The Museum Of Old Techniques

For almost every electronic device or oil driven machine there used to be a low-tech alternative that was powered by human muscles, water or wind. The Museum of Old Techniques aims to collect and study these historical alternatives to modern day machinery. Why, you may ask? To quote the Museum: "Evolution doesn't necessarily mean progress, what we consider to be primitive solutions are often not primitive at all". We could not have said it better ourselves. A somewhat related publication is Edward H. Knight's book contains not only early electric equipment and steam driven machinery, but also human and animal powered machines.

Traits en Savoie - Semoir Chevalier:4 ème partie.Sur le terrain. Avant d’en venir au terrain, quelques avancées depuis le dernier article. Nous avons retrouvé plusieurs semoirs en France ou en Suisse. En France dans le Pays de Gex et en Suisse à Genève ou dans le canton de Vaud. Le musée de Chiblins (canton de Vaud) possède dans sa réserve de Satigny (canton de Genève)... ...un semoir à restaurer de 1873. Et il doit en resté un au "Musée du blé et du pain" à Echallens (canton de Vaud). Des deux semoirs que nous avons pu voir à Ornex... ...le mieux conservé date... ...de 1907. Le second,très abimé,... ...fut construit en 1871. Nous avons également pu voir la mécanique d’un semoir de 1879. Mais il ne subsiste de cette machine que quelques pièces éparses. Trois autres semoirs ont été répertoriés sur le Pays de Gex. Un de 1882,un non marqué (oubli ou réparation ???) Ces deux derniers modèles font apparaitre des modifications, en particulier sur les roues,ce qui laisse supposer une proximité de fabrication. Nous n’avons pas encore pu faire de photos de ces machines.

How-To's: Online Low-Tech Resources Energy Bulletin pointed us to the website of Practical Action (previously known as the Schumacher Centre for Technology & Development), an online resource devoted to low-technology solutions for developing countries. The site hosts many manuals that can also be of interest for low-tech DIYers in the developed world. They cover energy, agriculture, food processing, construction and manufacturing, just to name some important categories. We would like to add to this the impressive online library put together by software engineer Alex Weir. Other interesting online resources that offer manuals and instructions are Appropedia and Howtopedia. Related: How to make everything ourselves: open modular hardware / The museum of old techniques / Online knotting reference books / UNESCO sets up Traditional Knowledge Database / Primitive technology handbook / Green Wizard Forums / Compendium of Useful Information.

1920 Semoir Gougis 1920 Semoir Gougis Constructeur à Auneau en Eure et Loir Semoir en ligne à 8 socs et avant-train, tiré par un attelage à un cheval et conduit à l'avant par un charretier. Exposé au COMPA à Chartres Stitch and Glue Kayak Although I had never actually kayaked before, one day I decided to make a stitch and glue kayak. For a non-kayaker I'm not sure why, but it had to do with a rowing class I had taken once, and I wanted to get out on the water on my own boat. Also, building a rowing shell seemed difficult, better to start with a kayak. For those of you who don't know, stitch and glue is a well established method of building all kinds of boats. There are some really nice kayak building kits out there, and you will definitely get better results than I did with a kit, but I'm pretty happy with how my kayak turned out. There's a few free kayak plans on the internet. Another option for the true DIY'er is to design your own kayak using FreeShip, DelftShip, or your favorite 3D CAD software. For materials, you will need some thin plywood. To start off with I bought, 30 ft of 6 oz. fiberglass cloth, a gallon of epoxy resin and half gallon of hardener from this online site.