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#1 2024-12-29 08:11:49
- Calliban
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- From: Northern England, UK
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Misc. Home Projects
I have been working on a few hobby projects over Christmas break. Below is a gardening knife I made for my father in law. Just needs a few finishing touches now. I am going to seal it with polyurethane laquer. The blade is 1084 plain carbon steel. I oil quenched it from ~900°C after heating in a wood burning stove. It was then tempered in an oven at 180°C for 3 hours. The blade is so hard that it was quite difficult to sharpen. But unlike previous attempts, it is not brittle. It is a difficult balance with plain carbon steel. I have had a number of failures in the past.
I have also been working on a wind powered, stone tumbling machine. I will post pictures of that when it is fully assembled.
Last edited by Calliban (2024-12-29 08:20:37)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#2 2024-12-29 18:04:16
- tahanson43206
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
This post is reserved for an index to posts that may be contributed by NewMars members over time.
For Calliban! Impressive opening scene for this new topic!
Post #1: Garden Knife made by Calliban from scratch
Post #2: Index
Post #3: Wind powered stone tumbling machine https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 37#p228937
Post https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 36#p233336
How to work with epoxy "Houdini of substances"
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 03#p232103
Image of tumbling machine wind blades
(th)
Last edited by tahanson43206 (Yesterday 13:10:38)
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#3 2025-01-06 23:43:57
- Calliban
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
The wind powered tumbling machine is almost finished!
The blades are made from a mixture of pine, thin plywood and 0.8mm aluminium sheeting. I used panel pins and epoxy resin to assemble the blades. The nacelle was made from hardwood strips and thin plywood and is glued together with epoxy. The blades are attached to the nacelle using mild steel L-brackets and stainless steel bolts. The blades have a fixed 30° pitch. The nacelle contains a compartment with a bolted lid, which contains the stone tumbling capsule. The nacelle is carried by steel shafts at either end, which are glued into sealed roller bearings. These in turn, are mounted in cradles within the frame.
Since this photograph was taken yesterday morning, I have adjusted the support frame slightly to increase clearance between the frame and blades. Over the next week, I will add cross-bracing to the support frame and paint the whole machine to weatherproof it. I considered adding features that would allow the machine to track the wind. However, the yard I intend to keep it in is very effective at funnelling the wind. So wind tracking is probably not necessary for the intended use.
My initial observations are that the machine is quite heavy. Strong wind is needed to turn it and it won't work in a light breeze. That won't be a problem where I live in the north of England. But in less windy locations a different solution may be needed.
Stone polishing is an application that is well suited to wind energy. The intermittent nature of the wind doesn't matter too much. From a business perspective, I need to polish a certain number of stones per year and can store the rough and finished stones for as long as needed. So energy storage is not necessary. The machine is very simple. It uses direct mechanical power with very few moving parts. No gearing or power transmission is needed, as the tumbling pot is contained within the nacelle. This made it quite easy to build.
My next wind powered project will probably be a wind driven bandsaw. I use a bandsaw to cut the wood for my fire. Using wind power for this application is less convenient. It means that I need to time my sawing for when the wind is strong. But this is the reality of using renewable energy. Energy storage is not practical on a large scale in real life. One must carry out energy consuming activities when nature provides the energy. And work rate is directly proportional to the wind power available at any specific time. Living on renewables therefore means living by the weather. When nature provides the power, you work. When power levels drop, you take time off. Or you complete other tasks that are labour intensive or you maintain equipment. If we could adjust our way of life to the intermittent nature of renewables, then transitioning to renewable energy is realistic.
Last edited by Calliban (2025-01-07 00:40:50)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#4 2025-01-16 09:39:52
- Calliban
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
I finished a second knife last weekend. This one is for my son. One of his hobbies is gardening. The knife is shaped for use as a pruning tool.
Last edited by Calliban (2025-01-16 09:46:26)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#5 2025-05-21 16:05:15
- Calliban
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
I have been working on my wind powered tumbling machine over the past two weeks. I realised some time back that I needed to mount the nacelle and its cradle atop a tower in order to access stronger wind and avoid ground turbulence. However, mounting the device on a tower introduces new difficulties. Stability is one of them. The device needs a wide base to prevent toppling. Bending moment at the tower base is another problem. I have added reinforcing struts to the device and will also be adding bracing cables. I will include photos of the finished device when it is finally assembled. It should be ready in another week.
Last edited by Calliban (2025-05-21 16:11:41)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#6 2025-06-07 12:36:23
- Calliban
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
The blades and nacelle are now finished! I need to replace the steel bracing strip with polymer string, or fingers are likely to go missing. But I believe I can assemble the completed device tomorrow.
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#7 2025-07-20 16:00:52
- Calliban
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
The wind powered tumbling machine was finally ready for assembly today. In this image, you can see the blades and nacelle mounted in their cradle prior to final attachment to the tower.
Unfortunately, during raising of tge machine into the tower, one of the blades came into contact with the ground and was ripped off of the nacelle. It will take a couple of days to repair before I can try again. The accident did expose a weakness in the design. I know now that the blades need to be braced together. I also need to improve the strength of their attachment to the nacelle. Whilst I was disheartened by the failure, I feel that the project is now close to completion.
Last edited by Calliban (2025-07-20 16:05:08)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#8 2025-07-21 14:56:17
- SpaceNut
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
Nice image but how are you planning to get the rotational power caused by the wind forces to your power system.
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#9 2025-07-21 15:23:50
- Calliban
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
Nice image but how are you planning to get the rotational power caused by the wind forces to your power system.
Hello SpaceNut, good to hear from you! In answer to your question, there is no power transmission. The tumbling pot for the stones fits within a compartment inside the nacelle. As the nacelle rotates, it tumbles the pot. Very simple with only one moving part (not including the bearings at either end). No power generator or transmission is needed. The only downside is having to change the pot containing the stones within the nacelle. That requires use of a ladder. Which wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't quite so afraid of heights.
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#10 2025-07-23 15:19:21
- SpaceNut
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
Ah stone polishing use...
hope you get something as nice as these.
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#11 2025-08-03 10:31:44
- Calliban
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
The tower is now in place.
It is mounted on top of a post. I coated it in creosote and used a post auger to put it about 6' into the ground.
I will need to build a hoist to get the cradle, nacelle and blades onto the tower. The cradle is finished.
I tied the blades together with a hardwood ring.
This has greatly increased the strength of the assembled nacelle. Unfortunately, it has also added a lot of weight.
Tomorrow evening I start work on the hoist.
Last edited by Calliban (2025-08-03 10:46:02)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#12 2025-08-03 13:22:40
- SpaceNut
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
Building projects to scale is without a doubt tough to do even with every step planned out.
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#13 2025-08-03 13:55:00
- Calliban
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
SpaceNut, that has definitely been the case with this project. It has taken much longer than I had initially planned for. If I had to do it again, I would definitely do things differently. Hopefully, I can keep this working for thirty years. That will see me past retirement.
This diagram is how I intend to build the hoist to lift the cradle and nacelle. Both are far too heavy to carry up a ladder. This is a simple hangman gallow hoist.
I can build the hoist in about 1 day. But I will have to wait until next weekend now.
Last edited by Calliban (2025-08-03 13:58:26)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#14 2025-08-03 14:25:23
- Calliban
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
This is how the tumbling machine will work.
The tumbling pot is inside the central nacelle. The wind blows through the blades spinning the nacelle with the tumbling pot in it. The nacelle with the blades mounted on it is the only moving part. The weakness in the design is that I will needs to climb 15' up a ladder to change the tumbling pot.
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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#15 Yesterday 12:57:28
- Calliban
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Re: Misc. Home Projects
I have been casting epoxy resin today, trying to strengthen the bond between the blades and bracing ring. It is cussed stuff to work with. It is almost impossible to build a mould that will contain it. Despite being viscous, it leaks through gaps smaller than the point of a pin. It dissolves its way through other adhesives. I have had failures in the past, where I have poured resin into a mould that I was sure was perfectly sealed. I came back the next morning to find the mould empty with epoxy all over the floor. It is the houdini of substances. I have learned that the only way of succesfully casting resin is to cast in small batches. I am therefore building up the cast in thin layers, about 1mm each. This minimises leakage, as there is little static pressure at the bottom of each layer being cast. It does make the process more time consuming, but it seems to be the only way to cast epoxy.
Last edited by Calliban (Yesterday 13:00:01)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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