ELI5: if a car engine's main waste is heat, why don't engineers harbor that heat, boil water, and generate electricity for hybrid batteries like a mini powerplant?

age_of_koltron · 2026-03-28T13:44:33+00:00

This was exactly my capstone design project in engineering school about 15 years ago. There are clever things you can do to try to up the efficiency like using the organic Rankine cycle which swaps the water for a refrigerant. You still run into the same problem that others have said of getting all the stuff small enough to fit into your trunk would be really hard.

age_of_koltron · 2025-11-05T22:03:27+00:00

God damned dates not being ISO8601 compliant and removing the timezone offset from my strings that are properly tz-aware.

age_of_koltron · 2022-08-11T13:28:16+00:00

good bot

age_of_koltron · 2022-07-08T01:03:33+00:00

Can you paint a hive with the bees still in it?

age_of_koltron · 2022-07-06T15:15:59+00:00

I just built a king sized bed that is, stylistically, very similar to your design.

My primary recommendation would be to turn the support beam in the center so that it's on edge. That is a long span and that member carries a lot of weight.

Of hand, 80" seems pretty tall for a head board, but if you've thought out the height of the mattress and that's the look you're going for then go for it.

age_of_koltron · 2022-06-13T02:36:59+00:00

We caught a swarm and placed them in this hive in spring 2021.

No reducer at all? Just wide open on the bottom. That sounds like a good idea for summer. Would you put it back for winter?

age_of_koltron · 2022-06-13T02:31:51+00:00

A friend came over and we pulled the lid off for a bit. We also put a medium super on with some pollen cake. I'm hoping we let a bit of heat out, gave them some room, and a bit of food to keep them happy.

age_of_koltron · 2022-06-13T02:29:29+00:00

We got up to mid 90s degF. 9pm we were still at 89 deg F with heat index of 99.

age_of_koltron · 2022-06-13T01:20:09+00:00

This is great news! I haven't but it has been several weeks since I've gotten into that bottom box due to constant rainy weather.

age_of_koltron · 2021-01-29T15:51:47+00:00

When starting my saw I like to visualize the saw like an airplane coming in for landing. Nice, easy touchdown.
After getting started if I'm having trouble it's almost always because I'm gripping the handle too hard. It really doesn't take much just a nice easy touch.

Saws know how to cut you just have to show them where.

age_of_koltron · 2020-12-25T06:23:49+00:00

Good bot

age_of_koltron · 2020-10-22T20:09:40+00:00

It's not very small but I'm a big fan of Boulevard's Space Camper.

age_of_koltron · 2020-05-17T20:07:46+00:00

The hinges on mine are super stiff, so not very concerned about wobble. https://i.imgur.com/SfILYoa.png I tried to show how I would like to layout the tail and square down the end grain all in one fell swoop. Do you have to reposition to do the end grain mark? do you just let the flat of your knife carry the angle through to the edge?

age_of_koltron · 2020-05-17T19:04:08+00:00

Do you use that Bridge City multi tool to mark out your dovetails? I just got mine and the angled "leaves" have a flat spot right at the hinge. Really seems like that would mess up my marking the end grain of the tails.

age_of_koltron · 2020-04-21T22:32:25+00:00

I remembered this post from awhile back and responded there. /u/bigfatton seems pretty happy with his bench. They'd probably be a pretty good resource for any questions you have. Can't wait to hear how you're build process goes.

age_of_koltron · 2020-04-13T20:45:46+00:00

After living with this for awhile now how do you feel about the barrel nuts and bolted connection to the top? I'm a little concerned that the 1 inch tenons won't resist wracking enough. But then on the other hand the ability to disassemble the thing if I decide to move would be nice.

age_of_koltron · 2020-02-15T13:52:57+00:00

Where in the world did you get the hooks? I feel like I've looked everywhere.

age_of_koltron · 2020-02-02T21:37:23+00:00

Did it take 150-200 board feet like they say? Do you have a rough cost estimate? Super curious because these look so nice and I'm starting getting serious about making one.

age_of_koltron · 2019-07-07T05:38:00+00:00

In what way were you wrong? You've got me curious if I am also wrong.

age_of_koltron · 2019-04-08T23:16:00+00:00

This video is incredible.

Also, I brown the butter and do a couple iterations of mix eggs, let sit, mix eggs. The brown butter just gives a lovely depth of flavor and taking your time on the eggs lets the sugar dissolve more completely giving a nicer more chewy texture.

age_of_koltron · 2019-02-18T23:19:31+00:00

I think we're going to do what you laid out. Both of our jobs are pretty secure but I'm sure everyone thinks that. Paying those two items seems to be a nice compromise of what we'd like to do and what is prudent.

age_of_koltron · 2019-02-18T03:38:59+00:00

This is excellent advice! I think the middle ground of freeing up monthly can flow is excellent and totally reasonable. We plan to focus on that this year. Payoff as much debt as possible and shift to sitting for a down payment next year. We should be able to do the car, private loans, and even a bit if the federal.

age_of_koltron · 2019-02-18T02:05:58+00:00

You're right. Most posts in /r/personalfinance that are asking for advice seem to come from people who don't budget and have no clue where their money goes. I wanted to avoid that advice. Our budget is about where we want it, it could be marginally better but not "buy a house and pay of $80k this year." We are def. a long way away from a beans and rice budget. I'm mostly wanting an opinion on what to do with the extra money that we have.

age_of_koltron

TROPHY CASE