Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
Welcome to TalkBass! Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Inside The Secret Underground Laboratory
- Thread starter Bruce Johnson
- Start date
Hah! I hadn't seen that before, one that small. Cool. I've seen some huge multi-band saws in lumberyards and wood processing plants. Like, 10 band blades staggered and spaced. Push a log through in one pass and saw it up into a stack of boards.
I have a little side business going on here, unrelated to musical instruments. I'm a micro-warehouse distribution point for a line of special expensive epoxy products that are used to repair the concrete underground bunkers in the power grid. Special licensed crews go into these bunkers, while they are live (!!!) and apply this epoxy to seal them up for another 50 years.
This epoxy product is only made by one company in Texas. But they are getting a lot of business now in California, repairing these bunkers. It's a small three-person company. It's a very specialized product, not a lot of volume of sales. But they were looking to establish a distribution point in southern California. To make it easier to get the stuff to the contractor crews.
Through a few connections, they found me. Initially, they were just looking to rent a small amount of space here in the building, but then they asked if I knew anyone who could be hired part time to manage the inventory. I realized that I could do that. The deal works out very well for them and for me.
About once a month, a freight truck shows up and drops off a few pallets of boxes and pails. I unpack and load them into some of my space here in the Lab. I keep inventory of what I have in stock. About once a week, I get an e-mail from Texas for an order pick-up, day and time, and a list to pull from the stock. I pick the order the night before and stack it in the hallway. The contractor comes by, by appointment, and loads it up. It works particularly well because I operate 24/7 here. They can arrange to pick up any hours of the night or on weekends. They work crazy schedules traveling to the different job sites.
So, I make about $600 per month for just a few hours' work. That helps a lot in paying the rent.
Last edited:
We're almost all moved in to Unit 16.
Jeremy's got most of his stuff in there and approximately arranged. He's now doing all his work in Unit 16. The routing bench and the SPRP are right next to him.
I've still got a few more things to move in. Some shelving units and another workbench. But it's taking shape.
Jeremy's got most of his stuff in there and approximately arranged. He's now doing all his work in Unit 16. The routing bench and the SPRP are right next to him.
I've still got a few more things to move in. Some shelving units and another workbench. But it's taking shape.
Hey everyone. Can anyone point me to the thread where there was discussion about retrofitting BruceBars into an existing neck heel?
Alternatively, we could just rehash the discussion here too.
Alternatively, we could just rehash the discussion here too.
Bruce, just saw this video on YT and thought of you. Guy collects and retores old machinery, though I think you have him beat 10 times over in pure numbers and variety. Cool old Pantograph. I could easily succumb to this (hobby?) (addiction?) , perhaps fortunately, I lack the space and funds, although this guy seems to get a lot of his stuff free. Not much competiton for old Pantographs since the advent of CNC. My son has gone through several antique tool fits already, starting with wrenches, now he's moved on to hand planes, which he has learned to sharpen tune to perfection. It's a somewhat less... space intensive obsesson.
Hah! Yes, he's a fellow antique machinery junkie like me. That's a Deckel 2D pantograph milling machine, which is a classic dream machine for us old-school junkies. Over the years, I've seen a couple of them for sale here in the LA area. I was tempted, but couldn't justify the cost and space. They are cool machines, though.
I have a New Hermes pantograph engraving machine, which is similar, but lighter duty. It's made for precision engraving by reduction. I use it to engrave all the aluminum name plates for my basses.
That's the aluminum neck plate being engraved.
And there's the template, made from maple. This job is set up at 10:1 ratio, but the machine is adjustable over a range of 2:1 to 100:1 (!!!). This machine is what aerospace companies in the 1950's used to engrave serial numbers in metal parts. I bought it for $500 around 1998.
The Deckel is a similar machine, but heavier duty. It's a light milling machine. It can cut a complex 2-D pattern into an aluminum plate with an 1/8" end mill. Same basic process of a reduction pantograph. You manually guide a pin around an enlarged size template. That's how it was done before the age of computers.
An exciting new R & D project, here in the Lab! Some of you may be interested in this.
I'm building a Sand Battery Furnace. A simple, safe way to heat my woodworking shop. Many folks have been experimenting with Sand Batteries as ways to store heat and power, but this is my own experimental design. I'm combining a sand battery with a small charcoal-burning furnace, making it into a safe mobile heater.
The basic principle of a sand battery is to use a volume of sand as a way of storing heat. If you heat up a container full of sand, using some heat source, the sand will retain the heat and release it slowly. A unique property of sand is that you can put heat energy into it fairly quickly, but then it releases the heat at a much slower rate. Folks have been building sand batteries to store energy from solar panels, heating the sand with electric coils or hat water coils. And I've also seen sand batteries being built as extra heat storage for wood burning stoves.
My idea is to mount a tall narrow charcoal-burning heater in the center of a sand battery. And mount the whole thing on wheels. I'll roll it outside the building to charge it up. Light the charcoal, turn on the air bleed, and let it burn for 2 hours or so, heating up the sand. Get the sand up into the 300-500 degree range. Then extinguish the fire and roll it inside the shop. Then it will sit there in the shop radiating heat for 12-24 hours. Silently, no flame, no electricity.
Very safe for use in a woodworking shop. The outer shell will generally be under 400 degrees. It won't ignite sawdust falling on it. A piece of wood contacting it will get scorched, but won't catch fire. You could get a nice burn from touching it, so I'll be putting a wire cloth guard around it.
Here's the basic structure. It's a 12" square x 24" high aluminum box.
In the center is a 4" square x 1/8" wall steel tube, also 24" high, bolted to the floor, which is a 12" square 3/16" steel plate. That's the furnace part. That whole space outside the steel tube will be filled solid with sand, up to the top. That's the sand battery.
The whole thing is mounted on a wooden frame on casters, so I can wheel it around anywhere in the shop where I want some heat.
Two temperature gauges, 0-800 degrees, to watch the temperature of the sand.
Coming up this weekend, I'll be finishing up a few more parts for it. The insert cup and air bleed for the furnace, the wire cloth safety grille, a steel top plate, and a plywood insulating shell. Then I'll fill it with sand, drop in some charcoal, and start doing some testing!
I'm building a Sand Battery Furnace. A simple, safe way to heat my woodworking shop. Many folks have been experimenting with Sand Batteries as ways to store heat and power, but this is my own experimental design. I'm combining a sand battery with a small charcoal-burning furnace, making it into a safe mobile heater.
The basic principle of a sand battery is to use a volume of sand as a way of storing heat. If you heat up a container full of sand, using some heat source, the sand will retain the heat and release it slowly. A unique property of sand is that you can put heat energy into it fairly quickly, but then it releases the heat at a much slower rate. Folks have been building sand batteries to store energy from solar panels, heating the sand with electric coils or hat water coils. And I've also seen sand batteries being built as extra heat storage for wood burning stoves.
My idea is to mount a tall narrow charcoal-burning heater in the center of a sand battery. And mount the whole thing on wheels. I'll roll it outside the building to charge it up. Light the charcoal, turn on the air bleed, and let it burn for 2 hours or so, heating up the sand. Get the sand up into the 300-500 degree range. Then extinguish the fire and roll it inside the shop. Then it will sit there in the shop radiating heat for 12-24 hours. Silently, no flame, no electricity.
Very safe for use in a woodworking shop. The outer shell will generally be under 400 degrees. It won't ignite sawdust falling on it. A piece of wood contacting it will get scorched, but won't catch fire. You could get a nice burn from touching it, so I'll be putting a wire cloth guard around it.
Here's the basic structure. It's a 12" square x 24" high aluminum box.
In the center is a 4" square x 1/8" wall steel tube, also 24" high, bolted to the floor, which is a 12" square 3/16" steel plate. That's the furnace part. That whole space outside the steel tube will be filled solid with sand, up to the top. That's the sand battery.
The whole thing is mounted on a wooden frame on casters, so I can wheel it around anywhere in the shop where I want some heat.
Two temperature gauges, 0-800 degrees, to watch the temperature of the sand.
Coming up this weekend, I'll be finishing up a few more parts for it. The insert cup and air bleed for the furnace, the wire cloth safety grille, a steel top plate, and a plywood insulating shell. Then I'll fill it with sand, drop in some charcoal, and start doing some testing!
Curious to hear how well it works. I limped along in an unheated shop with a little space heater for years, which takes a lot of the fun out of it. Looks simple and elegant.
Yes, this Sand Battery Furnace could also work as a backup stove or coffeemaker during a power outage. I could light up the charcoal heater and cook steaks directly over it, and warm up other foods in cups in the sand.
Going by the results of other peoples experiments, I think I'll get about a 1:10 ratio of heat up/heat down. I'm hoping that means I can have it outside with the fire charging it up for 2 hours, and then it will radiate heat indoors for 20 hours. The idea is that I would charge it up in the late afternoon every day, then have it inside heating my shop through the evening and night and the next morning.
I'll need to experiment with how hot to make the fire, how long to let the fire burn, and how hot to make the sand. What's the best combination to give me 20 hours of heat.
I'm building an air bleed system for it. A small iron pipe goes down into the furnace, with little holes in it down at the bottom. It'll be plumbed up to a compressed air tank with a needle valve in line. I'll use the needle valve to bleed a small amount of air into the fire, to adjust its temperature. That'll control how long it takes to raise the temperature of the sand. And the amount of charcoal I put in will control the total amount of heat put in.
I'm going to start out using charcoal, but I also could use wood pellets or wood scraps from the shop. I could even rework the center furnace to burn oil or propane. Anything that burns and creates heat. I think charcoal will be the simplest and most efficient.
And someone suggested that I could just mail-order some surplus uranium or plutonium pellets, and dump them in that center tube. The problem would be shutting it off when the sand got hot enough.
Going by the results of other peoples experiments, I think I'll get about a 1:10 ratio of heat up/heat down. I'm hoping that means I can have it outside with the fire charging it up for 2 hours, and then it will radiate heat indoors for 20 hours. The idea is that I would charge it up in the late afternoon every day, then have it inside heating my shop through the evening and night and the next morning.
I'll need to experiment with how hot to make the fire, how long to let the fire burn, and how hot to make the sand. What's the best combination to give me 20 hours of heat.
I'm building an air bleed system for it. A small iron pipe goes down into the furnace, with little holes in it down at the bottom. It'll be plumbed up to a compressed air tank with a needle valve in line. I'll use the needle valve to bleed a small amount of air into the fire, to adjust its temperature. That'll control how long it takes to raise the temperature of the sand. And the amount of charcoal I put in will control the total amount of heat put in.
I'm going to start out using charcoal, but I also could use wood pellets or wood scraps from the shop. I could even rework the center furnace to burn oil or propane. Anything that burns and creates heat. I think charcoal will be the simplest and most efficient.
And someone suggested that I could just mail-order some surplus uranium or plutonium pellets, and dump them in that center tube. The problem would be shutting it off when the sand got hot enough.
I remember one of the solar power options was using molten salt, melted by a mirror array, as a heat sink to produce power by steam generator overnight. Of that only works someplace like Ariona or New Mexico, where the sun always shines, and there's nobody around. It had the advantge of being cheap "fuel" (no shortage of salt), and in the event of a spill you'd have a puddle of ....salt, which is arguably better than plutonium slag or highly radioactive water.We have a client who did the Tesla Tiles and some insanely expensive battery system.Just a rich man's feel good "green" attempt IMO.
Yes, sand batteries have a lot of promise for off-grid use. If you have a place out in the woods, where you need a lot of heating, a concrete-lined pit full of sand can store heat and energy quite efficiently. You can charge up the sand with solar or wind or a wood fire or an oil fire, whatever you've got. And then pull the heat out of the sand slowly at the rate that you need it. And a sand battery isn't an expensive thing to build, and no real environmental or safety hazards.
My idea is to use a small sand battery as a portable heater that's completely safe inside a woodworking shop. I don't want any fire inside my shop. Or electrical heaters that have red-hot elements. It should be silent in operation, and need no electricity or chimney or ventilation.
Because it's fairly small and on wheels, I'll be able to roll it around the shop to be near wherever I'm working. After I learn some things from this prototype, I may build one or two more. Then I can put them in different places around the shop, and even stagger their heating cycles.
My idea is to use a small sand battery as a portable heater that's completely safe inside a woodworking shop. I don't want any fire inside my shop. Or electrical heaters that have red-hot elements. It should be silent in operation, and need no electricity or chimney or ventilation.
Because it's fairly small and on wheels, I'll be able to roll it around the shop to be near wherever I'm working. After I learn some things from this prototype, I may build one or two more. Then I can put them in different places around the shop, and even stagger their heating cycles.
How do you plan to extinguish the fire after the sand is hot and rolled into the shop? Please be careful of combustion gasses in an enclosed shop. I'm sure you have good airflow so it probably won't be an issue. I know the sand won't light the cart on fire, but I'm thinking about the charging fire and the cart. Will the wood cart be OK? Using cutoffs and wood chips is a good eco-friendly source for the fire material. In my wood shop, I have a lot of mistake pieces to burn (hide the evidence). Do you know if the type of sand (course, fine, etc) will make a difference in the performance? I can't wait to see how this progresses. Very cool project. Thanks for sharing.