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Bike Machines

PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:30 pm
by dave brenneman
Doing some woodworking today and got to thinking about pedal powered woodworking tools... did a little research and came across this: Maya Pedal - a company that works in a Guatemalan community, recycling and repurposing old bicycles into "bicimaquinas" - bike-machines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrqbtUKpSjo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Uzr1TY5bMY

Re: Bike Machines

PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 5:23 pm
by matt walker
Whoah, awesome! We should set up a gym here with those and then run a shop off of the folks getting fit.

Re: Bike Machines

PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 7:40 pm
by dave brenneman
oh, absolutely.

I read about a playground that used the kids' play equipment to charge batteries. Seems like it wouldn't be that hard to do, honestly.

Re: Bike Machines

PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2012 12:07 am
by pa_friendly_guy
I was at an Earth Day Event in Verona { Near Pittsburgh } and saw this companys display. They had a Bike powered generator that can run a TV and a Game Box as you pedal. They also sell solar panals, and a converter box to store power for power outages. They are local here to our area. I liked the bike generator. Let the kids play video games if they pedal for it. http://zerofossil.com/

Re: Bike Machines

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2012 1:47 am
by Lollykoko
Guy, I talked with these folks in 2010 at the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs. I was impressed, but at that time they seemed to have a working model / concept, but hadn't plotted the details needed to manufacture units. Have they corrected that situation?

Re: Bike Machines

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2012 4:07 am
by pa_friendly_guy
Yes, They are making them in the Burgh now. { That is Pittsburgh for youns that aint local ] I felt the units were a bit pricy but they worked. They buy the solar panals for their units, but make the Bike generator and the inverter box here locally. The box has some deep cycle batterys in it to store the power from the solar panels or the bike generator to be used later. It seemed to work well. At the Earth Day event that I attended they powered their display from the Box and had no problems. The small box is designed to operate your house in a power outage or for short periods. The Big Box can operate things for a long time but needs more than the one small solar panel or the Bike to charge it up. The inverter Box worked well I thought and was well designed. The Battery storage made alot of sense to me. The units seemed to work as advertized. The Bike generator by itself was $500, the small inverter box was $1000. I did not price the Large inverter box. They sell the inverter box as an alternative to buying a gererator for power outages for your home, the Bike generator can power a TV and a Game box and some people localy are buying that for their kids. If they want to play Video games they have to pedal. Those familys do not buy the solar panels [ Which the Company recommends. ] They have found that the kids play games for an hour or two at the most and then go out side, which is what the parents want in the 1st place. It seemed like a great idea, and a great local company to me. I think the products are worth looking into. I really liked the Bike generator, but I like anything with a crank, so you really can't take my opion.

Re: Bike Machines

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:45 am
by Lollykoko
I thought it was a great way to get started weaning yourself off the grid. Living this far north, my biggest fear is losing power for the furnace fan for an extended period (more than 36 hours). The Integrator system would be sufficient to maintain that basic minimum, doesn't require a professional to install, and can be enlarged easily. Perhaps I will talk myself into buying one for my kids homes as a family Christmas gift or something. (assuming I hit the lottery, of course)

Re: Bike Machines

PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 10:22 am
by lonv166
There is a hotel in England that has one room equipped with a stationary bike. It powers the television.

Re: Bike Machines

PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:14 pm
by pa_friendly_guy
I also like this washing Machine design for a Bike. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=en ... RIZgk&NR=1 It seems pretty sinple and looks like it works well. Small loads would be the only problem that I can see. Other than getting my wife to use it. She walks 5 miles a day on the treadmill, but wahing by pedaling a Bike, mmmmmm I don't think so, lol. But it certainally beats smashing your wash on rocks by the river though, :lol:

Re: Bike Machines

PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 11:28 pm
by pa_friendly_guy
You started talking about wood working tools in this thread Matt, I found this wood lathe that I thought you might like. http://www.manytracks.com/lathe/lathe.pdf He give detailed drawings and specs. It looked really great and the design seemed fairly simple.