{{ Stuff that just works }}

[Poppy]

I don't know about the Korean Tiger mosquito, but according to NJ.com, this has been another banner year for Jersey mosquitos.

Minnesota has Paul Bunyan. The Southwest has Pecos Bill. We have the Jersey Skeeter — distinguished from all others, supposedly, by their size, aggression and uncanny ability to zero in, like a heat-seeking missile, on the tiniest patch of bare skin.

We are however being infested by "Spotted Lanternflies" a crop molesting invasive pest. We're instructed to take a picture and report their location, and to squish them!

The lanternfly is an invasive species from China that wreaks havoc on agriculture. They aren't physically harmful to humans, but they threaten everything from oak, walnut and poplar trees to grapes, almonds and fruit orchards. It was first detected in the U.S. in Pennsylvania in 2014, but it has now spread to at least nine states, primarily in the Northeast. Growing numbers have been spotted in New York City this summer.

An update on the invasive spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula: current distribution, pest detection efforts, and management strategies

eJournal about endemic and invasive pests in California

ucanr.edu

 

[orbital]

+

Super helpful conversion tool, been using it for many years.
.."units of distance, temperature, volume, time, speed, mass, power, density, pressure, energy ect.."

Convert by Josh Madison : https://joshmadison.com/convert-for-windows/

 

[chip100t]

For branches less than 2 inches think a 6.5 inch circular saw beats the pants off a chainsaw in ease of use. It is only when you start getting larger than that, that a chain saw comes into play as smaller limbs not attached to the tree are hard to handle using a chain saw but a circular saw has a lot less kickback, weighs less, is quieter and you can easily use it with one hand all day.


A neighbour of a friend of mine needed to prune a tree in his back garden and somehow fitted a circular saw blade to a 5" angle grinder removing the guard in the process and ended up losing a hand.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

For branches less than 2 inches think a 6.5 inch circular saw beats the pants off a chainsaw in ease of use. It is only when you start getting larger than that, that a chain saw comes into play as smaller limbs not attached to the tree are hard to handle using a chain saw but a circular saw has a lot less kickback, weighs less, is quieter and you can easily use it with one hand all day.


A neighbour of a friend of mine needed to prune a tree in his back garden and somehow fitted a circular saw blade to a 5" angle grinder removing the guard in the process and ended up losing a hand.

That is a huge amount more dangerous as 360 degrees of a saw blade unprotected leaves you no way to manage kickback at all, removing the protection from saws is just plain stupid overall. With the guard on it as long as you keep the blade side pointing away from you and minimize chances of kickback it is pretty safe.

 

[LEDphile]

That is a huge amount more dangerous as 360 degrees of a saw blade unprotected leaves you no way to manage kickback at all, removing the protection from saws is just plain stupid overall. With the guard on it as long as you keep the blade side pointing away from you and minimize chances of kickback it is pretty safe.

Removing the guard from an angle grinder (even without a saw blade in it) is also a poor choice, unless you happen to like shards of abrasive wheel embedded in your body.

 

[3_gun]

Walls Steps Wheel Fire Bucket Lies

 

[Poppy]

I recently obtained a Ryobi one+ reciprocating saw (Sawzall) and used it with a pruning blade to cut some tree roots, closer to the ground. They were high enough that my lawn mower blade would hit them.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Removing the guard from an angle grinder (even without a saw blade in it) is also a poor choice, unless you happen to like shards of abrasive wheel embedded in your body.

I agree, I've never needed to remove the guard and definitely do not remove it when using a cutting wheel on it as they can literally explode into pieces throwing pieces that can slice off smaller body parts. For using a grinding wheel I've removed the guard on a very few occasions when there was no room at all to fit it in there with it on. I know that on some job sites OSHA folks demand you have both guard and the handle on them just to use them at all. It is important to use a handle too as kickbacks can find you gouging yourself by surprise.

 

[bykfixer]

The swing away jar openener tool still works.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Huh - I never knew this tool existed. Thanks Bykfixer.

 

[Poppy]

How about "Hot Glue" as something that just works?

Yesterday, I soldered 14 pairs of wires together when replacing my car's radio with one that is Bluetooth enabled. Instead of wrapping each pair with a little electrical tape, I used hot glue.

I used to have a can of "Liquid electrical tape" which would have worked as well, but it takes longer to harden than the hot glue does to cool.

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Heck yes. Hot glue is amazing to bind things, as long as 1) they're not very sensitive to heat, and 2) you don't subject them to any tension or force afterward.

The only nuisance I can think of is needing a hot glue gun and an outlet to plug it in.

 

[Poppy]

I see that Ryobi makes one that takes the mini glue sticks, and runs on their One+ battery for cordless operation. That hasn't made it into my tool barn yet.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

How about "Hot Glue" as something that just works?

Yesterday, I soldered 14 pairs of wires together when replacing my car's radio with one that is Bluetooth enabled. Instead of wrapping each pair with a little electrical tape, I used hot glue.

I used to have a can of "Liquid electrical tape" which would have worked as well, but it takes longer to harden than the hot glue does to cool.

View attachment 24166

If I were to solder in wiring I would use heatshrink tubing instead of tape it works way better and is far easier to manage. When I replaced my old car stereo years back with a bluetooth Kenwood I use crimp on connectors as the old stereo was done that way. Luckily the wiring color coding was identical I just left some of the colorered wire attached when I cut the wiring and took each wire separately cutting back behind the old crimp on and replaced it with a new one. It took me less than 30 minutes once I figured out the wiring. When I slid the stereo back in and turned it on it has worked almost flawlessly since with the exception of a few times it got hung up and I had to turn it off to reset it the bluetooth on it worked very well better than I expected being shielded in the dash.

 

[bykfixer]

Here's a neat idea I'm going to try out this weekend. Spatongs? Tongsula? Whatever it's called it's going to be handy for flipping and grabbing stuff on the grill.

 

[Poppy]

Looks like a handy dandy!

A few years back, I made a fair amount of Custard when my wife was on a soft food diet. It's simple to make, and is nutritious. Essentially milk eggs and vanilla.

Well, those little 8 pack of em have come in handy many times, as reservoirs for dipping sauces, or for olive oil, to be spread with a brush, bar-b-que sauce, melted butter, or a variety of different spices.

 

[bykfixer]

Melted butter for dipping crab legs in……
Can you get lids for them for storing unused portions in the fridge? Or do you use "cling wrap"?


For a few years we saved Nyquil and other medicine cups like that wondering just what the heck would they ever be good for.

One day my ice maker konked out. So I removed some stuff from a freezer shelf and slid in an empty cereal box with Nyquil cups loaded with water. Ice just popped right out and until the freezer was fixed we had plenty of ice cubes.

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Garlic mayo. Goes well with basically anything savory – salads, rice, fried/roasted meat, bread, bologna, cheese... It's far beyond a simple dip. Stupidly easy to make, too, if you have a blender or mixer.

 

[Poppy]

Jean-Luc,
I love it.
Yesterday, I made a chicken sandwich. I mixed some mayo and some grill mates "Cilantro Lime" seasoning. Used it as a spread... yummy

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Jean-Luc,
I love it.
Yesterday, I made a chicken sandwich. I mixed some mayo and some grill mates "Cilantro Lime" seasoning. Used it as a spread... yummy

That sounds absolutely on point, Poppy. I feel like having some!