Tag: techniques

Working Alone

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Working Alone discusses all aspects of laying foundations, raising walls, and more for small or one-person crews.

Being frugal and doing things yourself are admirable qualities, however, those qualities mean that you will run into problems.

If you have a crew of workers then many problems won’t be a problem, but when you are working alone you have to use your brain to come up with solutions.

If you have ever tried to put sheetrock or plywood on a ceiling you know what I am talking about. How do you hold the sheet in place above your head and nail it at the same time.

A man working alone only have 2 hands.

This book will give you some tips and techniques that make those hands seems multiplied.

October 18, 2016
Operating Techniques for the Tractor Loader Backhoe

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In trying to develop my homestead, I have had problem after problem with my backhoe. Granted most of it is because it is a 50 year old machine, but a good deal comes from me not having clue how to operate it.

That’s where Operating Techniques for the Tractor Loader Backhoe come in. The book teaches essential pre-operation checks, vital services, and the basics of how to actually dig and trench with a backhoe.

This book was actually designed to be a textbook so each chapter has tests. It also spends time talking about the one-call system so you won’t disrupt utility lines.

I find this book to be helpful. While not essential, it will save the new backhoe operator a lot of headaches and time wasted with inefficient movements.

It took me a while to get the movements down to use both hands at the same time to dig a flat and smooth trench. If I had this book at the time I would have saved hours in learning a relatively simple, yet unobvious technique.

A backhoe is a very useful tool for those wanting to develop land. It doesn’t move as much land as a bulldozer, but it is more versatile.

July 21, 2016
Interrogation

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The book Interrogation is used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to train interrogators, this manual details the insidious methods by which the “mounties” elicit confessions after all fair and legal tactics have been exhausted.

Must reading for every police officer, as well as for every citizen who might one day, innocent or guilty, sit across the table from an interrogator.This isn’t the best book on the subject, and the author is anonymous. I can’t tell if this is an attempt by an outside to make a interrogation version of “The Anarchist Cookbook” or a tired cop fed up with games but too scared to sign their name. It is useful, but not a standalone book.

Most of what is in this book is common sense.

May 26, 2016
Earthbag Building
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Over 70 percent of Americans cannot afford to own a code-enforced, contractor-built home. This has led to widespread interest in using natural materials—straw, cob, and earth—for building homes and other buildings that are inexpensive, and that rely largely on labor rather than expensive and often environmentally-damaging outsourced materials.

Earthbag Building is the first comprehensive guide to all the tools, tricks, and techniques for building with bags filled with earth—or earthbags. Having been introduced to sandbag construction by the renowned Nader Khalili in 1993, the authors developed this “Flexible Form Rammed Earth Technique” over the last decade. A reliable method for constructing homes, outbuildings, garden walls and much more, this enduring, tree-free architecture can also be used to create arched and domed structures of great beauty—in any region, and at home, in developing countries, or in emergency relief work.

This profusely illustrated guide first discusses the many merits of earthbag construction, and then leads the reader through the key elements of an earthbag building:
- Special design considerations
- Foundations, walls and floors
- Electrical, plumbing and shelving
- Lintels, windows and door installations
- Roofs, arches and domes
- Exterior and interior plasters.
With dedicated sections on costs, making your own specialized tools, and building code considerations, as well as a complete resources guide, Earthbag Building is the long-awaited, definitive guide to this uniquely pleasing construction style.

Kaki Hunter and Donald Kiffmeyer have been involved in the construction industry for the last 20 years, specializing in affordable, low-tech, low-impact building methods that are as natural as possible. They developed the “Flexible Form Rammed Earth Technique” of building affordably with earthbags and have taught the subject and contributed their expertise to several books and journals on natural building.
March 24, 2016
The Backyard Blacksmith: Traditional Techniques for the Modern Smith

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The Backyard Blacksmith takes the mystery out of blacksmithing, but not the magic…There is an increasing interest and revival in the art of blacksmithing as a hobby and art, and both men and women are becoming at-home blacksmiths. Blacksmithing is a simple, rewarding craft anyone can enjoy in their backyard or home workshop — even beginners can produce useful and beautiful projects on their first try.

The Backyard Blacksmith shows you how blacksmithing can be easy to learn, and a rewarding hobby, with some patience and a working knowledge of metals, basic tools, and techniques. Through instructions and illustrations, readers will learn to make simple tools and useful items, such as nails, hinges, and handles, and also an interesting mix of artful projects, such letter openers, door knockers and botanical ornaments.

This book has really helped me learn about blacksmithing. While right now I am working out of a basement and have to set up and take down a collection of rigged up tools, one day I plan on having a full time set up so I can beat metal whenever the urge hits me.

I hope that one day my son WT will learn to be a skillful metalworker.

March 3, 2016