Category: Home Ec

Things around the home & hearth

OXO Not-salt Grinder: Aluminum Shaft

Having recently emptied the OXO pepper grinder we (mistakenly?) bought as a salt mill, I took it apart for a deep rinsing and cleanup:

OXO salt-pepper mill – aluminum shaft

It turns out the somewhat corroded square shaft is aluminum, neither the cheap steel I expected nor the stainless steel it should be. Perhaps OXO cost-reduced the shaft, discovered aluminum is a poor choice in a saline environment, and changed the packaging to compensate?

Removing / installing the Jesus clip requires careful whacking with a hollow-tip punch against the shaft, with the whole affair laid flat on shop towels, the handle held down to prevent rotation, and the wrap-around body capturing the escaping clip.

Shaft corrosion as of Summer 2020:

OXO Salt Mill – corrosion

Soaking the body in hot water got rid of salt crusts and filled the shell with water. There being no way to completely dry the thing, I parked it in the sun for a day, refilled it, and was unsurprised when the (dried) salt turned into an assortment of moist crystals.

We obviously need a real salt mill …

2021-10-23

Dirt Devil Vacuum Tool Adapters

Being the domain expert for adapters between a new vacuum cleaner and old tools, this made sense (even though it’s not our vacuum):

Dirt Devil Nozzle Bushing - solid model — Dirt Devil Nozzle Bushing – solid model

The notch snaps into a Dirt Devil Power Stick vacuum cleaner and the tapered end fits a variety of old tools for other vacuum cleaners:

Dirt Devil Nozzle Bushing top view - solid model — Dirt Devil Nozzle Bushing top view – solid model

Having some experience breaking thin-walled adapters, these have reinforcement from a PVC tube:

Dirt Devil adapter - parts — Dirt Devil adapter – parts

A smear of epoxy around the interior holds the tube in place:

Dirt Devil adapters - assembled — Dirt Devil adapters – assembled

Building the critical dimensions with a 3D printed part simplified the project, because I could (and did!) tweak the OpenSCAD code to match the tapers to the tools. Turning four of those tubes from a chunk of PVC conduit, however, makes a story for another day.

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Dirt Devil nozzle adapter
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU 2021-10

	// Tool taper shift
	Finesse = -0.1; // [-0.5:0.1:0.5]

	// PVC pipe liner
	PipeOD = 28.5;

	/* [Hidden] */

	//- Extrusion parameters

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 0.40;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly

	//———————-
	// Dimensions

	TAPER_MIN = 0;
	TAPER_MAX = 1;
	TAPER_LENGTH = 2;

	Socket = [36.0,37.0,40.0];

	LockringDia = 33.5;
	LockringWidth = 4.5;
	LockringOffset = 2.5;

	Tool = [Finesse,Finesse,0] + [30.0,31.1,30.0];

	AdapterOAL = Socket[TAPER_LENGTH] + Tool[TAPER_LENGTH];

	NumSides = 36;
	$fn = NumSides;

	//———————-
	// Useful routines

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes

	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);

	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);

	cylinder(r=(FixDia + HoleWindage)/2,h=Height,$fn=Sides);

	}


	//——————-
	// Define it!

	module Adapter() {

	difference() {
	union() {
	difference() {
	cylinder(d1=Socket[TAPER_MIN],d2=Socket[TAPER_MAX],h=Socket[TAPER_LENGTH]);
	translate([0,0,LockringOffset])
	cylinder(d=2*Socket[TAPER_MAX],h=LockringWidth);
	}

	cylinder(d=LockringDia,h=Socket[TAPER_LENGTH]);
	translate([0,0,LockringOffset + 0.75*LockringWidth])
	cylinder(d1=LockringDia,d2=Socket[TAPER_MIN],h=0.25*LockringWidth);

	translate([0,0,Socket[TAPER_LENGTH]])
	cylinder(d1=Tool[TAPER_MAX],d2=Tool[TAPER_MIN],h=Tool[TAPER_LENGTH]);
	}
	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	PolyCyl(PipeOD,AdapterOAL + 2*Protrusion,NumSides);
	}

	}

	//———————-
	// Build it!

	Adapter();

view raw Dirt Devil Nozzle Bushing.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

The taper in the code almost certainly won’t fit whatever tool you have: measure thrice, print twice, and maybe fit once …

2021-10-06

Another Snapper

An approaching cyclist warned to watch out for the snapping turtle:

Snapping Turtle – DCRT near Page Park – front – 2021-09-24

This one claims the pond near Page Industrial Park along the Dutchess Rail Trail:

Snapping Turtle – DCRT near Page Park – rear – 2021-09-24

We’ll not dispute any snapper’s territory!

I’m hauling PYO apples from Prospect Hill Orchards in the hills on the west side of the Hudson; it was a lovely fall day for a 25 mile ride!

2021-10-03
Bondhus Wrench Replacement

The Bondhus Lifetime Guarantee works, as a replacement wrench just arrived:

Bondhus hex wrenches – 7-64 ball end – replacement

A close look at the aligned tips suggests the defective wrench blank was mis-chucked in the machine cutting the ball end:

Bondhus hex wrenches – 7-64 ball end – replacement – detail

All’s well that ends well: thank you, Bondhus!

2021-09-30
Rear Running Light: Too-aggressive Turning

The same lathe fixture and double-sided duct tape trick I used for the amber running light’s end cap should have worked for this one, but only after I re-learned the lesson about taking sissy cuts:

Tour Easy Rear Running Light – end cap fixture – swirled adhesive

Yet another snippet of tape and sissy cuts produced a better result:

Tour Easy Rear Running Light – end cap

Protip: when you affix an aluminum disk bandsawed from a scrap of nonstick griddle to a lathe fixture, the adhesive will grip the disk in only one orientation.

2021-09-21
Beverage Faucet Replacement

The lesser kitchen faucet began dribbling and required replacement, as there are no user serviceable parts within. One of the 3D printed adapters I built during the previous iteration had disintegrated:

Beverage faucet base plate adapter disintegration

The new faucet came with a somewhat different baseplate and I managed to conjure a firm, sealed mount from the various parts without further construction.

The nicely curved brass snout is the third in my collection. Surely they’ll come in handy for something!

While I was in a plumbing state of mind, I again replaced the spout O-rings in the never-sufficiently-to-be-damned American Standard Elite (hah!) faucet, as it was also dribbling.

This time, I used oxalic acid to remove the assorted scale and crud inside the spout. It seemed to be more effective than the usual white vinegar, although nothing seems to preserve the O-rings.

2021-09-18
Bat House

We found this critter while checking for water after Hurricane Ida drenched the area:

Bat on attic vent

It’s on the outside of the vent screen and we have no objection.

We should put up a bat house to encourage more of its friends to hang out with us …

2021-09-12