Archive for the 'Projects' Category

Idle hands

Posted by on December 19th 2021 in Making stuff, Projects, Video (YouTube, Vimeo etc.)

I'd stumbled across this Veritasium* clip about the behaviour of rotating bodies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VPfZ_XzisU (don't ask why I was stumbling anywhere near there). Interesting stuff. I've lost count of how many times I've thrown objects into the air since watching it.

Then I watched the clip about using a domestic microwave oven to make plasma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCrtk-pyP0I

Chris was intrigued and we were bored (me with being more-or-less confined to barracks, Chris after far too many months of working from home), so we spent an hour or so nuking grapes.

Like most experiments, it was a mix of success and failure. Yes, we made plasma. No, we didn't contain it. The oven door now has a hole where said plasma tried to escape:

 

 

Maybe we should have watched this clip before we rushed headlong towards meltdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0u8Vtf2GoQ

Stay safe, have fun, and remember this: if the two conflict, always go for the fun.

🙂

* If you enjoyed those two Veritasium clips, you should have a look at the huge list of other interesting content there - there's something for just about anyone. I recommend the item that deals with the science behind tenpin bowling.

Hen’s teeth

Posted by on April 25th 2017 in Projects, Shiny new kit
Tags: ,

These are as rare as rocking-horse shit and could well be the world's last decent pair in my current size*:

Dutch Army DPM trousers. Renowned for their durable thicker temperate-rated fabric and for their superb no-drawcord no-belt-required waist-adjustment system which allows the waist-band for be resized +/- 2 inches, or the complete top-end to be opened, with minimal hassle.

I was lucky to find these, they were on Fleabay, described as "used, like new" or something like that. When they arrived I was pleased to see that they were unissued, unmarked and still in their original unopened military packaging. Result!

But this could be the last pair I ever find. I might have to make the move to temperate-weight MTP jobs which don't have the same durability and versatility. That said, I do already have some ongoing projects involving MTP 🙂

Air Arms S200 Mk II with HuMa external regulator, quick-fill & gauge, Mobius ActionCam (25mm lens) & USB power-bank, a GBFO scope and some MTP tape.

It's a work-in-progress 🙂

* 80-96-112 or 7585/9000 - another work-in-progress 🙁

Observatory progress – warm-room nearly finished

Posted by on November 13th 2011 in Astrostuff, Making stuff, Projects

Done on the cheap...

  • Second-hand slabs from eBay for the base
  • Free old second-hand shed for most of the walls (thanks to Brian)
  • Free reclaimed chipboard for the roof, inside and out (thanks to Paul)
  • Free reclaimed MDF for lining the walls (thanks to Marc)
  • Free reclaimed 8" x 1" T&G planks for the floor (thanks to Geoff)
  • Free second-hand carpets (thanks to Mum and Dad)
  • Free cadged off-cut of kitchen worktop for the work-desk (thanks to Graham)
  • Even the creosote was bartered from my neighbour, in exchange for some unwanted roofing-felt (thanks again to Paul)
  • Oh, and free quality-control, tea-making and labour (thanks to Graham, Geoff and Ella)

Had to shell out for felt/primer/adhesive, some four-by-twos for the floor frame, a few bits of ship-lap cladding from the timber-merchant, dirt-cheap loft-insulation for inside the walls and ceiling, some cheap lighting from Ikea and some other sundry electrical bits.

 

 

It's usable now but there are a few things still on the to-do list:

  • Fit the cadged-for-free reclaimed guttering/downpipes to direct the run-off into water-butts
  • Paint the inside, using up old paint that I have in the attic
  • Get the old kettle from the attic and install it
  • Get shot of the set of encyclopaedias that we didn't have the heart to burn on bonfire night

Maybe soon the weather will be suitable for using the place for sky-watching rather than book-storage.

Observatory progress – Phase 7 – The last few bits

Posted by on June 18th 2009 in Astrostuff, Making stuff, Projects

I've received a few emails from folk asking how much more needs doing to the astroshed, and indeed wondering why it doesn't fall to bits, go off the rails or just refuse to close due to misalignment. Hopefully the following pics and text will be sufficient to answer such probing questions:

 

In order to allow the scope to fit inside in the "parked" position, the roof sits a good three inches
above the shed walls to give sufficient clearance.The resulting gap has been covered with a couple of
rows of feather-edge timber, fixed to the roof. Regarding the other stuff in view, a neighbour kindly
donated some carpet and I dug around in the attic to find the 1960s coffee-table.
The plastic chair is just one of many that Chris wants me to take to the tip.

Another row of feather-edge timber creates an overlap twixt shed-walls and roof-frame on one of the long sides.
This setup is weatherproof but still allows good airflow to minimise condensation.

The wheels are cheap 40mm fixed castors, the channel is a strip of plastic conduit braced with some spare stripwood with chamfered ends.
The castor-wheels have sufficient sideplay to allow for a reasonable amount of flex/warp of the runner.

The leccy's all sorted out, with IP55 or better fittings throughout for anything mains-related,
and with power being supplied via an RCD-protected steel-armoured cable circuit...

... which means that the cheap Ikea low-voltage halogen lamps above the doors are now up and running.
Also visible above is the guide-wheel arrangement that ensures that the guide-rail fixed beneath the ridge of the roof
is always central when the roof is closed or in motion. The barrel-bolt serves an obvious purpose.

Here's a view of the guide-wheel arrangement at the other end of the shed.
The guide-rail is chamfered at the end to ensure that it always ends up between the wheels.

At the moment there isn't much wiring around the pier, but I'm sure that after a few weeks the thing will be festooned with all sorts of gadgetry.
I'm aiming to have just the one "in" cable (for power) and one "out" cable (for data (USB)).

The planned change to the window-wall has been completed - the windows have gone, to allow a better view to the south.
A "mock" panel has been fixed to the moving frame, the results are shown below:

This means that there's now no need to conform to the standard idea of having the upper section of the southern wall on a hinged flap.

As you can see, there's plenty of "gap" to look through.
I knocked up a small removable roof-panel (visible just behind the scope) which serves several purposes -
it's a draught-reducer, it provides shade from the night-lights at the old folks' home just up the way,
and it prevents the neighbours from peering over the fence to see what's going on.

So, it's about finished. The kettle and the beer-fridge will go in when I've put up shelves for them.
The only thing still needed is a small fire-extinguisher.
That, and some clear nights so that I can get on with some observing.

Observatory progress – Phase 6 – It works!

Posted by on May 29th 2009 in Astrostuff, Making stuff, Projects

Observatory progress – Phase 6 continued

Posted by on May 29th 2009 in Astrostuff, Making stuff, Projects

Yep, it fits, purlins and all:

 

 

 

Tomorrow I’ll get more nails for it and fix it on properly.