How to save tomato seed

 

Mrs. Homegrown

 

Seeds fermenting in water. Not pretty, but pretty important! The jar got shaken up while walking it outside for its photo op., so it looks a little cloudy and messy. In your jar, you should see a layer of scum on top of the water.

I can’t believe we haven’t posted about this before–it seems like we have, but I can’t find the post if this is so. Perhaps we wrote about it in one of our books…the old brain is getting foggy.
It’s easy to save seed from your favorite tomatoes. Seed saving in general is actually a little tricky. You can’t just save the seed from any old vegetable in your garden and hope that it will yield plants like the parent. Cross-breeding is an issue. Professional seed savers use all sorts of sacks and screens and boxes to ensure that busy bees or flirtatious winds don’t make romance happen where it ought not. Otherwise you get acorn squash crossing with melons and who knows what not. It depends on the type of vegetable you want to save seed from–as well as what else you’re growing around it.
Tomatoes, however, are a pretty safe bet for seed saving. They are self-fertile, and the structure of their flowers makes cross pollination difficult. Our seed saving Bible, Seed to Seed, says that there are only three types of open pollinated tomatoes that you can’t save seed from (without putting them in isolation):

1. Currant tomatoes (L. pimpinellifolium)
2. The potato leaved varieties of L. lycopersicum
3. Any fruit born from double blossoms on Beefsteak-type tomatoes. Double blossoms are prone to cross-pollination.  You can save seeds from fruit that came from a single blossom

Odd, but simple! You can basically save seed from almost any heirloom/open-pollinated variety you’re likely to  be growing. You cannot save seed from hybridized plants. These are the type you are most likely to find in the nursery–plants bred for performance, not seed saving. This would include popular breeds like Early Girl and Better Boy and Sun Golds.  If you’re not sure if your tomatoes are hybrids or not, just Google the name. The Internet is wonderful that way.
The process of saving tomato seed is simple. All you have to do is rot off the protective gel sack which surrounds each seed. This gel inhibits germination, keeping the seeds from germinating while still in the tomato. In nature, the gel rots off while the fallen tomato sits on the ground. Here, you will speed the process along with some water. In addition to removing the gel sack, this fermentation process also kills many seed-borne tomato diseases.

How to Save Tomato Seed

1. Choose your best, tastiest tomatoes for seed saving.
2. Scoop out the seed pulp and drop it into a jar. Or just squeeze a whole tomato over the jar.   It’s best to just squeeze cherry tomatoes. (You can use food processor, too, if you’re doing big batches.)
3. Pour a little water over the pulp. It should cover the pulp by say, 2-3  inches or so.
4. Cover the container and let it sit for a few days (3 days, roughly–weather makes a difference), until white or grey mold forms on the surface of the water. If you do a big batch, you will smell the rot. Don’t worry about it–just keep the dogs away! Watch for the mold to form and continue on to the next step. The mold may be impressively fuzzy, or it may just be a slight opaque slick on top of the water. Don’t let it sit in this state too long, or the seeds will start germinating in their bath.* If you’re in doubt as to whether it is ready, it’s ready. Far better to stop a little early than to let the seeds accidentally germinate.
5. Pour off the moldy water, reserve the seeds.
6. Add clean water back to the seeds and give the water a swirl. Let it settle. Any bad seeds will rise to the top. If they do, pour them off.
7. Strain the seeds with a fine strainer (a teas strainer is fine for small batches) and spread them out to dry. They need to dry on something which will wick water away, because it is important that they dry quickly–otherwise they might germinate. Coffee filters work well, as do pieces of window screen, or paper plates. Tomato seeds stick to paper towels, so if you use those you may end up having to plant the seeds on their little bits of towel.
8. Once they are bone dry, transfer to envelopes or glass jars for storage. Be sure to label!

*I just lost a batch to germination. I blame the heat. It didn’t seem like they’d be fermenting that long, but after I drained my seeds I saw the tiny little white nubbins poking out of the seeds. Now I have to begin again. This is one reason why you should not wait ’til your last tomato to think about saving seeds. Also, this is a reminder to keep a close eye on your projects!

ETA: We’ve had some comments from what I’ll call the Paper Towel School of seed saving, and I thought I’d amend this post to point out that another method is to just spread some tomato pulp on a paper towel and let it dry out. The seeds will stick to the towel, so you store the whole towel and when planting time comes next year, you tear the towel into tiny pieces and plant the pieces. This does save steps. The method described above is the Official Method, and the method I’ve always used. I’ve not tried the paper towel thing myself, but it seems sensible. However, as  I understand it, the fermentation process in the water bath method kills diseases, so it is considered good etiquette to put your seeds through this process if you plan to share them with others.
Also check out the comments for more on the mystery of cross-pollinating tomatoes!

Read More Info 

How to save tomato seed

 

Mrs. Homegrown

 

Seeds fermenting in water. Not pretty, but pretty important! The jar got shaken up while walking it outside for its photo op., so it looks a little cloudy and messy. In your jar, you should see a layer of scum on top of the water.

I can’t believe we haven’t posted about this before–it seems like we have, but I can’t find the post if this is so. Perhaps we wrote about it in one of our books…the old brain is getting foggy.
It’s easy to save seed from your favorite tomatoes. Seed saving in general is actually a little tricky. You can’t just save the seed from any old vegetable in your garden and hope that it will yield plants like the parent. Cross-breeding is an issue. Professional seed savers use all sorts of sacks and screens and boxes to ensure that busy bees or flirtatious winds don’t make romance happen where it ought not. Otherwise you get acorn squash crossing with melons and who knows what not. It depends on the type of vegetable you want to save seed from–as well as what else you’re growing around it.
Tomatoes, however, are a pretty safe bet for seed saving. They are self-fertile, and the structure of their flowers makes cross pollination difficult. Our seed saving Bible, Seed to Seed, says that there are only three types of open pollinated tomatoes that you can’t save seed from (without putting them in isolation):

1. Currant tomatoes (L. pimpinellifolium)
2. The potato leaved varieties of L. lycopersicum
3. Any fruit born from double blossoms on Beefsteak-type tomatoes. Double blossoms are prone to cross-pollination.  You can save seeds from fruit that came from a single blossom

Odd, but simple! You can basically save seed from almost any heirloom/open-pollinated variety you’re likely to  be growing. You cannot save seed from hybridized plants. These are the type you are most likely to find in the nursery–plants bred for performance, not seed saving. This would include popular breeds like Early Girl and Better Boy and Sun Golds.  If you’re not sure if your tomatoes are hybrids or not, just Google the name. The Internet is wonderful that way.
The process of saving tomato seed is simple. All you have to do is rot off the protective gel sack which surrounds each seed. This gel inhibits germination, keeping the seeds from germinating while still in the tomato. In nature, the gel rots off while the fallen tomato sits on the ground. Here, you will speed the process along with some water. In addition to removing the gel sack, this fermentation process also kills many seed-borne tomato diseases.

How to Save Tomato Seed

1. Choose your best, tastiest tomatoes for seed saving.
2. Scoop out the seed pulp and drop it into a jar. Or just squeeze a whole tomato over the jar.   It’s best to just squeeze cherry tomatoes. (You can use food processor, too, if you’re doing big batches.)
3. Pour a little water over the pulp. It should cover the pulp by say, 2-3  inches or so.
4. Cover the container and let it sit for a few days (3 days, roughly–weather makes a difference), until white or grey mold forms on the surface of the water. If you do a big batch, you will smell the rot. Don’t worry about it–just keep the dogs away! Watch for the mold to form and continue on to the next step. The mold may be impressively fuzzy, or it may just be a slight opaque slick on top of the water. Don’t let it sit in this state too long, or the seeds will start germinating in their bath.* If you’re in doubt as to whether it is ready, it’s ready. Far better to stop a little early than to let the seeds accidentally germinate.
5. Pour off the moldy water, reserve the seeds.
6. Add clean water back to the seeds and give the water a swirl. Let it settle. Any bad seeds will rise to the top. If they do, pour them off.
7. Strain the seeds with a fine strainer (a teas strainer is fine for small batches) and spread them out to dry. They need to dry on something which will wick water away, because it is important that they dry quickly–otherwise they might germinate. Coffee filters work well, as do pieces of window screen, or paper plates. Tomato seeds stick to paper towels, so if you use those you may end up having to plant the seeds on their little bits of towel.
8. Once they are bone dry, transfer to envelopes or glass jars for storage. Be sure to label!

*I just lost a batch to germination. I blame the heat. It didn’t seem like they’d be fermenting that long, but after I drained my seeds I saw the tiny little white nubbins poking out of the seeds. Now I have to begin again. This is one reason why you should not wait ’til your last tomato to think about saving seeds. Also, this is a reminder to keep a close eye on your projects!

ETA: We’ve had some comments from what I’ll call the Paper Towel School of seed saving, and I thought I’d amend this post to point out that another method is to just spread some tomato pulp on a paper towel and let it dry out. The seeds will stick to the towel, so you store the whole towel and when planting time comes next year, you tear the towel into tiny pieces and plant the pieces. This does save steps. The method described above is the Official Method, and the method I’ve always used. I’ve not tried the paper towel thing myself, but it seems sensible. However, as  I understand it, the fermentation process in the water bath method kills diseases, so it is considered good etiquette to put your seeds through this process if you plan to share them with others.
Also check out the comments for more on the mystery of cross-pollinating tomatoes!

Read More Info 

How to save tomato seed

 

Mrs. Homegrown

 

Seeds fermenting in water. Not pretty, but pretty important! The jar got shaken up while walking it outside for its photo op., so it looks a little cloudy and messy. In your jar, you should see a layer of scum on top of the water.

I can’t believe we haven’t posted about this before–it seems like we have, but I can’t find the post if this is so. Perhaps we wrote about it in one of our books…the old brain is getting foggy.
It’s easy to save seed from your favorite tomatoes. Seed saving in general is actually a little tricky. You can’t just save the seed from any old vegetable in your garden and hope that it will yield plants like the parent. Cross-breeding is an issue. Professional seed savers use all sorts of sacks and screens and boxes to ensure that busy bees or flirtatious winds don’t make romance happen where it ought not. Otherwise you get acorn squash crossing with melons and who knows what not. It depends on the type of vegetable you want to save seed from–as well as what else you’re growing around it.
Tomatoes, however, are a pretty safe bet for seed saving. They are self-fertile, and the structure of their flowers makes cross pollination difficult. Our seed saving Bible, Seed to Seed, says that there are only three types of open pollinated tomatoes that you can’t save seed from (without putting them in isolation):

1. Currant tomatoes (L. pimpinellifolium)
2. The potato leaved varieties of L. lycopersicum
3. Any fruit born from double blossoms on Beefsteak-type tomatoes. Double blossoms are prone to cross-pollination.  You can save seeds from fruit that came from a single blossom

Odd, but simple! You can basically save seed from almost any heirloom/open-pollinated variety you’re likely to  be growing. You cannot save seed from hybridized plants. These are the type you are most likely to find in the nursery–plants bred for performance, not seed saving. This would include popular breeds like Early Girl and Better Boy and Sun Golds.  If you’re not sure if your tomatoes are hybrids or not, just Google the name. The Internet is wonderful that way.
The process of saving tomato seed is simple. All you have to do is rot off the protective gel sack which surrounds each seed. This gel inhibits germination, keeping the seeds from germinating while still in the tomato. In nature, the gel rots off while the fallen tomato sits on the ground. Here, you will speed the process along with some water. In addition to removing the gel sack, this fermentation process also kills many seed-borne tomato diseases.

How to Save Tomato Seed

1. Choose your best, tastiest tomatoes for seed saving.
2. Scoop out the seed pulp and drop it into a jar. Or just squeeze a whole tomato over the jar.   It’s best to just squeeze cherry tomatoes. (You can use food processor, too, if you’re doing big batches.)
3. Pour a little water over the pulp. It should cover the pulp by say, 2-3  inches or so.
4. Cover the container and let it sit for a few days (3 days, roughly–weather makes a difference), until white or grey mold forms on the surface of the water. If you do a big batch, you will smell the rot. Don’t worry about it–just keep the dogs away! Watch for the mold to form and continue on to the next step. The mold may be impressively fuzzy, or it may just be a slight opaque slick on top of the water. Don’t let it sit in this state too long, or the seeds will start germinating in their bath.* If you’re in doubt as to whether it is ready, it’s ready. Far better to stop a little early than to let the seeds accidentally germinate.
5. Pour off the moldy water, reserve the seeds.
6. Add clean water back to the seeds and give the water a swirl. Let it settle. Any bad seeds will rise to the top. If they do, pour them off.
7. Strain the seeds with a fine strainer (a teas strainer is fine for small batches) and spread them out to dry. They need to dry on something which will wick water away, because it is important that they dry quickly–otherwise they might germinate. Coffee filters work well, as do pieces of window screen, or paper plates. Tomato seeds stick to paper towels, so if you use those you may end up having to plant the seeds on their little bits of towel.
8. Once they are bone dry, transfer to envelopes or glass jars for storage. Be sure to label!

*I just lost a batch to germination. I blame the heat. It didn’t seem like they’d be fermenting that long, but after I drained my seeds I saw the tiny little white nubbins poking out of the seeds. Now I have to begin again. This is one reason why you should not wait ’til your last tomato to think about saving seeds. Also, this is a reminder to keep a close eye on your projects!

ETA: We’ve had some comments from what I’ll call the Paper Towel School of seed saving, and I thought I’d amend this post to point out that another method is to just spread some tomato pulp on a paper towel and let it dry out. The seeds will stick to the towel, so you store the whole towel and when planting time comes next year, you tear the towel into tiny pieces and plant the pieces. This does save steps. The method described above is the Official Method, and the method I’ve always used. I’ve not tried the paper towel thing myself, but it seems sensible. However, as  I understand it, the fermentation process in the water bath method kills diseases, so it is considered good etiquette to put your seeds through this process if you plan to share them with others.
Also check out the comments for more on the mystery of cross-pollinating tomatoes!

Read More Info 

HOMEMADE STEAM ENGINE

FROM TWO DOOR CLOSERS

   A door closer is extremely robust and has a precison cylinder and piston
which can make a steam engine.  They have a long piston with a rack down the
side that engages the pinion which operates the door-closing arm.  In normal
use, a spring closes the door that was pushed open, compressing the spring.
Basic parts of a door closer.
  The spring was removed using a 1 & 1/4" hole saw to cut into the back.  The
closer is full of oil which will run out, so be ready for that. (For steam
use, the cylinder is lubed externally.) Wash it well with dish soap, hot
water, a bottle brush and an old toothbrush. Turn adjustment screws in tight.
Modifications.
  The U-shaped pin wrench was made in order to remove the end cap above the
piston.  A 1 & 1/4" hole saw was used to cut into the pinion bosses on the
sides.  Stop when you see a ring turning with the hole saw.  A pipe wrench
unscrews the pinion bearings.  Remove the pinion.  Wash the cylinder again.
  The piston has a diameter of 1 & 7/16" (1.62 sq. in.) and a stroke of 2".
The closer can take very high pressure, so our test boiler was a 5-lb CO2 tank
heated using a weed-burner torch.
  Remove the piston and cut the housing 1 & 3/4" from the back vertically
down. Stop at a point 1" from the bottom.  Now cut horizontally from the back
to the vertical cut.
  Drill down to the ball valve in the piston and then push the ball out from
the back with a coat hanger.  Now drill all the way through 1/4" for the
central rod.  A 1/4" rod is welded to the piston flush with the boss on the
top of the piston.
  The end disk is cut out of 1/8" steel using a 1 & 1/2" hole saw, which also
drills a 1/4" hole.
One piston with end disk and pushrod.
  The end disk with the pushrod ears is tack-welded to the other end of the
1/4" central rod.  The wrist pin is 3/8" stainless round rod.
Air gun used for valves.
  Pneumatic air guns are used for the poppet valves.  The springs are removed
and the O-rings replaced with silicone ones which can take the higher heat.
They are lubed with silicone grease.  The end of the valve plunger is drilled
3/32" for securing to the valve rod.  The removeable part of two air gun
nozzles is drilled 1/4" for 1/4" copper line which is silver-brazed to it.
The nozzle piece with the copper line is then threaded back on with pipe
joint compound.  The inlet end of the gun takes a standard 1/2" pipe fitting.
Two inches of 1/4" copper line is JB-Welded (epoxy) into each cylinder cap.
The valve rod.
  Springs hold the valve rod against the connecting rods so that the pushrod
ears bump the valve rod to the other position.
The valve plungers are held in place by wire.
  There should be very little free play.  When a valve closes (out), the
pressure holds the plunger closed.  But a plunger that is pushed in (open)
does not have to be fully in to work properly.
The door closer steam engine.
Operation of the door closer steam engine.(3.5MB)
The modified pressure cooker boiler.
  We did not know what pressure the steam engine would require, but it turns
slowly at 15 PSI and spins almost too fast at 30 PSI.  So we modified this
thrift shop 4 quart pressure cooker.  The steam comes out the central fitting
that had the pressure-regulating weight.   Corks were placed in one hole that
is under the lid handle and the other hole that was where the missing pressure
gauge would have been.  They are pushed into the holes from the inside.  We
stop the pressure at 30 PSI, the usual canning pressure.
The pressure cooker boiler assembled.
  Put silcone grease on the gasket where it contacts the pot rim for ease of
opening. The mark on the gauge is at 30 PSI.  WARNING: At some point above
that the corks would be BLOWN OUT and the water inside would FLASH-BOIL!
  As it is this steam engine is just a school shop demo unit. If the steam
engine was to be used for serious work, two things need to be changed. The
pressure can be as high as the air gun valves are rated, 150 PSI.  And the
steam should be allowed to expand in order to extract the most work from it on
each stroke.  As it is the valves are fully opened (or fully closed) at the
ends of the stroke.  The inlet valve should be opened for about a fifth of the
stroke while the exhausting valve is open for the entire stroke.
PARTS:
  The door closers are Medium Duty Commercial units from Home Depot.
  The air guns are from Harbor Freight.
  The 5/8" shaft bearings are from a pneumatic wheel hub from Harbor Freight.
  The 1/2" flanged crank bearings are Grainger 1ZGE8.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SILVER-BRAZING:
Alpha-Fry 45%-silver-braze & flux.  (Ace Hardware)
  This is 45% silver and so is expensive, but the bond it forms is nearly as
strong as a weld at half the temperature. Clean the joint to bare metal, flux
ONLY where you want the braze (important).  Heat with a torch ONLY enough for
the braze to flow (dull red) and then remove the torch immediately.
Copper line brazed into the air gun muzzles.

Source

How To Make Your Own Home Drink Carbonation System

Sodastream machines are nice, but for the true seltzer addict, a do-it-yourself carbonation system can be cheaper, more flexible, and more fun

By

John Mahoney

    

DIY Carbonator

John Mahoney

If your friends and family are anything like mine, you've observed that home beverage carbonation is experiencing a bit of a renaissance lately. Perhaps you've seen the increasingly ubiquitous Sodastream machine on a countertop near you—or, more likely, heard its syncopated honk and pop-fizz release from across the room, announcing another fresh liter of water made bubbly.
The Sodastream is a nice machine in a convenient package, but for the true fizz addict with a tinkerer's predilection, it's possible to build your own home carbonator that's cheaper, more flexible, and ultimately more satisfying. Here's why you might want to consider your own DIY rig, and most importantly, how to put it together. It's easy!

It's Cheaper

The Sodastream machine's Achilles heel is its tiny, proprietary CO₂ tank. The company (formerly known as Soda Club) sells seven different home carbonation machines ranging from $80 to $200 (enhancements along the line are mostly cosmetic), but only offers CO₂ canisters in 14.5 and 33-ounce sizes. (The measurements refer to the weight of the gas.) Sodastream claims somewhat optimistically that these are good to make a total of 60 and 130 liters of seltzer respectively. What's worse, these tanks have a proprietary cap which can only be filled by the company. My local kitchen supply store charges a hefty $15 to swap an empty 14.5-ounce tank for a new one. Compare that to the $15 charged by my friendly neighborhood welding supply shop to fill my new five pound tank, and the economics start to come into focus. With luck, my five-pounder won't need a refill until early 2013, and if you've got the room, you can go even bigger on the tank. Web carbonation guru Richard Kinch yields over 1,000 liters from his 20-pound tank—and he likes his seltzer extremely fizzy (more on that in a minute).

It's More Versatile

The Sodastream is an appealingly simple gadget. But once you develop a refined taste for on-demand seltzer, you may find it somewhat limiting. Sodastream's CO₂ regulators come factory-set and aren't adjustable, meaning it's impossible to go beyond its pre-defined pressure limit. But with your home-built model's adjustable regulator, you can fine-tune the level of carbonation applied to your liquids. Mr. Kinch favors a tongue-blistering 45-50 psi fizz on his soda water, but if you want a milder 30 psi pop, you can adjust your gas regulator with the quick turn of a screwdriver or wrench. Adjustable pressure also allows you to apply the ideal amount of carbonation to different types of liquids. If you're charging up a batch of tasty gin fizzes (or starting your own modernist cocktail bar), you'll want to dial up the pressure to 45 psi, since alcohol can dissolve more carbon dioxide than plain water. I don't know the ideal pressurization level for cream gravy, but with your bountiful supply of cheap CO₂, you're welcome to experiment (please report back with your findings).
With a home rig you can also ditch the Sodastream's proprietary one-liter plastic (or puny 620ml glass) bottles and use anything with a standard plastic soda bottle cap. One liter, two liters—even those cartoonishly obese three-liter bottles—all will work with your DIY carbonator. Just make sure it's plastic—a blown plastic bottle is much preferable to flying glass shrapnel in the unlikely case of rupture.

It's More Fun

If you've gotten this far, I probably don't need to explain to you how satisfying it is to improve on a commercial product with a more economical machine of your own construction. But even if this isn't typically your thing (I'm by no means a handyman), a home carbonator is an exceedingly easy project that just about anyone can handle. So let's get started.

Parts List

• A CO₂ tank of any size. Empties can be found on eBay and filled at welding shops, paintball facilities, homebrew hobby shops and elsewhere. My five-pound tank was $100 filled at McKinney Welding Supply in Manhattan and fits into a small cabinet in my kitchen.

• A gas regulator ($39.95, Amazon). The regulator tames the high-pressure inside the CO₂ tank and outputs an even flow of gas at constant, adjustable pressure into whatever you connect to the other end. Nicer ones will have two gauges—one for the gas tank's pressure which will hit zero when empty, and one that measures the output pressure into whatever you're gassing up.
• A length of vinyl tubing (Five ft. with hose clamps, $5.49, Amazon). Tubing rated for pressurized applications is required—you'll want about a 1/4" thickness. You can also get braided vinyl line for a bit more durability. The barb fitting of a CO₂ regulator typically has an outer diameter of 3/8 inch, so tubing with an inner diameter of 5/16 inch is what you want.

• A ball-lock keg coupler ($7.50, Amazon). This piece connects to the other end of your tubing and holds back gas flow until the little inner valve button is depressed by the tip your Carbonator bottle cap.

• The Carbonator bottle cap ($11.43, Amazon). This ingenious cap screws onto your soda bottle and provides a valve on the other end that engages with the keg coupler to connect your bottle to the gas supply without leaks.
• A standard soda bottle filled with cold liquid (warm water doesn't dissolve CO₂ well). Any size bottle will work, so long as it has the common cap size found on a typical two-liter bottle of Coke. I can't resist quoting Kinch again here, who very admirably takes nothing in his system for granted: "If we could send a few back through time to the ancients, these bottles would be considered precious jewels reserved for the king's use."
Total cost: $163.94. It's a little more money up front than all but the most pricey Sodastream machines, but those $15 canister refills add up quickly. After a few months you'll be saving money (ultimately, the system produces seltzer at three or four cents per liter—not bad!). You can also lower your initial spend on the CO₂ tank by shopping eBay.

Assembly

Once you have all your parts, final assembly can be done in 10 minutes or less. Here are the connections you make:

1. Attach the regulator to your CO₂ tank by lining up the threaded ends of each. Unless you're the Incredible Hulk, you'll want to crescent-wrench the regulator's threaded nut tight, using PTFE tape, to ensure a leak-free seal.
2. Attach one line of hose securely to the ridged metal piece (the "barb") on the bottom of your regulator. To the other end of the tube, attach the barb of your keg coupler. Hose clamps should be screwed tightly into place over each tube-covered barb for a snug fit. Congratulations, you're done!

http://ak.c.ooyala.com/c2eXYwYjoAzuDR7KgXrnyaCIvx3mfzxR/3Gduepif0T1UGY8H...

Filling Your First Bottle

Now, for the grand finale. There are three points of gas control in our system: the tank's main on/off knob, the regulator's cutoff switch (right above the barb end (some regulators don't have this)), and the valve on your keg coupler. Gas only flows through the system when the Carbonator cap is snapped into the keg coupler (you can also reach inside the coupler and depress the valve with your finger if you want to torment the cats with a gust of CO₂). If you fill bottles frequently, you can leave the tank's main on/off valve open and use the regulator's cutoff switch to turn the gas on and off.

1. Bring the system up to pressure by opening the tank's main valve and the cutoff switch (parallel to the gas tube is "open"). Your gauges will spring to life. Turn the pressure adjustment knob or screw on the front of your regulator until the low-pressure gauge (the top one) reaches the desired level. I do my water at 35-40 psi. You'll want to dial up the pressure to 45-50 psi if it's fizzy cocktail hour.
2. Fill your soda bottle with cold liquid, but only up to the point where the diameter starts to recede at the top of the bottle. This leaves enough room for for the carbon dioxide.
3. With your Carbonator cap in one hand, squeeze the bottle until the liquid rises to the very brim. Holding it there, screw on the cap. We don't want any gas but CO₂ in our bottle.
4. With the gas turned off (using the regulator's cutoff switch), attach the Carbonator-capped bottle to the keg coupler by sliding the coupler's fitting up and snapping the bottle into place. Make sure it's on straight for a good seal.
5. Turn on the gas. Your bottle will puff out with a satisfying thump, inflated to the pressure of your choosing. Keeping the gas on, shake the bottle for 20-30 seconds to dissolve the CO₂ into the liquid. You'll see the regulator gauge fluctuate a bit as gas is dissolved—the system will keep the pressure constant, so as more gas is dissolved, more is passed into the bottle.
6. Turn off the gas, pop off the keg coupler, and unscrew the cap on your first bottle of delicious DIY seltzer. Ahhhhh!

And that's it! May you enjoy a long life of flexible, thrifty carbonation with your own home rig



Read More Info.

Building Your Small Cabin Frame Structure

 

 















For the small cabin wall frame, use regular 2"x4" spruce timber.
Again, follow the same 24" (or 16") o.c. stud spacing - from the cabin floor frame to the wall and roof studs, with proper openings for door and windows.
1). The easiest way to construct a wall frame is by using the cabin floor as a building area.
Construct a frame for each wall, with openings for windows and door as per your design layout. Small Cabin wall frame construction - considerations to keep in mind:

• When constructing the cabin frame around door and windows, make sure there is about ½" spacing between the door/window and wall frame.
• When using fairly wide windows (>2 ft), use reinforcing headers at the top (see picture to the right).
• Ensure that your cabin has sufficient ventilation openings. Use two ~4"x4" or ~6"x6" openings on opposite walls to ensure the flow of fresh air and to allow moisture to escape.

  Tip:
  Make sure your ventilation openings are covered with 1) mosquito net, and 2) stronger metal wire bar/mesh (a dollar store item). I had an incident when squirrels ripped the mosquito net and went inside the cabin and made quite a mess.

• If you plan to do some interior finishing of your small cabin, you should add an additional stud in each corner to act as a support for nailing of interior panels.

2). Once you have built a frame for each cabin wall, raise them one by one (a task made much easier with the help of another person), level well vertically (very important), then nail together and to the floor frame. 3). Construct a roof frame, by first nailing roof joists to the wall studs. Follow the same stud spacing (16") used throughout the cabin, placing roof studs at the juncture of wall studs.

Tip:
Make sure your roof hangs over the walls at least 12". This will help divert rain water away from the cabin.

At this time you may also place facia boards to cover openings between roof joists. You don't have to use facia boards if you're planning to cover outer parts for the cabin roof joists later (as per picture to the right).
4). Nail sheets of 3/8" OSB or plywood onto the roof frame, overhanging it ½"-1" over each side of the roof frame. 5). Once the small cabin frame is erected, cover it with moisture repellant fabric (Typar, Tyvek or similar) or tar paper. Just staple it to the frame studs and use tape to seal all ends. 6). Nail the wall sheeting panels to the frame studs.
I used SmartSide Panels.
Since panels will be exposed to the outside, use 6d spiral galvanized nails. Use 6" max perimeter nail spacing and 12" max field (on inner stud) nail spacing. 7). On the cabin roof, cover OSB/ plywood sheets with plastic film, tar paper or tarp.

Tip:
Some building suppliers offer free used sheets of tarp.

8). Install asphalt roof shingles.
You can find installation instructions on the shingles packaging.

You can also choose to use corrugated galvanized steel or plastic materials for the cabin roof. However, I've been told that metals sheets are quite noisy when it rains. Asphalt shingle was also cheaper.

Painting

Painting of the cabin is important - not only for its appearance - but to protect your small cabin from rot and decay.

• Use exterior acrylic latex paint for painting SmartSide panels
• Use oil (alkyd) exterior paint for painting outside parts of the unprotected timber.

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How to make a Hydra ROV

How to make a Hydra ROV by Interspec

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ocean is indeed a mysterious and fascinating area of research and until recently the ocean depths have
remained largely unexplored. Extreme levels of pressure, negligible light levels and frigid temperatures are
conditions that make unaided exploration impossible. With the onset of the industrial age and the
development of specialized robotics, the ocean depths are now finally being researched. The study of the
ocean presents opportunities for biologists, oceanographers, and engineers. Robotics is playing an advancing
role in exploration, construction, and monitoring in subsea environments. In particular, underwater remotely
operated vehicles (ROV) play a critical role of underwater operations.

ROV is a tethered underwater robot, common in deepwater industries. ROVs are unoccupied, highly
maneuverable and operated by a person aboard a vessel. They are linked to the deck by a tether, a group of
cables that carry electrical power, video and data signals back and forth between the operator and the vehicle
Industrial underwater ROVs have enormous production costs due mainly in part to expensive specialized
underwater components. The cost of such an ROV is typically much too high for students, school or hobbyists
to incur. In order to increase student interest in oceanography and engineering, Interspec R&D has indentified
a market opportunity to develop underwater vehicles that can be deployed in educational environments with
goal of increasing student exposure to this technology.

Interspec R&D is a local company that is involved in the design & development of mini ROV systems,
underwater cameras including concepts in diver equipment housings and sub-sea Lighting systems. Interspec
has offered the students at the University of Victoria an opportunity to develop the electronics and software
for a modular control system that for a new ROV prototype. Collaboration between Interspec and the
University of Victoria is a powerful partnership and both groups offer unique expertise in different areas of
engineering.

Well will be publishing our project in steps so stay tuned

our web www.interspec.org and blog.interspec.org and you can post your own projects at http://www.facebook.com/groups/133693978008/

 

 

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