4 Simple, Cheap Open

Source Tools for African

Rural Development
Need to make a plow from
scrap steel?
Need village lighting and cell
charging?
Need easily built machine tools
for training, shops or industry?

1. THE DRILL

2. THE
MULTIMACHINE

4. THE CONCRETE
LATHE
3. THE GENNY

The lathe and the Multimachine can furnish a whole

machine shop, small factory or trade school. Plus, the
Genny can provide power for a village. Every worker or
family needs one of the drills. They can be all built using

1. THE DRILL
Making a plow or almost anything else, takes a drill. This
uses a long forgotten technique and could cost as little as
$1 (plus some scrap wood) . It needs no electricity.
Power drills normally turn
the bit at high speed and
low pressure but
blacksmiths in the 1800s
used a tool to press down
very hard on the drill bit
while they turned it slowly
by hand. Their drills (and
this one also) can make
large holes in very hard
steel, something modern
drills usually cant do.
Just 3 things to do:
Use a lever to press down
500 to 1000 pounds on the
bit
Keep the pressure steady
Dont let the bit wobble
A simple drill can be made

2. THE
MULTIMACHIN
Made from scrap auto parts and
usedE
steel pipe and bar. Shown at
2007 Maker Faire Austin, Texas
and 2009 Maker Faire Africa and
built all over the world.
A Popular Mechanics 2007 DIY
project of the year.
An all-purpose (10-in1) metal-working
machine tool that could
be built for under $200.

The Multimachine is an
accurate all-purpose
machine tool that can
be used as a metal or
wood lathe, end mill,
horizontal mill, drill
press, wood or metal
saw or sander, surface
grinder and sheet metal
"spinner".
It can be built by a
mechanic using just

MULTIMACHINE

The all-purpose
machine can be built
with an inexpensive
concrete bed and
carriage like this.
It can also be
completely built using
easily available stock
sizes of steel that
require no additional
machining in a shop.
A real money saver!
A real self
booting machine!

3. THE GENNY
Inspired by a 2009
Maker Faire Africa
question how to use
an automobile
alternator to
generate power for a
village or
Problem:
neighborhood?

One person is not strong

enough to power an
alternator
My solution:
A multi-person treadlepowered alternator strong
enough to last through
long, heavy use and built
with materials found
everywhere. It needs no
welding.
I used a worn-out
engine block with 3 of
the pistons removed and
the last piston put in
upside down so that it

Build one in a day!

Just dissemble a
junked car engine
block and turn it
into a Genny
Chisel off any iron
that gets in the way.
Drill and tap main
bearing and the one
rod cap for grease
fittings.
Drill grease holes in
the bearing inserts.
Make pulleys and a

The allimportant upside-down piston

for the Genny!
Use bolts to connect
the piston to the
treadle. This
connection must be
very strong! Use
engine-belt idler
pulleys to insure that
the belts wrap
around the small
pulleys as closely as
possible.
If you are using this
treadle to power an
alternator, use a
small resistor in the
field circuit to make
the
generator
easier
With
just
a
couple
to start.

of people working the

treadle, the Genny can provide power for
LED lighting, cell phone charging, pumping

4. THE CONCRETE LATHE

Now! Your first look at a
world-changing idea!
Its already changed
the world 95 years
ago, to be exact. And
then was forgotten!
Its a kind of metal lathe
but what is that? These
rigidtools remove material from
a rotating work piece. A lathe
is necessary in the
production of almost
everything. It has been called
the king of machine tools and
lathe operators are among the
most skilled of all workers.
Lathes usually cost thousands
(usually many) of dollars and
our new design is probably the
first thats cheap enough (as low
as $30) and easy enough for
students to build for
themselves.
The top drawing is from the
1915 patent drawing of the
CONCRETE lathe made

CONCRETE LATHE
The original design
does need a few
changes!
Our $30 school and
small shop lathe can
actually be built to do
more kinds of jobs than
much more expensive
ones and ours can also
be scaled up to almost
any size.

CONCRETE LATHE
Change 1:
Our lathe has a
longer bed or frame
than was needed for
the production of
cannon shells. Not
only can the machine
be made in almost
length, it can also be
made large enough to
fit jobs 5 feet in
diameter!
The big change is this
support bar that lets
the lathe be built any
size from 2 to 30
long and be able to

CONCRETE LATHE

More about
machine size
A hobbyist may need
only a 2 long machine.
A trade school may
only have money and
room enough for a few 3
machines.
A 6 long lathe is a
common shop size.
A big food mill may
need one 30 long and
15 high.

The same basic

design will work
for all of them:
A student trained on
a small lathe can

CONCRETE LATHE
Change 2:
The original carriage
(the big sliding part)
was made of cast
steel. Ours is a simple
concrete casting.
Many types of
carriages and tail
stocks can be used
and easily
interchanged to make
more specialized
lathes and milling
machines. Just lift one
off and replace it with
another.
One example could
be this carriage that

CONCRETE LATHE
Change 3:

Alignment
Without accurate alignment all
our machine building efforts
would end up as junk. The
original machines were built in
factories where everything
could be accurately aligned
while molten type metal was
poured over to hold every
thing in place.
We dont have factories or
fancy alignment jigs but we do
have $10 dial indicators and
these wonderful devices made
by Pratt&Whitney in 1870.

These will work just as well as any

factory jig and can be made for just a
few dollars. They are shown on different
shaped ways but can be easily adapted
to work on our round ways.

CONCRETE LATHE
Change 4:
The original factory
jigs held things
temporarily in place
while pouring molten
type metal to lock
things in place
permanently.
Simple steel wedges
can be used in place
of giant jigs and
epoxy or cement in
place of the original
type metal which is
no longer made. The
wedges would stay in

CONCRETE LATHE
Change 5:
Threading
The original machines
had no provision for
threading but now
every lathe should
have some sort of
threading capability.
This simple type is
called a thread
follower and is made
from bicycle parts.
There are many
other ways to get our
lathe to cut threads.

What else do we
have for you?

Links to
thousands of
carefully chosen
machining
lessons, plans,
videos, articles
and full length
books are on
our Yahoo
Multimachine
group site

X,Y,Z movement lathe carriages

Powered auxiliary spindles
Roller type, low friction lathe
carriages
Tangential (broken drill bit) cutting
tools
A unique bearing adjuster
Plywood pulley plans
Cheap, simple machining fluids
Treadle powered wood and metal
lathes
Lathe chucks
Gas engine powered alternator
welders

Almost everything you

need to build almost
anything without

For much more information about building

any of these machines go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/multimachine
/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/multimachineconcrete-machine-tools/
For the Genny, also go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/africapowera
ndlight/
For personal help on any of these projects: email
Pat Delany
rigmatch@yahoo.com