross. Read his own words:
Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets.1 I did not come to destroy but to complete.
So, the Torah IS to be obeyed then. Not just the ten commandments, but the TORAH. In case you do not know, the Torah is the first 5 books of the old testament.

So, now I know the truth. Email me if you want the truth.
I am currently trying to learn the Torah. We, that very week, changed our sabbath to Friday eve Through Saturday eve or the seventh day as it were. I do not like using the weekday names now, but in this world, you have to or people get confused.
We have attempted Shabbat meal. It felt right. It puts you in the right frame of mind for the Sabbath. Life has gotten in the way these past 2 months so we have not been doing it, but we will, starting next week.
It is not my intention to turn this blog into a religious platform. There are many of those out there. I will not avoid it though. It has become so entwined in my life now that I know no other way. Everything is done with his blessing and in prayer.
I am not "turning Jew" as some may say. I am not Jewish. I am a Gentile. I could have blood from the scattered tribes, I do not know. I know Yahweh has called me and has told me the truth. I am seeking his face, not the Jewish.
For instance, I have an example for you of how I am different. In Deut: 6:1-9 Yahweh commands Israel to, of several things, to post the Ten commandments on your doorpost. Well, the Jews post what they call a mezuzah. It is a little holder (graven image?) that holds that scripture. I posted the Ten Commandments. The Jewish tradition is not, in my opinion, what the verse says to do! I am interested in doing what Adonai wants. If they had the Ten commandments on one side and the scripture commanding it on the other, that would be fine, but it does not. They even say it has to be hand written and in Hebrew and on a certain type of paper etc. All that tradition, but not the commandments themselves.
Anyway, I have rambled enough for today. A person can take only so much and I have been quiet for a very long time. I will post this today and wait to hear from the masses that will call me every name in the book now.
In Yeshua, the Messiah.

MountainMan Mike

Spring is in the air, maybe

2007-03-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

Well, howdy from the ranch house.
Boy, winter sure seems a long time been here now doesn't it? Here in the rockies it has been long and cold. That there Phil does not know about Rocky Mountain winters, that's for sure. Didn't get a lot of snow though. Never got more than about 4 feet deep. That is how it is here though. You either get warm and wet or cold and dry.
Spring is not here yet, but, it is at the Ranch. No buds yet, but 72 degrees yesterday tells me that it is only a short few days away. Along with spring comes something that we have waited seemingly forever for. The move! Yea, the wife went up yesterday and cleaned things up a bit and got excited. so, now we can start. I have been patiently waiting for my knee and leg to heal, and now that the surgeries are over, I can get back on my feet. I have been down since Dec 1 and am tired of it.
Oh, I am not walking yet, but I can drive again and my son is a big strong fellow. Outside of physical therapy, I have nothing else going on, so as quickly as he can load the truck, I can drive and he can unload. We want to be totally moved by April 20th. Lots of time. We pre-moved a lot fothe outside items last fall, so it is the house and the animals that need to go now. Probably start with the deck, so I can get the exercise bike out (actually, bring it back here) and use it to aid in my leg exercises.
So, in closing, thanks to everyone that prayed for me. It has been an ordeal for sure. I appreciate your prayers and thoughts and know that they helped.
God is using us to prepare a place for lost souls in the coming bad times and has taught me some valuable lessons this winter.
-MountainMan Mike

WoodGas

2007-02-14T07:25:00.000-08:00

Howdy from the mountain,
I thought I would ramble on a bit today about woodgas. This is a low tech way to turn an engine, heat water, cook a meal. It produces a hot flame and if done correctly, nearly smoke free.
I joined a yahoo group called woodgas and learned more than I wanted to know. It sounds like they are trying to make it high tech when it is just a simple thing. You make the wood smolder by o2 deprivation and force the smoke to the point you want it and burn it there. I have heard of people getting over 1000 degrees.
I have a link above to a pdf file that comes from Fema and shows how to build one, using basic things many people have laying around the farm, or at least can purchase off the shelf. Like a garbage can, plumbing supplies etc. I will give the link here again: http://nsda.ozmer.com/woodgas1.pdf
For those not that adventurous, but would like to play anyway. I have the plans for the mini midge. It is a soup can version. buy 3 cans of food and you can build this after eating the food.
http://nsda.ozmer.com/MIDGE.pdf
I plan to build one of those soon. I am laid up right now, but I think I can do this small one with the help of my slave son. Looks relly easy. I will build the other one at the ranch up north once we get moved up there. I have an old paint truck that I plan to make stationary. It has a nice little 4 banger gas engine and a huge compressor and a big wheel pulley for attaching belts, so I could run more things.
I am also thinking that if it produces the right amount of heat that I could use it like a boiler and make my own outside furnace for heating domestic water and heating the house, the shop, the power house, the barn. etc. It could also generate electricity for the rabbit lights!
I welcome anyone that has had experience with this, good or bad. Especially bad. I did hear that part of the reason they went out of style after WWII was not jus tthe abundance of gas, but a couple of folks got killed using this system.
MountainMan

I have the Power

2007-01-16T08:21:00.000-08:00

In the years of research and development of our ranch, one of the issues that was most perplexing was how to provide power. Power at a reasonable cost that is. The electric lines are far removed from our retreat and although I can see them off in the distance, I did not cherish the tether they represented or the cost of bringing them in some 3/4 of a mile so that we could turn on a light bulb or watch TV.
I looked through catalogs. I dreamt of the ultimate off grid power system. I put systems down on paper with my trusty pen and priced everything. I went from wind, to Photovoltaic, to hydro and back again. I thought of a hybrid system or one that was just purely one style for simplicity.
Over the years, I have acquired some components and I thought I would put them all together in one.
Seems those days are finally coming to an end. With the sale of the house here in Cascade, I ahve the money to put the system together. While it still took a lot more time and planning to get the system I wanted, I have finished my list. I have, in my online shopping cart right now, the main ingredients for my system. Is it the dream system I wanted? Well, in a word no. You see prices have never come down as promised over the years and, in fact, have risen the past year. Will it work? I think so. I tried to build a system that had it's weak points in areas that could be "fixed" later.
First, let's talk about the panels. There are three types. Monocrystalline, Polycrystalline and Amorphous. You can do a google to find out the differences. Here is what matters. Mono = expensive. Poly = less expensive and efficient ad Amorphous = less expensive and less efficient.
The Poly is bar far the most popular, by far, in the U.S. There is a lot of Amorphous in Africa and Australia. My contacts to companies about Amorphous here were poor. They all wanted to know why I would want to use a less efficient panel and many would not carry them. I am pretty sure it is because there is no money in selling them. But, it is a valid question. Here is why.
They work in partial shade and on cloudy days. Poly and Mono shut down and you get ZERO power if only partially shaded. In the heat of the summer, the Poly and Mono have a reduced output due to the heat. No one could offer a solution to those problems adn I live in the Northwest where cloudy winter days are common and hundred degree heat in summer happens all the time. They would just tell me about the 5 to 10% decrease in performance over 10 years. Ok, so in ten years I add more. I have the room on 120 acres and the lousy warranty, which has matched that of the Poly panels in recent years.
So, I chose the Kaneka K60 panels. They are sold for grid tie systems due to the high voltage (60 to 90). Well, That means smaller wire size to me also and since I have to run 250 feet of it, that will save a ton.
I will connect them to an Outback MX60. I spent the money. This is at least twice the Xantrax, which is a fine unit in it's own right. The outback is totally digital, MPPT and I can set the voltage coming in from like 10 to 140 volts. The MX60 does not care. Likewise, I can set my batteries at 12, 24, 48 volts. Whatever. The MX60 can handle that too. I even bought the sensor that tells the MX60 the temp near the batteries.
For the Inverter, I stayed Puritan. I am getting the Outback FX2524T. It is tried and true. The Vfx is better, but a couple hundred more. I don't think I need venting and I think I can live with 2500 watts. Our highest power item is probably the vacuum, which uses like 12 amps. So, I have like 8 to spare still. It will charge back to the batteries at 55 amps while I am running the Generator.
I bought a 5kw Diesel Gennie last summer. It was a 5 thousand dollar unit, new, from a friend for 1800. The batteries I am still working on. I think it will be a weak link also, but then the batteries are anyway. I will likely purchase the 2200's I got before. 8 of them. That will give me about 9600 watts, or 2.5 kw usable per day, as long as I can recharge them Our goal was 2.5 kw per day, so I think that works. The panels are 60 watt times 12 is 720 watts. 4 hours of sun will give me enough to recharge the batteries daily, with the gennie for when it does not happen.
The best news I have is that I am able to buy all this at one place. I had picked out several companies to get the best deal on shipping. They ranged from free to outrages, free being expensive, so not really. I had settled on two companies. Suddenly, I found out that one of the 2 had the panels I wanted, not in the panels section, but in the specials area. I saved a couple hundred on the, and a couple hundred more on shipping. The company is called Northern Arizona Wind and Sun. I have bought from them once before and they seem to be quick on shipping. I will let you know if they are not this time.
So, my system is costing me just about 8,000 dollars for a 2.5 kwh totally solar power system. a full 2,000 dollars less than the budget was for it. The house sold for less than I wanted and the driveway (I don't call it a road, a road would imply anyone could use it) needs fixed.

New Years Resolutions

2006-12-31T16:00:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe that it is already time to commit to that time honored tradition of making New Years Resolutions. Let me ask.Do you even remember last year's resolutions? If you do, did you keep them all? Some of them? Broke them the 2nd of January?
I have several things that I am resolved to do and or accomplish this year. Most are not bad habits, but goals in my life. I am getting old now and don't have many bad habits left. I don't smoke, drink in moderation. I don't cheat at cards, or on my lovely wife. I could lose weight, but would gain it back anyway.
I want to move. I have had this as a goal for some time now, but this year it is a resolution. The house sold and all that is left is to close escrow. Unless they default it should go through. I need to move before I have a heart attack. This place is not the paradise it once was. It is overcrowded with angry people. The place up north is pretty and quiet and no one will build in my view. Not a road or a house.
Most of my resolutions this year are tied into my retreat. I need to set the water system up. I have a lot of the stuff, but did not set it up for fear of freezing and time constraints.
I want to set up the private off grid power system. It is the center of what we can do. No lights, no work gets done. It was what brought us into the industrial age.
Sewer system needs to be done. Gray water and black water and a sawdust toilet system is what we will utilize. The sawdust toilet being the easiest to build and hardest to maintain.
We paid off all our bills this last fall. That was a resolution I made every year and never thought it would happen. This year, I resolve to not get back into debt, like the 700 dollar snowblower I bought, which now needs to be paid for! We did make it through CHRISTmas without adding anything to the Credit cards that did not get paid right off.
I resolve this year to get the concession business up and running. I think Judy has a similar one for the rabbit business. We need an outlet for all the rabbits and the sure thing has turned out a little iffy lately.
Re-write the entire web site of Ozmer dot com. As you can see, I started on it already. I put about 3 days into it so far. I like the results. You can tell me what you think, but I like it. I need to take the new format into all the other existing pages. I started to write it over when I did due to my accidentally deleting the entire front page. oops! Guess I should have had a back up. I am sure I do somewhere, but it was a reason and with my bad knee I had the time to do it.
I resolve, this year, to get in better shape. I know what you are thinking. That is like weight loss or quitting smoking. Fact is, I have to. The ranch / retreat will bring many challenges and I need to be in shape to handle them. Also, perhaps my knee injury would not have been so bad if I had been in better shape to begin with. My heart will like it, my weight will like it. My spouse will like it. I see no down side other than aches and pains, so I will do this... I hope.
Anyway, I will take this opportunity to wish you all a happy New Year and I hope and pray that your resolutions are modest and doable.
Cheers
MountainMan Mike

EMp's and BOB's on National News

2006-12-28T11:41:00.003-08:00

I was going through my E-mails this morning and had Fox News on in the background. I was trying to decide on a subject for my blog today. I am wanting to talk about Ham Radios. At 11:38 I glanced up to see “Electromagnetic Pulse could take out grid in US”. Well, that got my attention. The woman doing the news talked about how a nuke detonated in the upper atmosphere could create an emp that could take out the US grid for weeks, months or years! She brought in an “expert” that confirmed what she said and they showed Iranian tests and how they appear to be able to reach out far enough, or that they could simply launch one from a boat.
I was pretty surprised. Fox News is a pretty good source, but it is still main stream media. What does all this mean? Not sure. Those in survie circles have talked about this for a long time and most of us have tried to make what preps we could with that in mind.
My question to you is have you considered EMP’s in your plans for disaster? Have you hardened anything. Do you plan on doing without? Have you purchased replacements and locked them away in a Faraday cage?
In 2004 a Blue ribbon Commission report confirmed the dangers of this and a quick google search can give you access to varying opinions on the subject. I just thought it worthy of mention because the main stream media is reporting it. By the time they report stuff it is usually after we could do anything. I wonder if it is because they really are concerned with getting their Latte’ or if it is just another scare tactic, although possible event, to keep the sheeple off kilter.
-----------------
The next thing is Fox was talking about the new storm headed for Denver. They are saying a lot of people were not “prepared” when the last storm hit and they hoped people had learned from it and would be prepared with things like an “emergency car kit” I had changed the name of my BOB some time back to make it more palatable to family and friends I nthe hopes they would put one together.
They showed Denver. It has started to snow. The gal was saying that the grocery store lots are filling up. FILLING UP! Now. It has already started to snow. She was showing the things the store is out of. Ice scrapers, bread, veggies etc and now they are going to the store.. People will never learn.

Product Review

2006-12-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
I was sitting here watching the snow, listening to my new Red Cross
Emergency Radio and thougth maybe I would do a little review on it.
----------
Eton FR300
I understand this is a Grundig, according to Cnet. I like the radio
overall. The color is white. The case a black one with an extra pocket
and carrying strap. I like the magnets instead of snaps. Virtually
guarantees closure.
I think the buttons are it's weak link. they are made from plastic and
feel like they will break when you manipulate them. The buttons I am
referring to are all but the tuning and volume ones. Those have a better
feel to them.
I got good reception. I am in a rural area and radio signals are weak,
yet I was able to pull in stations on am, fm and tv. Funny, because I
have to use sat to get tv here. The weather knob has 7 stations, not
adjustable. On station number 4 I received the local weather loop.
Seemed fairly accurate. Well, ok, It was snowing and they said rain, but
the snow level was 5,000 and I am at like 4950.
I liked the red flashing LED. It is one LED. Not sure how far it will
go, but it is like any other single led. The bright white light is not.
It is 2 LED's. Yes, you can see. It is like my shake up flashlight. I
would not want to walk in an unknown area with it or read at night, but
it does put out like maybe a candle. The siren is loud and the young
child walked away from his fire engine toy Christmas morning to come see
my toy as it was pretty loud. I can not test how far, as the light due
to my current injured status, but I think I could signal someone if I
saw a helicopter with the light or get attention of someone searching
for me on foot.
The radio tuner has 2 knobs. One is for fine tuning, like a shortwave
radio. Nice feature.
The hand crank is easy to operate. A child could turn it. Be careful
though, it is just plastic. A little red light comes on to tell you it
is charging. It charges by cranking either way. The radio works while
cranking if you have no battery. The nimh battery inside appears fully
charged. It would take a long time cranking to fully charge that. I like
that though, because you can charge it on your ac and have a lot of use
from it before you need to crank it. To charge your cell phone, you have
to crank. I found I had to be fairly steady and even in cranking or my
cell phone cussed at me..
I would rate this little radio an A if it were 30 bucks. At 50 dollars I
am going to give it a c. It is worth it to have one, but the price seems
high for the quality of the parts. Much better as a gift than buying it.
This puppy is going in my BOB, if I can stop playing with it.

Testing RSS feed

2006-12-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

I finished my dome project, for now. It will become a root cellar in our new place.
I am now trying to get the rss feed to work.

A Dome is Home

2006-02-13T08:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I just returned from the ranch. Well, late last night I got home, but I was too tired to deal with this blog then. I took the dome up to the ranch along with the dog and the kid to help try to put it together.
Success! (click me)
It took about 4 or 5 hours times 2 people for 10 man hours. I think longer if I was alone. It really does need 2 people to put it together in a timely manner.
It did go up easily. I have a bunch of pics that I will post later. They are at the web site, just change the url to reflect the pic you want to see for now.
Important to note! Do not tighten bolts. you have to take them on and off 2 or three times. The last strut goes on, use the washer and hand tighten only. The whole structure will tighten itself as it goes up and it also shifts it's form some. This is a plus for any errors made during the fabrication stage. Only after the entire dome is up do you go back and wrench down the bolts.
Use a power drill with a deep cell socket if you can. Saved us a ton of time, till the power ran out of the battery!
Color coding is essential. you will be tempted to skip this because "I can tell the difference in the poles". Believe me, I had thinking issues a couple of times WITH the color coding. Joe (kid) and I sat down a couple of times to discuss and make sure we were doing ok. The dome does not always "look right" as it is going up. We did a ground up build. Easy enough. Standing on a table, we could reach the top fine.
As far as a dead or live weight test, We did a Teenage test. The kid weighs 220 lbs. Probably more since he just ate half the food in town for breakfast. Here is the result: (Click me)
And for a side load test: (Click me)
All for now, other than that puts this frame at about a dollar a foot and 40 hours start to finish. Now for the cover......

smashing idea

2006-02-05T13:35:00.000-08:00

I got my idea worked out for the door. I measured the 6 point star I made from top to bottom and came up with 2 pieces at 34 3/4 inches. That included the 1 1/2 inch extra to allow for drilling. I also made one strut at 19 3/4. This will allow to make a door frame and still keep triangles for strength. I made one for each side, for a total of 4 @ 34 3/4 and 2 @ 19 3/4 inches. I painted these yellow because they are not like any other struts. I will make sure that these do not get placed until after the rest of the dome is tight. That will add the last hour for an even 30 hours.
Oh, as a side note, I made the doorway struts from scrap that I had when I cut all the original ones required. As far as how to figure the size I will think about that. I am sure a formula could be made. All I did though was to do the measuring after I built it for the top to the bottom and the side one I measured while I had the tape drawn up and down.
Don't try this at home. It did self destruct somewhat when I removed the interior struts and scraped my ear, but I finally got it all together for this picture: CLICK ME
I am sure that to do this change would be detramental to the structure if done prior to tightening all the other bolts on the dome. I think it will be ok then and I know after there is siding on it that the strength will be fine. It's weakness is side to side and when attached to the other parts, there can't be any movement.

let it snow...

2006-02-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

So, I didn't go to the ranch today. It was snowing very hard and it was also very windy out. I called my neighbor up there and found out that it was a hard downpour. Looked like it was going to rain hard all weekend. I have cancelled the trip and will go up next weekend. The outlook is better for then.
I feared I made an error in my math, which I may or may not have mentioned in a previous blog. I decided that I would put together the two types of triangular parts to see if they would fit ok. One is a 5 strut star, using the a and b struts. The other is a 6 point star using the C and B struts. they fit together just fine. It made what I thought was about the most beautiful thing I have seen since I found my wife and found my property!
I took some pictures, of course and you can see that each one looks perfect. Since I am going to be making a larger version of this for underground use and since I used undersized tubing and undersized bolts, I decided to see if the thing would bend under weight. I knew that away from the bolt points, it would easily bend. The strength there will come from the cement and chicken wire, but the overall strength can be checked by weight on the center of each start. My wife stepped up onto it, but refused to give her weight. No sign of give. My kid stepped up on it at around 225 lbs. No sign of give. Earth weighs about 110 lbs per sf., so that means with 2 feet of earth on it there would be no problems. That is PRIOR to adding the strength of the ferro cement. I am now comfterable with this plan and shall proceed as planned.
For now, the pictures of the stars can be viewed at:
First star and Second Star
I can also see the smarts in having at least one other person helping to build this. you need the extra hands. LOL

bad as a kid

2006-02-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

ok, I could not stand it. I decided that my work paint would take the colder air, since it does all week long. So I went out and painted the rest and my shoes and my hand and Joes shoes. Took some pictures of the ends for your viewing pleasure.
Now I can build the thing.
I am headed to our retreat tomorrow am, so I will take the dome with me and my kid (that is as big as me) is going to go with me and help to put it up. We will see how much trouble I have. I tried to be very exact with my cuts and holes. I am told it takes about 4 hours. If so, then I will have 29 hours, not counting supply runs.

ahh, the sweet smell of...

2006-02-03T15:50:00.001-08:00

paint. It warmed a little today so I managed to get the ends painted on the a and c struts. only b left, or was that the b and c and have a left. Well, 55 more anyways. I would have done those, but I had to work around the sun since it was only about 35 outside today and the sun dipped and the clouds came back and it is 28 again. Another day.... I will take pictures then and upload them to the web. I am using grey for the 80 struts. It was a can of grey primer I had layning around. I used off white for the 30 struts, well, because I had a can of it laying around. For the last 55, I will use kind of a bright color because I paint lines for a living and have red, orange, blue and green and black paint for that job. Won't take much. Time, including time alloted for the last painting will be less than an hour, so - I will add one hour for that

Bent out of shape

2006-01-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

Hey all,
I actually went our and finished what I started today. I set up a jig and bent all the struts to the right size. Well, close anyway. The instructors say 10 degrees for a and b struts and 12 degrees for the c struts. I an within about 2 degrees of that with all of them. ie, the a and b are between 9 and 11 or so and the c 11 to 13. I decided not to sweat the small stuff. They are very springy and it will be easy enough (I think) to bend a little more or less when setting up.
I posted some more pics. Of course, no order or anything. I will do that later.
I have done a few calculations so far.
supply run: 4 hours
jig set up: 2 hours
Cutting : 5 to 7 hours
Smashing: 5 to 7 hours
Drilling: 3 hours
De-Burring: 1 hour
Bending: 2 hours
Painting: not done yet.
-----------------------------------------------
Total to Date: approx. 24 hours. - or 8 months if you count total project time LOL
Money spent has been around $300.00 I should figure out all those costs. too since this is a prject in cheap shelter.

Done Drilled it

2006-01-19T18:59:00.000-08:00

I am done drilling. I notice that the holes didn't all get exactly in the center, but they were all exactly the right distance, so I suppose that it won't matter. None were to close to the edge anyway. Same time to do these. Perhaps a little longer because I had to place hole number one onto the pin to hold it in place.
I added a link on the right bar so that you can see pics. they are not in order etc. I will eventuly have a nice set up there.
Still need to de-bur the second hole. Too late tonight. Will do it next tim eI have some off time from work.
After I de-bur, I will paint. I have to have a nice warm day. Yeaa right. I have several colors to choose from. Red Yellow, white, black, orange, blue, grey. LOL

using snow to cool the bit

2006-01-18T19:48:00.000-08:00

No wI know what it is like to drills holes in a blizzard. I work on the porch, but the snow is coming in sideways through the rafters. LOL Anywa, I drilled out all the struts, one side and I then went back and deburred them. Some may not think it is needed because it will be screwed together later, but I am not going to risk a nasty cut, so I spent the hour to deburr them.
I fixed the jig up with a bolt I grinded down to barely fit the hole. Oh, btw, it was 5/16th, not 3/16ths for the drill bit. duh!
I drilled out the first 80. the longest ones. I moved the entire jig rather than drilling a new hole and reset it to drill in the correct spot. (more pictures). I started the short ones, but I got mad cause of the cold and snow, so I stopped. Today I did snow removal. 2 to 4 feet. Took a few hours with a backhoe. Lots of snow. Then I had to work at my job believe it or not, for 6 hours. Now it is bedtime. Maybe the weekend.

How hard can it be....

2006-01-15T17:20:00.000-08:00

Well, it is 6:30 in the evening here and I have finished drilling out one side of all the struts. It took about a half hour for each 60 struts. I had already gotten everything set up as I stated earlier. 165 struts (none extra as recomended) equals roughly less than an hour and a half for that portion. The next step is to deburr them to make it easier to place them on the jig for the second hole, which is the critical one. It must be an exact distance from one hole to the other. I made a few pictures of the drilling and will upload it to the directory.

no more smashing

2006-01-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

At least I hope. I finished up the last twenty over the week as I had time to do it. I have reset the shop up with the drill press and the jig. Spent like a half hour getting the jig exact so the kid could come and move it! Arg. It was a pretty easy fix after that.
I drilled out 6 to make sure the hole was good and the bolt would fit and the bolt was long enough to put that many together and the smashing had smashed enough of the pipe.
I will take some pics of it. All is a green light. Everything went perfect. I did up the hole from 1/4 or down from 3/8 to 3/16th's that size works well, is large enough to accept the bolts I bought which are the ones that have the square inside that form fit into the holes.

Day is Done

2006-01-08T16:49:00.000-08:00

ok, I finished the ten. Had to get Joe to help on the last half of the last 5. I took a nap for a bit. too much for one old fart for one day I guess. So, that leaves 20 to finish this stage of the project. It takes more time than originally thought, but mayb e because of life more than anything and the hand pain coming in a close second. If I do any more, then I must get a press.

Update from am

2006-01-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it is about 4 p.m. as I write this blog. I had some snow removal issues to resolve today, which took most of my time. I am working on them now. 5 at a time. I have 2 bundles to do and one that I have 5 of a third half smashed. Can't get the kid to help. He says he does it wrong. He did wreck two, but one I will use anyway, in the door area, so I only had to cut one new tube so far.
My hands have gotten so sore over the last few days. I am not sure if I can finish today like I had promised myself. I will try to alternate now and do the second end of the first five so as to give my hands some rest. I am very sleepy also. the early am is catching up to me.
I mentioned pictures early in this blog. I have them, just not posted. I have them stored at: www.ozmer.com/pic/Dome Pictures if you want to see them. No order or anything yet. I will put everything together into a web page eventually, but for now, just go look at them. You should be able to tell what they are.

As the World Turns

2006-01-08T07:15:00.000-08:00

Good morning friends.
It is 8 am. I have been up since four battling and trying to stay alive. I play a game called Nukezone and we are at war with several clans, two of which appear to have an alliance going. That is for another blog though.
I have managed to turn out another 35 or so of the tubes with 5 more flattened on one side. I wish I was not so old and could do more. I have found that in order to maintain interest and the ability to have any feeling in my hands, I limit what I do. I go out and pound 5 flat on one side, take a few minutes off and do something like watch tv or play my computer game, go out and do the other 5 (I have them in bundles of ten). Repeat the break, go out again and do either 5 or ten on the second side. It is much easier doing the second side because I have made a jig to slide the first flattened side into so that the other side will be on the same plane as the first.
It also helps when my son goes out and does a few, although he has done very few. He has the health and hands, but not the interest and feels like it is a chore, which usually just makes it eaasier for me to just do it myself.
My wife thinks this will be a good first project. It si large enough for a small cabin at 23 feet across, but small enough to tackle. Plus, so far I only have about $300 invested. I am learning tons and will be able to use that whne I build our home. Yes, I have fianlly convinced her (I think) that a dome is the best shape and that she can deal with the curved surfaces and better yet, it will go undergorund. Ahh, no more firewood, or little anyway. I figure we will use about a cord rather than the 5 now.
I am hopeful to get help from the kid today and plow through the last 55 or so tubes.

life gets in the way

2006-01-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

Hi.
Been a long while since I posted. Although I am online every day, for hours. The purpose of the blog was and still is, to document my conduit dome. I have not worked on it since the last post. I had everything tucked away and safe. The paperwork, the pipes, the jig (although it suffered some rabbit urine damage), etc.
Anyway, here I am, nearly a year later and I am now ready to pick it up again. Work is really slow and so I have some time over the next couple of months. I will go back to pounding metal. My step-son says he is going to help. We will see.
Mental note: buy a nice press if more will be built! Way too much work to hit them with a hammer or sledge.

Time off

2005-04-04T04:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I really needed to get a breath of fresh air, well, maybe not as I live in the mountains, but I decided to take my one day off and drive up to my ranch, so I did not get any work done over the weekend.
I did, however, work some on pounding metal during the week. I thought I had come up with a really easy way to smash the tubes. Used a 1 1/2 ton hydraulic jack and a 1 foot bucket from a backhoe that I had. Problem was that it took two people to hold everything just right. That is ok, but I am trying to do it as a one man operation where possible, so I reverted to the hammer.
I also found that it was easier on me and no harder to smash the tubes, using a claw hammer, than the sledge hammer, so I am using the claw hammer.
It took me about 18 minutes to smash ten poles, both sides. I made a cut in the jig (see photo), so that the second smash would be along the same plane as the first. Kind of an important thing you think?
So, anyway, It looks like it will be about 5 more hours of work to smash all the ends down. That brings my time to around ten hours. I will still need to drill, clean, bend and paint the ends.
I did purchase a press for the drilling. I think it is probably the most critical part of the whole operation.
Boy, I sure enjoyed my time at the ranch. I usually go alone, cause taking the kid is just a pain. This time he was mature and fun and he helped without griping and kept himself busy when I didn't need him. I really need to get up and away more. I feel revitalized now.

So, it begins

2005-03-14T17:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, I decided Sunday was the day to get started. I had some test poles done and was ready for the real thing. Everything I read was it took about 8 hours to fabricate. well, I think that is a fabrication in and of itself.
I spent 7 hours cutting tubes. I needed 30 A, 55 B, and 80 C poles. I had 160 1/2 inch X 10 foot Conduit. I now have 1 2/3 conduit and all the poles I needed. I used a pipe cutter. It made very good and precise cuts for me. It was slow and today I am pretty sore, but it is all done.
Now, if you take off my 45 minute lunch break and maybe another hour for other breaks, (pea, rest, phone, check email and the like) you end up with just over 5 hours. That only leaves 3 hours to flatten and drill holes and bend. Not gonna happen, but I will keep track of it as it happens.
I am also taking lots of pictures, which will go up as soon as I get a web page set up for it.
All in all, I am very happy at this point of the project.

Mike