willedoo

I still haven't got used to seeing 'King's Birthday' printed on the calendar.

Burning broadacre stubble is long gone. To do it now is just burning money. In the cane industry, burning is mostly gone but you still see a small amount of it for a reason. Over time the harvesting equipment has evolved to be able to handle the trash throughput and cane varieties have been bred that produce less trash. Usually the only cane burning in this area is when they want to harvest standover cane that has stood over unharvested for two or three seasons. It grows bigger with less sugar and more trash and needs to be burnt so the harvester can handle it. Because there's no local mill any more and transport costs to the nearest mill are high, farmers will only harvest when the price of sugar is high enough for them to break even on costs. Some years they harvest, some they don't, resulting in standover cane. Cutting green cane and leaving a trash blanket as mulch is much more profitable. More moisture and plant growth, less fertiliser and herbicide.

Dangerous stuff. That bloke going for a dive into the dam reminds me of the danger of cutting timber that has been pushed and raked into a heap with a dozer. The heap ends up with a lot of pre-stressed sprung loaded trunks and limbs. They can go off like a mouse trap when cut and the tension suddenly releases.

Imagine what it would be like if the nuclear diamond battery concept was developed at scale. A battery that lasts for thousands of years.

At the age of 77, those nuts were probably Whitworth. One old tool and two nuts to undo.

Life is good when you have a big green and red shed nearby. I bought a couple of these Gorilla brand bow shackles today. Good quality, rated at two tonnes, built to Australian standard, pin size of 13mm and only $4.95 each.

I can't argue with those statements. Real estate has more to do with it than religion. If you forget about all the small stuff and just look at the main fundamental belief of those religions, Islam and the Jewish religion have much more in common with each other than either one does with Christianity. From a belief perspective the two of them should be natural allies against the Christians. I think it's more about power and land.

A bit like opening Pandora's Box.

For some reason I ended up with two shower chairs. One is a thin seat, probably the nutcracker seat mentioned above. The other is a thick extruded type of material, strong and hollow inside a bit like a kid's plastic belly board. I'd say the nads would be safe with it.

The incense was pretty ordinary. They need to go to Bali and get a few tips from the Hindus there. Get some proper sandalwood or something.

And I've never before seen a church that was part church, part shop. In the entry to the church you had to walk through rooms full of catholic merchandise for sale. All displayed on shelving and price tagged like a proper retail store. Two rooms full of sale goods.

I had a dose of religion today at a Catholic funeral. Lots of bells, incense, cross carrying and free biscuits on offer. I would have been a young man the last time I went to a Mass. I'd forgotten about all the ritual part of it.

I wonder if he was trying to save a few bob by using a plastic garden chair. Some of them have slots in the seat part.

I'd say nuts to that brand of chair.

I have terrible visions of that scene in There's Something About Mary.

Jimmy Carter turned 100 a couple of days ago

I've been trying to learn Facebook English so I can navigate my way through Facebook Marketplace. It's a very economic language. Take the English words 'totally rooted'. They are replaced in Facebook English with one single word - 'rustic'. A saving of seven letters and three syllables.

Where I'm living these days is a very rust prone area and my block is exposed to the prevailing salt air coming off the sea. Any steel rusts badly unless it's stored in an enclosed shed, but I've noticed all the old stuff like old farm machinery doesn't rust much. I've often wondered whether that old cast steel has a high carbon content or something else in it's makeup that resists rust. More modern cast steel will rust much quicker.

Getting a bit off topic here but I dragged the remains of an old Howard Kelpie out of the bush today. I skulldragged the old Howard engine from the ground up a plank onto the ute back and couldn't get over how heavy it is for a small engine. I realise I'm getting older and weaker but the weight of this motor really surprised me.

I think Albo will be watching the Queensland election closely. Some polls have had Dutton and Co. in minority government territory and there's no guarantee federal Labor will get a second term.

The election campaign is officially underway. Premier Steven Miles took the fifty cent bus ride to see the governor and dissolve parliament. No limo for that humble 50 cent Labor man. The government is running ads blaming the opposition leader, Noddy, for heaps of cuts and sackings when he was a member of can-do Campbell Newman's government. The way the polls are going, Labor is headed for losing possibly half their seats.

A problem with some sawmills is that the faster they cut timber, the more money they make. Pushing it through too quick results in blade flex and consequent variation in timber dimensions. To do a good job they need to do it slower and more accurately but they end up with less production. That happened to me with my verandah floorboards. Our local sawmiller would always do a good job as he was a perfectionist, but on that occasion he was flat out with work and got another mill to supply the boards for him. It was 5x1" spotted gum, green off saw, and there was quite a noticeable difference in thickness from one side of the board to the other side. If boards were laid low side to high side the height difference would have been enough to catch your boot on while walking across the deck. It took a bit of extra work sorting the boards so they were laid high side to high side and low side to low side alternating. It was a bit wavy but at least there was no protrusions to catch on. Once laid it was only noticeable for a while; you get used to things and they become invisible in time. Being green off saw timber I butted the boards up to each other and used a temporary cramp to just firm them up to each other. I don't remember the shrinkage rate I calculated on but I think I was expecting about an 8mm gap which turned out about right once it dried. I like the bigger gap. It doesn't look too excessive on a 5" board and a lot less dust and debris gets caught in between. All it needs it a blow out of the gaps with a leaf blower now and then. On the plus side, all the spotted gum floorboards were top quality timber, no sappy stuff.

Patsy.

Most youtube videos are in Europe or North America cutting soft pine. With Australian hardwood, I'd say it would be a lot slower cutting and a lot more band sharpening required.

If you have a lot of ongoing slab or board cutting to do, the extra work in building a band saw is worth it. It's quieter, gives a better surface finish and less waste. Some of these Russian outfits are a bit rough around the edges.