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Forum Index : Other Stuff : What Has Stolen All My Time
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MacGyver Guru  Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Crew I thought, since it has been such a long time since I've posted any "builds" of windmills, generators or steam (air) engines and the like, I should explain exactly why. Enjoy! . . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
Oh no!! We live in a shed, hope the missus doesn`t see what you`ve done with yours. I`ll get no rest. We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Nice vid Mac. Looks like you've been busy. I think it will be a cosy home when it finished. We just need a vid of the outside now. 
Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Mack You are Green Mean Building Machine with a lot of of Gunnadoos like all of us so good on you mate and keep up the good work. And watch out for the falling ice it has sharp edges. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
@ Glen When I set up the "proof of concept VAWT" out in the yard between the new house and the road, I'll do a walk-around video of my whole place and post it. I keep changing my mind on the SIZE of the VAWT. Now, I'm back to building one somewhere in the vacinity of maybe like 10 to 15 feet in diameter. My thinking was, why NOT over-build it? It'll either pull one helluva-large air pump or maybe even a large truck alternater. If nothing else, I have plans to create a bit of kinetic art atop the thing, just to keep the locals wondering. From out on the road, it'll look like some sort of wizardry! . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
Looks great. Because you make every part of the house at the same time, all of the sudden your house will be finished. Just a question on your protection. How many times did you have to use them at your new place until now? George |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
@ Georgen Not sure what you're asking,but if you're talking about the below-ground tornado shelter, I've been in it several times. Whenever there are tornadoes within a hundred miles of me, that's where you'll find me. I've spent the night twice and it's very comfortable. Of course, part of that comfort is knowing, should there be another actual bullseye (my little farm hosted an EF-2 tornado Deember 19th last year), I'll likely survive it being hunkered down below ground. I went through the EF-2 INSIDE my RV and thought for sure I was going to die! . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
Mac, Good to know that shelter is great. I would be bit concerned with access having doors that swing out, should large tree rest on top of them. Suppose harder to keep water out with access door swinging inward. George |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Georgen I dont know, they all do, swing out that is. I thought of the uprooted tree or flying truck perching on the door and there's a several-ton hydraulic jack and handle stashed inside the shelter. I'm in a thousand-year flood plain, so I'm not so much worried about water getting in, like in a flash flood. Here's a shot of the thing BEFORE I enclosed it. All but the two little vents are now enclosed in a welded-steel building extension, which covers about 3/4 of it. That way, I can go through the door and enter the shelter without getting pelted with water, hail, ice or debris. It hasen't come to that yet, but that's the plan. 
. . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
It looks like you should paint on it RIP MAC. Sometimes it just works |
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fillm Guru Joined: 10/02/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 730 |
Hi Mac, All Looks good , although I half expected to see a dolls house  couldn't help my-self.... anyway Looks like you still have a bit of work ahead but you are moving in a good direction from all that you had to recover from a few years back . The Hand Gun laying in the open is not my cup of tea, but you Yanks seem to love your guns  .
May-be you should have posted this on the windmill forum, at least it is moving towards building a Mill. Still can not wait to see this GINORMOUS VAWT IDEA , you had better not wimp out and build a baby "proof of concept" 
Keep up the good work Mac , the Shed/House (Shouse) is lookin good !! PhillM ...Oz Wind Engineering..Wind Turbine Kits 500W - 5000W ~ F&P Dual Kits ~ GOE222Blades- Voltage Control Parts ------- Tower kits |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
fillm In Texas, a shouse is called a "bardominium". It's a regular house built inside a commercial steel building with a slab on grade. The windmill thing is just a matter of incentive. I want to build a ginormous one, and likely will. The trouble is, I'm 65 and lazy. My current plan is to make it 16 feet in diameter and about 2 feet tall. It will have the same force and effect of standing in the breeze holding a sheet of plywood, which is 2' x 8' with the flat surface perpendicular to the wind, four times per revolution. Slow? Probably. Powerful? You bet!: Pulley & V-belt time, son. . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| M Del Senior Member  Joined: 09/04/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 155 |
Mac, The shouse is looking good, and the spray on insulation beats trying to hold batts in place. I fixed your statement, The trouble is, I'm 65 and (lazy) it takes time to do what I used to do. Not yet your age but getting there. If I ever get my bush property, a shouse/bardominium is the way I want to go. The shelter could also be used as a cool room, are you looking at this in any way? There is only one problem I can see, are you worried that if you get a lot of rain your shelter might bubble up out the ground? I have seen many concrete pools do it when empty and the shelter seems like it may do the same. Mark |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
@ M Del I, as a former building official (ICBO Inspector) have seen pools do the same thing. The ground here is expansive (clay) soil and although it is a possibility, which I have considered, it doesn't seem to happen. There are shelters everywhere here in these parts and some have been here nearly 100 years with none popping out of the ground yet. As for a "cool" room, although the ground temperature is pretty constant at about 5 feet and below (I'm 7 feet in the ground) the ambient "air temperature" in the summer hovers around 110 for weeks on end. I intend building a drop ceiling with about a two foot "attic space" in the room surrounding the shelter and expanding the interior walls the same distance, then filling the entire space with blown-in cellulose insulation in an attempt to make it cool and keep it that way. Only trouble is, there are two air vents on the thing, which can be seen in the picture. One is an intake and the "whirly bird" turbine acts as a pump and draws air through the place, so I don't know how successful my attempts will be. I suppose I could jam foam rubber into the vents from the inside to prevent air flow, I dunno. I'll let y'all know when it is a done deal, I guess. My "to-do" list rivals Santa's list; so many things to accomplish! . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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