Lately I have been chopping up scrap bikes to make things that are not bikes.
Mostly carts, but my roving mind is returning to the idea of a human powered chaff cutter made from bike parts.
I happen to belong to a bike coop/community garden,so the idea of shedding soft foliage with human power is kinda irresistible a
My idea is basically a bicycle drive wheel with concrete cast in between the spokes, to make it into a fly wheel.
To that I want to add blades, an anvil or edge for them to cut against , a feed shoot and a safety guard.
Seating for the operator should allow intermittent pedaling and feeding of "chaff" without having to get off the saddle.
I think the bike wheel/fly wheel idea is pretty sound, but the best way to turn that into something that shreds is still in question.
Right now I'm leaning towards a chute delivering plant matter to right to the flywheel,and a vee shap blade mounted at the end of the chute and sections of angle iron mounted perpendicularly on the rim of the fly wheel.
I've seen a bike re-purposed as an exercise bike/spinning wheel.
As I remember the pedaling supplied the turning of the spinning head via a couple of pulleys - sorry the details escape me, but I can try to find the magazine if there is more interest.
A this stage I reckon I'd run out of puff before getting much yarn made
Life's too short, eat dessert first! [Source of quote unknown]
You have to be warped to weave [ditto!]
Well, I did fill a drive wheel with concrete, and I still plan on using it.
The only other bike specific thing I still plan on using is the chain.
This is because I am ditching the pedaling action in favor of a treadle action.
Here's a thread that describes some of the evolution of my thinking :
https://permies.com/t/207150/permaculture-upcycling/Bicycles-angle-grinders-flexible-shafts#1729535