Got the Siding painted. Finally. This will have to do for a while. I'm gonna slap a second coat on it before I do the wood trim. Then it's time to build the bar, and hopefully have power run to it by the 4th.
Wife is wanting to get rid of this floor lamp, so I decided to repurpose it for our back patio we are working on. Here looks like a good spot, once we get our patio sectional ordered and in place, this will be perfect. What’s this, 120v? No need for that. That’s better. I am going to hook it up to my 12v landscape lighting. Already have the 12ga wire run from the transformer into the back yard for future expansion. Just need a few extra supplies to make the switch, and this bad boy will work off my astronomical lighting timer. I’ll hook it up with a G4 LED lamp, 2 watts and 200 lumens at 3000 kelvin, that will do the trick. More later this week.
developed my own camo pattern.....a scrap of Crye Multicam, immersed in hot dye solution,..........basically turned the multicam into a greener multicam camo pattern (but not like the tropical multicam) , a little more suitable for the non arid areas of BC....... not tipping my hand yet......your all going to have to wait.....I think i really have a game changer here for this region.
Finished the outdoor lamp tonight. Rigged the low voltage socket to the lamp cord with a heat shrink butt splice connector. Torchy torchy. Installed the new 12v LED lamp in the new socket. Bi-pin, 2.5 watts, 198 lumens, 2950 kelvin. The board and chipset is completely encased in some kind of clear silicone type material. Seems to be the new trend for these small LEDs. Spliced the SPT-2 lamp cord into the direct bury 12/2 low voltage wire using some of the best connectors there are, Ace Connectors. Brass screw connection with a heat shrink tube or be the top, completely water proof, and will never pull apart. Some electric tape for good measure. Torchy torchy torchy, watch your fingers. At the other end, hook the 12/2 into the 2 terminals at the transformer. This is an old Nightscaping T500. At 500 watts, I could light up a boat load of these 2.5 watt lamps. The transformer is plugged into line voltage through a smart plug, so a quick tap on the smart phone and... Smart plug is set to astronomical time, so on at sunset and off at sunrise. Every day, and it automatically adjusts itself daily as the sunset/sunrise time changes. Once we get the new patio furniture, this will be a nice addition for the evenings.
Well, I didn't make this, but I did refinish it. I did make the antler bead though. I just received my first Beck knife, a 6" Ledge Rock. One of very few made. It's gorgeous, but was well used by three previous owners. So I spent a good four hours hand sanding, polishing and finally degreasing and coating with Ren Wax today. For those of you unfamiliar with Dave Beck knives, he makes some of the most gorgeous, usable blades around. Differentially heat treated O1 tool steel, black linen micarta, perfect thin, but well balanced grinds. Some of his older work sells for upwards of $3600 USD. Having conversed with Dave via email, I'm fairly confident this won't be my last piece from him. He's a wonderful guy to speak with, and incredibly helpful. As it arrived... And here it is after I got done with it.
Started a wood bear claw, from a branch stub found on a recent adventure. This will be paired with the wood bear tooth I made awhile back.
made a BFM. 1/4" wall thickness 4" ID aluminum pipe (bought at a scrapyard specifically for this project) cedar caps cut from a scrap of barn salvaged cedar 4x12, then turned to size. handle cut from a scrap of black oak left over from building the house back in 2006-2008.
Tagging @Bushman5 ....The other day in our potjie contest thread friend Bushman was cutting up some veggies with a really nice Muk, like a lot of "outdoor" knives it's thick steel. And what happens when you cut hard or dense veg? It wants to fly away from the knife, even more so if the knife is thick (or you're using a chop motion). Inspiration hit me. . I present the device I will call "Bushmans Fence". Which y'all are free to copy at will. I used schedule 40 but you could just use standard thin wall. Snaps together quick and is easy to disassemble for cleaning or transport. You could even just throw it in the ice chest along with your cutting board. Won't hurt it a bit. I tried it using this 5/32" thick knife, veggies going all over the place, but they don't go off the side into the dirt if you're cutting stuff outside.
if you slit the pipe on a tablesaw, it'll slip on and clamp to the cutting board - so no need for corners - and you'll be able to nest the pieces so it'll pack up smaller.
Spent a good couple of hours rounding out the sharp corners of my 124 handle. Absolutely love this knife, but the handle had to be modded. It was like holding onto a 1x1 with slightly rounded edges. No bueno. Started off at 80 grit emery, worked my way up to 1500, then polished with Mothers Mag, cleaned thoroughly with rubbing alcohol and finished with Ren Wax (mainly to stop the nickel silver corby bolts from tarnishing). Now that I took the time to mod it to my liking, it's just perfect. Reminds me a whole lot of my old Randall, but at nearly 1/5th the price. Silver soldered and bolted guard, epoxied and bolted pommel and scales... Rather well made, I must say. It's served me well over the three or so years I've had it, and now that it's a lot more comfortable to use, I can see it accompanying me in the woods much more often. Once they arrive, the sheath will be getting a Pull the Dot snap upgrade as well. Next to my 119. Doesn't look much bigger, but the 124 is much more substantial in hand.
It's the biggest in the classic line up, albeit shorter than the 120. It's been around a while now, and there's still a few guys kicking around the forums with their 124's they took to Vietnam. They're good knives. I'd love to pick up a second one as a backup. I like it that much.
Their 420 HC is awesome, sharpens as easily as 1095, holds a good edge and is very rust proof. The handles indeed are not the most comfortable in stock shape - on my 119 I have removed the top guard and thinned the handle a bit - made a huge difference and now it is very comfortable for extended work.
I agree, their 420HC is awesome stuff. Sharpens like butter, and holds a rather good edge in all honesty. It's surprisingly tough as well, and very corrosion resistant. See, I love the stock 119 handle. Fits me just perfect. Nice light blade, and one of my all time favorites.
I have quite large hands - it was comfortable and good thickness near the guard, but was missing thickness near the butt, so I made it the same thickness from the guard to the pommel - it is thinner, but I can have a stronger grip now.
Well in that case, the 124 might fit you just perfectly. It's about the same thickness as the 119 is at the guard, but the 124 maintains much of that thickness all the way out to the pommel.
Started off with the pouch I posted in the sewing thread. Decided to start on a single wide Molle CR2.5 sheath. Start to CR2.5 sheath. Im learning that taking apart a commercially made pouch to source pieces and supplies is ALOT harder then it sounds.. I’m hoping to simply roll over one side and use the remaining Molle strap to attach it.
Further work on the 2.5 pouch today. You can start to see clearer where the pieces are coming from. The main reason I am going with this specific pouch (AR double mag pouch) is my newer to me sewing machine doesn’t like sewing nylon webbing. SO it SHOULD save me from sewing any extra webbing...