| How to Dry Wood Fast Posted: 25 Feb 2019 04:00 PM PST Air-drying lumber typically takes at least a year per inch of thickness, which is far too long for people that want to do a quick woodworking project. Although drying times depend on things like moisture levels, wood species, and lumber thickness, you always have the option of microwaving small pieces of wood or taking a few steps to speed up the drying process for larger pieces of wood. EditUsing a Microwave Oven for Small Wood Pieces - Weigh your wood samples using a postal scale. Electronic postal or pocket scales can be purchased from office suppliers and big-box stores. Set it to measure grams, place your wood onto it, and take note of your wood's weight. If you'd like to keep your scale clean, place a container onto the scale, hit "Tare," and then place the wood in.[1]
- Use a scale that has an accuracy within 0.1% for the best results. Otherwise, accuracy should be at least within .
- Measure the moisture content (MC) with a moisture meter. For pin-type moisture meters, press the 2 tips into the wood and activate it for the moisture reading. For pinless meters, press the base of its scanning plate against the wood and turn the meter on. Record the moisture content, which will be a percentage between 0 and 100.[2]
- Purchase moisture meters from home hardware stores and online suppliers.
- Microwave 15% to 25% MC wood at the lowest setting for 45 to 60 seconds. Place 3 to 5 paper towels onto the microwave oven's plate and place your wood on top. Most ovens come with a "Low" setting and a "Defrost" setting that is slightly higher. Set it to "Low" and look out for smoke—this is a sign that you have burnt away some of the wood weight and volume and any moisture measurements will be inaccurate.[3]
- Never let wood pieces touch if you're heating multiple samples or they can light on fire.
- Heat 30% MC or above wood for 1.5 to 3 minutes at the second-lowest heat level. For most microwaves, the next heat level above "Low" is "Defrost." Layer 5 paper towels onto the microwave oven's plate, place your wood on top, and set your microwave to "Defrost." If you don't mind waiting, you can set it to the lowest setting, and wait about 4 minutes instead.[4]
- If you smell smoke or burning on "Defrost," switch to the "Low" heat setting.
- Weigh your samples after the first round of heating. Following the first round of heating, weigh your samples on the scale and record the weights. When drying wood, you will notice each piece loses weight, which is a sign that moisture is leaving. The goal is to continue heating your wood pieces until there is no weight change and each of their moisture contents is stable.[5]
- Remember that different types of wood dry at different rates. Don't be surprised if some pieces lose moisture slower or faster than others.
- Continue heating your wood and weighing it until there are no weight changes. Heat the wood in intervals of 45 to 60 seconds with a 1-minute rest in between each. For highly accurate scales, you shouldn't be able to detect variation more than 0.1 gram once the drying process is done. For gram scales, stop when you get about 5 or 6 readings that are the same.
- Moisture meters can also detect moisture content, but the weight method is the most accurate.
- Calculate the moisture content following the final heating by using the following formula: (Wet Weight – Oven Dry Weight / Over Dry Weight) x 100.
EditUsing a Conventional Oven for Medium Pieces - Preheat your oven to and monitor its temperature. After setting the heat, place one kitchen rack on the bottom and another in the center. Now, place a large baking pan on the bottom rack and put an oven thermometer onto the center rack in one of its far corners.[6]
- If your oven doesn't let you set the temperature to , set it to the closest increment, such as .
- Adjust your oven settings until it hits . Monitor your oven thermometer every 10 minutes. If it's too high, lower the temperature, and if it's too low, increase it. Always adjust the temperature by the smallest increments for optimal accuracy.[7]
- Turn on your kitchen fan if it has one—this will ensure optimal airflow.
- Place your wood onto the center rack for 1 hour. Be sure that none of the pieces are touching. For smaller pieces, lay them perpendicular to each rung of the oven rack to prevent them from falling through.[8]
- Continue monitoring the oven thermometer every 10 to 15 minutes and adjust temperature accordingly.
- Test your wood's moisture content (MC) after 1 hour and reheat for 15 minutes increments as necessary. After 1 hour has passed, remove 2 to 3 wood pieces of varying sizes from the oven. Measure their moisture content using a moisture meter. Continue heating the pieces for 15-minute intervals until the desired MC or until the moisture levels do not decrease anymore.[9]
- Purchase moisture meters from home hardware stores and online suppliers.
EditSpeeding up the Drying Process for Large Lumber - Process your logs as fast as possible. If you have just cut down a tree, make the wood into lumber as soon as you can. Processing opens up the wood and helps the drying process, which can prevent stain and rot from affecting the wood.[10]
- Store your wood in a shaded location with ample airflow. Try and find an indoor location like a hayloft or shed or an outdoor location that is in the shade. Avoid locations like garages which likely don't have enough airflow. Never store wood in the basement or inside boxes as they dry, they definitely won't have enough airflow.[11]
- Remember that your wood needs to dry in an area with a similar moisture content that the finished product will be exposed to. For example, if you plan to use the wood to make a chair that will be placed in a dry area of your home, store it in an area with similarly low moisture content
- Point an electric household fan toward your wood between your cutting sessions to improve airflow. This circulation will help your wood dry in at least half the time that it normally would.
- Seal off the ends of each piece of lumber immediately after cutting to prevent moisture decay. Exposed ends can lead to drying that is too fast, which paves the way for end-grain cracking and splits. And since moisture escapes wood 10 to 12 times quicker from the ends, leaving them exposed is damaging to the wood. Apply paraffin wax, shellac, polyurethane, or latex paint to the ends in a uniform manner so that both are completely covered. Try to do so as soon as possible—within minutes—for the best results.[12]
- Purchase specially formulated end grain sealers from woodworking or home hardware stores if you don't mind paying a bit more money.
- Stack your lumber uniformly to expose all sides to airflow. When you're cutting your lumber, cut the pieces to the same lengths and thicknesses. Afterward, these equal dimensions will make it easier to stack them in a manner that exposes each side to air. Use small pieces of wood, also known as stickers, to create space between each side and increase ventilation.[13]
- Use spacers every for thinner pieces and or spacing for thicker pieces.
- Cover the top of your wood with a tarp or plastic sheeting. Don't cover the entire pile of wood to the ground—this will hold in moisture. By just covering the top, you can ensure that each piece is adequately shaded without trapping moisture.[14]
- Skip this step if you're storing your wood indoors or somewhere with adequate shade.
- Measure the moisture content (MC) of your wood with a moisture meter. If you're using a pin-type moisture meter, press the 2 tips of the device into your wood. Afterward, turn it on and examine the moisture reading. For pinless meters, press the base of the scanning plane to the wood and activate it. Moisture readings are a percentage between 0 and 100.[15]
- Buy both types of moisture meters from online suppliers and home hardware stores.
- When microwaving multiple pieces of wood, don't heat multiple pieces of varying moisture contents.
- Don't rush—more cycles at lower heat is easier on the wood than fewer cycles at high heat.
- Don't use high-heat microwave settings or you risk starting a fire.
- Use oven or work gloves when handling heated wood.
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| How to Fix a Separated Zipper Posted: 25 Feb 2019 08:00 AM PST It's frustrating when zippers break suddenly, such as when their teeth separate and the zipper slider won't open and close them anymore. This can be embarrassing if it's on your pants zipper or if it's on a backpack and all of your things fall out. However, there are several ways of fixing a separated zipper. You can either try to fix the slider itself or realign the zipper by taking it apart and putting it back together. One of these methods is likely to fix the majority of zippers that have separated. EditReducing the Opening On the Zipper Slider - Inspect the slider on the zipper. Many times when the sides of a zipper separate and won't go back together as you pull the slider, it's because the slider itself is damaged. When you use a zipper often, the slider opening will begin to stretch open a bit. Inspect both ends of the zipper to determine if they have the same opening size. If one end looks wider than the other, then this may be why your zipper failed.[1]
- As the opening increases in size, it puts less pressure on the tracts of the zipper, allowing them to stay separated.
- Inspect the rest of the zipper and fix any problems that are apparent. For instance, straighten out any bent zipper teeth that you see. If there are tears in the fabric of the zipper, mend them.
- In some cases, bent teeth on a zipper will cause a zipper to separate. If the zipper teeth are metal, you can use a pair of pliers to straighten them out. If the teeth are plastic, gently try to straighten them with your fingers, as pliers could easily break them off.
- Squeeze the opening on the slider to reduce its size. Squeeze the slider on the top and bottom with your fingers or a pair of pliers. This will make the opening inside the slider the correct size once again.[2]
- On one end of the slider there is a middle piece that won't let you squeeze it. On the other end there is no middle piece. That is the side that gets opened and needs to be squeezed back together.
- Don't squeeze the slider too strongly though, as you don't want to make the gap smaller than it should be. You will know the gap is too small if it becomes difficult to pull up and down the zipper slider along the tracks.
- Check the zipper. Once you've reshaped the slider, move it up and down the zipper. If it is properly fixed, the slider should go back to opening and closing the zipper right away.
- If the zipper still doesn't work, either squeeze the slider more or try another solution.[3]
EditRemoving and Reinserting the Slider - Assess whether the slider needs to be realigned. If you have tried to move the zipper up and down, force the zipper sides together, and reduce the opening on the slider, the next thing to try is starting from scratch. If you can see the stops at the top of the zipper and they are metal, taking off the slider and realigning the zipper is possible.[4]
- The stops at the top of the zipper are small pieces of metal that are shaped a bit differently from the teeth on the zipper. They are not big pieces and they look similar to teeth but they are slightly larger and are positioned at the very end of each side of teeth.
- If the stops are plastic, you won't be able to take them off and put them back off without breaking them, so you can't use this method.
- Remove the top stops. Get a pair of small-tipped pliers and gently open up the stop. The stop it shaped like a "u," so you simply need to open up the side of the stop that is hooked onto the tape of the zipper. Once it is just slightly opened, you can wiggle it and unhook it from the tape.[5]
- It's important to be gentle with the stop and don't cut it or bend it until it breaks. You need to keep it intact.
- Keep the top stops and put them somewhere safe, as you'll need to use them again.
- Pull the slider up and off the zipper. Once the tops stops are removed, you will be able to easily pull the slider off the end of the zipper. Taking it off will allow you fix the tracks and then get the slider back in line.[6]
- Push the teeth of the zipper together. Start at the bottom of the zipper, the opposite end from where you took off the slider. Push the teeth of the zipper together, making sure that the teeth from the left and right sides alternate.[7]
- Put the zipper on top of a hard surface. As you work your way up the zipper, press down on the teeth to pop them into place.
- It is important that the teeth are perfectly lined up. Make sure that once you get to the top of the zipper that you don't have extra teeth on one side. This would mean that the teeth are not lined up.
- Reinsert the slider onto the top of the zipper. Once you have realigned the teeth, stick the bottom of the slider back onto the top of the tracks. Insert one track into the bottom of the slider, which is the end without a piece of metal separating the two sides. Then insert the other track.
- You will know each side is inserted when several teeth have gone up into the slider and the track won't go any further.
- It's easiest to insert one side and then the other. Putting them both in at once doesn't typically work.
- Run the slider up and down to check your work. Pull the slider down a few inches to make sure that it is on track. Move it up and down a bit to make sure it opens and closes the zipper correctly.[8]
- Be sure not to pull the slider all the way back up to the top, as it will slide off of the tracks again without the top stops in place.
- Reapply the top stops. Once the zipper is working once again, put the top stops back in place. Position them in the spots where they were originally installed. Squeeze the ends of the stops with your pliers until they grip the zipper tape once again.[9]
- Wiggle each stop after you reinstall it to ensure that it is securely in place.
- Just because you have a broken zipper, that doesn't mean that your piece of clothing or bag is broken forever. If you can't get the sides back together, you can always replace the zipper altogether.
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| How to Fillet a Fish Posted: 25 Feb 2019 12:00 AM PST While catching a fish can be as simple as casting out a line with bait and being patient, filleting a fish takes a little more finesse. Knowing the correct process to fillet a fish can make the difference between getting barely enough meat for a side dish and harvesting enough for a fish feast. Plus, freshly cut fish fillets taste much better than pre-cut. EditBleeding, Descaling, and Gutting the Fish - Bleed out the fish, if it is a fresh catch, to preserve the meat. Make a shallow incision with your knife or scissors under the fish's gills, and snap its head backwards to break the spinal cord. Thread a rope through the fish's mouth and out of its gills and let it bleed out into the water for a few minutes.[1]
- Bleeding a freshly caught fish is vital to preserving its taste and texture. A fish that is caught but not bled out will be much messier on the cutting board and, in its final moments, the stress and struggle of death can make the meat taste acidic.[2]
- Put the fresh catch on ice after you have thoroughly bled it out, to further preserve its freshness. You should keep it on ice until you are ready to scale and clean the fish. [3]
- Descale the fish with the back of a knife. You can scrape the scales off of a whole fish by using long strokes from the tail to the head of the fish with the back of a knife. Alternatively, skinning the fish also removes its scales, and can be done after you have successfully filleted it.
- You can also ask your fishmonger to descale the fish for you upon purchase.
- Descaling the fish is recommended but not essential — if you like scales with your fish fillet, leave them on!
- Cut the fish's stomach open to remove its guts. Starting from the tail, run your knife all the way along the fish's body towards the head and open the fish up. Remove the guts with your hands, wearing gloves, and use cold water to rinse out any left over insides. You should have a completely clean fish at this point, save for the skin.
- This can also be done with fresh fish at the body of water you caught it at, making it much easier to handle its guts and stomach contents. The smell of the guts can attract bears, eagles, and other fish-loving animals, though, so be aware of the wildlife in the area and take the necessary precautions, such as bringing a gun and having a place to retreat to.
- Gutting can be a nasty process, so be sure to have a trash bin nearby that you can throw them into if not at the riverside. Be sure to wipe down your counter afterwards, as the risk of cross-contamination is high when removing guts.
- Chop off the head at the gills. Lay the fish on one of its sides, and cut the head off with a chef's knife right where it meets the gills. Cut through the fish's spine, which can take a little extra pressure, and follow through to sever the head from the body. You can discard the head, or keep it on ice to use in making fish stock.
EditMaking Precise Fillet Cuts - Cut away fins along the sides, top, and underside with scissors. This should be done before you make cuts to make your work more precise and remove parts of the fish that might get in the way.[4]
- This can be done at the same time as de-scaling, but must be done before you begin to cut away the fillet.
- Run your fillet knife down the fish's spine from tail to head. Start your cut at the base of the tail, and use the fish's backbone to guide your cut. Don't cut roughly or saw it away; instead, use a smooth and gentle slicing motion.
- As you slice the fillet from the fish, lift the flesh to make sure your cut is still moving in a straight line across the backbone. [5]
- Run your fillet knife over the rib cage rather than through it. Delicately work with the shape of the rib cage instead of sawing through the bones. You can remove these bones with tweezers at a later time.[6]
- Repeat the cut for the other side of the fish. Turn the fish over so the spine is touching the cutting board, and run your knife once again down the backbone from the tail to the head. Because the fish is lighter and does not have as much to grasp onto as before, the second side can be much trickier than the first. You should have two large fillets at this point.
- Watch out for the fish slipping off of the cutting board, as it may be more slick after the first fillet is cut away.
- Consider cutting each fillet into "steaks" for grilling. If you plan on grilling or barbecuing your fish, it is much easier to work with if it is cut into steaks. Measure out slices about thick on each fillet, and cut with your chef knife.[7] Keep the leftover meat for smaller steaks for kids or to use in fish stock. This is especially effective with large fish such a salmon.
- If you decide to turn your fillet into steaks, do not remove the bones or the skin, as it maintains the structure of the flesh on the grill or barbeque.
EditRemoving Bones, Skin, and Fat - De-bone the filets with a large set of tweezers or boning knife. There is no way to totally avoid getting bones in your fillet, but you can remove them once the flesh is cut away from the spine. Feel along the middle of your fillet from the head to the tail end for bones, and use your tweezers to carefully remove them.[8]
- Skin the fillet with a fillet knife. Place the fillet skin-side down and make a cut where the skin meets the flesh. Slowly move your knife towards the opposite end, being sure to firmly grasp the skin and pull it away as you slice.[9]
- Similarly to de-scaling the fish, it is recommended to remove the skin before preparing a fillet to eat, but if you like skin on your fish, go ahead and leave it on. The chewy skin is unappealing to some, but it does contain additional nutrients and vitamins.
- Trim away excess belly fat and other fat. Depending on the type of fish you have, it may have a lot or hardly any belly fat. Salmon, lake trout, and mackerel are known for being high in fat content.[10] Using your fillet knife carefully cut this away as you would with a steak — after all, these fillets are essentially fish steaks!
- If you like fat on your food, by all means leave it on, but generally fish fillets are served as lean as possible.
- Rinse the fillet with water, then store it on ice for later use. Run water over the fillet then dry it with a paper towel, being careful not to leave any fibers on the flesh. If you won't eat the fish within two days, you should wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, put it into a ziplock bag, and keep it in the freezer.[11] The fish will stay good for 2 to 3 months in the freezer.
- If you plan on eating it within two days, fill a container large enough to hold the fish halfway with crushed ice, place the fish on top, cover the container and store it in the fridge.
- You should rotate ice if it melts before you eat the fish. Keep in mind that fish will rot in the refrigerator if not kept on ice.
- Make sure to clean your hands and your working surfaces/areas. Wear gloves if you want to reduce the risk of cross contamination.
- Use the sharpest filet knife you have available - the duller the knife, the higher the risk of hurting yourself.
- Don't use more fish than you need. Remember that one big fish yields 2 big filets.
- If you would like to have a side dish with your fish filet, be sure to prepare it before the fish to avoid cross contamination
EditThings You'll Need - Filleting knife
- Chef's knife
- Cutting board
- Scissors
- Tweezers
EditRelated wikiHows EditSources and Citations
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