Hopefully over the next few days we will be adding a webstore with our very first product!
Chris and I have spent most of our time since Christmas writing a VERY detailed How To manual about building a rocket mass heater…not such a well kept secret since we have had six people reading it for clarity and mistakes for the last few weeks. It includes photos (many of which are on the blog).
For now it is our only product for sale, and we are focusing on products that do not require shipping. In short, we are marketing our very specialized experience building unusual things.
For all of you who appreciate the detail we provide here, rest assured we will not suddenly be withholding information about our continued construction of the earthship. The manual we have written goes WAY beyond the scope of the website. It is 50+ pages and our plans are available for purchase as well. This weighty bit of writing is for the builder who is seriously considering building a rocket mass heater.
It includes a detailed budget, local suppliers, and references to other sources (which weren’t as plentiful as you might think, hence our thought that the world needed another resource!) It also includes lots of disclaimers…keep in mind this is a manual about how we built ours, not the last word in how you should build yours. 🙂
Because the stove is not yet complete – it requires the finish layer of cob and then the plaster — we will update the manual later this year. Don’t ask me when…our completion targets keep moving!
At first the store won’t be very slick…and we aren’t proficient in e-book reading technology, so our first attempt will be in PDF format. Any suggestions or insights are very much welcomed!
Not sure how we will price it…we are still getting feedback from some of our editors and contacts.
Depending on the success of this maual…we may write others. We have a few in mind but would love to hear if there is anything you would be interested in.
Mike Dewey told me about a company in Vernon who publishes his manuals for first aid. I tried them for a book recently written. They did a wonderful job and in quick time. Also a great price.
Get Smarter Copies run by Dexter Newton 250-260-1970 email getsmartercopies@telus.net
Hope this helps Mariel
Thanks Mariel, that’s good to know! One day this spring you’ll have to come and see the earthship! It will be warmer then!
A how-to manual for the tire press would be awesome. With information on Piston?(ram?) sizes, pressures and things like that for people not very versed in hydraulics. I have a general understanding of hydraulics and how to hook them up. But would be lost if I had to order a pump, controller and rams from ebay or a surplus store.
I think a tire press manual would be next…it will be much shorter and easier to write (and therefore, less expensive to buy!) Still a few days away from opening the webstore…still playing in PayPal’s “sandbox” and waiting for a few sets of comments from our trusted proofreaders…
If you want the documents to be ‘ebook reader friendly’, you could convert the finished PDF to other formats by using Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com). Some readers don’t handle the PDF format very well.
Naturally, I’d be more than happy to test the finished file out for you :). Keep the great information coming!