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In order to maximize solar insolation, we used an online solar angle calculator. After inputting Arcata's longitude and latitude, we found that a 40-degree angle would be ideal for Arcata, capturing the most sun (and thus providing the most heat) during the winter and early spring, which would be the tail end of our harvest season. Leaving a 1" lip on the bottom to account for where we would be joining the sides to the baseboard, we used a protractor to measure out the angle, then cut both side pieces using a circular saw. The side pieces were joined to the baseboard by putting several wood screws through the bottom and back edge of each side piece and into the baseboard and back wall.
In order to maximize solar insolation, we used an online solar angle calculator. After inputting Arcata's longitude and latitude, we found that a 40-degree angle would be ideal for Arcata, capturing the most sun (and thus providing the most heat) during the winter and early spring, which would be the tail end of our harvest season. Leaving a 1" lip on the bottom to account for where we would be joining the sides to the baseboard, we used a protractor to measure out the angle, then cut both side pieces using a circular saw. The side pieces were joined to the baseboard by putting several wood screws through the bottom and back edge of each side piece and into the baseboard and back wall.


The top piece of the dehydrator box was simple to attach: after some minor trimming in order to account for a small amount of warp in one of the side panels, we used one of our 4-foot pieces of pine and secured it at the top of the side and back pieces using wood screws. However, due to the necessary 40-degree angle of the side pieces, we had a small "lip" that jutted out past the sloped front face of our dehydrator, which needed to be eliminated if our Plexiglass were to lay flush with the box edges. We were able to borrow a hand planer from one of [[User:jby5|Justin's]] neighbors, and quickly managed to whittle the lip down to be flush with the sloped front edge.
The top piece of the dehydrator box was simple to attach: after some minor trimming in order to account for a small amount of warp in one of the side panels, we used one of our 4-foot pieces of pine and secured it at the top of the side and back pieces using wood screws. However, due to the necessary 40-degree angle of the side pieces, we had a small "lip" that jutted out past the sloped front face of our dehydrator, which needed to be eliminated if our Plexiglass were to lay flush with the box edges. We were able to borrow a hand planer from one of [[User:jby5|Justin's]] awesome neighbors, and quickly managed to whittle the lip down to be flush with the sloped front edge.


With the box complete, we needed to attach our transparent medium. We'd decided on acrylic (Plexiglass) instead of pane glass because of its light weight and durability; it needed to be able to stand up to the occasional bump or over-eager closing without shattering. Additonally, using acrylic allowed us to mount hinges directly to the transparent surface: however, this opened the door to a lengthy debate over where and how the hinges should be mounted. After some time, we decided that in order to keep the window as close to the frame as possible to minimize gaps, we'd mount one side the hinge to the top of the dehydrator "floor", then wrap the hinge around the window and fasten the other side of the hinge to the outside of the pane. This can be seen [[Media:Finished Dehydrator.JPG|here]].
With the box complete, we needed to attach our transparent medium. We'd decided on acrylic (Plexiglass) instead of pane glass because of its light weight and durability; it needed to be able to stand up to the occasional bump or over-eager closing without shattering. Additonally, using acrylic allowed us to mount hinges directly to the transparent surface: however, this opened the door to a lengthy debate over where and how the hinges should be mounted. After some time, we decided that in order to keep the window as close to the frame as possible to minimize gaps, we'd mount one side the hinge to the top of the dehydrator "floor", then wrap the hinge around the window and fasten the other side of the hinge to the outside of the pane. This can be seen [[Media:Finished Dehydrator.JPG|here]].
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