I decided to work on the prototype... Shoulda gone to Intersolar.
Plan B is to scan through the intersolar event website and see who was there and check out their websites. Working in the gap between solar PV and solar Thermal puts me in an odd spot market-wise. Lots of folks on the PV side have no clue about Thermal and the thermal folks are just spitting blood with the prices of natural gas so low.
Prototype blues: I need one way vacuum valves that can lock. Won't be needed in the real deal but my works like prototype needs them. So I get to work on weird tangents just to get through to the next "real" part of the work. Satisfying in some ways to make tons of dust and have a fiddly bit of metal to do the job result but also distracting in a bad way.
How to make it? I have two ideas (basically the same design with two ways to achieve it.
1: Drill press method. roughly machine some small plates and bolt them together.
2: Lathe method. Design a bunch of concentric holes. Tap the smallest for the lockigng screw and stack the components in there and then we are off to the races.
Method #2 means dragooning a neighbor into lending some lathe experience and time.
Method #1 takes lots of trial and error.
ONWARD and DOWNWARD (into the weeds this week)
No comments:
Post a Comment