Home, Hobby, Lawn and Garden Projects

[Major_A]

LOL, someone voted for the Vein Finder 3000....I...Died...Again!!! Was that you...lol, offsetting things?

That's good, I'm glad people are enjoying this thread. I accidentally ran across the number of views about 2 days ago and it said 339. I had to go make a movement after I saw that number, I was shocked.

I really need a laptop or to get them damned rack servers running on the back end of the house so I can watch the net. I've been hovering over a soldering torch and the windows watching for my query and making more ammo, also up all night Friday cause of sleep issues and had to work first on Saturday. BTW , I was up to goto work at 11 or so Friday, went to work at 3, got off at 11pm, did a few things, and went to bed at around 1:30 or so...then laid there till 6:00 am to be at work at 7. I finally had some sleep at about 3 to 7 or 8 saturday...today and look it's 20 till 4am?! This job is killing me with these hrs. If I post weird dumb stuff that's not making seance, ask me to clarify because I didn't realizes I misinterpreted what I meant, alot!
I started to post in a previous about me being worried about obtaining offensive video of some type but it all came out out wrong and gibberish like, lol

If I happen do get an offender on video, and I think it might be gruesome, I'll run it by Lamron first unless everyone all at once just starts posting "We don't give a crap, show us death and mayhem."

And Redrock, you called Macgyver in a few posts back, I just thought I might say that if anyone has a robe with a broken or missing tie wrap tie, I just so happen to have, and grab tonight some 5/32 vacuum tube hose for a warsher thats works very nice. Made in USA even.

[RedRock]

This whole thing is sounding sort of like a Rambo meets Woody Allen movie!!! I don't know what to expect next!!!

[Major_A]

Well, if this helps and adds to the story...., my wife was still awake when I got home tonight.

As I thrushed...<---the sound of my jacket...technical term lol, through the house. and started grabbing equipment, flipping light on, wife yakking, emptying food bowl for birds.

She played it off like she was talking to the cats, but was still talking to me as I came back inside... O.o

Next threw darts, "Yup, uh huh" I said, and set camera on highchair in kitchen, she says "Well it's getting late, I'm gonna have a smoke."....while I'm stepping over the kid proof block while leaning the blowgun up against the wall, she's looking outside.

"Are you going outside?" "No, I'm just watching for something." lights all pointed in one spot like a nuke is going off RIGHT THERE, but nothing cept the pile of food I kicked back into one pile and added more....muhahahahaha

I think she finally noticed all the small lights pointing in the same direction at the same spot cause then she said "LEAVE the animals outside alone!" as I quickly made my way into the living room to the computer telling myself "LA LA LA LA LA....what was that?!?"

and she says I never listen. sheesh...must be a defense thing built in after a few years of marriage.....lololol

[Death's Shadow]

Sorta like the nag switch us men have built in by nature. She nags at us, the switch activates turning off the ears, and activates vocal center to say "yes dear".

I have repeatedly warned my wife of this feature to no avail. Have told her the more she nags the more efficient the nag switch becomes, and that much less likely I am to do what she wants done.

LOL

[Major_A]

Majors War Journal Log entry #1 (stardate -315904.6 oops wrong movie...silly me)

It's about 2am and getting bored standing watching out kitchen window. Undead Possum shows no sign of interest in the frost covered bait,.. I mean stuff I threw into the yard for the birds to eat, despite repeated attempts of dumping hot water onto the food to waft the smell outward. Note to self - Need to find bar stool for the right price to gaze out window.

Did take note of valid hunting validity, prowess, and ingenuity of other success, and made note of surf and turf hunting ability!

[Major_A]

Of coarse I'm wandering back and forth between kitchen an living room and happen to wonder if opossums have a call?! If you do, post a wav file or something. However, I did a search on possums calls and this is what turned up....



Opossums

The animal that is most frequently live-trapped is the lowly opossum. Why? We're not sure. They are wonderfully beneficial and have very few bad habits. Don’t like snakes, especially poisonous snakes? Then don’t evict the opossum; it is eating the snakes that would otherwise be living there. A opossum call usually goes something like this:



I have a opossum under my deck and I want it trapped and taken away.



Why do you want to get rid of it, what’s it doing?



Well, it’s not doing anything except driving the dog crazy. Besides it’s a big, ugly, nasty rat like thing and I just want it GONE!



Wow! O.K., first, let me give you some reasons why you should be happy there’s a opossum under your deck, and then if you still want to relocate it I’ll help you do that. It’s under your deck for a reason, probably because it feels safe and there’s plenty of prey either under there with it or very close by. Do you have a problem with snakes or mice?



Well.......no.



Great! The opossum is doing its job. If you relocate it, there will be no one there to eat the opossum’s prey. In addition to snakes and mice it eats lots of insects, especially grubs, so you could also have increased plant damage.



But it’s incredibly ugly and looks like it could be carrying a host of diseases.



Yes, I agree they’re exceptionally ugly. However, opossums are very clean animals even if they have a coat that often looks unwashed. Like cats, they are constantly cleaning themselves. As for disease, their body temperature is slightly lower than other mammals and it is believed that while they might occasionally fall prey to an illness, they do not transmit disease.



Sometimes I see it out in the middle of the day, doesn’t that mean that it’s sick?



Probably not. Nocturnal doesn’t mean that they never come out during the day. Young animals are often seen out exploring and adults will sometimes shift feeding time if they learn the cat food is only available during the morning.



Well, it sometimes scares me when I go into my backyard, it shows me every tooth in its mouth and hisses at me. It stands its ground and is so aggressive I just know it’s going to bite me one day.



Despite the fact that the opossum’s defense display is ferocious, it almost never attacks. Instead, it runs or “plays dead”. The fainting reflex (which can last an hour or more) is often accompanied by the release of a musk like substance that makes it smell dead too.



A couple more questions may follow and at that point, the caller usually decides to let the opossum remain under the deck, or they are too embarrassed to admit that they still want it gone. I prefer to believe that they are going to coexist happily ever after.
wrande.org/FreqAskedQuestions.htm

Now, after reading all that, the thing that caught my attention was snakes and mice?! This is new to me??? I keep finding they eat bugs and berries despite what I know to be true.

Close people have told me they...

• Eat out of same dish as cats and kittens, later finding headless kittens.
  
• Outright kill full grown cats, chance encounter or whatever...same farm as chickens!!!!
  
• Kill chickens after trying to get eggs or otherwise.
  
• Come in back door and carry off baby kittens.
  
• Removal of finger from human...this I can understand after what he told me, but this just confirms viciousness.
  
• In my case, the only thing that could have gone under or over the garden fence area without damaging it.
  

I have personal friends and work acquaintances that have had opposuums as a problem [as above] , but I can't seem to find anyone else that has had the same or similar experience, bad searches maybe?

My point is is that I know opossums will kill when you wouldn't expect them to, but find no mention of it anywhere on the net. All the info counterdicts what I know to be fact...what the hell?!

Anyone else know of such things?

[RedRock]

Some sci-fi writers have alluded to possums in stories of ancient civilization, wherein the domesticated hunting/defense animal was not a dog, but a possum, because of their abundance, ferocity, and intelligence!

If you haven't read the wiki on the possum, it has a lot of interesting info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum

You might find this amusing--I read that whole possum call thing with wrong ideas: 1) I was halfway through before I realized the call was a phone call, and not a sound made by the animal to attract a mate, etc., and 2) I was to the last use of the word "deck" before I realized it was "deck" and not "desk"; I thought it was funny when the caller was saying a possum was under the desk and the info person was saying are there any mice or snakes nearby (to the feet under the desk, I was thinking, and now I was wondering if this was a Mr. Obvious Bob and Tom type call!).

[Major_A]

Actually that's what I was trying to find was some possum audio and found that lol. I was also trying to find more cases of possum killed my whatever.

Thanks for the wiki link. I don't know why I never checked it before for that...I check it for everything else. Frogs and birds too,... I'll be dipped.


I did just happen to find this though it is old, this guy had his Pekin ducks killed also. I might have to add my problem to it, it might help someone else.


Quote from blog site -

This is my first varmint of the season. I don't think he's the real culprit. So far they've killed my last two Pekin ducks and all my chickens are in total lockdown. I'm afraid it's going to go after the geese next so I may camp out up there tonight with the .22 and a flashlight. Dangnabit Varmints!
www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5533056&postID=111092501982464088&page=1

[Death's Shadow]

Don't know if it will go after a goose. Geese are fairly aggressive, and put up a good fight.

[Major_A]

That's kinda what I thought when I read that, but who knows...I never would have thought one would fight with a duck.

If I ever catch a live one, I'll let it go at the park around all the baby geese and see who wins, the mama goose or the possum, then we will know.

[Major_A]

OK, time for some updates...yes...finally some blood shed!! hehehe

Dart manufacture has grown...most cones trimmed, ready for a kamikaze don't ya know lol... they look like little paratroopers hehe


I finally got my Dremel EZ545 Diamond cutting wheel from the hardware store @ a rear end reaming price of over $21 and change.
This wasn't really bothering me too much other than I saw on line I could get it for $13 something before tax...UNTIL, I got home to use it. That little ez in front of the number means I had to spend more money because they figured out a way to make it EZ'ier to change bits at the end of the dremel.

So, after trying to figure out how to use a mandrel I already had, and fail. Go back to store in next few days and I decided to let them know that when I stand there and watch them look up stuff that I know what msrp stands for, and the number under it COULD be what they COULD go down to maybe?...not sure, but I do know it wasn't their cost. Anyway, no hint taken, yesterday shelled out another $13 and change for the EZ402 EZlock mandrel for the dremel. That was alot of lunch money I had to save! Few bucks here and there!! Thanks ACE Hardware®...not to mention names oops

OK, mandrel/cutting wheel complete set.
Works great, now I can make steel broadhead darts larger than 3 inches. #2 #3 and #4 going down order, dart #1 is a #5 Lance yarn darner, nickel plated even btw lol, using the eye end, as the slot I cut in the spoke darts...note the nice, non fuzzy picture and life cereal box
10webs.com/digitalmilitia/Majors/Blowgun/100_4836 resize.JPG[/img]
Also the original wood verminator had an improper mix of old epoxy. The originals are 2 inches shorter for now.

How do they shoot? Well, pretty darn good, but keep in mind, I didn't lock the gun in the vice which I should have to eliminate swaying. 21' shooting range test. From tip to cone end, 9" steel dart #4 in pic, and 11" wood verminator dart #6 in pic.
10webs.com/digitalmilitia/Majors/Blowgun/100_4838.MOV

Now for your viewing pleasure...you may now golf clap, laugh hysterically, or whatever, BUT in my defense...I didn't shoot my eye out ;D Actually when I did this, I was wondering why I didn't show how hard they where stuck in plain ol cardboard, that would have kept my other hand out of the way. /mommeeee
10webs.com/digitalmilitia/Majors/Blowgun/100_4839.MOV
Didn't mean to lead you on...lol my blood I shed...I can hear Walter?!?! "Dumbass...hehehehehe"...."with a sharp metal steeeck"
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Wife bitchen' cause I'm hunting out the window in cold weather. - still free, till she finds out.

Cutting tools - Roughly $35 /insert smiley taking it/

Tetanus shot/doctor visit - $66 - it'l heal...just guessing from last time. yes it was deep this time too.

Opossum pelt - Better be priceless

[RedRock]

First dart was quite a bit off, based on the red laser dot, but the second was right on the money. What was the difference, or is the gun that innacurate?

[Major_A]

You know I didn't really realize that till you pointed it out thank you! I thought I was just moving too much bc when I shoot out the window I can stabilize it on the sill.

After further review of previous video, I came up with this expensive, patented wall clamp that still wobbles.... ;D



BUT!! It held still well enough to tell me that my tube got flexed somehow...well, I know how...lol it's from leaning it against the wall. I unflexed it for now...lets hope it keeps. If not I'll just goto the Hardware store and get another tube and retire this to the wall decor. ;D
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I also seemed to have mounted this thing too low also bc I was hunched over and couldn't breath through it right... so another laughable shot as I plant my first accidental oops shot - shshshshshsh!
10webs.com/digitalmilitia/Majors/Blowgun/100_4852.MOV

It was actually bent enough that as I rotated it, I could actually see the laser dot on the wall through the tube. When I first put the laser on, it actually made a light laser line straight down the tube so I knew that to aim it just under the dot, worked great!

I'm going to have to make a wall hanger for it as I have read this can happen. However this is the biggest one I've ever made so it's never been an issue. For future reference, anyone know the average PSI of breath through a ¾" tube?
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I'm still working on this post yes lol, not sure what time I started it till I post it I think, but now it's 2am and now have a new wall hanger for my 6' blowgun by the back door... patented wall clamp disassembled. All previous versions of blowguns on the wall to left of in house target. In house target soon to be larger bc of accidents... not knowing I will do it again tonight
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This next part I've been working out for about 2 weeks now. Red...you said something in a post, or the chatbox abvout back to the salt mine awhile back and I replied to that comment, but never said why so I thought I might let you know I run a bead blaster for sometimes an hour at a time, so you can imagine what sort of trance state I might be going into to work things out in my head...lol, it's zen like after awhile, just thought I'd add that.

At any rate, the fishing blowgun video I posted, had inspired me. However, after seeing some other videos and some, I must say, some really horrible versions/ designs, I actually based mine on an actual harpoon gun!
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The first version I had on paper I worked out, was a fixed version to the tube itself for, well like fishing control. After some more sandblasting, I got to thinking, I cut myself on fishing line waaaaaay back when, and thoughts of Monty Python Holy Grail "Message for you Sir.." came to mind. So this is the reason for the removable harpoon, no stretchback directly at person... ie, this would be how you shoot your eye out lol.

I had this rush welded version done last Friday, but never got a chance to try it out till now.

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Introducing, the MGD - Major Gash and bleed Dart retrieval system! Shop smart, shop S-mart, YA GOT THAT? ;D

Unplanned 2nd oops!...forgot about drag! BUT! in my defense, I was one handed lol...sorry about the Blair witch version.

Lets see ya run off with my darts now ya piece of st possum...lol, just don't tell wife I hit wall again.

10webs.com/digitalmilitia/Majors/Blowgun/maiden_voyage_harpoon_attachment/100_4853.MOV

edit - Wow, forgot to add that this was 6lb test line and also ask, what do you think would tie the possum down if the dart didn't come out? lolololo...probly nothin short of 4 or 5 of those maybe? but the lines are strong as I have caught many a large fish on that size line including 2ft catfish and a 19" lg mouth bass on an ultralite pole.

[Major_A]

I'm sry Redrock, I was lost in the last post bc of me doing stuff and getting up and kid waking up and whatnot. That's what the lines were for, so I could try to remember I completed a section of what I was trying to say lol.

You said something about accuracy. Yes these are very accurate if you use the proper average size dart for the gun caliber you have.

This here should give an idea of dart weight, lengthy and distance. He does mention that in this size caliber that 7" darts work pretty good...going off top of head here, but keep in mind, I'm trying out experimental lengths and weights. Also there are better up close examples of this stuff.
www.polar-electric.com/Blowgun/Target_Shooting.html

This video here isn't quite what I was looking for but He's got apporox. 6" darts and a 6' blowgun...and got to here and heard him say bottle O.o ...he killed a whole beer?!?! The small animal targets at the beginning is what caught my attention.
The video


The pic...but not the one I was looking for.



About 5 days ago, the kid was eating in his highchair and he's just learned the word uh-oh REALLY well. I was just pummeling darts with the orange wirenuts and cotten on the back and every shot he just kept saying uh-oh. Anyway, I was aiming in the same spot over and over, but not for super accuracy, and after the first 7 shots, I went and collected what I shot and began again, and by now, my other girl had sat down to munch on some food and whatch. I got to the 5th shot, and I planted one right inside the dart flight of one already in the target board! It was a chance luck shot, but it was pretty cool to see it happen non the less.

Redrock, or anyone!. You being a guy and all. I'm sure you have enough parts in the garage or shed to make one of these no matter the length?!
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Here is a small challenge to get you hooked...and on the office sneaky too..teehehehe

Cut the Flugalbinder off of an old shoelace, you know, the one the kid is wearing that doesn't go through the hole anymore...get the other one lol answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060808010514AABgAVs

Now, strip ½ way up and remove the plastic coating with a sharp thing <--- technical term. Leave half the plastic on, and with fingers, fluff out the rest like a fluffy tail.

Now, if you don't have any small pins/needles, goto walmart and when you get to checkout, look at that big pile of shirt pins they have...the kind that stick you at Christmas when you miss them and find them, ask for some!!!

Snip off flat push end.

Stick in the end of the binder, the flat push part you need to snip off keeping sharp end out of coarse.

Now insert completed unit into closest Mcdonalds straw and shoot it at nearest FLY!!!!! plush toy, balloon, on court basketball player...JK!

Please, anyone that tries this simple thing tell me! I'm curious of what you shot at.. vegi, stuffed animal, whatever lol

I used to be good at killing flies with rubber-bands, but if you do it with this, I gotta see some pics lol!

Fly killing music! I hate flys! TY..Lamron!
For your fly Killing pleasure 7 day temp, and it's gone!
www.10webs.com/digitalmilitia/Majors/7_day_temp_then_its_gone/qtxmp3.mp3

[Major_A]

Saw the possum' about 3 weeks ago...still alive, for now. Getting warmer out though, almost time to set up the varmit blind ;D