it is quite a machine and I but it was fun to watch when running, with all the things that are on it , (looked through the photos on photo bucket),
I bet it was a real labor of love,
did he start with just some small pieces and start to combine them, , or was there some plan or did it just grow uncontrollably ?
It was definitely the latter...small bits, etc. One of the earliest bits was a grain elevator, with the long vertical belt, and the little buckets riveted to the belt. It was just like a full size grain elevator but shrunk, and it would move cornmeal I reckon, but a kernel of corn would be a chunk!
Over time, bits would come and go, and challenges would form and be overcome. I think a challenge early on was to find a motor with appropriate speed and power. But truly, the longest challenge, remaining mostly unsolved, is what to use for belting. The existing belts are bootlaces (not the leather ones, the woven ones) that are stitched together at the ends. He is a very sharp fellow, so I doubt he is botching these up, yet they don't serve him well.
For example, many of his tensioners are out of tension...I presume due to stretch of those laces. I think he is too sharp to have made them too long. There is the possibility that the wood is eroding, but I am skeptical. He has asked me and his son too for suggestions / ideas on the belting material, but we have mostly come up dry.
I am a fan of some sort of elastomer, so I suggested o-ring kits. But heck, if his boot laces eventually stretch, I know the elastomer will.
A service belt in real equipment will have the fiber of that boot lace, and an elastomer coating to aid friction. I wonder if his boot laces could be painted or coated with some sort of elastomer, which might allow a reduction of tension, and therefore lower the stretch.
