John Dunlap

Without proper ventilation and temperature control, it will become a solar oven, not a dehydrator. A dehydrator needs two conditions to work well; adequate air flow around the food, and a temperature between 110 and 120 F. It already has a glass door, so mounting a reflector to direct the light onto the door and painting the rest black will take care of that part.  It's designed for electric, so it most likely already has a fan, a temp sensor, and some sort of microcontroller to cycle the fan and heating elements. Depending on the power requirements, it may be possible to just disconnect the heating elements and reprogram the microcontroller, then run it and the fan from a small solar panel. If not (for instance, if it's an AC fan and/or proprietary electronics), the fan could be replaced with a 12 volt DC one, and controlled with an Arduino or Raspberry Pi Pico and either the existing temp sensor or a compatible replacement. It might even be possible to dispense with a fan completely, by adding a tall exhaust stack attached to the exit vents to create draft, and controlling the air flow (and therefore the temperature) with a baffle plate and servo. You might even be able to do that with a mechanical thermostat arrangement of some sort, if you want to eliminate electronics. Or a hand operated baffle and a thermometer, if you don't mind having to check on it frequently.

John C Daley wrote:This is a later version
https://www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-living/green-transportation/build-your-own-car-zm0z13amzmar/

Thanks very much for the links. I've seen the Max, the budget for that was $10,000, not the one I was referring to. I downloaded the index just now. I did ask Mother Earth News about it, their only response was that they weren't certain what project I was asking about, but that they no longer had the material! The search continues...

Mateo Chester wrote:So I live in Colorado, and last fire season was no joke... "They" are saying it's going to be 4 times worse this year... So may the hydrogen forces be with ALL...

Anyways, how is/can permaculture be used specifically to "fight" the devastation of wildfires? I understand the very concept of permaculture defeats the potential for wildfires, but is anything being done locally/state-wide/nationally/politically to start putting the word PERMACULTURE in the same sentence as WILDFIRE PREVENTION?? I mean, all obviousness aside, this is a serious problem, and it seems as though permaculture can help. I feel like part of the answer is in the marketing and advertising of the permaculture concept, and it's contextual use within wildfire conversations. . . Let's open this up, because at this rate, we're really going to need the help.....

Peace

I think the best way is to get the word "permaculture" in front of as many people who don't know what it is as possible. Once public awareness reaches a tipping point, the pressure on public officials will ramp up. As Milton Friedman said, "it is not necessary to replace Congress. It is only necessary to make it politically profitable for them to do the right thing." In other words, it only becomes and issue for them, when we, the people, make it an issue for them. I just posted a link to this discussion, hopefully pushing people to the Permies forum, on MeWe (I have a few hundred followers). I'd post a screen shot of that, but I don't know how to insert images here.

I recall a project Mother Earth News magazine did back in the late 70's. They built a diesel powered "people's car" from scratch, using motorcycle parts, a welded frame and a small diesel engine made for some sort of farm equipment, I think. It looked a lot like a dune buggy, and they'd managed to keep the cost under $1,000 (in 70's dollars). I went back to my county library a few years ago looking for it, only to discover that they'd thrown their entire Mother Earth News collection (and most other related material) in the trash to make room for some romance and fashion magazines (is it just me, or have most public libraries become essentially useless?). As near as I can tell, Mother Earth News has also purged those articles from their database, nor have I found anything else about it online, though I have searched off and on. If anyone remembers it, and knows where I can find the articles or which issues they were in, I'd appreciate it.

Two questions that might go in the FAQ (if anyone has answers, that is) are: are there any dimensional ratios that the builder should stick close to for best efficiency? And, how big should it be for a given area and type of thermal mass used?

Beautiful work. I was just wondering what kind of lathe you are using. I don't really have time to learn a new craft at the moment, but you've given me reason to find some. It's a bit out of my wheelhouse, but I'm just going to have to make a Turkish spindle now.

One of the first sites doing this was mylife.com. Mylife creates what amounts to a dossier from any info that can be gleaned from public records and online sources such as social media. Then, they allow any member to write whatever they like about you and post it to the page about you. The only way to get control of it is to pay them a monthly membership fee. These sites are essentially an extortion/blackmail scheme. I actually reported Mylife to the FBI, but I don't think anything came of it.

For those wondering how these and other websites seem to know your location, are you using a smart phone or tablet to access the Internet? Many websites and apps can access your device's GPS capabilities, allowing them to acquire your realtime location. A few can access the device's accelerometers and compass, letting them record when you are moving and in what direction.

Thanks very much for all the info. This will help a lot.

I'll probably start with heavier woolens for things like bags, belts, throws, etc. (I have quite a few knitting looms and have become very interested in felted knit fabrics, been wondering how those techniques would work with woven fabrics), but I doubt I'll stop there. I'll probably make several reeds. I learned in the last few hours that the general sizes are 5, 8, 10, and 12 dents per inch. Would I be correct in thinking an 8 would be a good place to start?