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In this video I want to explain how to build the base frame, which really is the
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part of the solar dryer that everything else sits on. So it starts with a half
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inch plywood base. You could make that 3 quarters if you have some around. It'll
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be a little heavier than need be, but that's okay. The base side strips
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here are another part you need to consider. They're wider than the food
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drying racks that are going to fit between them. And the idea there is that
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it creates an airspace between the collector frame and the racks that hold
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the food. So the airspace allows air to to work its way up and to waft off the
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moisture that you're trying to remove from your food. And the main thing to pay
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attention to here is this roofing metal. It doesn't have to be a particular color
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or a particular type, but I've used it in my design because of the ribs. See
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these ribs hold the drying racks up. So you not only have air on the top, because
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by virtue of the fact that these side strips are are wider than the thickness
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of the drying frames, but the bottom of the drying frames are held up because
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they're sitting on these ribs. So that allows air to move both above and below
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the food to speed drying. This is one reason why this design works so much
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better than the box style dryers that are more common. Now these this sheet
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metal roofing can be held down in any way. It doesn't have to be fastened down
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in a waterproof way because there's no moisture to speak of. It just needs to be
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held down. These blocks here that you see here, they're added so that we
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have a wider surface upon which to install some hinges which which go on
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each side. And that allows the top, the collector frame, to be hinged open, to be
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opened for replacing the food. You also sometimes need to open it up a little
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bit if you've got a whole lot of sun and there's there's too much temperature, too
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high of a temperature in here. But this is the base frame. Pretty simple but
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there's a lot going on there in the design
