homestead ideas, page 2
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3. Fruit (and other) tree and shrub I.D. tags
While I try to keep track of what we've planted, after the third type of fig tree and about 4 years, I tend to lose track. The plastic labels from the nursery fall off eventually. I tried aluminum tabs, but the hole keeps wearing bigger until they rip off, too.
I resorted to stainless steel tubing from the metal recycler and engraved the planting info on the side, but it was hard to keep the weeds down between the pipe and the tree trunk.
So now I do this:
I use a flat stainless steel with a curl on one side. The tree or bush critical info is engraved with one of those little vibrating pen engravers. I pick one of the scaffold limbs to hold the tag. The tags are light weight, durable, and they don't seem to gouge the limb because they are wide and don't dig in. And this "loop" design hasn't blown off yet. I'll be offering these stainless steel labels for sale soon.
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4. "Goose Valve" gasoline dispensing valve
I had to include this here because I am proud of it! This is one of my inventions, the "Goose Valve (tm) gasoline dispensing valve". If there is any interest, maybe I'll put it into production. Can you see how it works based on the pictures below?
The idea is to prevent dangerous and unhealthy (to all us living things) fuel overflow, which happens frequently when re-fueling small engines. The valve is normally closed. When you squeeze it, it opens and provides a very direct path (pretty fast flow) for fuel flow. When you release the valve, flow stops instantly. This gives you finger-tip control of the fuel flow.
"Normally closed" means that knocking the can over, or having young children around, is less of a concern. The valve can be made stiff enough so that it is difficult for young fingers to open. There are essentially no moving parts to wear out. I have been using my prototypes of the valve for about 10 years on our farm. The retail cost of the valve with a compatible container would probably run about US$12-$20 depending on the production quantity. What do you think? Give me a call if you have any interest.
Dan Vorhis tel: 800.443.2607 dvorhis@whidbey.com
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5. Changeable Character Roadside Sign
We have a young, growing roadside fruit, vegetable and flower market, where we sell produce from our farm.
I got tired of painting new signs all the time, as crops came in and prices changed. So I built this changeable character sign.
The letters are made from 0.76mm (0.030 inch) thick stainless steel. I found it less expensive to have stainless steel laser cut than to pay retail on molded plastic letters. The letters are a simple. clean font and are 4 inches high. They are very sturdy, of course! I adhered the "hook" side of a commercial-duty hook and loop fastener like Velcro(tm) onto the letters. The sign facing is an all-weather carpet which was securely attached (exterior carpet adhesive) to the sign. The sign itself is a 3/4" exterior-grade plywood with galvanized strap hinges on top and a cedar frame around the sign facing. The frame is attached with stainless screws.
Because of the angle of the sign, letters reflect light and show up very well during the day. They are virtually invisible at night - when I drove home after first installing the sign, I thought someone had stolen the letters! A source of light would be necessary for the letters to be seen after sundown.
I made 8 of each letter, and included a whole bunch of things like ampersands "&", dollar signs "$", and even the "@" sign for our website. So far that quantity has sufficed for my limited vocabulary.
Pricing
Letters: 304 Stainless Steel, fine brush finish, 0.030 inch (0.76mm) thick, 4 inch high ARIAL font, VelcroŽ-backed. Please note that the brush finish is different than the mirror finish shown on the letters above.
One Set includes the following characters: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ@#$&()?,.
Price is $80 per set plus shipping. Call and tell me how many sets you want. Orders require pre-payment (check OK, but will require clearing before shipment).
Call for sign board pricing.
Dan Vorhis tel: 800.443.2607 dvorhis@whidbey.com
