Xmas 2014

Fireplace Heat Exchanger

For a while I have been thinking about how to make our fireplace more efficient. Modern fireplaces are not efficient and are known to suck air from inside the house and send out of the chimney. That lost air is replaced by much cooler outside air, resulting in a net heat loss (less the heat radiated by the fire).

Calculating the exact heat loss is difficult, but the way I look at it is: most of the heat from the fire is going up the chimney and while the fire may be heating the room, it's actually cooling the rest of the house.

So I decided to make a heat-exchanger grate to use in the fire place to see if we could "reclaim" some of the lost heat. The concept of a heat exchanger is for the fire to heat metal tubes which circulate and heat air that can be directed back into the room.

The first step was to acquire the tubes. I considered bending my own, but it was much easier to purchase some already bent to shape. I used some wood supports to keep the tubes in position prior to welding:

Heat-exchanger tubes aligned with wood guides.

I needed to bend some metal rod for the leg supports. This required some ingenuity as using a propane torch did not get the metal hot enough to easily bend. With the help of a jig and hammer I was able to bend (or break) the metal for the legs:

Metal bending jig for the legs.

With all the metal pieces all setup, I was able to weld everything into position. This was a bit harder than is sounds and even with the wood in place, it was hard to get everything lined up:

Ready for welding.

After a few welding, grinding, adjusting, and more welding cycles, things were looking good.

After welding, almost ready for paint.

I added a coat of high-heat paint and the heat-exchanger was ready for testing. Would it really make our fires more efficient?

After paint, ready to test.

Somewhere in New Hampshire

The Tutshi and Takhanne

This summer we spent a few weeks in Alaska for some paddling opportunities. We paddled 3 different rivers in the first few days. After arriving in in Juneau and flew to Skagway where we entered Canada to paddle the Tutshi. We then traveled to Haines and drove into Canada again to paddle the Blanchard and Takhanne.


Useful GPS coordinates:.

• Tutshi Put-In" N59° 44.399' W134° 58.379'
• Tutshi Put-Out" N59° 47.844' W134° 54.646'

The book "Paddling in the Yukon: A Guide to Rivers" by Ken Madsen is also useful resource if you can find a copy.

Maine Trip 2014

We recently completed the annual trip to Maine. It was a great trip this year! We drove up on Friday and arrived just before dark. On Saturday we did 2 glorious laps on the Kennebec at 4800CFS and 2400CFS. Andy and Wendy joined us again on Saturday night. On Sunday we finally got on the Dead at a nice burly 5200CFS. On Monday we drove home. It was a great way to spend the long weekend!


See the Maine Trip post for last years more detailed report.

The Dynamic Duo run Dragons Tooth

Building a Pea Trellis for the Vegetable Garden

The trellis we had in the garden for peas and pole beans suffered a bit of a collapse last fall, so it seemed like a new structure might be in order. I did some research and drew up a plan. The goal was to create a structure that would be sturdier but also functional. With plan in hand, I made a list of supplies and then we were off to Home Depot. The stack of 12, 8 foot long 2x2 boards weighed more than I expected, so I revised the original plan to build two trellises instead of one so that they would be easier to move. We rotate what we plant in each vegetable bed each year, so it was important to have a structure that could easily be moved if needed. The revised plan is below.

With the plan in mind, I got to work. The first step was cutting the 8ft boards into the correct lengths.

Once the pieces were cut, it was time to start assembling.

Things started coming together very nicely.

Here is a picture of the first trellis finished and in the garden.

And here is a photo of the two trellises complete and in the garden ready for the peas to start growing.

Happy Gardening!

Lower Millers Funnel

New Backhoe Tooth

This afternoon I put the welder to the test by replacing a missing tooth on the Kubota B670 backhoe. The tooth is part number 70020-00781 and I had one shipped for $25:

The new tooth, part number 70020-00781.

The backhoe bucket missing a tooth (in the middle).

The new tooth ready for welding.

The new tooth after welding.

The backhoe is now back in business. :)