Last modified: 2025-01-03 12:25:13
< 2025-01-01 2025-01-03 >The Stockopedia "NAPS" is out again: https://app.stockopedia.com/content/new-year-naps-top-stocks-for-2025-with-a-segue-to-the-qvm-portfolio-1019321
Previously contained: KLR, SRB, BAKK, BPM, BT.A, CCC, CNA, EAH, ENW, GMS, GNC, GSK, IGP, IGR, IPF, KGF, MCB, MGNS, RNO, SNWS.
Additionally I had ANX, BREE, EPWN, HSBA, KMR, SFR, TCAP, WISE, JUP, HUW.
The plan is to work out how to merge those existing holdings with the new NAPS & any new companies I want to hold, with the minimum of transaction fees, realised gains etc.
The new NAPS wants: MTL, SRB, CURY, KGF, MPE, IMB, SEPL, SHEL, IPF, BPM, TCAP, HIK, APH, SUP, OCN, SRAD, JNEO, MWE, VOD, YU.
(Bold is already held).
And I think I personally might want to additionally pick (from just looking at Stockopedia "screens" and not checking anything further): ANX, ORCH, CRST, NAR, ALTN, NWOR, RFX, WINV, KINO, DFCH, ONWD, POLN, BGLF, OTB, RNO, ELIX.
I need to check each of my personal picks for any obvious warning signs (primarily bad StockRank, if I'm honest) and get it down to the best 6 or so.
I want to own for NAPS: MTL, SRB, CURY, KGF, MPE, IMB, SEPL, SHEL, IPF, BPM, TCAP, HIK, APH, SUP, OCN, SRAD, JNEO, MWE, VOD, YU.
And for my own picks: JUP, TCAP, ALTN, KMR, RNO, WISE,
There is this fringe theory that (some of? all of?) the incredible stonework from ancient times was actually made with "geopolymers" rather than natural stone.
There are 2 different types of stone that are used: limestone, and volcanic rocks.
Volcanic rocks are things like granite and diorite. Limestone is its own thing.
(Update: diorite is considered "igneous" rather than volcanic. The difference is it solidifies and cools below the surface instead of above. Regardless, granite and diorite are made out of molten material, and limestone is made by compacted solid material).
There are proposed methods of making both types of rock with "geopolymers".
One piece of circumstantial evidence is that "natron" is used in the process, and natron was present near all of the ancient megalithic sites, and also mined in enormous quantities by ancient people.
One benefit of making big stone objects out of geopolymer instead of natural rock is that you can transport the materials in small buckets and combine them on-site, instead of having to drag giant rocks around.
Another benefit is that you can mould it into convenient shapes while it is setting, which is a lot easier than cutting hard rock. This could explain the polygonal megalithic walls with random-shaped blocks that fit perfectly together.
Apart from being a method that ancient people could have used for their megalithic projects, it might be convenient for me to be able to make stuff out of stone.
Apparently the easiest way to get started is to mix sodium silicate with wood ash in to a "play doh-like" consistency, and then mould it and wait for it to set.
Sodium silicate sets hard with CO2, and wood ash contains all the minerals that the tree sucked out of the ground that didn't get burnt off, so the resulting mix contains minerals and sets hard, which is table stakes for a geopolymer.
I understand that if you better control the ingredients then you get better stone, but this is an easy place to start.
Also, I am led to believe that you want your wood ash to contain aluminium oxide to make "better" stones, and hardwood trees don't pick up aluminium oxide from the ground but softwood trees do, so you want softwood wood ash.
I bought both sodium silicate and wood ash off Amazon. I don't know what type of wood ash I have. I'm just going to try mixing up a small amount and moulding it by hand (with nitrile gloves) into a pebble shape, then give it a few days to set and see how stone-like it seems to be. If it looks like it might work then think about something that might be useful to mould with the rest of it.
ChatGPT suggests starting with 2 parts wood ash to 1 part sodium silicate, by weight. Also you can mix in water to make it runnier, but this makes the final stone weaker.
It wasn't very difficult, made a bit of a mess though. Looks a bit like a turd.
I'm interested to see whether it actually turns into a stone or not.
Update: a couple of hours later it has already turned hard! I guess a larger stone would take longer.
It is quite rough, I think the wood ash was not crushed up into small enough pieces. I could try using the blender next time. It is not completely hard, I can dent it with my fingernail, and could probably tear it in half although I don't want to. I tried "polishing" it by running it under the tap and rubbing it with my finger, but it seemed to tear out loose particles and made the surface slightly rougher overall rather than smoother.
I put up a spare fence post and started carving a face on it:
The plan is to have lots of faces, animals, etc. stacked up like a totem pole.
I started out with a little saw blade in the oscillating multitool, but the battery went flat very quickly and it is quite hard to get a nice cut.
I then switched to the smallest chisel, which is about as productive as the oscillating multitool but easier to control.
But I still have the problem that I'm trying to cut curved shapes with a straight blade, I really need to learn how to do carving.
And maybe this is the wrong sort of wood, it is very soft and likes to tear along the grain instead of cutting cleanly.
I'm going to make a "temporary" bearing holder for the winding drum shaft, just so that I can get it running. I am expecting to make the gear on the winding drum shaft a lot bigger in the future, which will then want a smaller arm on the bearing holder.
And then the other thing is having a pulley at the top of the frame that the weight can be looped around.
I've just looped the string over the extrusion for now. Time to see if it works!
No, it does not. It doesn't have enough torque to wind the remontoire. I think the problem is too much friction where the string loops over the frame.
So the next step is making some sort of pulley for the top.
Still not winding the remontoire though :(.
Update: it is working! With 10 nuts and an allen key for drive weight it is just about working. And only 180 degrees amplitude.
Meh, sometimes not. Sometimes it gets stuck.
It would help if the remontoire catching arm thing were balanced better.
< 2025-01-01 2025-01-03 >