Solar Panel to USB Kit?

[Zephik]

Do you guys know about those DIY Minty Boost Kits (http://makezine.com/mintyboost/) that Make sells? Does anyone know where to find either parts or a kit or an already built product that is basically the same thing but that uses a solar panel instead of batteries? I think that would be awesome to have. Probably not very practical, but it would be kind of cool to have and it would definitely be nice to have if you're like out camping or something.

I wonder if it could it be made with this (http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SBSCA)?

Actually, now that I think about it. I think I might have some solar powered garden lights out back somewhere! Maybe I can mod one? :p

[Zephik]

Am I the only one seeing the word "m i n t y" bleeped out? :neutral:

[nevermind1534]

Am I the only one seeing the word "m i n t y" bleeped out? :neutral:

M.inty is one of the filteed words, for some reason. You can't say m|nty for some reason.

[Omega]

There was this guy who came on the fourms and his name was M.intyMadness. Everybody just called him M.inty. Things turned pretty sour. The admins STILL haven't lifted the wordfilter.

[Zephik]

Well, I don't know the story about why things went so sour with ol' *****, but in any case, filtering the word "*****" because of something that happened with an old member is just retarded in my personal opinion. Unless of course he killed like a thousand baby kittens, I could totally understand if that were the case. :p

This might be fun to abuse though...

"You mother *****!"

muahahaha

[Omega]

Minty has been unblocked.

edit: not the user, the word

[nevermind1534]

Minty has been unblocked.

edit: not the user, the word

Ok, good (about the user not being unbanned, but the word). It's nice that we can say minty again.

[xRyokenx]

*ahem* Why hello my good sir, this gum tastes rather minty, doncha know.

[OvRiDe]

You know if you say his name 3 times in a row on the forums...

He will come after you next!!!


:P

[Oneslowz28]

Back on topic. I remember reading about a solar iPod / cell charger in an altoids can on hackaday a while back. Maybe search over there.

[Zephik]

I never could find those stupid solar panel garden lights, but if I can I'll try to figure this out again.

But in the mean time I've decided to rekindle an old flame of mine...

POTTERY! lol

I just bought ten pounds of potters clay. I don't have any fancy shmancy tools though. Freaking god those things are expensive. The cheapest potters wheel I could find was $400! Most of them are closer to a grand or more though! Just trying to find an extruder... $200! WTF.

So I think for now I'll stick to the pinch pot method and maybe do some hand rolled rope work. or maybe I'll build a clay computer case! lol

By the way, if anyone knows where to get super cheap pottery wheels, hit me up! I've always wanted one, but they are just amazingly expensive. I've thought about making my own kick/pedal wheel, but even that ended up being too complicated! lol

[Oneslowz28]

My mother was into pottery for years. We used to have a huge kiln and she had several wheels that my grandfather built. We built some in shop class in highschool for the art class.

IIRC we used 3 layers of 3/4" plywood cut round and sealed the top with resin. Then we used 2 pulleys and a cheap belt, 1/2hp electric motor with a router speed control to control the speed. If you got the motor off ebay I bet you could build one for less than $50 Maybe I will draw something up in a little bit for ya.

[Zephik]

Awesome! Thanks!

[Oneslowz28]

Here is what I came up with. The wheel uses 2 or 3 sheets of 3/4" plywood, some easy to get go kart parts, 2 bearings, a couple pulleys, easily to find belt, and a cheap 1.5 hp electric motor from ebay. The total cost came out to just over $150. I did forget to add the router control but those can be found at harbor freight for less than $15.

I have included the excel parts list, and the sketchup file. Everything is designed to 1:1 scale so you can use the measure tool in sketchup to dimension things. The only thing that is not to scale is the large pulley on the shaft. I messed up designing it. Hope this helps.

Note: I left out the bolts and screws that holds everything together. Also The I did not use math to figure out the optimal pulley set as you need to know the motor rpm, and the optimal speed the table needs to spin. You can figure that out on your own lol. Some ballast added to the bottom of the box may be needed. Like a bag or 2 of sand or rocks.

Home made pottery wheel. The wheel is 24" in diameter and is made up of 3 layers of 3/4" plywood.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/schematics/pw4.jpg

Bearing and shaft.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/schematics/pw3.jpg

2nd bearing and shaft with hub.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/schematics/pw2.jpg

Small pulley.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/schematics/pw1.jpg

This is a rar file containing sketchup file, and excel parts list. I may do some technical drawings later if you would like, including a cut diagram for the plywood sheets. Right click and save as.
http://cjganttphotography.com/pwp.rar

EDIT: When I download the file and open it with winrar it shows an error but the files are still there and correct. Just ignore the error and open the files.

[Luke122]

You know if you say his name 3 times in a row on the forums...

He will come after you next!!!


:P

Candlejack?

The Minty story: he basically P.O.'d a bunch of people here, so he got a "vacation ban". He then came back with a fake account just to raise hell about it, and got a permanent ban. He then threatened to sue the site over misuse of his (his words..) "valuable contributions" to the community, so all references to his name and all his posts were removed.

Him and I never really had any problems, and kept in contact through other sites for awhile, but we've lost touch now, and I certainly do think that he over reacted to the whole thing in the first place.

I'm sure there's more to it, but I think that's a sufficient explanation for everyone.

[Luke122]

Back on topic now, check out the "Freeloader (http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/b1a6/)", a solar panel with built in batteries so you can recharge things on the go. The panel charges the built in batteries when the sun it out, then the onboard battery can boost your device when it's needed.

[Zephik]

Back on topic now, check out the "Freeloader (http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/b1a6/)", a solar panel with built in batteries so you can recharge things on the go. The panel charges the built in batteries when the sun it out, then the onboard battery can boost your device when it's needed.

lol oh man, thats perfect! It even has the perfect name. :D

I should of known ThinkGeek would have something like that. They always have the coolest most random stuff.

Like these (http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/b308/?cpg=ab) for example. Do you know how not useful and how easy to lose they would be? Do I still want one? Hell yea I do! lol

[nevermind1534]

lol oh man, thats perfect! It even has the perfect name. :D

I should of known ThinkGeek would have something like that. They always have the coolest most random stuff.

Like these (http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/b308/?cpg=ab) for example. Do you know how not useful and how easy to lose they would be? Do I still want one? Hell yea I do! lol

I want those!