The infrabed

Yeah, I've been using a hot water bottle much more lately due to the increased pain (it helps), maybe that made the initial spots worse. A few times it's been a little too hot, had to move it around. Been using the sauna for years, which helps too, but never any rash or similar.

And I have some kind of circulation problem in general.
 
Adding a few things I've found from using the infrared light.
I'd been using the lamp about two weeks in different areas, and had noticed that my shoulders and neck where getting tense and more sore.
Focusing the lamp on my neck over the next few days ended up with tension so bad I had trouble sleeping my neck was so painful.

The more energy I gave my head/neck/shoulders, the more tense they became. Why would giving my cells more energy lead to more tension I wondered?
I went digging and found the following psychological reasons for the tension, that provided a massive amount of relief. So far I have not had a re-occurrence of the symptoms, and it's been about two months.

_http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/An_Introduction_to_Tension_Myositis_Syndrome_(TMS)
Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), also known as Tension Myoneural Syndrome, is a condition originally described by John E. Sarno, MD, a retired professor of Clinical Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University School of Medicine, and attending physician at the Howard A. Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University Medical Center. TMS is a condition that causes real physical symptoms, such as chronic pain, gastrointenstinal issues, and fibromyalgia, that are not due to pathological or structural abnormalities and are not explained by diagnostic tests. In TMS, pain symptoms are caused by mild oxygen deprivation via the autonomic nervous system, as a result of repressed emotions and psycho-social stress.
[..]

How TMS Develops
At the heart of the development of TMS is our desire to be good people, loved by those we care about. This desire leads us to strive for perfection, and to put the needs of others above our own. We will cook a three course family meal after working a 10 hour day, because that is what a good mother would do. We will be the first person to volunteer to work on the weekend, because that is what a good employee would do. We will stay up all night making sure our homework is perfect, because if we don't, we won't get a good job. Our beliefs of what a good and perfect person will do directly influence our behavior on a day-to-day basis.

But sometimes, as more and more external stress is added and our desire for perfection increases, we develop a very deep seated resentment toward these tasks. There are some nights when you come home from working a double shift and are angry that you have to cook a meal for your family, while your husband has been watching TV all night. Part of us hates telling our friends that we can't go out on Friday night, because we have to read and study for a class the next day. When our newborn baby wakes us up at 3 am for the fourth night in a row, some part of us has rage at the child, for waking us up yet again. These are all normal feelings and emotions to have. However, when a person has an emotion that goes against their belief of what a good and perfect person would do, the only option available to them is to repress that emotion. If we admit that we are angry at our family, our boss, or at doing homework, we fear that we would be considered a bad person and will be rejected by those we love or who we want to respect us. If we are not perfect, we will be unworthy of being loved. So instead of admitting that we are angry at our spouse for never cleaning up or doing the dishes, we repress it deep in our unconscious.

Another repressed emotion might be guilt. Some of us have to care for a loved one who is injured or aging. Being a caretaker is not an easy task. If we aren't able to provide the necessary care, or the care the person not only desires but may demand of us, we may feel guilt. If we repress that feeling, especially if we are the type of person who wants to please very much, it can cause us TMS pain.

As we continue to repress these emotions, we create an immense amount of emotional tension which only increases as more and more stress is added to our lives. In order to keep you from recognizing that you have these powerful emotions of anger and rage or guilt, your unconscious creates physical symptoms, such as back pain, neck pain, plantar fasciitis, acid reflux, anxiety, depression, Dizziness, and irritable bowel syndrome. These symptoms serve as a way to distract you from the unwanted emotions by having you focus on your back hurting instead of your anger, rage, or guilt. We develop TMS because we are unable to accept and/or process these emotions.

More so than a distraction, they are a defense mechanism of the brain. Simply understanding what it was, was enough to cause the tension to evaporate (so long as I kept it in mind, and listened for the feelings behind the tension).
So if anyone is getting physical symptoms that get worse the more infra-red you get, this may be something to consider.


Another thing I discovered recently was related to the cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) - specifically that it is formed from heme and copper.
As an experiment I tried a dose of 2mg copper on an empty stomach, half an hour before using the infra-red lamp. The result was that I felt super charged using the lamp, and could have used it for hours without feeling 'full up' or the need to stop. The energy lasted for days, and the super charging effect the copper added in the face of the infra-red light hasn't really faded.
Two words of caution - don't try this near bed time (you won't sleep), and be careful not to take too much copper.
It's very easy to take too much copper, and should only be taken for short periods. Only one or two doses may be needed per month..
Copper should be balanced with zinc, which should be taken a few hours away from the copper (they compete for absorption).

I have a hunch that because of iron and copper being needed for the formation of CCO, and copper playing a part in iron homeostasis (ceruloplasmin), that copper and infra-red may reduce iron overload in some cases. But it's just a hunch and I've yet to find anything definitive to back that up.

A few other things that copper is needed for:
_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_in_health
Many aspects of copper homeostasis are known at the molecular level.[7][8] Copper's essentiality is due to its ability to act as an electron donor or acceptor as its oxidation state fluxes between Cu1+(cuprous) and Cu2+ (cupric).[3] As a component of about a dozen cuproenzymes, copper is involved in key redox (i.e., oxidation-reduction) reactions in essential metabolic processes such as mitochondrial respiration, synthesis of melanin, and cross-linking of collagen.[9] Copper is an integral part of the antioxidant enzyme, copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn-SOD), and has a role in iron homeostasis as a cofactor in ceruloplasmin.[3]
 
;
Konstantin said:
I had the same skin condition last year on my right leg. At my workplace, I have one small quartz electrical heater.
Something like this:

_http://www.globalsources.com/si/AS/Zhejiang-Suoai/6008842708458/pdtl/Quartz-Heater-halogen-Heater-oil-Heater-ptc-Fan-Heater/1060511735.htm

It is very small and it cant heat the whole office so I bring that heater at abour40-50 cm from my right leg. And it was in that position for whole winter. One day I noticed the same patches on the leg where the heater was directly pointed.
I suspected that it was from the IR rays from the heater but I was not sure. Now I am sure it is from the heater IR rays. And I have got those patches through the thick pants fabric( jeans ). After weather became warmer and I stopped using the heater I had those patches for a few more months, and after that they slowly disappeared.

I have used a quartz electrical heater during the last winter. I spent several hours every day in front of it at around 1 meter. I never noticed any condition. I only turn on one 600 W lamp.

My to cents.

As for my experience with NIR infrared lamp. I have start using the "Fuloon 18W IR lamp 140 LEDs" mentioned on this thread :

°15 minutes at around 15 cm of my low back almost every day for 30 days or so.
°then I took a break for 10 days and did another 15 minutes session. I was quite full of energy after this session.

During a few of the sessions I noticed some tingling, like if there where some electricity in my low back.
 
RedFox said:
As we continue to repress these emotions, we create an immense amount of emotional tension which only increases as more and more stress is added to our lives. In order to keep you from recognizing that you have these powerful emotions of anger and rage or guilt, your unconscious creates physical symptoms, such as back pain, neck pain, plantar fasciitis, acid reflux, anxiety, depression, Dizziness, and irritable bowel syndrome. These symptoms serve as a way to distract you from the unwanted emotions by having you focus on your back hurting instead of your anger, rage, or guilt. We develop TMS because we are unable to accept and/or process these emotions.

Ya know, it's like the shoulder and back massager thing I recommended in another thread. It's totally awesome.

BUT, once it provides relief, the next step is to figure out WHY I feel tense, stressed, etc. Not easy, but necessary.

If I don't, guess what? I use the massager again the next night... And the next, and the next...

Point being, while these various methods of fixing ourselves physically are handy to relieve pain, fix sleep patterns, or whatever, alone they are not enough.

Assuming that the quote above is accurate (and in my experience, it is), then that means we can also get stuck in a never-ending cycle of physical treatments that may make us feel better physically, but never actually address the underlying causes... which means the treatments don't actually fix anything. Of course, sometimes temporary relief is the best you can hope for!

But put another way: if you fall in love with your suffering, there isn't any room for anybody else - not even yourself. Well, I think we can all say to that: Guilty, Your Honor!

And on the topic of suffering, I was working out the other day. I began thinking about why I am generally healthy. The theory goes that I am just "lucky" genetically. Well, there may be something to that.

But then I realized that I'm 40 years old. At that age, many people on both my mom and dad's side of the family had problems of various kinds. So why don't I?

And THEN I realized that I've been exercising in one form or another since the age of 15 - i.e. for 25 years. That's a long time. Also, no one in my extended family regularly exercised. Actually, I credit my distance running in high school with partially wrecking one of my knees, but also with giving me an outlet for emotional angst that would have ruined my noggin otherwise. Sometimes I tend to "run hot" emotionally.

So, Putin is definitely onto something when he recommends sports...

Then I thought that maybe that's the point: I hate working out. More precisely, I don't like doing it. There are a million other things I'd rather be doing. But I like it when I'm DONE working out.

In any case, working out is not fun. It's suffering, frankly. So, for the past 25 years of my life, I've been effectively torturing myself. I have various aches and pains the following days, most of which I don't talk about because I know it's from exercise. Sometimes it's pretty annoying. I still dunk myself in frigid water because it kicks my immune system into gear and seems to help keep me feeling well. That's not "fun" either. It's miserable. I keep doing it because it's a miserable thing that gives me benefits, and I know nothing is free.

We all know what happens when you have a car and you don't drive it: it falls apart. And we all know what happens when you drive your family sedan like a Formula One race car: it falls apart. I've done both. Well...

My main point here is not to try to get anyone else to exercise or do cold therapy, because that's impossible. It's also not necessarily ideal for everyone. My point is that as with all things, maybe we can choose our suffering? Either you suffer to be healthy, or you suffer because you're not healthy. There is no option not to suffer!

Well, those are just some of my recent crazy internal ramblings. Your mileage may vary.
:whistle:
 
Yeah Scotty,

Even though being born with some problems and had a few visits to doctors and hospitals for treatments/surgeries as a young child for various problems and had different kind of physical problems most of my life, now after 30 years of treating my physical body I don't think that is the reason to my problems. I just don't respond to any of the physical treatments I've done.

I've also looked at my childhood, done psychotherapy and other kind of emotional therapies, which have helped me with some mental/emotional things, but never helped me with my physical problems, which just get worse. And then there is the feeling of being Alice.

Even as a small child I never understood this world, it was confusing and irrational. The more I started to question this world the more this feeling of "Alice in Wonderland" grew. Of course, learning more how corrupted, false and insane the world truly is confirmed in some way this feeling, but it is not that. I think it might be something else.

Funny how I resonated with Mr. Smith in the scene with the captured Morpheus in the first Matrix movie...

So, still working on it...
 
RedFox said:
Another thing I discovered recently was related to the cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) - specifically that it is formed from heme and copper.
As an experiment I tried a dose of 2mg copper on an empty stomach, half an hour before using the infra-red lamp. The result was that I felt super charged using the lamp, and could have used it for hours without feeling 'full up' or the need to stop. The energy lasted for days, and the super charging effect the copper added in the face of the infra-red light hasn't really faded.
Two words of caution - don't try this near bed time (you won't sleep), and be careful not to take too much copper.
It's very easy to take too much copper, and should only be taken for short periods. Only one or two doses may be needed per month..
Copper should be balanced with zinc, which should be taken a few hours away from the copper (they compete for absorption).

I have a hunch that because of iron and copper being needed for the formation of CCO, and copper playing a part in iron homeostasis (ceruloplasmin), that copper and infra-red may reduce iron overload in some cases. But it's just a hunch and I've yet to find anything definitive to back that up.

A few other things that copper is needed for:
_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_in_health
Many aspects of copper homeostasis are known at the molecular level.[7][8] Copper's essentiality is due to its ability to act as an electron donor or acceptor as its oxidation state fluxes between Cu1+(cuprous) and Cu2+ (cupric).[3] As a component of about a dozen cuproenzymes, copper is involved in key redox (i.e., oxidation-reduction) reactions in essential metabolic processes such as mitochondrial respiration, synthesis of melanin, and cross-linking of collagen.[9] Copper is an integral part of the antioxidant enzyme, copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn-SOD), and has a role in iron homeostasis as a cofactor in ceruloplasmin.[3]

Thank you for sharing, the above sounds very interesting to me. When I used the infrabed a few times, I noticed that, while in the bed I felt warm and relaxed, afterwards I felt supercharged, and each of the times I used it, I couldn't sleep at night. Well, back when I did the heavy-metal testing, it showed copper in the red, I had a lot in my system. So the above might explain my system's reaction to the infralight. I will do a bit more reading on this, and perhaps I need to start taking zinc again on a daily basis.
 
Alana said:
Thank you for sharing, the above sounds very interesting to me. When I used the infrabed a few times, I noticed that, while in the bed I felt warm and relaxed, afterwards I felt supercharged, and each of the times I used it, I couldn't sleep at night. Well, back when I did the heavy-metal testing, it showed copper in the red, I had a lot in my system. So the above might explain my system's reaction to the infralight. I will do a bit more reading on this, and perhaps I need to start taking zinc again on a daily basis.

Wanted to add something else to this. The following might be quite helpful for lowering copper levels: _http://www.holistichelp.net/blog/copper-toxicity-and-how-to-reduce-elevated-levels/
One thing it mentions and I found elsewhere too was that vitamin C lowers the copper levels in the body.

I found this out the hard way two weeks ago whilst dealing with a cold. After taking vitamin C for a few days, the vitamin C and the infra-red caused a flare-up in symptoms I've had for years but which I haven't had for some time.
That is - connective tissue/muscle pain and cramping in my calves, backs of my arms, neck, shoulders and large back muscles. Best guess is they are nerve related.
Stopping the vitamin C and infra-red only prevented the symptoms from worsening, copper corrected them.

So thought it best to make a note of it here, if people are having negative symptoms with the infra-red (and perhaps also taking vitamin C and/or zinc), that they may be copper deficient.

_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_deficiency
The deficiency in copper can cause many hematological manifestations, such as myelodysplasia, anemia, low white blood cell count, and low count of neutrophils(a type of white blood cell that is often called "the first line of defense" for the immune system).[3] Copper deficiency has long been known for as a cause of myelodysplasia (when a blood profile has indicators of possible future leukemia development), but it was not until recently in 2001 that copper deficiency was associated with neurological manifestations. Neurological manifestations seen with copper deficiency may include sensory ataxia (irregular coordination due to proprioceptive loss), spasticity, muscle weakness, and more rarely visual loss due to damage in the peripheral nerves, myelopathy (disease of the spinal cord), and rarely optic neuropathy.

Additionally, copper is needed for:
Metabolism of neurotransmitters: noradrenaline, dopamine, serotonin and some dietary amines
Connective tissue synthesis- cross-linking of collagen and elastin
Metabolism of amines- histamines, putrescine, cadaverine (copper deficiency may cause high histamine)
Oxidative phosphorylation, electron transport in the mitochondrial membrane
Antioxidant and free radical scavenger, oxidizes dangerous superoxides to safer hydrogen peroxide
Iron transport-oxidation of Fe2+ to Fe3+, copper storage and transport, antioxidant and free radical neutralizer
Iron transport and oxidation of Fe2+ to Fe3+ in intestinal cells to enable iron uptake
Conversion of dopamine to norepinephrine (copper deficiency may cause high dopamine and low norepinephrine)
Peptide hormone maturation- amidation of alpha-terminal carboxylic acid group of glycine
Melanin synthesis
Transfer of methyl group from methyltetrahydrofolate to homocysteine to generate methionine for the methylation cycle and tetrahydrofolate for purine synthesis
Regeneration of homocysteine from adenosylhomocyesteine (S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine) in the methylation cycle (copper deficiency can break part of the methylation cycles)

Something to consider at least (again with caution).
 
I agree with Redfox, zinc supplementation at high dose (50mg or more daily) can lead to copper insufficiency. It influence a binding protein in the gut called metallothionine, causing it to effectively chelate copper and inhibit absorption. I listened to a podcast on zinc yesterday speaking about the issue, and the researcher cited research which showed that 50mg/day for just 12 days could induce copper deficiency. So zinc supplementation should always be approached with caution.
 
Scottie said:
...
So, Putin is definitely onto something when he recommends sports...

Then I thought that maybe that's the point: I hate working out. More precisely, I don't like doing it. There are a million other things I'd rather be doing. But I like it when I'm DONE working out.

In any case, working out is not fun. It's suffering, frankly. So, for the past 25 years of my life, I've been effectively torturing myself. I have various aches and pains the following days, most of which I don't talk about because I know it's from exercise. Sometimes it's pretty annoying. I still dunk myself in frigid water because it kicks my immune system into gear and seems to help keep me feeling well. That's not "fun" either. It's miserable. I keep doing it because it's a miserable thing that gives me benefits, and I know nothing is free.

We all know what happens when you have a car and you don't drive it: it falls apart. And we all know what happens when you drive your family sedan like a Formula One race car: it falls apart. I've done both. Well...

My main point here is not to try to get anyone else to exercise or do cold therapy, because that's impossible. It's also not necessarily ideal for everyone. My point is that as with all things, maybe we can choose our suffering? Either you suffer to be healthy, or you suffer because you're not healthy. There is no option not to suffer!

Well, those are just some of my recent crazy internal ramblings. Your mileage may vary.
:whistle:
Good perspective that inspires me to start back (once again) torturing myself by working out. ;)
 
Hey everyone,

I've been using a small near infrared spotlight for a few months now with great results. I've been using it mostly for low back and hip pain and it works wonders! I'll use it in those areas for 10 minutes each before bed and when I wake up, the pain is gone. I've also been shining it up my nose for a few minutes and I sleep so well when I do. I'm pretty impressed. Thanks to all for sharing the research.

I am using this one, with a 70-inch adapter. The cord is long enough that you can move it around to various parts of the body with no trouble.

If any of you try this particular light, I'd suggest not using it continuously for more than an hour. It can get hot if it's left on too long.
 
Yup. Who would have ever thought that light could have so powerful and immediate an effect, yet be so subtle during application?
 
Meg said:
Hey everyone,

I've been using a small near infrared spotlight for a few months now with great results. I've been using it mostly for low back and hip pain and it works wonders! I'll use it in those areas for 10 minutes each before bed and when I wake up, the pain is gone. I've also been shining it up my nose for a few minutes and I sleep so well when I do. I'm pretty impressed. Thanks to all for sharing the research.

I am using this one, with a 70-inch adapter. The cord is long enough that you can move it around to various parts of the body with no trouble.

If any of you try this particular light, I'd suggest not using it continuously for more than an hour. It can get hot if it's left on too long.

Great news Meg.

Regarding the lamps overheating, one user ("TG") left a comment on Amazon:

[quote author="TG" on Amazon, May 19, 2016]
Reviews say these often burn out after a few weeks. Being an electrical engineer, I thought I'd take one apart, reverse-engineer it, and see what's going on. Here's what I found:

This IR Illuminator is designed to run at 9 volts, not 12 volts! If you run it at 12 volts, it will be brighter ... for a few weeks, until it burns out. I know the seller says 12 volts, but according to science they're wrong. Use a 9 volt power adapter and it will be much happier. Choose STEM, kids!

For those interested in nerd deets: This device arranges 8 parallel strings each of 6 LEDs and a 27 ohm resistor in series. I measured the LED forward drop at 1.38v. LEDs like these can be safely run at 15mA continuous. The dark-activated turn-on circuit uses a low-side transistor which contributes 0.2v and a 2 ohm resistor which contributes another 0.2v drop. If you do the math you'll find that when powered at 9 volts, the LEDs will run at 12mA, which is perfect and won't burn them out. Total device current consumption will be about 100mA. If the 2 ohm resistor were swapped for a 6.8 ohm (1/2 watt) then the device could run at 12 volts and not burn up.
[/quote]
 
TheTodd said:
Great news Meg.

Regarding the lamps overheating, one user ("TG") left a comment on Amazon:

[quote author="TG" on Amazon, May 19, 2016]
Reviews say these often burn out after a few weeks. Being an electrical engineer, I thought I'd take one apart, reverse-engineer it, and see what's going on. Here's what I found:

This IR Illuminator is designed to run at 9 volts, not 12 volts! If you run it at 12 volts, it will be brighter ... for a few weeks, until it burns out. I know the seller says 12 volts, but according to science they're wrong. Use a 9 volt power adapter and it will be much happier. Choose STEM, kids!

For those interested in nerd deets: This device arranges 8 parallel strings each of 6 LEDs and a 27 ohm resistor in series. I measured the LED forward drop at 1.38v. LEDs like these can be safely run at 15mA continuous. The dark-activated turn-on circuit uses a low-side transistor which contributes 0.2v and a 2 ohm resistor which contributes another 0.2v drop. If you do the math you'll find that when powered at 9 volts, the LEDs will run at 12mA, which is perfect and won't burn them out. Total device current consumption will be about 100mA. If the 2 ohm resistor were swapped for a 6.8 ohm (1/2 watt) then the device could run at 12 volts and not burn up.4
[/quote]

Thank you for that TheTodd. I didn't see that review. I'll switch to a 9-volt to preserve its life. :)
 
I've been using the 'infralamp' pretty much from the beginning of this thread and there is something I'd like to report. I use it on different parts of my body and one of my problems was a persistent back pain, around the shoulders, neck and middle back area. The infralamp helped me but it was the combination of the lamp and the massager Scottie recommended in this post that made the difference:

Scottie said:
(...) When I have not-workout-neck/shoulder stiffness, I use one of these:

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01I1RF2BU/

Usually, it results in weird tingling shooting down my legs and all kinds of weird-yet-pleasant sensations. Afterwards, I can feel my shoulders finally relax, which means I'm usually walking around with tensed shoulders. I haven't needed it as much lately, but for awhile there, it was an everyday thing.

Don't know if that will help, but it's been darn-near magical for me! :wizard:

Using the lamp alone on my back was helpful but I had to use it very frequently and the results weren't as good. If I was lazy and only used the massager, my muscles would be sore for a couple of days before I could see any improvement. Using the massager for 15 minutes followed up by the infralamp session means that my back is MUCH better the next day and the results last the entire week. This way I only use the combo during weekends moving the lamp around my back for around 25-30 minutes before I proceed to other parts of my body.

I also use the lamp on my thyroid and it makes me a wee bit dizzy when it's on but it has an energising effect of a strong cup of coffee.

All together I think I use it for around 45 minutes each time. If I feel like it I'll do it both on Saturday and Sunday. I guess I haven't topped up my tank yet because the lamp continues to have a really pleasant effect.
 
We decided to transfer the infrabed 1.0 to the Farm so the farmies and the guests can have a direct access to the device. As a consequence we built an Infrabed 2.0 which includes a few improvements relative to the first version. Here is a photo tour that show the building steps. On most pictures you will not see any operator. Since I was working alone I could not operate the machine and shoot pictures at the same time.

First we build the wood structure to do so, we used cheap construction pine beams: 6X4 cm and 8X6 cm sections. The first step is to rip cut the beams for the top frame to the right section: 4 X 4 cm.

aIMG_20171203_140103.jpg


Then we cross cut each beam to length, it's actually a bit more than the final length because at this point the sides of the beam are neither flat nor square, so the crosscut can not be perfectly perpendicular:

aIMG_20171203_140121.jpg


The next step is to plane two sides of each beam. This will ensure that the two sides are plane and perpendicular to each other:

aIMG_20171203_140157.jpg


Once this part is finished we switch to thicknesssing. It will insure that the two remaining sides of the beam are plane and perpendicular but also that thickness is constant:

aIMG_20171203_142116.jpg


At this point each beam constituting the wood structure is square, plane and exhibits the right section. Here is the result: with 6 large beams (8X6) for the bottom frame, 5 small beams (4X4) for the top frame, 2 posts (3.5X11) and 6 legs (8X6):

aIMG_20171203_143937.jpg


We can now do the last cross cut at the final length. The crosscuts are 45° because the the frames will be assembled through 'miter joints':

aIMG_20171203_144616.jpg


Each beam has the right length and the right section, now comes the routing step. The objective is to create dados in which we will slip the plywood sheets and the plexiglass sheets.

aIMG_20171203_161311.jpg


The miter joints are reinforced by tenons and mortises. In the picture below, we are making a mortise at the end of a beam:

aIMG_20171204_125703.jpg


Here is the result (see turquoise arrow):

aIMG_20171204_125721.jpg


Now we are ready to assemble the frame: miter joints with tenons and mortises + wood glue:

aIMG_20171204_142650.jpg


While the glue is drying we cut the plywood sheets to size:

aIMG_20171204_154520.jpg


It fits! The picture below shows the two frames with plywood sheets inserted in their dados:

aIMG_20171204_154634.jpg


Now it's time to make the grooves in the plywood panels. The infrared LED strips will be glued inside those grooves. First, we mark the location of the grooves:

aIMG_20171204_155755.jpg


Now, we use a router to make the grooves (3 mm deep and 9 mm wide). Notice that 2 stops (turquoise arrows) have been installed on the guiding rails, this way each groove has exactly the same length (62 cm) knowing that each LED strip is 60 cm long.

aIMG_20171204_170839.jpg


We drill holes at the end of the grooves. The wires powering the LED strips will run under the plywood sheets and go through those holes:

aIMG_20171205_154032.jpg


The plywood is almost ready. The last touch is to stain it:

aIMG_20171205_165302.jpg


We can start preparing the 6 legs. First, we cut some notches with the band-saw:

aIMG_20171206_133716.jpg


Then we glue and screw the legs onto the bottom frame, making sure the legs are perpendicular to the frame (hence the use of clamps). Notice that we added some diagonal reinforcements (turquoise arrow) for the two back legs. The posts supporting the top panel will be attached to those legs and it exerts a lot of stress. This was one of the structural weaknesses of the Infrabed 1.0:

aIMG_20171206_144454.jpg


The reinforcements being duly blued and screwed we can install the posts on the bottom frame. The two posts will be bolted because we have to be able to remove them in order to transport the contraption through the narrow door cells leading to the infrabed room:

aIMG_20171207_141838.jpg


Here is the whole structure (minus the plywood panels):

aIMG_20171207_144836.jpg


(To be continued...)
 

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