This week’s episode is exciting for me! I’m talking with Tamara Dean (author of The Human-Powered Home) about human power, machines, tools, best practices and why this should interest you.
So what do we mean by human power? Think crank, treadle, and bike power– historic examples you are likely familiar with would be treadle sewing machines, pole lathes, treadle power hammers, or hand crank grain mills. But the ideas and principles can be adapted to so much more!
If you’re interested in self-sufficiency, being off grid, DIY, or just making things that are awesome her book is a must read. It has plans for a number of different human powered projects you can build, but also discusses the principles behind what you’re doing in a way that makes you feel confident you could adapt the ideas to whatever project you needed built.
Most of the methods we talk about (or that are mentioned in the book) are not strictly traditional, but they are modern adaptations of human powered machines used up through the 19th and early 20th centuries. Overall, it was a great conversation to have and I hope it gets you thinking about human powered machinery in a new light!
Resources Mentioned:
Bicimakina.com — & their youtube channel (seems to be inactive at the moment)
Maya Pedal — link is to the English version of their site
The Human-Powered Home: Choosing Muscles over Motors by Tamara Dean
Bicycling Science by David Gordon Wilson
