I don't know what the relationship is but I know Sikes's everywhere love to grill.
http://www.sikescookers.com
Friday, September 14, 2007
Sikes BBQ's are back online.
I don't know what the relationship is but I know Sikes's everywhere love to grill.
http://www.sikescookers.com
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Lake Chelan Butte
The butte is a neat little hike my dad has been hiking since he was a kid. The top is about 3700' and you can see three lakes and the Columbia river from it. The world championship hang gliding competitions are held here. You can drive too however the air is different when you breath it in after a hike like that.
Safeco Field Seattle
Mom took us to this game. This was taken with my old Sony dscs-50 point and shoot digital.
Tolemie Mountain Side
This was a nice relaxing hike. I came up over this ridge expecting to see more mountain ahead and was pleasantly surprised by this amazing view. I snapped quite a few shots of this.
Brian Serna Warrant Officer and soon to be father!
I think Renee must have taken this picture of Brian checking over his helicopter. He is based at Fort Rucker, Alabama
Space Needle
This shot was taken from a Sesna. A good friend of mine Brian Serna was flying his wife Renee and I over Seattle that day.
From one mountain to another
This is a picture I took from about 8000' up Mt Rainier looking across at Mt Saint Helens. I was four years old and 190 miles away when she blew her top in 1980. One cubic mile of earth was put into the air on that day. The ash was deposited around the world.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Raking up your dogs
Wouldn't this be fun for the kids. Accept my kids use a rake to scoop poop out of the gravel.
Concrete Tube Housing
This was a cool idea a friend pointed out to me. Wouldn't this be a great place to put the relatives up for the night?
Ultimate BBQ
I am going to make my own BBQ! I'm thinking tv, fridge, evaporative cooler, lED night lights, surround sound, and alarm system of course. Why not a universal remote controll, it could be used to controll all its functions. The cover would automaticaly roll off and store away while the tv, music, lights, misters, and fridge all activate. Of course I would be using traditional methods to fire up the grill. Like old fashioned wood charcoal chunks (cowboy style) for the fuel source and a stainless solar powered rotisserie to keep the the moo moo dizzy. Quite often I run into ground that isn't the most grill friendly in regards to it being level whitch I have found causes uneven distribution of heat to my critters. The only solution to this I imagine is to implement some kind of hooptiee low rider hydraulic lift mechanism.
I can see it now it's a lazy summer afternoon in Arizona, temperature around 105 and the neighbor drives buy on his Harley. I hit the switch at first he looks towards the vehicle but no the chirp was actually the brisket hopper rolling into action. Before the curious bistander can dismount his prised posession I am settling down on a stool extending from the beast. The antenna extends into the air tuning in the local radio station. This is actually an inconvenience as it requires I turn it off so I can hear the game on the stainless framed flat screen media display. With a smerk on my mug I swivel my bar stool in time to catch the neighbor wiping sweat from his brow. Just then the air cooler kicks on and throws my hair down wind. The understanding is had. It can be fun to ride a hog but sometimes its more fun to to watch it spin.
Anything Retro
Check out this website retrothing.com. I couldn't find a better source for everything retro online. I have been thinking about adding a few nostalgic components from years past to the Man Space. An old tube radio would add a nice glow. How about a gas pump or a couple of wall hanging oil can pictures. All in good time you can't rush retro, besides it's timeless anyways.
Airbrush Your Own Surf Board
Echotech.com manufactures blank surfboards. How cool would it be to airbrush your own design. Echo Tech
Homemade Underwater Camcorder Housing
The project was a hobby turned business venture over a span of two years. During this time countless failures refined and simplified the design. hundreds of tests were done in barrels, in the shop and deep in the glacier formed depths of Lake Chelan. Many videos were taken as well on numerous dives in fresh water and the world renowned diving of the Puegot Sound. This to me was the best part of testing the unit. I remember each dive as if it were yesterday. I first started out with a square design. I tested twice to 200' in Lake Chelan. No leaks. I decided to put it in service on a dive on the snake river in Clarkston Washington. My old 8mm camera came close to getting soaked in 15' of swift moving muddy water. From there I decided to switch to a round design. The body is comprised of High density half inch thick pvc pipe. It came in twenty foot sections and was somewhat difficult to transport so when I bought it I would cut it in half to get it to the shop. The length of the housing is determined by the length of the video camera being used. In my case it was a Sony 8mm. The front lens is made of three quarter inch shatter resistant glass. I had it special cut and shipped in from a glass company in Bellingham Washington. It was very expensive because it was cut by hand from larger pieces and took a couple of try's to get it right. The back plate is made of 318 stainless steel. It is a 3/8" thick and very strong. Because it had to be perfectly flat to keep a seal with the o'ring and housing it could not be torch cut in fear of warping. Water jet would have been ideal but was prohibitively expensive unless I were to mass produce it. Along the Columbia rive a metal fabrication and machining shop had a laser cutting machine and was able to cut out a dozen of the back plates relatively inexpensive and with great precision. Originally I welded tabs that came with the clamps to the back plate. This caused warping and didn't look very clean. I decided to have the machinist cut the plate with tabs already on it and then just bend them up ten degrees. I special ordered the stainless compression spring clamps from a company in New York. The O'ring that keeps the very important seal between the back plate and the housing needed to handle many extrema conditions. Most importantly it had to withstand salt water. The light bracket was also cut with a laser and bent into shape with a 20 ton bending machine. The armature is secured by a stainless steel ring clamp. The edges the ring clamp passed through needed to be beveled to keep from cutting the clamp due to sharp edges. A commercial grade clear silicone was used to hold the lens in place. The edge of the housing that contained the o'ring groove proved the most difficult to accomplish. Because the pipe is extruded it does not have a consistent wall thickness through out its length. Using a caliper you will see a deviation up to an eighth of an inch. Idealy I would have used a lathe to cut the o'ring groove. The groove was accomplished by a rather rudimentary and somewhat violent method using a router and a guide to follow the edge. Hold on tight. You can imagine I went through a couple housings before getting it right. Once the groove was in place the surfaces needed to be smooth enough to allow a consistent seal with the o'ring. Sand paper and elbow grease. The camera was mounted by using a slide tray. The slide tray was cut from a kick plate like the ones you would see at the bottom of a door entry. It was ideal because it required little machining due to its shape. Simply cut to length drill a hole for the screw mount for the camera and attach rubber bumpers on the edge that meets the glass. Two aluminum rails were glued to the inner walls to keep the slide tray in place. On the armatures were mounted loc-line Loc-line is used to transport coolant to a cutting blade. It also is very flexible and resistant to chemicals. For a lighting arm you couldn't ask for a better material. If the lights are mounted to close to the camera lens it will not focus past the sediment and sea creatures that come in line with its field of view. The aesthetics were another consideration. The pvc would not hold paint easily and would chip. To solve this problem I took a look at the materials used to decal boats and outdoor signs. I settled on a very durable adhesive backed laminate that you might see on a boat. It was crucial to lay it on just right to keep bubbles out. To finish it off I went to a graphic artist and sign manufacturer in Wenatchee Washington to have a logo by the name of Seedeep created. It too was made of the same laminate and was put on just like a sticker. I have since filmed giant octopus off the farthest north west coast of the united states. I have also been in the murky swift moving waters of the snake river in search of sturgeon. The sound you hear under water is incredible. Everything is amplified. It's a different world when you become part of that environment as apposed to just looking down. A fish will swim right up to the camera lens and bump against it with its nose with out a care in the world. I have speared a few dinners this way.
Neighborhood Theater
The homemade theater is a spin off of the old time drive in theaters we used to go to as kids. It's hard to find them any more. So I am going to make my own. PVC pipe and painted bed sheets. My wife is going to disown me.
Back Yard Firepit
Desert Heater
This is one of the all time classics. The water heater fire pit. I figured this would be the most efficient approach since I plan on building a water heater smoker later on. One stop shopping. My grandfather has build many smokers out of water heaters so I will take his experience and put it in motion.This design requires an 10-12" steel pipe cut around 8-12" in length
Parts list:
Large diameter steel pipe
Old steel water heater
Tools:
Oxyacetylene torch
Arc welder
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