Photos of where we have been

[jfholm]

Hey all, it has been very rough for everybody lately in the whole World. Many of our friends and loved ones suffering. My wife and I were fortunate enough to drive to the Phoenix, Arizona area last week for a wedding. It really charged my batteries up to see that there is still some beauty in the World. I hope you guys don't mind me posting some pictures of the trip and I hope it helps charge your batteries up also.

John

[Malvin]

Very nice pictures John & It does recharge you !!!

Thanks for posting the Pictures John

[coulterracn]

Love that part of our country.
Ray

[jfholm]

I had to laugh as the wedding started at 5:30 pm. By the time the ceremonies had been done it was getting dark. Everybody from that area was commenting on how "cold" it was getting. Out came the over head propane heaters, sweaters and parkas. Lots of chattering teeth etc. So I walked over and checked the thermometer and it had really dropped it was down to 60º. Everybody finally went in and sat around the fireplace

[SSR]

Fantastic scenery John, if it was 'only' 15'c here at night it would be great! No such natural beauty where I went, but somethings which are hopefully of interest to those with an engineering mind....

I recently went for a short trip to The Netherlands, it's just an overnight ferry crossing from the UK and is on the edge of mainland Europe.
The Netherlands roughly translates to 'Low lands', because they are hemmed in by other countries when they needed more land they had to re-claim it from the sea and marshlands. It is a very flat country which grows a lot of produce.
Most of The Netherlands or Holland is actually below sea level so they have to constantly pump water out otherwise it would quickly flood, sounds crazy doesn't it?! If it were me I would have just moved, but they have made it work for a long time now.

The sea is held back by what they call Dykes, but it obviously seeps through, mainly underground.

It's pumped out by electric now, but for many years it was done by windmills. Basically they split all the land up (this includes the towns and small villages) by small water courses. Even though they have a normal sized road system, you can also come out of your house, jump into a small boat and whizz off to see your friend a couple of blocks away.

Here is a model someone did of how the basics work:



There are (just!) three windmills there, the one on the right pulls the water up from the lowest level, it goes around the water course until the one in the centre pulls it up onto the next level, then onto the the one at the left and so on until it's high enough to be pumped back to the sea.


You can see they are using water wheels, here's a working drawing:





This was eventually superseded by the Archimedes screw type:






They are now made from steel of course, but were first made from wood, one of the originals still exists - just about!



A current one:






The whole Windmill was originally made from wood and still is apart from the brick outer and steel mainshaft, here is a shot looking up into the roof where you can see how horizontal motion is converted to vertical:



The wind comes from different directions and different speeds, to allow for these changes the keeper has to get out on the balcony to spin the whole top piece around to face the wind and put sheets behind the sails to catch it, the sails are just lats of wood, you can put a twist on them by tightening a rope.



Brief footage of it in action:



Hope you enjoy, it was quite an interesting experience for me.

[Brucepts]

Wow interesting stuff!!

[jfholm]

I will second Bruce! This is a great addition to this thread. It is amazing what has been done in the Netherlands. Great photos and information. Isn't it amazing what people can do even without computers

[Tony]

I always wondered how all those windmills actually pumped the water.

I am surprised the Archimedian screws are fully open, they must leak a fair bit of water around the screw blades, especially at a very slow rate of turning.
The only water pumping Archimedian screws I have seen, were all closed, like a large pipe wrapped around the shaft, with only the pipe ends open so there can be zero leakage.

Wow, can you imagine fabricating a wooden screw like that completely by hand, without modern power tools.
The craftsmen in the old days had real knowledge and skill. In many ways I think modern technology is sending us backwards.
How many modern day carpenters could make a wooden barrel that does not leak, or a wooden wagon wheel that could cross America without completely collapsing in the fist mile ?

[jfholm]

I always wondered how all those windmills actually pumped the water.

I am surprised the Archimedian screws are fully open, they must leak a fair bit of water around the screw blades, especially at a very slow rate of turning.
The only water pumping Archimedian screws I have seen, were all closed, like a large pipe wrapped around the shaft, with only the pipe ends open so there can be zero leakage.

Wow, can you imagine fabricating a wooden screw like that completely by hand, without modern power tools.
The craftsmen in the old days had real knowledge and skill. In many ways I think modern technology is sending us backwards.
How many modern day carpenters could make a wooden barrel that does not leak, or a wooden wagon wheel that could cross America without completely collapsing in the fist mile ?

Yeah Tony, particle board just doesn't cut it anymore

[SSR]

Funny you should say that Tony and no, there aren't many people with that kind of skill any more, there are some though....

On the same trip we saw this:



Recently built by hand.


Currently there is a TV series running here in the UK which you guys might like, here is the intro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSbab334lDQ

And here is the most relevant episode (No.2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQrb4qZK ... ure=showob

Once you've got through the damned ads there are two things I think you might like, one is the making of the wooden wheel and the other the water turbine. This reminds me a Variable Vane turbo and there was some really clever thinking going on there - 130yrs ago!