Shawn,
Today I assemble the Chimney... and hope to post the progress by the weekend.
The idea is to devise a simple manifold that vents the greenhouse heat out via the chimney (and draw the hot air off the ceiling of the machine-shop, located directly beneath) using just convection or purely passive with no external energy inputs during the summer. While in the later fall the manifold can be turned 180 degrees and the grnhouse heat (above some predetermined threshold) will be blown down into the shop.
All of this is largely the spawn of the DS1615 data-collector project.
As to the HD Gen, it has been at a stand-still as I've been concluded that the 7 1/2" saw blades would never cut-it (so to speak) as rotor plates. I did recently recieve a 4 by 8 ft sheet of 1/4" plate (used) that will be plasma cut into disks.
But there are 2 hold-ups on that front as my chum with the plasma cutter is keen to have me build him a 24" by 24" cnc framework for his cutter, and I suspect that the disk will be the proto-type pieces that he is expecting to calibrate the machine against.
And to further complicate matters I've started the CNC Blade cutter that has a projected working area of 18" by 50" so I've lost almost 50 sq ft of my shop to that project which will have to be finished before I can start onto the Plasma cutter.
One solution that would accelerate progress on every project on the farm but would leave my chum out in the cold is to just buy my own plasma cutter, but I can't justify such a high capital expense given that all I really do is tinker as the mood strikes me.
So if I can keep the shop cool enough through the summer I hope to have a working Gen by the fall.
