# What the heck is that?



## SonnyE (Aug 23, 2018)

Go ahead, take a guess.

OK, Clue 1, those are 12" X 24" floor tiles. So this "Sugar Spoon" is garden spade sized.

Guess again.








OK, this is my Extra Large glove sized paw.

So this home made thang is substantial.

OK, this is my Left Coast Redneck Boil Pot stirrin stick. Version 2.
I wasn't happy with Version 1, so I scratched around and spotted a 6" PVC pipe 45° coupling left over from my dust collection system.
And of course, my over active imagination saw this Paddle Head immerge from the big fitting. So over to the big bandsaw to free the paddle head from bondage as a pipe fitting.
A little sanding and scraping, a good stiff washing, fitted it to my shop made handle, and last thing was a leather wrist strap / hanging hoop.
Ready for the crab boil on Saturday. SIL gave me the day off, said I certainly earned it. ;)
Just about got all the ducks in a row now... :rolleyes:


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## oldsmokerdude (Aug 23, 2018)

LOL....that's using the old noggin'!   Looks like it should work like a charm.


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## WaterRat (Aug 23, 2018)

Free the paddles, free the paddles! We're gonna need some pics of said crab boil ;)


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## SonnyE (Aug 23, 2018)

oldsmokerdude said:


> LOL....that's using the old noggin'!   Looks like it should work like a charm.



I hope so, or I'll be polishing my shovel... :rolleyes:



WaterRat said:


> Free the paddles, free the paddles! We're gonna need some pics of said crab boil ;)



Oh yeah WaterRat, this has been a long time comin. Trying to get the Silverbacks together was a bit of a chore. But it's planned finally.

Hope I can pull it off.... o_O
We have a tri-tip planned as well. Just in case my neck isn't as red as I hoped it'd be. :p


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## boykjo (Aug 23, 2018)

Well, you'll never be up $hit$ creek without paddle, .........lol

Good idea

Boykjo


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## RiversideSm0ker (Aug 23, 2018)

Ha, I was going to go with a spoonula. Good idea.

George


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## mosparky (Aug 23, 2018)

I would Highly recommend a thorough testing long before the big day. I use a lot of pvc in the machine shop job. It becomes very soft and moldable at 300 ish degrees possibly lower and very aromatic well below that. You don't want that smell to become part of the taste of your food nor do you want the spoon to become floppy when you need it most. Great idea, but the choice of materials may come back to haunt you. Also PVC generally isn't considered a food safe plastic, possibly related to the above concerns.


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## SonnyE (Aug 23, 2018)

boykjo said:


> Well, you'll never be up $hit$ creek without paddle, .........lol
> 
> Good idea
> 
> ...





RiversideSm0ker said:


> Ha, I was going to go with a spoonula. Good idea.
> 
> George



Yep, I donno. I think my wife might have a spoonula or twoolula.
Thanks!



mosparky said:


> I would Highly recommend a thorough testing long before the big day. I use a lot of pvc in the machine shop job. It becomes very soft and moldable at 300 ish degrees possibly lower and very aromatic well below that. You don't want that smell to become part of the taste of your food nor do you want the spoon to become floppy when you need it most. Great idea, but the choice of materials may come back to haunt you. Also PVC generally isn't considered a food safe plastic, possibly related to the above concerns.



Dually note Mosparky. I thought about that.
But these are water pipe PVC. And the boil is just that, ~212°.
And it is used to move stuff around briefly, and not left in the boiling pot.
But I will be testing it. If for no other reason, to sterilize it. ;)
Thanks for reminding me though.

In Wyoming we used to heat and form 4" conduit PVC with an electric heater for that. Yep, you did not want to leave it alone for a second. :eek:


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## mosparky (Aug 23, 2018)

quick google check and pvc is rated to 140 degrees and cpvc to about 200.


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## SonnyE (Aug 23, 2018)

mosparky said:


> quick google check and pvc is rated to 140 degrees and cpvc to about 200.



I wonder what the trench shovels are rated for I was looking at at Lowe's?


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## mosparky (Aug 23, 2018)

Well dang, the prob with the internet is I can't tell if you pulling my leg or getting pi$$ed. Did not intend to offend.
 Assuming you are serious, a sharp shooter/ trenching spade would work but I'd like to remove all the paint before I used it. Personally I would lean toward a short canoe paddle with the varnish sanded off.


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## chopsaw (Aug 23, 2018)

Remember that's waste and vent material, not meant for heat  . You got the shop , and nice work on the cut . You can come close to the same thing in wood using a table saw , it's a neat trick and old timer showed me . 

Off topic , but I have to ask ,,, do you have your PVC dust collection duct grounded ? Static spark can cause the dust to ignite .


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## SonnyE (Aug 24, 2018)

mosparky said:


> Well dang, the prob with the internet is I can't tell if you pulling my leg or getting pi$$ed. Did not intend to offend.
> Assuming you are serious, a sharp shooter/ trenching spade would work but I'd like to remove all the paint before I used it. Personally I would lean toward a short canoe paddle with the varnish sanded off.



Pulling your leg. No offence taken.
This was a quick, down and dirty, with left over fitting. But seriously, I do intend to at least try it out in boiling water.
Quite possibly tomorrow, as it appears I don't have any driving orders as yet.
If the Louisiana Brand Boil eats it, imagine what it will do to crab legs. :confused::eek:


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## gmc2003 (Aug 24, 2018)

Nice work Sonny, and good luck with your boil. I'll be looking forward to your posts.

Chris


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## SonnyE (Aug 24, 2018)

chopsaw said:


> Remember that's waste and vent material, not meant for heat  . You got the shop , and nice work on the cut . You can come close to the same thing in wood using a table saw , it's a neat trick and old timer showed me .
> 
> Off topic , but I have to ask ,,, do you have your PVC dust collection duct grounded ? Static spark can cause the dust to ignite .



Actually these big fittings are Schedual 40, not drainage pipe fittings. Going to do a pre-trial today to try out the paddle.
If it turns out hilarious, I'll post it for a good laugh. :D;)

Actually, the controversy continues about that. A Grain Elevator is hugely different than us small shop owners. We do not have, nor ever will have the volume of material transfer that has blown Grain Elevators apart.
Also, it is not possible to ground an insulator. PVC is non-conductive. It even gets used for that, IE: Electric Fence insulators come to mind.
I can appreciate the concerns though. Thank You.

In real life experience, when my system was new and in development, it use to generate enormous fields of static electricity. It would charge up the whole house and we'd get nailed left and right. Quite irritating!
Then, after about 4 to 8 weeks it got less, and less until it almost doesn't generate the field it did. Why?
The ducting is covered with a very fine light film of static clinging dust from the materials that passed through on the way to the cyclone separator. (Which is steel, and dumps into a closed 55 gallon steel drum through an 8" drop tube.)
Most of the main runs are 6", with 4" branch connections.
But the point being, there is almost nill static electricity generated in a seasoned dust collection system.
Mine is unique in that I have a 2 HP cyclonic separator, with a 1.5 HP booster blower under my center equipment area.
A lesson taken from the big boys where booster blowers are common in collection systems.
One of my pet peeves is a shop with 6" of sawdust everywhere. :mad: So my shop has outstanding dust control.
And also, outstanding noise abatement. The cyclonic separator is boxed in with sound board lining to quiet it down. After it filters the air down to .5 microns, the air goes over to my 7 HP air compressor closet and circulates the cleaned air down over the vertical 80 gallon air compressor and exits near the floor. That enclosure is also lined with sound board and baffles to deaden the inherent noise.
I can't do much about blade or bit noise, but I'm hell on the noise I can control. ;)

Lastly, and more importantly, the last I studied up on it, there was not a single incidence of a home shop dust collection explosion. Period.
But the paranoia continues. :rolleyes:


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## SonnyE (Aug 24, 2018)

gmc2003 said:


> Nice work Sonny, and good luck with your boil. I'll be looking forward to your posts.
> 
> Chris



Thank you Chris, I'm hoping it comes off well.
If not, I guess I'll just have to get busy crabbing until I do figure it out. LOL! ;)


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## chopsaw (Aug 24, 2018)

Yes , that's classed as waste ( human ) and vent . Drain pipe is green . Maybe Cali codes are different . 
Hope it all works out .


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## SonnyE (Aug 24, 2018)

It got laughingly soft in boiling water. Never lost shape, just got "squishy".
So Plan B. A giant grill spatuala I gathered up in a Port Orchard Goodwill store.
I saw this paddle sized flipper and had to grab it. It's stainless steel, so no worries there.
My original stick now has a hook in it and lifts the pot lid nicely.
So everything's a go. I have the pot boiling with 1/2 cuppa Louisiana Boil seasoning to season my new pot and strainer.


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## mosparky (Aug 24, 2018)

Dang.. Sorry it didn't work out, but at least we all know now and you didn't spoil the boil finding out.


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## SonnyE (Aug 25, 2018)

mosparky said:


> Dang.. Sorry it didn't work out, but at least we all know now and you didn't spoil the boil finding out.



If I spoiled the boil for a plastic paddle, I'da been P.O'd.
It was a fun, quick, project though.
I am going to change the burner on my base though. I have it jetted for Natural Gas now, but think a burn made specifically for NG would do better. :rolleyes:o_O

Today's the day! Grandma even got me some shrimp for the pot. This ought to be good. If not, I'm gonna be sick of 'boil' by the time I eat the evidence. LMAO!


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