Runnin' From the CO

Bryan and Rod were out fishing at their special eddy below Robinson Falls when out of the bushes jumped the Conservation Officer! Immediately, Bryan threw his fishing rod down and started running through the woods and hot on his heels came the CO. After about a half mile through the raspberry bushes and underbrush, Bryan stopped and stooped over with his hands on his thighs to catch his breath and the CO finally caught up to him. "Let's see yer fishin' license, boy!" the officer gasped. With that, Bryan pulled out his wallet and gave the CO a valid fishing license. "Well, son" said the CO, "you must be about as dumb as a box of rocks! You don't have to run from me if you have a valid license!" "Yes sir," replied Bryan, "but my friend back there, well, he don't have one... "

Making the wood stove.

A few weeks ago NSE convened in order to build a wood stove for winter camping use. We started this project off back in November or December with a planning session. Rod designed the stove using CAD software, based on a design he had for a fishing shack stove with adaptations based on Dave Hadfield's instructions and other information gleaned from Wintertrekking.com and MyCCR.com. After designing the stove, the components were cut using a CNC controlled plasma cutter. The components were joined by tig welding.

The stove itself is constructed of 22 gauge steel, is 20 inches long, and 11 inches tall by 11 inches wide. It has hole to fit 5" steel stove pipe and a hole to accommodate a pot. There is a false bottom in two pieces so that they can be flipped over inside the stove for transport. The door has a brace on the inside to keep it straight and an adjustable air intake. Four lengths of 5" stove pipe fit inside, along with the cover for the pot opening, though it's a tad tight of a fit. A damper fits into the stove pipe.

Putting the finishing touches in the design before sending the file to the plasma cutter. This photo was taken at about 9 pm.

CNC controlled plasma cutter. This machine is designed to cut steel up to 1" thick and it thinks 22 gauge steel is not worth it's effort. The steel is too thin for it to recognise so we had to trick it into starting. Rod would do that by sticking a metal ruler in under the plasma cutter when it lowered itself onto the steel, then yank the ruler away just half a second before it started to cut.

Parts being cut out by the plasma cutter.

Jay performs while Rod works.

After the plasma cutter had completed it's task, we measure and mark out prior to using the bending brake shown behind Rod. Jay contributes as best he can.

Rod tig welds a joint.

Carefully aligning one of the pieces for the legs in the bending brake.

Putting it together. See the massive steel tanks in the background? That's the sort of thing Rod normally builds!

Test fit. We noted that the legs splay out due to the weight of the stove quite a bit so later added bits of angle iron to stiffen the top of the leg pieces.

Inside view showing the false bottom.

Stove ready to go with the pot set into the hole. This photo was taken at about 3am.

About 30 hours after completing the stove it was set up in the boreal forest of northern Saskatchewan during a trip to Iskwatikan Lake.

Practising with the stove in the back yard.

The steel is all still pretty straight with the warpage being rather minimal.

The stove proved to work rather well. Now all we need to do is find a time when NSE can head out on a trip and actually use it as a group!

Bush Golf

Jay and Rob were playing golf at a foggy par three near Corner Rapids, and could see the shrubs, but not the island. Each hit their ball anyway. When they paddled to the green, they discovered one about three feet from the cup, while the other somehow had gone directly in. They tried to figure out which ball belonged to who, since they were both using Titleist number threes. Unable to decide, they returned to camp and asked Rod for a ruling. After hearing their story and congratulating them both on their superb shots under such adverse conditions Rod asked, "OK, so who was playing the yellow ball?"