Non-Electric Gadgets

I have a hand cranked outboard boat motor from my grandfather who passed away 20 years ago at age 103. No idea what year the motor is from but actually used it once.

Kim Hill wrote:I have a hand cranked outboard boat motor from my grandfather who passed away 20 years ago at age 103. No idea what year the motor is from but actually used it once.

Can you post a picture or it? I’m curious as to what it looks like.

While looking for something completely different I stumbled across this one for a kayak.  Amazon sells it for about $900....might be a fun project to make one.

This is what I was looking for!

https://www.core77.com/posts/17931/r2b2-christoph-thetards-human-powered-kitchen-appliances-17931

I wonder what the gear ratio would have to be for a pedal powered tractor like this?


Or for a snow plow like this!


Do you guys think these are just for fun or might one actually be able to design them well enough to be practical?

The snow plow guy has videos!

Greg Martin wrote:This is what I was looking for!

https://www.core77.com/posts/17931/r2b2-christoph-thetards-human-powered-kitchen-appliances-17931

Really cool!

Jason Learned wrote:

Kim Hill wrote:I have a hand cranked outboard boat motor from my grandfather who passed away 20 years ago at age 103. No idea what year the motor is from but actually used it once.

Can you post a picture or it? I’m curious as to what it looks like.

Right now it is out of my reach but I will try.

Su Ba wrote:Gosh, I used a manual typewriter for decades before finally switching to a computer because of the word processing feature.

I used a manual typewriter in high school and college and remember lots of eraser-worn pages, backspacing for underlining, no bolding or italics, and everything in Courier typeface. Going to word-processing software was very freeing and a creativity boost.

Actually, writing with pen or pencil has some advantages, but it's useless for email -- or Permies comments.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
... the 8 year expected lifetime of the mower.

I wouldn't consider mowing my acre with my push mower (bought for the small yard of my previous home), but it still works fine nearly 30 years later.

Greg Martin wrote:I wonder what the gear ratio would have to be for a pedal powered tractor like this?


Or for a snow plow like this!


Do you guys think these are just for fun or might one actually be able to design them well enough to be practical?

Definitely just for fun -- or testing design and construction skills.

I have at least ten different types of snow shovels that have cost several hundred dollars in total. We live on a private road that doesn't get plowed by the town, so we're on our own to maintain the road. My only neighbours have recently left their homes for the comforts of town so now I'm on my own. When we moved here 5 years ago there were 3 plowtrucks among the neighbours and someone was always able to get the snow cleared. Now there are none. Last year I tried shovelling and realized it's possible. The road from our driveway to the plowed road is about 1500 feet and it took me about 9 hours over 6 days to shovel a recent 10inch snowfall. There's a contractor with a front end loader with big blade that will plow the road for about $100, so I figure I'm earning a very modest wage by doing it myself and staying in shape through the winter. The irony is that we don't even have a vehicle, so we're maintaining the road for visitors.

I picked up this 5" hand cranked grinder at a yard sale for $1.00. It's come in handy for putting an edge on tools and even shaping some soft metal.

The best thing we ever bought was a hand-cranked stainless steel baby food grinder. Looked like this but was all metal, don't remember where we bought it. Every meal we would take whatever we were eating and put it through the grinder for instant baby food. I often wonder if this is why my kids grew up eating everything on their plates.

I don't think I saw a pasta maker listed yet.  We use this often, works great.

Lynne Cim wrote:The best thing we ever bought was a hand-cranked stainless steel baby food grinder.

This is a great example of a valuable tool/appliance that, as far as I know, has no electric version and doesn't need one. The Happy Baby Food Grinder (plastic body) got lots of use with both our children, and my wife and I gave one to new parents we knew.

I wonder if the world is ready for a pedal powered power takeoff that has a gearbox and universal fitting so attachments like blenders, mixers, mincers, cream separators, mills, and all these other gadgets can run off.

I almost always prefer non-electric, manual solutions, with a few exceptions. One of the biggest reasons is I get my exercise as part of the work I need to do instead of using a power tool to save time to then use that free time to go to the gym to workout to get fit. Classic two-birds one stone.

On a regular basis I use: a nata (japanese axe/machete), silky hand saw, telescoping silky saw, splitting wedges, mallets, woodworking handtools, a manual coffee grinder, a bicycle (less than I want...), etc etc.

I am consistently impressed with the efficiency of modern hand tools. Silky saws for example can be faster than chainsaws in some situations.

Ken Newman wrote:I picked up this 5" hand cranked grinder at a yard sale for $1.00. It's come in handy for putting an edge on tools and even shaping some soft metal.

Well, the price was right, but needing to crank with one hand leaves only one hand to hold the tool being sharpened -- unless you have an assistant. I much prefer two-handed control with a grinding wheel.

Who would have thought Tupperware would provide a tool that could land itself on this list. It's called a Power Chef and genuinely is a great little rig. I live with only a few solar panels, so power is limited most of the time. I came across this accidentally and bought it second-hand, though unused. This thing is sharp enough to chop a whole carrot in moments and can make a smoothie with just a few pulls. Honestly. It's great.

the estimates I remember for scything grain is 1 acre per day for an adult male ,experienced and in awesome shape.

Wow, this is a popular thread! I saw it mentioned already but I thought it deserved another post - mortar and pestle. I worked on a farm where this was our primary means of grinding coffee, and the coffee was amazing! We had a separate mortar and pestle for grinding spices, and that was not a time consuming process. Easy to use, very effective, and in terms of making coffee in the morning it is a nice part of the daily routine!

Does anybody have a non-electric alternative to a toaster that can be used in the kitchen (i.e. not outdoor campfire cooking gear)? Love toast, hate single-use electric appliances!

I just found this gadget for sale locally for grinding coffee, dried beans, corn, etc. I want it but not sure how well it works. Anyone ever used one?

David Wieland wrote:

Ken Newman wrote:I picked up this 5" hand cranked grinder at a yard sale for $1.00. It's come in handy for putting an edge on tools and even shaping some soft metal.

Well, the price was right, but needing to crank with one hand leaves only one hand to hold the tool being sharpened -- unless you have an assistant. I much prefer two-handed control with a grinding wheel.

I bet it wouldn't be too hard to switch out the hand crank for a foot pedal so you could use 2 hands.

Missy Hall wrote:Does anybody have a non-electric alternative to a toaster that can be used in the kitchen (i.e. not outdoor campfire cooking gear)? Love toast, hate single-use electric appliances!

http://www.deltatoast.com/

Mostly I just rub some butter on top of my wood stove (I keep it clean) and plop my bread right on the surface. Flip it over to toast on the other side.

I bought one of these camp toasters below for my gas range. I like it. I know you said no camp toasters but it works well. Prolly wouldn't do on an electric stove.

Lehman's in Kidron Ohio has everything non electric. They supply to the large Amish population every non electric item that you could imagine. You can search for what you need by website or a requested catalog.

M Wilcox wrote:I just found this gadget for sale locally for grinding coffee, dried beans, corn, etc. I want it but not sure how well it works. Anyone ever used one?

I have one. It's hard work grind flour, and mine doesn't make it as fine as I'd like, but if it's cheap enough, it could still be handy to have.

David Wieland wrote:

Greg Martin wrote:I wonder what the gear ratio would have to be for a pedal powered tractor like this?


Do you guys think these are just for fun or might one actually be able to design them well enough to be practical?

Definitely just for fun -- or testing design and construction skills.

I really don't know if I remember correctly, and I have not found a picture to prove it, but I think I saw a pedal powered plough in Chinese rice fields in the 1990ies around Yangshuo.
Husband said he took a photo but it is buried in hundreds or thousands of paper photos somewhere in our house.

It looked like the farmer was cycling through the rice paddy and I don't think it was motor powered.
As I can't find any proof maybe my memory plays tricks on me - we definitely rode bikes on that day, so maybe that is a mixup ;-)

M Wilcox wrote:Mostly I just rub some butter on top of my wood stove (I keep it clean) and plop my bread right on the surface. Flip it over to toast on the other side.

I bought one of these camp toasters below for my gas range. I like it. I know you said no camp toasters but it works well. Prolly wouldn't do on an electric stove.

That camp toaster looks perfect - Now that I see your photo I'm good with camp toasters, just as long as they can be used indoors over a gas range. Thanks!

Missy Hall wrote:Does anybody have a non-electric alternative to a toaster that can be used in the kitchen (i.e. not outdoor campfire cooking gear)? Love toast, hate single-use electric appliances!

Just lay the bread on a griddle. If you like your toast buttered, butter the griddle before laying the bread on it. (Buttering the griddle and not the bread keeps the bread from getting soggy with butter.)

I used to make toast on a wood stove by laying the bread directly on top. Skip the butter if you're doing it that way, stoves are harder to clean than griddles!

M Wilcox wrote:I just found this gadget for sale locally for grinding coffee, dried beans, corn, etc. I want it but not sure how well it works. Anyone ever used one?

I have one of these. For grinding cornmeal and coffee it works great. Not a very smooth powdery grind, but okay. In fact ideal for the coarser grind of coffee I want.
I bought it to grind masa corn or to crack malt for brewing (it is not good at all for that purpose, just FYI). I ended up using my omega juicer for masa, but if the juicer goes I will come back to this grinder. Works well for wet and dry. My only complaint is that I need to rig up a Rube Goldberg type system to have the end product fall into a bag or go down a slide, the output chute is so close to the table that you can't fit a bowl under it.

Tereza Okava wrote:

M Wilcox wrote:I just found this gadget for sale locally for grinding coffee, dried beans, corn, etc. I want it but not sure how well it works. Anyone ever used one?

I have one of these. For grinding cornmeal and coffee it works great. Not a very smooth powdery grind, but okay. In fact ideal for the coarser grind of coffee I want.
I bought it to grind masa corn or to crack malt for brewing (it is not good at all for that purpose, just FYI). I ended up using my omega juicer for masa, but if the juicer goes I will come back to this grinder. Works well for wet and dry. My only complaint is that I need to rig up a Rube Goldberg type system to have the end product fall into a bag or go down a slide, the output chute is so close to the table that you can't fit a bowl under it.

Build a sturdy wooden box, just a little bigger than the "foot" of the grinder. Bolt the grinder to the top of the box. Clamp the bottom of the box to the table. (Or, if it's a permanent fixture, bolt the box to the table itself.)

you've just described my Rube Goldberg system! Clamp and a box and a clamp and a box....

Tereza Okava wrote:you've just described my Rube Goldberg system! Clamp and a box and a clamp and a box....

I just used a plate, lol!

Jesse Seven wrote:Wow, this is a popular thread! I saw it mentioned already but I thought it deserved another post - mortar and pestle. I worked on a farm where this was our primary means of grinding coffee, and the coffee was amazing! We had a separate mortar and pestle for grinding spices, and that was not a time consuming process. Easy to use, very effective, and in terms of making coffee in the morning it is a nice part of the daily routine!

Mortar and pestle are great nut crackers also, you can do 5-10 nuts a time depending on the type, and with a delicate hand it takes just a few blows to crack the shells just right and extract the nuts whole.

This grinds enough for about a 24 oz pot of coffee.  Difficulty depends on how dark the roast and how fine you set the grind.  All wood and steel.

Hi there-  I understand your concern here, the issues can get convoluted, certainly.....I think the idea on manual labour is though,
that we remove the need for those 9 calories to COME FROM the industrial sector. Instead, we expend labour, result in produce or
upmarket food items- peanut butter, jams, whatnot- and forget about the 9 calories formula altogether.

Effectively, we are putting aside the industrial completely when we go manual, and we GET what we PUT into each process.
Of course, the more efficient we can make a hand-crank gadget means less labour on our part, and more result. so, I
really applaud any mechanical types out there- PLEASE do some design/build work, we LOVE the gadgets!!

In short, the industrials are in there in the first place, due to opportunistic industries looking to provide goods
and services to the mainstream. Going manual removes us from those goods and services- as long as we can replace
what the industrial has been providing, with the products of our own making.
Does this make sense? Now, yes it depends on how much time and energy we all have, to DO these daily efforts!
- im