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lake_wrangler
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Re: More Stuff

Post by lake_wrangler »

FreeFlier wrote: Fri Jan 29, 2021 1:10 am Nowadays guys like that use Optima batteries, which are totally sealed. Optima uses Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) so the electrolyte stays inside unless the case is cracked, and maybe even then. Very nice, very "hot", very tough batteries.

--FreeFlier
Yeah, I know about AGM batteries... I have two in my truck (for a 6.5L diesel). On a couple of occasions, they were drained completely of juice (not something you should normally do to a battery, I know... there were extenuating circumstances...) Once they were recharged, they were just fine.
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Post by Alkarii »

I picked up some mixing balls for my paints, because some of the paints are heavy pigments that like to separate. A couple of my paints, like my Tesseract Glow, don't like to mix at all when shaking the pot without a mixing ball, but after putting one in there, it mixed pretty damn quickly.

I'd also gotten a lot of work done painting my Young Bronze Dragon and Bronze Wyrmling minis, and my next one will probably be my Young Blue Dragon, since I have a pot of Kantor Blue air paint.

Also, I got tested for Covid today, since both of my parents tested positive for it this week. At this point in time, I don't have it, and no symptoms, since I tend to stay in my room and they stay in the living room watching TV.
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Atomic
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Post by Atomic »

Challenger007 wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 6:15 am paints with balls
?

I wonder if this is how perineum sunning got it's start, by working outdoors...
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Post by Alkarii »

So, I looked at some of the mail my dad brought in, and he didn't tell me what any of it was, so I thought none of it was really important.

It turns out one of the things was a piece of First Class mail, posted February 2, from the health department. The letter itself was dated for the 1st. How efficient to mail it a day later if it's important enough to require it be sent First Class, right?

It told me I had been exposed to the virus, on the date my dad tested positive... the 27th. It also told me to wait no less than five days after that exposure date to get tested, and that the earliest I should get tested was the 1st.

Someone in my home tested positive, and I'm not informed until a week after that I needed to wait until two days before I even got the letter to get tested, and that I shouldn't leave the house until the 10th, unless I develop symptoms.

So either I have a mild case of covid at the moment, or I just happened to get sick from the misadventures I had on Monday, when I ended up getting my work van stuck in the mud, way out in the middle of nowhere, and I ended up getting my feet soaked while trying to attach a chain to it.
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Post by Catawampus »

Alkarii wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:19 amI picked up some mixing balls for my paints, because some of the paints are heavy pigments that like to separate. A couple of my paints, like my Tesseract Glow, don't like to mix at all when shaking the pot without a mixing ball, but after putting one in there, it mixed pretty damn quickly.
In lab work, we would often use magnetic stirrers to keep solutions well mixed as we were working. We'd put little magnetic rods in the bottle/beaker/whatever, and then many of the hotplates would have spinning magnetic bits built into them. Turning on the stirring feature in the hotplates would make the rods in the bottles position themselves directly in the middle of the bottle and spin around quickly. Maybe you can find/build something along that line, so that you can keep your paints in proper condition while you work with them.
Alkarii wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 4:00 amSo either I have a mild case of covid at the moment, or I just happened to get sick from the misadventures I had on Monday, when I ended up getting my work van stuck in the mud, way out in the middle of nowhere, and I ended up getting my feet soaked while trying to attach a chain to it.
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Post by Typeminer »

Hope you're okay. Are you quarantining?
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Post by Alkarii »

Yeah, I'm going to be staying home gor a while.


On the topic of mixing my paints, the largest paint pots I've seen from that brand is about as tall as a shot glass, and those are for air paints, shades, and some of the contrasts, and those don't seem to need it that much.

EDIT: Update: no covid, but because I'm an essential worker, I have to go to work. My temp keeps going up and down, but so long as it's below a certain threshold, the scanner at work won't tell me to leave. The past month or so, I've only gotten two or three days of work a week.
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Dave
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Post by Dave »

Challenger007 wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 6:15 am Well, yes, it is better to stir paints with balls, because balls are able to qualitatively break the settled pigment. And at the same time, if you add a couple of balls to the paint, then there will be no lumps, even if they are. Of course, if the paint is not 100 years old.
And here we come to one of the great disagreements in history - should paint be stirred, or shaken?

Traditionally, of course, paint and whitewash and varnish and other coatings were always stirred - that was really the only practical way in the pre-industrial era. If you want to read something rather hair-raising, read about the traditional stirring method for making varnish. It involved heating certain oils to a simmer on an outdoor stove, then adding chunks of solid resin and stirring very gently until the resin dissolved and combined with the oils. The result is a polymer which will harden on contact with air. This job was usually left to the apprentices, because it was very, very dangerous - flash fires and explosions and spills of scalding oil were common. I imagine you learned to stir very gently, or you didn't survive.

Mixing paint by shaking is a much more modern tradition, post-Industrial-Revolution. There's the mixing-ball approach used in spray cans, and the "shake the whole can using a machine" system you find at paint stores.

As you might expect, traditional hand artisans didn't much like the mechanized approach, and stuck with hand-stirring. Revisionists who approved of mechanical agitation were often expelled from the carpenters' and varnishers' guilds.

Mechanized paint mixing was eventually popularized in the United States by a religious community which was famous for its manufacture of simple, unadorned furniture and who eagerly adopted early furniture-making machinery such as foot-operated lathes to speed their production work.

These folks were, of course, the Shakers. (There's no evidence to support the story that they invented either the aerosol spray can or the vodka Martini, though).
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Post by AnotherFairportfan »

Do i have to trot out the Swedish Sailor again?
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Post by Alkarii »

AnotherFairportfan wrote: Fri Feb 05, 2021 4:04 pm Do i have to trot out the Swedish Sailor again?
Is he anything like the Swedish Chef?

In regards to being sick... this is the weirdest illness I've ever had. My temperature has been going up and down repeatedly, with the highest temperature I've taken at 100.3, and the lowest just prior to my covid test, at 97.5. It's more common for me to have a temp of 97.7 or so. Headache all day, and a little soreness in my back and neck.

Something I find interesting about the Games Workshop's Citadel paints is that if you want a particular look, like, say, bronze or copper, you need to start with a particular base paint, then a shade, and if you want it to look really good, you would follow up with two different layer paints. For a polished copper look, they have a metallic red base called Screaming Bell, and you follow up with Reikland Fleshshade. After that, you'd apply a coat or two of Hashut Copper, and then Sycorax Bronze.

But if you start with Balthasar Gold, then Agrax Earthshade, followed by Gehenna's Gold and Auric Armour Gold... somehow that makes whatever you painted look like bronze.
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Alkarii wrote: Fri Feb 05, 2021 8:53 pm In regards to being sick... this is the weirdest illness I've ever had. My temperature has been going up and down repeatedly, with the highest temperature I've taken at 100.3, and the lowest just prior to my covid test, at 97.5. It's more common for me to have a temp of 97.7 or so. Headache all day, and a little soreness in my back and neck.
In the old days (and in some parts of the world today) they'd suspect tertian fever - a variety of malaria with a two-day cycle. However, considering the climate and weather, I sorta doubt that you've been bitten by a malarial mosquito.

Could be a mild strain of influenza, I suppose (or a strain that you have some immunity to, thanks to vaccination or prior exposure). Or, any of a bunch of common viruses.

A degree or two of temperature shift isn't all that uncommon, really. Popular belief to the contrary, our "normal" temperature doesn't stay rock-solid (let alone at a conveniently-fixed 98.6F).

I hope it clears up soon! The usual suggestions apply... aspirin or Tylenol, lots of liquids, chicken soup, as much rest as you can manage, and do not under any circumstances think of a green elephant!
Something I find interesting about the Games Workshop's Citadel paints is that if you want a particular look, like, say, bronze or copper, you need to start with a particular base paint, then a shade, and if you want it to look really good, you would follow up with two different layer paints. For a polished copper look, they have a metallic red base called Screaming Bell, and you follow up with Reikland Fleshshade. After that, you'd apply a coat or two of Hashut Copper, and then Sycorax Bronze.

But if you start with Balthasar Gold, then Agrax Earthshade, followed by Gehenna's Gold and Auric Armour Gold... somehow that makes whatever you painted look like bronze.
That sort of layering is going to add a lot of depth to the appearance. I'd guess that it also adds a sense of realism - the tiny variations in color from one spot to the next would make it look more like real metal with a patina, and less like a uniform color-coating.

You might even want to experiment with adding one or two thin layers of a clear coat just for grins.

A somewhat similar process can be done when finishing woods. I've played around a bit and have gotten good results using an old traditional method - several coats of a penetrating-then-drying oil (I use pure tung oil), let it dry and cure well, and then surface-finish with a few thin layers of clear shellac. This combination really seems to bring out the "flame" of the wood's grain. Some pieces will show a pronounced chatoyance ("tiger-eye effect") in the grain, with light and dark moving around as you view the wood from different angles. You just don't get the same richness by slapping on a coat of polyurethane and calling it done.
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Post by Alkarii »

Yeah, when painting the copper dragon, I found that the shade took away the metallic sheen everywhere I put it, which I didn't like, because (according to D&D lore) only the older copper/brass/bronze dragons will have the weathered look. And even though the youngest metallic dragons wouldn't actually have the shiniest scales, I made the bronze baby dragon I have look like it's unweathered bronze, with the significantly larger Young Dragon (6 years to a hundred years old) look like weathered bronze, with only bits of the wing membranes looking oxidized. I'll have to set up something so I can get some decent pictures of them so I can show you what I mean, but what I did was take a light blue green paint called Nihilakh Oxide, which has that heavily oxidized copper color, and put that on the wings, then put more of the appropriate shade over that once it had dried.

Turns out that was damn near perfect, because the Nihilakh was too bright, and I used more than I intended. Now it looks like it's actually made of bronze that maybe sat in the bathroom for a few years, getting exposed to shower mist and steam.
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Post by AnotherFairportfan »

Alkarii wrote: Fri Feb 05, 2021 8:53 pm
AnotherFairportfan wrote: Fri Feb 05, 2021 4:04 pm Do i have to trot out the Swedish Sailor again?
Is he anything like the Swedish Chef?
Kind of, come to think - "The Swedish Sailor Who Invented a Classic Italian Dish"...
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The pun jar is pointedly tapping its foot . . .

--FreeFlier
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Post by Atomic »

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, er, kitchen...

Once upon a time, and apprentice chef in Italy was learning about pasta from a master. The master's kitchen was well appointed, and the small restaurant it served was the first floor of the master's home. From time to time, the apprentice would be tasked to bring meals to the master's wife, upstairs on the 2d floor, and shuttle various items back and forth from the working kitchen to the apartment upstairs.

One warm, slow afternoon, the lunch crowd faded away, and the apprentice was told to take a salad upstairs. As usual, he went up the steps, not bothering to knock, and placed the salad on the table next to the wine and glass already there. He looked around to inform the Mrs. of the meal, but before he could speak, he noticed through an open door the lady of the house taking a nap on her bed - nude - and on her back.

Shocked, he quietly withdrew, and went back to work. He kept silent about the event, for he did not wish to embarrass the lady, nor anger the master chef. Still, the memory kept with him, and as a devout romantic, he had to do something to mark the event.

At last the day came when he had to prove his mastery to the chef, and his challenge was to make a new type of pasta. At once the idea came to him, on how to discretely memorialize the lovely sight he had that day, of a smooth, supple tummy bathed in afternoon sunlight through the window. He decided to celebrate her belly button!

And that's how Tortellini was invented.
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Post by AnotherFairportfan »

FreeFlier wrote: Mon Feb 08, 2021 12:38 am The pun jar is pointedly tapping its foot . . .
--FreeFlier
Nope. I didn't say it here, just linked to it.
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Post by Typeminer »

AnotherFairportfan wrote: Mon Feb 08, 2021 2:49 am
FreeFlier wrote: Mon Feb 08, 2021 12:38 am The pun jar is pointedly tapping its foot . . .
--FreeFlier
Nope. I didn't say it here, just linked to it.
'At'sa no good!
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Post by Dave »

Alkarii wrote: Sat Feb 06, 2021 5:34 pm I'll have to set up something so I can get some decent pictures of them so I can show you what I mean, but what I did was take a light blue green paint called Nihilakh Oxide, which has that heavily oxidized copper color, and put that on the wings, then put more of the appropriate shade over that once it had dried.

Turns out that was damn near perfect, because the Nihilakh was too bright, and I used more than I intended. Now it looks like it's actually made of bronze that maybe sat in the bathroom for a few years, getting exposed to shower mist and steam.
Please do post some photos!

I've read (in one of Hughart's wonderful stories of Li Kao and Number Ten Ox) of a classic Chinese painting technique called p'o mo. It involves painting with light-colored ink, then painting over it with darker ink. As the dark ink dries and become thinner, the light ink begins to show through, giving a sense of luminance and depth to the image. Sounds somewhat similar to what you achieved by layering... a subtle effect that paint-on-the-surface can't achieve by itself.
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Post by Hansontoons »

Dave wrote: Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:58 pm
A somewhat similar process can be done when finishing woods. I've played around a bit and have gotten good results using an old traditional method - several coats of a penetrating-then-drying oil (I use pure tung oil), let it dry and cure well, and then surface-finish with a few thin layers of clear shellac. This combination really seems to bring out the "flame" of the wood's grain. Some pieces will show a pronounced chatoyance ("tiger-eye effect") in the grain, with light and dark moving around as you view the wood from different angles. You just don't get the same richness by slapping on a coat of polyurethane and calling it done.

I use tung oil on the walnut shaft walking sticks I make. Five applications and I call it good. It is amazing how the wood grain comes to life when in sunshine. I've never put any shellac over the tung oil since I figure that after a while if the owner of the stick wants to bring back the "shine" after much use, they just do a little light sanding and then apply a couple coats.

I'll have to give a stick a shellacking to see how it works out. I've also made canes for elders, shellac on those might be a good application.

The photo just doesn't do the finish justice.

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Dave
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Post by Dave »

Hansontoons wrote: Mon Feb 08, 2021 5:06 pm I use tung oil on the walnut shaft walking sticks I make. Five applications and I call it good. It is amazing how the wood grain comes to life when in sunshine. I've never put any shellac over the tung oil since I figure that after a while if the owner of the stick wants to bring back the "shine" after much use, they just do a little light sanding and then apply a couple coats.

I'll have to give a stick a shellacking to see how it works out. I've also made canes for elders, shellac on those might be a good application.

The photo just doesn't do the finish justice.
Do you take commissions? That's lovely work! Turned as two pieces of different orientation - shaft and head?

The times I've used shellac-over-oil it has been for indoor, decorative items... display frames for artworks, turned bowls, and so forth. One of the limitations of tung oil is that (unless you treat it one way or another) you can't get a real gloss finish on the wood - it always has a slightly wrinkled surface and thus a matte appearance.

What I've done amounts to a "French polish" shellac applied over the cured oil - multiple very-thin layers of gloss shellac. It has worked out very nicely.

For a use-item such as those walking sticks I doubt I'd bother - the shellac finish could tend to get scratched up pretty quickly and you'd lose the gloss. Although... maybe go with a shellac gloss on the shaft, and leave the knob or handle as a matte finish. Otherwise, do as you say - leave it matte - it won't lose its appearance quickly and is easy to renew.

I did get a somewhat glossy finish with tung oil once, when I (re)discovered an old trick. if, after you wipe on a coat of it, you put the piece out in hot sunlight for an hour or two, the heat and UV will trigger a quick polymerization and it hardens to a gloss. Pre-polymerized "cooked" tung oil, such as is used in some gunstock oils, does the same thing.
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