tel jetson

Gerry Parent wrote:Pictures would be very nice as well if you can.

should be doable. I've got a couple months of studying ahead of me that may interfere for a while, but I'll certainly document it when the time comes.

resurrecting this old topic in preparation for a post-mortem. it isn't dead yet, but it's only a matter of time. we still use it regularly, and it still works well, but there are clear signs of deterioration. rather than try to fix it, I'm planning a complete rebuild. so maybe you could say it's in hospice, if you'll pardon the macabre metaphor.

over the ten years or so since I built this thing, it's probably been fired up around 300 times. because I was too lazy to address the issue, it always smoked back when there was strong wind from the south. and it took a bit longer than I would have preferred to heat up. and I didn't like the mess from bringing firewood into the sauna. otherwise, it's been great. certainly not the most flawless rocket in the world, but I don't feel too bad about it considering it was my first try.

the most obvious visible deterioration is in the first brick at the top of the burn tunnel, which split right in half. I was warned about this, but didn't have a great solution at the time, so I figured I would just deal with it. the brick is still in place, but the crack is getting wider with time. I noticed I could see flame behind it for the first time on Saturday, so it may be about to go completely. I can't imagine that my very amateurish cob helped things any.

I'm really curious about the parts I can't see, though. I bolted a top on the big pipe that's my bell so that I could clean it out, but I only ever opened it once a couple years after I built it. other than a rim of ash on top of the heat riser, there wasn't much to see in there. it's been ten years though, and I'm wondering what 300 fires have done to the steel.

not sure when I'll actually get around to tearing it down, but I've got a little bit more time for these things lately. maybe if there's any interest here, I'll be more motivated to get it done. I've recently been trying to track down materials for the replacement, but I've been doing that off-and-on since I built this one...

even straight linseed oil has a pretty strong smell as it cures that a lot of people find unpleasant.

here's the kit I use most frequently at present. that Cona Junior makes about 26 oz/750 mL of coffee at a go, but I usually only make 12 oz. I've got a smaller Cona that's just right for a single serving, but it's a bit finicky.

current events have put a big dent in my coffee-with-friends schedule, so I'm making coffee pretty much exclusively for my partner at present. I make about an ounce too much so I can have a taste.

I splurged on a bag of decaf for myself a few weeks back. that was lovely alone and brewed with some rooibos and chai spices. I also discovered a natural process Sidamo decaf that I haven't tried, but I'm tempted. it isn't sold locally, though.

Ari Persian wrote:Should I use any Dye Modifiers before or after on the fabric like like Iron?

like oak gall, kakishibu has a whole lot of tannin in it. if you've got enough, you may as well experiment.

sounds fun.

I've seen some kakishibu denim jeans before. very expensive. as with indigo denim, only the warp was dyed.

the only idea I've got is applying it to the outside rather than soaking the whole garment. the only fabric I've done with kakishibu was some canvas shoes, and I brushed it on the outside. the color has held up well for at least five years. better than the soles...

haven't had much luck finding information about this. I recently started noticing mites on the adult soldier flies that hang around my bin. they look a lot like the phoretic mites that afflict honeybees, though I'm sure that's just because my vision isn't the best. some of the flies don't have any, some have just one or two, and a few seem to be just about covered with them.

this concerns me. the flies with a lot of these little parasites on them seem to really struggle. instead of flying around looking for a special friend, they spend all their time futilely trying to brush the mites off with their legs. even the flies that only have a couple seem a lot more lethargic than I'm used to. if these are something black soldier flies have adapted to, it seems likely that the BSF females will stop laying eggs in my bin, which would be terrible.

the one very brief reference I found to mites on soldier flies was a picture of one on a larva. I haven't noticed any on the larvae yet, but they're wiggly little nosers, so it's more difficult to check and I don't know for sure that there aren't also mites on the larvae.

anybody else seen anything like this?

cute.

know what kind it is? looks a little like a gypsy moth.

S Bengi wrote:Does that mean that you are allergic to the fungi yeast. How about anti-biotic alot of them are fungi based.

seems to be just a few particular fungi. only two species of mushrooms and tempeh that I know of.

IBC (intermediate bulk carrier) tote? 275- and 330-gallon are common sizes.