Makerbot still failing

I tried the Thing-o-Matic again. 5 perfect layers, then suddenly skipping, only thin, uneven streams filament dripping out every now and then and jut utter chaos. I'll clean nozzle and PTFE-tube with acetone for 4 days. Then try again. I suspect my PTFE-tube to be too wide for this filament. As the print progresses the heat travels up and the filament widenes as there is room for it to widen. Will try again on tuesday night.

Projects in wiki

I updated the wiki that I use to keep notes. It now reflects the projects I'm currently actually working on and their links and notes. I don't want anything to get lost. ;) I was looking forward to building the new shoulder rig, however the chinese parts I wanted to start with have just been returned because of "unsuccessful delivery" after 14 days in customs. (I did not get a notification from customs or postal services and without such notification I can't show up at customs because it contains the required code-number of the delivery.)

• The Wiki
• All Videos (please subscribe)

printers out of order

In case anyone is wondering, why I don't post any new 3D designed objects lately: Both my printers are currently out of order. With the Thing-o-Matic something is wrong with the nozzle and I'm trying to clean it. My Repman's heated build platform MK2 has not survived moving into the new house but I haven't started building an MK3 yet. I do have a number of ideas and untested designs but I'll not post them until I have actually build and tested them.

Stage box

And the final thing I took apart tonight:

A simple stage-box with 6 XLR female connectors, one thick 10 meter cable ending in 6 XLR male connectors.

The idea here is to replace 4 of the XLR female connectors with combined XLR+6.3mm ones to make this more versatile and to add 2 1/4" swivel-heads to mount microphones or a camera directly onto the box.
(You get these heads for cheap as mountings for security cameras.)
The swivel-heads shall double as a helper to keep the cable organised when not in use.

...maybe I'll come up with something to put into the mostly empty box.
Lots of wasted space that can be put to good use.
Maybe store adapters in there or batteries.

(click on the photo to see more.)

Update: the finished modification

• Thomann SSSNAKE SXX8030 stage-box

E27 230V camera -flash light bulp

And the next thing to take apart today....

These devices are cheap and often included if you buy a light-stand or umbrella on ebay.
They have a number of problems that I am trying to solve by modifying it:

• The light-sensor can't be switched off, so this thing flashes when other prople then you try to take a photo with a flash. => I'll add a switch for that.


• You can't control the brightness. => I'm trying to come up with a way to do that. Have to talk with some people on how to do this.


• Your equaly cheap RF receiver will dangle off the side => I'm trying to include the PCB of these wireless flash triggers into the case and add a hot-shoe to the case in the process.

The PCB seems to be well labeled and the parts trivial to identify and large enough to solder.
I just need to be careful about all the traces that carry 230V.



(click to see the other photos) Looks like 130V AC is fed through diodes and a 0,2KOhm resistor (left side on this photo) labeled "200RJ" and "10 Watt" into 3x 275V 220uF capacitors. I guess replacing that giant resistor with a variable one that I can control with a knob could allow me to reduce the power in the capacitors and thus the power of the flash.

MicPlugUSB

Tonight is the night of taking-things-apart. :)
I started with a T.Bon MicPlug USB that I got in an already opened packaging cheaper then the original low price tag.

It's not intended to be taken apart at all. That much is obvious.
But my plan here is to scrap most of the electronics anyway.
I want to keep the USB 5V to 48V phantom -power supply,
add a second XLR-connector to the end that formerly held all the cables,
move the USB-port to the side and
attach an unbalanced cable with a 2.5mm stereo to the side.
(Without the buttons there are enough holes for that.)

The resulting tube shall then allow me to connect 1 or 2 phantom powered microphones to my digital camera.
The USB-power shall come either from a battery-grip or one of these cheap USB-battery-packs.
(USB has emerged as the one universal power connection that is always avaliable.)

(Click the photo to see all the other photos.)

more progress in wprkshop

I did some more progress in the creations of my workshop. The hole-boards are now mounted. (Easy to notice as only half as many tools are now lying around.) They don't attach to the wall but to the table because drilling holes into *this* wall is a nightmare. I also finalized the electrical work. The outlets are now neatly seated along the walls. I have no clue how to mount my 3 sets of hex-keys to the wall yet. (metric, imperial and torx)

• Photos (coming soon)
• All Videos (please subscribe)

Workshop

I'm slowly making progress in building my workshop.
After installing the Basotect foam via Power Strips failed, I now tried nails.
They sort of work but it's not very good.
I also found a cheap compressor+limiter+expander+de-esser on eBay and modified the 19" mounting to mount it below the table in the "documentation" corner.
(Just between the "electronics" and the "mechanics" section of the workshop. ;)

• Photos
• All Videos (please subscribe)

sound proofing my workshop

I want to line the walls of my small workshop with Basotect -foam. The plan was to use Tesa Power-Strips to attach them to the walls and be able to remove them 10 years later. Problem: It looks like the Power-Strips/Poster-Strips dont stick to the foam. They work fine on any other surface in the room but not the foam. :/

converting an XLR stage box

I think I'll attach 2 small swivel -mounts designed for security cameras to stage-box (a small box with 6 XLR-sockets attached to a single 10m cable that ends in 6 matching XLR-plugs. Designed to reduce cable-clutter on a stage). That way I can mount 2 shotgut-microphones or one camera and a microphone directly to that box. I would be at the back (at the other end of the 10 meter cable or with some extension-cord inserted) with a camera and sound recorder while the microphones face the scene and are not as much in the way as 2 small tripods and lots of cables would be. Maybe also exchange 2 of the XLR sockets by combined XLR/6.3mm sockets. More options when hunting for a cable....

• camera-mount
• the stage box
• Photos (coming soon)
• Video (coming soon)
• All Videos (please subscribe)