@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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geekmomprojects, to random
@geekmomprojects@mastodon.social avatar

Two good things happened together. I got a gorgeous new Lux Lavalier pendant from @jasoncoon, which uses WS2816 LEDs for high color fidelity at low brightness, AND I discovered this clear black PLA from Hatchbox which does a reasonable job transmitting light colors while still appearing opaque. It's not as good as LED acrylic, but since it's filament, I can do a lot more with it, like make a snap-fit cover for the Lux Lavalier pendant. Looking forward to more experiments with it.

A close up of a circular LED pendant with 64 LEDs arranged in a Fibonacci spiral, displaying a colorful twinkling LED animation. Hands reach into the frame, displaying a translucent black 3D printed cover, which is snapped over the LED pendant, resulting in a pretty light pattern diffusing through the cover while the other details of the pendant are hidden.

kbob,
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@geekmomprojects @jasoncoon They're all great, but I like concentric best.

How much space are you leaving between the LEDs and the cover?

kbob, to 3DPrinting
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Here's my new webcam stand. This was supposed to be a quickie, but it took me four tries to print it. The delay gave me time to redesign it and make it a little better looking.

I filled the bottom with holes, and I can add as many M5x10 machine screws as I want for ballast.

So yeah, I've finally got Octoprint set up. I've only had this printer 5 years...

@3dprinting

Other view of the camera on the stand. The camera is pointing roughly toward the center of the printer's X axis.
Underside of the camera stand. The camera is screwed with a 1/4-20 pan head screws. The bottom of the stand has an array of five by seven counterbored holes. There are M5 hex head screws in three holes at each corner.
Octoprint screen capture showing the view from the camera. The printer is idle. The image is out of focus.

kbob, to random
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

Printed ABS like a champ. Textured build plate and all.

This is the V Block that someone posted here a few days ago. https://www.printables.com/model/646144-v-blocks-with-clamp

The filament is some old ABS I've had since 2014 or so.

kbob,
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Of course, I've jinxed myself now. The next nine pieces will fail in every imaginable way, mostly by warping.

#3DPrinted

kbob,
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The next ABS piece came out fine, but for my hubris, I'm now getting warped PLA. This is just a solid block about 80mm wide. All four corners lifted.

#3DPrinted

kbob,
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Next in the hubris awards, I have a print that ran out of filament 1/3rd of the way through.

I'm still laughing...

#3DPrinted

kbob,
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The next failure was a modeling error. I used a negative offset instead of a positive, so the thing came out 4mm too small. (No photo, sorry.)

#3DPrinted

kbob, to random
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

I have been going through an ordeal. Last Sunday, I came down with COVID for the first time. I had just arrived at my mom's house in Ohio. (She's not there. She's in a home now.) So instead of spending the week with her, I spent it sick alone in a house with no Internet, no TV, and no food. (Fortunately, there were heat and electricity.)

🧵 1/n

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

By Saturday, I felt well enough to drive home, so I did. Got here, and the Internet was down. And the house is cold -- we haven't figured out how the new HVAC system yet. But there's food.

Tonight, the Internet came back. Still no TV, as I'm self-isolating in three rooms that don't have a TV. I'm really wanting so watch some TV -- haven't really watched any since November.

The planet is boiling, Fascism is rising, war is breaking out everywhere, and I have my own problems.

🧵 2/2

mbonsma, to SciComm
@mbonsma@mastodon.social avatar

We've all been there: it's puzzle time, but once you dump out the pieces and start laying them flat, you realize you don't have enough space on your table. Join me as we use physics to find out ✨HOW BIG A TABLE YOU NEED FOR YOUR JIGSAW PUZZLE ✨

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2312.04588

kbob,
@kbob@chaos.social avatar

@mbonsma Great research! Tonight I felt like doing a jigsaw, so I did some research of my own with a puzzle with nontraditional piece shapes. Here's a Geode puzzle from Nervous System.

Unassembled, the pieces are loosely packed into rectangle about 27✕30cm. Area 810 cm².
Assembled, it's roughly a circle of diameter 21cm. Area 346cm².
Ratio: 2.34.

Do with that whatever you want. But do try a Nervous System puzzle. They're different!

An assembled Geode jigsaw puzzle. It is on a cutting mat. Its edge is irregular but roughly circular.

geekmomprojects, to 3DPrinting
@geekmomprojects@mastodon.social avatar

Designed a dancing heart pendant
#3dprinting #pendant #wearables

Four 3D printed heart-shaped pendants rest on a red mat. Each pendant is printed in a different color and has seven small hearts that can slide back and forth along three horizontal rails that span the larger heart. A hand reaches into the frame and picks up the silver heart with pink smaller hearts and pink outline and tilts the pendant from side to side to show the smaller hearts sliding around.

kbob,
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@geekmomprojects Nice color change. I thought you'd used an MMU/AMS.

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

deleted_by_author

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    kbob,
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    @phranck I like your color palette. Are those Bambu filament?

    kbob,
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    @phranck They do have a nice selection, thanks!

    https://us.polymaker.com/products/polyterra-pla

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

    Help! What's the best way to bond wire to a nail?

    I want to make a magnetic switch where if a piece of iron is touching two magnetized surfaces, it completes the circuit, and a micro controller notices. I think I can make the surfaces from nail heads and magnets in a 3D printed housing. Is there a good way to attach hookup wire to a nail? Solder? Crimp? Other?

    Completely different ideas?

    Thank you.

    🧵 1/2

    kbob,
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    This is the general idea. Can I attach wires to the sharp ends of the nails somehow?

    I want the switch to close when a paperclip or similar is stuck to the heads of the nails.

    It is for an indoor environment, room temperature, low vibration. Milliamps of current. But I'd like it to last for a few years.

    #3DPrinting #magnets #DIY #making #electronics

    kbob,
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    Here's the finished magnetic switch. Thanks, @Siff , for the Chicago screw idea. They work great and look sharp.

    Now I need to package up the rest of the electronics. And find sources for the rest of the mechanical parts.

    On a messy workbench, there's a 3D printed object. On top of it is a ratsnest of hookup wire connecting a Teensy, a breadboard with a TO-220 package power MOSFET, an LED ring, and another printed part with two shiny disks on top. I drop a paperclip onto the two shiny disks. When I do, the LED ring lights up. Then I remove the paperclip, and the LED ring fades.

    kbob,
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    @Siff The electronics are assembled now. Not the cleanest, but acceptable.

    The metal plate is a cover for a ceiling junction box. It's a heatsink for the LEDs. I ground out a hole using a Dremel cutoff wheel -- that was the best tool I had on hand. And I dropped it while the thermal adhesive was wet. That's why it's smeared all around.

    Still, I'm my own worst critic. It's just fine, and I'm sure the recipient will love it.

    Underside of the assembly in the last photo. On the bottom of the steel plate, a Teensy LC is attached with 3M Dual-Lock™ tape. A power MOSFET is also attached with Dual-Lock tape, and a piece of orange electrician's tape is under the MOSFET's pins. Several pieces of hookup wire connect the Teensy, the MOSFET, the LED ring, and the two studs in the dark printed assembly, which isn't really visible here -- it's on the top side.

    kbob,
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    @Siff And here's some video. It still works.

    N.B., those screws are placeholders. The full assembly will use longer screws with bigger heads (or washers).

    The same assembly as in previous posts. I drop a paperclip onto the stainless studs, and the LED ring lights up. I remove the paperclip, fumbling slightly, and the LEDs fade away.

    kbob,
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    @Siff This is an industrial scrap handling magnet.

    A similar electromagnet on a factory floor. The paint is fresh and shiny. Several other partially assembled magnets are in the background.

    kbob,
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    @Siff This is a desk lamp.

    When it has some scrap, it lights up. When I take the scrap away, it goes dark.

    My cousin works for the manufacturer, and he wanted it for his desk. He hasn't seen it yet.

    #3DPrinting #magnets #DIY #making #electronics #Teensy

    kbob, to random
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    @geekmomprojects Do you need an interactive memento of your recent vacation?

    https://whenistheweekend.com/theSphere.html

    kbob, to random
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    Ten years ago today. November 8th, 2013.

    1/2

    #making

    Screen capture from OpenSCAD. A red triangular frustrum shape is sitting on top of a red rectangular shape.
    Screen capture from OpenSCAD. A gray square made of five pieces is in back. Three green bars are in front, arranged in a triangle. Three long yellow bars extend outward in front of each green bar. A red equilateral triangle sits in front of everything else.

    kbob,
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    Ten years ago today. November 23, 2013.

    Here are Team C-Pepo Propulsion's trebuchet and Team Waffles' apple launcher in action.

    🧵 6/N

    #making #MakerSpace #PumpkinChucking #PunkinChunkin #TeamSports #TeamLEO

    Team Waffles’ apple chucker catapult just after it fired. It is tiny compared to the pumpkin chuckers. It has a wooden triangular frame and an arm of triangulated metal. The apple pouch is at the end of a long pink bungee, which is whipping out in front of the chucker in this photo.

    kbob,
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    Ten years ago today. November 23, 2013.

    The trigger mechanism was the hardest part. This was the third iteration (in three weeks). We continued to refine it through the life of the Orbiterator, but this was a working solution. That ring was definitely overstressed. It started out round.

    The big nails were pounded into the ground in a vain attempt to keep the launcher from kicking.

    🧵 7/N

    #making #MakerSpace #PumpkinChucking #PunkinChunkin #TeamSports #TeamLEO

    kbob,
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    Ten years ago today. November 23, 2013.

    We looked smug, didn't we? I am second from the right in the first photo, second from the left in the second.

    You can't really see them, but we had little embroidered logos on our team jackets. "Team Low Earth Orbit", with a little flying pumpkin.

    The trophy was a plastic trick-or-treat bucket spray painted gold. Maximally tacky, in a good way.

    🧵8/N

    #making #MakerSpace #PumpkinChucking #PunkinChunkin #TeamSports #TeamLEO

    Team photo, admiring the trophy. The trophy was intentionally cheesy. it’s a plastic jack-o-lantern trick-or-treat bucket and crown on two pillars. Everything is spray painted gold.

    kbob,
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    Ten years ago today. November 23, 2013.

    Here's the official video!

    https://youtu.be/ZTUDdUoOAfc?t=166

    🧵 9/9 Fin

    #making #MakerSpace #PumpkinChucking #PunkinChunkin #TeamSports #TeamLEO

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