Kenneth Elwell wrote:I think folks should *might want to* consider their latitude, and what time of year their drying needs are greatest, to determine the angle of the glass. For Northern U.S. it does feel like it could be steeper. I think the ideal is local latitude plus the tilt of the Earth (for Winter solar gain = Lat. + 23.4 degrees (tropic of Cancer/Capricorn)).
Possibly a super-deluxe, albeit complicated, version would be adjustable tilt for maximum gain.
I like the idea of having an equation to find a desired slope. I believe there is a sweet spot that relates more to the air flow science than it does the heat gain science. I believe more slope information will be discovered when Wheaton Labs alters their design at a future ATC.
It could be Earth tilt on a calendar lookup (useful for adjusting for the day/month of intended use), plus one's local latitude. I agree that the air flow is primary, and the ultimate heat gain secondary. Adjustments for more equatorial latitudes might really frustrate the air flow...being much shallower angles.
I think it will be interesting to find out if fine-tuning for incidence on the glass by latitude and day/week/month of peak use has a measurable benefit. If it does, it may result in an earlier startup in morning, and run later in the afternoon, or work on partly sunny days. (tracking would add a bit more as well)
I'll probably build mine to be adjustable within equinoxes and summer solstice at my latitude (42.5 N (~4.5*south of Wheaton Labs)). I've already scrounged the materials, just need the time...
True, a highway rated trailer tire is better than a typical wheelbarrow tire, as far as puncture resistance, since it it a belted tire, not just rubber. You can inflate it more than 20 psi to help it roll better, the hub can easily handle the additional air pressure. I have even put 40 psi in wheelbarrow and yard cart tires rated for 20. It take a LOT to blow a tire off the rim, but the tire is always going to be the weak link, not the hub/rim.
I found this mushroom growing at the base of a fallen hackberry tree on my homestead. It looks so much like a reishi and after reading on it they are found here in Texas (I'd always associated them with colder climes) but I would love it if anyone could give me their thoughts?
A brush dam is just a big pile of trees and brush jammed into an eroding seasonal creek. It functions to slow the water and filter out organic material, eventually allowing soil to form and plants to grow, stopping the erosion.
It's basically a velcro plate embedded in earth bags a few layers below with 2 vertical pieces of plywood (Those are strengthened by the next 2 layers of earthbags pushing against it's sides). Once the rafters are installed, you continue the last 2 layers of earthbags to tighten everything together.
Howdy!
I read this whole thread and have also watched the video that is linked above to how the family at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh6N_WWGwkU&feature=share attached their rafters for building a reciprocal roof on a round earthbag structure. I think their method of installing the rafters on top of velcro plates with attached sidewalls for the rafters to drop in-between is a brilliant idea. The plates are anchored by the next row of earthbags. The extra height of the attached sidewalls allows the rafters to be aligned level with each other even when the earthbag wall is not. Brilliant!
A reciprocal roof does not need a bond beam or a tension ring like a radiating yurt roof. A reciprocal roof twists under its own weight causing it to tighten upon itself rather than spread like a radiating roof.
If you are building a rectangular wall system the rafters can be supported by a ridge beam, or a truss in the shape of a gable or as a shed style roof.
Any of these roof designs exert very little pressure out to the side.
For building a small rectangular shed interlocking the bags at the corners and anchoring the rafters to the walls in the fashion shown in the video above should be plenty adequate for structural integrity. Ideally, earthbag walls have reinforced tensile strength in every row from the two-strands of 4-point barbed wire. Embedding steel bolts in the walls has shown to rust over time. Better to marry gravity and mass as an anchor as the Anasazi Natives have done for over 1200 years!
Thanks for the purchase. They are nice containers and I think you'll like them... I just checked and we just sold the last 5 of the SC10 last night (4 to you and one to another person). We still have a lot of SC7 left though. Just let me know if that would be of interest to you and I'll check what we could do as far as discounts if you were interested in quite a few of them. From my experience, the SC7 would work for tree seedlings that don't have a serious tap root (i.e. pecans, mesquite etc...).
I have a brand new and completely unused set of 7 flow frames complete with flow key, manual and bee veil for sale on ebay for $445 plus $29.99 shipping. Everything will ship in the original box. If you're interested you can look at the ebay listing at the address below:
Lisa Petrillo wrote:I double-checked my sources to be sure, but oxalic acid is neutralized during cooking.
I believe that what is happening is that the cooking water is extracting the soluble oxalates from the vegetables. So the amount of oxalic acid in the meal is only reduced if the cooking water is discarded. It wouldn't be reduced if the vegetable was added directly to a soup or stir-fry. So my protocol for cooking something like rhubarb which is very high in oxalates would be to blanch it first before using it in a recipe. (I really dislike the taste of oxalates in my food.)
We haven't had any rain in a long time and the only thing we have left ares tomatoes & bell peppers.
I don't use my oven in the summer and I am too lazy to pressure can in this heat. I made squash relish and pepper relish and just let the jars seal from the hot liquid and then put them in the fridge. They get eaten before they can go bad.
Max:
I like to see at least a 200 amp welder. There are some new ones by Lincoln and Miller in that size for only $1000 new! Crazy cheap in my opinion for a good machine.
You need basic skills, but nothing too fancy. I tried to make the joints overlap in the design so you have a good area to burn into and no need to grind any weld away.
Flux core is good wire and I use it for structural steel.
If its a really small mig welder that sold for $300 or $400 I would probably not use it because it won't have the power to melt into the metal. You must have air tight welds on most of the machine and a crack or weld that didn't penetrate could cause a safety issue or a performance issue. You could suck air into your gas stream and burn up some of your gas, making it weak on the flare side. Hard to troubleshoot!
