[Spit-Project] hot air driven spits

[Mike C. Baker]

> Has anyone ever made a hot air driven spit like the ones 
> illustrated in Kuchenmeisterey? There are two examples in the 
> photo section of the Medieval Open Fire Cooking yahoo group 
> in the folder called Woodcuts. The pictures are titled 
> "German Cooks" and German Woman Cook".  We are looking to 
> make one to have for demos and are looking for advice.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Fi

(Apologies in advance if I flub some of the terminology; "I am only an
egg", and some of this is speculating from the further edges of my
shell...)

Not specific to those illustrations, but perhaps useful:  consider
carefully the lubrication of the bushings / "bearings" / seats for the
rotating spit(s), and the impact of heat on the lubricants you choose to
use. 

If I am envisioning this fairly without having seen the specific illos,
also consider how to keep the seal between the blades and the race from
losing too much of the energy you are capturing from the hot air.  A
gasket of thin leather or perhaps stiff cloth, well-oiled or perhaps
waxed, could help.  Consider some of the designs for what I think of as
"plunger" bellows, where the plug in the tube attached to the long rod
has the outer rim very carefully smoothed and often lubricated to make a
better continuous seal inside the flexible (usually leather) tube, as a
possible source of inspiration.

Amra, Kitchen Idiot
Adieu, Amra / ttfn - Mike / Pax ... Kihe

Mike C. Baker
SCA: al-Sayyid Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra, F.O.B, OSCA
"Other": Reverend Kihe Blackeagle PULC (the DreamSinger Bard)
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