Sustainable Manufacturing
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How to Make a Metal-Bending Machine
Using simple plans and photographs this booklet describes the construction and assembly of a metal-bending machine, whose main feature is the ability to form wheel rims from cold flat mild steel; this wheel can be used on farm carts and other basic equipment.
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How to Make Planes, Cramps and Vices
The ability to make one’s own tools is invaluable in developing countries for a number of reasons: First, the cost of western imports put them out of reach of all but a small proportion of practising carpenters. Second, it is the aim of all developing countries to become increasingly self-sufficient...
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Small-scale Industries Promotion in India
This study illustrates the influence of small-scale industries on the direction of a country's industrial development - through a survey of the work of the Birla Institute of Technology. The history of the Institute's work is combined with case studies of industrial business. The Ghanaian author imp...
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Clay Tile Manufacture
A guide to clay tile manufacture, covering tools, factory siting, operations, budgeting and financing the project.
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Scrap Metal Recovery
A case study of the development of a small business in Papua New Guinea involved in recovering a range of scrap, non-ferrous metals. An income-generating opportunity for hundreds of shanty town dwellers.
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Small-scale Soapmaking
Making soap in the context of protracted economic difficulties has meant not only the development of a simple method that could meet rural conditions, but one that could survive the temperament of the wildly fluctuating marketplace as well. Peter Donkor’s book describes the development of soapmakin...
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How to Make a Foot-Operated Workshop Drill
Describes how to build a drilling machine appropriate for rural workshops, and gives full assembly instructions. The machine, which is a vertical drill for use with either metal or wood, can drill holes up to 12mm in diameter in 12mm steel plates.
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How to Make a Hand-Operated Hole-Punch
Describes the process of building a machine for punching holes in sheet metal, with full dimensions and instructions. Designed for construction from readily available steel sections, this machine can be built by most workshops or blacksmiths.
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How to Make a Pipe-Bending Machine
Articles such as hospital and school equipment - bed frames, chairs, tables, handrails - all require the bending of pipe. This manual gives full instructions on how to make a pipe-bending machine, which could be made by most workshops or blacksmiths.
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How to Make a Treadle-Operated Wood-Turning Lathe
This machine would be a useful addition to any woodwork shop, enabling new products to be made without the use of electricity. It could be the basis for a village industry, and can be built by most small metal workshops and blacksmiths.