A few on this forum have said that they've liked reading my
occasional scribbles. This is for y'all old metalworking buds;
enjoy!
---
The lazy, careless paper carrier "delivered" my paper near but not on
my front stoop again this morning. It was in a plastic bag, but it
was raining and the bag wasn't completely closed so a corner of the
paper got wet. Guess what carrier ain't gettin' any Xmas tip from
me?

OK, thought I, I'll dry it out in the microwave. I've done that with
wet paperback books before. They're not pretty when done because the
pages get wrinkly and swell and the steam doesn't do the spine
binding adhesive any good, but it does dry the pages so they're
readable. Microwaves heat water, but not paper. It can't get hotter
than the boiling point of water, and when the water is boiled off then
no further heating occurs. That's what's supposed to happen and what
has always worked in the past.

I started it going, then repaired to the bathroom with a book -- not
my newspaper because my newspaper was in the microwave getting dried
out so I could read it later. Not my first choice, but I can adapt.

While sitting on the throne reading my book, by and by I heard a
"whump". Whump? Uh oh. I live alone so I notice whumps. I
wondered if there was a problem in the kitchen. I scurried to the
kitchen as quickly as I could without leaving a trail down the hall,
jammies at half mast. Woulda made a hell of a video.

I found the door of the microwave had opened, possibly due to the
bonfire within. The interior of the microwave was filled with orange
flame. The best eagle scout in the State couldn't have gotten a wet
newspaper burning like that.

"Oh, golly", I thought; "I need to do something about this."

I have ABC nitrogen-charged dry powder fire extinguishers handy, but
they make a hell of a mess. I was standing right by the kitchen
sink, and there was a glass on the counter. I filled the glass half
full of water, used that to fill my mouth and both cheeks. Face
cheeks, that is. Then I went to the nearby microwave and blew while
slapping both cheeks, producing a wet spray like the wettest sneeze
you can imagine. The flames were instantly snuffed. One more dose
of that and the ashes weren't even smoking or smoldering, that fire
was OUT. I removed the glass rotating carousel plate from the oven
with a hot pad, deposited the wet black mess in the sink and sprayed
it with the sink sprayer just to be double-sure.

Catastrophe averted! Next urgent task was to open doors and windows
and set up some fans to clear the rather acrid, choking, eye-stinging
smoke. The smoke alarms didn't "get it" until I had things well under
control but they sure made a racket after that for a little while. I'd
say good thing it was unseasonably warm today, but then I wouldn't
have had a wet paper if it was cold enough to snow rather than rain.
After ventilating for awhile I went thru the house with Atmosclear and
some other odor-eating aerosol. They helped, but it still smells a
little like a summer campground in my house. Perhaps I should cook
some bacon, or garlic, or both.

I bought that microwave in 1998 so it didn't owe me anything though it
was still working just fine. I tried it to see if it would still
work. It didn't. No matter, it was damaged far beyond cleanup.

So what happened? My friend Vicki says that someone told her today
that newspaper is now made from recycled paper that has metal in it.
That could explain it, I guess.

I went to Wally's and got a new monkeywave today, very similar to the
late and lamented that is now bagged and tagged to be recycled -- and
(METAL CONTENT) I now have an MOT (microwave oven transformer) under
my workbench that may become a spot welder or who knows whut?

Meanwhile, I'm playing with the notion of making a very simple
induction heater for annealing the necks of rifle brass. I don't
have to make sense, I'm RETIRED!

On 12/23/2014 1:12 AM, Don Foreman wrote:
A few on this forum have said that they've liked reading my
occasional scribbles. This is for y'all old metalworking buds;
enjoy!
---
The lazy, careless paper carrier "delivered" my paper near but not on
my front stoop again this morning. It was in a plastic bag, but it
was raining and the bag wasn't completely closed so a corner of the
paper got wet. Guess what carrier ain't gettin' any Xmas tip from
me?

I went to Wally's and got a new monkeywave today, very similar to the
late and lamented that is now bagged and tagged to be recycled -- and
(METAL CONTENT) I now have an MOT (microwave oven transformer) under
my workbench that may become a spot welder or who knows whut?

Meanwhile, I'm playing with the notion of making a very simple
induction heater for annealing the necks of rifle brass. I don't
have to make sense, I'm RETIRED!


I was doing an experiment to see how well staples held in kiln-dried
beech at different moisture levels. After testing different samples I
wanted something drier so put a block in the office microwave. In just
a couple of minutes the stench that filled the office was nothing like
burning wood, it was horrible and lingered for days. The wood block
started to char very quickly even though the moisture was only 7%.

Did the smell seem normal? (for a flaming microwave stuffed with paper)

Don Foreman wrote in
:

[snip amusing tale -- especially "face cheeks"]

(METAL CONTENT) I now have an MOT (microwave oven transformer) under
my workbench that may become a spot welder or who knows whut?

Hmmmm. How does one go about doing that?

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
...
On 12/23/2014 1:12 AM, Don Foreman wrote:

I keep spray bottles filled with water in the kitchen and basement,
nominally to clean up spills and dewrinkle line-dried laundry. The
other day one was handy when ashes dumped on the compost pile began to
smoulder.

My quick-reaction outdoor fire extinguishers in warmer weather are
garden pump sprayers with the hose and nozzle replaced with sink
sprays, meant for showering with kettle-heated water. 3/8" copper
tubing replaces the skinny dip tube. A little leakage at the gland nut
isn't a problem, it's only water.

Previously I had old department-store pressurized water extinguishers
scattered around. The one time I needed them the old man across the
street started a brush fire cutting up scrap metal and fell when he
jumped back. He had no running water, but I heard him yell, saw him
lying next to the flames, raced over with water extinguishers and put
it out. Their narrow high-pressure stream isn't as efficient on
burning leaves as the wider, less wasteful sink spray pattern, and the
garden sprayer can be left unpressurized so it won't leak empty.

I don't understand why so many people freeze into shocked inaction
when a fire breaks out unexpectedly. I've grabbed a kid's Coke bottle,
held it upside down and controlled the spray with my thumb to put out
a small wall fire over a stove pipe while the rest of the group stood
like statues. Then the kid was mad about his Coke, nevermind that I
saved his cabin.
-jsw

Doug Miller wrote:
Don Foreman wrote in
:

[snip amusing tale -- especially "face cheeks"]

(METAL CONTENT) I now have an MOT (microwave oven transformer) under
my workbench that may become a spot welder or who knows whut?

Hmmmm. How does one go about doing that?

One does a web search on the term "MOT spot welder" . I got a mile of
results (5280) in .016 seconds .

--
Snag

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 08:15:21 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
...
On 12/23/2014 1:12 AM, Don Foreman wrote:

I keep spray bottles filled with water in the kitchen and basement,
nominally to clean up spills and dewrinkle line-dried laundry. The
other day one was handy when ashes dumped on the compost pile began to
smoulder.

My quick-reaction outdoor fire extinguishers in warmer weather are
garden pump sprayers with the hose and nozzle replaced with sink
sprays, meant for showering with kettle-heated water. 3/8" copper
tubing replaces the skinny dip tube. A little leakage at the gland nut
isn't a problem, it's only water.

Previously I had old department-store pressurized water extinguishers
scattered around. The one time I needed them the old man across the
street started a brush fire cutting up scrap metal and fell when he
jumped back. He had no running water, but I heard him yell, saw him
lying next to the flames, raced over with water extinguishers and put
it out. Their narrow high-pressure stream isn't as efficient on
burning leaves as the wider, less wasteful sink spray pattern, and the
garden sprayer can be left unpressurized so it won't leak empty.

I don't understand why so many people freeze into shocked inaction

When -anything- happens at all! Car wreck, tree branch fall, finger
amputation or cut, fire, burst water line, gas leak, you name it.
I think it somehow ties to their lack of knowledge about how things
work; being bereft of any inkling of physics.


when a fire breaks out unexpectedly. I've grabbed a kid's Coke bottle,
held it upside down and controlled the spray with my thumb to put out
a small wall fire over a stove pipe while the rest of the group stood
like statues.

I think the group here, as a whole, is made up of troubleshooters and
problem solvers. We would, as a default, diagnose the problem and
then instantly begin to solve it. Like the kid whose shoulder I put
back into the socket: I had never done that before but the first thing
that came to my mind was to help him out of severe pain. My left arm
was the fulcrum and his right arm the lever. I "pried" just high
enough to slide the ball back into the socket and he was instantly out
of 90% of the pain. He said he'd never use a doctor to put it back
again because they caused a whole lot more damage/pain.

I've successfully used my (flammable) Sunday paper to put out a grease
fire in a pan which I forgot on the stove. blush Plop, and it's
out, with no mess to clean up other than the pan. I love my bacon
burnt, but that lot was a bit too far gone, if you can imagine.



Then the kid was mad about his Coke, nevermind that I
saved his cabin.

Relative worth to a kid defies logic.

--
With every experience, you alone are painting your
own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.
-- Oprah Winfrey

On 12/23/2014 10:11 AM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I've successfully used my (flammable) Sunday paper to put out a grease
fire in a pan which I forgot on the stove. blush Plop, and it's
out, with no mess to clean up other than the pan. I love my bacon
burnt, but that lot was a bit too far gone, if you can imagine.



How could anybody forget bacon? Besides you should bake bacon in the
oven at 400 and start checking at 20 minutes.

"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
So what happened? My friend Vicki says that someone told her today
that newspaper is now made from recycled paper that has metal in it.
That could explain it, I guess.



More than likely, it was the ink.

Books get printer with a linseed oil based ink that gets dry, usually with
an additional heating step.

Newspaper ink, because of high speed printing requirements and little
expectation of longevity, are printed with petro or soy based inks that
never dry but get absorbed by the paper.

The oil can get a lot hotter in the microwave than water, certainly higher
than 451f. Add in carbon black and it is a recipe for disaster.

Paul K. Dickman

On Tuesday, December 23, 2014 1:11:45 AM UTC-5, Don Foreman wrote:

The lazy, careless paper carrier "delivered" my paper near but not on
my front stoop again this morning. It was in a plastic bag, but it
was raining and the bag wasn't completely closed so a corner of the
paper got wet. Guess what carrier ain't gettin' any Xmas tip from
me?


Always good to read stuff you wrote.

But reconsider the Christmas tip. Put it in an envelope with a note saying you almost did not give him a tip this year. And enclose a copy of your post with it. If he does not try harder , then next year an envelope with a note but no tip.

Dan

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 00:12:49 -0600, Don Foreman wrote:

A few on this forum have said that they've liked reading my occasional
scribbles. This is for y'all old metalworking buds; enjoy!
---
The lazy, careless paper carrier "delivered" my paper near but not on my
front stoop again this morning. It was in a plastic bag, but it was
raining and the bag wasn't completely closed so a corner of the paper
got wet. Guess what carrier ain't gettin' any Xmas tip from me?

OK, thought I, I'll dry it out in the microwave. I've done that with
wet paperback books before. They're not pretty when done because the
pages get wrinkly and swell and the steam doesn't do the spine binding
adhesive any good, but it does dry the pages so they're readable.
Microwaves heat water, but not paper. It can't get hotter than the
boiling point of water, and when the water is boiled off then no further
heating occurs. That's what's supposed to happen and what has always
worked in the past.

I started it going, then repaired to the bathroom with a book -- not my
newspaper because my newspaper was in the microwave getting dried out so
I could read it later. Not my first choice, but I can adapt.

While sitting on the throne reading my book, by and by I heard a
"whump". Whump? Uh oh. I live alone so I notice whumps. I
wondered if there was a problem in the kitchen. I scurried to the
kitchen as quickly as I could without leaving a trail down the hall,
jammies at half mast. Woulda made a hell of a video.

I found the door of the microwave had opened, possibly due to the
bonfire within. The interior of the microwave was filled with orange
flame. The best eagle scout in the State couldn't have gotten a wet
newspaper burning like that.

"Oh, golly", I thought; "I need to do something about this."

I have ABC nitrogen-charged dry powder fire extinguishers handy, but
they make a hell of a mess. I was standing right by the kitchen sink,
and there was a glass on the counter. I filled the glass half full of
water, used that to fill my mouth and both cheeks. Face cheeks, that
is. Then I went to the nearby microwave and blew while slapping both
cheeks, producing a wet spray like the wettest sneeze you can imagine.
The flames were instantly snuffed. One more dose of that and the
ashes weren't even smoking or smoldering, that fire was OUT. I removed
the glass rotating carousel plate from the oven with a hot pad,
deposited the wet black mess in the sink and sprayed it with the sink
sprayer just to be double-sure.

Catastrophe averted! Next urgent task was to open doors and windows
and set up some fans to clear the rather acrid, choking, eye-stinging
smoke. The smoke alarms didn't "get it" until I had things well under
control but they sure made a racket after that for a little while. I'd
say good thing it was unseasonably warm today, but then I wouldn't have
had a wet paper if it was cold enough to snow rather than rain. After
ventilating for awhile I went thru the house with Atmosclear and some
other odor-eating aerosol. They helped, but it still smells a little
like a summer campground in my house. Perhaps I should cook some
bacon, or garlic, or both.

I bought that microwave in 1998 so it didn't owe me anything though it
was still working just fine. I tried it to see if it would still work.
It didn't. No matter, it was damaged far beyond cleanup.

So what happened? My friend Vicki says that someone told her today
that newspaper is now made from recycled paper that has metal in it.
That could explain it, I guess.

I went to Wally's and got a new monkeywave today, very similar to the
late and lamented that is now bagged and tagged to be recycled -- and
(METAL CONTENT) I now have an MOT (microwave oven transformer) under my
workbench that may become a spot welder or who knows whut?

Meanwhile, I'm playing with the notion of making a very simple induction
heater for annealing the necks of rifle brass. I don't have to make
sense, I'm RETIRED!

If you just close the microwave door, you deny the fire oxygen and it dies
out pretty quickly.

(As I know, from experience and instruction from my then 12 year old
niece, during an incident involving a microwave and a bag of pop corn.
She still dredges up the "Uncle Tim then opened the microwave and started
the fire back up" story -- but hey, I was curious to see what would
happen).

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

On 12/22/2014 10:12 PM, Don Foreman wrote:
A few on this forum have said that they've liked reading my
occasional scribbles. This is for y'all old metalworking buds;
enjoy!
---
The lazy, careless paper carrier "delivered" my paper near but not on
my front stoop again this morning. It was in a plastic bag, but it
was raining and the bag wasn't completely closed so a corner of the
paper got wet. Guess what carrier ain't gettin' any Xmas tip from
me?

OK, thought I, I'll dry it out in the microwave. I've done that with
wet paperback books before. They're not pretty when done because the
pages get wrinkly and swell and the steam doesn't do the spine
binding adhesive any good, but it does dry the pages so they're
readable. Microwaves heat water, but not paper. It can't get hotter
than the boiling point of water, and when the water is boiled off then
no further heating occurs. That's what's supposed to happen and what
has always worked in the past.

I started it going, then repaired to the bathroom with a book -- not
my newspaper because my newspaper was in the microwave getting dried
out so I could read it later. Not my first choice, but I can adapt.

While sitting on the throne reading my book, by and by I heard a
"whump". Whump? Uh oh. I live alone so I notice whumps. I
wondered if there was a problem in the kitchen. I scurried to the
kitchen as quickly as I could without leaving a trail down the hall,
jammies at half mast. Woulda made a hell of a video.

I found the door of the microwave had opened, possibly due to the
bonfire within. The interior of the microwave was filled with orange
flame. The best eagle scout in the State couldn't have gotten a wet
newspaper burning like that.

"Oh, golly", I thought; "I need to do something about this."

I have ABC nitrogen-charged dry powder fire extinguishers handy, but
they make a hell of a mess. I was standing right by the kitchen
sink, and there was a glass on the counter. I filled the glass half
full of water, used that to fill my mouth and both cheeks. Face
cheeks, that is. Then I went to the nearby microwave and blew while
slapping both cheeks, producing a wet spray like the wettest sneeze
you can imagine. The flames were instantly snuffed. One more dose
of that and the ashes weren't even smoking or smoldering, that fire
was OUT. I removed the glass rotating carousel plate from the oven
with a hot pad, deposited the wet black mess in the sink and sprayed
it with the sink sprayer just to be double-sure.

Catastrophe averted! Next urgent task was to open doors and windows
and set up some fans to clear the rather acrid, choking, eye-stinging
smoke. The smoke alarms didn't "get it" until I had things well under
control but they sure made a racket after that for a little while. I'd
say good thing it was unseasonably warm today, but then I wouldn't
have had a wet paper if it was cold enough to snow rather than rain.
After ventilating for awhile I went thru the house with Atmosclear and
some other odor-eating aerosol. They helped, but it still smells a
little like a summer campground in my house. Perhaps I should cook
some bacon, or garlic, or both.

I bought that microwave in 1998 so it didn't owe me anything though it
was still working just fine. I tried it to see if it would still
work. It didn't. No matter, it was damaged far beyond cleanup.

So what happened? My friend Vicki says that someone told her today
that newspaper is now made from recycled paper that has metal in it.
That could explain it, I guess.

I went to Wally's and got a new monkeywave today, very similar to the
late and lamented that is now bagged and tagged to be recycled -- and
(METAL CONTENT) I now have an MOT (microwave oven transformer) under
my workbench that may become a spot welder or who knows whut?

Meanwhile, I'm playing with the notion of making a very simple
induction heater for annealing the necks of rifle brass. I don't
have to make sense, I'm RETIRED!

Love reading your posts, Don. Keep the coming!

Actually the steam will continue to get hotter and hotter from the
microwaves. They operate on the water molecule and don't care where the
molecule is. Microwaves have fans to remove some of the steam, but are
pretty small.

when I was in college, a Korean fellow was in an advanced class and was
trying to determine how much electricity could be generated by heating a
magnet, I think, and then quickly cooling it. He used a bunsen burner
and a copper tube to make steam. The experiment wouldn't work because he
couldn't get the steam beyond 212F.

I showed him how to super heat the steam by coiling the copper tube into
several turns and applying the gas flame to all the coils. That worked
because of the additional heat in the steam. Worked much better, but not
practical.

Paul

On Tuesday, December 23, 2014 12:11:45 AM UTC-6, Don Foreman wrote:
A few on this forum have said that they've liked reading my
occasional scribbles. This is for y'all old metalworking buds;
enjoy!
---
The lazy, careless paper carrier "delivered" my paper near but not on
my front stoop again this morning. It was in a plastic bag, but it
was raining and the bag wasn't completely closed so a corner of the
paper got wet. Guess what carrier ain't gettin' any Xmas tip from
me?

OK, thought I, I'll dry it out in the microwave. I've done that with
wet paperback books before. They're not pretty when done because the
pages get wrinkly and swell and the steam doesn't do the spine
binding adhesive any good, but it does dry the pages so they're
readable. Microwaves heat water, but not paper. It can't get hotter
than the boiling point of water, and when the water is boiled off then
no further heating occurs. That's what's supposed to happen and what
has always worked in the past.

I started it going, then repaired to the bathroom with a book -- not
my newspaper because my newspaper was in the microwave getting dried
out so I could read it later. Not my first choice, but I can adapt.

While sitting on the throne reading my book, by and by I heard a
"whump". Whump? Uh oh. I live alone so I notice whumps. I
wondered if there was a problem in the kitchen. I scurried to the
kitchen as quickly as I could without leaving a trail down the hall,
jammies at half mast. Woulda made a hell of a video.

I found the door of the microwave had opened, possibly due to the
bonfire within. The interior of the microwave was filled with orange
flame. The best eagle scout in the State couldn't have gotten a wet
newspaper burning like that.

"Oh, golly", I thought; "I need to do something about this."

I have ABC nitrogen-charged dry powder fire extinguishers handy, but
they make a hell of a mess. I was standing right by the kitchen
sink, and there was a glass on the counter. I filled the glass half
full of water, used that to fill my mouth and both cheeks. Face
cheeks, that is. Then I went to the nearby microwave and blew while
slapping both cheeks, producing a wet spray like the wettest sneeze
you can imagine. The flames were instantly snuffed. One more dose
of that and the ashes weren't even smoking or smoldering, that fire
was OUT. I removed the glass rotating carousel plate from the oven
with a hot pad, deposited the wet black mess in the sink and sprayed
it with the sink sprayer just to be double-sure.

Catastrophe averted! Next urgent task was to open doors and windows
and set up some fans to clear the rather acrid, choking, eye-stinging
smoke. The smoke alarms didn't "get it" until I had things well under
control but they sure made a racket after that for a little while. I'd
say good thing it was unseasonably warm today, but then I wouldn't
have had a wet paper if it was cold enough to snow rather than rain.
After ventilating for awhile I went thru the house with Atmosclear and
some other odor-eating aerosol. They helped, but it still smells a
little like a summer campground in my house. Perhaps I should cook
some bacon, or garlic, or both.

I bought that microwave in 1998 so it didn't owe me anything though it
was still working just fine. I tried it to see if it would still
work. It didn't. No matter, it was damaged far beyond cleanup.

So what happened? My friend Vicki says that someone told her today
that newspaper is now made from recycled paper that has metal in it.
That could explain it, I guess.

I went to Wally's and got a new monkeywave today, very similar to the
late and lamented that is now bagged and tagged to be recycled -- and
(METAL CONTENT) I now have an MOT (microwave oven transformer) under
my workbench that may become a spot welder or who knows whut?

Meanwhile, I'm playing with the notion of making a very simple
induction heater for annealing the necks of rifle brass. I don't
have to make sense, I'm RETIRED!

Unplug

In article , Paul Drahn
wrote:

On 12/22/2014 10:12 PM, Don Foreman wrote:
A few on this forum have said that they've liked reading my
occasional scribbles. This is for y'all old metalworking buds;
enjoy!
---
The lazy, careless paper carrier "delivered" my paper near but not on
my front stoop again this morning. It was in a plastic bag, but it
was raining and the bag wasn't completely closed so a corner of the
paper got wet. Guess what carrier ain't gettin' any Xmas tip from
me?

OK, thought I, I'll dry it out in the microwave. I've done that with
wet paperback books before. They're not pretty when done because the
pages get wrinkly and swell and the steam doesn't do the spine
binding adhesive any good, but it does dry the pages so they're
readable. Microwaves heat water, but not paper. It can't get hotter
than the boiling point of water, and when the water is boiled off then
no further heating occurs. That's what's supposed to happen and what
has always worked in the past.

I started it going, then repaired to the bathroom with a book -- not
my newspaper because my newspaper was in the microwave getting dried
out so I could read it later. Not my first choice, but I can adapt.

While sitting on the throne reading my book, by and by I heard a
"whump". Whump? Uh oh. I live alone so I notice whumps. I
wondered if there was a problem in the kitchen. I scurried to the
kitchen as quickly as I could without leaving a trail down the hall,
jammies at half mast. Woulda made a hell of a video.

I found the door of the microwave had opened, possibly due to the
bonfire within. The interior of the microwave was filled with orange
flame. The best eagle scout in the State couldn't have gotten a wet
newspaper burning like that.

"Oh, golly", I thought; "I need to do something about this."

I have ABC nitrogen-charged dry powder fire extinguishers handy, but
they make a hell of a mess. I was standing right by the kitchen
sink, and there was a glass on the counter. I filled the glass half
full of water, used that to fill my mouth and both cheeks. Face
cheeks, that is. Then I went to the nearby microwave and blew while
slapping both cheeks, producing a wet spray like the wettest sneeze
you can imagine. The flames were instantly snuffed. One more dose
of that and the ashes weren't even smoking or smoldering, that fire
was OUT. I removed the glass rotating carousel plate from the oven
with a hot pad, deposited the wet black mess in the sink and sprayed
it with the sink sprayer just to be double-sure.

Catastrophe averted! Next urgent task was to open doors and windows
and set up some fans to clear the rather acrid, choking, eye-stinging
smoke. The smoke alarms didn't "get it" until I had things well under
control but they sure made a racket after that for a little while. I'd
say good thing it was unseasonably warm today, but then I wouldn't
have had a wet paper if it was cold enough to snow rather than rain.
After ventilating for awhile I went thru the house with Atmosclear and
some other odor-eating aerosol. They helped, but it still smells a
little like a summer campground in my house. Perhaps I should cook
some bacon, or garlic, or both.

I bought that microwave in 1998 so it didn't owe me anything though it
was still working just fine. I tried it to see if it would still
work. It didn't. No matter, it was damaged far beyond cleanup.

So what happened? My friend Vicki says that someone told her today
that newspaper is now made from recycled paper that has metal in it.
That could explain it, I guess.

I went to Wally's and got a new monkeywave today, very similar to the
late and lamented that is now bagged and tagged to be recycled -- and
(METAL CONTENT) I now have an MOT (microwave oven transformer) under
my workbench that may become a spot welder or who knows whut?

Meanwhile, I'm playing with the notion of making a very simple
induction heater for annealing the necks of rifle brass. I don't
have to make sense, I'm RETIRED!

Love reading your posts, Don. Keep the coming!

Actually the steam will continue to get hotter and hotter from the
microwaves. They operate on the water molecule and don't care where the
molecule is. Microwaves have fans to remove some of the steam, but are
pretty small.

Actually, not quite true. Ice is far less lossy than liquid water,
because freezing pins the molecules in place. In the vapor the
molecules are free to rotate, but the density is about 1/800 as much as
for the liquid.

The dielectric constant of ice is about 3.2, of water is about 80, and
of steam at atmospheric pressure is about unity.

Joe Gwinn

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 10:44:42 -0500, Tom Gardner
wrote:

On 12/23/2014 10:11 AM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I've successfully used my (flammable) Sunday paper to put out a grease
fire in a pan which I forgot on the stove. blush Plop, and it's
out, with no mess to clean up other than the pan. I love my bacon
burnt, but that lot was a bit too far gone, if you can imagine.


How could anybody forget bacon?

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.


Besides you should bake bacon in the oven at 400 and start checking at 20 minutes.

I gave up bacon for turkey bacon and never looked back. Done in the
microwave between single sheets of paper towel on a paper plate, they
come out perfectly crispy, just a tiny bit burnt (as requested),
nearly fat free, and oh-so tasty. They're ta live for.

Pork bacon is fried quickly to reduce the fat content and brown the
chit out of it. If it ain't crispy, it ain't bacon, sir.

--
With every experience, you alone are painting your
own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.
-- Oprah Winfrey

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 00:12:49 -0600, Don Foreman wrote:

A few on this forum have said that they've liked reading my occasional
scribbles. This is for y'all old metalworking buds; enjoy!

Thanks, Don. 'Twas a fun romp.


---
The lazy, careless paper carrier "delivered" my paper near but not on my
front stoop again this morning. It was in a plastic bag, but it was
raining and the bag wasn't completely closed so a corner of the paper
got wet. Guess what carrier ain't gettin' any Xmas tip from me?

OK, thought I, I'll dry it out in the microwave. I've done that with

Oops! 15 seconds, tops, please.


wet paperback books before. They're not pretty when done because the
pages get wrinkly and swell and the steam doesn't do the spine binding
adhesive any good, but it does dry the pages so they're readable.
Microwaves heat water, but not paper. It can't get hotter than the
boiling point of water, and when the water is boiled off then no further
heating occurs. That's what's supposed to happen and what has always
worked in the past.

I started it going, then repaired to the bathroom with a book -- not my
newspaper because my newspaper was in the microwave getting dried out so
I could read it later. Not my first choice, but I can adapt.

While sitting on the throne reading my book, by and by I heard a
"whump". Whump? Uh oh. I live alone so I notice whumps. I
wondered if there was a problem in the kitchen. I scurried to the
kitchen as quickly as I could without leaving a trail down the hall,
jammies at half mast. Woulda made a hell of a video.

Microwave "whumps" are always very dark and doomy to hear. BTDT.


I found the door of the microwave had opened, possibly due to the
bonfire within. The interior of the microwave was filled with orange
flame. The best eagle scout in the State couldn't have gotten a wet
newspaper burning like that.

"Oh, golly", I thought; "I need to do something about this."

Y'think?

--snip--
Catastrophe averted! Next urgent task was to open doors and windows
and set up some fans to clear the rather acrid, choking, eye-stinging
smoke. The smoke alarms didn't "get it" until I had things well under
control but they sure made a racket after that for a little while. I'd
say good thing it was unseasonably warm today, but then I wouldn't have
had a wet paper if it was cold enough to snow rather than rain. After
ventilating for awhile I went thru the house with Atmosclear and some
other odor-eating aerosol. They helped, but it still smells a little
like a summer campground in my house. Perhaps I should cook some
bacon, or garlic, or both.

Try some white vinegar instead. Half a cup for a minute should do it.
(That's for when your next mwave gets stinky.)


I bought that microwave in 1998 so it didn't owe me anything though it
was still working just fine. I tried it to see if it would still work.
It didn't. No matter, it was damaged far beyond cleanup.

So what happened? My friend Vicki says that someone told her today
that newspaper is now made from recycled paper that has metal in it.
That could explain it, I guess.

I went to Wally's and got a new monkeywave today, very similar to the
late and lamented that is now bagged and tagged to be recycled -- and
(METAL CONTENT) I now have an MOT (microwave oven transformer) under my
workbench that may become a spot welder or who knows whut?

Meanwhile, I'm playing with the notion of making a very simple induction
heater for annealing the necks of rifle brass. I don't have to make
sense, I'm RETIRED!

I brought a dead mwave home the other day with that same thought. I
now have 3, hoping for a matched pair of xfmrs out of it. Did you
read Bob Englehart's MOTS pdf the other week?

--
With every experience, you alone are painting your
own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.
-- Oprah Winfrey

That makes a lot more sense than the "recycled paper" opinion, Paul.
Newspapers do smell like oil, and anyone who has ever folded papers
for a paper route knows how black one's hands can get from that.

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 11:19:46 -0600, "Paul K. Dickman"
wrote:


"Don Foreman" wrote in message
.. .
So what happened? My friend Vicki says that someone told her today
that newspaper is now made from recycled paper that has metal in it.
That could explain it, I guess.



More than likely, it was the ink.

Books get printer with a linseed oil based ink that gets dry, usually with
an additional heating step.

Newspaper ink, because of high speed printing requirements and little
expectation of longevity, are printed with petro or soy based inks that
never dry but get absorbed by the paper.

The oil can get a lot hotter in the microwave than water, certainly higher
than 451f. Add in carbon black and it is a recipe for disaster.

Paul K. Dickman

I did think about that, Dan. It's a reasonable suggestion and a
reasonable approach. But I can't do it. I'll do without the damned
paper before I'll try to "motivate" someone that lazy and
inconsiderate. I delivered papers and two of my kids delivered
papers. Our customers expected their papers to be delivered at their
doors in good condition.

I've told the people in the circulation department that if their
carrier is unable or unwilling to deliver my newspaper to my front
porch then I don't want it at all. The guy did better for about a
week and now he's reverting to form, getting a little further from the
porch each day.

I won't renew my subscription when it next comes up in a few weeks.



On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 11:11:10 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Tuesday, December 23, 2014 1:11:45 AM UTC-5, Don Foreman wrote:

The lazy, careless paper carrier "delivered" my paper near but not on
my front stoop again this morning. It was in a plastic bag, but it
was raining and the bag wasn't completely closed so a corner of the
paper got wet. Guess what carrier ain't gettin' any Xmas tip from
me?


Always good to read stuff you wrote.

But reconsider the Christmas tip. Put it in an envelope with a note saying you almost did not give him a tip this year. And enclose a copy of your post with it. If he does not try harder , then next year an envelope with a note but no tip.

Dan

On 12/23/2014 8:49 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:

Pork bacon is fried quickly to reduce the fat content and brown the
chit out of it. If it ain't crispy, it ain't bacon, sir.

--

I don't have pork bacon often like you. But, next time try the oven
method, it'll be perfect for your taste.

On Wed, 24 Dec 2014 05:55:04 -0500, Tom Gardner
wrote:

On 12/23/2014 8:49 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:

Pork bacon is fried quickly to reduce the fat content and brown the
chit out of it. If it ain't crispy, it ain't bacon, sir.

--

I don't have pork bacon often like you.

Huh? I have it often? I thought I'd been buying turkey bacon for the
past 20 years or so.


But, next time try the oven method, it'll be perfect for your taste.

What's the method, again?

--
With every experience, you alone are painting your
own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.
-- Oprah Winfrey

On 2014-12-23, Don Foreman wrote:
A few on this forum have said that they've liked reading my
occasional scribbles. This is for y'all old metalworking buds;
enjoy!
---
The lazy, careless paper carrier "delivered" my paper near but not on
my front stoop again this morning. It was in a plastic bag, but it
was raining and the bag wasn't completely closed so a corner of the
paper got wet. Guess what carrier ain't gettin' any Xmas tip from
me?

OK, thought I, I'll dry it out in the microwave. I've done that with
wet paperback books before. They're not pretty when done because the
pages get wrinkly and swell and the steam doesn't do the spine
binding adhesive any good, but it does dry the pages so they're
readable. Microwaves heat water, but not paper. It can't get hotter
than the boiling point of water, and when the water is boiled off then
no further heating occurs. That's what's supposed to happen and what
has always worked in the past.

Hmm ... another approach is if you have a good vacuum pump, and
a housing large enough to hold the paper, to just pump it dry.

This is used for recovering collectible books after water
damage, with the addition of first freezing it in liquid nitrogen, which
forms ice crystals which separate the pages, then the vacuum sublimes
the ice directly to vapor.

[ ... ]

So what happened? My friend Vicki says that someone told her today
that newspaper is now made from recycled paper that has metal in it.
That could explain it, I guess.

Hmm ... I would also have not expected it to get that hot. Glad
to be warned.

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On 12/24/2014 11:14 AM, Larry Jaques wrote:

--

I don't have pork bacon often like you.

Huh? I have it often? I thought I'd been buying turkey bacon for the
past 20 years or so.


That didn't translate well. Try: "Like you, I don't have pork bacon
often."

See: http://www.marthastewart.com/264476/less-mess-bacon

On 12/24/2014 11:14 AM, Larry Jaques wrote:

I don't have pork bacon often like you.

Huh? I have it often? I thought I'd been buying turkey bacon for the
past 20 years or so.


But, next time try the oven method, it'll be perfect for your taste.

What's the method, again

OK, that didn't translate well. Try: "Like you, I don't have pork
bacon very often."

See: http://www.marthastewart.com/264476/less-mess-bacon

On Thu, 25 Dec 2014 09:04:44 -0500, Tom Gardner
wrote:

On 12/24/2014 11:14 AM, Larry Jaques wrote:

--

I don't have pork bacon often like you.

Huh? I have it often? I thought I'd been buying turkey bacon for the
past 20 years or so.


That didn't translate well. Try: "Like you, I don't have pork bacon
often."

Much better. See how important punctuation can be?


See: http://www.marthastewart.com/264476/less-mess-bacon

OK, mebbe I try.

Happy Christmas, Tawm.

--
Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they
become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety,
fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, de-
cisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.
--Brian Adams