TinkerJim

Glad you liked those two Instructables ! It was kind of you to let me know ! Best wishes...James Senft

It's mentioned at the end of Step8: "Since the bottom of the legs are in contact with the ground, they were coated with tree dressing tar thinned a bit with mineral spirits. That is the black band visible in the photos.

The welded nuts sounds like a clever improvisation. In my case "The pressure pad for the end of the screw was made on a lathe from 3/4" diameter stainless steel bar stock,"

Glad to hear that it worked so well for you !

We drain the fountain and flush and refill with fresh about every two or three weeks. In between, we top it up as needed to make up for evaporation. We do not have big problems with drowned bugs - only the lone moth or wasp which get picked or flushed out.

It was just an LED picked out from the misc. parts bin. To quote from the Instructable: "Most ordinary LEDs actually function as photodiodes, that is, when light falls on an unpowered LED, it outputs a voltage and current. A typical LED will usually put out around 1.2 Volts in bright light, but that varies among LEDs with some being a few tenths higher or lower."

I made micro controller type solar engines to work with larger capacitors and larger solar cells. I used the Picaxe 08M, and later the 08M2, both of which are very easy to program and take only a small amount of power to keep active. The early versions with the 08M employed an external voltage reference or external voltage detectors to inform the micro controller of the state of the capacitor. The 08M2 has an internal voltage reference against which the capacitor voltage can be compared as it charges or discharges.

I didn't make the chimes, M. MaxamilianG did. Send your query to him if you wish to know more about the chimes.

What a great application of your solar engine ! Those chimes have beautiful soothing tones !!

Very astute of you to notice that detail ! Ideally, the flange of the bushing should bear evenly against the wood to spread the loading against the wood and thus help prevent the start of a crack. I really do not know how important that is especially if the wood is good and strong. Be that as it may, a flat seating for the flange was cut with a jury rigged backface cutter in the mill ; this was done right after boring the hole for the bushing with the nutcracker body still in the vise. An easier alternative would be to apply enough epoxy under the flange upon assembly to fill in the otherwise void regions between the flange and the wood.

The brass bushings were machined from solid rod. First, the stepped outside was turned, then cut off, reversed in the chuck, and drilled and tapped for the screw.

Yes, I’ve cracked nuts by hand one against the other when I was younger. My grip was easily up to the task then, but now I am thankful for a good deal of mechanical advantage!

I used silicone sealer. Its water resistance is excellent and adheres well to the terra cotta, but not so well to the PVC fittings - letting go after a few seasons. I have limited experience with e6000.

My Grandmother had a treadle sewing machine, which I liked to play with whenever I could sneak into her sewing room - and Grandpa had a big treadle grindstone, which no one ever played with !

Thank you, nqtronix, for your kind comments !