Little Tips and Tricks

[David Hart]

I'm starting this in hopes, that if you have a little tip or trick, that doesn't seem 'big' enough to have it's own discussion....you can post it here.

Hopefully, this won't get bogged down by too many 'casual'  responses.

 

OK, let's see your tips and tricks :-)

 

---

 

 

    When I clean my swirl filter or bio-filters out, I like to use the water on my citrus trees and other things growing in dirt. Scoopping it out with a small bucket gets to be a pain quickly.

   So I started to use a pump. Holding the house and moving  around for small plants is OK....it's another story for the trees.

   I use a 'no moving parts' sprinkler...that way, the solids can pass through it.  (No pun intended)

 

 

   Sometimes the spray goes further then I want. So now I have a very short section of hose between the pump and the valve ( in the picture below) and a longer hose going to the sprayer.

   I can reduce or enlarge the spray pattern, simply by opening/closing  the by-pass. Any extra sprays back into the tank, that I'm trying to drain.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sahib Punjabi]

Interesting :-)

[JD Sawyer]

I'd like to know if anyone has good tips on cutting holes in the polystyrene raft sheets. I've tried holes saws and tapered punch out bits that some have recommended and they still chew up the raft and leave lots of little fragments. For straight cuts I use a box cutter or fine jigsaw blade and either of those works pretty well.

[JD Sawyer]

Running your hole saw in reverse when cutting plastic tanks or barrels is a good way to avoid tearing your wrist off.

[Sylvia Bernstein]

JD, there are drill bits for drilling holes of various sizes, including 2 and 3". They make perfect holes in Styrofoam so maybe they would work on polystyrene?


JD Sawyer said:

I'd like to know if anyone has good tips on cutting holes in the polystyrene raft sheets. I've tried holes saws and tapered punch out bits that some have recommended and they still chew up the raft and leave lots of little fragments. For straight cuts I use a box cutter or fine jigsaw blade and either of those works pretty well.

[David Hart]

Here's a few of the 55 gal barrels that I got from Mark awhile back. He made them into tanks...pertty simple design.

I set 2 up as temporary tanks for some fingerlings. They are just sitting on the ground, the mulch keeps them from rolling. I added an airstone to each tank. I ran a 1/2 inch pvc line to each...with a spray bar in side the tank. The water flows out the SLO drain.

It drains into one of my sumps.To keep the solids from building up in the sump, I added a diy 'sock' on the end of the drain pipe,at the sump. They are made from a roll of sock material, used with the corrogated drain pipes.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_84666-71461-04100-10_4294822008_4294937087_...|

I sealed one end with a plastic tye wrap....the other end, I secured to a pvc 45, that is just dry fitted on. I pull off the fitting and the sock.... and then rinse out the sock with a garden hose. I've made mine about 5 feet long, that way I don't have to clean it as often.You know when they are getting dirtty....they start to grow fat :-)

[Jason]

Hey JD, ever try something hot? like a sodering gun to melt through? that might be tricky, or a piano wire hooked to a battery so it gets hot maybe. I havn't tried it, just thinking outloud ;)



JD Sawyer said:

I'd like to know if anyone has good tips on cutting holes in the polystyrene raft sheets. I've tried holes saws and tapered punch out bits that some have recommended and they still chew up the raft and leave lots of little fragments. For straight cuts I use a box cutter or fine jigsaw blade and either of those works pretty well.

[JD Sawyer]

That's a great idea and will give that a shot.



Kobus Jooste said:

Sharp straight blades always go through nicely, while blunt or serrated stuff rips it apart. Have you tried taking a cheap hole saw and grinding the teeth off (sorry, but down here we love to make our own stuff!) to give you a sharp edge? I have tapered a pvc pipe with a disc sander (to fit it into a joint) to the point that it was so sharp that I cut my finger open with it. Perhaps one can make a PVC jig like that too. The you just work it through with your hand - that will also give you more control over the speed at which you go through the polystyrene. That process would suck if you have 20 000 holes waiting though :)

JD Sawyer said:

I'd like to know if anyone has good tips on cutting holes in the polystyrene raft sheets. I've tried holes saws and tapered punch out bits that some have recommended and they still chew up the raft and leave lots of little fragments. For straight cuts I use a box cutter or fine jigsaw blade and either of those works pretty well.

[Jason]

"Find a metal 2" ring(a vacume cleaner nozzle is about 2") heat it up on the
gas flame and press through the poly."

found that tip on another website, haha get some red hot cookie cutters ;)

[JD Sawyer]

I did try heating my box cutter blade and that helped a little and I've definitely heard of people making hot wire cutters for cutting the foam so that would probably work, but admittedly, I'm not sure how to do it. The straight cuts aren't a problem, it's the holes. I also want something that is relatively easy to perform multiple times over.

Jason said:

Hey JD, ever try something hot? like a sodering gun to melt through? that might be tricky, or a piano wire hooked to a battery so it gets hot maybe. I havn't tried it, just thinking outloud ;)



JD Sawyer said:

I'd like to know if anyone has good tips on cutting holes in the polystyrene raft sheets. I've tried holes saws and tapered punch out bits that some have recommended and they still chew up the raft and leave lots of little fragments. For straight cuts I use a box cutter or fine jigsaw blade and either of those works pretty well.

[TCLynx]

Just make sure if you are using heat to cut foam, to do it with lots of ventilation.

[Sylvia Bernstein]

JD, I really recommend you look into these hole cutters that attach to your drill. Back in my hydro days, and hopefully soon in my AP days, I've drilled hundreds of raft holes using these bad boys. They work like a charm - you can do about 10 holes a minute.


JD Sawyer said:

I did try heating my box cutter blade and that helped a little and I've definitely heard of people making hot wire cutters for cutting the foam so that would probably work, but admittedly, I'm not sure how to do it. The straight cuts aren't a problem, it's the holes. I also want something that is relatively easy to perform multiple times over.

[Sahib Punjabi]

Just outstanding thinking outside the box. Thank you for sharing :-)


David Hart said:

Here's a few of the 55 gal barrels that I got from Mark awhile back. He made them into tanks...pertty simple design.

I set 2 up as temporary tanks for some fingerlings. They are just sitting on the ground, the mulch keeps them from rolling. I added an airstone to each tank. I ran a 1/2 inch pvc line to each...with a spray bar in side the tank. The water flows out the SLO drain.

It drains into one of my sumps.To keep the solids from building up in the sump, I added a diy 'sock' on the end of the drain pipe,at the sump. They are made from a roll of sock material, used with the corrogated drain pipes.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_84666-71461-04100-10_4294822008_4294937087_...|

I sealed one end with a plastic tye wrap....the other end, I secured to a pvc 45, that is just dry fitted on. I pull off the fitting and the sock.... and then rinse out the sock with a garden hose. I've made mine about 5 feet long, that way I don't have to clean it as often.You know when they are getting dirtty....they start to grow fat :-)