Posts Tagged ‘general’

10 Rules You Must Follow For Woodworking Safety

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Safety always comes first. For any activity, whether it is woodworking or sports, it pays to be mindful of any potential dangers and how you can prevent them. For woodworking, understand the hazard is not only for your safety but the safety of others around you.

a) Alcohol and tools just don?t make a good team. Avoid the consumption of alcohol whenever you are going to be working with your tools no matter how minor they are. Even with a chisel or a knife, you can get some pretty bad cuts. Your mind needs to be clear when involved in this hobby. The same applies for prescriptive drugs for example that may cause drowsiness.

b) Observe the conditions that you are working in. Sawdust as well as toxic fumes can be deadly to your health. The dangers with these are that the results they can create may not be evident immediately. Health hazards such as these can show their results years later. Use only anti explosion fans and make sure you have a good supply of fresh air.

Beginners Guide To Biscuit Joiners and Plate Joiners

Friday, June 26th, 2009

More often than not in woodworking projects, you are required to join two pieces of wood together. Perhaps in the past you may have used clamps or set heavy objects upon the piece. You may get away with that on the rare occasion but for the most part, it doesn’t work so well.

Ideally what you need to have is a biscuit joiner. This is nifty tool that cuts a hole that is shaped like a crescent or half moon in the two edges opposite each other on the wood. Then you take an oval shaped object that looks like a biscuit, cover it with glue and place it into the slot you made. There you have it a joint made in no time at all.

A 4-inch blade on the biscuit joiner is what cut the crescent shaped holes. Naturally, there are the regular techniques that you could use to make your joint but with the biscuit joiner, it’s fast and neat.

Learn To Make Wooden Frames Easily and Quickly

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Making a wooden frame yourself is not as difficult as it seems. Imagine how beautiful your photos or posters will look if there is a wooden frame around it. There are framers that can do this for you but you will save lots by doing it yourself.

You may not have the tools to do the custom work or the expertise, buy you do have the ability to make a very acceptable frame with the tools you already have and a few how to instructions. If you have, a table saw, a router and a few bits then you are on your way.

When you are sizing your frame, you are going to have to take into consideration the size and thickness of your matting for the picture. Keep in mind as well that the larger the frame is then the side pieces must be appropriately as wide as well to work with the over all balance of the picture.

First, you are going to need to cut your pieces of your ?-inch solid stock wood. You are going to cut two pieces but tack on an extra 3 inches to the length of each piece so you will have it to work with when you make your adjustments.

How To Use Sandpaper Properly in Woodworking

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Whether we are into woodworking or not the majority of us know a little something about sandpaper even if it is just the name. Sandpaper is really just a very mild form of a chisel for example or any tool that reduces or alters the wood. The sandpaper is made of tiny coarse blades. Needless to say, they are very fragile and therefore wear down quickly.

One of the issues of using sandpaper is knowing which one to use for which job. To begin with, you have to determine whether you want commercial or industrial sandpaper. You will have less looking around for stores to buy it from if you are using the commercial grade as most hardware stores or home building centers keep it in stock. The industrial is more specialized and is an item most often used on the manufacturing line.

When you hear someone refer to sandpaper, you will most probably hear them refer to grit. All this is, is the way to identify what strength it is. Its referring to each of those little blades we talked about per inch. So the lower the number the coarser the sandpaper will be.

Free Shed Plans – Learn How To Build A Shed Easily

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

If you?ve always wanted to build a shed but feel intimidated by how easy the pros make it look, then here is some advice on how to build a shed, and what you need to do it. The first thing to remember is that everything is simple. When something looks complicated then just remember that it is only one layer of simplicity on top of another, and in combination with skills, it produces the final result.

If you have never built a shed before, a very crucial step is to do your homework. Looking it up on the net will give you everything you need to know on building that shed, from tips by professionals to the type shed you want and the plans that go with it. If you?ve ever assembled anything that is do it yourself, be it a shelf or a computer table, you will know that following the instructions is the easiest way to get the job done right. Many a macho guy has filled the air with many curse words because he thought he could do the job all by himself and not look at the instructions.

Methods Of Watering Your Plants The Correct Amount

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

It would seem that watering a plant would be a simple act, but even a small mistake in watering it too much or too little can have drastic consequences. Watering it correctly is the only way to ensure that it and its potential offspring continue to lead long and healthy lives.

If you seem to have plants dying from some type of disease or bacteria, it may because you have watered the plant too frequently. Too much water will cause the soil to be excessively wet over a long period of time- which welcomes bacteria and diseases into the soil. This can easily hurt the plant, who is rooting in the soil and will be in direct contact with the invading bacteria or other types of invaders.

The easiest thing to spot in watering problems is not watering a plant enough. Most plants should show distinct signs that they aren’t being watered frequently enough- such as wilting or changing to a brown color. If you take a look at the soil, it will also very likely appear to be drier than usual. If you do notice this, simply increase your watering frequency as according to the needs of the plant in question.

Information Orchid Root System

Monday, August 11th, 2008

One adaption in orchids can be found among the epidendrums. The species E. falcatum retains all its weight in the thick, heavy leaves. The root system is not numerous, but s-ong enough to hold a heavy plant firmly in its place on a tree. The pseudobulbs are merely short stems which support the long, spears-lriaped leaves which, rough and hard, will withstand a harsh environment. They are the main source of food supply for the plant.

The life span of a root can be one season only in orchids whose pseudobulhs arc of annual duration or the roots may live for several years, their life span related to the state of the pseudobulbs they are supporting. When leaves are eventually shed, that pseudobulb has no further use for roots, and they will die naturally.

Nevertheless their culture remains specialised, and their roots are all important to them. They do not take kindly to pot culture and should be accommodated on hark. Pieces of rough bark are ideal, as their extensive fine root system will take advantage of every crevice, the roots hugging the bark as well as growing freely in the air.

Orchid Humidifex

Saturday, August 9th, 2008

There are various grades of polythene sheeting for fixing to the glazing bars with drawings pins or a stapler. For an aluminium house there are specially-designed clips. A totally sealed greenhouse will give the grower a fresh crop of problems. Condensation will build up on the polythene and reduce the light drastically in the winter when every bit of light is of benefit.

It should be placed near the floor, below the plants, to allow the cool vapour to reach the plants standing above. Within a few weeks of introducing a humidifex into the greenhouse or home you should see a noticeable increase in aerial root activity on your orchids.

This material can be fixed in the same way as polythene, but because it is full of minute holes it is able to breathe which prevents condensation and drip. Neither does it cut too much light from the plants. The netting is easily obtainable from garden centres. It can be taken down in summer and stored for the following winter. As it does not tear easily, it should last for several seasons.

How to Grow Health Orchid Plants

Friday, August 8th, 2008

The heater is the most important single piece of equipment in the orchid house. The choice of equipment is wide, from the old- fashioned coal or coke fired boilers with hot water pipes, which can be fired by gas, either bottled or mains, or oil from a reservoir tank to the most modern, clean and efficient electric heaters.

The main benefit of a hot water system is that if anything goes wrong, and the fire goes out, you are left with a large reserve of hot water which will keep hot for many hours giving time to rectify the fault.

Although reliable, this equipment is expensive to install. The most popular form of heating is by electricity, either tubular, fitted along the walls beneath the staging, or the electric fan heater usually placed on the floor. This produces a current of warm air which circulates evenly throughout the greenhouse, thus ensuring that there are no cold spots.

The orchids live behind plate glass in an environment where the humidity, light and temperature are all controlled. A time clock measures the difference between night and day to ensure that the plants receive the right amount of artificial light every twenty-four hours and that the temperature rises and falls in sequence with the lights.

Masdevallia Orchid

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

The lycastes are a relatively small, but influential, natural genus of medium-size plants. They have had a great impact on the related anguloas with which they will readily interbreed to produce some of the most showy artificial hybrids.

The majority of the flowers are typically triangular, the shape formed by the widely spread sepals that frame the cupped petals and lip. When crossed with the tulipshaped anguloas, the superb, large, openflowered angulocastes are produced, which have done much to promote this alliance. Although the majority of the species within the lycastes and anguloas are of pale colouring, the rosy-red varieties of Lycaste skinneri have emphasized rich colours in hybrids such as L. Wyld Fire.

The largest flower in the genus is that of M. acrura, which measures 30cm (12in) or more vertically from top to bottom. This impressive length arises because of the long, tapering sepals. These evergreen epiphytic, or occasionally lithophytic, orchids inhabit cool, shady and moist areas of forest woodland high in the Andes of South America.