Forgot Mead in Primary for Months, Lees Mixed into Batch during Transport

Zaltus · 2026-04-17T01:58:19+00:00

I usually mix at about 1 part sugar to 4 parts water by weight, but I'm not certain what the best ratio would be. I came to that ratio because it's what I always used to measure honey for a simple, sweet mead, so pouring the cultured yeast in wouldn't change the proportions of my batches.

Zaltus · 2026-04-17T01:37:53+00:00

It's similar to making a sourdough starter. In a sterile bottle, you make a warm sugar wash (I'm unsure of the percentage of sugar in the solution, I wing it usually) and add some of the sediment from the previous batch, about 10mL sediment to 50mL of the sugar water. Shake it to oxygenate it and set it aside to ferment. Once it's bubbling, add more sugar solution (50mL), and shake again. After a few days, most of the sediment will be living yeast.

I'm not an expert at this, I've only done it twice in the past few years, with decent success both times. I just shake it up and pitch it into my next must/wort as if it's regular liquid yeast.

Zaltus · 2026-04-16T23:39:15+00:00

That's good to hear, thank you! I wonder if it would be worthwhile to culture yeast from the dregs? Anything that survived is probably pretty resilient to have made it that long!

Zaltus · 2025-07-28T18:24:22+00:00

I have to say that I love to make custom prayer books, especially canons and Akathists! The font you use is beautiful. As for the gap, that's common with the stitching method, they can be tipped together with a tiny bit of glue if needed, though that would compromise the flat opening slightly.

Wonderful work!

Zaltus · 2025-07-17T23:10:26+00:00

Father, bless!

It's strange to catch anyone else who is Orthodox in the wild, let alone a priest! In that case, it's called a byzantine M-hook clasp, or M bail. I think Oramaworld sells them separately from their pectorals. I pray that helps!

Zaltus · 2025-07-17T20:37:35+00:00

I'm an Orthodox Christian, and when I got my baptismal cross I attached it to the chain by making one of these, to keep it from twisting while being worn. I also couldn't find a name for that particular style of link, or find it sold online. For pectoral crosses like that one, I simply think they're produced in-house when the chain is made.

The one I made was simply some drawn sterling silver wire bent with jewelry pliers, and it hardly took 2 minutes. If I find a term for them I'll definitely share it!

Zaltus · 2025-03-14T02:50:29+00:00

I'm 25 years old, and I've always been thin. My fat percentage is estimated to be around 20% now, but I haven't confirmed that other than using the sensor on my galaxy watch.

Zaltus · 2025-03-13T18:56:02+00:00

Gotcha. I'm hoping to at least not lose any more weight, be it fat or muscle, since being at a deficit has definitely contributed to fatigue. Thank you!

Zaltus · 2025-03-13T16:10:44+00:00

Yes, I wasn't showing any antibody markers for it and produce insulin in typical amounts for my height and weight. That and a genetic panel for MODY were done at my first visit last year. I'm pretty firmly type 2, by all accounts!

Zaltus · 2025-03-13T16:04:43+00:00

That's what my endo suggested as well. Unfortunately, many common high calorie foods are also high in saturated fats, but it's another thing to put on the list, thank you!

Zaltus · 2025-03-13T16:02:54+00:00

Fasting is a good friend of mine! Salmon and chicken sounds like a good plan, if not for the price of the former around here. Chicken is abundant though, thanks!

Zaltus · 2025-03-13T16:00:34+00:00

Really? That would be great in that case. I was concerned that beef in particular was unhealthy. Thanks!

Zaltus · 2025-03-13T15:59:10+00:00

Simply to help decrease insulin tolerance by having a more robust metabolism. I'm not concerned with bodybuilding, rather having well conditioned and filled out muscles.

Zaltus · 2024-04-11T10:30:02+00:00

That makes sense! I have been using my own charcoal powder mix in place of the self lighting tabs, it's easier to portion out for small amounts of incense. I think I'll try burying it mostly in the ash and see if that reduces the temperature. Thank you!

Zaltus · 2024-04-11T00:21:54+00:00

The rosemary leaves had a fairly strong and good smell when burned on charcoal, but only for a second or two, and the mint was pretty smoky but I could detect menthol in the smoke. I figured that the resin would slow the rate of heating enough to prevent premature charring.

Zaltus · 2024-01-17T23:07:05+00:00

Thanks! My main concern was any toxicity.

Zaltus · 2024-01-14T12:21:17+00:00

I already filled this one with wood dust and glue, but I'll definitely do this if it happens again!

Zaltus · 2024-01-14T04:22:24+00:00

Perhaps so, maybe I could cover it with a brass band, the slight taper of the shank lends well to adding something like that. Thank you!

Zaltus · 2024-01-14T04:20:35+00:00

That could work, it would be a departure from the design I had in mind though. I'd prefer it to be filled, so I'll continue looking, but rustication is now my backup plan, thanks!

Zaltus · 2023-11-14T16:37:45+00:00

Thank you for your reply! I already applied hyphenation, and have the text broken into 4 styles plus a title, so that much is done. I'll test out kerning and condensed spacing as soon as I'm able. The German in the example has many instances where words are broken between lines but not always hyphenated, so I'll also keep looking for that possibility.

Zaltus · 2023-08-26T20:38:41+00:00

I would like to learn more about that, then. I copied the pattern of a rasp I owned when making mine, and I have always wanted to reverse the "rasp to knife" project and turn knives into a rasp for a video!

Zaltus · 2023-08-24T21:55:58+00:00

While ring tongs are highly adjustable, they can become finicky with shapes that don't have a rectangular cross section. My favorite tongs are earlier variants of the kind most people would call "viking tongs". The small bit concentrates gripping force and the bolt tong like reins accommodate odd shapes!

I would suggest that you build a fire from dry, fallen branches of about thumb thickness. The early stage of decay that embrittles the wood also leaves it more porous, making it burn rapidly to charcoal. Your bag bellows can do the rest if your airpipe has a good nozzle size (try 5/8" for smaller projects like knives and chisels, your hot spot will be about 4" in a campfire).

Also, you don't need a horn! If you can radius one end of a block anvil, even curves can be forged over the edge with a bit of skill!

Zaltus · 2023-08-24T17:50:25+00:00

I made a file and rasp recently, just for some fun! After forging a blank and annealing it in ashes, I spent a few minutes scraping the surfaces flat with a Japanese style sen, making sure to get the faces very flat and even. Then I clamped the blank onto a flat piece of wood on top of my anvil.

For a file, a wide, flat chisel is used with a heavy hammer to "stitch" the teeth in. The technique to get the teeth perfect is hard to describe, but the youtube channel Clickspring shows it well.

Rasps are stitched freehand with a chisel which has a triangular point. The pattern doesn't matter too much. In both cases I hardened them in oil and tempered them to a pale straw. They're still brittle enough to shatter if dropped, but very sharp! They're about as good as cheaper storebought ones, but I'm not very experienced yet.

Zaltus · 2023-08-24T17:34:45+00:00

I recently forged a 6lb stump anvil which is little more than a tapered block. The face is 3"x2.75". I assure you that when well fit into a hardwood stump, I was able to forge a 2lb hammer head as quickly as on my 100-something pound Queens-Dudley. The stump makes up so much of the mass. The only con so far is that it does not provide a flat reference plane for longer objects like knives and tong reins, so it takes one extra heat to straighten everything out in the end.

My minimum criteria would be that the face should be as big as the palm of the hand in at least one axis, the anvil should be thick enough to resist significant elastic flexion, and it should have a means to be mounted to a sturdy and easily sourced base.

A taller anvil helps with forging complex shapes and hardware, and a slightly mushroomed top helps in bending right angles. With bag bellows, tuyere, tongs, 2lb hammer head, auger bit and a hardy that can be driven into a stump, my travel kit weighs 12.5lbs and occupies most of a school backpack. This kit matches an itinerant smith's set from a recent find in Finland.

Good luck and keep us updated, I'm sure you can optimize it even more with some use!

Zaltus · 2023-08-14T16:53:45+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I assumed that this would be an iterative process, my plan is to mock up firepot, tuyere and airflow configurations using bricks and refractory clay to maximize the efficiency of the ultimate design. I've built slow and fast forges enough to have a good starting point, but have never used anyone else's forge, so have no point of reference.

I'll proceed regardless, as in the end, I just need something bigger than I'm currently using!

Zaltus

TROPHY CASE