Onion Man (solar Dryer)

Onion is a very healthy food and it looks great - gold-colored spheres (we all know white and violet onion also) with a durable shell and fresh spicy and juicy taste inside. (Yum-yum! I love it!) It can be used in a variety cuisine in a million culinary recipes. But first of all it needs to be stored. Onion likes the sun. And the best way to store it is to use a solar dryer. Onion braid is one of the most effective constructions to store and dry onion simultaneously. We need only a little fantasy (and wire) to combine onion braids in any shape - ONION MAN as example.

Tools and Materials

Tools:

pliers;
drill (4mm);
ruler;
pencil;
hammer;
anvil;
chisel;
hacksaw;
scissors;
awl;
rasp;
sandpaper

Materials:

onion (6kg);
rope polypropylene (skein 10m);
steel wire (diameter 4mm, length 2m);
wooden bar (400x45x30mm);
decorative hat (straw flower pot);
some old garments (scarf, belt, shoes)

Object Structure

The structure of our hero is simple. The base is steel wire frame with four loops, wooden shoulders-bar and hook. Six onion braids form "arms", "legs", "head" and "body". You can use any garments (see further in the following steps) but put him on the sun hat at any rate - remember that it is a sun drier for onion.

Onion Preparation

We need about 5..6 kg of onions. You can buy it for this project at greengrocer's shop but the most "natural" (hardcore) way is to grow onion yourself. So... clean the onion from the ground after digging out and trim the tops for a 100mm. Then these "tails" we will use to weave the braids.

Onion Braids Weaving

How to make braids? It is not difficult even you are not a professional hair dresser. Prepare three pieces of polypropylene rope (not less than 500mm for the 400mm braid). Fasten the rope pieces with two knots (to form the loop for handling). Then put the first onion "tail" along the central rope. Cover the central rope by the left one. Then cover the "new" central rope by the "new" right one (don't forget to keep the onion "tail" along the initial rope). Then add the next onion to a current "central" rope and continue weaving ...

We need to make two 400mm braids (for "legs"), two 300mm braids (for "arms"), one 250mm braid (for a "body") and one 100..150mm braid (for a "head").

Main Frame and the Hook

The skeleton of our hero is a steel wire (D=4mm) frame with four loops (for onion braids arms and legs). At the top side of the main frame we will mount wooden crossbar, so don't make last two bends on each ends of frame before assembling. The second wire frame element is the hook. It will be also mounted through the crossbar, so don't hurry to bend its top segment before assembly.

Crossbar

Main wire frame is strong enough but to provide it a higher rigidity we use wooden crossbar. Make three throughout holes (D=4mm) in it - to wire frame and hook mounting. The distance between two side holes is equivalent to a distance between wire frame ends (~220mm).

Main Frame and Crossbar Assembling

All the components are ready for assembly. Skip the ends of main frame through the side holes in the crossbar. Because of tight connection between wires and holes (it is normal use pliers to pull wires through wooden bar. Then bend both wires above the crossbar to fix connection. After that make the second bend on each wire to form the "neck".

Mounting the Hook

Skip the straight end of the hook through the central hole of the crossbar. After that you can make the top element of the hook using pliers.

Mounting the "head"

Onion at last! Mount the shortest onion braid on the "neck" side of the frame (above the crossbar). Use two wire ends to fix the rope of the onion braid. Skip some onions to different sides of the "neck" for better fixing. Put on the hat skipping it through the top of the hook.