mel jacobson on wed 19 aug 98
the kiln
a story
one of the first orders of business in dubai was to build a kiln that
we could use drift wood as a fuel.
kurt and i had looked at some fast fire ideas, the phoenix kiln and
others, and i settled on one with the fire box inside the kiln. arch. so
there.
we had a skutt 1027 and had it running with some success even though
the electric power was a little different, and based on a combination
of britain and who knows what else. every country in the world has some
variation of volts, watts and amps, but never anything like america.
we had 220 coming out of common household outlets. (many of you around the
world
are smiling about this story, you have been there.)
we found all the brick that we could ever want at the dubal aluminum
smelting plant, a sorta k2700. when things are ordered to build anything
in dubai
the overages are staggering. one reason of course is that if you run
short of anything during construction it is a six month wait to get it
shipped to you from europe or american.
when anyone builds anything in a foreign country the problems are head-
ache proportion. you can never just run to fleet/farm or tractor supply,
or even the local hardware store, the things just do not exist. or if they
do, only the
locals know about them. secrets. you have
to make do with almost everything, including things like hammers, saws,
and don't even think of cutting metal. (by the way, herrod's in london has
a great
hardware department.) my friend, dale eldred the sculptor from kansas city
would
hit every hardware store in town, the minute he would arrive, check out
everything...
no matter the town, or country. it was his ritual. oh, great hardware
stores in brisbane.
(good lord, this could turn out to be a great thread, hardware stores i
have known and
loved.) i know dannon will mention `swaims, in paris, texas`, she
obssessss on it.
i am used to having every tool at my finger tips, including
welding three ways, metal chop saws, and the most important......my makita
battery operated drill/driver. chain saws? of course, two....no wisconsin
man would
be without two chainsaws. huskavarna boss, and a stihl. geez, do you think
we are
piss ants.? oh, and three new blades, sharp for each. one of my favorite
tools of all
time is my senco air hammer. sends three kinds of spikes through it...oh
lord, i get
dizzy when i talk of tools.
of course the most difficult problem when living on the persian gulf...the
salt
air ruins everything, heat, mist, salt, humidity...ick.
tools were always rusty and would barely work, and all saws were dull.
i would go to construction sites looking and talking with workers to find
old and used up tools that i could fix and re-use, and looking for any bolts
and nuts that i could adapt. inches, metrics and four or five other kinds
of sizes on every site.. i found a store that had some new skil saws,
300 bucks each.
a bottle of scotch was 50 bucks, and you had a ration card so foreigners
could not over drink. of course all ex-patriots shared their cards, those
non drinkers would buy for others. and all booze was sold by the ounce, so
no one drank beer, and who would buy `old milwaukee`..(well, i suppose toni
clennell).........everything
was top shelf...food, drink, all was imported. my pallet (palet) (pa
lit)was expanded.
mel/mn
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
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