Solar Wax Melter mk2

A few years back I took apart my original solar wax melter to rebuild as a steam-powered version. The original worked well enough, but it just didn’t have the capacity I wanted. Now I’ve reached the point where the expensive of the electricity to generate the steam is just too much and I’m going back to solar. So, reusing some parts again, taking as much as possible from the scrap pile and redesigning the entire thing, this is what I’ve come up with:

The black tray needs another coat of paint and I need some latches to lock the door down, but otherwise I think I’m done. It must be time for a test drive.

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First van out of the door

Since I started in the job, at least. A Renault Trafic hi-top. At the back is a bed with a central section that lifts out to leave bench seating and towards the front a small kitchen with an oak worktop. Overhead lockers and storage over the cab.

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New job, new toys

And here’s one. A CNC router capable of taking an entire 8’x4′ (1.2m x 2.4m) sheet. Mostly we’re using it for cutting ply and that’s generally 5.5mm unfinished sheets for lining vans and 15mm ply in birch, eucalyptus or poplar that we’ve either bought in finished or laminated ourselves.

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A month without a post?

Indeed so. It’s been somewhat busy. And not a little stressful. All down to the new job, but I’ll fill in some of the details as I go along and hopefully I can find the time to keep writing posts now.

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Memory Lane, 26th August 2023: Tunnel of love apples

Not yet ripe, but looking promising 😀

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Beehive paint

Some of my wooden beehives boxes are a bit worn and tired (or just weren’t made too accurately) and only really suitable for use as bait hives. But how to tell them from my other wooden hives that I’m happy to use for settled colonies? Cuprinol “Garden Shades” paint was recommended to me and as it happened some of the flavours were on sale at our local Wickes, so I bought some (“Wild Thyme”, the name of which just appealed to me) and painted all my bait hives with it. They look pretty good.

That done, it occurred to me that I also have a few boxes that aren’t even good enough for bait hives and can only really be used for storage, so I wanted some more of the paint in another colour. One that I really probably wouldn’t want to use “out in the field”. My wife and daughter happened to be passing Wickes so I asked them to get some, but they didn’t have any in stock. Instead they found some own-brand garden furniture paint that was cheaper. The verdict? It doesn’t really cut the mustard. The instructions don’t suggest using more than one coat unlike the Cuprinol product, but it really doesn’t cover that well and needs it anyhow. In the future, I’ll stick with the Cuprinol.

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It is done

Today I finally did the deed. I started down the path of moving away from working in IT for a living. I’ve bought into a local business that does camper van conversions. On one level it’s a bit scary, but on another quite exciting. It’s going to be an interesting ride.

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Memory Lane, 26th August 2023: Damn vandals!

I only made this path a few days ago!

I suspect a badger has been hunting for worms. It could have left things a bit more tidy though 🙁

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Yet more planting out

Another day of planting out in pretty warm sunshine which hasn’t exactly been common so far this year. Today more brassicas went in along with sweet corn and climbing beans (runner beans, green beans and borlotti beans). Took a while as I first had to make the frame for the beans to climb up, and in fact I’m not finished yet. The runner beans I started in larger modules than usual, so they can wait a couple of days more before they’re desperate to go outdoors.

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Memory Lane, 23rd August 2023: Pendle Witches Brew

As he’s at university in Lancaster and knows The Pendle Witch pub, he wanted to try to make this beer before he went back. I took the recipe from Graham Wheeler’s “Brew your own real ales at home” and then getting a bit more experimental, did a second mash with for a “small beer”.

The photos show them after chilling, transferring to the fermentation buckets and pitching the yeast.

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