As expected, the mis-assembled cart corrals in the Walmart parking lot remain that way. One corral has an additional feature that’s surely been there since Day 0:
On the upside, that’s a high-reliability, high-availability trash can.
Author: Ed
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Vacuum Tube LEDs: 6H6GT Dual Diode
Having accumulated a set of octal tube base clamps, it’s now a matter of selecting the proper clamp for each tube:
Octal tube base V-block clamps The process of shell-drilling the tube base, drilling the hard drive platter, printing a tube socket and case, wiring up the Arduino and base LED, then assembling the whole thing requires a bit of manual labor, assisted by some moderately exotic shop machinery.
The getter flash atop this small 6H6GT dual diode tube rules out a cap and there’s not enough space for a side light:
6H6GT – on platter Fortunately, the base LED completely lights the internal glass:
6H6GT – purple phase The slowly changing color would make a fine night light:
6H6GT – cyan phase It must be Art!
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Cast Iron Pan Electrolysis: Anode Fragment
Sacrificing a scrap EMI shield from a junked PC as the electrolysis anode, I grabbed a tab with the battery charger clamp:
Cast iron pan electrolysis – bucket Turns out it didn’t survive the encounter:
Cast iron pan electrolysis – anode front That white blob extends around to the other side:
Cast iron pan electrolysis – anode rear Yeah, it got hot enough to melt a blob from the 6 gallon plastic bucket before burning through.
I tossed that into the garage so I wouldn’t forget it aaaand here we are …
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Hand Sprayer Hose Kink Prevention
Mary’s new half-gallon sprayer arrived with a kink in the hose just below the handle, which is about what you’d expect from a non-reinforced plastic tube jammed into the smallest possible box containing both the sprayer and its wand. Fortunately, the Box o’ Springs had one that just fit the hose and jammed firmly into the handle:
Sprayer hose with kink-resisting spring The kink slowly worked its way out after being surrounded by the spring and shouldn’t come back.
That was easy…
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Vacuum Tube LEDs: 5U4GB Vacuum Rectifier with Sidelight
A larger version of the V-block clamp accommodates the 35 mm = 1-3/8 inch octal base of a 5U4GB Full-Wave Vacuum Rectifier tube:
5U4GB – spigot milling The evacuation tip nearly touched the inside end of the base spigot!
I had to cut the shaft and half the body off the shell drill in order to fit it into the space above the tube base and below the chuck:
5U4GB – base shell drilling A slightly larger shell drill would still fit within the pin circle, but the maximum possible hole diameter in the base really isn’t all that much larger:
5U4GB – base opening The getter flash covers the entire top of this tube, so I conjured a side light for a rectangular knockoff Neopixel:
Vacuum Tube Lights – side light – solid model There’s no orientation that doesn’t require support:
Vacuum Tube Lights – side light support – Slic3r preview A little prying with a small screwdriver and some pulling with a needlenose pliers extracted those blobs. All the visible surfaces remained undamaged and I cleaned up the curved side with a big rat-tail file.
I wired the Arduino and Neopixels, masked a spot on the side of the tube (to improve both alignment and provide protection from slobbered epoxy), applied epoxy, and taped it in place until it cured:
5U4GB – sidelight epoxy curing The end result looks great:
5U4GB Full-wave vacuum rectifier – side and base illumination It currently sends Morse code through the base LED, but it’s much too stately for that.
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American Standard Kitchen Faucet: Ceramic Valve
It seems everybody must disassemble an American Standard kitchen faucet to replace the spout seal O-rings, as my description of How It’s Done has remained in the top five most popular posts since I wrote it up in 2009.
About two years ago, I replaced the valve cartridge with a (presumably) Genuine Replacement; unlike the O-rings, the original valve lasted for nigh onto a decade. A few weeks ago, the replacement valve began squeaking and dribbling: nothing lasts any more. Another (presumably) Genuine Replacement, this time from Amazon, seems visually identical to the previous one and we’ll see how long it lasts.
I always wondered what was inside those faucets and, after breaking off the latching tabs in the big housing to the upper right, now I know:
American Standard Faucet – disassembled You get a bunch of stuff for twelve bucks! The stainless steel valve actuator is off to the right, still grabbed in the bench vise.
The valve action comes from those two intricate ceramic blocks with a watertight sliding fit:
American Standard Faucet – ceramic valve parts In fact, you (well, I) can wring the slabs together, just like a pair of gauge blocks. That kind of ultra-smooth surface must be useful for some other purpose, even though I can’t imagine what it might be…
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Mother In Law’s Tongue Plant: Flower Season
Both of us began sniffling and sneezing in early October, long after the outdoor flowers faded away, and finally remembered to check the Mother In Law’s Tongue:
Mother In Law Plant – flowering It’s that time of the year again: we’re both wildly allergic to a houseplant with weird flowers. Even after cutting the stalk off and deporting it outdoors, we’re still sniffly.
The blossoms produce so much nectar that the droplets near the base of each flower eventually fall off, making a mess on the floor if the stalk tilts over far enough.
We kept it when we helped Mom move out of the Ancestral House, long ago, and it’s still going strong.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 