Cooking and puttering about the finnish countryside

[LadyTevar]

Here in Appalachia, it's just called a "potato hoe".

[Lord Revan]

Here in Appalachia, it's just called a "potato hoe".

"Kuokka" (in this context) means the same thing as "hoe" (in this context), so "potato hoe" would pretty much a direct translation of "Perunakuokka" since "peruna" means "potato"

[His Divine Shadow]

I assume they got the same problems with shitty sheet metal ones being all you can buy new there too.

Fortunately a friend of mine said he has a cartload of them, he bought them from the scrapyard to save them from being melted down, cost 60 cents / kg.

[LadyTevar]

Here in Appalachia, it's just called a "potato hoe".

"Kuokka" (in this context) means the same thing as "hoe" (in this context), so "potato hoe" would pretty much a direct translation of "Perunakuokka" since "peruna" means "potato"

Ain't it fun how languages can be so simple, and just call a hoe a hoe? LOL!

[His Divine Shadow]

I now have a completed concrete floor. This was all me and a friend who has more knowledge of this kind of stuff and we worked entirely by hand and some hard pads f insulation to move about the concrete floor before it set up. I had a concrete truck deliver the concrete, I've mixed this amount of concrete before on my own and it's not possible to do in short enough of a time with my mixer.

I want to rent one of those concrete floor polishing machines, then seal the floor with some concrete sealer because that's something I really dislike in the part of my garage with the untreaed floor, magnet for debris and hard to clean. I still need to water it for a few days to make sure the slab doesn't cure too fast and cracks.



Before. I hadn't yet installed all the risers for the nets, put in 20-25 additional ones. And I hadn't wired together the nets with steel wire either.


I learned a lot from this and I saved a lot too by not having to hire someone. My friend did this as a favor and I did some lathe work for him as a counter favor and that's how life goes around and things get done outside the rich people economy.

I just realized that if I had to hire people to do stuff like this for me, this whole building wouldn't even exist, my workshop itself wouldn't exist. Like I can't afford to hire stuff like this out, only the absolute minimum like having a digger remove the topsoil and put in gravel did I hire help for.

And this goes for so much else in my life too. I feel like I have gamed the system by simply doing stuff on my own, that my money has lasted me twice as far as most other people. And if I had listened to all "those people" online who keep yammering about how their time is valuable and you need to count that into your calculations for some reason. I would accomplish nothing and afford nothing. And what would I instead do with my free, UNPAID, time? These people are rich assholes without the ability to see anothers point of view, they cannot empathise with having scarce funds. They probably also have the learned helplessness that a lot of the modern economy depends on, particularly in more urban areas and they are trying to crab bucket you. They for sure are not making money on their free time either.

[His Divine Shadow]

Put in a new stereo in the Saab, it's a tad modern but fits nicer with the green color scheme. And it's a tape player of course. It has a CD changer port, which I will use instead to make a 3.5mm audio jack on the dash.



Gotta start making mixtapes now, got it all set up actually, I can record from CD or the PC rather, to tape without doing anything than hitting rec. Working on a 90s mix right now.

[His Divine Shadow]

Back to the shed. Treated the floor with... stuff. Something cheap that makes it less dusty.





Then I moved the table saw and it went a lot easier than I thought. My 2 ton hoist keeps being one of my better investments. And the modifications I did to the base keeps being useful. It's so much more useful than a normal hoist with the wide stance of the legs which are sized so it can encompass a EUR pallet and lift things off it.

Basically table saw onto trailer, balanced on the axle. Easy peasy moving the saw to the shed by pushing the trailer by hand. Moving the hoist was a bit of a PITA however.





Garage getting emptier:


I can probably do the same with the bandsaw. Though I will be removing the table, the wheels and the enclosures and I will lower the saw down to lie on it's side. I can't lift it high enough otherwise.

[His Divine Shadow]

Last weekend I tackled the bandsaw, over the week I disassembled as much as I could from it to make it smaller and easier to handle.

I attached some pieces of wood for the saw to lie on before starting to tip it over.


I slowly lowered the saw down on it's side, this was a butt clenching operation but it went well.


Then I spent a lot of time getting it up on the trailer


And balancing it on the axle as last time, it was pretty easy to move despite the frame only being more heavy than the table saw. I have no idea how heavy it is though, heard theories from 400 to 600kg.


And in the shed, getting it off the trailer was easier even though both the loading and unloading took an hour each.


And lifting it back up and putting the feet back on. I think that's the best place for it. Now to start reassembling the saw. Not looking forward to getting the table back on.

[His Divine Shadow]

Cat is fat, good:


Washing some tires


Making some storage so I can keep them indoors without taking up space. Doable with a step ladder.


Everything is almost out. I'm not moving out the boards of oak, birch and such, it's better for them to be in this space. They are all up far on shelves. I can almost get the car in but I will have to figure out an alternate placement for the lathe and mill and the big drawer. Not really sure where to go with this. That's what's taking the most time figuring out how to optimally place everything.



Also disassembling this DDR built variac (autotransformer), gonna epoxy a crack and then clean the core and varnish it with some urethane alkyd boat varnish. The plan is to build my own enclosure from wood, just to be different.

The point of this device is that you can get a variable AC voltage out of it by turning a knob, from 0 - 230 VAC. Useful for certain things.
https://i.imgur.com/GRZ040C.jpg

[His Divine Shadow]

Bought american christmas lights, C9 incandescents. I just don't like european decorations much (except the vintage colored stuff), or that they are all built in non-replaceable LEDs. Wouldn't mind LEDs if they had LED light strings that used a proper edison socket. Well Tru-Tone does but they're always out of stock so I just bought two 25ft strings from amazon with bulbs.



I'll run these from my variac and probably at lower voltage than 120V to save power and lamp life. I think they look nicer when dim too. I have another string I made myself with LED bulbs, but the wrong style, they are too bright and can't be dimmed. But I might put up them elsewhere.

I would also like to make some of my christmas decorations but I just made it so I am without a proper woodworking shop just now. I wanted to make a christmas cross and a christmas star.

[His Divine Shadow]

Arrived today, 65 volts here gives a nice subdued glow and the lamps never get hot to the touch.

[LadyTevar]

I adore those old lights, but they're hard to find near me anymore.

[His Divine Shadow]

I bought these on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B79JBNC/re ... =UTF8&th=1

And here's a high quality LED alternative I wanted but couldn't justify:
https://tru-tone.com/

[LadyTevar]

I bought these on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B79JBNC/re ... =UTF8&th=1

And here's a high quality LED alternative I wanted but couldn't justify:
https://tru-tone.com/

The amusing thing is we've got dozens of spare bulbs like that just hiding in corners, many probably from the 1970s. But the strands they went to died over the decades. One went out in a spectacular fashion went someone got the bright idea of making a circle out of the strand, and plugged it into itself. Circuit Completed and BAAAAAMF!! Every light popped as the wires blew.

But... 25 ft for $20 is a good price. I'll see if Mom's interested in the older lights. LEDs have better colors and shine, but those older lights are nostalgic.

[His Divine Shadow]

Personally I like incandescents over most colored leds you can buy here in europe. Most leds to me don't look as good because their light is monochromatic and looks.. off to me. With incandescents you have white light (multi chromatic light) going through colored glass and it gives a much nicer color rendition IMO. Now that's not at all impossible to make with LEDs either, just warm white leds and some transparent colored membrane.

I think basically all the C9 and C7 leds are like that already and all the tru-tone ones are, they even go the step further to make them appear like old incandescent ones.

I really like the jewel-tone style bulbs personally. The candleglow ones too look nice if you want a less colored decoration. The idea is to replace the incandescents with LEDs as they break but running at 65V they might never break unless handled harshly....

[His Divine Shadow]

I put up my C9s on the house last night and I wasn't able to get the whole front length of the house. 2-3 meters left which is annoying. I guesstimate if two 25ft sets got me that far, I'd need like 8-9 sets if I wanted to go all the way around. Future project that. And in the future I'll buy Tru-Tone bulbs. I've been thinking about buying rolls of cables and sockets and making my own custom strings.

Keeping the US plugs so I can't accidentally plug them into a normal outlet.

Also god damnit I have dirty gutters.



-18C today, good time to have a nice fire.


I'm realizing I'm a noob at putting up christmas lights. I've always just hung them loosely from hooks and generally under the eaves to cover them from snow, but look at all the solutions there are out there.

I've just been loosely hanging my lights on hooks, but looks like americans are more serious, all kinds of products:


I don't like the idea of all this plastic stuff though, but these metal clips for brooms could be an idea, screw permanently onto the eaves for easy assembly and removal. I would want a mounting style that lets the lamps point down or up so you can see the lamp profile.

[LadyTevar]

Or... you can do what my family's done for generations and just a heavy-duty staple gun.

Gotta make sure you have the wires between the staples, tho. There's a nice scorch-mark on the porch where my lil brother put the staple thru the live wire

I'll try to get photos tonight of our outside lights.

[His Divine Shadow]

I've used staples too but it makes it a real PITA bread to take down again. If I'd leave it permanently mounted I'd do that.

For now I will leave them hanging on the hooks. I want to get more lights and strings next year, perhaps do the whole roof line, at least the side facing the road. Maybe outline windows and doors. Who knows, it depends really how I can power it all and the cost of course.

[LadyTevar]

As old as the porch is, there's decades of stable-holes in it. Mom doesn't seem concerned. One of these years I'll need to replace the porch floor, which will be amusing to see how big the yellowjacket nest(s) beneath will be by then.

[Ubiquitous]

What an interesting topic to read - thanks for sharing. It looks like you live a really cool life.

[His Divine Shadow]

I think I live quite a boring life from most peoples viewpoint. Different, but I think most people would find it boring, though I don't find it so.

Got the variac done just in time for this, well I got it working, but I still haven't gotten the two front panel meters I ordered. I turned a big dial on the lathe, looks like a hat...

Got a pair of banana connectors, shuko outlet and nema outlet and a fuse holder connected to the output tap. C14 socket on the back for input.



Turned on the christmas lights last night, here they're running perhaps 80 volts.



The lights on the rear building are now dimmed ucing a capactive dropper, I ordered some X2 capacitors but they haven't arrived yet either. I found a 330nf X2 cap on a broken piece of circuitboard I repurposed. It's slightly too dim now but better than full brightness. I will swap in a 470nf capacitor instead when they arrive with the panel meter.

I really like the look of the c9s, I'm gonna get more of them, but LEDs from now on I think.

[LadyTevar]

They look great!

I still don't understand why you're wanting to dim them tho

[His Divine Shadow]

I think they look nicer slightly dimmed, plus the other advantages, they are maybe 75% brightness but wattage draw is down to 50% and you get a massive boost to longevity.

[fnord]

HDS, have to agree - as they are, they fit nicely.

Tev, if you've halved power draw, then each light's guts also run that much cooler inside. This slows any chemical reactions you don't want, like corrosion, reduces thermal/mechanical stresses, and gives you a bunch more headroom against a single dicky light deciding to up and burn out on you .

[His Divine Shadow]

Remember that 100 year old bulb somewhere in the US that comes up now and then? I dunno if you ever noticed but it's pretty dim and that's the main reason it has lasted so long.