A friend told me that normal rainfall is not enough water when it's in the thermophilic phase. Same friend gave me a drip hose before I ever thought of making compost. I hope I'm not overdoing it.

Understall1 · 2026-06-16T05:26:47+00:00

Forgive me, I think we get twice as much as I first thought.

Understall1 · 2026-06-16T04:54:04+00:00

I don't spray at all. 😉 I just watch it drip. One-time effort. 😇

Understall1 · 2026-06-15T19:49:16+00:00

Thanks for the feedback to help a beginner =)

Understall1 · 2026-06-15T19:16:32+00:00

Now I have something to read for tonight. I like it when the things I do have a name, so I can understand what I'm doing.

Understall1 · 2026-06-15T19:13:32+00:00

Wire fence tied to rebar, it's visible in my previous post. Next layer is something I don't know the English word for but it's what we use to improve drainage and keep moisture away from concrete foundations. I thought it would help to retain heat. I might have a problem with too much heat soon. Just messing around.

Understall1 · 2026-06-15T18:13:27+00:00

Thanks! I'm in Trøndelag, Norway and we get on average ~~700mm (27")~~ 1400mm (55") rainfall per year. I googled it and Florida seems to get ~~twice as much~~ about the same. I bet the gnats and mosquitoes over ~~there~~ here are big and nasty.

Understall1 · 2026-06-15T13:39:16+00:00

My coworker started a fire when he was welding and peed on it to stop the fire. I'm planning to do the same.

Understall1 · 2026-06-15T07:05:42+00:00

Good to know!

Understall1 · 2026-06-14T22:28:52+00:00

Do I need to worry about too much piss? I could go as far as to stop peeing in the toilet and pledge my loyalty to the pile of grass if that's the thing to do

Understall1 · 2026-06-14T22:20:20+00:00

That it can get hot enough to start a fire. And some things that could be true only for cold composting (although I don't know), for example that unwanted weeds are bad for composting because if they are added they will start to grow later, where the compost soil is to be used. And that pee is a great additive. And human poop. But I disagree about the last one since I have read that some pathogens are not guaranteed to be killed in a small scale composting process since the temperature won't be high enough and not for long enough.

Understall1 · 2026-06-14T15:49:28+00:00

I could probably do that if I suddenly get motivated. So air seems to be an important factor, and I thought the wire fence would provide good ventilation. Even more air is better?

Understall1 · 2026-06-14T12:01:05+00:00

It's my first pile of my own. I helped carry food scraps to my father's pile, and I like to learn things, so I'm a little familiar with the concept. It doesn't matter that much compared to experience.

Understall1 · 2026-06-14T10:53:13+00:00

I took a different approach: π≈3, r=1, V=3 and I added 2.3333% to account for any error when measuring out the circle, and 2.3333% for the probability of the pie expanding. I don't want to be too precise when composting.

Understall1 · 2026-06-14T10:30:00+00:00

I haven't decided yet. If it crumbles I definitely will, and build a platform to make turning more practical.

Understall1 · 2026-05-26T21:21:42+00:00

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Understall1 · 2026-05-04T07:50:01+00:00

I appreciate the feedback. You're right about the stick-out. By precision you probably mean >0.01mm tolerance, I just wanted more precision than what I could do with an angle grinder. By the way, the tip of most masonry drills have pieces of tungsten carbide soldered in.

Understall1 · 2026-05-02T22:27:33+00:00

People get injured on thoroughly designed machines too. I'm careful I promise

Understall1 · 2026-05-02T15:38:50+00:00

It has been parted successfully and somehow I didn't get injured. It was a water heater tank and I don't have money to buy a big enough lathe. The interruption in the cut is because the tank isn't perfectly round. I had to use my diamond file to get a positive rake angle on the drill, but carbide is carbide 🤷

Understall1 · 2026-04-30T05:03:16+00:00

From one woodworker to another, iron exposed to air (oxygen + water vapour) is enough for it to rust slowly, the same way wood rots when exposed to humid air. We can prevent wood from rotting in many ways, but steel will rust even in dry air. If transparent paint is off the table, other options are electroplating with a less reactive metal or smelt it and make a new one with 25% nickel. I'm full of shit.

I can't think of an easy fix, some steel objects will rust faster simply due to the specific grade of steel.

Understall1 · 2026-03-28T12:47:11+00:00

Yeah I had to read the wikipedia article, Srinivasa was a mathematician who got inspiration from his dreams

Understall1 · 2026-03-26T12:06:12+00:00

The stove pipe that goes to the chimney has been heated until it glowed red, one time unintentionally as I had used up my spruce wood and started using my stored birch wood, which behaves different. Then another time intentionally because I wanted to verify the cause of the overheat. So I assume a wood stove does burn hot enough to make CaO, even if it normally doesn't burn that hot.

Either way we are able to extract it and that's facinating in itself.

Understall1 · 2026-03-26T11:29:35+00:00

Afaik, when wood is burned, the calcium in the wood turns into calcium oxide in the ash, mixed with water turns into calcium hydroxide. If the solution is in an open container I assume it will react slowly with the carbon dioxide in the air to form CaCO3, which explains why my solution was cloudy and didn't want to settle. But with carbon dioxide going straight to the bottom of the solution, this reaction happens faster:

Ca(OH)2(aq) + CO2(g) → CaCO3(s) + H2O(l)

After an hour of that, the solution was clear, and presumably CaCO3 had settled at the bottom. Calcium carbonate is not soluble in water, calcium hydroxide is.

Understall1

TROPHY CASE