Beta project 15 (Lapstrake Clamp)

Industrial strength chop-sticks, brilliant!

5 Likes

I like this a lot. I am now thinking of all the interesting-shaped clamping cauls (those are the things that fit between a clampā€™s small flat surface and the perhaps-larger, perhaps-curved or otherwise non-flat surface of the piece being glued) I will be able to laser.

2 Likes

I love these cam-style tighteners. I was even playing with using a hidden one in my puzzlebox project to hold a part firmly to prevent any play while it was in the locked position, so this was very well timed!

3 Likes

Have you seen this topic?

1 Like

I think we all need to have a josh hidden away in our basment

8 Likes

I prefer the garage if you donā€™t mind. :stuck_out_tongue:

8 Likes

That may well depend on what part of the country. :slight_smile: Our garages down south can get pretty warm - but we donā€™t have basements. I have a loft though!?

2 Likes

I think I decided on r=2+sin(x*t) :slightly_smiling_face:

2 Likes

Your choice, but the basement has all of the good tools, air conditioning, internet, and cable. The garage mostly has camel crickets.

2 Likes

You referring to the underground pool?

And mosquitos the size of B-52 bombers, at about a 98Ā° ambient temp.
(Iā€™d have to tuck him away in a guest room, or he wouldnā€™t keep.)
:grin:

3 Likes

Florida?

1 Like

Texasā€¦glub, glub, glub. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

2 Likes

Iā€™m in San Antonio this week. First dry one in a long while. The snakes are finally going back underground.

3 Likes

We had a special pit viper moment in the cat room last weekā€¦theyā€™ve got their own air conditioned kitty room off the garage (with screened outdoor play area so they can trade insults with strange kitties that wander onto their turf, without damaging the poor things)ā€¦large copperhead, hiding under the litterboxes.

They alerted us to the snake, which is a damned good thing, since Iā€™m the one who usually winds up cleaning the boxes every morning, and Iā€™d have been hit.

Ever seen a cat go on point? Theyā€™re very good at alerting us to a snake in the vicinity. :relaxed:

Iā€™m less concerned with the snakes though, than the freaking mosquitoes this yearā€¦Rogue has developed a hypersensitivity to their saliva, and his poor nose and ears are just a mess. (He gets hauled to the vet tomorrow for a steroid shot.)

If anyone knows ANYTHING that you can safely put onto a cat that will repel mosquitoesā€¦please, please shareā€¦Iā€™m at my witā€™s end and he canā€™t stay inside all year, heā€™s named Rogue for a reason. :sweat:

1 Like

Iā€™ve heard of citronella collars, and dropping neem oil on collars, but no direct experience.
I also saw this instructable for an electronic repeller, but no idea how effective it actually is, or what the range is.

1 Like

I read too much, usually while half distracted but I seem to recall the most recent Consumer Reports, having reviews of several ā€œnaturalā€ and other pest repellents. One I think was essentially rosemary oil. If youā€™re near a news stand you might want to flip through and see. My copy is already recycled.

Can ask the vet about something like Top Spot that goes in a place the cat canā€™t get to.

Failing all that maybe you can get @jkopel to Joshforge II you worlds biggest kitty jungle gym to make Rogueā€™s being stuck inside more interesting.

3 Likes

My parentā€™s vet recommended basically a topical Frontline-like tick and flea medicine that also repelled biting flies. During part of the year we get black flies - they look like house flies, theyā€™re fast like house flies, plus they bite. I donā€™t know the name or if it works on mosquitoes, but it does work against one type of flying insect. I do know it was even more expensive than Frontline.

My poor kitty has chiggers on his belly that are terrible. He has the Seresto collar but I donā€™t think it worked for chiggers. And he got bit by a garter snake last month and almost died.

And back to the topic at hand: the clamps will come in handy!

Tried citronella oil in the vicinity - very limited use that way, and I canā€™t put a collar on him. (Heā€™s a real rogue, Iā€™m afraid heā€™ll hurt himself trying to get it off.)

Problem is the large easement behind the house that turns into a stagnant pond when it rainsā€¦and itā€™s been raining pretty much all the time here for months. (Enough to stay full of water anyway.) Mosquito breeding heaven - nightmare for the folks who live on the easement. We do the dunks, but itā€™s a mile long.

Problem with a lot of the natural remedies like essential oils, is that cats lack the ability to process them - itā€™s very easy to kill a cat by putting essential oils directly on them. (Okay for dogs thoughā€¦go figure.) So putting them on a collar, which might let the oil contact the catā€™s skin directly is dangerous in the quantity that I would have to apply to keep them off through the eight months of summer here.

Couple of people here have used the Advantix on their dogs for mosquito control - with little to no success. (Itā€™s the only one that supposedly wards off mosquitoes, but is less than effective for fleas.) The kitties use Revolutionā€¦great for fleas and heartworm, but no skeeter protection.

Weā€™re going to have to tighten up the outdoor play area - screens instead of the netting weā€™re using now, and my poor buddy is just going to have to limit his neighborhood excursions. That is going to be one unhappy kitty cat. :fearful:

1 Like

Hey @Jules, I checked with chatters on a kitten cam I follow and the consensus was: citronella very bad for catsā€“avoid. They recommended Lemon Balm or Lemon Grass, and also something (unspecified) from onlynaturalpet.com. Canā€™t hurt to check it outā€“I gather whatever it is, is herbal based.

Sorry to be off topic!

1 Like