How to make an artistic 'J' Rocket from scrap - Rooster/Cockerel Rocket

Spike our Gold, Black-laced, bearded and crested Polish Frizzle, to give him his complete title, faces up to his metal, fire-breathing friend. Whereas, (below) the rest of the flock see this new member as an additional source of heat to the sun. Not sure about Rooster Rocket as a source of vitamin D₃ though - tea and coffee, yes. 

Improving our Coffee Making

8 years ago I made a rocket stove for using whilst working in the garden and also to avoid having to light our wood cooker just to make a coffee. The burn tube and chimney were fabricated from some scrap mild steel pipe 4" in (102mm) diameter and this was installed in an empty steel cooking oil drum donated by a caterer at an Autumn fair. I insulated the pipe by packing wood ash around it and made a burn shelf from some scrap mild steel sheet on which the fuel would sit.

The results were encouraging in that water could be brought to the boil in around 10 minutes. The fire had to be continuously monitored as the fuel needed to be fed into the burn area. The combustion was smoke free when properly tended and the consumption  of twigs was low.

L to J

Spurred on by the results from the stove, this year I decided to improve the design by changing the pipe configuration to a 'J' - tube rocket. The advantage of this format was that the fuel, being held in the vertical (the short leg of the 'J'), would gravity feed into the combustion region of the burn tube, that region would preheat the incoming fuel prior to ignition thus making a fast, clean burn without the need of manual feeding. I should stress that the amount of human management of the combustion in the original horizontal feed only arose because of the small diameter of the fuel I was burning. Larger rocket stoves burning bigger branches require much less frequent attention.

The new stove comprised 3 lengths of pipe; feed tube, burn chamber and flue/chimney. Reading around I found that an ideal ratio for the lengths would be 1:2:4 the latter being the flue length which could be longer to generate more draft. The pipe internal diameter would be the principal unit in the ratio meaning that the three pipe lengths for feed, combustion and flue tubes would be: 4", 8" and 16" (102mm, 204mm, 408mm) respectively.

Obviously, I decided to re-use the original welded pipe to give me the first two  zones of the new stove so the only additional pipe was that for the flue. The pipes were cut to a 45° angle at the joining faces to produce the right-angle mitred joint. The proximity of the two vertical sections of the arrangement did give me some concern as I thought it could give a problem with the accessibility for welding, ultimately this proved not to be the case but I feel it is worthy of mention. I also decided to cut the open end of the feed tube to 45°.  Once welded, I was able to check weld integrity by supporting the J vertically and filling the pipes to above the welds with water.

Legs for the stove were cut from mild steel bar removed from some old windows. I decided to use three legs as this configuration is the most stable when on an uneven surface. Two legs were welded at the flue side of the stove at an angle of 45° and I used the mitred weld as the guide for correctly positioning the first leg. The third leg was welded vertically down the feed tube.

I wanted all three legs to be cranked out from the stove body so as to have a more stable geometry. I laid the assembly on its side and slid a steel tube along the first of the flue-legs. By keeping my foot firmly on the leg that was touching the ground, I could bend the leg out from the stove body.

For the second leg on that end of the stove I turned the stove over, supporting the stove flue on a piece of steel I use as an anvil. Again using the  steel pipe, I could bend it out to the same angle.

The third leg had been cut oversize and once bent, I stood the stove up on its three legs to determine the correct length and cut off the surplus.

Finally I needed to attach a pot support above the open end of the flue. The distance of the base of the kettle/saucepan from the open end of the flue had to be sufficient so as not to impede the flow of the out-flowing gases of combustion. I calculated the height by determining the area of the stove flue and converting this to the wall surface area of a cylinder of the same diameter i.e. Area=πr²=2πrh cancelling h=r/2 which equated to 1" (25mm).

Using the same bar as for the legs, I bent 3 short lengths to a right-angle and welded them, equally spaced at the flue top and to a height of 1" above the flue.

Prior to the first run I dressed all the welds with an angle grinder.

Testing, Testing.....

Now for the acid test. A small amount of paper was lit and dropped down the fuel feed tube, rapidly followed by the addition of small pieces of wood. Initially,  

the flame exited out of the open end of the feed tube, a quick fanning action with a piece of card above the feed tube produced sufficient draft to drive the flames DOWN and into the burn tube. This immediately started the 'rocket' action, the hot gases passing up the flue furnished the strong draft into the burn tube to produce the hot flame and roaring sound of a functioning rocket stove. Satisfied with the successful first burn the real test began.....time for coffee.

 

At the time of enjoying our first coffee, Sue noticed that the stove, with the fresh fuel sticking out of the feed tube, had a marked resemblance to a rooster or cockerel and by welding two shaped pieces of the window bar to the flue for the beak and the addition of two spots of weld on the sides of the flue to represent the eyes, the 'Rooster Rocket' came into being.

The stove has now been used regularly over the last month and from cold, boiling water enough for two mugs of coffee is obtained in about 8 minutes. The great thing is we are burning thin twigs and rose prunings which we would find difficult to feed into our cooker or our Godin stove. The fuel feeds in without assistance and definitely produces a clean combustion providing it is bone dry. The great thing with this size stove is that it is portable enough to store in a corner of the greenhouse and can be brought out for use in seconds.......and now here's the film

If you have enjoyed this article and found it interesting then share it with your friends on social media or suchlike. Please also feel free to ask questions and or make comments and if you found this helpful and would like to support this site you can always

Until next time and from a sunny day in Normandie,

Cheers, Andy

© Andy Colley 2020

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Convert Your Washing Machine to Pedal Power Part 2 - Taking Everything Apart - Understanding Design (Top-Loader)

Starting the Conversion - Break Up to Make Up

MACHINE

This is the really easy, fun part for me and it's a great way to start because it is going to familiarise you with your washing machine and how it works. In this section we are going to figure out what bits we can take off, what to ignore and what components are essential to the workings of our new machine. This is also a great exercise in thinking-on-your-feet because you can sometimes find, as I did in this case, unexpected, specific items for reuse that can save both time and money on the project.

As I'd already established which side of the machine the drive was on, my first step was to remove that side panel of the machine. On our 'new' top-loader the side panel was held in place with several bolts at the machine's rear BUT I initially was unaware of a front screw at the very base of the panel which also needed to be removed. Thus I learned a valuable lesson: scrutinize the whole of the component prior to removal!

 

A Note About Front-Loaders 

If this is the type of machine you are to be converting then it is much easier to access the motor and drive assembly simply by removing the rear panel. As front-loaders are in general more common than top loaders, this is perhaps the most available machine you will be likely to convert. However, as the seals on front loaders can wear out over time and because of the versatility of adding washing and water to the top-loader, for say a mixed load of washing,  these make for excellent conversions so do look out for them!

 

 

Back to the Present - Top Loader

Once the side panel was off, the motor and drive was visible. The first thing to do was to remove the motor and drive belt, the motor is quite heavy so it may need supporting to remove the bolts - I always keep the old fasteners (nuts, bolts, washers, screws) for use in later projects. The new drive from the bicycle was going to be attached to the face of the large pulley that was connected to the drum of the machine.  Something that was very evident was how freely the drum rotated now the motor was removed.

I also removed all wiring that was readily accessible either disconnecting the contacts or simply snipping the wire out with cutters.

On the side of the drum could be seen a large concrete block and I could get my hand around the other side of the drum and feel a similar one on the opposite side. These are used to help damp out vibration especially when the drum is being driven at elevated speeds i.e. spin drying. The more sedate speeds of pedal-power render these blocks useless and so I removed it from the drive side. The block was heavy and so I had to be ready to support the weight when the last bolt was removed, again keeping the bolts and washers for later use.

With the one block off one could see that the drum moves on suspension springs and/or hydraulic dampers these are another part of vibration removal to prevent the machine from waltzing around the kitchen or utility room again I wanted to remove them but before doing so I needed to support the drum directly to the chassis of the machine.

The drum does not need to have any ability to move freely in its supports. With our old machine I had fashioned two large wooden wedges (see left) which were forced between the outer drum and the steel walls of the machine body. I thus decided that with this conversion I would fix the drum to the chassis.

Important Note:

Many automatic washing machines have two steel 'transport brackets' securing the drum to the rigid carcass of the machine. As the name suggests this is to prevent the suspended drum from bashing  about whilst being shipped. If you are fortunate to have these you can re-attach them for pedal power.

The second side panel can now be removed and the concrete ballast dealt with similarly. However at this point I realised that the concrete block support brackets would make excellent anchoring brackets for the drum.

This provided some fun smashing up the concrete and why I need safety equipment! At this point I also cleaned out all the now superfluous wiring from the old heating system.

As you will see in the following articles, these basic brackets were modified, bent and drilled to become the drum fixing brackets. This is an example of how you can 'eat (almost) all the buffalo' in recuperation projects. One wit on my YouTube channel did suggest that we could have made a cowboy garden statue out of the concrete! 

With the second side of the machine removed we can now see the pump. This can be ignored because for draining the machine the flexible hose is simply lowered below the level of the drum and the water will pass through the pump chamber with little or no interference. Removing the pump would mean reconnecting the exit hose from the drum to the flexible drain hose and these diameters are not the same. This is a case where knowing when to leave well alone is really important!

Specific Design Considerations 

N.B. With both sides of the machine removed it is very clear how flexible this design of machine becomes, i.e. that the side panels contribute markedly to the structure of the machine.  You should therefore not attempt to use the machine even with pedal power without these side panels in place as the machine would collapse!  Another observation on the design is that the drum is supported on bearings on both sides. A front-loading machine has no bearing on the door side, ultimately meaning it is less robust! Again this is a consideration for long-term pedal power, that you should try to obtain a top-loader.

BICYCLE

This model was one I had picked up just as its owner was about to throw it in the skip at our local dump. He apologised for having already removed the Shimano gearing system but I told him what I was going to use it for. He was very pleased that his well-used bicycle was going to get a second life rather than end in the jaws of a crusher! Although very much unroadworthy it actually looks really good after a shower of rain.

In the following articles I will go into more detail on what to remove because I have specific film footage to go with the exercise. Here therefore, I am just going to give some general pointers as to dismantling. The first thing to note, particularly if like us you are living at the seaside, where there are permanent caravans and second homes, is that most of these bikes will have been ridden along the beach, sometimes even in the sea and in true holiday spirit, completely neglected and left to rust ,

With the exception of a lovely but unrideable one I inherited from my neighbour and which we have been using on our previous washing machine, most of the bikes we find are in the 'cheap and cheerful category. We usually get them when the owner has returned for the next holiday and found them in a sad state and carted them off to be dumped. In the main therefore these are 'cheap' supermarket bicycles made for a price with low end saddles and accessories but actually with some superb engineering design and manufacture which goes into individual mechanical parts. This makes them the ultimate recuperation item!

When dismantling a bicycle therefore, you should consider that most of the bolts nuts and screws will probably have seized and you should arm yourself with a release oil like WD40, with which to un-seize them.

If you have them, bicycle spanners can be very useful, with luck, as we did once, you may even pick up a bicycle with a tool kit still in situ.

And now here's the film of this procedure:

In the next article we shall start to put everything back together and be well on our way to having a smart and fully functioning system.

If you read this article and found it interesting then share it with your friends on social media or suchlike. Please also feel free to ask questions and or make comments and if you found this helpful and would like to support this site you can always 

You can also find all my films Youtube and also now on Odysee 

Until next time and from a sunny day in Normandie,

Cheers, Andy

© Andy Colley 2022

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Convert Your Washing Machine to Pedal Power Part 1 (Top-Loader) - Getting Started

After over ten years of pedalling, our old washing machine finally threw in the (freshly laundered) towel - it had sprung a leak which could not be repaired. Some years previously I had actually managed to get hold of a top-loading machine from the local tip, this machine had been dumped due to electrical failure but the mechanical parts were in good working order and it was watertight. I have also had several comments from subscribers asking for a step-by-step description of the conversion of a washing machine to pedal power and so I decided with this new project, this was a great opportunity. My mind was further also focused on the task by having a request from our local organic shop to exhibit our pedal powered washing machine during 'Do-it-Yourself Week'. In this new project and also not to exclude those without welding equipment I decided to make wooden supports for the bicycle.

A Broken Washing Machine Doesn't Automatically Mean Goodbye

The most frequent reasons for machine failure is of an electrical or electronic nature. Neither of these preclude using it, as long as the drum is watertight. Even if you don't already own a machine I can guarantee that one of your neighbours, friends or family has at least one of them in their garage. Due to the heavy nature of these beasts, most people choose not to dump them but to leave them alone hoping that one day someone just like you will come along. The good news too is that you won't need all the heavy stuff, so you will be able to remove it with impunity before loading it up. In the next article we will go into detail on what to remove.

What better way to do the laundry than pedalling in the garden on a sunny day! Below: Have Washing Machine will Travel - a whole new career as an ambulant laundryman has opened up to me!

Introduction - Know your machine

Before we start with the hands-on conversion we should familiarise ourselves with the configuration of the drive train of our own machine. This might sound complicated but in essence, this just means 'what makes the machine go round' and we need to know this so that we set up the machine and the bicycle on the correct side. Our bicycle is going to power the machine via the chain and thus a chain wheel (sprocket) will need to be attached to the side of the washing machine drum which was originally driven by the electric motor.

In the case of a front-loading machine, the drum is driven from the rear, so the bicycle is placed behind the machine.

On a top-loader, it is less evident and so we need to determine where the washing machine's transmission is located. This is done simply by tipping it up and looking underneath.

Once we know where the drive is, we can establish which way round the machine will have to face for the drive to function. Here below in close up you can see the motor on the right of our machine.

Additional Materials:

 

PALLET

In order to create a neat laundry set up, that functions well, looks good and can be moved and relocated efficiently, I made this design to fit on a standard European wooden shipping pallet size 140 x 80  or   55" x 31½". These pallets are normally readily available but if you can only find the standard US size grocery pallet of 42" x 40" then join two of these together and saw off any excess to neaten.

Using a pallet means that if, as in our case, you would like to use the machine in the garden or where there are uneven surfaces, the two machines will always be on the same foundation. Plus, the additional height provided by the pallet makes it much easier to drain the water from the machine.

BICYCLE 

Living by the seaside means that we have a plethora of discarded materials that holidaymakers leave behind, usually around the recycling bins. This includes everything from furniture and bicycles to kittens and dogs! As people around here are great recuperators, this means that everything including the pets get rehomed. Here below you can see our latest crop of bikes, on a bumper day we can get four or five at one pickup point.

When choosing a bicycle to power your washing machine, remember that you do not need tyres or even wheels! The bare essentials would be a comfortable seat, a sturdy frame, handle bars, pedals and chain - a bell is fun particularly if you are expecting kids to help with the laundry!

In addition you will also need a second chain wheel (see left) and an additional length of chain. This is another reason to collect a couple of bicycles before you start your conversion. Remember that additional and unused components maybe of use for other projects or repairs.

TOOLS & EQUIPMENT

All the work involved in this conversion can be achieved with hand tools but it might be a good idea to invest in at least one power tool just to save time and effort. I work on the premise that tools are a great investment and that if you are going to consider DIY then they are essential. Similarly Safety Equipment is also a necessity, in particular when handling heavy objects and using power tools. Buying these items has an initial outlay but if you buy wisely these will last you for years of projects, for example my current electric drill is well over ten years old.

Electric Drill - Two of my favourite makes are Makita and Black & Decker
Set of Bits for the Above
Wood Saw
Set of Spanners
Range of Screwdrivers
Pliers, Drift or Chain Splitting Tool
Hammer
Centre Punch
Tape Measure
Safety Gloves, Boots and Glasses
Metal File
Tri Square
Additional if Possible:
Jigsaw with blades for sheet metal

Wood Screws, Nuts, Bolts, Washers and Wood Glue

..and here's the film:

In the next article (link below) I will be looking at taking the machine apart, removing unnecessary components and the initial stages of the conversion to pedal power.

If you read this article and found it interesting then share it with your friends on social media or suchlike. Please also feel free to ask questions and or make comments and if you found this helpful and would like to support this site you can always 

You can also find all my films Youtube and also now on Odysee 

Until next time and from a sunny day in Normandie,

Cheers, Andy

© Andy Colley 2022

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Convert Your Washing Machine to Pedal Power - Part 2 Break Up to Make up

This is the really easy, fun part for me and it's a great way to start because it is going to familiarise you with your washing machine and how it works. In this section we are going to figure out what bits we can take off, what to ignore and what components are....read more