Shipping Container Workshop To Kenya
Howdy,
My friends and I are building a workshop out of a shipping container, and we want Makers' suggestions on equipment.
We'll be sending a 20' shipping container from Austin, Texas to Bungoma, a city in Western Kenya.
The primary goal will be constructing chambers in which we can create biochar ( http://www.re-char.com ), and we want to make the shop as versatile as possible.
Thus far, we've definitively spent ~$8,000 of our $20,000 budget, mainly on a used plasmacam 4'x4' CNC with 2 plasma cutters, and allocated <20% of our space.
Here's our list of some proposed equipment: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsejLtLc70nwdG5DeVJmOVA4OUxpcXl6alFaNzh5Unc&hl=en_US
What are we missing that we just shouldn't be without?
We'll have access to (dirty) grid power, standard industrial building materials, and (slow, expensive) shipping from the West.
Please add your ideas to the spreadsheet and your broader comments below.
We'll read everything, incorporate the best suggestions, and let you know what our final inventory becomes.
We need to have our container in transit by the end of the month, so don't delay!
Thanks,
Luke
My friends and I are building a workshop out of a shipping container, and we want Makers' suggestions on equipment.
We'll be sending a 20' shipping container from Austin, Texas to Bungoma, a city in Western Kenya.
The primary goal will be constructing chambers in which we can create biochar ( http://www.re-char.com ), and we want to make the shop as versatile as possible.
Thus far, we've definitively spent ~$8,000 of our $20,000 budget, mainly on a used plasmacam 4'x4' CNC with 2 plasma cutters, and allocated <20% of our space.
Here's our list of some proposed equipment: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsejLtLc70nwdG5DeVJmOVA4OUxpcXl6alFaNzh5Unc&hl=en_US
What are we missing that we just shouldn't be without?
We'll have access to (dirty) grid power, standard industrial building materials, and (slow, expensive) shipping from the West.
Please add your ideas to the spreadsheet and your broader comments below.
We'll read everything, incorporate the best suggestions, and let you know what our final inventory becomes.
We need to have our container in transit by the end of the month, so don't delay!
Thanks,
Luke

















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Steve
Countless NGO's have tried and failed when it comes to new stove adoption in the developing world, and biochar stoves, while attractive from a heat standpoint, don't seem to cut it as far as char production capacity goes. Stay tuned to see how things progress! twitter: @re_char, facebook: http://on.fb.me/f1YS1T, or simply www.re-char.com
Tlud stoves seem very effective for char generation from the papers I've read.
Steve
Steve
We saw a combined-harvester "excellent specialist maintenance company" (= about a dozen harvesters parked beside the road), and the most common tool in sight was a half-pound lump hammer.
- Safety gear like steel-capped boots, gloves goggles and helmets. Fabric for overalls, which can be tailored and logo-embroidered locally. First-aid kit. Carbon-monoxide detectors.
- Promotional material like leaflets or posters.
- A small LCD TV which can display a promotional and safety instruction video from an SD card. Just photos with a voice-over would be sufficient.
- You will need a security budget for the duration of the project.
You might also consider making that long and unweildy URL an active hyperlink (the "globe with chain" icon will do it for you).
Why not send a human being with the cash to spend on local labour & materials to build a biochar factor?
Even better, send out a human to train locals to train others to make biochar - the equipment can be cobbled together from local scrap (something Kenyans are very good at), so your money would go a lot further.