Tell us about yourself!
- BardP commented on banjogates's instructable DRILL-POWERED SPRAYPAINT CAN SHAKER
- BardP commented on Yonatan24's instructable Top 10 Ways to Cut Metal - Without an Angle Grinder!View Instructable »
There seems to be one exception to my rule about "Don't try to cut steel with woodcutting machines."The "Diablo D0748CF STEEL DEMON 7 1/4 inch 48 Teeth Metal and Stainless Steel cutting Saw Blade CERMET II Carbide" is supposedly up to the task.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KWQJB6Y/It is rated for up to 5800 RPM, which means many woodcutting machines can handle it. Just don't handle the saw as if you were cutting wood though - everything I wrote about using a straight edge and cutting slow still applies. My guess is that some of the negative reviews at Amazon come from people who were not aware of this.I have not tried this blade myself, but for less than $30 it is certainly worth a test run.
- BardP commented on Yonatan24's instructable Top 10 Ways to Cut Metal - Without an Angle Grinder!
He did not abuse the saw as much as you would think based on the title and the intro :-)The only thing he did "wrong" was to cut thicker metal than the saw was rated for, and I am very happy he did, as it shows what the saw is capable of.I would use a straight edge even for the two initial cuts he did in 3/16". Without it, the back end of the blade is rubbing against the steel, slowing down the cut, making the edge uneven and wearing the saw blade more than necessary.I am guessing he may also be overheating the saw motor on the long cut. The user manual describes how much material you can cut before you need to give it a break to cool down. They actually recommend to keep the saw running while cooling down, as the fan will cool the motor faster.And I totally agree on the he…
see more »View Instructable »There are also videos out there where they kept the existing motor and just added an extra belt and pulley to slow down the saw.
- BardP commented on Yonatan24's instructable Top 10 Ways to Cut Metal - Without an Angle Grinder!View Instructable »
Good Instructable, here are my 2 cents: I have mostly stopped cutting metal with abrasive tools after I got my hands on good metal cutting saws. The exception would be metal that is harder than what the saws are rated for.Saws provide cleaner cuts with little to no heating, and the parts require much less work afterwards.Aluminum, brass and other soft metals can be cut by good wood cutting machines. If you want to know if your chop saw is good enough for soft metal, put a good wood cutting blade in it and cut a piece of wood. If the cut edge of the wood looks like it is polished, the saw is good enough. Then just buy a non-ferrous cutting blade of the right size for the saw and you are good to go. Carbide wood cutting blades can cut these metals, but it pays in the long run to buy the rig…
see more » - BardP commented on MartinMakes's instructable Solar Pool HeaterView Instructable »
I did something similar to heat up the kiddie pool when the kids were small. A much smaller pool than this one, though. The pool had a white bottom to keep it from overheating. When I first filled it up, I put a couple of black garbage bags on the bottom to retain more solar heat. Some rocks to keep the bags from floating up. Once the pool was warm enough, I removed the bags.Leaving the black plastic bags on the top did not work. The plastic gets hot, radiates heat back and does not transfer much heat to the water. When they are under the water, any heat absorbed by the bags gets transferred to the water immediately.
- BardP commented on millmore's instructable Heat Your Pool With Solar Lily PadsView Instructable »
I did something similar to heat up the kiddie pool when the kids were small. The pool had a white bottom to keep it from overheating. When I first filled it up, I put a couple of black garbage bags on the bottom to retain more solar heat. Some rocks to keep the bags from floating up. Once the pool was warm enough, I removed the bags.
- BardP commented on inkybreadcrumbs's instructable Make It Glow: a Flash Upgrade to UltravioletView Instructable »
As long as the "uv protected box" actually is blocking the UV light properly, this will be safe. (Wear UV protective glasses and test the light coming out of the box with some fluorescent material to verify that there is little or no UV coming out.)
- BardP commented on SophieBdoesart's instructable The Secret to a Perfect Hot Glue MoldView Instructable »
Molten lead is way too hot, the glue would melt (and possibly burn) instantly.
- BardP commented on Conductak's instructable Electromagnetic Mjolnir (From Thor's Hammer Prank)View Instructable »
I know this question is a year old, but I am adding an answer in case in case anyone else get the same problem."When running voltage through the coil and testing it, it seems that the electricity will only flow when the wire is touched at the very tip,.."This is correct. The wire used for coils and transformers is coated with an insulating layer of enamel to prevent the coil windings from short circuiting. The windings may look like plain copper, but they are actually insulated wire.If you want to solder the ends properly, you have to remove this enamel near the end. It is best to sand it off or scrape it off, it can also be burned off. (Some low temp insulation will melt/burn away when you use a hot solder iron, the tougher stuff will not.)
- BardP commented on tobychui's instructable DIY Budget 3D Scanner V3View Instructable »
Well, looking at the results hidden in the files, the mechanical parts are what are currently most interesting here. The scan results from using the using ToF sensor contain too much errors to be useful in the current state. I do not know if this can be improved further, or if this really is the limitation of this approach.It will be very interesting to see the results of using a camera + Raspberry Pi for doing 3D image capture as mentioned above. This platform could also be useful as a starting point for a laser scanner.
- BardP commented on darbinorvar's instructable How to Bend PVC & Make Incredible ShapesView Instructable »
..and "duck tape" is the original name :-)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_tape"Duct tape was originally known as "duck tape" because it was originally made out of cotton duck fabric and was said to repel water like the back of a duck."
- BardP commented on kess_gr's instructable Nut Splitter DIYView Instructable »
Great job!As you are making this yourself, you have one more option if you want to split open a nut without damaging the bolt:Make a 2nd chisel, this one blunt.Use the first chisel to cut trough the nut, (almost) as far as the threads of the bolt.Then use the blunt chisel to pry the nut open without touching the threads.
- BardP commented on BeepBoopBoopBeep's instructable Super Simple D.I.Y. Desktop Vocal Recording Booth on the CheapView Instructable »
Umm..Did you do the calculation?The speed of sound in air is much lower than the speed of light you use when calculating for RF. 343 m/s is the standard value. If 1/4 wavelength is 1 in, a full wavelength is 4 in, which comes out to about 3.4 kHz. Right in the audio spectrum.In any case, if they get a good enough result without doing any additional changes to the box, there is no need to add more work.
- BardP commented on ImpactDIY's instructable Huge Lens Flashlight Experiment XHP70View Instructable »
This type of lens could be an option.https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Adjustable-Fo...(Not sure if this would require adding cooling to the lens liquid to avoid cooking the lens...)
- BardP commented on tomatoskins's instructable Make Your Own Carbide Lathe ToolsView Instructable »
Quick and dirty way of making something similar: (The result will of course not be as nice as this, but you get a working tool much faster.)- Buy a cheap set of lathe tools with decent handles. Amazon have some that cost less than $20 for an 8-pack, shipping included. Or use some old useless tools you already have.- Remove the temper if necessary. Cheap tools may be untempered already.- Grind away the cutting edge and whatever other metal you want to remove.- Drill and thread a hole.- Mount the carbide bit.Done!
- BardP commented on Mad Gyver's instructable Arduino Based Lightsaber With Light and Sound EffectsView Instructable »
Done wrong, you could blow up a battery with a spot welder. (As you could with the soldering method shown in this instructable.)Done right, it is safe.Battery spot welders are designed to connect both contactsof the welder to the same side of the battery, so none of the welding currentgoes through the battery. The current only goes through the metal at the end ofthe battery.Each side of the battery done separately, of course. Do a search for “battery spot welder” on this site and youfind several DIY designs.
- BardP commented on darrenah's instructable The Workbench With a Secret!View Instructable »
Good advice on the screws.I found a couple of tables here showing screw diameters and pilot holes for both straight and tapered drill bits:https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/Woo...https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/Woo...Another option that removes the problem of pre-drilling completely, are self drilling structural screws.My favorite screws for these kind of projects are now the screws made by GRK Fasteners. They are expensive, but are real time savers. They are much thinner (for the same load bearing capability) than regular wood screws, so I have had no problems with them splitting wood.Home Depot and other stores carry themhttps://www.homedepot.com/s/grk?NCNI-5
- BardP commented on gzumwalt's instructable Pencil Puzzler RevisitedView Instructable »
Even if they did file a patent for it way back when, it would be expired long time ago. Someone further down mentioned buying this 50 years ago, patents last only 20 years. After that everything is in the public domain.
- BardP commented on happydupa's instructable Inexpensive garage lights from LED strips
The internal wiring in the strips is thin, so there is significant voltage (and light) loss in the far end of a long strip. I run extra wiring parallel to my strips and connect it to the strip every meter or so.
View Instructable »My 2 cents here:I built a similar setup in my garage, using old laptop power supplies as the power source. (I modified the supplies to output slightly more than 12V, so I got the right amount of current for my strings. I also added wiring to avoid voltage drops along the length of the strings.) This created some interference on my garage radio, as the LED strips act as a large antenna for the noise coming from the switching power supplies. So I have to add additional filtering, the PC supplies were not designed for this purpose. (And my radio is right next to the lights.)Possible solutions for those who get similar problems:-Listen only to strong radio stations ;-) (or use WiFi radio). I am currently at this stage when using my lights, the following is on the to-do list for when I have to…
see more »
I could imagine something with the can almost vertical on top of a spring, or between two springs, one above and one below the can. Strings stiff enough to make the resonant frequency similar to hand shaking, so 2-3 Hz. At the resonant frequency, even small agitations will be added up by the springs, resulting in large movement. (Think kid pushing another kid on a swing.) The paint in the can will act as a dampener, so a certain size agitator will be required. Off-center wheel under the bottom spring driven by a drill, maybe.