Aidan Williamson Log

Week 1

5/31

Arrived at FeF at 10:30 AM. Thanks to Chris DeAngelis for picking me up.
Went grocery shopping.
Moved CEB rollers to dry location under old workshop eaves.
Helped Jose begin to move and reorganize hardware from old workshop.
Practiced MIG Welding under Jose and Brianna's helpful supervision. Need more practice.
Began work on FeF disposal infrastructure redesign.
Tasks this week:

Locate site for trash units

Design & Build Trash units for segregated trash

Collect & organize construction waste around site

6/1

Assessed distributions of recyclable materials in area surrounding HabLab, workshop, and old workshop.
Built structure for dry storage of biomass and construction wood scrap for burning. Much thanks to Chris DeAngelis for all his help.
Contemplated household recycling storage

• Design would need to both store 1-3 months of materials (depending on amount of visitors at FeF)
• Needs to be easily moved manually onto truck bed
• Made of materials already on site

Two options presented themselves:

1. 5 gallon paint buckets. Advantages: Abundance of buckets on site. easily transported when full of heavy materials, can be used inside house then simply capped and brought outside.
2. 55 gallon rain barrels. Advantages: Abundance of barrels on site. stores more material in less space than stacked 5 gal buckets

Decided to go with rain barrels because the main advantage of 5 gal buckets, that they are easily transported, was nullified when Yoonseo Kang and I lifted a 55 gal bucket full of glass (heaviest configuration of recyclable household mats) the height of a truck bed.
Stil Need to do:

Organize materials outside hablab

Organize materials in area surrounding workshops

Find someone to take old cars

Fabricate recycling barrels.

Video is a brief look at current material distribution and a view of new wood scrap & biomass storage spot:

6/2

Felt tired for most of the morning. Drank a cup of coffee and was ready to go at ten. Need to get to bed before 1AM from now on. Already breaking that rule tonight...
Organized HabLab construction materials. Took most of the day.
Collected wood for burning to stock wood pile.
Reassessed water management at wood pile site. Designed a water management system. Cut materials.
Rake broke so I got to practice welding while fixing.
Acquired SolidWorks 2010 from Yoonseo Kang. I plan to document my entire learning experience with SolidWorks. It will be my first time using CAD so this will be an experiment to see how long it takes someone to learn and then contribute to the project. Here are my thoughts on the process:

• Record entire time while using the program
• On-screen timer while recording.
• Video recaps with voice-overs on sped up recordings discussing what I did.
• Start with tutorial, then some practice, then CAD the sawmill.

Will be interesting to see how long this takes. It will take place mainly in my off time. For screen capture software I will try to use CamStudio which is open source.
I felt like WALL-E today when I was cleaning the construction site. It was difficult work on my own. I really enjoyed it, though. Tomorrow I will build my water diversion system, stock the woodpile, and begin the recycling bins.
Tasks still remaining this week:

Complete woodpile

Build Recycling Bins

Organize scattered materials around workshops and in fields

Will need to use tractor to do that. Need to practice driving that

Find someone to take junk cars. Have a lead on that thanks to Brianna Kufa

I've thought about long-term outdoor metal storage. We have large (3'x3' ish) concrete slabs that can be laid together outside the workshop to create a space for that. Could be something to tackle after we get the cars hauled away.

6/3

Finished water diversion at woodpile.
Practiced Flux Core Welding. Shot some footage of the machine for a video for future visitors.
Strained my back and neck while digging the canal for that. It's pretty serious. Need to take it easy for the next day or so.
Tasks remaining this week:

Build Recycling Bins

Organize scattered materials around workshops and in fields

Call Steiner's Auto Salvage to see if he can take the cars

6/4

Neck and back felt somewhat better when I woke up. I decided, because of my physical condition and the heat (94 degrees!) that I would take a break from organizing the site and instead focus on learning SolidWorks.
I started by downloading this timerwhich will appear on all my videos I record with CamStudio (open source!). I had some difficulties setting CamStudio to use the right codec (still not fully working) but eventually I got some quality video of myself doing the first lesson. Here is my plan for this endeavor:

I will do the entire SolidWorks tutorial

Record each session with the timer running

Drop the file into a video editor and speed it up. Watch it and do a voice-over. Add that to the video. Render and put on youtube.

I would have had something to post today, but I had many problems setting up CamStudio. Need to convert what I shot today and do my voiceover.
Tomorrow I will set up the recycling bins. I have delayed that too long already. I will also continue the SolidWorks. Need to call my grandparents too...
Practiced more flux core welding today. I am rebuilding a rusty chair that was left outside HabLab. Will post a video of it tomorrow.
Unproductive day overall. Bound to happen. Tomorrow I hope to get the ball rolling again.

6/5

Started to organize materials near junk cars. This includes glass, rusty steel, bags of plastic, fiberglass insulation, ceramics, aluminum and steel cans, and many other materials that do not belong in lush, wooded areas. It has been slow going.
Went to Maysville Recycling center to drop of some recycling and to see their organization. They separate clear glass from brown, have containers for plastic 1&2 and for general plastics, and take plastic bags. They also sell potable water for $.01/gallon. Good deal for a farm with a dry well.
I am having more issues with my SolidWorks recordings. It's the editing of the video files in particular. Need more time to figure it out. Sorry to keep delaying this. Should be posting by the end of the week. I keep recording, though. So more videos are piling up.
The tractor is out of service, something with the power cubes. So I cant move the heavy equipment. Marcin and I discussed building temporary shelter for them while a barn is built. I will need to talk to Gabby about what she needs for her operation.
The welder was offline today (power issues) so I could not practice welding and finish my chair.
I cut the recycling bins and drilled holes in the bottoms for rain. I will have to build a lid for the cardboard/paper bin, as well as a base for them all to sit on. Yoonseo does not want me to label the bins with spray paint (unsustainable in his opinion, mine too) so I will instead label the platform I build to house them. Hopefully it works as well.
Tasks for this week (ends on Thursday):

Figure out a path for these cars to move

Finish stocking woodpile

Build recycling bin platform and a lid for fiber bin.

Figure out a place to store large farming tools (i.e. hammer-mill)

Get SolidWorks videos online! and complete tutorial.

Bri suggests I be the FeF cook. I was interested at first, but now I think it would be better to just continue to work unpaid. Money complicates the cooking process. I enjoy sharing the dishes I cook. It imbues me with a feeling of love that eclipses the value of the money I could make by it. And besides, I don't want to have to cook dinner every night!
Video relates to moving the cars:

6/6

Here are some pictures of highly concentrated, problematic material distribution.
NOTE: These images are not representative of the general situation at FeF. They merely show small areas of high concentration.
Thought I should say that so people don't get the wrong impression.


Scrum Tasks this week (due next friday)

Create quality control checklist for CEB & LifeTrac II before they ship out. Video and wiki page.

Set up second whiteboard (almost done)

Set up workshop trash cans (done)

Get a quote on the scrap cars

Clear space for long-term metal storage

Finish moving random wood piles to central wood storage

build platform for recycling bins.

Definitely doable.
My own tasks this week:

Get SolidWorks logs online

fabricate produce rack for refrigerator (we can call it that now!!)

Find some local food sources

Things I did today:

Filmed Marcin discuss quality control points for LifeTrac

Ground sharp edges on LifeTrac to be shipped

Framed Whiteboard

Finished welding rusty old chair with 90 AMP flux core welder. Needs a paint job now.

Revised my work plan

Cut some rain barrels for the shop: Designated Plastics and Trash

No video today. Camera is out of batteries and I forgot my charger. It will arrive tomorrow in the mail.

Week 2

6/10

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I updated. Honestly, not much has happened. Things I can remember i've done:

• Started to have old cars cleared out. Thanks to John who also dug the leech field for starting that process. I need to do some ground clearing for him to continue that tomorrow morning.
• Built recycling bin platform to keep bins off the ground. I will need to paint it. Couldn't today because of predicted rain.
• Started stuccoing the remaining HabLab walls with Yoonseo. It will take another several hours to finish.

Thing I need to do:

• Publish LifeTrac quality control checklist
• Paint recycling bin platform and post signage
• Build two bunk beds for hablab
• Get solidworks files online
• Make Kickstarter rewards magnets
• Build more racks for shop

Will post video/pictures as soon as possible.

6/13

I'm actually writing this on the morning of 6/14 but whatever. Yesterday morning James Slade, his friend Aaron, daughter Savannah, and Ian Midgley showed up hauling a pimped out LifeTrac and a couch. I learned how to torch and filmed a bit of a video on that. Need to edit and upload it. I torched about four feet of quarter inch steel from a 5x11 slab that will eventually become another welding table. I hope to fabricate that from the ground up. My horizontal MIG welding has come a long way and I feel comfortable with this basic task. I will study the ones Jose made for reference. Sadly, Jose will be leaving tomorrow or Saturday.
I don't think I've mentioned this in the log yet, but about two days ago Marcin and I decided to have some straw mattresses made. We need about 10 twin mattresses to be fully prepared for the incomers. The cheapest traditional mattresses are $100 so that is a 1k pricetag. But while I was doing my consumers research I stumbled upon this lovely website. I was immediately sold and passed the information on to Marcin. He agreed. So we decided to have three made. I sourced some fabric and took it to a seamstress yesterday. Tomorrow I will pick it up and we can begin stuffing and sleeping on them. No more floor! Although I have thoroughly enjoyed the time I spend centimeters from the dirt.
Even thought they are only passing through and will be leaving shortly after I am writing this, I really enjoyed the time I spent with James and Ian. Both are thoughtful, interesting, kind men. Last night I threw a pasta dinner together and we all (all eleven of us) got a chance to unwind and engage in some much needed communal mirth. One should never underestimate the adhesive and rejuvinative power of a family meal. Even Marcin was seen smiling.
Tasks left for today and tomorrow:

• Install curtain rods in bathroom stalls
• Find/order parts for welding table. Then make it.
• Order parts for bunk beds.
• Post some videos!
• Get Marcin to send off the Wisconsin title request paperwork so we can get these cars out of here!

6/14

Interesting day.
Jose and I started to work on the welding table. We found the 2 inch angle we needed for the entire thing. We cut it using Brianna's Ironworker. That video should be on Marcin's youtube. I will link to it when it uploads.
Before that, though, I got a chance to do some dirtywork on the power cube. James and I were moving the LifeTrac to be shipped out into the workshop so that we could add on the tractor weights. As I was driving, with James walking beside me, we noticed the tractor was moving slowly. When we got 3/4 of the way there Marcin came out and noticed that the hydraulic outtake line was not attached to the second power cube. The pump had been heating hydraulic fluid but the fluid had not been moving anywhere. This caused the pump to overheat, the bottom to loosen, and the entire thing to bow slightly so that it leaked hydraulic fluid constantly. This was a very messy period of troubleshooting. Aaron mistakenly removed the wrong cable while attempting to cut the faulty powercube from the working one and we lost quite a bit of fluid. Eventually I was tasked with removing the bad pump and installing a good one. It was a great learning experience, albeit messy and I did get electrocuted once during the process.
Aside from that, today was another day to practice torching. I need to find a way to steady my hands better.
I will update more tonight.

6/15

Logging, especially video, has become very difficult for me. Finding time before I crash at night and even just motivating myself to document is not as easy as it once was. Still, I will attempt to maintain my mentality of full documentation while I stay here.
Today I welded the welding table together. Video by Sunday night at the latest.
Also went to seamstress to pick up mattresses. Gabbi (new arrival) and I tried to stuff them with "straw" chopped with the intake fan of a leaf blower but this turned out to be too tedious and messy. Tomorrow I will attempt to come up with a better method to chip the straw. As we searched today, we came across the old hammermill. My next project, after the table is up, will be to restore and improve that machine. And maybe CAD it up! Although CAD has been on hold for now...
Things to do:

• Finish welding table and document it
• Make some vlogs
• Document progress on removing old cars
• Move Hammermill to workshop.
• Stuff straw mattresses
• Make another Shipment video. Use Neil Diamond's Heat of Gold as soundtrack per Marcin's request

Night all

Week 3

6/18

Yoonseo's birthday today!
Finished the 5' x 11' welding table today and moved it into position.
Developed comprehensive work contract for the next month. Looks like I'll be busy!
Made a video of the torch table first test. Uploading now.
Finally have something to upload onto youtube. The video will show the table before moving, grinding, and cleaning. I can document it further when it's all together.
I worked with Grahm on his welding and grinding skills a bit, too. He is a natural and will progress very quickly.

6/20

Things I did today:

• Completed 4x8 steel ironworker table for Ironworker I.
• Assembled Iron Worker I on the table
• Buried Internet Cable in front of FabLab to protect it from LifeTrac traffic
• Moved the lifetrac with broken powercube with the Creation Flame tractor. That was fun!
• Talked to mom!

Things to do:

• Finalize accurate workshop design with Aaron.
• Punch Kickstarter Magnets
• Finish installing Iron Worker I
• Organize this place!
• Transcend the I - other dichotomy
• Relinquish my vinculos to the mind and body
• Exist purely as energy
• Know pure Love

6/22

Today:

• Organized shop with Aaron, Gram, and Chris
• Finished digging up garden for Gabi

For this week:

• Get KickStarter rewards sent out
• Finalize FabLab organization and start on old workshop
• Build more fabrication tables.

6/23

Woke up to rain today. It took me a few moments to realize that 1) the noise I was hearing was actually rain and not just the scurrying of many rats festering and fucking one and other in the crevices of my roof and 2) That this meant I had to run in circles outside carrying objects and furrowing my brow. The LifeTrac, generator, and chicks will survive. Aaron leaves today.