Printable View for Presentation #8 (See also "Manual on a String").

Make it!

Making it possible for you to MAKE it! Gradually we expect to improve and extend these construction manuals. Realize: your feedback is crusial for further improvement!
More info on the subject at hand you will find through clickable links in the descriptions that come with the pictures.

Picture series on general subjects or design experiments are displayed at See it

Author: Demotech, design for self-reliance
Version: Juli 27, 2008 Feedback email info@demotech.org
Postal: Biesenwal 3, 6211 AD Maastricht, the Netherlands

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Welding Wood

To interconnect wooden parts in a quick and sturdy fashion. No carpentry tools, no special skills are needed. Any wooden part can be attached to any other wooden part. About as strong as the wooden parts themselves. Compare to welding or compare to modern metal construction elements to interconnect wooden beams, but to be applied with size constraints.

Harvesting Steel Wire

Description of how metal wire can be recuperated from a worn out car tire. How to cut the rubber, how to use a sharp small knive to do a clean and fast job.

Harvesting Sheet Metal

Useful pieces of sheet metal can be recuperated from scrap, such as rusted through oil drums and wrecked cars. The cutting of the sheet metal need not be done with a pair of snips, but can be effectively done with an axe, knife or cutlass and a hammer.

Construction manual for the Bathroom Toilet unit

A method to construct a comfortable and attractive bathroom for every family in a village in a communal village project in 2 to 3 weeks time.
It offers a sanitary facility that separates urine and faeces. The spaces under each of the two identical slabs are alternatively used as catchment container and for composting.

The RopePump, the latest manuals from Demotech and manuals from all over the world

Many manuals exist on how to make a rope pump. One of the best comes from Ghana, where Demotech worked on close cooperation with a team from the National Service Secretariat. Demotech's own manuals lag very much behind the state of the research in Demotech's own workshop, reason not to have renewed them up to now. However we feel higgly obliged to do so soon after the first field test of the latest version.
Please study our former manuals and the manuals we gathered from rope pumps worked at by other organizations.

How to make a pulley with means as found in a rural village

A well cover, what it should offer, how it can be used, how it can be made

As a precious resource, water should be well cared for. But the traditional pattern of proper care for- and use of water wells break down. This creates the need for a better control of the use of the well. A cover on top on the well that can be locked with a pad lock is part of such control.

DemoCamp-units, how to demonstrate, how to camp, how to make it

Compare the enormous effort of motivating thousands of people to demonstrate with the primitive way the demonstration's message to the public is exposed. Do this better:

Learn how to use DemoCamp-units in demonstrations and marches.

Create shelter and message boards at the same time for demonstrative occupaton of public space.

Learn as a group to make all the parts of the DemoCamp-unis. Building instructions will guide you to accurate and swift results.

Learning from Africa

Learning about rationality behind African technology is a way to learn about how Sustainability can be achieved. To study water lifting incorporates to understand how a rubber bag is made and used. Dialogue with its users may reveal more if the student suggest an alternative for the traditional technology. When users like to test such an alternative, even more reasons behind the actual situation can be disclosed.
Such alternatives could be the traditional rubber bag, a scalable template for a rubber bag and a pulley and a tripod over a well.

The WeaverSeat

Traditional weaving is done while sitting in a position that is said to be uncomfortable, even damaging and painful for the women doing this work for many hours at a stretch.
The NGO SOLAR in Guatemala asked us to look at this problem and come up with an alternative. After many experiment we want to check out if the design described in this manual may make a difference to the women that will use it.
As the WeaverSeat is designed to be locally made at little or no cost, thus as cost is not a constraint, we hope to find out if our approach works.
Or not, and then: why not.

The Hy2U construction manual index page

All construction manuals that are available or come into being are listed in this index page, together with a short summary. The main source for information on the Hy2U campaign is the Hy2U website.
Some events from the Hy2U-campaign can be found at this 'See It' page. As the Hy2U-for washing hands is a Demotech desing initiative, the Hy2U is also listed here.

Make a Multi Bit Wood Drill with your bare hands!

Drilling wood, specially if you have to do it by hand, must be done in steps: first small, then a bit larger, then to size. Or as many in-between steps as needed. Woodworkers have such collections of drills, but what about when you have to start from scratch? We start with a bit a good quality steel, that is within easy reach for many people: a bicycle spoke! This series instructions show how to make with your bare hands from a bicycle spoke a multi bit wood drill.

Author: Demotech, design for self-reliance Version: Juli 27, 2008	Feedback email info@demotech.org Postal: Biesenwal 3, 6211 AD Maastricht, the Netherlands
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