Shopsmith Forums

In referencing back to the topic of the original post: Hope all those nasty shots take care of all the possible threats. Travel safe and get back to sawdust making soon.
As for the rest of this thread, that is why we have a thesaurus. Synonyms are the words we use when we cannot spell the original word.
Thus: Be careful of all those "bugs.":D
Later guys

PG-Zac wrote: If I can, I'll definitely be visiting here frequently and will drop a post here to let you all know that I'm still in touch even if I'm not active.

Hi guys - Greetings from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

I am firmly ensconced in my tent and I have semi-reliable internet access. I have a ton of work to do even though Sunday is our off-day. Ah well, at least I have a few hours to catch up on all the banter and problem solving going on here. It's good to see a few new members being helped (as always).

I believe my Goldie's motor will be rewound and waiting for me when I get home again in several weeks. Hopefully all my spares will also have arrived by that time, & I am looking forward to finishing the restoration.

Cheers from the heart of Darkest Africa.

I'm just wondering if it's possible to sneak home some wood from there when you return.

I'd love to travel just to meet the local woodworkers and wood carvers and see what they do.

fiatben wrote:I'm just wondering if it's possible to sneak home some wood from there when you return.

I'd love to travel just to meet the local woodworkers and wood carvers and see what they do.

They make Fertility dolls!!!!!!:D . . . . (for the tourists!)

It’s heartbreaking to see how wood is abused in the DRC.

Out in the rural areas (almost the whole country) trees are mostly just a source of heating fuel. We sometimes buy waist-high bags of charcoal for a braai (barbeque for those who don’t speak South African) and very often the charcoal is made from teak or mahogany. These bags usually cost $2.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Sacrilege

I would love to bring some of this wood home, but there are a few things standing in my way:
1. I don’t want to teach the locals to strip the trees for export – the country already has destroyed more forest than it should have. If they catch on that there is money in wood export, there will be nothing preventing an ecological disaster.
2. The corruption here is rife, and I stand a chance of either being arrested, or facing huge bribery costs, or both. Not worth it.

On each new job I take in the DRC, I offer the company my services to run a woodworking training school after hours if they are prepared to decently equip a training center. So far, none of them have taken me up on the offer. In a few weeks, after I am settled here, I’ll make the offer to the new company & we’ll see what happens.

The Congo! One of the places I've wanted to see since I was a youngster. I like working abroad. Protect yourself from the flora and fauna. I hear snakes get big over that way .
I hope you can post some pics. I would enjoy vicarious tourism hehehe...
Have fun and stay safe

Sorry guys - we aren't allowed to access any "Video sharing, Photo sharing" websites from the company net.

I was all set up to show you my amazing new digs, but no chance I'm afraid.

If you really want to see some not too inspiring pics of this place, send me your mail address and I'll mail them to you.

In Google earth, go to 10deg 47min 31.8sec South, 25deg 50min 07.19sec East, make sure that the “Panoramio Photos” is checked on in the “Layers” panel, and take look at the picture titled “Mutanda Accident”. It is before my time here, but I’m positive that this accident was on this project – I recognise the conveyor tail end and the concrete plinths under the crane’s boom.

Our camp is less then 300m from this point on the construction site. I’ve sent pictures of my luxurious accommodations to MikeyD, and he should be posting them some time soon.

Hopefully this will help some of you visualise where I am, and the conditions here.

As you can see on G.Earth, we are in the deep south of the DRC well away from the jungles and the mountain gorillas. There is very little wildlife left - most of it has been eaten. Outside the deep equatorial jungle, the only places you can find significant wildlife is in private reserves, and most of them imported their stock. I was very surprised when I saw a squirrel in our camp the other day. Most of the mines here have strict rules against killing animals. It is a dismissable offence to kill anything larger than an insect (even a snake will get you fired).

We are in the dry season now, and the dust is terrible. Most of the guys wear dust masks most of the day. Temperatures at the moment are mildish with lows in the mid to high teens, and highs going up to the mid 30's (Celsius of course).

Sorry guys I seem to have messed up on the coordinates

The Accident photo is at 10deg 47min 32.5sec South, 25deg 48min 05.98sec East.

PG-Zac wrote:Sorry guys I seem to have messed up on the coordinates

The Accident photo is at 10deg 47min 32.5sec South, 25deg 48min 05.98sec East.

What pray tell 'caused' the 'accident'??
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