@kbob@chaos.social
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

kbob

@kbob@chaos.social

Crusty geek. Retired software developer, aspiring musician. Used Unix way before it was cool.

Once I built a pumpkin chucker. Another time, I built an LED cube.

Interests: 3D printing and making in general, synths (playing and making them), learning the bass guitar (rock, jazz, funk), FPGAs and electronics, pinball. I spent 40+ years obsessively coding and studying computing, but that interest has finally cooled.

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kbob, to random
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

Adafruit sells ultraviolet Neopixel strips. Has anyone here seen any good projects using them?

How well can you tell which pixels are on when they're not visible light?

#Adafruit #Neopixel #LEDs #WS2812 #BlinkenLights #UV

smellsofbikes, to random
@smellsofbikes@mastodon.social avatar

A dubious idea I have about cutting curved dovetails so a box would look like an impossible dovetail box, but would in fact have the top open on an arc rather than a diagonal slide like most impossible dovetails.
The axis of rotation is the left corner, where there's a green line.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@smellsofbikes Clever idea. The printer is busy, but I have STL files ready to send...

My rotation point is inside the box. The dovetails are just lofts, not proper conical surfaces, but I suspect they're within manufacturing tolerance.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@smellsofbikes Done. As I said, I fudged on the math. Though I think the correct shape just a revolve of a trapezoid that's planar but doesn't intersect the revolution axis.

A box assembled from two dovetailed halves. The top is blue, and the bottom is yellow.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@smellsofbikes I decided to use Archimedean spiral infill to indicate where the center of rotation is. I spent more time tricking PrusaSlicer into putting the spiral center in the right place than I did modeling the dovetails.

In the end, I made the box part of a bigger object that has the rotation axis at its center. Then I cut away the unneeded part.

Blue is PETG on textured sheet; yellow is PLA on smooth sheet.

Two halves of a box with a large arrow-shaped protrusion sticking out from one corner. The circles in the infill are centered in the box plus arrow.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@mcdanlj @smellsofbikes If the box is square, and rotation axis is on the diagonal, wouldn't four cutters be enough because the surfaces on each side of the diagonal would have the same shape?

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@mcdanlj @smellsofbikes Here's a picture that shows the same two tool edges each cutting two dovetail edges. They are indeed curved tool edges, but it's the same curve. So two tools can cut those two dovetails, and two more tools can cut the other two dovetails.

You should be able to intersect the tools' cuts with a plane that intersects the axis and get the tools profiles. (I have no idea how to convert that into an actual tool, though. I have never gotten into CNC.)

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@oblomov @smellsofbikes It's not much to see, but sure.

I made the clearances loose, so it just slips together.

I pick up the two pieces of the dovetail box and rotate them together. Then I rotate them apart.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@mcdanlj @smellsofbikes Oops, yes, it's eight tools. Four tools for the tails, and four more tools for the slots the tails go into. Arrgh.

metin, to scifi
@metin@graphics.social avatar

Started a new SDF modeling project in MagicaCSG.

It's going to be a sci-fi drone. More updates will follow tomorrow.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@metin How much of this image did you have in your head when you started, and how much did you discover as you created it?

raichoo, to bass
@raichoo@chaos.social avatar

Nice! Logic 11 can do Stem Splitting now. This way I can remove the for tracks I'm doing a play along to. It's not perfect but already so much better than not having it. Wondering how well this is going to help me to transcribe stuff 🤔 https://youtu.be/exLkvKjs3GQ?si=_0ZVai7JlSoCACtE&t=2077

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@raichoo I've been using StemRoller, which is a free Mac/Windows app. I'll keep using StemRoller, as the new Logic stem splitting function is only for ARM Macs, and my iMac is Intel.

But yes. stem splitting is very useful. I can download any song and turn it into a bass-free backing track. I can download a song, load its four tracks into Logic, and use the mixer and EQ to bring out the bass as much as I need to hear it accurately.

thomasfuchs, to random
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io avatar

Gonna enjoy a bananum for breakfast

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@thomasfuchs I prefer the British spelling, bananium.

chris_gammell, to random
@chris_gammell@chaos.social avatar

I know the answer is "whenever the power company says is cheapest", but from a mental model perspective: is it better to plug in the car to charge on a sunny day where solar is generating excess capacity (on other roofs, not mine)...or better when the overall grid utilization is low, like in the middle of the night?

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@chris_gammell It's better to plug in when your car's at home, not tootling around the shopping mall. (-:

That's a semi-serious answer. If you charge every day and drive every day, your car has limited hours in the garage.

Solobasssteve, to bass
@Solobasssteve@mastodon.social avatar

A few people have asked me recently about in-person bass lessons, so I thought I'd better write about why I only teach on Zoom these days, and why I think it's actually better than the in-person lesson experience.

https://www.stevelawson.net/2024/04/why-i-only-teach-bass-on-zoom/

(lesson deets are at that link too)

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@raichoo @Solobasssteve I use Zoom. My most frequent error is forgetting to sync my audio interfaces in the Audio MIDI Setup utility (MacOS). When I forget, the sound quality gradually degrades over the space of several minutes into complete chaos.

Here's a non-bass example, with and without interfaces sync'd.
https://chaos.social/@kbob/109525796747445600

metin, to 3dmodeling
@metin@graphics.social avatar

Time for a new hard-surface modeling project, using the trusty MagicaCSG 3D editor: a submarine.

As usual, I'll keep you posted of the progress.

#HardSurface #modeling #3DModeling #design #artwork #sculpture #illustration #illustrator #art #arte #artist #DigitalArt #ArtMatters #GraphicDesign #3D #MagicaCSG #CreativeToots #FediArt #MastoArt #ArtistsOnMastodon

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@metin How about showing the sub from more angles? From behind, below, above?

kbob, to synths
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

I got a new keytar as a gift yesterday. It's a MIDI controller only. I want to play this thing in band, but don't know what to connect it to. What's your favorite softsynth for playing live? Name presets, if you use them. Mostly classic rock. I prefer poly -- I can't keep myself from playing chords, even in lead lines. MacOS or maybe iPad.

Thank you.

@synths

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@f_dion @synths Do you know whether the Deepmind works as a USB host? The Vortex's dongle is USB-A.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@f_dion @synths USB is asymmetric. The "B" device is a peripheral and the "A" device is a host. Bs can't talk to Bs directly, and As can't talk to As. (USB OTG and USB-C change those rules.)

Anyway. the keytar is just a "Vortex Wireless 2". It does have a 5 pin DIN MIDI out port. So I could hook it up to any of my hardware synths. Hadn't really considered that.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@synths Answering my own question a little: MainStage FTW.

If you don't know MainStage, you should. MainStage is a reskinning of Logic oriented toward performance. It strips out all the recording and track editing functionality and adds a simplified interface that just gives you live performance controls. Underneath, it's got all of Logic's instruments, FX, routing, etc., through the mixer strip interface.

🧵 1/

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@synths MainStage has an example "concert" for synths, which is meh, but it also has a concert called Alchemy, and all 25 of the patches there are entirely usable. They include the 80s Sync Lead that @robleaves suggested. (Thanks, Rob.)

Now I need to figure out how to tie the sampler in so I can use some acoustic piano and bass guitar samples.

🧵 2/2

chrishuck, to random
@chrishuck@fosstodon.org avatar

I’m certainly not afraid to repair things in my house, but a fix that I thought would be “easy” on my dryer has turned into an entire drum replacement. There is a felt seal/bearing on each end of the drum. It’s glued onto the drum… The front seal split and got inside the drum, twisting itself around clothes that were in there. A new drum will be here in a week, but this seems like an unnecessarily-costly-to-repair design. It’s only 4 years old ffs.

I suppose that it’s at least fixable…🤷‍♂️

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@chrishuck That's awful. Clothes line or laundromat?

kbob, to random
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

I do not understand components and coordinate systems in Fusion 360. Because of that, I may have lost the design I've been drawing all week.

I changed a parameter, and half the things that should have moved did move, and half did not. Curves that had been closed were no longer closed, and things got worse from there.

It looks like parameters used in the Move/Copy command don't update? Do I have to use a rigid joint to fix every component?

Advice welcome.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@3dprinting I've solved the problem of mounting LEDs to the underside of the LACK table in my printer enclosure. I'm very happy with the result.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@3dprinting ??? This was supposed to be a video. It looks like I just uploaded a still.

Video shows assembly of a three piece printed assembly that locks in place in a rectangular hole in a pressboard. It uses a sliding lock to grab the pressboard, and uses magnets to hold the LED bar in place.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@3dprinting I am still working on the printer enclosure when I'm not traveling. Today I made a test piece that slides along an IKEA LACK leg. I put steel dowel pins on two sides for a tight but low-friction fit. It works better than expected.

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@chrishuck That's high praise coming from you.

kbob, to 3DPrinting
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

I'm thinking about printing a flip-down MagSafe iPhone charger to mount under the kitchen cupboard. This is kind of the idea. I'm still working out how to route the cord. I'm imagining magnets to hold it in position either flipped down or flipped up, but haven't modeled those either.

#3DDesign #3DPrinting #iPhone #MagSafe

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

I redesigned this and published the new one to Printables. As the marketing department of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation says, Share and Enjoy!

https://www.printables.com/model/877897-flip-down-magsafe-iphone-charger

#3DDesign #3DPrinting #iPhone #MagSafe

Video clip shows me reaching under a kitchen cupboard, flipping down a 3D printed MagSafe charger, and letting its magnets grab my phone. After the phone goes into desk clock mode, I reach out, take the phone, and flip the charger up under the cupboard.

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