SylvanB

Great work, and it sounds like you learned a lot!I notice the stringing in the prints pictured, and I suspect that will be hard to eliminate with no filament to retract.Did you try releasing pressure from the extruder to perform a "retraction", possibly with some reverse rotation of the auger?Or perhaps you could take what you have learned and create an extruder that makes filament instead of extruding directly from pellet to print.

That looks great!I think a useful accessory for this desk, especially if it will be used much at all for writing, is a desk pad. Traditionally made of leather, a pad provides a smooth writing surface, protects the desk top from writing impressions, and provides a slight amount of yield which some find pleasing feel during writing. Sometimes writing desks were built with a leather inlay for this purpose.

That was a lot of work, but when it looks so nice, it is worth it. This gave me some good ideas, thanks!

This is excellent! (and for me will be holding a water jug again :) )

Great writeup, for a wonderful table. Very clever design. The creator deserves every bit of the ice cream!

I experiment. I have little experience with multicolor displays. With a 32x32 RGB panel I used transparent plastic folder purchased locally, similar to https://amazon.com/STEMSFX-Lightweight-Plastic-Poc...For single color I have a bit more experience, lately using an assortment of "gel lighting filters" (for stage and studio lighting) but neutral tints are rare.I've not tried rigid acrylic as you linked, but that might be best for your displays.Cellophane sheet comes in many tints, but has no inherent structure, the opposite of acrylic, but might be good to experiment to see what tint/opacity you prefer. Trouble is actually mounting such a sheet to your display.Window tint film or vinyl for wrapping headlights might work well. Again has little structure but it would (I think) …

I experiment. I have little experience with multicolor displays. With a 32x32 RGB panel I used transparent plastic folder purchased locally, similar to https://amazon.com/STEMSFX-Lightweight-Plastic-Poc...For single color I have a bit more experience, lately using an assortment of "gel lighting filters" (for stage and studio lighting) but neutral tints are rare.I've not tried rigid acrylic as you linked, but that might be best for your displays.Cellophane sheet comes in many tints, but has no inherent structure, the opposite of acrylic, but might be good to experiment to see what tint/opacity you prefer. Trouble is actually mounting such a sheet to your display.Window tint film or vinyl for wrapping headlights might work well. Again has little structure but it would (I think) adhere to the rgb panels.For greater opacity you can use two+ layers once you find a good tint.I didn't mention before, but I really like your displays. And very nice frames.

Have you tried a tinted, transparent cover over the LED panels? It greatly increases visibility by increasing contrast because it creates a dark, uniform background. For a color display a fairly neutral color is usually best. A mirrored window film can be used but you want to the mirror to be facing the panel.

That's a clever use of the too often ignored functionality of those simple LCDs!A sheet of transparent, blue tinted plastic over the front might make the digits pop by hiding the background. Color similar to the LCD color. Theatre "gels" for tinting lights can be a good source.

Thanks for this. Especially for the tip about drilling metal. I cannot believe it has taken my whole life to hear (or really hear) that information!

I used to have a cat that would eat yellowjackets. Was also a very friendly cat. Was fun watching her sit by the nest (a hole in the ground) for hours and catch the wasps coming and going. She would do that for a few days, and the nest would be dead.

Unless the frig should happen tip over either onto the door or where the door is blocked by something or even just so the door has to be lifted up to open.I don't see a problem with crawling THRU the frig rather than INTO a frig, but INTO a frig is still dangerous.

Clever idea.Have you experimented with the bubble side up vs. down against the water? Probably doesn't make a lot of difference, but it seems adding a small air gap might be helpful. The R-value of that bubble cover is not very large.I've also wondered if something similar to but lighter than the balls used to cover some California reservoirs would help heat a pool and perhaps could be left in all the time. (Used for algae prevention.)

The constant current supply works with LEDs which have a linear current response after the knee, but are not ideal and maybe not suitable (not sure) for an arc lamp (the basis of low pressure fluorescent and high-pressure such as this) which has a strong negative coefficient with respect to temperature.

That is incorrect. 253.7 is germicidal. Shorter wavelengths are used to create ozone which would be undesirable.

The acrylic is used to let visible light escape the shroud while blocking the UV.

These type of bulbs, like fluoroscent tubes do not have a voltage per se. Instead they have a maximum current, like an LED, and a strike voltage at which they begin to conduct. Unlike an LED, once the strike voltage is reached and the tube begins to conduct, the required voltage to maintain conduction decreases dramatically. The "ballast" resistors compensate for that and limit the current to a safe level, again similar to the series resistor used with an LED.