
dchall8's instructables
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- dchall8 commented on hugheswho's instructable Knife Block - Level Up!
- dchall8 commented on adriancubas's instructable Darrieus Wind Turbine From Pencils and 3d Printed PartsView Instructable »
Thank you JayH25. What all egg beater types of wind turbines need is a bearing expert. The experience with egg beater wind mills in the 1970s, in the San Gorgonio Pass area of California, quickly eliminated them from competition with the high mounted, horizontal generators due to contamination of the thrust bearing mounted near the ground. Yes, San Gorgonio Pass is subject to sand storms, but the storms only sped up the process of contamination. Most people don't live in the sand, but if one of these vertical axis turbine bearings fails, it requires complete disassembly to replace the bearing.
- dchall8 commented on botronics's instructable Convert 3-AAA Flashlite to LithiumView Instructable »
Hi JerryA38, I realize this is an old post, but another reason to replace the 3AAA design is because you dropped the flashlight, and the only thing that broke was the flimsy battery holder.
- dchall8 commented on Nick70587's instructable DIY Manufactured FlagstoneView Instructable »
Nick, DUDE! I've seen a lot of faux rocks, and these are beautiful! You solved the edge problem, the surface 3-d problem, and you solved the surface roughness problem. Great job!I saw you poured small batches, and you made your own sand and cement batches, but about how much cement did you use per stone? A bag? Less? I'm thinking of going with 18x24-inch rectangular stones, and really like the cardboard and foam effects.
- dchall8 commented on crumpart's instructable Easy Stencil Screen PrintingView Instructable »
One thing I've learned from Instructables over the years is that you can substitute acrylic house paint for the expensive screen printing paint. Anyone who has gotten house paint on their clothes knows that it never comes out.
- dchall8 commented on TheP24's instructable Large Autonomous RC PlaneView Instructable »
Gluing plastic is its own art. You might try using E6000 glue available at any art store or art department at Walmart. Or bathtub caulk. Since you went to the trouble of printing spars, you could have covered the wings with tissue paper. We did that back in the old days (1950s). You had to use a doping compound to tighten and strengthen the loose(ish) tissue paper. Very thin woven cotton fabric would probably work, too, with dope. I'm thinking of an old bed sheet.
- dchall8 commented on Jeroen VDW's instructable Reclaimed Oak Beam LightView Instructable »
There is no denying the beauty of the solid beam versus, say, some 2x10s fixed together. But 50kg is awfully heavy. If you wanted to sell that, I would start at $3,000 USD.
- dchall8 commented on wimos's instructable Oreo HolderView Instructable »
Ooooo, ooooo, what if it had a slot at the bottom to make it an Oreo dispenser?!?!? Maybe with a pusher to give it a boost into your hand??
- dchall8 commented on carl5blum's instructable Extension Cord Storage LoopsView Instructable »
For years I coiled my cables like you do. One big disadvantage of coils is you have to uncoil them to use them. They tangle otherwise. Then I tried the slip knot loop with loop within loop. More recently I simply bring the two ends of the cable together, grab the middle and bring it to the ends, grab the new middle and bring that to the ends, etc. until it seems easy to handle. Then I take one of the ends and wrap that around the wad and poke it through one of the loops. By doing it like this I can unwrap the end, hold on to both ends, and toss the cable out with no tangles. It's magic. I first started doing it this way on a sail boat with a lot of lines to keep track of. It really works.
- dchall8 commented on jjohnson203's instructable Wall Map MuralView Instructable »
Here's a trick to fix color paint bleeding paint under the tape. You can fix this by painting a first coat with the color of the wall. If bleeding happens, it will be in the original color and should seal the tape to the original paint. Then you can go over it again with the color.
- dchall8 commented on mwawoodworks's instructable Dust Cyclone CartView Instructable »
I just don't understand the logic.Does there have to be logic to the spirit of volunteerism? What about simply sharing your knowledge or things you have learned in your hobby? That's more what I see this website being about from the git-go. I, too, am mildly disappointed when an Instructable requires buying plans to make it work. I can say there are many projects here where there are no details but also no plans. Detailed plans are not always needed to get a point across. With this one in particular, it's probably doable without plans. You explained how to customize the dimensions to any shopvac. I'm good with that.
- dchall8 commented on Mr Art and Photography's instructable Image Transfer TechniqueView Instructable »
If you don't need a gallon of gesso, you can use house paint. I used pigmented white to put an image on a t-shirt, but non pigmented or colored paint would work, too. Any hardware store has it in quart and sometimes smaller sampler sizes.
- dchall8 commented on Heejae Yang's instructable DIY Wind TunnelView Instructable »
Where did the idea come from to use straws to eliminate the turbulence? I've seen that done with water jets, but never for an air tunnel. You might put some dry ice or smoke next to the wind tunnel back by the fan to see if the fan is sucking in air from the back instead off through the front like you want. Ideally I think you would want to seal the fan as much as possible. The Vornado brand of fan is an example of a well ducted type of fan.
- dchall8 commented on DavidSkeptic's instructable Adding Wooden Splines and Some Nice Feet to Your Wooden BoxesView Instructable »
I ended up getting them online out of PVC. Here's the I'ble. https://www.instructables.com/PVC-House-Numbers/
- dchall8 commented on Thinkenstein's instructable PVC -- It's Great for InventionsView Instructable »
If I wanted to encapsulate something, I would use RTV silicone or any other caulk.
- dchall8 commented on Rice_and_beans's instructable Convert Ikea LED Candle to Smart Wifi CandleView Instructable »
A couple of ideas came to mind on this. First of all, great idea and implementation. I LOVE this. What about this idea: instead of hard wiring the candle, install a telephone receiver jack on the candle. Wire that to the candle, then you can use telephone wire for the connections. Connect and disconnect the wires with the clip on the end of the wire. Phone wires are solid copper and there are four in each wire. For the USB connections, you can buy a gang block that takes many phone jacks to collect them all for the USB connector. You could put a USB female on the phone block to take regular USB wires. And can they be made to flicker?
- dchall8 commented on Abhinav Peddi's instructable Mayo Maggi With CheeseView Instructable »
For the American market those look a lot like ramen noodles. I don't see any reason why the recipe would work any differently even though the masala looks like a liquid. There are many different flavors of ramen noodles available. Cilantro is what we call the coriander plant - grown from coriander seeds. Bread mix contains salt, oregano, garlic, pepper, basil, chili, and cheese. That is vague enough, but you should be able to come up with something tasty from your herb shelf. All in all, I agree with Jessy, this looks really good.
- dchall8 commented on Joerg Engels's instructable JoergeletteView Instructable »
My mind is racing with stuff to roll into the Joergelette. If I was to refer to this thing in English, would I pronounce it YORG-let or JORG-let or JORJ-let? Or something else?
- dchall8 commented on kolspielvogel's instructable Dog Leash ZiplineView Instructable »
I found a homeless chow chow in 1990. Brought her home, cleaned her up, and tried to keep her in. She chewed through my wooden fences to get out. I tried a zipline with my best rope. I had this 50-foot rope for years before the dog. I tied it between two trees and hook her up with a chain. She managed to stretch and loosen the rope enough that she could jump up and bite through it. She never ran away, which is to say she roamed the neighborhood and was always on the front porch when I returned, but you can't just have a chow chow roaming a family neighborhood like that.
- dchall8 commented on erinburrows's instructable How to Make Fluffy SlimeView Instructable »
What happens when this stuff dries out? Can you make an impression in it and have it remain? I don't need a perfect mold, but would like to form to some contours. Does it shrink? Does it crack?
- dchall8 commented on dchall8's instructable PVC House NumbersView Instructable »
I measured my level and it seems to be exactly 16 inches, so my mileage varied from yours. Maybe they heard your complaint.
- dchall8's instructable PVC House Numbers's weekly stats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMjtmsr3CqA Here is a link to a video showing how plastic injection molding works.
View Instructable »I just looked at the Precious Plastic site for the injector. They have plans and a video showing how to make it. There is lots of welding that could be done in wood or PVC if you ask me. Basically it is a large hot glue machine that starts with HDPE chips and ends with a stream of hot goo. This device could revolutionize the small scale recycling of HDPE.
- dchall8 commented on Amit_Jain's instructable Simple Name Plate
Did you use a real laser printer or an ink jet printer? My understanding it it has to be a laser print with carbon dust baked onto the paper. The entire baked "ink" layer is what transfers.
View Instructable »Some printers have a setting for mirror image.Another way to flip an image is to use an image viewer like Irfanview Horizontal Flip (the h key)
- dchall8 commented on dchall8's instructable PVC House NumbersView Instructable »
Thanks for reading the 'ible and thanks for the tip about the level. It never occurs to you to double check a scale that looks right. I'll check mine at lunch today.
- dchall8 commented on Xolia's instructable Repurpose Old Smartphone As Video MonitorView Instructable »
Good writeup. I used an app called Alfred and caught an intruder cat breaking into our house during the night through our doggie doors and eating my cat's food.
- dchall8 commented on emrude's instructable Fixing a Broken Seatbelt LatchView Instructable »
Virtually nobody knows this but nylon seat belts go bad just sitting around. They go bad faster if they get any oil on them. Sources of oil might be suntan lotion, hand lotion, or the occasional drippy taco. If the seat belt looks dirty, it is very likely that the dirt is embedded in some oil. They go bad from wear and rubbing. If it is frayed it should be replaced. If the seat belt is stiff in places, replace it. If the seat belt has ever been stretched by an accident, it needs to be replaced. And in general the useful life of a pristine seat belt is only 10 years. If your car is 15 years old it needs new belts all around. Someone should write an Instructable about remaking seat belts. You can buy rolls of the belt webbing at a car upholstery shop.
- dchall8 commented on hoppyandjumpy's instructable What Is the BEST Glue for Sole Shoe Repair???View Instructable »
Is that the super sticky, tar-like substance I used on my car, ONCE, and then swore I'd pay for the real gasket?? If this works for shoes, then I want to retract my original condemnation of the stuff. Kudos to you for finding a use for it.
- dchall8 commented on In The Kitchen With Matt's instructable Perfect Grilled Cheese SandwichView Instructable »
We had some extra bread so my wife has been going crazy with the grilled cheese theme. Last night I had grilled cheese with brie and sauteed mushrooms. Tonight we having Oxajacan style string cheese (mozarella is easier to find), mushrooms, and after spreading the butter on the bread, she spreads salsa and then fries it. If if the bread is thick like yours, we mash it down flatter first. That is an improvement because the cheese melts faster. If you have a lot of sandwiches to make, you can bake them on a rimmed cookie sheet with another rimmed cookie sheet mashed down on top. Both sides get cooked at once. I believe she does it at 375. Or you can make an entire Italian loaf with the cheese and mushrooms or tomato slices, mash it with the sheets and bake, then cut it into half sand…
see more » - dchall8 commented on DavidSkeptic's instructable Adding Wooden Splines and Some Nice Feet to Your Wooden BoxesView Instructable »
How do you do the lettering? I want to do house numbers in a modern font.
- dchall8 commented on kenyer's instructable Home Made Sock ShoesView Instructable »
If there is an oogoo contest, I vote for this project. The result is beautiful. This might be the best oogoo proj I've ever seen. One comment, though. The reason the silicone sets up with the powder (corn starch in your case) is that the powder holds moisture. Normally silicone sets upon contact with the humidity in the air, so it forms an outer skin which gradually vulcanizes from the outside in. Once the skin forms, it usually will not stick to anything. When you mix it with the powder, the silicone skins everywhere all at once. So if you mix it for too long, or if you wait too long before sticking your socked foot into the mix, it will skin and no longer adhere to the sock. I'm thinking you might end up with a sock and a separate form with your footprint embedded in it as if y…
see more » - dchall8 commented on frollard's instructable How to Refill a Foaming Hand-soap ContainerView Instructable »
You never know! And you're welcome. I use a 1:2 soap to water mix now and most of my problems have gone away. I still get the soap filling the cup and making the plunger not work right. Now instead of disassembling the pump, I turn the pump upside down and stick the nozzle into the soap container. Sometimes the soap in the cup will drain out by itself. Sometimes I can give the plunger a minute push and that will start the flow. And sometimes I have to pump the plunger completely several times. That brings out a soggy foam, but it is effective in draining the cup. Put it all back together and it works. Funny that it's been 11 years, and they have not improved the foamy pump plungers.
- dchall8 commented on MichaelsTestKitchen's instructable Beer BreadView Instructable »
+1 for beer bread. I don't like the bitter flavor from beer so I use blueberry ale. It makes an amazing blueberry flavored bread.
- dchall8 commented on jleslie48's instructable Floating Wet Lounger Water Pad/raft for 6, Under $100View Instructable »
Stuff like this is why I like Instructables. Great project!
- dchall8 commented on ollie242's instructable Casting Grippy Silicone TyresView Instructable »
Very nice. With colored silicone you could match your robot colors.
- dchall8 commented on 5h0ck3r's instructable DIY Dentures : a Post-Surgical PlanView Instructable »
A-MAZING! I haven't voted in one of these in 10 years. You're getting my first vote.
- dchall8 commented on Sean of Earth's instructable Convert Light Fitting to LED ClusterView Instructable »
Very clever and resourceful. I happen to live in a 'dark sky' region of Texas, so we would have to put a lamp shade over it, but still, very well done.
- dchall8 commented on D-TeK's instructable Paper and Water StencilView Instructable »
I read it through without watching the video. I thought I was misunderstanding what the water was for, but the video makes it clear. The water turns the paper into a sticky template. That's kind of a low budget genius way to do that.
- dchall8 commented on HydeTheJekyll's instructable Vacuum Slow Cooker Filament RestorationView Instructable »
What is filament?
- dchall8 commented on jimbles's instructable Raspberry MeadView Instructable »
I just got interested in mead, so forgive the extended delay in replying. I made very good paint stirrer out of a wire coat hanger. For this application I would probably make it as straight as possible and then slightly curve it into an S shape to fit through the bottleneck and still give it some shape. You could sterilize it with everclear or 151 rum before using.
- dchall8 commented on gotang's instructable Sous Vide Cooker on the CheapView Instructable »
This is great, but it took me to the end of the project to understand what this is. So I flipped back to the top and you did explain it in a convoluted way. Basically you plug this temp controller into the wall, drop the themo probe into the water, and plug the crock pot into the temp controller. The temp controller controls whether the crock pot is on or not based on water temp. That is sweet! Very nice build, too. Clean, neat, and professional looking.
- dchall8 commented on cw96822's instructable Bike Trailer Shopping CartView Instructable »
You left out the wheel assembly. What do you use for an axle? How is the axle connected to the cart and to the wheels? What kind of wheels are those and where did you find them? What is the front wheel and how did you attach that?
- dchall8 commented on Yoruk's instructable How to Make French Cheese GougèresView Instructable »
I wasn't sure what the French called these, but this is great. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but gougères is pronounced goo-zher with only a slight emphasis on the second syllable. For New Years I made pão de queijo, the Brazillian rough equivalent of these pastry balls. Pão de queijo is made with tapioca flour, so the result is supposed to have a gummy center, and it did. I will use your recipe with regular flour next time plus with cayenne pepper to spice it up. Minced jalapeno or green chili would be good, too.
- dchall8 commented on axeman2ooo's instructable PVC Children's TeepeeView Instructable »
Well stone the crows! I thought you were a Brit. Sorry, very sorry, for that confusion. Sewing was not universally women's work in the 1800s; however, in the native cultures, everything about the tipi was. This includes the skinning the bison, tanning, sewing, cutting and shaping poles, setup, take down, and all the customization and decoration was done by the women. Europeans who wanted to make a tipi thought it was some mystical secret, because the native men they asked would not tell them. Turns out they should have been talking to the women. So I wasn't trying to comment on political correctness - only state a historical point of interest. My ultimate point there was that a more authentic tipi is much simpler to build than yours. Once the semicircle is cut, it's ready to assemb…
see more » - dchall8 commented on Modustrial Maker's instructable Make a "Marble" Table From ConcreteView Instructable »
At $35 a bag it is wildly more expensive, but we're not building a house. Certainly you cannot buy a marble slab for anywhere near what this costs. Table top is an excellent application for GFRC.
- dchall8 commented on Modustrial Maker's instructable Make a "Marble" Table From ConcreteView Instructable »
Never heard of GFRC. Can you get it at Home Depot or Lowe's? Doesn't your poured concrete get minute bubbles forming against the Melamine? I never figured out how to conquer the bubbles problem.
- dchall8 commented on Raymond Olive's instructable 3d Silhouette Floor Clock
Oh and the sand in the base is a great idea. Kudos.
View Instructable »That looks great!What is a bell hanger and where would I find one? How does it connect the clock to the frame? Would Command Hooks work?
- dchall8 commented on axeman2ooo's instructable PVC Children's TeepeeView Instructable »
Wow! That's a lot of hard work. The apparatus you describe will be shaped like a tipi and will fool 95% of people, but the American Indians did not go to the trouble you did. They sewed skins together into a half circle, cut 10-20 poles about 22 feet tall, tied a tripod of poles together near the top, and tied a rope to the skin to raise the skin up the poles. Interestingly this was 100% women's work, so if you ask a Crow or Sioux man how to make a tipi, he won't know. Once the tipi was constructed it could be raised or disassembled in minutes. PVC is a great idea for poles. If you have bamboo growing nearby, you can use those, too. The poles need to be about 1-2 feet longer than the skin radius. For canvas I would want at least 3/4-inch PVC pipe. 1-inch would be preferred. Inst…
see more » - dchall8 commented on air.command's instructable Water Rocket 2-Stage Mechanism
While this I'ble is very good at guiding the construction (which is genius in the use of hardware store parts), I had no vision of how the thing worked. There is a lot of "do this and do that," but nothing explaining how the parts work together. After reading all the way through I finally got to the end with a link to an external website where the operation was explained in a few paragraphs. Now when I go back to the top I have a context as to what you're doing, why, and how the parts work together to separate the 1st stage from the 2nd stage. Here's a suggestion to describe how this mechanism works.This water rocket stage release mechanism was developed to provide automatic staging of multi-stage water rockets. On the launch pad the mechanism locks the two stages together b…
see more »And now that I think a little more about it, would parts of this system make a much better ground launch pressurization and fly-away nozzle for a 1 stage rocket? Again, not having tried it, it seems like the smaller nozzle you use would work better than the 1/2-inch open bottle neck nozzle.
View Instructable »As I continue to reply to myself, I found several sources for the Gardenia Launcher. Good stuff.
- dchall8 commented on KarenK116's instructable PVC Pipe Rain StickView Instructable »
Pretty genius
- dchall8 commented on Andrew Sleigh's instructable How to Make a Tyvek WalletView Instructable »
I got the glue at Michael's Hobby store. There are several fabric glues made under the same name. I used the one I perceived to be the most permanent. I'm not near my supplies at the moment, but I remember buying more than one bottle just in case the first one didn't work. So I couldn't tell you which one I used even if I found them. But I could narrow it down to those two.
- dchall8 commented on Andrew Sleigh's instructable How to Make a Tyvek WalletView Instructable »
Very nice! I made a tri-fold Tyvek wallet back in 2009. I figured being Tyvek it would be the last wallet I ever needed, but I was wrong. Tyvek will not tear or rip, but it will wear out. I still use it although it looks shredded. I used a FedEX envelope for the Tyvek and I used fabric glue instead of thread to hold it together. The glue worked perfectly.
- dchall8 commented on EdwardJ13's instructable Document Camera & ScannerView Instructable »
Beautiful. When I saw the picture I thought, "Great! Another cardboard project!!" But it's plywood. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be made from cardboard. Glue several pieces of corrugated cardboard with the corrugations going across each other and you end up with a very strong, thin structure. I used to work on a team to photograph old documents. We looked into many different devices like this, but technology had not caught up. Lighting was the main problem. With flat LED under-counter lights, you could easily illuminate this without adding bulk or much weight. String lights would work mounted underneath. The light from the phone turned out to be too uneven at the edges, so we were using external desk lamps (2008 - no LEDs yet). Great project. Thanks.
- dchall8 commented on T0BY's instructable Build Your Own Adirondack Chair PlansView Instructable »
Having gone through the exercise, nice job by the way (!), if you wanted to make the seating height at least 6 inches higher, what would you change? I'm both tall and getting older. Getting up out of an Adirondack Chair ain't what it used to be.
- dchall8 commented on Amano_Fix It's instructable Make Your Own Chicken (or Beef) BrothView Instructable »
Very nice.My wife makes chicken broth (it jells). She doesn't bake anything more than what is already cooked. She uses skin and bones. Bones are broken with pliers before cooking to let the marrow out.
- dchall8 commented on Tango172's instructable Turn a Toy Gun Into an Awesome Prop Weapon!View Instructable »
I just watched Adam Savage do a Nerf gun. He used a product called Rub and Buff to put a highlight on the rubbed edges of the weapon. Rub and Buff is a paste made with mica. Apparently mica powders and pastes are used in other hobbies. A quick substitute for mica powder is women's eye shadow - the metallic ones. So I'm looking for a palette of metallic eye shadows.
- dchall8 commented on Tango172's instructable Turn a Toy Gun Into an Awesome Prop Weapon!View Instructable »
You inspired me. I started with a $3.00 dart gun from the grocery store. Painted with Rustoleum Silver Metalic (left side) and Bronze (right side). Aged the left with black and dark brown acrylics. Highlighted the left with silver Sharpie and right with Gold Sharpie. Will be aging the right side with the brown to start and see where that goes. Final will be Rustoleum clear coat. Thanks!
- dchall8 commented on mmchenry's instructable Reforming Soap ScrapsView Instructable »
Back in 2007 the MicroPlane brand was the only one that had a zesting quality blade. I believe there are others now. Look for the finest grater you can get at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
- dchall8 commented on diycreators's instructable How to Make a Fire BowlView Instructable »
If you make another one, pull the concrete out of the bowls right after it sets, and then sand the top flat. Concrete that has not hardened completely is much easier to sand.
- dchall8 commented on degrooty's instructable Laser Cut StonesView Instructable »
I get the idea of hiding a spare key, but I don't get the idea of granting unlimited and forever access to anyone who has a memory or has a camera on their cell phone.
- dchall8 commented on zposner's instructable Hose RevivalView Instructable »
gm280 has the start for stopping leaks. Brass is a funny metal, and all hoses and faucets come with brass parts. When you get a leak in a brass fitting, the water will erode the brass where it is leaking. I wasn't trying to demonstrate that concept, but I ended up eroding an expensive, solid brass, Sears Craftsman female fitting just 30 minutes after using it for the first time. I didn't even need a magnifying glass to see it. I could see it and feel it with my fingernail. So if you are going to use brass, use the hose washer and tighten it. Also make sure the male sides of the fitting are PERFECTLY flat across. This starts with the hose bib and goes to the ends of the hoses. In order to ensure they are flat you can use a file to flatten or do what I do. I cut off the ends and r…
see more » - dchall8 commented on MadeByBarb's instructable DIY Concrete Faux Geode LampView Instructable »
Good project. There's probably a (more expensive) way to do that with modeling clay if you don't want to get dusty.
- dchall8 commented on fannybekker's instructable Homemade SlimeView Instructable »
If you leave this out, will it harden?
- dchall8 commented on RoddyTheGreat's instructable Penknife GripView Instructable »
After many years, how is the Sugru holding up? Have you had to replace it?
Very clever addition to the block. I might point out that you are using your knife block wrong. Don't worry, because 99.99% of everyone uses theirs wrong, too. Your knife blades are rubbing against the wood in storage. There are two issues with this. 1) it dulls the sharpness of the blade, and 2) it's unsanitary.