today I jogged the 4-miles-plus out to Home Depot, stopping along the way at that newish hardware store before Chedraui, and again at the Mega shopping center. at the hardware store I found really cheap welded 3- and 4-way corner braces for making structures out of 3/4" EMT, and really cheap, about 2 to a little over 3 dollars each. keeping those in mind for future projects. at Mega I dropped my spent batteries in the bin at Telcel, and then got the $20 peso (dollar) meal deal at Mega. today it was fried fish and red cabbage. the amount was equivalent to about 3 fish tacos, of course without the tortillas, so I got a decent meal for my dollar. at Homer's I got some stainless and zinc plated hardware and some other stuff for my vehicle and snorkel ideas.
my latest stab at an entry for the KGC is bolting pulleys to hand truck wheels. I found a bunch of cast pot metal pulleys, made in the good old USA, at Ace hardware for about $100 pesos each, so about 5 bucks. added some 1/4" couplings, and some longer bolts, and after a few botched attempts at drilling holes in the pulleys, have one attached. I'll see if I can do a better job on the other one tomorrow. since I found some longer spacers at the Depot, maybe I won't have to cut off the bulge with the set screw (I know there's a name for that part, but I'm blanking on it now) like I did with the first one.
I can use the pulleys both for propelling the thing by hand, kinda like a wheelchair, and if I can make a rig for a motor, can run a belt to run it by solar power. I have an idea for mounting my solar panel up top, but haven't tested it yet. I bought a bunch of 1/4" threaded rod to make custom U-bolts, because buying the premade ones is so expensive, and they're rarely the right size for what I want.
belt drive is superior in some ways because it's more tolerating of misalignment than sprockets and chains. I can use low-tech slippage instead of high-tech freewheels. and maybe the pulley can double as the disc for a disc brake.
also, when I reached the big arroyo before Walmart, I jogged it as far as the first crossing road. at the Home Depot end I found a couple of those wild tomato plants, the ones shaped like Roma tomatoes, that I've seen for years. debating whether to wait until one ripens and harvest it for seed, or just go with my trowel, dig one up, and attempt to transplant it.
last updated 2017-01-04 20:27:17. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com