All last summer there were no bees, and I had to polinate everything by hand.
The closest thing to a bee in the last year I've seen, was a dead one at my mum's house 10 minutes drive away from my house.
No bees.
They are all dying out everywhere on the planet.
Colony collapse disorder I think it's called.
But I saw one, alive and kicking in my backyard today.
After chasing it around for half an hour as it frantically tried to escape my shade cloth I finally got a pic of it.
Thanks rapid fire camera maker.
Tis a poor pic, but it does prove a bee still lives.
120 Things in 20 years - Entomology - Yay BEE!
It's my intention to gain a new ability every 2 months for the next 20 years. I'd enjoy some company, some help, and some constructive criticism.
Things so far...
Animation
(5)
Aquaponics
(340)
Bread
(15)
Cheese
(16)
Epic adventurer
(20)
Escargot
(2)
Fire
(6)
Fraudster
(1)
Handmade fishing lures
(31)
Home made preserves
(11)
Making smoked foods
(11)
Mold making
(7)
Movie watcher and critic
(2)
PVC
(36)
Photography
(17)
Snail farming
(6)
Solar hot water
(26)
Solar photovoltaic panels
(7)
Stirling Engines
(11)
Thinking
(52)
Vermiculture
(1)
Wind energy
(26)
cooking
(49)
electronics
(57)
Stirling engines - Adjustable Stirling engine crankshaft
I've been busy making the tips of my fingers raw.
Wire seems to enjoy hurting people.
But I love the stuff.
My time learning how to make screw in eyelets for my hand made fishing lures was well spent. Every new skill I pick up seems to inform my next project. Working with wire is a really worthwhile thing to learn.
One thing I don't really understand is the relationship between the size of the cams on the crankshaft and the performance of my little tin can Stirling engines. With this lack in mind, I thought I'd build a completely adjustable crank shaft.
It looks like this.
With it, it should be easy to try a stack of different configurations to see what they do.
The cams (bits that are offset from the main shaft) should offer different combinations of engine torque, and speed when they are adjusted to different heights.
I think.
Ideally I need an adjustable chamber for the displacer as well. I'll have to feed that idea through the invention engine at some stage because I have no idea on that one.
All the brass fittings come from the brass bits in strip electrical connectors.
Once the screws are undone as far as they can go, all the brass bits fall out with tap and a jiggle.
Lots of taps and jiggles actually, but they all come out in the end.
In my adjustable cam, the brass tubes that accommodate the cams have had an extra hole drilled through. Brass is very easy to drill, and a pleasure to work with. I don't think I've ever done anything with brass before.
I officially like brass.
Also, many other people have used these as the adjustable bits on Stirling engines, and my only contribution to the science is to take their use to absurd levels.
120 Things in 20 years - No time to post because I'm too busy learning stuff about Stirling engines.
All the brass bits are taken from a strip of electrical connectors.
Wire seems to enjoy hurting people.
But I love the stuff.
My time learning how to make screw in eyelets for my hand made fishing lures was well spent. Every new skill I pick up seems to inform my next project. Working with wire is a really worthwhile thing to learn.
- This post appears to be in bullet point style.
One thing I don't really understand is the relationship between the size of the cams on the crankshaft and the performance of my little tin can Stirling engines. With this lack in mind, I thought I'd build a completely adjustable crank shaft.
It looks like this.
With it, it should be easy to try a stack of different configurations to see what they do.
The cams (bits that are offset from the main shaft) should offer different combinations of engine torque, and speed when they are adjusted to different heights.
I think.
Ideally I need an adjustable chamber for the displacer as well. I'll have to feed that idea through the invention engine at some stage because I have no idea on that one.
All the brass fittings come from the brass bits in strip electrical connectors.
Once the screws are undone as far as they can go, all the brass bits fall out with tap and a jiggle.
Lots of taps and jiggles actually, but they all come out in the end.
In my adjustable cam, the brass tubes that accommodate the cams have had an extra hole drilled through. Brass is very easy to drill, and a pleasure to work with. I don't think I've ever done anything with brass before.
I officially like brass.
- Bullet points
Also, many other people have used these as the adjustable bits on Stirling engines, and my only contribution to the science is to take their use to absurd levels.
120 Things in 20 years - No time to post because I'm too busy learning stuff about Stirling engines.
All the brass bits are taken from a strip of electrical connectors.
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