Period Woodworking Tools.

Diderot.

Brace and bit.

Bucksaw.

The auger and gimlet I made from some old brace bits.

Paring Ladder.

http://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/paring-ladder-not-shaving-horse/

Pump Drill.

Making Rakes.

The stail is the long straight handle used on hoes and rakes. I make mine with a hatchet and drawing knife, but as you can see there is a stail engine.

This tine former can also be used for making wooden pegs for other construction work.

Off Topic. Advice for off the grid solar power users.

Most people who follow this blog have realised by now the connection between 18th century living history/historical trekking and survival. So the other posts I make on here are not so far off the track in that respect. My wife and I have been living off the grid for over 30 years now, and we were living up in Elm Cottage without any electricity for at least 20 years. Hence once in a while I like to share some of my learnt knowledge with you, in the hope that it may improve your standard of living, or at least help prepare you for hard times.

Many people when going off the grid think that only the power source changes, not their lives. This is NOT the case. When living off the grid you need to change the way you used to think back in town, your lifestyle needs to change. You do not have to live without comforts, but you do need to adapt to your new way of living.
You can't use an electric stove, it will drain and kill your batteries. You can not leave the television turned on all day when not actually watching something and you may need to limit your viewing hours depending on the solar system you have, and the weather conditions.
If you have any questions or suggestions I have missed, please contact me.

For Solar Power Users Off The Grid.

·         Really hot weather here in Australia, so check the water/acid level on your batteries frequently. Hot weather and high charging rates will deplete the level of distilled water in your battery cells.

·         Only use distilled water in your batteries.

·         Do not overload your batteries regardless of weather conditions; only use items that your solar system was built to handle.

Items Not To Use.

·         Electric stoves and ovens.

·         Electric grills.

·         Electric irons.

·         Electric hot water systems.

·         Electric toasters.

·         Electric lawn mowers (other than those with self battery power).

·         Electric jugs.

·         Electric kettles.

·         Clothes dryers.

·         Electric heating appliances.

·         Air conditioners.

·         Flood lights.

·         Electric welders.

·         Compressors.

·         240 Volt water pumps.

·         Anything that uses a lot of power.

Do Use.

·         The highest star rating appliances you can get in Television monitors, washing machines and fridges.

·         LED lighting.

·         Wood burning stoves and heaters.

·         Outdoor washing lines and indoor washing racks.

·         Large windows and fly screens.

·         Curtains to shut out the sun on very hot days and keep the heat in on cold days.

·         Security screen doors so you can leave the doors open on a hot day.

·         Solar powered battery operated security lights that run on their own separate solar panels.

·         A back-up generator that will charge your batteries and power the house at the same time.

 

Do Not:

·         Leave lights on.

·         Leave appliances tuned on when not in use.

·         Leave the fridge door open for any longer than necessary.

·         Use the washing machine or any other high power usage appliances on overcast days.

·         Run your batteries down below the recommended levels. If you do, use your generator to charge the batteries until they are back up to the recommended specific gravity and voltage levels.

·         Use power tools for any longer than necessary. Consider alternatives for these electric tools, such as foot powered or hand powered.

·         Allow trades people to use your power. Inform them before hand that you run your house on solar power and they need to supply their own power generator for power tools and other electric appliances.

 

Do.

·         Check your batteries specific gravity, amps input, and volts frequently in winter. Record these levels along with the date, weather conditions, and what type of appliances you were using the day before.

·         Keep your batteries up off the cold ground. Batteries work more efficiently when hot, solar panels work more efficiently when cold.

·         Clear the snow off your solar panels as soon as possible in winter.

·         Place your solar panels so you can reach them without going onto your roof if you live in snow country.

·         Make sure trees and bushes are not shading your solar panels at any time of the day.

·         If you need to, use high power usage appliances during sunny days whilst the sun is shining, e.g. washing machine, electric drills etc.

·         Close your wood burning stove down when not in use. This will save you wood and will not add to the heat in summer.

Off The Topic, Off The Grid. Or, A Bug-Out Retreat.

My new DVD is now available and can be ordered from the same "Buy Now" button to the left of this post.
Off the Grid DVD
Price: US $20.00
Discounted Price for Multiple Quantity Orders: US $18.00
Quantity:
Off The Grid DVD. The author shows you around part of his property & family home. He talks about how they live off the grid with their own water supply, grey water disposal, composting toilets, solar electricity, cooking on a wood fire stove, heating, gardening, water saving methods & more. Plus 9 other videos related to self-sufficiency.

DVD Contents:

Off The Grid, plus 9 more videos:

Making Tallow 1,2,and 3

Making cordage from plant fibres.

Making dipped candles.

Traps and Trapping: 

• The Figure 4 trigger and the cage trap.
• The small game snare.
• The preditor snare.
• The trail snare.



Off Topic-Off The Grid

I have had many requests to produce an Off The Grid video/DVD. As I have lived off the grid for over 30 years this was not hard to do. So the Off The Grid DVD will be available soon, & I will advertise it on this blog when it is ready for sale. The video itself plus 10 other videos that will be on this DVD are already completed. All I have to do now is send a hard copy off to my agents & await confirmation that it is ready to go.
Off The Grid itself contains information on basically how we live Off The Grid, our water & power supply, sewage & grey water disposal, lighting, gardens, cooking, washing & more. For those of you that may be interested, I will include the Index of videos below:

Some info on Grease Lamps on Frontier Carpenter.

http://frontiercarpenter.blogspot.com/2011/12/imagine-how-much-we-depend-upon.html

Editor's Note: I used to melt our fat in water to make the tallow. Sometimes changing the water several times after letting it cool. Salt & heavy particles sink to the bottom, leaving the refind tallow on the surface. We lived for 20 years or so without electricity & used tallow candles & fat lamps for lighting. These were the days of early to bed & early to rise.

Keith.

Cobbling Soles On Moccasins & Shoes..

Cobbling Soles on Moccasins & Shoes.


Cobbling soles on woodland Indian moccasins is not traditional, but it is an easy way to attach & replace extra soles. The moccasins I wear in the woods have extra soles stitched on, but my work moccasins have cobbled soles because the soles wear out faster & need replacing more often.

My iron last secured in my post vice.

You need 2 inner soles plus the outer sole or half soles. One inner sole to attach the outer sole to, & one inner sole to protect the feet against any shoe tacks that may not be laying flat.

This half sole is worn through & is being pulled off prior to replacement.

A new half sole is marked for cutting to shape.

I cut the sole to shape with my jack knife. Now it needs tacking in place.

I start hammering in shoe tacks from the toe back, alternating from one side to the other to keep the sole even.

The finished half-sole tacked in place.

When repairing the heel I just turn the moccasin round on the last & push the toe of the last into the heel of the moccasin, rather than using the smaller heel dolly on the last. But for shoes you will need to turn the iron last round & use the heel dolly to repair the heel.

Here you can see the tacks inside the moccasin where they are bent over at the tips when they are hammered through the leather & come in contact with the iron last.


All that is left to do now is to replace the second inner sole, which just slips in to the moccasin for extra protection for your feet.