I don’t recall how long it was. 15-20 meter? I made it myself from climbing webbing and carabiners.
I did enjoy it. I used it for most of a summer and got half decent at it. It’s a steep learning curve but great fun.
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My son is in Chicago attending a week long introductory Stereotomy class. Stereotomy is a classic building method that focuses, though not exclusively, on roof and roof extension (e.g., dormers) design and construction. Here’s the part that should blow your mind - It uses no math! None. No adding, no subtracting, no geometry and/or trig! Numbers are used, but not manipulated. They may be used, but only for measuring lengths. For any of you who are builders, it’s literally a different way of viewing virtually anything human made.
This is a continuing education class being paid for by his local (not Chicago). Union strong!
So anyways, class began today and he sent me this picture. I’m crying as I think about it. That’s my father’s drafting scale that he used when he was in high school and beyond. He graduated in 1926. I am so emotional right now trying to type this.
This roof was designed and built by the fellow teaching Eli’s class. He designed it using simple drafting tools (straight edge, a couple of drafting triangles, pencils and virtually nothing else) and built it using tools any journeyman carpenter would own. I’m confident I own all the tools that would necessary to build it but no clue where to begin.
One more. This is the inside structure of a final exam project designed and hand built using stereotomy. The entire project stands about 3’ high. He passed.
I wouldn’t have the vaguest idea where to begin even thinking about designing or building this or the roof, and I have framed a couple of roofs myself (using no trusses). I would have so no idea…
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That is so amazing!
I can tell you’re proud, and that’s really cool too.
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You got that right! I am freakin’ proud!
It is so amazing!
The day after my son sent me the photo with my dad’s scale, he sent me this photo of his first project. Here’s the information he was provided - the footprint of the pyramid, the pyramid’s offset point as a point on the floor, and two of the sides’ angles. With that information and using only a straight edge, an architect’s 45 degree triangle, a pencil (and possibly an eraser, but I don’t think so) and an Xacto knife, he made that 3D model. That model would be the first incarnation of the actual pyramid if it were to be built.
Part of stereotomy is taking a 2 dimensional drawing and making an exact 3D model of the project. It’s how Notre Dame was built originally and it’s how it’s being rebuilt now. It’s my understanding that they’ve made all new tools for the rebuild. They’re just like the originals since they are redoing the same exact project, but the originals were likely worn out. They were just tools!
One last thing. I saw this and it just blew my mind. This is a rendering of a small balcony that was actually built in Paris in the 17th or 18th century as I recall. The house no longer stands, but holy shit, can you imagine what that must have actually looked like in real life?! That was the work of a true master craftsman!
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It’s Friday and my son’s stereotomy class is over. The class built a mock up over the course of the rest of the week.
These pictures are best seen on a larger screen rather than a phone or even a small tablet. Size matters.
This is an offset hip tail with birds mouth and intersecting unequal planes. For you non-carpenters, the chunk that has been cut out is the birds mouth. That right there is so amazing!
This is the plate/base for the structure they built. He said the joinery was an entire class in itself.
This is the structure they built. The bottom of the main beam is what’s in the top pic. You can see the entire thing is off center. It is so complex!
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That’s really great work. I’m sure you’re very proud of your boy. 
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I can’t seem to find bagel bites. Been to a few grocery stores and target and the like, can’t find them anywhere. Can anyone explain this?
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I have seen bagel bites as recently as last week at my local Food Basics. They’re not in the freezer cabinets where I would expect but rather in the open-top floor freezers near where they sell the $10 value bags of potato wedges and onion rings.
Of course this has zero bearing on your local grocer and where they could be stocked in the store. I’ll try to snap a photo tomorrow to confirm the sighting.
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Howdy folks, got a random question that doesn’t really fit into another thread. I use this stuff as my wetting agent 
. It sat in storage for about 2 years and when I opened the bag back up it was mostly a brick and got more and more wet over the last 3 months since I started my grow. It’s still usable I guess, but it’s a pain to chisel off a chunk to throw in my nute mix. I tried putting it in a jar in my oven for a little while today but it just looked like it was melting as shown here:
Anybody have any ideas? Is it feasible to dehydrate it again or do I just have to use it in putty form now?
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Make caramel apples or do dabs. 
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damn that’s nasty yet funny as hell at the same time!
@HeartOfDankness mayhap mix it up with a specific volume of filtered water so you end up with a bottle of concentrate you can store in the fridge to use?
I can’t imaging measuring that out would be easy without a 0.01 scale and a lot more patience than me.
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I would toss it
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Supply chain issues, am I right? Oh that’s not a thing anymore.
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It looks like a lighter colored solidified Alaskan Fish Fertilizer. I still use it! Just gotta shake a lot, lol.
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You might try throwing a bunch of desiccant packs in there and sealing it up.
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Not a bad idea right there^
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I would use it. Just put it in an old bottle and mix with tap. Use it in your medium. Not like you can over use Yucca.
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man… this heat. the room i’m in is like 20 degrees higher than it is outside, and that’s with all grow lights off and a shitty air conditioner. i almost collapsed 2 or 3 times, had to ice my body to cool down. i feel bad for all of you living in arizona and elsewhere with the heat. it’s cooled down a bit but i have to sleep outside so i dont wake up being cooked alive. 
it’s supposed to be 100 tomorrow
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