Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Classic Lyman Wooden Boats
The Lyman Boatworks of Sandusky Ohio began building lapstrake (alternatively known as "clinker built" ) wooden boats some time in the late 1800's. I would hazard a guess that Lyman made more lapstrake boats than anyone by the time they effectively ceased wood boat production in the early 1970's. Although Lymans are/were most popular and numerous on the Great Lakes, it's a testament to their construction quality and popularity that they were also fairly common on the Atlantic seaboard. There were quite a few of these around Cape Cod Bay when I was a kid and I have always loved the look of these boats. The mahogany and teak woodwork was first rate and they just look "right". Oddly enough during the late 1970's early 1980's when most wooden boat manufacturers disappeared without a trace in the rush to build Corox bottle Bayliners and other Kia's of the nautical world, the Lyman factory was left more or less intact by an entrepreneur intent on resurrecting the brand as an upscale fiberglass manufacturer. Amazingly he never sold off or disposed of all the patterns, jigs, plans, tools etc. of the old wooden boat factory. For whatever reason his plan never came to fruition and he sold the whole works, kit and Kaboodle to a Lyman enthusiast named Tom Koroknay of Lexington Ohio. Tom has made a going concern out of restoration and parts services for vintage Lymans (after all, the parts are as close to original as you can get). A quick view of the astounding number of beautiful Lymans for sale on his site demonstrates his success. With the possible exception of Chris Craft's wooden speed boats, I doubt that there are as many well preserved wooden boats of any brand. Check it out, not only are there an incredible array of gorgeous wooden boats, but compared to a modern carpeted plastic boat, they are in general relatively cheap.
http://www.lymanboat.com/default.html
Oh, and BTW, for those wondering what the red thing on top of the boat above is, it's a wind powered spinner designed to frighten off seagulls.
http://www.lymanboat.com/default.html
Oh, and BTW, for those wondering what the red thing on top of the boat above is, it's a wind powered spinner designed to frighten off seagulls.
Don't Forget The Salt
"Salt is what makes things taste bad when it isn't in them."
- Anonymous
A Salt Box Is A Thneed that Everyone Needs:
My good friend Genevieve turned me on to the simple joys of a salt box years ago and I am forever in her debt. I keep the one pictured above right next to my stove and I have to say it is one of the handiest additions I have ever made to my kitchen. I got the one above from Fantes, which unfortunately doesn't carry it any more, but the Japanese Pottery outfit Bee House makes a nice salt box with a wooden lid which you can get on line from Black Ink.
http://www.blackinkboston.com/store/show/19-xxx1-bee-house-saltbox
Special Bonus Rant:
Good old NaCl Salt has gotten a bad rap these days with the home cook which has resulted in a lot of unnecessarily bland food. It is true that most folks have too much sodium in their diets, but it's probably not coming from salt added by the home cook. A B.K. Chicken Caesar Salad had 1600 grams of Sodium, that's nearly a teaspoon of table salt ! Processed foods are loaded with sodium, wanna lower your sodium ? Stop eating processed crap, but for gods sake, allow me to have a bit of salt on my eggs, Mrs. Dash my ass.
- Anonymous
A Salt Box Is A Thneed that Everyone Needs:
My good friend Genevieve turned me on to the simple joys of a salt box years ago and I am forever in her debt. I keep the one pictured above right next to my stove and I have to say it is one of the handiest additions I have ever made to my kitchen. I got the one above from Fantes, which unfortunately doesn't carry it any more, but the Japanese Pottery outfit Bee House makes a nice salt box with a wooden lid which you can get on line from Black Ink.
http://www.blackinkboston.com/store/show/19-xxx1-bee-house-saltbox
Special Bonus Rant:
Good old NaCl Salt has gotten a bad rap these days with the home cook which has resulted in a lot of unnecessarily bland food. It is true that most folks have too much sodium in their diets, but it's probably not coming from salt added by the home cook. A B.K. Chicken Caesar Salad had 1600 grams of Sodium, that's nearly a teaspoon of table salt ! Processed foods are loaded with sodium, wanna lower your sodium ? Stop eating processed crap, but for gods sake, allow me to have a bit of salt on my eggs, Mrs. Dash my ass.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The Pan Handle - Get a Grip
One of the most overlooked aspects of cookware design is the handle. Most cookware gearheads focus on the material and construction quality of the pan. While these are certainly important, too much focus on these aspects leads one to buy matching multi-ply unobtainium luxury pans in a set from the local dept. store. There is no doubt that these pans are decent pans and in capable hands will get the job done, but All-Clad and the others often blow the most crucial detail, the handle. The handle is the user interface of the pan, and a crappy user interface leads to a crappy user experience and outcome. To the average person, the handle on the sauce pan above looks all wrong, but in point of fact, it is the best I have ever used. The extreme angle of this pan's handle is probably it's most noticeable and important feature and you will appreciate it on a crowded stove. Why? well, the angle keeps the business end of the handle cool and out of the way of adjacent pans. The angle also makes "flipping" sautees easier and allows you to tip the pan to monitor the cooking without putting your face over a hot stove or burning your knuckles. The slight U shaped cross section of the handle makes for a comfortable and stable grip. At 6' 4" 200lb's, I am a pretty big guy, but even I at times have trouble lifting at tilting a heavy and full commercial pan with one hand and a spatula with the other. This is where this design really shines, it's shape and angle allow you to grip the lowest part of the handle from the top (with a pot holder!), resting the length of the handle under your forearm cantilevering the weight of the heavy pan. That is a trick that just isn't possible with most other designs. Additionally, most foodies equate riveted handles with quality and durability, and most of the cookware heavy hitters use rivets to attach their handles. In reality a welded handle is every bit as strong as it's riveted counterpart and has one advantage, it's more sanitary. The microscopic crevices of the rivets provide a home for bacteria whereas the smooth internal surfaces of a pan with a welded handle is much easier to sanitize. The only disadvantage of this style of handle is that it is more difficult to store. I'm not sure this style of handle is French in origin, but I do notice it most on traditional French pans. In case you are wondering, the pan above is a Sitram "Catering" line stainless commercial flared sauce pan made in France.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Yu-Be Lip Balm
I picked this stuff up at the local Whole Foods on a whim, it's without a doubt the best lip goo I have ever used. It's supposedly based on a 50 year old Japanese recipe, which, based on my sushi bar experience, probably means that I am better off not knowing exactly what's in it. So if you are a recovering Carmex 12 stepper, I suggest you give this a try.
Friday, September 25, 2009
My Lame LOTR LOL
Took this picture of the Chipmunk that live's under our patio keeping a watchful eye on me.
This scene from Lord of the Rings was all I could think of:
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The Right Way To Hold a Chef's Knife
Yes, there is a "right" way to hold a chef's knife. Properly held, your knife will be much more stable, safe and comfortable - trust me, your fingertips will thank you. The photo below illustrates the proper way to hold a chef's knife as seen from the underside of the grip.
Notice that the knife handle rests in the nook between the meaty sides of your palm (touch your pinky and thumb together if your unsure of what I mean). This hold gives you much more strength when bearing down on the cutting surface while at the same time minimizing stress to the wrist. The other key part of the grip is to pinch the blade firmly between thumb and forefinger with the remaining fingers jammed up tight against the end of the handle or blade bolster (this one doesn't have a bolster). Holding the knife firmly in this manner gives your knife stability in all directions and will prevent it from slipping no matter how slick or greasy your hands might be, eliminating a major cause of cuts. Of course none of this does a damn bit of good if the fingers of your other hand are under the knife's business end, so always remember to grip the food in a birds claw grip leading with your knuckles as shown below. Though this is more awkward and difficult than proper knife grip, it really helps decrease wounds. This is so important that I once worked for a chef who would rap your hand with his knuckles HARD if he saw you holding the food fingertips first. The only thing the proper knife grip will do if you hold the food incorrectly is make sure you cut the finger neatly off, which also prevents it from getting in the way later, so you decide.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Best Garlic Press On The Planet - Hands Down
Bring The Noise ! - Chrysler-Bell Hemi Powered Air Raid Siren
At 138db @ 100 ft these Chrysler V8 powered sirens generate what is purportedly the loudest signal sound ever made. How loud is 138db? Well, in Stereo terms 30,000 watts of sound energy, that's nearly twice as loud as the noise you'd experience 50 ft. away from jet fighter taking off at full boil. For a video of one of these being run up at a car show hit "more"
More...
[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.youtube.com/v/gfmTDGDNMgc&hl=en&fs=1&]
Sunday, September 20, 2009
ICON FJ - Handcrafted Toyota Land Cruiser Built With Modern Technology
Check out their site, the ICON FJ really needs to be seen to be believed.
Link : ICON 4X4
Friday, September 18, 2009
HP ENVY - New Premium Laptop and Shameless MacBook Pro Ripoff
Let's get this out of the way first and stipulate that the ENVY line's design is a total ripoff of the MacBook Pro design, shamelessly so actually. And why should they be ashamed? The MacBooks are by far the best looking, best constructed laptops on the planet and there is no shame in learning from your rivals. Isn't imitation the highest form of flattery? These new HPs actually out gun the Mac books in a few ways (and they ought to, they are a newer design after all), the 13 inch version ponces into the local Starbucks sporting what is purported to be the brightest screen on the market, a core 2 duo low voltage processor and a very slick, ultra thin extended battery pack that magnetically adheres to the bottom of the case, kinda like an ultra thin docking station. All said it's nice to see HP move their design into more restrained territory than their current, sometimes over-blinged, mass market consumer lineup. The new ENVYs also come with "premium" support, whatever that means. And herein lies the rub, I was a victim of the HP ZD7000 debacle and have not bought an HP product since. Like the new ENVY line the ZD looked great, but was poorly engineered where it counts, poorly documented and almost unsupported. So, as much as I like these new HP's I will wait and see. HP has been on somewhat of a roll since Carly F left (coincidence? I think not) but time will tell if they have really changed.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Microsoft's SaaS Office Offerings, First Look Today
MS released a technical preview beta today, and the broader world got a good look at what the web version of Office is going to look like. Color me impressed, at least from a look and feel perspective, the apps look very much like their desktop cousins. I have only seen very small previews, but if the apps perform like the desktop cousins, Google is going to have a tough row to hoe. We'll see how this whole thing plays out, it could turn out that the online versions suffer from the complexity and bloat of the desktop versions and that simple really is better. Still though, Enterprise customers will likely flock to the MS solution, if for no other reason than familiarity. It remains to be seen how much MS will attempt to charge and how or wether they will have free versions and if those suck. If Google can spruce up apps, I am still betting on "Free" winning the day. This could turn out to be similar to the ISP wars in that the winner will be whomever can afford to give away the product the longest without going bust. Should be fun !
Check out the Info World coverage for more info
Happy 50th to the IIHS
Wow, I would have bet money on the old iron vs. the new
plastic fantastic..Check it out, very intesting !
[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.youtube.com/v/5CU-k0XmLUk&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Chevy Small Block - The Worlds Best Engine
There have been many great engines in automotive history, a good many of them more elegant, precise, light or powerful, but none can match the Chevy Small Block in terms flexibility and longevity. Okay, so I am a Yank, and this is a Yank motor for Yank tanks, but name me one other motor that has had more wide ranging applications. The VW air cooled 4 might come closest, being installed in everything from airplanes to a fleet of replicars. Still, the Chevy small block kicks it's ass back all the way to Wolfsburg and back again (and I say this with two 'dubs in my driveway). The beauty of the small block is it's typical American interchangeability, and that my friends is how the good guys won Dubya Dubya Too. The small block is nearly the perfect size to fit almost anywhere @ roughly 2' x 2' x 2' and it has been fitted almost everywhere. Jaguars with Chevy V8's ? Check ! Lambo's with small blocks? Check !, Airplanes? Check !, Boats ? You Betcha !. How about a chainsaw ? Yah Sure Ya Betcha. Triumph TR4 Check, Check, and Check ! Find me another engine that can do all that. Then find me one that where cranks, pistons and conrods, can be interchanged to suite your needs.
Start with the 327 (the best IMHO)
-Change the crankshaft to add more stroke (they all had the same conrod) and viola the 350
- Use the crank from a 283 and you get the awesome 302 Can Am race motor.
- The mix the stroke of the 327 with the bore of a 283 and behold the 307.
The culmination of the small block's displacement growth was the 1970 siamesed bored small block 400 ci. Oddly enough (though they had almost mythical status during my 80's childhood) these relatively rare motors had the glass jaw of the 1968-85 small block family. from the factory they had the lowest compression ratio and HP specs of the small block family, though hot rodded versions are a different story. Personally I abhor GM big block V8's and oddball Pontiac, Buick, Olds and Caddy V8's. I am sure they each have their merits, but none can match the out of the box rightness of the Chevy small block. Maybe it's the fact that they are all "over-square", my current car uses the Audi 4.2 V8, which is an incredible engine, with space age technology, but even at full boil, it doesn't sound or have the "snap" of a Chevy small block.
Lee Valley / Veritas Cyclone Lids
Economical Woodworking Dust Control
I cottoned on to using my shop vac to control dust from
inside renovations some time ago. It makes a huge
difference and eliminates a lot of cleanup time and makes
the work go faster since one is not constantly running
outside to cut or shape stock. The one wrinkle in this
otherwise good solution is that even a big shop vac fills up
in no time and the filter gets clogged easily. In a pro wood
shop, the dust is collected by a central vac and larger
particles are separated out by a specialized cyclonic
separator. These are big and expensive systems and are
impractical for use in the home. On a whim a few days ago
I went looking for a solution on the internets. I found these
at Lee Valley tools, I have not tried one yet, but will be
definitely ordering one soon. I have had great luck with the
vac/tool switch I purchased from them earlier, and have
had good experiences with their products before. If you
are in need of any oddball woodworking tools, give them a
shot, they have practically everything.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tattling Tootsie - Putting the Tootsie in Tootsie Roll
Today, during my 3rd floor stairway restoration, behind one of the old plaster walls, I found this, an old newsprint cartoon booklet featuring a character named Tattling Tootsie. After rescuing it from the Wet/Dry Vac, I set it aside with a few other interesting things that were back there (i.e. a blue wooden game piece and game card with the state name Missouri printed on it). The back of the booklet looks like this:
After I had finished the work at hand, I consulted the Googles on the subject of "Tattling Tootsie" and Broman-Gelon. And interestingly enough, this is what I came up with:
"The genesis of the company that has been a familiar part of the American cultural landscape for nearly a century can be traced to the Brooklyn kitchen of a newly arrived immigrant from Austria, Leo Hirshfield. In 1896, after having already developed such successful products as Bromangelon, a jelling powder that would later serve as the prototype for modern day gelatins, Hirshfield concocted a thick, chewy chocolate mixture, which he divided into bite-size rolls, wrapping each piece with paper to keep it clean and sanitary . The hand wrapping--believed to be an industry first--enabled Hirshfield's product, named "Tootsie Roll" after his daughter Clara "Tootsie" Hirshfield, to stand out among the competitor's candy-counter offerings, which were sold by the scoop out of large barrels or jars . The new penny candy was an instant success with the children in Hirshfield's Brooklyn neighborhood. He soon realized that he would need more capital to promote and expand his candy business to meet the growing demand. To that end, he merged his operation with a local candy manufacturer, Stern & Staalberg, just a year later. Sales continued to boom, and by 1922 the company, renamed Sweets Company of America, was listed on the New York Stock Exchange."
BTW: Here is the text from one of the booklet pages:
" I never tell lies" said mother's child,
"But the other night my pa was wild.
For dinner was late and he scolded like fun-
but he smiled when ma brought him Bromangelon'
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Some Other Interesting Sawhorse Designs
Here are a couple of other neat sawhorse designs I happened upon that seemed like contenders
A Three Legged Sawhorse.
From what I gather, sawhorses with three legs were at one time quite popular, no doubt for the same reason three legged stools are, that being stability on uneven ground. While I could not find detailed plans for this one, it's pretty self evident how it hangs together. Check out the site for different views and some of the unique ways this unit can hold stock. Being tall, I would want it to be much higher which would probably require increasing the leg's splay for stability.
A Classic Sawhorse from Fine Woodworking
This is a nice elegant design which has detailed
CAD plans available free online. A bit fancy for
everyday use, but a very nice design non the less
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Some Sawhorses
I was getting tired of my wobbly old sawhorses and went searching for some good designs online, I found I wide variety of designs ranging from complete hack jobs to what could best be termed heirloom sawhorses made with fancy joinery and expensive wood and finishes. I do most of my work singlehanded and I am always clamping stock to saw horses in one orientation or another, so a design with a number of faces is important to me. I cobbled together the design above in Google Sketchup combining some of the best features from the designs I found online. The modified I-Beam work surface is comprised of a verticle 2x12 and two horizontal members, one 2x4 and one 2x10, both providing anchor points for the legs. The 2x4 horizontal surface secures long stock clamped to the verticle 2x12 for planing or routing or whatever. I haven't put the finishing touches on the design yet, and I am tempted to make the top horizontal board wider to allow you to clamp horizontally oriented stock more securely and to possibly provide more reinforcement via trusses or shelves to the lower legs, after I finalize and build I will post an update.
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