"Hi everybody my name is Chris. I choose my woodworking projects based on whatever happens to inspire me".
In this video, Chris builds a foot powered treadle lathe. Great project, great video.
Via Old Engineering.
"Lumber is usually dried to a specific moisture content prior to further manufacturing or use. While lumber can be air-dried, the humidity in most localities prevents the lumber from reaching the moisture content required for the stability needed for interior use. The kiln discussed is designed to be inexpensive to construct and be simple to operate."
"The solar kiln described was designed, constructed, and tested at
Virginia Tech. This design is based on 25 years of research and
development on the solar drying of lumber in the United States and
foreign countries. Drawings for two versions of this kiln are available;
one for 800-1,000 bd ft and the other for 1,500-2,000 board feet of
lumber. Both kilns will dry a load of lumber in approximately one month
of moderately sunny weather at its location in Blacksburg, VA."
"Drying lumber can be a complex process where accelerating drying without having quality loss often requires extensive knowledge and experience. The design of the Virginia Tech solar kiln is such that extensive knowledge, experience and control are not required. The size of the collector keeps the kiln from over-heating and causing checking and splitting of the wood. The kiln is simple to construct and utilizes a passive solar collector, four insulated walls and an insulated floor. The roof is made of clear, greenhouse rated, corrugated polyethylene."
"It is authoritatively stated that the building and maintenance of the farm fences in the United States have
cost more than the construction of the farm buildings.
Be this as it may, while large numbers of works have been written upon rural architecture we believe this is
the first publication specially devoted to Fences, Gates
and Bridges.
It aims to be a practical work, showing the "evolution" of the fence from the road barrier of logs, brush or sods to the latest improved forms of barbed wire. The numerous illustrations are mainly representations of fences, gates, etc., in actual use. The chapter on fence law is necessarily condensed. The various judicial decisions upon the subject alone would fill a large volume. This little work, the first and only one of its character, is given to the public in the confident hope that it will prove specially useful to farmers and village residents."
"Fences, gates, and bridges; a practical manual", George A. Martin, 1892. Thanks to Rob McWilliam.
"Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties presents lively, step-by-step tutelage
on building all types of temporary and long-term accommodations from
both natural and man-made materials. Published in 1914, this practical
classic is as essential a guide for today’s modern homesteader as it was
at the turn of the twentieth century.
Included are instructions for dozens of worry-free shelters for you to chose from, including a sod house for the lawn, a treetop house, over-water camps, a bog ken, and much more. Satisfying the builder’s need for the creature comforts of home, it also provides tips on how to build hearths and chimneys, notched log ladders, and even how to rig a front door with a secret lock. Illustrated throughout with a bounty of helpful line drawings, Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties harkens back to the can-do spirit of the American frontier that still thrives today."
Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties; and how to build them", D.C. Beard, 1914 (Gutenberg free e-book). The description is from the 2008 edition (Amazon). Thanks to Thurston.
"A 2.5m diameter hole, 1.5m deep cooks 10 gal of rice/hr from 11am to 3pm on an 85f summer day in south central Oregon. Since the power of a parabolic concentrator is proportional to the surface area of it's aperature (A = 3.14 x r^2), doubling the radius of the hole increases the power of the Earthen Solar Cooker by a factor of four. An Earthen Solar Concentrator the size of a small amphitheater might be capable of casting bronze or boiling the water near the surface of a shallow well located at the vertex, thus making possible the creation of a solar bubble pump that could lift pasteurized water to a tank above ground level." Read more about the project at Appropedia.
Previously: Parabolic Basket and Tin Can Solar Cooker / Solar Cookers that Work at Night / Build a Solar Powered (Interior) Kitchen.
"The A(dd)Y(our)O(wn) lighting range gives everyone the chance to be part designer, part manufacturer. Made from rebar and natural rubber, the lights are designed without lampshades to encourage the re-use and re-cycle of everyday objects from garden, house or street. For Roomservice Design Gallery Ryan fitted the lights with a series of iconic Spanish objects salvaged in the streets of Barcelona such as fruit crates, olive oil tins and pickle jars." Check out the video and the product page.
"This is a simple technique for
insulating windows with bubble wrap packing material. Bubble wrap is
often used to insulate greenhouse windows in the winter, but it also seems to
work fine for windows in the house. The view through the
bubble wrapped window is fuzzy, so don't use it on windows where you need a
clear view. But, it does let plenty of light through."
"The bubble wrap has a short payback in cold climates. About 2 months for single glazed windows, and half a heating season for double glazed windows. For an 7000 degree day climate (northern US), and single glazed windows, the bubble wrap increases the R value from about R1 to about R2. This cuts the heat loss from the window in half." Read more.
"The town I live in is located near the Alberta-BC border, about 100 miles north of the US Canada border. Winters here are long and cold, but many days are crystal clear and sunny."
"Our tool shed has a south-facing wall which was ideal to mount a solar thermal direct-air collector panel. The collector panel exterior dimensions are 48” high x 49.5” wide. Total budget: $200.00 Result: 16 sq ft harvest up to 6 kWh/day."
Build a Solar-Thermal Direct-Air Heater (PDF). Introduction (and another project) here.
"This is hopefully the start of a
set of documents that will help in the construction of a portable,
authentic forge and bronze casting set up. I am starting with the
bellows as I can use them at home to help get the fire going in the
winter months."
"I have repaired a number of sets of bellows, but this is the first set I have actually made myself from scratch. They appear to work well – good flow rate, nice range of movement, practically no air loss. If you follow any of the instructions below and it doesn’t work properly – well then you are just doing it wrong."
"Coffee makers and water boilers are relatively simple machines, yet their workings are typically inaccessible to the user. Repair or even recycling becomes impossible: once the product ceases to function, it is rendered disposable. The OS Boiler explores an alternative approach to the design and production of these ubiquitous appliances.
Based on the OS design principles, the WaterBoiler’s (completely disassembleable) design and transparent construction invites users to adapt, repair, and combine with existing OpenStructures components."
"The limited complexity of the Boiler allows new partnerships to emerge that can adapt to the scale of production: a single unit designed as a DIY kit to one-thousand units produced in a collaboration of international suppliers and local manufacturers. Consistent application of simple and straightforward principles in design and production leads to an object that can evolve and adapt over time."
Open Source Water Boiler (and the version with ceramic filter) at the OpenStructures Project.
For an in-depth article about OpenStructures and related projects, read "How to make everything ourselves: open modular hardware".
"The thab stove is a designed template that utilizes unwanted wire hangers
from North America to assist in improving the portable dung stove used
by Tibetan nomads.
See and read more. Via Treehugger and Designboom. Thanks to Angela Riviera.
This collection of 21 building plans for 5 different types of Dutch industrial windmills was published in 1850. There is a saw mill, an oats mill, a flour mill, and two pumping mills. The book contains no text, only illustrations.
"Theoretisch en practisch molenboek: voor ingenieurs, aannemers, molenaars en andere bouwkundigen", G. Krook, 1850.
("Theoretical and practical windmill book; for engineers, contractors and millwrights").
Continue reading "Building Plans for Dutch Industrial Windmills (1850)" »
"In the last twenty years or so since I built this foot-powered
treadle lathe, I have received many requests for drawings or
plans. The lathe has been used as part of our traditional
woodworking demonstrations and it never fails to draw a
crowd. Of course, the reason the lathe exists is because I felt a
need for it as a tool. Some of the main considerations when designing the lathe were:
"Metalworking lathes are necessary to the production of almost everything but are very expensive. In 1915, special lathes made from concrete were developed to quickly and cheaply produce millions of cannon shells needed for World War I. Lucien Yeomans, the inventor, won the nation's highest engineering award for it but sadly the technique was almost forgotten after the war. We re-discovered it as a way to quickly make inexpensive but accurate machine tools for use in developing countries and in trade schools and shops everywhere."
Pat Delany developed a metalworking lathe design that uses concrete parts cast in wooden molds to achieve high precision at a rock-bottom price of $150. Find the detailed building plans at Make Projects. Also check out Pat Delany's low-cost DIY machine tools (such as a hand-powered drill and a treadle-powered generator), all built from recycled parts.
