2x4 Bus Bench

2x4 Bus Stop Bench

So, now that the kids go to the Elementary down the mountain, they take the bus. Luckily, it is right in front of the driveway.But they didn't have anyplace to sit and watch for the bus. So, I as usual looked to the internet and found the solution to my problem. Thank You Jay's Custom Creations! I googled 2x4 bench and found the perfect plans. I did modify them slightly- As you can see I have only two 2x4s for the backrest instead of 5. Mostly that is because here in Japan, they don't sell 8' 2x4s, and I didn't want to buy an extra twelve footer. Well, anyway, I used some graph paper, drew some simple models and made a new cut list using four 12' 2x4s. Then I lost that paper and just winged it. It went OK.But seriously, Jay made great plans, easy to follow, and easy to adapt to your needs. 

All told, it took about an hour to cut and screw this bench together. I think it took me longer to gather my tools from their various hiding places than it did to make it. 

My helper and one of the main users of the bench.

Seed Exchange Party!

Well, if you are going to be in Takahagi, Ibaraki next month on the 19th, swing by the first "Northern Ibaraki Seed Exchange Party"

I finally did it, I got off my behind and organized a seed exchange. It was remarkably simple. I just made a quick and dirty website at Google sites, made a few dozen flyers, and started passing them out to people, and making little flags out of them and sticking them into people's gardens! Now we just have to see if anyone shows up....

If you would like to participate from afar, send me some seeds you would like to trade, and a very generalized request list, I will see what I can do!

The Testening

I finally did it. I tested the solar parabolic cooker.
However, there are some problems- it is cold outside! Five degrees, and some clouds scudding the sky. But, I figured that I should get it done.

Outside temp was 5 degrees C.

Water temperature before starting was 12 degrees

Step 1: Prepare the target. I took a 350ml can from the recycling pile and spray-painted it matte black.
Step 2: Aiming the mirror. I have two strings running in an "X" over the top of the parabola. When the shadow X hits the small X I made on the base, it is focused.
Step 3. I filled the can with water and measured the temp- twelve degrees. Then I took some string and tied it to the ring-tab. Finally I suspended it from a 1x4 just above the "X" on the baseplate.

Can in place and ready to heat.

Step 4. I made a spreadsheet to record the data and began to measure.

You can see the can shadow over the target.

There were a few clouds in the sky.

Over the course of an hour, the temperature of the 350ml of water in the can did manage to rise to 45 degrees C. Perhaps more constant vigilance in aiming could have improved that. I did have to end the experiment early. The original plan was to continue until a stable temperature was reached for 30 minutes.

Observations:

1. The parabola is not very sturdy. It flops around and sags, causing a very soft focus I think.
2. You really cannot use it in windy conditions. It will blow it around and the wind will steal heat from your target. perhaps insulating the can inside a clear glass jar would improve efficiency.
3. Winter is not a good time for outdoor solar cooking in this thing. The sun is so low, that it is hard to suspend your target in the focal point, due to the angle. And the cold air also steals a lot of heat.
4. It is fun to experiment.

So, any geeky types out there who can help me understand my data from the spreadsheet?

Also, any tips or hints, or requests for other data?

Solar Parabolic Cooker Part 1: The Makening

(yes, I know "makening" isn't a word. But I couldn't resist)

I have always been fascinated by solar energy. So one day I was browsing around Solar Cooking.org's website, and when I took a look at my scrap pile, I realized that I had enough to make a very nice solar parabolic cooker.

The plan I chose was the 12 sided Parvati cooker because I love parabolic dishes.
I converted the measurements into metric and doubled all of them. Then I cut out the template from some cardboard.
After weighing the pros and cons of cardboard, I decided to build the cooker out of foil covered 1.2mm veneer plywood, of which I had a nice stash of. You could probably salvage some cheap veneer siding from houses that are going to be demolished. You don't need to go and buy it.
So, I traced the shapes onto the plywood and cut them out with a utility knife. Since I was using plywood which won't bend so well, I cut out each segment. It took a few passes, but it was a clean cut.
After cutting out all the pieces, I had 12 each of the large, medium, and small.
I thinned out some regular woodglue with water and brushed it onto the pieces and covered them with aluminum foil.

The outer panels ready for foil

Joining the middle panels with black fabric tape

After they dried for a few days, I began to piece them together with fabric tape.

The curve took shape as I joined them together.

After joining, the first part of the parabola took shape

Then I attached the largest pieces one at a time. When the final piece was completed, it was much sturdier.
Last, I cut a disk of plywood the size of the base, covered the center with foil, and glued it to the bottom. Now it was quite sturdy.

And then I waited for sun. And waited, and am still waiting. Stay tuned for part 2- "The Testening" and part 3, "The Cookening."

More Rice Hull Charcoal

Being the peak of the rice polishing season, I can get bags and bags of rice hulls. So I have been using them to make more rice hull charcoal for my garden.

I'm hoping to experiment with using sawdust sometime. I think that perhaps very rough sawdust, like from a chainsaw, might work. I don't know if the fine dust from a sawmill would though...

Anyway, enjoy!

Good Morning's Work

I got some stacking done today. That stack you see in the picture is 4' x 9' x 1' and the tied in stack behind it is 4'x5'x1'. About 56cu. feet, or let's see... 128 cu. feet in a cord, so 56/128=.4375 cord of firewood. Not bad for an hour in the morning.

The sawbuck I made myself out of five 1x4x8' boards, three 1/4 inch bolts, some rope, and 24 woodscrews.
Here's how:
1. Cut the 1x4s in half. Lay three of them on edge on a flat surface and fasten them at both ends and the middle with two more boards.
2. Flip over the assembly, and lay three more boards next to ribs already fastened. Then use two more boards and fasten them to the ribs. Be careful not to fasten them to the wrong ribs, or it won't open!
3. Next drill the holes for the bolts. I made mine at exactly 30 cm (1ft) from the top of the ribs. Thread the bolts (add an extra washer between the boards) and tighten.
4. At the bottom, tie a rope to the opposite bottom boards to keep the sawbuck from opening too much when you drop a heavy log on it. I keep about two feet of slack.

There you go, a really easy sawbuck.

Firewood Stacking Season

Despite the 30 degree C temps, Ewan and I hauled in the first very small load of chestnut windfall firewood into the house, imagining that it would dry better inside than in a big heap under a tree. Go figure.

The rack is one that my Dad and I build a few years ago at Christmas time. We had a lot of fun planning, cutting, drilling, and pegging the rack together, and it has held up wonderfully over the years. It may not be very fancy, but neither are our woodworking skills. One thing I really like about it is that we didn't use any screws or nails in it. Just half-lap joints and dowel pegs.

 I think of Dad every time I put another knot on the fire. That keeps the inside of me as warm as the fire keeps the outside.

Water Source Infiltrator

I water my bottom garden with a gravity fed siphon from the creek above. I mentioned it in a previous post. It had some serious drawbacks though. When the creek was muddy, the sediment would clog up the line, small leaves and twigs would get in, or the creek level changed and the siphon sucked air and ran out.... Many kinds of problems.

So I decided to make a filtered infiltrator for the supply and hopefully even it out.
A few weeks previously I had stretched a piece of conduit from the "rapids" to the bank just below. I then put a little children's bucket in a hole and had water spilling directly into it. But this had the same problems- sand and silt, leaves and trash, and that was when the whole upstream intake didn't clog up and let the bucket run dry.

So I re-thought out the problem, and came up with a solution (I hope). I took a piece of PVC drainage pipe about the same diameter as the conduit (about 90mm diameter), and began to drill holes in it. Many, many, many holes in a staggered pattern. Finally I had enough. So I drilled some more to be really sure. Then I put a plastic close weave mesh bag over the pipe, and connected it to the conduit. Step one was complete, and the water was flowing OK.

Then I built a quick and dirty sandbag dam- only about 10cm high. But that was enough to fully submerge the infiltrator.
Since then, the water has been flowing OK, even though the bag has picked up some grime on it.

Cob Pizza and Bread Oven

I have been dreaming of this project for years now. And I finally got a chance to do it this year.
I started hauling rocks up from the bottom field last winter. I laid them out in a meter wide circle, tried to make them fit, tore them down and did it again. Then the earthquake came and everything was on hold. But my neighbor decided to let his friends dispose of their earthquake damaged tuff wall blocks on a corner of his property. I thought- wow, those would work really well to make a base for my oven...
At first, I tried using them the way they were, with jagged broken ends and all. But my neighbor's friend gave me the idea to cut the stone into rectangular blocks. I didn't even think about cutting the blocks before, but tuff is basically just a solidified volcanic ash. You can scratch it with your fingernail (but it hurts). So out came the disc grinder with a diamond blade. It cuts tuff like a hot knife through butter. But the problem with a grinder is, it only cuts about 25mm deep. But this gave me the excuse to buy a cold chisel and a rock hammer! Woo Hoo! Put them in the slot made by the grinder, tap it a few times, and off it comes, pretty as could be. Soon I had a base about 60cm tall. It is a pretty good working height. Low enough to be stable, and high enough to work without laying down on the ground to see inside.

Next, I filled the cracks with sand, and laid a 2cm thick bed of sand over the top of the base. Then I laid red bricks on the sand, dry fitting them tightly. This will be the floor of the oven.

Then, I made a sand castle (well, it looked like Homer Simpson's forehead actually) on top of the bricks with my daughter's help. It collapsed a few times, but we finally came up with the solution of having the hose dribble into a saucer shaped depression at the top while we worked. That kept the sand moist enough to hold its shape. Before the sand castle could dry out, we covered it with a plastic bag. This sand dome is just to hold up the cob we will build around it. After it has dried a little, we will remove the sand through the door to create the void inside.

That was when the really fun part started. We pitched three buckets of sandy clay onto a blue tarp, watered it, and began to dance on it barefoot. The clay stuck to our feet, squeezed between our toes, and splashed up onto our clothes. It was great fun. When the consistency was just right- kind of like warm modeling clay, we began to make 8-10 cm balls of it and slapped them around the plastic covered sand dome. It took three mixings of cob to completely cover the dome. This layer of cob is dense- no straw in it- so it can absorb a lot of heat when we fire it. I poked a lot of shallow dents in it with my fingers so the next layer would have something to grab on to.

Now we went back to the tarp- three more buckets of clay soil and a bit more water than before, and we had cob with the consistency of toothpaste. Then we added a five gallon bucket of rice hulls and mashed them in. The rice hulls add a lot of volume, and drastically reduce the density of the cob, while increasing the tensile strength. We slathered this over the dome as well, about 10 cm thick. This is the insulation for the dome.

Anybody can help make cob!

 And finally, the finishing layer. We mixed up yet another batch of cob. The boy made it rather thin by adding too much water. But that is OK. Then we added some cattail fluff to the mix and stomped it in. Hopefully the fluff will give the clay enough tensile strength to keep from cracking. We then frosted the rice hull cob dome with about 2 cm of the cattail fluff cob. Later, when it dries out just a bit, we will polish it up with some smooth plastic until it is smooth as silk.

Last year's cattails look pretty shaggy.

Let it dry and I'll cut the door out soon.

Now the only thing left is to keep it covered until the rain lets up, and then cut out the door. Doors should be as wide as whatever pan you intend on using in the oven, and 60% of the height of the interior. Our sand dome was 50cm high, so the door will be 30cm. After I cut out the door, I will have to remove the sand and the plastic bag that covered it. I am really looking forward to that!

Rice Planting Time

Saturday was the big day. The neighbor had planted his rice the day before, and gave us some of the leftover flats of seedlings he had left. So we started the big day.

Step One: used the brush cutter to slash down all the weeds growing around the paddy. Mostly just for aesthetics, but also to make sure there were no snakes hiding out on the banks.

Step Two: Used my kuwa (a Japanese hoe) to stir up the bottom and loosen the paddy. Also it was to chop up some of the field horsetail that thrives where I built the paddy. After chopping and loosening, I was able to use the rake and take out a lot of the root systems. At least I hope so...

Step Three: We all took our shoes off and got into the paddy. Inside, I stretched a nylon string attached to two stakes across the paddy. This was our planting line. I broke off pieces of the rice seedlings and handed them to the kids, and we started to plant. Every 15cm we planted three or four blade bunches. The paddy soil was mostly sand, so it was hard to push the seedlings in, but we managed.

Bunches of 3-4 rice seedlings at 15cm spacing.

The middle child loves planting

At about the halfway point, the youngest got too bored to continue, so we decided to leave off there for the time being. Later, when I went out to take the goats up to the house, I finished the job.

Finished! You can see the flat of seedlings in the corner on the paddy bank.

Mini Rocket Stove

Finished Rocket Stove

In my spare time between classes at work, I decided to make a miniature rocket stove. Of course, I got it half done and put it on a shelf. That was a year ago. But yesterday I found it again, and decided to finish it up. So here is how I did it.

1. Tools and Materials 
    A. Can opener
    B. Tin Snips
    C. Two sizes of steel cans
    D. Clay soil
    E. Rice Hulls

I used two large baby formula cans, and five small coffee cans. It helps if the cans are designed to stack tightly on each other.

Cut the tops and bottoms off of all but one of the small cans, and one of the large cans.
Then cut a hole the size of the coffee cans near the bottom of the formula can with a bottom, and in one of the small cans. Another small can I cut to roughly match the curve of its mate. And yet another can I cut open and spread flat. That was for the tongue shaped piece called the fuel shelf that you can see above.

Gee... I hope you wore gloves to do that cutting....

Next, I put the cans together to form the feed tube (horizontal) and chimney (tall vertical). I taped the sections lightly together so they wouldn't fall off all the time.

Then I fit them into the large can, with the feed tube coming out of the hole.

After that, I put the shelf (tongue shaped flat piece) into the feed tube. It should rest about 2/3 the way to the bottom.
  The fuel- twigs or disposable chopsticks rescued from the restaurant next door- will lay on the shelf, and the tips will burn as air flows in from under the fuel shelf.

Almost ready. Now I needed some insulation. So I took some clay soil and water and made a clay slip. Basically clay and water you stir to the consistency of paint. I sprinkled rice hulls into the slip to coat them. You can use chopped straw if you don't have rice hulls. Or you can use both. Just make sure that all the pieces get coated.

I then stuffed the large can with the slip mix. You don't have to pack it too tight. After the bottom large can filled up, I put the second can (which has top and bottom cut off) on top of it. I made some triangular holes at the top with a churchkey can opener. That way I can rest a pot on top, and still let the gases escape.

Fill the can with slip up to the top of the chimney. My chimney was shorter than the height of the two large cans, but that is OK.

 And there you have it- a rocket stove.
How to light it?
Well this is my method.
1. Gather some twigs- from toothpick to thumb thickness.
2. light one or two very small pieces and gently lay them on the shelf. Add some more small pieces gently on top of them.
3. As the fire strengthens, add slightly larger pieces. Keep pushing the pieces towards the end of the fuel shelf. They will burn remarkably fast. There should be a considerable draft and a lot of heat with very little smoke from the chimney.

You can use this stove to boil water, or cook in a frying pan.  

Respect fire and stoves. 

DO NOT USE IT INDOORS OR IN ANY ENCLOSED SPACE. 

DO NOT USE NEAR SMALL CHILDREN.

New Project- Rice Paddy

Well, the time has come to start experimenting with rice. I had tried to make a 100 square meter rice paddy a few years ago, but it was too large, leaky, and uneven. This time I think it will be a bit better. It is a lot smaller too, only 25 square meters.

Detail of sides

I began by measuring out a 5x5m square near the water source- a small stream coming from the bamboo forest behind the orchard. I used the 3-4-5 triangle to make sure it was square. I planted a stake in the first corner, and attached a 12 meter rope loop. I measured 4 meters of the rope along the first edge, and pounded in a stake, returned, and then measured 3 meters along the second leg. When the remaining 5 meters was taut, I knew I had a perfect right triangle. Then I could expand that to five meters in both directions easily. After that, measuring 5 meters from the posts gave me the fourth corner.

After I had my square, I began cutting the sod out in 30x60cm sections starting from the visible high points. I stacked them like bricks in the low areas to make a wall all the way around the paddy. Then I turned over all the soil inside the enclosure, and raked it fairly flat.

Once that was done, I flooded it. It leaked something fierce- of course it did, it had huge lines of grass sandwiched between the soil. But throwing a few shovels full of clay against the inner edges cut the leaks to almost nothing.

There were still shallow and deep spots, so I used my rake and shovel to even them out a bit more. I threw out all the roots from the bamboo and silver grass that had been there. Finally I had a 10cm deep, 25 square meter rice paddy.

Just two more weeks until planting time! Can't wait!

Japan Quake Day Two

Saturday, March 12
Still no power. We had hopes that it might come on during the night, since we hadn't seen too much damage to power lines. Our "All Electric" house was maybe a bad idea in that respect. I never realized how much I rely on the electricity- our well, electric stove, of course fridge, but even our telephone (fiber optic) needs the juice.
So, I made eggs and toast for breakfast over the campstove. We debated bugging out for Mayuho's mother's house. Then we remembered we had less than 1/4 tank of gas in the car, and only the 10L can for the chainsaw in reserve. Also, the roads were sure to be crowded since the expressway was closed. So we made the decision to stay. Our neighbor has gravity fed springwater at his house, so we filled any empty containers with water for use at our house. Thank God we have a composting toilet! At about 10:00 (which felt like afternoon already with no electronic distractions) we headed for town to clean up the school and check on the situation, and hopefully buy some supplies. We checked out the big supermarkets. Only one was "open" in the sense that they were rationing items out from the front door. The line snaked through the parking lot. Easily 300 people waiting. We decided to keep going. Arriving at my school, we took some photos.



(Click to view larger images)



Like I said, it was a miracle nothing was broken! After cleaning a bit, hampered by three hyperactive children, the owner of the noodle shop next door dropped in to say that we could make free calls to contact friends and relatives from the telephones at city hall. While there, we saw the first water lineup. A few hundred people lined up to get a bag of water. Our neighbor was there also. He told us that we could use his house (it is sort of a summer house for he and his friends) since he had propane gas and spring water. We thanked him profusely. Mayuho was able to contact her brother, who sent e-mail to my parents and let them know we were all OK. Not being able to do anything else, we decided to head back home.

At home, it was lunchtime, so we borrowed the neighbor's gas and cooked Japanese style noodles for lunch. After washing up, we headed home, and cleaned/straightened up the living room and relaxed. As much as you can relax when there are aftershocks every 5 minutes or so. On our mountain, you can hear the quake before you feel it. A "rumble rumble rumble BOOM" Shake... And the cats are a good indicator as well. If Caramel (the Tom) climbs the drapes and disappears to the second floor, it will be a pretty good sized one.

One thing I did manage to do was to get our little radio working. We needed 6 "C" cell batteries. We had zero.... So I took some rechargable "AA" batteries from various children's toys, and wrapped them with cardboard to make them bigger. After cramming them in the radio, it worked! Necessity is the Mother of Invention. Now we could listen to the news without going to the car. Of course, listening to the news was scary enough....

After a dinner of macaroni salad by candlelight, we all went to bed early.