65 replies to this topic

[Kevin]

Disaster!

 

I just tried standing this thing up and it immediately collapsed into a pile of twisted metal!

 

 

 

I was correct.

[r.shirillz]

Now have fun getting to the back legs to re apply your barrier of choice when the time comes, unless you have some way around that lol.

[dspdrew]

Now have fun getting to the back legs to re apply your barrier of choice when the time comes, unless you have some way around that lol.

 

You apply it before putting the cabinet in place.

[Loops117]

Good job!

[dspdrew]

I welded the washers to the bolt heads today. It was actually my first time welding. This is the last one I did. I won't show you the first one haha.
 

 
 
Painted and plastic slider added.
 

 

[FSTP]

Wow for first time those are incredibly competent welds. 

 

What type of welder did you use?

[dspdrew]

Thanks. Do you mean the brand?

[FSTP]

Thanks. Do you mean the brand?

 

 

Yes, I probably should have clarified.

Edited by FSTP, January 8 2017 - 10:34 AM.

[dspdrew]

Apparently it's a Lincoln.

[dspdrew]

So I collected thousands of Argentine ants and put them in a Fluon-covered tub. I dropped one of the cabinet legs in there, and to my surprise the stupid ants walked right up them. As you can imagine, this is going to be a bit of a problem. I guess the metal bolt, while it feels pretty smooth, is just not smooth enough. What I'm going to have to do is put acrylic tubing around each bolt.
 
Before wasting anymore time, I'm going to fully test this first. I cut a piece of acrylic rod the exact same diameter and length as the tubing I would put over the bolts would be, and dipped it in Fluon. Once dry, I set the rod in the bin of Argentine ants and put something on top of it that the Argentine ants can't resist--a dead cricket. Now to wait and see if they ever reach the prize.
 

[FSTP]

So did you just go out side your apartment with an aspirator and suck these up? 

 

Looks like the ants are sacrificing that cricket to one of their gods. 

 

Let hope this one works.

Edited by FSTP, January 8 2017 - 7:30 PM.

[Leo]

kill the argentine ants >=)

[Alabama Anter]

Good luck! ^Lol they do look like Aztecs killing the cricket by ripping it's heart out and offering to the Sun god Drew.

[Serafine]

Good luck! ^Lol they do look like Aztecs killing the cricket by ripping it's heart out and offering to the Sun god Drew.

Lol, I though something similar. This really looks like a sacrificial pit, let's hope they can't climb it.

[dspdrew]

As gleeful I was to see every single one of these Argentine ants dead this morning, it cut my test pretty short. I wonder why they all died within twelve hours of putting them in that tub. Desiccation?

[XZero38]

As gleeful I was to see every single one of these Argentine ants dead this morning, it cut my test pretty short. I wonder why they all died within twelve hours of putting them in that tub. Desiccation?

you should really keep desiccant packs out of your ant boxes

[dspdrew]

So I tried putting 3/8 ID acrylic tubing over the bolts, but it was just too small. Drilling it out to make the ID larger was a total fail, so I tried heating up the bolt and pushing the acrylic tubing onto it instead. This worked as long as I pushed it on fast enough and then dropped it in water, but I still couldn't do a decent enough job.
 
I finally just decided to use vinyl tubing instead. All I had to do with that was heat it up to make it soft and stretchy; wet the bolt a little bit, and push it on.
 
Instead of putting acrylic discs on the bottom side of the plates, I decided to use some plastic containers. This way not only would the ants have to crawl up the Fluon-covered vinyl tubing, and then upside down on the Fluon-covered plastic, but they would also need to make it all the way back down the sides, and then back up the sides again before reaching the cabinet.
 
I managed to finish four of the feet tonight. I'm still waiting on more containers so I can finish the rest.
 

[koeng]

As gleeful I was to see every single one of these Argentine ants dead this morning, it cut my test pretty short. I wonder why they all died within twelve hours of putting them in that tub. Desiccation?

Probably desiccation. One time a bunch of Argentine ants attacked one of my petri dishes, so I wrapped it in tinfoil and put it in my refrigerator. A week later, I opened up the tinfoil and they started trying to escape again. 

 

It makes sense that they need a lot of water, since they have been restricted to suburban areas of southern california, also that they made a node of their super colony behind my reverse osmosis machine... (about 4-5 queens within a 5 second glance)

[drtrmiller]

As gleeful I was to see every single one of these Argentine ants dead this morning, it cut my test pretty short. I wonder why they all died within twelve hours of putting them in that tub. Desiccation?

Dehydration. They are a hydrophilic species, not adapted for dry conditions. They must live near a source of drinkable, standing water, not just a moist nesting location. They are frequently found invading showers and sink drains for this reason.

Edited by drtrmiller, January 11 2017 - 12:55 PM.

[dspdrew]

Yeah I know they need lots of water, but I didn't know they would all be dead within hours. It kind of makes me happy.