Gifts to give

Gift giving is always a difficult task.  We never know what we should buy for someone, or for that matter what we think they would like.  For me personalized gifts mean the most.  I know when somebody gives me something that has my initials on it I am impressed, not only am I impressed I’m always pleased because it’s me.  To give the special gift to that person is easier than you think.  When trying to decide on a gift I think more general about the person and what would be a useful gift from them.  You have to think, do they use something often, like say maybe a cutting board or you know they like jewelry.  Do they have a cottage or a lake house or maybe a man cave?  Now this is something you can get for them and they would like it, a sign for outside or maybe a sign for above the bar, doorway, entryway, a nice pub sign.  You really just have to think generally about the person that you are gifting.  People are not as fussy as you think when it comes to a personalized gift.  Why not get them some nice beer steins or maybe some nice island shot glasses.  The list goes on and on for what we could pick for them, so just go to my website www.giftspersonalized.us and find them that special gift.

How to build an Outdoor Wood Boiler Part 2

Wood Boiler Part 2

Remember as we continue this project you are learning from my experience i.e., my mistakes. Let’s continue on with the plumbing required for our outdoor boiler. It seems to be best if you keep the boiler itself within 100 feet of your house, keeping in mind that the normal wind direction in winter is from the southwest heading northeast. This means watch where you put it so the smoke from the boiler isn’t blowing at your house. You will need to run 2 lines from the boiler to the house, 1 being a feed line and the other a return line. Pipe diameter should be at least .750” and if you are at the longer end of the 100 feet 1” diameter would be best. The pipe used for this is a plastic pipe and Pex is the favorite brand to use. These pipes will come from and return to the boiler using a circulation pump. Taco is a commonly used circulation pump; however there are several other manufacturers. This circulating pump, or in some cases pumps, circulates the water from the water jacket of the boiler through the heat exchanger in the plenum of your furnace. I say pump for the reason that if you have a long run an extra pump helps the water to circulate at the rate it need to. You will also want a diverter valve at the furnace that prevents the hot water being circulated from entering the plenum when there isn’t a call for heat by the thermostat. If you don’t use this diverter valve heat will accumulate in the plenum and your safety switch will have the furnace fan engage even if the thermostat isn’t calling for heat. This diverter valve is also controlled by the wood thermostat, being that if it calls for heat then the diverter valve opens and allows the hot water to go through the heat exchanger creating hot air to blow into the building via your heat ducts.

How to build an Outdoor Wood Boiler

If you want to heat your house with wood but don't want the mess of wood in the house the outside wood boiler is the way to go. This works with your furnace just like an air conditioner does. Instead of having a cold exchanger inside the plenum you have a heat exchanger. Now we will add a second thermostat in the house to control the temperature of the wood heat and leave the first thermostat to control the temperature of the main heat source, albeit gas or oil. You don't want your main source of heat (gas or oil) to heat the plenum, so that thermostat is set lower than the wood thermostat.

Now let’s start the process of building our boiler. The boiler fire box is the first thing to determine the size of. A good size is 2.5’ square by 4.5” deep. I like the door to be full size for throwing wood in. The steel for the box should be .250 thick, stainless is best but if you want to save money regular steel is ok. Now the reason this is called a wood boiler is because we are heating water, which is what runs through the heat exchanger inside your furnace. To heat water we must have a water jacket around the wood box. This jacket should hold approximately 150 gallons of water, which is enough to keep a nice reserve of hot water to heat the house even on the coldest of days. With my boiler I can even heat my 20 x 24’ workshop. You can have a water jacket on 3 sides of the boiler which makes for easier fabrication, the top and 2 sides. If you want to get fancy you can also put it on the back side; however, this makes it harder to build because you chimney is coming out of the back. The steel thickness should also be .250” thick; I built mine with .125” thick water jacket and had problems with leaks due to rust after 5 years. The chimney should be approximately 8” in diameter and come out of the fire box about three quarters of the way up in the back of the box. This way the heat doesn’t escape out the chimney without utilizing more of the heat created by the fire. If you had your chimney at the top all of the heat goes right out and doesn’t heat the water more efficiently.

Next article we will continue with the plumbing aspects.

How to Personalize Laser Etched Gifts for Your Best Friend

Laser etched gifts are personalized gifts to give someone special in your life, especially if it has their picture etched in to it. Think how special a piece of acrylic, granite, marble, or hardwood would be with your parent's picture etched in to it. You could use your grandchildren, spouse, child, best friend or anyone else you can think for the image. Maybe you would like a picture of your cabin, house, motorcycle or something neat etched into some hardwood drink coasters that also have a bottle opener built-in to them. How cool that would be on your bar or patio set when you have company over and you are serving cocktails, or maybe a craft beer that needs to have the bottle opened. Your coaster has the opener built-in to it that they use immediately. Now that has a wow factor.

Now this is living large and it is so great to have items that you use personalized. It is also impressive to bring out the cutting board that has a picture of your lake front home on it when you need to slice some cheese. These are wonderful items as gifts. Your friends and family will cherish these forever. You can make an etched pub, cabin, or house sign that has your name and a picture of your place on it, or better yet, your friends, relatives, or some other special person in your life on it. The possibilities are endless for what you want to have personalized, and for whom. You could create a personalized custom back splash for your kitchen in a beautiful piece of granite or marble, or how about the entry way to your home or business. Wouldn't it be so great to have your name or the name of your business on the granite or marble tiles that lead people in to your place? This isn't necessarily just for you; it can also be for that great friend or family member that you want to give that special gift to. Go to my link to get some fantastic ideas for gifting your family and friends with a personalized etched piece of artwork. Do you have some ideas that you want to bounce off me? Give me a call or email and we can discuss it. Keep in mind that laser etching is done on a flat surface. The substrate used can vary as needed with some limitations. Let's work that imagination and come up with a great gift that will never be forgotten.

To do this etching we need a picture with at least 200 dpi. I can size it to your project as needed. When I receive the artwork I will review it to make sure it is good. I will take this picture and transfer it to my Laser Etching System which will then etch the picture on the substrate that you have selected. When completed I will package it and send it safely to the address provided by you. This is the way to create a beautiful present for anyone.

Ray http://www.giftspersonalized.us