Antler Dying

Antler Dying Project

I shot this Stag in 2013, it was a very memorable Stalk for many reasons. The wind that day kept changing directions so consequently we had several failed Stalks. It was getting late in the day and we spotted a large herd of Stags. There were over a hundred in the herd. James the Stalker picked a suitable Stag and we started our Stalk. As we got into shooting position the wind changed again and the herd got wind of us. They got restless and started to run. The selected Stag went over the hill before I could get a shot off. As the heard continued to bolt over the hill James guided me into a Stag, I followed it across the hill and when it got bunched up with others and slowed I pulled the trigger. The Stag went down.  

I think that James was tired and wanted the Stalk to end because this Stag is not your typical Scottish cull Stag as a matter of fact he got some crap for shooting it from the Head Stalker when we got back to the lodge. 

This beast was a sign to be seen, he was a big stag with a large rack. He was still shedding his velvet and had strands of velvet hanging from his antlers. Aside from he lasting memories he gave me many very picturesque photos. This was my last Stalk of the trip and the last time I had a Stag removed from the hill on a Garron (Scottish Hill Pony) by a Ponyman. 

Sadly Garrons have been replaced by noisy machines. Progress they say...

When I received the antlers in the US I mounted them on a walnut plaque and hung them in a prestigious place in my garage. 

Unfortunately due to import regulations the loose velvet had to be removed and the antlers had to be bleached and treated with hydrogen peroxide before shipment. This left the antlers chalky white. The chalky white color always bothered me and did not due justice to the majestic stag. 

So I decided that I would dye the antlers. After a little research I found that Taxidermists use potassium permanginate to dye antlers. So off to ebay I went and got some potassium permanginante. I mixed up the solution and went to town. 

The solution is purple when mixed and when you first apply it. It is a little disheartening to see your antlers purple. It looks like some new age art that you would see in a trendy Edinburgh restaurant. But the solution reacts with the oxygen in the air and eventually starts to turn brown. On the left you can see the bare antlers with some of the solution applied, on the right you can see the solution starting to turn brown. 

After a few coats the antlers have an nice brown and are presentable again.

Here the antlers are back on the wall in my garage. 

Welder

Some Welder Housekeeping 

I have had this welder for a long time and it has been a trusty companion. It has welded hundreds of projects, fixed countless broken items, and has never let me down. When I bought it I quickly cobbled together a temporary hanger for the leads. I don't want to admit how long that temporary hanger has been on there. But lets just say that if it were a person it could buy beer and hammer pants were in fashion (thank god that fad has died, welding in hammer pants was difficult)

I decided that it was time to do something about it. I rummaged through my scrap bin and found some angle iron cutoffs and went to work. I decided to build a holder for the grounding cable and clamp and the Mig gun and Cable.

There is nothing special about these hangers, just some angle iron, flat plate, and some square tubing. 

Here they are after being painted. The one on the left is for the the Mig gun cable. The one on the center is for the Mig gun, and the one on the right is for the ground cable and clamp. The clamp clips to the bent rod to keep it neatly stored.  

Here is the ground cable and clamp neatly stored. 

Here is the Mig gun and cable neatly stored. 

This is not a very exciting project but it was long overdue and I am no longer embarrassed by my cable hanger. Sorry MC Hammer you had your time and it is now passed...

Dueling Tree

Dueling Tree Build

It is spring of 2020, everybody is Kung Flu Fighting, toilet paper is nowhere to be found, and I learned that there is a name for my lifestyle, it’s called “social distancing”. My kids are doing school from home and I have been working from home.  It is an interesting time! 

My daughter has been bored being home all the time and has gotten interested in shooting again. She learned to shoot at an early age, but lost interest for a little while. During quarantine (or whatever we are calling the current situation) she has really taken to Pistol shooting and she is doing really well. She is a good shot and is a very safe operator. 

I have wanted to build a dueling tree for some time and this was just the excuse that I needed. 
I am quite cheap, so I decided to buy the AR500 paddles and then build the rest myself from scrap metal that I have salvaged over the years. 

I bought the paddles from Make it Ring Targets https://makeitringtargets.com/ I have bought most of my steel from them. They have really good prices (Did I mention that I am cheap) and have been great to work with. 

I spaced out the paddles to make sure that I could remove and replace them. I bought .250" thick paddles hoping that they would work for center fire pistols and rimfire pistols

Have you ever had one of those days where things just seem to go wrong? For some unknown reason my Mig Welder decided to spit out 40 feet of wire into a big rats nest when I opened the side panel to look at the feed table. Being cheap I tried to save it. After about 20 minutes trying to untangle the steel rats nest I gave up and cut it. 

Once I got the welder up and running I welded the paddles in place. 

Then I started on the base. All of the material was scrap that I have salvaged over the years. The angle that I used for the base used to be part of a workbench that I was given years ago. You can see the maple top from that workbench in the 2nd photo. Yes I am really that cheap...

I wanted to angle the tree about 10 degrees, so the paddles would always end up swinging to a side and not get stuck in the back. I did a little math and figured how high I needed to shim the upright and set up this little jig (when I day jig I mean, block of wood) to keep everything aligned when I welded it together. 

After I welded the base in place I double checked the angle, apparently I am not as bad at math as I thought. Kids pay attention in math class, you never know when you will use what you learned. Or just learn how to use Google...

I got is all welded together, so far I am happy with it. 

Remember when I asked about one of those days?  Well when I loaded the tree into the ranger to take it down to the range, I did not notice that this guy was on the dash right above the steering wheel. So I hopped into the ranger happy with my work and headed down to the range. Then I looked down and this snake was right next to my left hand. Well after screaming like a little girl, slamming on the brakes, and hopping out from the passenger side, I took this picture. By this time the snake had worked its way around the windshield and was sitting where you see it. 

I am not ashamed to say that I sent a text to my wife to come out and remove the snake. Hey I grew up in the 80's, I learned it is OK to be afraid of snakes from Indiana Jones...

I wanted to test the tree out with a 22 and a center fire pistol. I got out my Smith and Wesson Model 41 22LR and my Smith and Wesson Model 28 .357 Mag. The 22 did not have enough power to reliably swing the paddles but the 357 firing 38 Special wadcutters worked great. 

I ordered a set of thinner 22 Rimfire paddles so I will be able to swap them out and use both 22 and Center fire. 

I cant wait to shoot it with my Daughter! 

Being Everyone's Junk Man

Fred G Sanford

Sometimes I feel like Fred G Sanford from Sanford and Sons. Somehow I end up with everyone unwanted stuff or "Junk".  "Its the big one Elizabeth, I'm coming to join you!"

I was given an air compressor that was in pretty rough shape. It was given to a friend of mine and he did not want it so he gave it to me. I have a tendency to accept almost anything that is offered to me. I gave it a good cleaning, wired it up and tried it out. Everything worked fine so I changed the dirty oil in it and started using it.

It did however have one remaining issue. It had a leak that I could not find, that meant it would not hold air. So every time I wanted to use it I have to wait 10-15 minutes for it to fill up.  After 6 months of dealing with this I finally decided to fix it. 

It took me much longer than it should to find the leak. I checked all the fittings several times with no luck. I was really scratching my head when I noticed that I did not check the threaded fitting on the top of the tank.

I sprayed some soapy water on it and sure enough it started bubbling and foaming. Definitly a leak there!

 So I pulled all the lines off so I could remove the fitting.

 After pulling it out and inspecting it, the fitting appeared to be some type of back flow valve. I decided to put some Permitex Ultra Copper on it and see if I could get it to seal up. This part of the compressor gets really hot so I thought that the Ultra Copper would be a good fit. Plus I already had some and this was a free compressor so I was sticking with the Sanford and Son Theme.

After letting it dry for a few days I fired it up, filled it with air and checked again. No leak! Success!

I ran the tank up to 150psi and left it for a week. It held at 150 psi. So I am calling this fixed. Not bad for someones unwanted Junk!

Servicing the Tractor

Last Post of 2018

I hoped that the last post of the year would be a hunting story. But unfortunately, I have been very busy with maintenance on the vineyard and have not had a chance to go hunting lately. 

Our tractor is the most important piece of equipment that we have. Without it the vineyard would grind to a halt. We are surrounded by several vineyards and they have newer tractors than ours. But they don't maintain them so they are constantly breaking. I make sure that we take very good care of our tractor. 

Every year at the end of the season I give the tractor a good pressure washing to remove all the dirt, grape leaves, and grime. Then I give it a good look over to see if anything is in need of attention. fortunately it is in good shape and just needs general maintenance. 

So into the shop it goes for an annual maintenance. 

 This year it is just a simple oil and filter change, fuel filter change, and a lube. 

 I started by draining the oil. This oil is only a year old but because of the dusty environment that the tractor works in it gets very dirty. That is why maintenance is so important. 

After I installed the new filter I wrote the date on it, this way I know exactly how long the filter has been in. I also put my initials on it so I know I was the one that did it. 

Here is the fuel filter, the fuel gets a lot of dirt in it. I should look a the fuel tank cap and see if it needs the seal replaced. 

Here is the new filter installed, it is much cleaner. The tractor should have much better fuel delivery now! 

Put some new oil in, and give all the zerk fittings a shot of grease and that job is done. 

Happy new year everyone! 

Chainsaw Sharpener

This month a good amount of time has been spent trimming trees in the vineyard. In doing so I have dulled several chainsaw blades. My local saw shop sharpens blades for about $10 per blade. I wanted to be a little more self sufficient and have the ability to sharpen my own blades. I tried to do it by hand with a file, but did not get good results. So I went on a search for the right saw sharpener. 

With tools I usually buy the best that I can afford, I learned a long time ago that skimping on tools does not work out. However, a good chainsaw sharpener is $200-$300. I just could not justify that much expense for a tool that I rarely use. I could see if I was a professional sawyer, or lumberjack. But I am not. 

After a little research on the internet I found that people were really happy with the Harbor Freight chainsaw sharpener. I usually don't but stuff from Harbor Freight but in this case it was on sale for $29, so I figured that if I can sharpen 3 blades I would break even. 

  I ordered the sharpener and it is pretty nice for a $29 tool, the housing is made of plastic and the little adjustment knobs are cheap plastic. But I think that it will do the job.

 The chain goes into a little track, there is a handle like a bike brake that you squeeze to clamp the chain in place then you bring down the grinding wheel. The placement of the chain, and the cut of the wheel are adjustable. 

 Here is a picture of the handle and the brake/clamp mechanism. 

 Once you have everything adjusted it is just a matter of holding the clamp, bringing down the grinding wheel, bringing the grinding wheel back up, advancing the chain, and repeating.

 It takes me about 10 minuted to sharpen a 80 link chain. So far I have done 2 chains, 1 more and I will have broken even. I have to say that I am very impressed with this little sharpener. I think that it will give me many years of service if I take care of it. 

Tree Trimming

Maintenance

Now that Harvest is complete and the vines are starting to go dormant, the attention turns to maintenance.  There are lots of things that get done over the winter when the vines are sleeping, To start with there are lots of trees that need to be trimmed. The vineyard has many oak trees and as they need to be trimmed to allow access for the tractor and make sure the vines get light.

In this part of the vineyard there is a group of oak trees that has not been trimmed in a long time. The trees are starting to overtake the vines so it is time to trim them back.

When I was younger I had a very close call with a chainsaw. I was cutting a limb and as it fell it pushed the saw into my leg. The saw was still spinning and cut through my pants and cut my leg. The cut on my leg was painful but not that bad. What scared me was that if the cut was a little deeper it would have severed my artery. I was alone and would probably have bled to death.

So now any time I use the saw wear Chain Saw Chaps to protect my legs. I also have a first aid kit zip tied to the milk crate that holds my fuel and oil. Chain saws can do a lot of damage very quickly so it is important to treat them with respect.

Before long I had a pretty good collection of rounds collected that needed to be split. I split my wood by hand. Oak can be very hard to split if you let it dry out. So I make sure that I split my wood either the day I cut it or the day after.

Splitting wood one piece at a time on an old stump is very romantic, but it is a lot of work!

Here is a little trick if you split wood by hand. Get an old tire from the tire shop and nail it to some cribbing. In this case I use some offcut 4x4s.

This does a few things:
1) It raises the wood to be split to a comfortable level.
2) It captures the wood so it does not go flying.
3) It allows you to split several logs as you work your way around.
4) If you miss, or when you split through the log the Maul is stopped by the rubber tire. It is like a shock absorber when the maul comes down.

Here it is all set up to go

Here is the wood after a few strikes of the Maul. Much easier than having the logs go flying off a stump and having to pick them up.

It does not take long to build a pretty good pile of wood

Here is a shot of the trees after they have been trimmed. The vines now have much more sunlight and the tractor can get access to them to spray, net, etc.

I wish this was the only stand of trees that need to be trimmed. Unfortunately, there are lots of them that need it.