Rotted Willow Smoke

Mmmmm. Rotted willow smoke!

It is Thanksgiving, and I am giving thanks.

At one time I planted several hundred willows.

[…]

November 24th, 2011 | Category: Environment, Recipes | 2 comments

Food Safe Glue

My next glue purchase is going to be a gallon of Ecopoxy.

I have been looking for a waterproof, food safe glue for quite a while. A lot of people advertise that their products are made with food safe glue, and a lot of people say that this or that glue is food safe, but […]

December 4th, 2009 | Category: Chemistry, Environment, Recipes, Toxins, Woodworking | 36 comments

Soap Making with Potassium Hydroxide, Part 1, The Process

I prefer to avoid pesticides, at times however I want crops and plants I love are being destroyed. One of the safer pesticides to use is soap.

Additionally I would rather add potassium to my crops, than sodium. Most soap these days is made from Sodium Hydroxide, it is cheaper and makes a harder soap. […]

April 3rd, 2009 | Category: Chemistry, Gardening, Recipes | 23 comments

Best Way to Remove Scale, Is Not Having Scale!

Here is a bowl of goop. Below it is a blade I used the goop on. The blade was painted with the stuff, and then heated to a nice cherry red for about 15 minutes. Then it was quenched in safflower oil.

I had to put a cover on the oil, the oil caught […]

March 2nd, 2009 | Category: Chemistry, Metalworking, Recipes, Tool Making | 4 comments

Steel

Lately a good friend of mine has been tutoring me on top end steel. My blacksmithing experience is mostly limited to mystery metal, OFS and O1. He has widened my eyes to the amazing world of technologically advanced steels. There are stainless steels out there, that hold fine edges with a tenacity that is fairly […]

February 11th, 2009 | Category: Chemistry, Hand Tools, Metalworking, Tool Making, Tools | One comment
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