Solar Turbine Update
Yesterday I talked to Dan Granett of Granett Engineering. He made a boundary layer turbine successfully, and has performance data (please let me know if you know others). This turbine is an external combustion engine, and is a cheaper, simpler, and more...
Logs and Thoughts
I have been cutting lumber for my new little house almost for two weeks now. It is hard and extremely slow. Every few days we have to change a chain or the whole chainsaw all together. Look at this picture: Isn’t it beautiful? This house is being...
Definition of Open Source
It is not open source to go to the car shop three times in one day only to finally realize that the part you really need is obsolete. That happened to me today.
CEB Day 11 and Update
Quick update. On CEB, I am hoping to spit out the first brick by this week. The flexible fabrication front is hot. Deep in the fiery Iceland underground, Smari and his Fab Lab team are working on an open source, computer controlled XYZ table for acetylene...
CEB Day 9
Progress is good. We finally worked out the hydraulics. The problem was a bad valve, so we got a new one. Now the cylinder can move up and down. I also mounted feet to the CEB frame, so it can stand upright. I just talked to David Pears again. He pointed...
Only a drop to drink
When it rains I dance. I laugh and even clap my hands. I hug whoever or whatever is at hand. My joy springs not from the new layer of silt that has eroded from our hill nor from the layers of mud that coat the bottom of my shoes, which leave heavy prints...
CEB Day 7
Today I spoke with David Pears, the designer of the AECT CEB machine. We talked briefly on the subject of the open source CEB design. One suggestion that becomes clear is to weld on reinforcing stops to hold the 20 ton pressure of the hydraulic cylinder....
Small Farms Conference
Today was another tree cutting day for me. I cut about twenty trees, and adding yesterday’s work, it may be enough. Hopefully, tomorrow we will drag the the trees into the field and then I’ll split them into logs. I think an optimistic goal...
Death Trap
Despite the nightly freezing temperatures, the bees are still collecting pollen. From where? All the flowers outside are brown and shriveled, marking the end of summer. Yet, the warm days compell the bees out of their hive to find the last remains of...
CEB Day 4
It’s Monday, and back to work on CEB. First, I must say that the entire device follows Design for Disassembly (DfD), as well as lifetime design. This is beneficial for prototyping, as changes may be made readily without having to start over. This...
