The 25 mm long M4X0.7 finally arrived this week.
Here are the steps to re-size the screws to 20 mm length:
Step 1: Cut router plate screws to proper length
Step 1a: Gather up the necessary tools and materials
(i) Vice
(ii) Hacksaw
(iii)Marker pen
(iv)File
(v)Foot rule
Step 1b: Measure the length of the Router plate screw needed.
Step 1c: Mark a circle on the screw where it needs to be cut.
Step 1d: Setup the screw in a vice to cut it to proper length
Step 1e: Cut the screws with hacksaw
Step 1f: Measure the length of the cut screws and file the bottom
Step 1g: Test the screws on router
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Simple Pleasures
You might be wondering, “What do candles have to do with self-sufficiency?” There is more to self-sufficiency than just surviving off the land. It’s also about freeing oneself from the material world in which makes us unhappy even anxious at times. Two nights ago, my family and I sat on the couch in the living room with nothing more than burning candles to light up the room. As we watched the glowing and flickering candlelight we suddenly felt calmer and more relaxed. Even our oldest son sat still in my husband’s lap the whole time which is a surprise. Normally during the day he’s bursting with extreme energy and constantly running around. My husband and I enjoyed a hot cup of tea over long conversations. It was very pleasant. We blew out the candles at 9:05 PM and I took our son to his room and put him to bed. When I came back downstairs and began working on dishes I noticed that my breathing had changed. It was deeper and steadier than I had ever felt. I had never felt so calm like that before. The next day our son told me how he enjoyed himself and that he wants to have more candlelight time. As self-sufficient people, it is the simple things in life that we enjoy most.
Seed Saving
In this day and age when job losses are becoming more frequent food is a major concern for everyone. What if one can have food without worrying about having a job to pay for it? That is nothing short of possible. This peach came in a box of six and was purchased at our local farmer’s market. The peach seeds have been rinsed off and pat dry with a paper towel. They sat at room temperature to dry for 1-2 weeks and then placed inside an enveloped and sealed in a glass jar. The day we set up our farm these seeds will be sown and grown for our food. We’ll never have to worry about worry about jobs or income ever again. Our crops are the income that will feed us for the rest of our lives.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Housekeeping the Way It Was Meant To Be
There have been many commercial cleaning products that I have used to clean the house which doesn’t exactly work the way it was supposed to. To top it all off, I didn’t feel any safer to use cleaning products which had strong, toxic fumes and were not environmentally friendly. The warning labels were just plain scary to read. I had to find a solution to this problem as soon as I could for the sake of my family’s heath and well being. Finally, I found a cleaning solution that put my fears to rest. This solution consists of 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to 1 gallon bucket of hot water. An extra bucket of hot water was used to rinse out the vinegar solution as it would dry out and damage the sponge mop, according to the directions for this vinegar and water solution. With any cleaning process, of course, there has to be ventilation. I began by sweeping away all dust and other particles that were visible. As I started using this solution on my vinyl floor I was amazed at the results. It cleaned much better than any other product I have ever used in my life. I couldn’t even smell much of the vinegar as I was cleaning. Using a pitcher of warm water, I poured a little bit on the floor at a time, mopped up the water, and wrung it into the water bucket, not the vinegar bucket. Then, whatever dampness was left I wiped it up with rags and let the floor air dry. When my job was done there was not a scent of vinegar to be detected and my floor looked better than ever. I can now clean my house with peace of mind. I will continue to search for more environment friendly cleaning mixtures that will keep my family healthy and happy for years to come.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Sunrise in the pot
Watching sun rise over the horizon is a wonderful experience. Today I will use sunrise as a metaphor.
It has been little over two months since I posted my first blog entry on tomatoes growing in pots in our front yard. Today these two tomatoes have completed a full circle. I can see a reddish hue at the bottom of both the tomatoes. These are the first two tomatoes maturing this season. Two months of hard work and we have these two beauties teasing us to pick them up and cook something delicious.
The joy of watching the reddish hue first thing in the morning today was as wonderful as watching the first rays of sun in the morning.
The sun, the rain, the bees, the workers at the planting pot making factory, the makers of Miracle Grow fertilizer and the curious onlookers have contributed to this success. Thank you goes to all of them. We have a great team here. Hope to repeat this success for rest of the tomatoes this season and more in next season.
It has been little over two months since I posted my first blog entry on tomatoes growing in pots in our front yard. Today these two tomatoes have completed a full circle. I can see a reddish hue at the bottom of both the tomatoes. These are the first two tomatoes maturing this season. Two months of hard work and we have these two beauties teasing us to pick them up and cook something delicious.
The joy of watching the reddish hue first thing in the morning today was as wonderful as watching the first rays of sun in the morning.
The sun, the rain, the bees, the workers at the planting pot making factory, the makers of Miracle Grow fertilizer and the curious onlookers have contributed to this success. Thank you goes to all of them. We have a great team here. Hope to repeat this success for rest of the tomatoes this season and more in next season.
Metric measurement in a world of US measurement system
I have never thought about the type of screws in my power tools, let alone the measurement system used the measure them.
Things changed this weekend. This weekend I was planning to
I have an inch-system micrometer which measures thickness in fraction of inches. I used this micrometer to get an approximate measurement of the screw. I thought the screw is 5/32” thick at its threads. I could not find any odd fractional machine screw at my local Lowes. I picked up a few 8-32 ¾” screws. When I came home and tried the new screws on router, they did not fit.
The next step was to do some online research on this particular screw. eReplacement parts.com has a nice picture of all the router parts for DW621
Fig # 7 in the above link is the screw type I was looking for but twice its original length.
Once I get this screw, I will use a hack saw to cut it down to the required length.
I also ordered a metric drill bit to drill a hole for this 4mm screw.
Next week I will be experimenting with the metric drill bit and metric screw from amazon.com.
Couple of interesting links on metric measurement system, I came across during my research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_metric_screw_thread
http://www.france-property-and-information.com/imperial-system-and-history.htm
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The Fruits of Our Labor
We started working on these tomato plants back in May 2009. With daily watering, powdered eggshells as plant food to provide calcium for growth and strength, some fish fertilizer, and weekly pruning we have had a successful season. Today we have an excellent crop of about 50 tomatoes total. We see more tomatoes coming out almost everyday. The best part about this is when I need tomatoes for cooking I don’t have to go to the store. I can walk right out the door, pick however many I need, wash them off and use them. We know that we are getting the best quality food because we grow it ourselves. It was a fun activity to do and even my oldest son gets involved in watering them. It makes me happy to see that we can sustain ourselves through gardening. We’ve only just begun. There’s much more to come in our efforts to be self-sufficient.
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