The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Category: Oddities

Who’d’a thunk it?

  • Blog Summary: 2022

    A blog about GRBL configuration and water heat anode rod wrenches, perhaps with a few pictures, would have killer SEO:

    Home page / Archives21053
    CNC 3018-Pro: GRBL Configuration5341
    Why You Need a 6-Point Socket to Remove a Water Heater Anode Rod5197
    G-Code and M-Code Grand Master List3250
    Toyota Sienna: ABS Trouble Codes2385
    American Standard Elite Kitchen Faucet Disassembly2297
    Homage Tektronix Circuit Computer1898
    Subaru Forester Fuse Boxes1607
    Bed Bugs: Thermal Kill1581
    Broom Handle Screw Thread: Replacement Plug1512
    Kensington Expert Mouse Trackball: Scroll Ring Troubles943
    Whirlpool Water Heater “Lifetime” Warranty: The Good and the Bad922
    Digital Tattoo Power Supply: Polarity Doesn’t Matter868
    Auto-V.I.N Gauge Scam829
    Review Phreesia Authorization827
    Baofeng UV-5R Squelch Settings806
    Raspberry Pi: Forcing VNC Display Resolution777
    Kenmore 158.17032 Handwheel Clutch Disassembly758
    2000 Toyota Sienna: Replacing the Bank 1 Sensor 2 Oxygen Sensor751
    Bafang USB Programming Adapter747
    Removing a Water Heater Anode Rod724
    CNC 3018-Pro: DRV8825 Hack for 1:8 Microstep Mode710
    Low Budget Bench Power Supply691
    Kensington Expert Mouse Scroll Ring Fix648
    Juki JC-001 Foot Control: Resolving Uncommanded Thread Cutting646
    Browning Hi-Power Magazine Dimensions633
    Displaying Variables in Gnuplot622
    Replacing Phil Wood Hub Bearings619
    Makerbot-style Endstop Power Adapter for Protoneer Arduino CNC Shield593
    Schwab / Symantec VIP Access vs. Yubikey581
    Shimano SPD Pedals: Creaking Resolved573
    Raspberry Pi Interrupts vs. Rotary Encoder566
    Kohl’s Guest WiFi Terms & Conditions: The Short Version558
    GRBL Error 33: Arc Coordinates vs. Decimal Places516
    Abusing a Leather Punch for Manhattan-Style Circuit Construction515
    OMTech 60 W Laser: Adjustable Honeycomb Stops511
    LTSpice Diode Models Sorted By Forward Voltage511
    Why You Shouldn’t Use Heat Pumps in the Northeast US509
    HP-48GX Calculator Disassembly: Case Rivets508
    Homage Tektronix Circuit Computer: Laser-Engraved Hairline Tests504
    Homebrew Magnetizer-Demagnetizer488
    Quick-and-easy IR-passing / Visible-blocking Optical Filter475
    Old Kenmore Sewing Machine Foot Control Repair467
    Reversible Belt Buckle: Post Restaking464
    Toyota Sienna: Rear ABS / Speed Sensor Failure461
    Mini-Lathe Tailstock: Alignment455
    Philips Sonicare Essence 5000: Battery Replacement445
    Mysterious Noise in Toyota Sienna Minivan: Fixed!440
    Demolition Card GTA 5-10-9434
    Icecast and Ezstream Configuration424
    OMTech 60 W Laser: Controlling the Air Assist Pump418
    Multimeter Range Switch Contacts: Whoops!417
    Chili Powder Beetles410
    Mini-Lathe Metric Threading: 21 Tooth Gear407
    Water Bottle Spring Cap Repair404
    Baofeng UV-5: Squelch Tail Elimination399

    So much for all the techie stuff.

    Overall readership continues to decline, which would matter a whole lot more were I drumming up business engagement:

    Page Views - monthly 2008-2022
    Page Views – monthly 2008-2022

    My shop notes occasionally come in handy for other folks, so it’s not a dead loss …

  • More Laser-Cut Shop Wipes

    More Laser-Cut Shop Wipes

    A filled box of worn-out clothing produced more shop wipes:

    Laser-cut Shop Wipes - assortment
    Laser-cut Shop Wipes – assortment

    The last few pieces were a bit finicky, but provided good on-the-fly practice with linear arrays:

    Shop Wipe - LightBurn setup
    Shop Wipe – LightBurn setup

    This trick never grows old:

    Laser-cut Shop Wipes - as-cut
    Laser-cut Shop Wipes – as-cut

    I washed those neat stacks (in their very own load!), which didn’t turn out well:

    Laser-cut Shop Wipes - washed
    Laser-cut Shop Wipes – washed

    They’ll get used no matter what they look like!

  • Christmas Cookies: Mystery Date Code

    Christmas Cookies: Mystery Date Code

    Spotted during a grocery trip:

    Christmas Cookies - date code
    Christmas Cookies – date code

    I’m sure they have a good reason for whatever date code format they chose, but 2012272 seems open to misinterpretation in the runup to Christmas 2022.

  • Laser Cutter vs. Mirrorshades: Rear

    Laser Cutter vs. Mirrorshades: Rear

    Continuing with the same battered sunglass lens:

    Laser vs sunglasses - beam front overview
    Laser vs sunglasses – beam front overview

    It’s now oriented with the back side of the lens toward the unfocused beam going into the laser head.

    The front surface remains undamaged after two pulses at 500 ms 50% power:

    Laser vs sunglasses - beam rear - front overview
    Laser vs sunglasses – beam rear – front overview

    The red disk in the middle of both wounds is new this time.

    As seen from the rear, the first pulse shattered the rear glass layer:

    Laser vs sunglasses - beam rear - A
    Laser vs sunglasses – beam rear – A

    The image is about 7 mm from side to side.

    A chip of glass popped out of the upper part of the fracture, but the other pieces remained in place.

    The distinct blue ring is 3 mm OD and marks the inner boundary of a purple disk surrounding the central burn. The disk appears only in reflected light (which is impossible to photograph with any setup I can manage), suggesting it comes from diffraction in a surprisingly uniform air layer blown between the glass and the plastic polarizing sheet.

    Also seen from the rear, the second pulse produced a neater wound:

    Laser vs sunglasses - beam rear - B
    Laser vs sunglasses – beam rear – B

    The blue ring is again 3 mm OD and the image is 7 mm across.

    The central red spot probably comes from damage to the polarizing sheet.

    The most surprising things, at least to me, didn’t happen:

    • the glass lens didn’t disintegrate
    • the laser beam didn’t punch completely through

    Protip: Don’t depend on ordinary glasses, even fancy sunglasses, to protect your eyes from CO₂ laser beams.

  • Laser Cutter vs. Mirrorshades: Front

    Laser Cutter vs. Mirrorshades: Front

    Well, a shattered lens found beside the road on a walk:

    Laser vs sunglasses - focused overview
    Laser vs sunglasses – focused overview

    The battered frame has enough information to suggest they were once rather fancy. At this point, all that matters is they have two glass layers separated by a dark plastic polarizing film, with a gold-ish metallized front glass surface.

    I fired the two pulses (on the left side of the obvious crack) at the front of the lens, both at 100 ms / 70% power:

    Laser vs sunglasses - overview
    Laser vs sunglasses – overview

    Neither pulse penetrated the lens.

    The smaller zit was fired in the position shown in the first picture, with the focal point more-or-less at the top surface of the lens. As seen from the front:

    Laser vs sunglasses - focused front
    Laser vs sunglasses – focused front

    The outer part of the damaged area is about 0.5 mm in diameter. The heat around the damage seems to have cleared away all the schmutz on the lens; those things that look like scratches are oily smears and road dirt.

    Seen from the rear:

    Laser vs sunglasses - focused rear
    Laser vs sunglasses – focused rear

    The rear surface is blistered, but doesn’t have a hole, so I think the beam melted the glass and inflated a cavity along its path.

    I then perched the lens in the unfocused beam path, with paper taped over the laser head opening to keep any fragments off the mirror and focus lens:

    Laser vs sunglasses - beam front overview
    Laser vs sunglasses – beam front overview

    The beam produced the larger scar and also blasted off a ring of crud around the wound, as seen from the front surface:

    Laser vs sunglasses - beam front
    Laser vs sunglasses – beam front

    The beam seems to have shattered a thin layer under the metallization, but didn’t do any deeper damage. The rear surface is undamaged and the paper didn’t have a scorch mark.

    They’re not laser safety glasses, but at least they didn’t disintegrate.

    Protip: do not lie on the laser platform and stare upward into the laser head, even while wearing fancy polarized mirrorshades.

  • Encounter With A Cash-for-House Scammer

    Encounter With A Cash-for-House Scammer

    This conversation started during the few hours when I had to turn off my phone’s incoming-call whitelist filter:

    Cash Home Sale SMS
    Cash Home Sale SMS

    Seems to me a cash-for-house buyer who believes anything the seller says about the property is both new to the “real estate” biz and not destined for a long career. Obviously, the whole exchange attempts to increase my engagement and make me agree with everything going on.

    Now, should you happen to be moving to the Mid-Hudson Valley and need a really nice shop with an attached house, let me know: we can work out a better deal.

    Protip: if you’re in a position to stack seven thousand Benjamins on our kitchen table, don’t get between us and and the horizon.

    There is a reason all my calls and texts go through a whitelist filter.

  • Drug Fact Sheet: Overdose

    Drug Fact Sheet: Overdose

    For reasons not relevant here, a new medication has entered the house, accompanied by its Drug Fact Sheet (blurred because you do not have a Need To Know):

    Drug Fact Sheet
    Drug Fact Sheet

    The background squares are a scant one foot across.

    The other side of the sheet is equally dense.

    One should review this with each refill to check for new or changed information. Of course, there are no change bars or similar hints.

    It might kill ya or cure ya, but you’ll never figure it out from that torrent of verbiage: just like software EULAs, nobody can possibly read and comprehend that stuff.