Richard Apgood
New member
I believe he does, but he would rather sell them, and I understand why. He has spent a lot of time designing and tweeking a good product. And I know it is not fun not being rewarded for it.
INTRODUCING: the "Roto Damper"
- Thread starter RalphTrimble
- Start date
Steve_M
TVWBB Guru
Really? I didn't think that was the case. It would certainly seem odd considering all the time and effort put in by others for this project and nobody else is charging a dime unless they are supplying kits or turn-key systems. If that really is the case, download Tom's rotary offset 3D files and print it out. It works amazingly well!
Personally, the fun for me is helping making a community driven product better, not looking for compensation for time invested.
Personally, the fun for me is helping making a community driven product better, not looking for compensation for time invested.
Richard Apgood
New member
Tried that then mentioned I had two printers a 10 in and 12 in. He became leary that I would try to sell them, I guess. Then I just backed off. I needed to learn cad anyway. I was willing to put to writing that I would not sell them. As I get going more I hope to add more knowledge of what I learn. Not in this for a profit. Just good old fun. Told Ralph trust and respect are earned and not given. I will give credit where it is due. He has done excellent work on development and testing.
RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
I have recently sent out copies of the RD3 files to several parties that agreed not to commercially exploit my design, which is the only thing I am trying to prevent. It's not about ME getting paid for my work, it's more a concern that someone else will attempt to profit from my work. Richard said he had 2 3D printers and our email conversations didn't leave me over confident that he was not intending to use them to produce more than just a RD for himself.
As you all know I have put a lot of time and effort into the RD design, and given whole lot of free support to people here in this forum get their HM's and dampers going, passed out lots of free ideas etc... but I refuse to be exploited.
As you all know I have put a lot of time and effort into the RD design, and given whole lot of free support to people here in this forum get their HM's and dampers going, passed out lots of free ideas etc... but I refuse to be exploited.
Steve_M
TVWBB Guru
Ralph,
Sounds like you might want to look into licensing it under: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
or even more strict: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
The reality is though, if someone wants to go ahead and mass produce the RD, they are going to go ahead and do so, or simply reverse engineer it and away they go.
Anyways, sounds like some nerves have been touched and toes have been stepped on. Hopefully we can all step back and realize this is a pretty niche community that just wants to enjoy some tasty BBQ!
Sounds like you might want to look into licensing it under: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
or even more strict: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
The reality is though, if someone wants to go ahead and mass produce the RD, they are going to go ahead and do so, or simply reverse engineer it and away they go.
Anyways, sounds like some nerves have been touched and toes have been stepped on. Hopefully we can all step back and realize this is a pretty niche community that just wants to enjoy some tasty BBQ!
RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
You're 100% correct, if someone wants to rip off my design concept and recreate it there's very little I can do to prevent that,. That has already happened to one degree or another but I try to just ignore it and move on with life...
Frankly it's my hard work developing the RD and the support I have given to so many that makes my design worthy. It's not a magical object, but I have put in the time to understand all aspects of making the thing work, I am in a unique position to carry this out as a result. Anyone else would at very least be behind the curve on that, I guess depending on how close they have followed everything I have posted here in this thread.... I'm thinking anybody who see's my email inbox would probably say "I don't need the hassle"....
...but as you said, this forum and the HM is about making tasty BBQ, and I do help out as many people in that quest as humanly possible....
Frankly it's my hard work developing the RD and the support I have given to so many that makes my design worthy. It's not a magical object, but I have put in the time to understand all aspects of making the thing work, I am in a unique position to carry this out as a result. Anyone else would at very least be behind the curve on that, I guess depending on how close they have followed everything I have posted here in this thread.... I'm thinking anybody who see's my email inbox would probably say "I don't need the hassle"....
...but as you said, this forum and the HM is about making tasty BBQ, and I do help out as many people in that quest as humanly possible....
Richard Apgood
New member
As I have stated I am not here to compete. I have a printer and asked, felt like the trust was not there so I backed off. I have no plans on selling any. It is for myself. I am just starting with the low and slow, and love tinkering with lots of thinks. I think th RD3 is awesome, and almost bought one when I was having troubles try to do one. I did download Tom's and printed it to find the blower I have would not fit.
Ralph, sorry if I have stepped on you toes. It was not my intention. What I have can never come close to what you have developed. I am now considering an inline with a completely different fan. If I talk with anyone looking for a damper they will be directed towards you. I want a hobby not something that I have to worry about getting out the door.
I hope going forward that this can become something in the past. I would rather have friends that I can share ideas with without hard feelings.
Ralph, sorry if I have stepped on you toes. It was not my intention. What I have can never come close to what you have developed. I am now considering an inline with a completely different fan. If I talk with anyone looking for a damper they will be directed towards you. I want a hobby not something that I have to worry about getting out the door.
I hope going forward that this can become something in the past. I would rather have friends that I can share ideas with without hard feelings.
RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
It's all good man... You have to understand that unless you are a long standing poster here in the forum I have no way of assessing your intentions or character, so I have to kinda just go by gut. When you told me you have two 3D printers that made me stop and go, hmmm.... "two printers? That seems like more than a person dipping their toe for hobby purposes." and so I declined to send you the files.
So, no hard feelings here, I was just following my gut with the input I had from you at the time.
So, no hard feelings here, I was just following my gut with the input I had from you at the time.
Richard Apgood
New member
I have no hard feeling about the way you felt at the time. In fact I am kinda glad that it worked out that way. It has increased my respect for someone who has taken the time and resources to develop a great product. it has also helped me to dive into doing some designing is cad. it will be a long learning curve there and may have some questions.
one question I do have is, don't you worry about the electronics in the RD3 being out in the weather all the time, or do you just cover it with a bag or something?
thanks for any help and sugestions
one question I do have is, don't you worry about the electronics in the RD3 being out in the weather all the time, or do you just cover it with a bag or something?
thanks for any help and sugestions
RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
I've had a RD or RD3 out in the weather powered continually for over a year now, through winter, rainy spring you name it. I never cover it, I leave it out there in the weather as a torture test. That's part of the R&D... I know most people will not do this and it is obviously better if you protect it somehow, but I take pride in my designs being able to stand up to the elements. I've been asked to change certain aspects of the design from time to time but there is a reason for everything, when you can't seem to find the reason it probably has to do with holding up to bad weather.
Really loving the RD3. I added a little extension to the mount, the printed plastic thread fell out the other day when I had the fauxmodo cranked up way high.. I'll post a pic, but, imagine just a 3" pipe section in between what I had.
I knew I had a learning curve, and along with Ralph's help above, really fast forwarded that. I'll get the full settings if anyone wants, but, loving this graph, and this grill. Still love my UDS for massive amounts of BBQ but have been using the HM + RD3 on the new grill almost every night since I had it.
I knew I had a learning curve, and along with Ralph's help above, really fast forwarded that. I'll get the full settings if anyone wants, but, loving this graph, and this grill. Still love my UDS for massive amounts of BBQ but have been using the HM + RD3 on the new grill almost every night since I had it.
RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
That's pretty much picture perfect right there, exactly what I shoot for...
Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks for the feedback.
RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
A couple more ideas for the "Fauxmado" AKA the Char Griller Akorn
First, I cut piece of steel mesh to put over the coal grate at the bottom (you can see the cross hatch on the bottom in the picture below). I kept finding a bunch of decent sized lump coal pieces in the ash pan that I would rather burn than toss out with the ash, the mesh helped retain more of the lump pieces in the burn pan. I think it probably helps even out air flow from the HM across the burn pan too.
For long low and slow I've used this "ring of fire" method which is a take on the minion method.
A ring of steel mesh with the coals lined around the outside. This will burn a very small fire around that ring for a very long time. You can place wood chunks along the way to add your smoke flavor. Real nice when you've got the method dialed in.
You can turn the ring of fire inside out into a water smoker pretty easy. Use the same ring as above but put the coals on the inside, then set a steel bowl or pot on top of the mesh ring and fill it with water. This is a nice, and very different way to do low and slow on the Fauxmado.
Finally, for pizza, if you don't have the Char Griller deflector stone you can take a couple of cheap metal pizza pans, the big ones will set just right on the ears in the burn pan where you would rest the stone. So I set a big one down on a whopping fire and put a medium one upside down on top of that. Then put the grate back on and put the pizza stone on top of that. Disable lid mode on the HM and run the blower full time to stoke the fire good.
You can kinda see my deflector pan rig in this pic of a (double crust!) pizza I made a while back:
...with a larger aluminum pan on the bottom and the rusty old steel pan on top.
First, I cut piece of steel mesh to put over the coal grate at the bottom (you can see the cross hatch on the bottom in the picture below). I kept finding a bunch of decent sized lump coal pieces in the ash pan that I would rather burn than toss out with the ash, the mesh helped retain more of the lump pieces in the burn pan. I think it probably helps even out air flow from the HM across the burn pan too.
For long low and slow I've used this "ring of fire" method which is a take on the minion method.
A ring of steel mesh with the coals lined around the outside. This will burn a very small fire around that ring for a very long time. You can place wood chunks along the way to add your smoke flavor. Real nice when you've got the method dialed in.
You can turn the ring of fire inside out into a water smoker pretty easy. Use the same ring as above but put the coals on the inside, then set a steel bowl or pot on top of the mesh ring and fill it with water. This is a nice, and very different way to do low and slow on the Fauxmado.
Finally, for pizza, if you don't have the Char Griller deflector stone you can take a couple of cheap metal pizza pans, the big ones will set just right on the ears in the burn pan where you would rest the stone. So I set a big one down on a whopping fire and put a medium one upside down on top of that. Then put the grate back on and put the pizza stone on top of that. Disable lid mode on the HM and run the blower full time to stoke the fire good.
You can kinda see my deflector pan rig in this pic of a (double crust!) pizza I made a while back:
...with a larger aluminum pan on the bottom and the rusty old steel pan on top.
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@ RalphTrimble:
Hello Ralph! Can you please send me the .stl-Files for the RD3? (HM Adapter Board 6.2 version)
I'm new here. I just ordered all parts for the HM 4.2 and the HM Adapter Board 6.2. I have a 3D printer. Can't wait to build it!
I also sent you an email a while ago, but got no reply.
Regards,
Fabian from Germany
Hello Ralph! Can you please send me the .stl-Files for the RD3? (HM Adapter Board 6.2 version)
I'm new here. I just ordered all parts for the HM 4.2 and the HM Adapter Board 6.2. I have a 3D printer. Can't wait to build it!
I also sent you an email a while ago, but got no reply.
Regards,
Fabian from Germany
RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
I decided to do a test burn tonight of a higher temp baking type scenario while running the RD3 with the blower set to "on at Max Only".
I lit a whole Weber starter cube in the middle of the "fauxmado" and piled lump coal over it, small to medium size load. I let the smoke from the starter cube burn off and then closed the lid. (A little while after that I lifted the lid and threw a potato in, might as well bake a snack while testing, right?)
PID settings are the original defaults (4,3,0.005,5) blower Startup Max 100%, blower on at Max Only. I set the top vent open about 20%
The HM and RD3 did real good achieving and holding 400F baking temp without the blower running at all after the HM dropped from 100%. I like that cause it generally means I will burn less coal and can leave the top vent open wider.
Typically I have been running the blower all the time for any cooks higher than low and slow temps but for some reason I decided to try without the blower tonight and it seems to be working out really well. Perhaps next time I do a pizza cook I will fire up a large load of coals and see how well I can hold 550F-650F, which is about as high as I can seem to go without burning the crust before the top is done in my "fauxmado".
After letting it run a bit over an hour the temp was so stable that the HM reduced the scale on the hourly graph to a range of 4.5F.
I lit a whole Weber starter cube in the middle of the "fauxmado" and piled lump coal over it, small to medium size load. I let the smoke from the starter cube burn off and then closed the lid. (A little while after that I lifted the lid and threw a potato in, might as well bake a snack while testing, right?)
PID settings are the original defaults (4,3,0.005,5) blower Startup Max 100%, blower on at Max Only. I set the top vent open about 20%
The HM and RD3 did real good achieving and holding 400F baking temp without the blower running at all after the HM dropped from 100%. I like that cause it generally means I will burn less coal and can leave the top vent open wider.
Typically I have been running the blower all the time for any cooks higher than low and slow temps but for some reason I decided to try without the blower tonight and it seems to be working out really well. Perhaps next time I do a pizza cook I will fire up a large load of coals and see how well I can hold 550F-650F, which is about as high as I can seem to go without burning the crust before the top is done in my "fauxmado".
After letting it run a bit over an hour the temp was so stable that the HM reduced the scale on the hourly graph to a range of 4.5F.
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Interesting stuff, Ralph. I really benefit a lot from your trials since we have the same grill
I've never had such an efficient and stable environment to use the HM + RD3 on -- it's amazing to see the similar results everyone can get with different settings and it is definitely fun to test things out when the only variable in the mix is me, and not having to worry about leaky grill
I've never had such an efficient and stable environment to use the HM + RD3 on -- it's amazing to see the similar results everyone can get with different settings and it is definitely fun to test things out when the only variable in the mix is me, and not having to worry about leaky grill
Bryan Mayland
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Yeah that's really awesome, Ralph. The RD3 is one fine piece of work! Shockingly I've never heard of Weber starter cubes before either, I usually just use a blowtorch for about a minute, but these look easier and they're so cheap. Definitely going to give those a try.
Neither had I before I bought the Kamado. I'm a fan now. I don't even use a full one, I cut them in half.
There are nerds on the 'Net that make their own with dryer lint and wax. Some even have cotton balls soaked in alcohol. I'm all for DIY, but they are so cheap that I haven't gone down that route.. if I had wax around already, maybe I would have.
Jas E
TVWBB Super Fan
I used to run a graphic design shop selling my unique works online. In my experience, the licensing will only prevent reputable companies from stealing your works. Initially, I would get about 6 months before near exact Chinese knock-offs started showing up on ebay and other sites. This window got shorter and shorter, and I found myself policing my copyright more than selling actual product. Eventually I could no longer make a profit from my own hard work if I posted it online. The parasites had bled the host dry. It's tough...I feel your pain on this issue.