Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

[p38arover]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

Im jealous! Ive wanted one of those Erector sets for over 40 years! It was at the top of my Christmas Wish List for nigh onto a decade! And Im still waiting for Santa to bring it!!! > ;D

Ive still got mine - I received it for Christmas over 45 years ago. Hmm, maybe I should give it to my son (28 yo) this Xmas.

Ron

[Javaphile]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

Im jealous! Ive wanted one of those Erector sets for over 40 years! It was at the top of my Christmas Wish List for nigh onto a decade! And Im still waiting for Santa to bring it!!! > ;D


Java "Goes and plays with his Legos and Lincoln Logs" phile

[grendel]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

Stunning work!

[julsajet]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

Hmm... My Mum gave my Nephews some Meccano a couple of Christmas ago (they still sell the full-on Metal stuff here). I wonder if I could convince them to have a go at building one of these for me?

Juls

[rayzurhed]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

Does it come in a lego version? 8-)
RH

[andy]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB


Pure art Peter...
love the shots, love the idea.

Very nice work.

[Javaphile]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

LOL Yeah I know all about not much sun in the winter. Im not nearly as far north as you are but our winters here are every bit as severe. It looks like February is your coldest month with an avg high of -3C and an avg low of -6C. Janurary is the coldest month here with the avg high being -6C and the avg low at -15C. December is not far behind with the avg being -3C/-12C and February averaging in at -2C/-11C. Weve been having an incredibly warm fall and winter here as well with the temp only in the last few days getting down anywhere near normal.

On your roasting setup (BTW I love the klugeness of it! ) Id be trying to slow the roast down, by quite a bit. To get maximum flavor from the beans try hitting first crack around 10 minutes or so and finishing up at 14 or 15 minutes. Youll be surprised at the difference it makes in the cup.


Java "Sticks to roasting indoors in the winter!" phile

[arcticroaster]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

Some updates from the HG/iRB, roast #3:

1) I added 4 more (smaller) vanes (see pic), as I noted that beans close to the bowl rim were "tunneling" under the existing vanes, i.e. just sliding along rather then getting mixed up with th rest of the crowd. These new vanes solve this and furthermore, tend to reduce the surface area of the bean bed, which presumably makes the transfer of heat from HG more efficient

2) I finally checked the rating of the cable drum I was using in the Sunday roast, ahem :-[, it was 50 m cable rated at 5 A, so no wonder the drilling machine rpm dropped a lot when using the HG close to "full" power. Now I use a 5 m cord and seem to get more power and, luckily, the 10 A fuse (230*10 = 2.3 kW) doesnt blow even when using HG (2 kW), drilling machine, lights and fam at the same time ...

3) due to 1) and 2) things get hotter and move faster: for a 200g load, HG reduced to 70%, no-preheating, cooler outside 4C I got 1st crack already after 3 min, end 5 min, 2nd crack after 8:20 (after heat reduction) and took the whole roast off after 9 min, i.e. things went much faster than for the last roast.

So it seems there are quite some heat reserves in the setup, despite that there is no isolation around the bowl, perhaps then roast sizes can still be increased and/or the thing may work in still colder weather (winter here is unusually warm this year, it gets easily -5 ... -15 C around this time). So maybe no outer enclosing will be needed, lets see.

4) despite the addtional vanes doing their job, the roast was more uneven, but I wonder if thats due to fact that things got a bit too hot here !?

5) still no new ideas how to get a thermometer attached; this would really help in figuring HG temp settings

Cheers, Peter

[arcticroaster]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

I thought that was his new experimental solar roaster! : ;D

hhmm, solar roasting ... I think this idea wont be such a great hit here in Helsinki ... Let me show you the light conditions a late-afternoon-roaster has to put up with :

I am checking the beans with a flashlight to see if they have turned already into charcoal ... ;D the slight light shimmer you see outside the shed are from a strong halogen lamp from the house

Cheers, Peter

[arcticroaster]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

I havent got any Meccano left from 40 years ago, but that is just brilliant.

Thanks first for the friendly welcome here at CS

We got that Meccano set about 10 years ago. Some google search revealed that the company is still hanging around and even sells some sets with pieces which are reminiscent of the set I used: http://www.meccano.com/products/desi...php?ref=847700

But it all looks very flashy and plasticky, so one should probably better check ...

P.S. Is this version 2?

Oh, thats just to indicate that there is an upgrade path for larger roast sizes: add a blast furnace from below and ready is the BIG roaster, then invite the presumably intelligent extraterrestrials one is listening to, to a cup of coffee  

Cheers, Peter

[Javaphile]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

P.S. Is this version 2?

I thought that was his new experimental solar roaster! : ;D


Java "Loves to experiment!" phile

[Thundergod]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

Welcome!

I love it!

I havent got any Meccano left from 40 years ago, but that is just brilliant.


Now you have to automate your cooler.  


P.S. Is this version 2?

[Javaphile]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

What a wonderful contraption Arcticroaster! Welcome to the community!!


Java "Gotta love ingenuity!" phile

[Presso]

Re: Yet another handsfree HG setup: HG/iRB

THAT"S why I love CSers so much: They are all secretly "mechano heads"!

Those shots are pure art. I love the vanes for moving the bean mass, the whole unit is beautiful.
Well Done!

[arcticroaster]

Hi,

I am new to home roasting, but inspired by the various roaster schemes presented on this site, I couldnt resist to cook up my own variant after some pondering: HG used with an inclined rotating bowl, for short HG/iRB  , see the pic.

You can find many more pics for this setup incl. roast samples #1&#2 here: http://www.johnspics.1g.fi/kuvat/Peter/BigEar/

Here is also a video (3gp format, use eg quicktime) of this scheme in action : http://www.johnspics.1g.fi/Peter/Espresso/26112006.3gp

One could think of it like a rotating DB (with flanges to agitate beans) or as a (poorly insulated) BM rotating around its stirrer axle or as a parabolic-drum roaster if you add heating from below and the outer housing.

For me cost was low, I needed only the HG (new, 25 EUR, 2 kW with Temp control&indicator, 600C, probably some rebranded Chinese OEM sold by Clas Ohlson shops) and the SS bowl (8 EUR) + sieve for cooling (9 EUR), the rest I had. All metal contraction parts are from an abandoned MECCANO metal construction kit from my son; it may be tough to get this particular set nowaways, but of course the construction can be done in 1000 other ways. The HG is hold by my daugthers note-stander and I better return it soon  ...

This setup seems to have potential: I was able to get a dark roast with 1st crack starting around 7 min and I pulled the roast after 16 min. This was outside at 8 deg C and HG setting at 80 %, 150g green beans from Peru, Oxampampa.  

So far I did only 2 roasts on it (and these are all roasts I did in my life so far ..), so quite some experimentation will be needed to get the HG settings right for any given amount of beans and outside (freezing) temp. I would guess this HG/iRB could handle perhaps much larger loads (up to 500g ???), the first limitaiton will likely be the heat which can be delivered to the bean bed by the HG, so one would probably need to think about an outer enclosure to reduce losses or a 2nd HG or some gas burner from below the iRB etc etc.

One problem compared to the HG/BM is installation of any TC or thermometer due to the rotating bowl, bright ideas are needed. E.g. using hollow axle seems tricky as the bean bed is thin at the center point.

Thats all for the moment, Ill try to come back once I have learned to distinguish properly 1st from 2nd crack  ;D and after some fiddling with this setup.

Cheers,
Peter