Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

The third mission Act directive is to come up with an alternative method of powering something that we use on a daily basis. Below is essentially a repost of an idea I came up with during WWO. Enjoy!

The treadle is a very old method of producing rotary motion. It consists of nothing more than a foot pedal which is attached to a rod, which is in turn mounted to the outside of a wheel. As the pedal is moved back and forth, the wheel is forced into a rotary motion. Connect a belt to any machine that requires this kind of motion and there you go! You will have power for your lathe, your generator, or whatever you need. A perfect example of this is the treadle sewing machine.

Long before electrical power was available in most homes; sewing was done either by hand or with the use of a treadle sewing machine. One company, Singer®, made these machines up till the seventies for third world countries. Because people in general tend to be sentimental packrats, the machine that belonged to Grandma, or Aunt Julie or whomever, has been stored away somewhere. (“That belonged to ______ we just can’t throw it out!!!”) As a result these machines are still being kept in garages, breezeways and attics. Hundreds of these things are still lying around.

Let’s suppose you found one of these gems. Chances are that the machine you just picked up has not been used for a while. In addition to cleaning up the cabinet, you will have to disassemble the head and re-oil it. Take a picture of every feature of the sewing machine. Doc**ent every process that you use to tear the machine down. (Believe me there are a lot of little parts here!) Now that you have it apart, clean the metal shafts with emery cloth, and soak every part that has a bushing in it in for 24 hours in mineral oil. Use your pics to help you reassemble the head.

Believe me, you will be amazed at what foot power will do! These machines will sew through anything! Even though I am not the best seamstress in the world, my machine still manages to fix my jeans and a sail or two, using no oil. And now for the bonus. Remember how I said that the treadle could be used to produce rotary motion? When I am done sewing, I change the belt over to my generator and recharge all of the batteries for my laptop and my phones… Such a deal!!!!

I cannot help but close this post with a quote.

In the immortal words of Captain Jean Luc Picard:

“Make it sew!”

Regards,

Megiddo

Views: 13

Comment

You need to be a member of Urgent Evoke to add comments!

Join Urgent Evoke

Latest Activity

Ning Admin is now a member of Urgent Evoke
May 17, 2023
N updated their profile
Sep 25, 2020
Sophie C. commented on Asger Jon Vistisen's blog post Stinging Nettle
"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
Aug 19, 2020
Meghan Mulvey posted a blog post

Fourth of July on the Lake

This past weekend was the annual celebration at the lake house in Connecticut. It is amazing that the lake is still so clear and beautiful after all these years. The watershed association has done a wonderful job protecting these waters from the damaging effects of development.The wood grill was finally ready to cook on, so we didn't miss the propane tank fueled grill anymore. The food actually tasted fresher than in the past and was easy to keep fueled.Dad was very proud of the solar hybrid…See More
Jul 6, 2020
Asger Jon Vistisen posted a blog post

Stinging Nettle

In this blog post I will focus on a plant that is abundant in our nature, and which is immensely nutritious. It's of course the Stinging Nettle. Let's start with the chemical constituents of this plant:37 % Non-Nitrogen-Extracts19 - 29 % Ash9 - 21 % Fiber4 % Fat22 % ProteinOnce the leaves are drid, their protein content can reach an astounding 40 %, which is much higher than beef, which even under the best of circ**stances can never exceed 31 % protein. In addition the Stinging Nettle consists…See More
Apr 13, 2020
Jonathon McCallum posted a blog post

The meal

It is 7'oclock, I was late home from work due to an assignment that i wanted to get ahead on. By the time I get home I am feeling extremley tired and I cannot be bothered to make a proper meal. I walk to the fridge and open it to see what there is for me to eat. All of the out of date foodstuffs have been automaticaly thrown away by the fridge, they will be recycled tomorrow as animal feed or something. I see i have organic local eggs and some local cheese. Foods are vacc** sealded for easy…See More
Mar 10, 2020
Jean Paul Galea shared a profile on Facebook
Mar 1, 2020
Kevin posted a blog post

Future

FutureToday is 2020/1/1. It is just like yesterday. The war is still continuing. It has started since 2010. In 2010, that year was a horrible year. Almost every energy ran out. Every country’s governments were crushed down at the same time. There were riots everywhere. All of the big company’s bosses were killed xdeadx in the riots. Troops fought each other everywhere. Food was bought up xawayx at once. There were no more food supplies in any shops. The economy was all crushed down. All the…See More
Jan 1, 2020
Namwaka Mooto posted blog posts
Jan 13, 2016
T D updated their profile
Sep 3, 2015
Brook Warner posted blog posts
Aug 25, 2015
Santiago Vega posted blog posts
May 5, 2015
Santiago Vega commented on Santiago Vega's blog post Act 8
May 5, 2015
Santiago Vega posted photos
May 5, 2015
Rico Angel Rodriguez posted blog posts
May 2, 2015
Rico Angel Rodriguez posted a photo

public servants

The exchange works directly for state and public workers and servants. It gives them credit in exchange for the amount of public work they contribute to the community. The more constructive they are based off a base rate the more credit they recieve.
May 2, 2015

Follow EVOKE on Twitter




Official EVOKE Facebook Page




EVOKE RSS Activity Feed










© 2024   Created by Alchemy.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service