tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9197424467312190522024-02-18T18:00:03.857-08:00FangleTronicsBeginners electronics projects, woodworking and other interesting stuff for entertaining kids. I'm documenting my efforts to come up with things that are interesting to make and interesting to play with (or at least one of the two!)PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-55174500782983057622022-11-04T06:36:00.001-07:002022-11-04T06:36:40.134-07:00CNC rebuild and upgradesI finally got round to taking the CNC machine out of it's box and rebuilding it (after 7 years of being in storage). This happened over the space of a year - mostly because I got caught up trying to decide how I wanted to control the machine this time round. Previously I used <a href="http://linuxcnc.org/" target="_blank">LinuxCNC</a> on an old PC, but I'd left that PC in the US when we moved back to the UK in 2012. I wanted to use a laptop so I didn't have to have a PC in the garage. I decided to try out one of the <a href="http://cncdrive.com/UCCNC.html" target="_blank">UCCNC</a> ethernet controllers - which meant sorting out a power supply and box for all the electronic components.<div><br />
I was pleasantly surprised that the machine rebuild went fine - there's definitely some more fine tuning to be done, but overall it still works well and I didn't have to replace any of the major parts. I did end up replacing the router, mostly because I wanted everything to be native 240v - I didn't like the idea of running a router from a transformer for long jobs.<div><br /></div><div>Here's some in-progress photos:<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgueDgKj7lFVfxUtl3fRlaW9750a9PgaknBtU9HVbgeJH-fl1vsE7hdTR3FDRJc9vNRAl-Se4KvJZuUXD9yzLWGLRYe-Q7m61Iu6xPoKYeI9r5Iv1XWOAhD0xRrhg3Cv1tTyYQRnNBr9MXfFO3m7mgFyxWCmyvjJn4SkPjG3tPQVPptrY8LO3lXu0iWVA/s4032/IMG_20190808_113527.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgueDgKj7lFVfxUtl3fRlaW9750a9PgaknBtU9HVbgeJH-fl1vsE7hdTR3FDRJc9vNRAl-Se4KvJZuUXD9yzLWGLRYe-Q7m61Iu6xPoKYeI9r5Iv1XWOAhD0xRrhg3Cv1tTyYQRnNBr9MXfFO3m7mgFyxWCmyvjJn4SkPjG3tPQVPptrY8LO3lXu0iWVA/s320/IMG_20190808_113527.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiIQUrEsOiAT06fDA72uEEbGyVMYg25a97mB0QceYJYVhO8wbPlNcLegyFq9ym0rMY-_8WoddpzdeucwTmSymxdaGbX5bYDLCHemR0lDtD26l7YgQL_27oN4h_DWYNBncaPSVjgJJWYNYXxhsi0rjpJh0_i4i19HCqmEb8hpTauqChzwysm7-KrDeLmA/s4032/IMG_20190817_210244.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiIQUrEsOiAT06fDA72uEEbGyVMYg25a97mB0QceYJYVhO8wbPlNcLegyFq9ym0rMY-_8WoddpzdeucwTmSymxdaGbX5bYDLCHemR0lDtD26l7YgQL_27oN4h_DWYNBncaPSVjgJJWYNYXxhsi0rjpJh0_i4i19HCqmEb8hpTauqChzwysm7-KrDeLmA/s320/IMG_20190817_210244.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_nFIkJ28mMy13ikz6XtWCbGTj_UjwvD41yEYRoLhg1W2euUWt5Q75atS8lcrhfdOWQwXoUzd2sO9mYfWjFbeH_Eo8iG76J3PU7yJ8iLB91VVHVrbLd_aMRkz29G0m-RAfpCGaPpsBAKm5XyhWVfCr5XoQXbk6zHZD8ML2k0OwHuLI0_M8FQfRuXwVQ/s4032/IMG_20190820_153824.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_nFIkJ28mMy13ikz6XtWCbGTj_UjwvD41yEYRoLhg1W2euUWt5Q75atS8lcrhfdOWQwXoUzd2sO9mYfWjFbeH_Eo8iG76J3PU7yJ8iLB91VVHVrbLd_aMRkz29G0m-RAfpCGaPpsBAKm5XyhWVfCr5XoQXbk6zHZD8ML2k0OwHuLI0_M8FQfRuXwVQ/s320/IMG_20190820_153824.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFStMqkDSW7GC-H9LT_OL5_95m0HpM2YGI_Zw5MFstFVGujD6aEcZjiNFtOiYJLgAh5GntRZ_yhLohST4HyPwVuOJoo6R1mIgAN5wmUlCZbJAWF3E4ZSiXVQpp3LJtn0FVSGKCs57l5UDfAfVG4i8KNpol9XwGysv5z1lqXhrImnk-NYxOs0Ok7TZN7Q/s4032/IMG_20190821_183548.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFStMqkDSW7GC-H9LT_OL5_95m0HpM2YGI_Zw5MFstFVGujD6aEcZjiNFtOiYJLgAh5GntRZ_yhLohST4HyPwVuOJoo6R1mIgAN5wmUlCZbJAWF3E4ZSiXVQpp3LJtn0FVSGKCs57l5UDfAfVG4i8KNpol9XwGysv5z1lqXhrImnk-NYxOs0Ok7TZN7Q/s320/IMG_20190821_183548.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdwWtOhdM47qwkLswlt4fcZwtXNz9SpSRG-GTXoR-SRddeuom8PA3w76LZVSWrald5Z7oTlK8Sw09I5Ll9YztSpisYX0n_DnCjy3lkXCS3RIABwNq8ZbBHNhekKi_ha81uG_BzJxlkvEBe6Fylf7FXyRqaNjX-uu26pdPMgBqyFxIwGNGjyuqzlebNQ/s4032/IMG_20190821_224856.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdwWtOhdM47qwkLswlt4fcZwtXNz9SpSRG-GTXoR-SRddeuom8PA3w76LZVSWrald5Z7oTlK8Sw09I5Ll9YztSpisYX0n_DnCjy3lkXCS3RIABwNq8ZbBHNhekKi_ha81uG_BzJxlkvEBe6Fylf7FXyRqaNjX-uu26pdPMgBqyFxIwGNGjyuqzlebNQ/s320/IMG_20190821_224856.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09sS-BkwZpJsRuVNgeG3vzft2HOc_31Kdj70_o-tlWBg7bJxB0jZxDU2QAZedUlgtpUceN1XBwe98es2I1g2205Mn-do3WGV7LXj7vUDs2YrLer3JvBqr5eI9dFQjILCcagNIGnZBkkleK8z-0OHgPIobIBk9szjQCuUQ8lqPOARW4Bqxr4Hik2Xm_Q/s4032/IMG_20200412_150314.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09sS-BkwZpJsRuVNgeG3vzft2HOc_31Kdj70_o-tlWBg7bJxB0jZxDU2QAZedUlgtpUceN1XBwe98es2I1g2205Mn-do3WGV7LXj7vUDs2YrLer3JvBqr5eI9dFQjILCcagNIGnZBkkleK8z-0OHgPIobIBk9szjQCuUQ8lqPOARW4Bqxr4Hik2Xm_Q/s320/IMG_20200412_150314.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mldqBr27AU6GsEL6kaWoZ4sKMVcLardmBsBBK4mDT3S_I72J6LqZISWHjzqSB7VZQpKWJZ6hXXVeJ0tR8Gj7zEHNsR_u9OPiCZqhLG6GJxsnanaK2N3D8b2vibSaTtYU35irR5IhKJIMeGYEtjdcfKzgYq4jZIJoYFfjINNYEAvAL1ZWQkpp0sp9Cg/s4032/IMG_20200412_202540.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mldqBr27AU6GsEL6kaWoZ4sKMVcLardmBsBBK4mDT3S_I72J6LqZISWHjzqSB7VZQpKWJZ6hXXVeJ0tR8Gj7zEHNsR_u9OPiCZqhLG6GJxsnanaK2N3D8b2vibSaTtYU35irR5IhKJIMeGYEtjdcfKzgYq4jZIJoYFfjINNYEAvAL1ZWQkpp0sp9Cg/s320/IMG_20200412_202540.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3pwTLlGqGJ1ze14Akj7n8vhdx-r0Xsf1CabY0KMrwGV1i3niwruKOOVnrp6vUagoN76szhQHr1gUDjktv9UAAx97Uy3fgO7v8r8R8UWu3hgHuvaLujW2QKO9N9E9ZOAT7bbOeGTgSSk-Vzg2fP-QsqhcYsRuTOHnZLEULB4GbsNy0C7aQt9vivknUQ/s4032/IMG_20200412_203025.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3pwTLlGqGJ1ze14Akj7n8vhdx-r0Xsf1CabY0KMrwGV1i3niwruKOOVnrp6vUagoN76szhQHr1gUDjktv9UAAx97Uy3fgO7v8r8R8UWu3hgHuvaLujW2QKO9N9E9ZOAT7bbOeGTgSSk-Vzg2fP-QsqhcYsRuTOHnZLEULB4GbsNy0C7aQt9vivknUQ/s320/IMG_20200412_203025.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqEGkbl-um5CPlcUXxSga1NTBkWhrvqsICvUHOkC-FEHx1-BUp0m4OvnYr9OJaWlZI8d_M4q7CFIJfb4QNrIuIWJa3pU1I-VsKXTHqcLcmv8Z-v0doC53voQvCzujOJ6qrdv3-DG1uM6Jm1q4BAYSB9bMehrq5myVijUTaQ5Y8HMb0KYSwq0NOJhneQ/s4032/IMG_20200412_221918.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqEGkbl-um5CPlcUXxSga1NTBkWhrvqsICvUHOkC-FEHx1-BUp0m4OvnYr9OJaWlZI8d_M4q7CFIJfb4QNrIuIWJa3pU1I-VsKXTHqcLcmv8Z-v0doC53voQvCzujOJ6qrdv3-DG1uM6Jm1q4BAYSB9bMehrq5myVijUTaQ5Y8HMb0KYSwq0NOJhneQ/s320/IMG_20200412_221918.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVcvKityXEwAD241MGofWuR-NFoG16SRFjDiBOlG_NCmgue0wBExNzOeYXq5x7dEV95GFvsyrneBL_BKEeUONeVrPcQnhgSXLGwiDiXdJPGqCHCRQAC9lqkYxUDd9nGsbeU7bGr31QPAx_PvOa1O5w_rmuH2z3e4nZaSm98JuIdamLpZWz7RcQBEF8A/s4032/IMG_20200413_093431.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVcvKityXEwAD241MGofWuR-NFoG16SRFjDiBOlG_NCmgue0wBExNzOeYXq5x7dEV95GFvsyrneBL_BKEeUONeVrPcQnhgSXLGwiDiXdJPGqCHCRQAC9lqkYxUDd9nGsbeU7bGr31QPAx_PvOa1O5w_rmuH2z3e4nZaSm98JuIdamLpZWz7RcQBEF8A/s320/IMG_20200413_093431.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVcvKityXEwAD241MGofWuR-NFoG16SRFjDiBOlG_NCmgue0wBExNzOeYXq5x7dEV95GFvsyrneBL_BKEeUONeVrPcQnhgSXLGwiDiXdJPGqCHCRQAC9lqkYxUDd9nGsbeU7bGr31QPAx_PvOa1O5w_rmuH2z3e4nZaSm98JuIdamLpZWz7RcQBEF8A/s4032/IMG_20200413_093431.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"></a></div>
I did add a few upgrades/changes during the rebuild. Something that was missing from the original setup were limit switches. I found the Xylotex limit switch suggestion on the Solsylva site (this has been down for years, but the content is available on web.archive.org <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170514144535/http://solsylva.com/cnc/limit_switches.shtml" target="_blank">here</a>). I 3d printed the limit switch mounts (3 different designs).
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCMGOweQ4RM0UNj2zEbSLLCDDjb5SekPHivOgvJ_70sZVFGTRkhaw-1TWba5EpDP-NkOzkG7zJBZCj0bx-37tLw3zNagmrLiqFe9G2zhgFUuJzh3WrcnV7obAffxEMwXvSYkY-SOMjkTWNMfb20WUFOJxGo6sEdAUHkymoZ0dnJUkCqIXx4guJ42xaQ/s4032/IMG_20200425_113523.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCMGOweQ4RM0UNj2zEbSLLCDDjb5SekPHivOgvJ_70sZVFGTRkhaw-1TWba5EpDP-NkOzkG7zJBZCj0bx-37tLw3zNagmrLiqFe9G2zhgFUuJzh3WrcnV7obAffxEMwXvSYkY-SOMjkTWNMfb20WUFOJxGo6sEdAUHkymoZ0dnJUkCqIXx4guJ42xaQ/s320/IMG_20200425_113523.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JFXZSL2L2YBLETR1tZ9MyrJcQWAND67fz2wec6qOlRtsCJEM_S_m7Ke7BaWfvKTVfDR7Ie_ZpXyayOWrkf98AwTWaY-1OsahhoeowAeLhrYPlvCKBmKxmF2X059Qmn8rzxMnHiSLsL-VaZJy8ZiMc4_SSJEsltCcveF8oMwuuWtp6J-PnvfPrFX6Dw/s4032/IMG_20200425_171013.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JFXZSL2L2YBLETR1tZ9MyrJcQWAND67fz2wec6qOlRtsCJEM_S_m7Ke7BaWfvKTVfDR7Ie_ZpXyayOWrkf98AwTWaY-1OsahhoeowAeLhrYPlvCKBmKxmF2X059Qmn8rzxMnHiSLsL-VaZJy8ZiMc4_SSJEsltCcveF8oMwuuWtp6J-PnvfPrFX6Dw/s320/IMG_20200425_171013.jpg" /></a>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYQcSjV67sgy4A4ObwczW8sFBSRQzX8gWm6m6MzAIwT5hOSFIqJUOXInFlTVC64tKScRq9UxiXR4ASDvkf40IHqf4FVcQOonJYb5X2Hi--WNbaWTSrI9ml3kqPmwZZmDfgJMIjeSvqmOwdifYhJ5O4yV3Y7APd6qw5YIH_HMmbuipSR_J-wI_llsTug/s4032/IMG_20200425_171047.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYQcSjV67sgy4A4ObwczW8sFBSRQzX8gWm6m6MzAIwT5hOSFIqJUOXInFlTVC64tKScRq9UxiXR4ASDvkf40IHqf4FVcQOonJYb5X2Hi--WNbaWTSrI9ml3kqPmwZZmDfgJMIjeSvqmOwdifYhJ5O4yV3Y7APd6qw5YIH_HMmbuipSR_J-wI_llsTug/s320/IMG_20200425_171047.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYQcSjV67sgy4A4ObwczW8sFBSRQzX8gWm6m6MzAIwT5hOSFIqJUOXInFlTVC64tKScRq9UxiXR4ASDvkf40IHqf4FVcQOonJYb5X2Hi--WNbaWTSrI9ml3kqPmwZZmDfgJMIjeSvqmOwdifYhJ5O4yV3Y7APd6qw5YIH_HMmbuipSR_J-wI_llsTug/s4032/IMG_20200425_171047.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8faB76l2v1xcfAIaz587hS5vWHwabfporZjvyMeRvf773h5ijdZKrKw-2pJMaJAUK5pntAAvIzqvTikzyWhHdeafnhUIt966CPR3rSNBVzDiU1_mZ2Wc40yif7qmzwJHaGSg1RlMuDcQjHhHTNeC0pUiPwI4H1O-7m-DCdj0z6-HZFn6ADY1Ia1WWA/s4032/IMG_20200429_160948.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8faB76l2v1xcfAIaz587hS5vWHwabfporZjvyMeRvf773h5ijdZKrKw-2pJMaJAUK5pntAAvIzqvTikzyWhHdeafnhUIt966CPR3rSNBVzDiU1_mZ2Wc40yif7qmzwJHaGSg1RlMuDcQjHhHTNeC0pUiPwI4H1O-7m-DCdj0z6-HZFn6ADY1Ia1WWA/s320/IMG_20200429_160948.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFFl1O9j6prcvgzKRh6ApefO47hnYbOhzQI3FnJ8ibMoejbG0JePpapzjD8RjpW0pVQqWDSBcTaXm4oHOh6nueV4pRuNiG_PJiRWzyH34ebQI8yS6N4wHVaKEApq3pnvRyZD4RI2WJEWplpNOQznNz5pbNMOzxvNoKXj2-NhLHLk9DO3CQ_BOwM_CqQ/s4032/PXL_20210101_194135445.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFFl1O9j6prcvgzKRh6ApefO47hnYbOhzQI3FnJ8ibMoejbG0JePpapzjD8RjpW0pVQqWDSBcTaXm4oHOh6nueV4pRuNiG_PJiRWzyH34ebQI8yS6N4wHVaKEApq3pnvRyZD4RI2WJEWplpNOQznNz5pbNMOzxvNoKXj2-NhLHLk9DO3CQ_BOwM_CqQ/s320/PXL_20210101_194135445.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>
<br />
<div>All the limit switches are wired in series using speaker cable.</div><div><br />The z-axis limit trigger is just a bit of Lego glued onto the z-axis lead nut...</div><div><br /></div><div>These work really well and it means that I can automatically (and consistently) home the machine. Importantly, it also means that I don't have to worry about causing damage if I accidentally try to move outside of the machine limits (which I definitely did a few times when using it in the US).</div><div><br /></div><div>I had to use a different mounting method for the Makita router. I found a few mounts on thingiverse that looked like they would 'almost' work - I ended up adapting <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1759272" target="_blank">this</a> one for my setup (I extended and flattened the mounting point so I could attach it directly to the wood). This took a few iterations before it worked well - the detachable dust shoe (from the original designer) is a nice touch!</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIn2M_GK5aTmT6sYU_99_6_QiwHo4Lpksnq0D0VcT7auLbqqdJO_eLbKTUf-bwLWCLIqUtVgMFXhhvLwUGLJR0LTQ5ZzhBlOmvtAhmqxeFeeuXI1dkzSQ85g_36SQ8uczBXaBdx9EXDQ4AoIA8_d655xdFquLp3fgQJPUMnDxWqoFsY7Tkq0uciCpAug/s4032/PXL_20210103_165131143.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIn2M_GK5aTmT6sYU_99_6_QiwHo4Lpksnq0D0VcT7auLbqqdJO_eLbKTUf-bwLWCLIqUtVgMFXhhvLwUGLJR0LTQ5ZzhBlOmvtAhmqxeFeeuXI1dkzSQ85g_36SQ8uczBXaBdx9EXDQ4AoIA8_d655xdFquLp3fgQJPUMnDxWqoFsY7Tkq0uciCpAug/s320/PXL_20210103_165131143.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now for some random makey makey pics.</div></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">First attempt at dust extraction - not ultimately useful, but the cut of the piece is quite pleasing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0mt1VNZ-h4OGvVV3Xo1dfBNMu12x6sVJYTG75oWtI8rVst45Clc1wOUasZcwJcp4mz1HJhw3mD8bNyQ0yQ0xDvhhIQ_GOsm3miZi6zNveDaO2BFy6gql8UbmP_rubOwbVq_5_XHxxeemZ43dts_hA7sym5hiSCuUVOlqUkjTvNtw4V9XKJvghqyf6w/s4032/IMG_20200621_140524.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0mt1VNZ-h4OGvVV3Xo1dfBNMu12x6sVJYTG75oWtI8rVst45Clc1wOUasZcwJcp4mz1HJhw3mD8bNyQ0yQ0xDvhhIQ_GOsm3miZi6zNveDaO2BFy6gql8UbmP_rubOwbVq_5_XHxxeemZ43dts_hA7sym5hiSCuUVOlqUkjTvNtw4V9XKJvghqyf6w/s320/IMG_20200621_140524.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIYLQzTrEOtGqujrO1t9IvJSs5mFwa9nJn58EeCcbpQWY3GUp9mh6Guw7Lbi2nvanPseJ3bY4Chea6TcI2QHOrf0wA7tHPyQu7Bqf1lm5byS7u5g9uLECXsrCUi5J4pRIsUB9VcsCt1UWJf2_sAHWe8jF54MLquxaC8pBQPmbTMDNRNhm74VvmYIXew/s4032/IMG_20200621_140538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIYLQzTrEOtGqujrO1t9IvJSs5mFwa9nJn58EeCcbpQWY3GUp9mh6Guw7Lbi2nvanPseJ3bY4Chea6TcI2QHOrf0wA7tHPyQu7Bqf1lm5byS7u5g9uLECXsrCUi5J4pRIsUB9VcsCt1UWJf2_sAHWe8jF54MLquxaC8pBQPmbTMDNRNhm74VvmYIXew/s320/IMG_20200621_140538.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtE0Skypq9PIon68c7trRyGt9_Mzc-sWd7tVLmTvJ6hsR1fnB-IJyCOMpG4UHll_hOOjYNedFqkX47ipAVtFVgwH_FcoTeWQZyzh62V-UszBF8YlVLDRTzuUhrG95K1XvcLD2LE32poCdPpm_6iG-6ntWx3-vO4WwgjpCiIizoCCne_60XTSR-LEFdcw/s4032/IMG_20200627_193846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtE0Skypq9PIon68c7trRyGt9_Mzc-sWd7tVLmTvJ6hsR1fnB-IJyCOMpG4UHll_hOOjYNedFqkX47ipAVtFVgwH_FcoTeWQZyzh62V-UszBF8YlVLDRTzuUhrG95K1XvcLD2LE32poCdPpm_6iG-6ntWx3-vO4WwgjpCiIizoCCne_60XTSR-LEFdcw/s320/IMG_20200627_193846.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Soundwave design for my eldest daughter (her favourite transformer).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGP7gzMsoWikoOfidItqygrk8yUX1vrb6UQ0YgPv7SZt7A01J5QQU-on2_B9g8JkPJ7XcwFE20MVVCG43SiqWdwXb8_C8EJzyrPZEwC2wTzETDqY5S2mUCOnQJlbZgRnslHUDca7FT_Ige5Y6mLJ6Uv0sn61BVce6rH1ViwmGmrAR-rP8EssPkFfb1ug/s4032/PXL_20210604_113158437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGP7gzMsoWikoOfidItqygrk8yUX1vrb6UQ0YgPv7SZt7A01J5QQU-on2_B9g8JkPJ7XcwFE20MVVCG43SiqWdwXb8_C8EJzyrPZEwC2wTzETDqY5S2mUCOnQJlbZgRnslHUDca7FT_Ige5Y6mLJ6Uv0sn61BVce6rH1ViwmGmrAR-rP8EssPkFfb1ug/s320/PXL_20210604_113158437.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7Uw7VGfr36nU48u05uBL45jFS7dZxDfXc_r6tfRYvdPXTnYxGOm6tvfxahpW7fDiqmztS26x4RE7ZEz-TC4doeucH1nVE3j7-A1bSLlvAGZ8XVrP8bk2HpEY82UQhCYbYrSodD9QunCApEUVWuxAL6gVAzJY-xI5_5lvE_31GVOSM791vdLZkQue4A/s4032/PXL_20210604_121803858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7Uw7VGfr36nU48u05uBL45jFS7dZxDfXc_r6tfRYvdPXTnYxGOm6tvfxahpW7fDiqmztS26x4RE7ZEz-TC4doeucH1nVE3j7-A1bSLlvAGZ8XVrP8bk2HpEY82UQhCYbYrSodD9QunCApEUVWuxAL6gVAzJY-xI5_5lvE_31GVOSM791vdLZkQue4A/s320/PXL_20210604_121803858.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDm6xjPfWhDetKtaXM-Tqm_TXPioSJ4vkKVcNPLEOzqeL4uVfNBJ5Eh_NHPDFb8SD38OeqnCOyKjhIxH3-oKbEiEhk-WdORKdVE8wMQkoT9YsVqchgfR_sSuAYDzMFq36uEhQnQShEbt201lU14jOiIU0VX9QnTIBj88k2imOOBQGAsVEZyAGzcgrpQ/s4032/PXL_20210604_123001825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDm6xjPfWhDetKtaXM-Tqm_TXPioSJ4vkKVcNPLEOzqeL4uVfNBJ5Eh_NHPDFb8SD38OeqnCOyKjhIxH3-oKbEiEhk-WdORKdVE8wMQkoT9YsVqchgfR_sSuAYDzMFq36uEhQnQShEbt201lU14jOiIU0VX9QnTIBj88k2imOOBQGAsVEZyAGzcgrpQ/s320/PXL_20210604_123001825.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Halftone map of the world for my mum's birthday. I used Jason Dorie's <a href="https://jasondorie.com/page_cnc.html">Halftoner</a> program to create this (and the above soundwave image).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1n21HinWbKFcGnjgYHS1PLBpG9HEi-eeZPG8BFoJHAWohAHFIfeQA4YeU3imi2wWIu3l-wgR18QFuYqVH1x7MTvF6f4gP2_pm2pMhGHqYDa1755rcrqO78tBBwvv7pKNxKR_oCAQXfgu_RiqmffPWONs2nKeZUid-VePME8Jz9uZ1S-j6EoO3j5VO9Q/s4032/PXL_20210606_103955555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1n21HinWbKFcGnjgYHS1PLBpG9HEi-eeZPG8BFoJHAWohAHFIfeQA4YeU3imi2wWIu3l-wgR18QFuYqVH1x7MTvF6f4gP2_pm2pMhGHqYDa1755rcrqO78tBBwvv7pKNxKR_oCAQXfgu_RiqmffPWONs2nKeZUid-VePME8Jz9uZ1S-j6EoO3j5VO9Q/s320/PXL_20210606_103955555.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmwz2_2E_xTgcKPmVIWQBNsFuzfON10oVv51dTi1cZ5aUQqCr4pAmooxejzFrByzM4Tc_qGIf5AKDPVQX7Lk183tANifXzB79K_o11CfFKtN_n-3KpZZu-zdCXSXM7ifPAXlpVZs0AUAu5wLrzSlv18o3dygPpR4J8c-CRApu0K14710bBYc_wOIA9g/s4032/PXL_20210606_113145891.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmwz2_2E_xTgcKPmVIWQBNsFuzfON10oVv51dTi1cZ5aUQqCr4pAmooxejzFrByzM4Tc_qGIf5AKDPVQX7Lk183tANifXzB79K_o11CfFKtN_n-3KpZZu-zdCXSXM7ifPAXlpVZs0AUAu5wLrzSlv18o3dygPpR4J8c-CRApu0K14710bBYc_wOIA9g/s320/PXL_20210606_113145891.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4L_JSc-QdewAa44rs89BrzoDpe9xa4MgGC9ajCJiP7eiLgE5FbhjJWNf4yzisg94iIlC9ekdOPrV2Dgf8RfVelQvoE6hS0YA6RXUM6mRQgBSLy8xEXGKhhI9sBbbbMk0bNPGLOnF75gDTh8WaLlbDosEXyhqkMYeAgKCnVdDlYwvS7VcSSbAg3Mkd-w/s4032/PXL_20210606_140325724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4L_JSc-QdewAa44rs89BrzoDpe9xa4MgGC9ajCJiP7eiLgE5FbhjJWNf4yzisg94iIlC9ekdOPrV2Dgf8RfVelQvoE6hS0YA6RXUM6mRQgBSLy8xEXGKhhI9sBbbbMk0bNPGLOnF75gDTh8WaLlbDosEXyhqkMYeAgKCnVdDlYwvS7VcSSbAg3Mkd-w/s320/PXL_20210606_140325724.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, some dice boxes I'm still slowly working on.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz0bSC-0_PBrTN14WvjX3Y9T2y5AkzWi1V06CWF3rc5ijULojdO4dBq7iFh-jzHS0imybNj-aXACd54-69i3A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqTl92ydmsPDniowZZbMQZkxPra6tkG5TZ7erM4FGJ5HDMd3iGkdqzsTFiX076JyY9of1m7MrDZvpNVXus5Eb1Xn-d7g6F0Spr2O3mWE-mU6CdAhO9GMBj4J-wfjKy6F88HcRwYPqGC1Nap3NGQLnPXU8Jl4k7a07P2CvNmmxk3Syl8o08mM9Ey1lG_w/s4080/PXL_20220619_183445455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqTl92ydmsPDniowZZbMQZkxPra6tkG5TZ7erM4FGJ5HDMd3iGkdqzsTFiX076JyY9of1m7MrDZvpNVXus5Eb1Xn-d7g6F0Spr2O3mWE-mU6CdAhO9GMBj4J-wfjKy6F88HcRwYPqGC1Nap3NGQLnPXU8Jl4k7a07P2CvNmmxk3Syl8o08mM9Ey1lG_w/s320/PXL_20220619_183445455.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPYjuDQ6WEcleTBV0D_s6Db7sB5OqX-tGz2NfE7bGAknXxCIkEwSMdCdu_QykLS383nDFJtjb-pgyfIYRY-tZJ9vfb4N1rkrypEYn43-QYDRV3HT9xU5fhHirftJudPUlkcJmMxNPO6Td2SOYi1wyS-5XtEmSGu62ZL2LDL6vIdMo-fsPGrGcsHT_HQ/s4080/PXL_20220619_200241453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPYjuDQ6WEcleTBV0D_s6Db7sB5OqX-tGz2NfE7bGAknXxCIkEwSMdCdu_QykLS383nDFJtjb-pgyfIYRY-tZJ9vfb4N1rkrypEYn43-QYDRV3HT9xU5fhHirftJudPUlkcJmMxNPO6Td2SOYi1wyS-5XtEmSGu62ZL2LDL6vIdMo-fsPGrGcsHT_HQ/s320/PXL_20220619_200241453.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmOJ_-K4y2VSecYScQNvt3Y2CY3pO4wl1i1kpUVIk5uon3oCqSTGt_tQ6YOTYDwkyYBvH_99Ep6EHUbsxF1MT6n45JCFXBuniKvdfHJFmdLp7t-5o5BeH_DrUN9tVxFlB6lKRa3U6REN_UIgQfcehkoyEIYkNQ1v_ZyQPWDcbzecvfhB25YiJAwyM6g/s4080/PXL_20220626_181613911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmOJ_-K4y2VSecYScQNvt3Y2CY3pO4wl1i1kpUVIk5uon3oCqSTGt_tQ6YOTYDwkyYBvH_99Ep6EHUbsxF1MT6n45JCFXBuniKvdfHJFmdLp7t-5o5BeH_DrUN9tVxFlB6lKRa3U6REN_UIgQfcehkoyEIYkNQ1v_ZyQPWDcbzecvfhB25YiJAwyM6g/s320/PXL_20220626_181613911.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-18711682432480301092018-11-18T14:08:00.002-08:002022-11-18T14:12:35.683-08:00Chunky Raised PlantersWell, it's been a while since I posted and quite a lot has happened in the interim. We have re-patriated to the UK (from California), moved house 3 times, and had another kid - a boy this time!<br />
<br />
The current house is fantastically unusual, has a good amount of outside space, and is in need of a lot of TLC - which is a perfect excuse to pick up new skills and knowledge. <br />
<br />
After clearing out a very overgrown part of the garden, we found that we had a really good amount of space to grow things. So, we decided to put in some chunky raised planters.<br />
<br />
These are made out of slightly smaller versions of railway sleepers (they were on offer at the local lumber yard) which came in lengths of 200mm x 100mm x 2400mm (yes - everything is metric now).<br />
<br />
Here are a couple of shots of the 'finished' project. I say "finished" as this was 2016 and there's plenty more that's been done since then.<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr><td><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic2xQ5SmUW_TvOzmtu29cxCtKQREx5Et79vqMbFu3CqNuAUqKtjUwItoA6-hlSLOhjCv6OiVf41s931ZhMmkROpSq8MPNZic07W0nFFCnFPbG8iB_Ek0yzoXitfuzmqJjP4Tx6lq1uXwbO/s1600/IMG_20160705_203726.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic2xQ5SmUW_TvOzmtu29cxCtKQREx5Et79vqMbFu3CqNuAUqKtjUwItoA6-hlSLOhjCv6OiVf41s931ZhMmkROpSq8MPNZic07W0nFFCnFPbG8iB_Ek0yzoXitfuzmqJjP4Tx6lq1uXwbO/s320/IMG_20160705_203726.jpg" width="320" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uymRuR-MdFFaf8ttBELGc80B3tJi0NurcgMKWpHWC0XU22aGQyLNb4Qm4CF2MScmRCR0AWVJqbp-xJtoweg6qkTzi2nir9_oH7E-uJjE_Xapxmq_yM7MynbONNfi15-eoBfMP_B5IH2-/s1600/IMG_20160907_093130.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uymRuR-MdFFaf8ttBELGc80B3tJi0NurcgMKWpHWC0XU22aGQyLNb4Qm4CF2MScmRCR0AWVJqbp-xJtoweg6qkTzi2nir9_oH7E-uJjE_Xapxmq_yM7MynbONNfi15-eoBfMP_B5IH2-/s320/IMG_20160907_093130.jpg" width="320" /></a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
There were a few 'exciting' moments during this process. The first was having the wood delivered.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJaa6EQ7rXqtQX7NN-1rvl4KfITkY1hOX6NzsGwDFE1i_AujIfwEBpxWzW8k3Qy3NjruAx_B2YN2Dmk2lev2tMFDAxXhTDKmeRg7qgE4_tyRJjkn19eAJ1_LkiDpvulD1mPbLUKE761dO/s1600/IMG_20160511_133422.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJaa6EQ7rXqtQX7NN-1rvl4KfITkY1hOX6NzsGwDFE1i_AujIfwEBpxWzW8k3Qy3NjruAx_B2YN2Dmk2lev2tMFDAxXhTDKmeRg7qgE4_tyRJjkn19eAJ1_LkiDpvulD1mPbLUKE761dO/s320/IMG_20160511_133422.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfD37IzFQOnUiMb3OUNdgJJevk73yO4wPgYCBbMjFZFWxY91r3Vho2fXmcqc5Z-EX5sO6JMgfyhq05Dn6XVdUCukHHwK39FFj2sdpcg0EDPfXbEtw7nIZMVokKbvKSOd_uIy614G75vunQ/s1600/IMG_20160513_100851.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfD37IzFQOnUiMb3OUNdgJJevk73yO4wPgYCBbMjFZFWxY91r3Vho2fXmcqc5Z-EX5sO6JMgfyhq05Dn6XVdUCukHHwK39FFj2sdpcg0EDPfXbEtw7nIZMVokKbvKSOd_uIy614G75vunQ/s320/IMG_20160513_100851.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFCO6rrewzop1FK8FgqFoTFK-BJxd1MWtIkJlW67Xqw1avHXup6762W1zpnJmzGZQ9mOqRP7aXSlS88c6krnVnl1TZaJtf908SI19N56PuITwBqSeGxzF5dekin7t8CUJobZ_YTkqOzD0/s1600/IMG_20160513_142328.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFCO6rrewzop1FK8FgqFoTFK-BJxd1MWtIkJlW67Xqw1avHXup6762W1zpnJmzGZQ9mOqRP7aXSlS88c6krnVnl1TZaJtf908SI19N56PuITwBqSeGxzF5dekin7t8CUJobZ_YTkqOzD0/s320/IMG_20160513_142328.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGHzy6gmOr9bZTRST-rUhuMWZ9yQ6bArzn_-pqlr7zbHj_sliJ0OsBQJpPWfWJcCiiO2Bdi3S3-pn5FqQNPC5cv8ekx6oStHQ5Fc7autEHUJ-grCo5Cfh1GmXGF2mDi0s3Bhvf6m3N66G/s1600/IMG_20160513_171410.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGHzy6gmOr9bZTRST-rUhuMWZ9yQ6bArzn_-pqlr7zbHj_sliJ0OsBQJpPWfWJcCiiO2Bdi3S3-pn5FqQNPC5cv8ekx6oStHQ5Fc7autEHUJ-grCo5Cfh1GmXGF2mDi0s3Bhvf6m3N66G/s320/IMG_20160513_171410.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Ygl2d2v2zjJmlFKX8y6libC3sj1hVoYBOqbApJZjKQRlE0yszpJIRG603Ucp-Zj4rJwRShNNJdNuymEiD8gfLDndFtvbEr7TPR-Vai9lTo5WwZsdzGJpkalmDssP5-_1WlhUCmVKVlSq/s1600/IMG_20160514_170616.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Ygl2d2v2zjJmlFKX8y6libC3sj1hVoYBOqbApJZjKQRlE0yszpJIRG603Ucp-Zj4rJwRShNNJdNuymEiD8gfLDndFtvbEr7TPR-Vai9lTo5WwZsdzGJpkalmDssP5-_1WlhUCmVKVlSq/s320/IMG_20160514_170616.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCqjMKcQOUQyv6HgrOmYPzM1fteA9DLhEngHZrLO0Pab6l8rDhi_swDx4ROjjBzXT29CZGl0wPHPsXAyQNR3fsBRSUJ5R-Ux5ezuBY0PXF9Tb8wfV2BwBZwLUylxxJ-xyQ9Fvi41vDpWaP/s1600/IMG_20160514_121646.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCqjMKcQOUQyv6HgrOmYPzM1fteA9DLhEngHZrLO0Pab6l8rDhi_swDx4ROjjBzXT29CZGl0wPHPsXAyQNR3fsBRSUJ5R-Ux5ezuBY0PXF9Tb8wfV2BwBZwLUylxxJ-xyQ9Fvi41vDpWaP/s320/IMG_20160514_121646.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWzWlTm8GlVHBCgFhRek1NARN60kSCL5VO4UIUi_Th9533dDFyYFe7AbVlWoF22O76B8Z8K7U9XCrcUDd2FPTK1uYDR9UjqrJlK_1oJuWP3dgnMekcQnWzBdW4yiR-arusbbWoI3L9DCF6/s1600/IMG_20160514_172148.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWzWlTm8GlVHBCgFhRek1NARN60kSCL5VO4UIUi_Th9533dDFyYFe7AbVlWoF22O76B8Z8K7U9XCrcUDd2FPTK1uYDR9UjqrJlK_1oJuWP3dgnMekcQnWzBdW4yiR-arusbbWoI3L9DCF6/s320/IMG_20160514_172148.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's daft but the moment that gave me the most satisfaction ended up being when I had to make a new plate for the hand router in order to chamfer the sides of the planters.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cC1-JLd5F85F4LeqMYnqrsxBd3fWjxzXe1yomTh_PsVP-FafcL8ED-blYEpZihhc0MhAlVGGyNaIVjartJ2VjaZrfcffyB62ZcoxyI7zYPUSUAq9bh0qPOfw-b_sh_wYwd6H8pxLd7Uw/s1600/IMG_20160514_181520.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cC1-JLd5F85F4LeqMYnqrsxBd3fWjxzXe1yomTh_PsVP-FafcL8ED-blYEpZihhc0MhAlVGGyNaIVjartJ2VjaZrfcffyB62ZcoxyI7zYPUSUAq9bh0qPOfw-b_sh_wYwd6H8pxLd7Uw/s320/IMG_20160514_181520.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBKPqbnhp3_i-ouTiFvIqeVWV3hHq6_wvEPdbObTof5R1P4eL4R3xiVPAw4htr-SJ32UrgFAoY3Z7Qi2JOHGRUwhI2Fk8jOluB60jkwuZtBn6ijT8qe5Fktn9abJWOQwJyHuHnurT_gf1/s1600/IMG_20160515_203746.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBKPqbnhp3_i-ouTiFvIqeVWV3hHq6_wvEPdbObTof5R1P4eL4R3xiVPAw4htr-SJ32UrgFAoY3Z7Qi2JOHGRUwhI2Fk8jOluB60jkwuZtBn6ijT8qe5Fktn9abJWOQwJyHuHnurT_gf1/s320/IMG_20160515_203746.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Adding a layer of plastic to the bed and then some gravel for drainage:</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QWOM6BiuYVet2v26aL-u0j76cziGcsrOGDMDX6sgbK7o2e47GKQajy4LwuGat7hwaQFSbiUp8ZVIj-fW46FuWrW5I5YzhXVbnDlQLcbzSj7Xu51HrZFEq9cGXANQCtdrEreNMpzq7l-e/s1600/IMG_20160517_101449.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QWOM6BiuYVet2v26aL-u0j76cziGcsrOGDMDX6sgbK7o2e47GKQajy4LwuGat7hwaQFSbiUp8ZVIj-fW46FuWrW5I5YzhXVbnDlQLcbzSj7Xu51HrZFEq9cGXANQCtdrEreNMpzq7l-e/s320/IMG_20160517_101449.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfSFSLZeYRTyTd8-QbXA0060y5XwMeB6A45j9u93UfiCHCczQ1Gh93ZLl1iWo7AS3ScildxWcK9ZHQ-1GYJ8002a5PwoHMn2W-nk9O6idWvcuF8JxPkI31YZT2bNS4D5IiPlk8LgL8xjv/s1600/IMG_20160517_103446.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfSFSLZeYRTyTd8-QbXA0060y5XwMeB6A45j9u93UfiCHCczQ1Gh93ZLl1iWo7AS3ScildxWcK9ZHQ-1GYJ8002a5PwoHMn2W-nk9O6idWvcuF8JxPkI31YZT2bNS4D5IiPlk8LgL8xjv/s320/IMG_20160517_103446.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We were happy with the way the first two planters turned out so it was time to make some more.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwtAhEMM8YB1NbO5cp5rOZessvKhLG1MfPL2Jn4vCDRcHT1L6r9Bm9fQg1kPsL4MuM5noCXavGemunYI26eewykdY6-_sHInVRpKYjNIbAQfyRW3FZ9pCQika3DJcbtRbgGAkZB_sGfNry/s1600/IMG_20160517_211320.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwtAhEMM8YB1NbO5cp5rOZessvKhLG1MfPL2Jn4vCDRcHT1L6r9Bm9fQg1kPsL4MuM5noCXavGemunYI26eewykdY6-_sHInVRpKYjNIbAQfyRW3FZ9pCQika3DJcbtRbgGAkZB_sGfNry/s320/IMG_20160517_211320.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPLZ-mQu2cdvhsVJvW2ri8U8KU9gVfuiD3_tWgy1lKOgWVMvsYsuCPogk-LN0cCg2IL3X5LLpvFrm-retukd6fzuQPKaEiJUdrM3GXJnxmJob0E0OeZGll3to9USgjBZH9GA6-oFq3t9G6/s1600/IMG_20160518_083025.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPLZ-mQu2cdvhsVJvW2ri8U8KU9gVfuiD3_tWgy1lKOgWVMvsYsuCPogk-LN0cCg2IL3X5LLpvFrm-retukd6fzuQPKaEiJUdrM3GXJnxmJob0E0OeZGll3to9USgjBZH9GA6-oFq3t9G6/s320/IMG_20160518_083025.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RssijpPYuWLyDKRernsACKyOll11f8uihLY_U0FkYdGoiwW0erZjGzJgj1LjhMMuZ42do4CY3nFqvYxPVJ5I543as_xUdbF6fXnSnQN5DIot2Qtu6onMIZAR63BPQN9RNtyp0PJXOYMl/s1600/IMG_20160521_183810.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RssijpPYuWLyDKRernsACKyOll11f8uihLY_U0FkYdGoiwW0erZjGzJgj1LjhMMuZ42do4CY3nFqvYxPVJ5I543as_xUdbF6fXnSnQN5DIot2Qtu6onMIZAR63BPQN9RNtyp0PJXOYMl/s320/IMG_20160521_183810.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hey look! We found an old path under all the dirt!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MwDH7JkYwxvG7q_xSwSdtfHvwBHUAI5uqwRGYeld8uoZbJChmnJ79xGyYq3fpNofLEI_4lqHaM5W4NBjcA8Jsf1e7_QCwrk6dto-iZBpRUNJqLfU5CCBcnC6z9vx2gJiWYddT5OJ2q83/s1600/IMG_20160521_183818.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MwDH7JkYwxvG7q_xSwSdtfHvwBHUAI5uqwRGYeld8uoZbJChmnJ79xGyYq3fpNofLEI_4lqHaM5W4NBjcA8Jsf1e7_QCwrk6dto-iZBpRUNJqLfU5CCBcnC6z9vx2gJiWYddT5OJ2q83/s320/IMG_20160521_183818.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnw-d3ecPIz3xMZqCvbAIMGsst317Llu2W3dCCWQzUOS7TgjKTLVAmzfCj8ECqFfF61Ffi_TODO-vkYm0wO4Jpf9gBI_80Wov24ob1xuKkXb1Y6kbq9bPBEhQjEh31G98dWN0qHsTPU9gh/s1600/IMG_20160527_210712.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnw-d3ecPIz3xMZqCvbAIMGsst317Llu2W3dCCWQzUOS7TgjKTLVAmzfCj8ECqFfF61Ffi_TODO-vkYm0wO4Jpf9gBI_80Wov24ob1xuKkXb1Y6kbq9bPBEhQjEh31G98dWN0qHsTPU9gh/s320/IMG_20160527_210712.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SaCFUaGhkfG8OJ87LNQb2Br70FfRcmpM0DUp83jDUHoqzucvUD3dX809gJvNYURtx7N9sW-TMi3n-gVjcRT0NXJuAtIu8pQGHyOIZbqvBm9wr95uL7-fowJqEww9HumJkzrWb8y_4PjZ/s1600/IMG_20160527_105759.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SaCFUaGhkfG8OJ87LNQb2Br70FfRcmpM0DUp83jDUHoqzucvUD3dX809gJvNYURtx7N9sW-TMi3n-gVjcRT0NXJuAtIu8pQGHyOIZbqvBm9wr95uL7-fowJqEww9HumJkzrWb8y_4PjZ/s320/IMG_20160527_105759.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic2xQ5SmUW_TvOzmtu29cxCtKQREx5Et79vqMbFu3CqNuAUqKtjUwItoA6-hlSLOhjCv6OiVf41s931ZhMmkROpSq8MPNZic07W0nFFCnFPbG8iB_Ek0yzoXitfuzmqJjP4Tx6lq1uXwbO/s1600/IMG_20160705_203726.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic2xQ5SmUW_TvOzmtu29cxCtKQREx5Et79vqMbFu3CqNuAUqKtjUwItoA6-hlSLOhjCv6OiVf41s931ZhMmkROpSq8MPNZic07W0nFFCnFPbG8iB_Ek0yzoXitfuzmqJjP4Tx6lq1uXwbO/s320/IMG_20160705_203726.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5copbVEsIJWayPrpvY-iBkES8WMsnkdIE93dUHJIRwEnK6pP4x1OnlukaVp60HZSwYMFYqoXzfy-GOtsA7_v71PGB3Ne1yflhA2w2FtieaO-xLNqvWNqBvB-yqQguSSLmKTtYvau9YVc/s1600/IMG_20160528_104951.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5copbVEsIJWayPrpvY-iBkES8WMsnkdIE93dUHJIRwEnK6pP4x1OnlukaVp60HZSwYMFYqoXzfy-GOtsA7_v71PGB3Ne1yflhA2w2FtieaO-xLNqvWNqBvB-yqQguSSLmKTtYvau9YVc/s320/IMG_20160528_104951.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
We were quite late in the season getting these all together (mid-May, 2016), so it was lovely to see the plants flourish. We had three courgette (zucchini) plants which provided a good amount of veg for the next few months. The beans and peas were great (kids loved running out and picking them). The carrots were a bit of a miss as were the tomatoes. Cabbages were good and the Brussel sprouts were ready in time to be used for Christmas dinner!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRAeimWOoYIIUG0oS7oLGBKgGhxpI87ROQluCz7UFUgjxhsD_C8nXxVf1piUF-ZBot1p-vPW0D75apNTr25WyMYH8oUJDjBc5j-SriFZkkG-JZborF44pabwDj2RHNHeK3Dg8dxN0NVHH/s1600/IMG_20160811_141106.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRAeimWOoYIIUG0oS7oLGBKgGhxpI87ROQluCz7UFUgjxhsD_C8nXxVf1piUF-ZBot1p-vPW0D75apNTr25WyMYH8oUJDjBc5j-SriFZkkG-JZborF44pabwDj2RHNHeK3Dg8dxN0NVHH/s320/IMG_20160811_141106.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOcAZpcJCfmdnuj37NhzEbHyHv_gFPh1bjvMgJ4FQKMrqbTcHZ4ebV7RegEaHR0F7Z-n0XCvGiWWgapTCKuvboqbISOAxXGDmbjZpeYR8YTE7u1G_rHYtnjOTPUSRgx3dXC_IrFmJDGBF/s1600/IMG_20160811_141112.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOcAZpcJCfmdnuj37NhzEbHyHv_gFPh1bjvMgJ4FQKMrqbTcHZ4ebV7RegEaHR0F7Z-n0XCvGiWWgapTCKuvboqbISOAxXGDmbjZpeYR8YTE7u1G_rHYtnjOTPUSRgx3dXC_IrFmJDGBF/s320/IMG_20160811_141112.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uymRuR-MdFFaf8ttBELGc80B3tJi0NurcgMKWpHWC0XU22aGQyLNb4Qm4CF2MScmRCR0AWVJqbp-xJtoweg6qkTzi2nir9_oH7E-uJjE_Xapxmq_yM7MynbONNfi15-eoBfMP_B5IH2-/s1600/IMG_20160907_093130.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uymRuR-MdFFaf8ttBELGc80B3tJi0NurcgMKWpHWC0XU22aGQyLNb4Qm4CF2MScmRCR0AWVJqbp-xJtoweg6qkTzi2nir9_oH7E-uJjE_Xapxmq_yM7MynbONNfi15-eoBfMP_B5IH2-/s320/IMG_20160907_093130.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz6WAD0DAEZc-VavMn0bM_GslsDbxGTnZru7zY6U2SPsp2hpPh4ERbnx6E1STECyczGgVy__Lg8fWCSQzttjQlfnMjm1pD0ZvDbg9EWVZKqgD-oTISkoxqM3LgqxnPi8owChfRaq2brL8S/s1600/IMG_20160830_143715.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz6WAD0DAEZc-VavMn0bM_GslsDbxGTnZru7zY6U2SPsp2hpPh4ERbnx6E1STECyczGgVy__Lg8fWCSQzttjQlfnMjm1pD0ZvDbg9EWVZKqgD-oTISkoxqM3LgqxnPi8owChfRaq2brL8S/s320/IMG_20160830_143715.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Here's the little two helping to harvest the Brussel sprouts for Christmas dinner (2016).</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6Y6PsAMaUFqwWYsPSaI2-FaACFfQCdsTi8roZkqs9Baru6u3LV_zEhcXBpvYGNiNnA9uuxPZJ4po8A7mSPhfWOLYGr8Cc57a52hdYBUhiKuzdX5EubCuGsZUeg8pefRRqJxG9pjbOcyz/s1600/IMG_20161224_143243.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6Y6PsAMaUFqwWYsPSaI2-FaACFfQCdsTi8roZkqs9Baru6u3LV_zEhcXBpvYGNiNnA9uuxPZJ4po8A7mSPhfWOLYGr8Cc57a52hdYBUhiKuzdX5EubCuGsZUeg8pefRRqJxG9pjbOcyz/s320/IMG_20161224_143243.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-82503063245802182602012-05-15T21:17:00.000-07:002012-05-15T21:17:56.897-07:00Birthday Vanity TableSince we made something fairly large and interesting for Carys' last birthday (<a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2012/03/our-home-doll-house.html">our-home-doll-house</a>), we thought we'd best make something similar for Ffion's. Ffion is really into all things pink and princessy, which is a bit of a surprise since she doesn't really have a role model in this regard (Lin, you know it's true!). Queen FilthWizard had a great idea (as usual) and suggested making a largish vanity table, one where a few girls could sit around to preen and play at the same time. Oh, and it needs to be <span style="color: magenta;">PINK!!</span> (not just pink).
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDaMvoG4CY_52NQUkhzxFTAo7ItkqSJYNlxnGN0DZAE2VrfK1inEuy6u-pSGu0WqglYJVJRxG5ywumeeyzBDyzReMMj5xHVheJIMWPswKp_SyeY1NRI7Zs2M96fie2BMEa2I3wMOtiw48T/s1600/ffionbirthday2012_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDaMvoG4CY_52NQUkhzxFTAo7ItkqSJYNlxnGN0DZAE2VrfK1inEuy6u-pSGu0WqglYJVJRxG5ywumeeyzBDyzReMMj5xHVheJIMWPswKp_SyeY1NRI7Zs2M96fie2BMEa2I3wMOtiw48T/s320/ffionbirthday2012_6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHl8bQwGayCDAWhAw0xCNbmZGTeDjgbr0rQ16j_V3AEcWV_nBXsctCHnFlkLAt31DCz0qxHhfb1MtnLh-RCBg6nVEEhCe-oPfxoORuBGbOo09SgSO9iUDxNFuu4x_TJSMnkjCY2hN7M2vd/s1600/ffionbirthday2012_9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHl8bQwGayCDAWhAw0xCNbmZGTeDjgbr0rQ16j_V3AEcWV_nBXsctCHnFlkLAt31DCz0qxHhfb1MtnLh-RCBg6nVEEhCe-oPfxoORuBGbOo09SgSO9iUDxNFuu4x_TJSMnkjCY2hN7M2vd/s320/ffionbirthday2012_9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_akikL7NrDkdVvKTXr5Wfz7YFBRegk3wBW5TNObQFH9NcYnJQWOQ0o3EBJ933VTPS0ng041f3sm-qXNEOOnYQdsbLw2Ze2d92Pcsni5ve0_0Pr99MAdszk4o0f9GgXvJYj_5XLlo0zUg6/s1600/ffionbirthday2012_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_akikL7NrDkdVvKTXr5Wfz7YFBRegk3wBW5TNObQFH9NcYnJQWOQ0o3EBJ933VTPS0ng041f3sm-qXNEOOnYQdsbLw2Ze2d92Pcsni5ve0_0Pr99MAdszk4o0f9GgXvJYj_5XLlo0zUg6/s320/ffionbirthday2012_7.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
I took the morning off work one day and spent a little time with the missus scowering the local thrift stores for a table to use as the main base. We got very lucky at the local salvation army where we found a basic (and slightly beaten up) girls vanity table - job complete? Nah, it needed to be larger and more personalised. We have some strange and random bits of wood in the garage, one item is an old desk top (you can see it in the picture below) which we thought we could combine with the table to extend the sides and create more counter space.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__b_NG3pB02sswKDLoZUYBmMD7NXa9InU1Qp1LF0WeEzsGwzse1etPRia6J1DGB8P_2HKpuACWvwNWiaQd_Wt3L_PiffSECtxvxdmOLHRQ-cvMma6LdKch0-nxDmpwslJhbJkN18Dzw2R/s1600/ffionbirthday2012_15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__b_NG3pB02sswKDLoZUYBmMD7NXa9InU1Qp1LF0WeEzsGwzse1etPRia6J1DGB8P_2HKpuACWvwNWiaQd_Wt3L_PiffSECtxvxdmOLHRQ-cvMma6LdKch0-nxDmpwslJhbJkN18Dzw2R/s320/ffionbirthday2012_15.jpg" width="231" /></a></div>
I cut the table top in half, shaped the sides (scroll saw and router) and added a few bits of 2"x2" which I used to secure the panels to the main table top.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd1KRt9WqZ7AwSHQYAwaILTOQrB7_W1BnGJ9-9A9_UU7qfiyPQBQy8f2Hqu2lZ-RIE7G8-ev7Y7yek2-9aj1oP3qOP8wjEqZg9O5-NFbdO1BU_S_h2KKmeZO_DV836gciCy6IulgLh-tSt/s1600/ffionbirthday2012_13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd1KRt9WqZ7AwSHQYAwaILTOQrB7_W1BnGJ9-9A9_UU7qfiyPQBQy8f2Hqu2lZ-RIE7G8-ev7Y7yek2-9aj1oP3qOP8wjEqZg9O5-NFbdO1BU_S_h2KKmeZO_DV836gciCy6IulgLh-tSt/s320/ffionbirthday2012_13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Lin designed a second backboard with space for an extra couple of mirrors (no fighting over mirror space!). I cut this out of a sheet of 1/4" MDF board, painted it and added a couple of wooden hand mirrors that we'd found at the local thrift store (these look like they came from Michael's or JoAnne's or similar). I wanted the backboard and extra mirrors to be different shades of pink, so they were painted separately with an area masked off on the MDF so that the mirrors could be glued on afterwards.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvFBEHNDJLVwqJ0QEvG9oGxXjAZr01qFECNNRd0PiQN-CV9OsknNPKvaQWGOGbeYBSx5rNy3JIygD0cieLd6fld9BokrPN3utyWkrcIcfhD_xBmLlkdI3suFFZnvIzaRkZl6VTBvOXZ9z/s1600/ffionbirthday2012_12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvFBEHNDJLVwqJ0QEvG9oGxXjAZr01qFECNNRd0PiQN-CV9OsknNPKvaQWGOGbeYBSx5rNy3JIygD0cieLd6fld9BokrPN3utyWkrcIcfhD_xBmLlkdI3suFFZnvIzaRkZl6VTBvOXZ9z/s320/ffionbirthday2012_12.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGpjuuPPx0aTGrHzg9DZWlr_PhEGUGZ7LLXpv9tYAaT_0UHWAFqPCNCHZTkB4xPmhfHm7z729i-brxCPumbI1RISR-ZYnZ5MkCIwMyaUvquBPurrOBAiBtJNIelfw-KlAAslkbg94GEsGo/s1600/ffionbirthday2012_14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGpjuuPPx0aTGrHzg9DZWlr_PhEGUGZ7LLXpv9tYAaT_0UHWAFqPCNCHZTkB4xPmhfHm7z729i-brxCPumbI1RISR-ZYnZ5MkCIwMyaUvquBPurrOBAiBtJNIelfw-KlAAslkbg94GEsGo/s320/ffionbirthday2012_14.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
A Lin added a few extra nice touches using some gold spray paint to make sparkly pots, trays and hand mirrors.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Here's the birthday girl enjoying her present (which was ready in time for her actual birthday, unlike Carys' which was... er.... 3 months late. Well Birthday + Pi Months = Pi birthday, right? everyone loves Pi).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YxBQf-cKosjgNROoiRLuTA4LzFB0eB9WXtYvBvxy1sQFcozTIVoYoy32IfEirr_NYgyss2pFiBodrA86PFYMFvclS5JoNVyyOo59v-NoFG9SC3ZAQoSuVvTB9PIb6Y9UOwKiMAAqgpfe/s1600/ffionbirthday2012_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YxBQf-cKosjgNROoiRLuTA4LzFB0eB9WXtYvBvxy1sQFcozTIVoYoy32IfEirr_NYgyss2pFiBodrA86PFYMFvclS5JoNVyyOo59v-NoFG9SC3ZAQoSuVvTB9PIb6Y9UOwKiMAAqgpfe/s320/ffionbirthday2012_4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Finally some random baby pictures :) Say hi to my newest little girl, Delyth (also looking pretty in pink), who was 6 months old in this photo.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKUKGgAFbXf7nxSYTVt0PrgVAOeAy9arbe677wAAh6gKUE33optvydLRnS2RnwUJ7z-W3V0zC0MN48zrFpJMk13-vEIZ4RiI3hRge8Y4zR5A3njED97iwbuAghcI2NhR78L-Y37hfCM9el/s1600/ffionbirthday2012_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKUKGgAFbXf7nxSYTVt0PrgVAOeAy9arbe677wAAh6gKUE33optvydLRnS2RnwUJ7z-W3V0zC0MN48zrFpJMk13-vEIZ4RiI3hRge8Y4zR5A3njED97iwbuAghcI2NhR78L-Y37hfCM9el/s320/ffionbirthday2012_5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And here's a more recent one of Delyth through a toilet roll tube (don't ask) - she's actually 11 Months old now!.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPfEIR2-xaa0Q3yWZz4Fvk_6-55EzMrQKuCeQi-4aUfFXimGv3Ots_pw-Xm26YEinBA-NfDyLnjMh98mVtqK_PieftEo6oPkNN2gzsYNKoyZdlq6sfC6ZAI3n55-CjfLow3ulcbRYqQ45/s1600/579416_10150940901940185_634905184_12385885_1971652629_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPfEIR2-xaa0Q3yWZz4Fvk_6-55EzMrQKuCeQi-4aUfFXimGv3Ots_pw-Xm26YEinBA-NfDyLnjMh98mVtqK_PieftEo6oPkNN2gzsYNKoyZdlq6sfC6ZAI3n55-CjfLow3ulcbRYqQ45/s320/579416_10150940901940185_634905184_12385885_1971652629_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
And here's the other two filth wizards enjoying their<a href="http://www.filthwizardry.com/2012/03/x-wing-flight-suit-t-shirt-printable.html"> home made x-wing flight suits</a>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2m7SgHXtQIip78uGPLngW69QIYk4IG_jt0SgmtbiWwyFDuM-WUAx9EKcJLq6ddEmSCCpmdaAilhaVtjp-0VphxK72OEA4uvf0nIuikKxSADwcqcGB4lAk6q_dmKDuNYNZAeBgc7yHuFYb/s1600/318184_10150884247195185_634905184_12329742_1284895508_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2m7SgHXtQIip78uGPLngW69QIYk4IG_jt0SgmtbiWwyFDuM-WUAx9EKcJLq6ddEmSCCpmdaAilhaVtjp-0VphxK72OEA4uvf0nIuikKxSADwcqcGB4lAk6q_dmKDuNYNZAeBgc7yHuFYb/s320/318184_10150884247195185_634905184_12329742_1284895508_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-86373674529472550182012-03-12T22:14:00.000-07:002012-03-12T22:18:45.491-07:00"Our home" doll house<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJjquGhZddyV8thNeYdCf6CaHRt5lXyRsh40ZbJZr-P2AbhM6KIhEPmbfho0DLE2b_nnvTEYcuAQG6EPrwi5JrvdPnPdK5Fvpdq1ei8gnHDhSRFDE2FSGddjP1m0HoG-GfoIyAbztvQO8/s1600/dollhouse1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJjquGhZddyV8thNeYdCf6CaHRt5lXyRsh40ZbJZr-P2AbhM6KIhEPmbfho0DLE2b_nnvTEYcuAQG6EPrwi5JrvdPnPdK5Fvpdq1ei8gnHDhSRFDE2FSGddjP1m0HoG-GfoIyAbztvQO8/s320/dollhouse1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmwBqe0nCMUXDRK0KXuyDY3vlTgmveyJx31EIWZdOelL5KYgIWd1TmYP9j79YjrT1lNwo_SC78qZ-4URIfD8HXS5tyu-bD4IsY7eQfZQw74bBsFv_zew7U0fNOd7OEbxcJYO8a3tgsMrc/s1600/dollhouse2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmwBqe0nCMUXDRK0KXuyDY3vlTgmveyJx31EIWZdOelL5KYgIWd1TmYP9j79YjrT1lNwo_SC78qZ-4URIfD8HXS5tyu-bD4IsY7eQfZQw74bBsFv_zew7U0fNOd7OEbxcJYO8a3tgsMrc/s320/dollhouse2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I love to make things for people & I've found that kids birthdays are a fine excuse to take the time to make something epic - last year, for Carys' birthday, Lin and I made a<a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/10/diy-millenium-falcon.html"> millennium falcon dolls house</a> and a set of <a href="http://www.filthwizardry.com/2010/10/diy-star-wars-toys.html">star wars peg dolls</a>. The two of us had been noodling for a while about what to make Carys this year (ok, last year now since this post took me ages to get round to writing) - the girls have really been enjoying make believe play with dolls houses and those little people dolls you see everywhere (Polly pockets and the like). So, in keeping with the interesting dolls house for birthday theme, we thought we'd make a mini version of our own home - one that would be an interesting puzzle for the kids to put together and that would come apart easily for storage afterwards.<br />
<br />
The inspiration for this came from an old woodworking book we picked up a while back. I'd been flicking through it and noticed the page with the modular dolls house idea & thought the girls would love it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgklzq3ZrZlEvpppPVQlZz3E4sHKy9-NQ1w1BXXuH9be2b8Z5HWr5qQVFc047P-HxGFwd-Bh-CVaqAIi05f_t5lNVDH4LZgN5tR1E1x_NeE6jm9u9QqbfF4EHjXqOR3YmA88yGaZNp7X49p/s1600/IMG_4946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgklzq3ZrZlEvpppPVQlZz3E4sHKy9-NQ1w1BXXuH9be2b8Z5HWr5qQVFc047P-HxGFwd-Bh-CVaqAIi05f_t5lNVDH4LZgN5tR1E1x_NeE6jm9u9QqbfF4EHjXqOR3YmA88yGaZNp7X49p/s320/IMG_4946.jpg" width="257" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgePfQ8X-i_aijrX1mO-IenIPL46yJ4IPZACKpK060GFflTt_-UaI8O-B618maFkLT20IWByK68QCYJVdNLB778EaHr48HrfBXgRp98Oww7hP1u8ooKQvtoiRK77dCEI52D2aiwAybD2TvU/s1600/IMG_4947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgePfQ8X-i_aijrX1mO-IenIPL46yJ4IPZACKpK060GFflTt_-UaI8O-B618maFkLT20IWByK68QCYJVdNLB778EaHr48HrfBXgRp98Oww7hP1u8ooKQvtoiRK77dCEI52D2aiwAybD2TvU/s320/IMG_4947.jpg" width="231" /></a></div>
<br />
To begin with I tried moking something up by taking measurements of the house using the overhead view from a google maps satelite image and filling in the inside myself. This was ok, but it was difficult to get the internal dimensions looking right. So I ended up going round the inside and outside of the house measuring the lengths of all the walls and using these measurements to create a few "architectural" drawings. I quite like seeing the drawings people make of their ideas, so I've posted a load of mine at the end of this post (they're nothing special, but you can see the evolution of the idea). For the impatient, here's the final design I was working from:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQeJYw4utm8zGMln0maiCw7_QMojFuKBjdgoWKBy4RyyWc0YW2s-17aPwLqWhPLebkkN8qlnfUvyXemePhrJyRgYORe2VEFXS7Vl8mK2TbrvOJKB6Fa81H4mOJFmRRR6bOxJWAGJjUnQCV/s1600/IMG_2684.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQeJYw4utm8zGMln0maiCw7_QMojFuKBjdgoWKBy4RyyWc0YW2s-17aPwLqWhPLebkkN8qlnfUvyXemePhrJyRgYORe2VEFXS7Vl8mK2TbrvOJKB6Fa81H4mOJFmRRR6bOxJWAGJjUnQCV/s320/IMG_2684.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I spent a few nights just looking at and thinking about the set-up before realising that I was over complicating everything by trying to be too precise (left wall is 33.24", middle is 12.56" etc). I decided to simplify everything and round all the measurements (making sure to keep the proportions sane and as close to the true values as possible).<br />
<br />
I mocked up a simple version of the house using <a href="http://www.cambam.info/">CamBam </a>and cut it out of 1/8" thick plywood on my <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/search/label/CNC%20Build">CNC machine</a>. This gave me an idea of how it all could fit together and how to improve the design. Sure, I could have cut it out of cardboard, but this method is more interesting to me & had the upside of leaving us with something a bit more robust that the kids can play with.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxHBO1tzbiKEhrxMgaA3k0qUQzzdE-VeIg9F8VTIy0HBvuIcpVFKPdEQNx1Nzdqu4fBOIIDI-4YNOGeVeDXSaPlWXN4zCJL4nkTAB3pRQOQ-QPcg2zXsoDlHn-Agiy8WYse2Ts_BG6B2-j/s1600/IMG_2575.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxHBO1tzbiKEhrxMgaA3k0qUQzzdE-VeIg9F8VTIy0HBvuIcpVFKPdEQNx1Nzdqu4fBOIIDI-4YNOGeVeDXSaPlWXN4zCJL4nkTAB3pRQOQ-QPcg2zXsoDlHn-Agiy8WYse2Ts_BG6B2-j/s320/IMG_2575.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAdbXnoORthBCcWTNOMGgP_VtatdBIzdJokRzxnUfteQAtYzwd5KeqVF1SgjztB7sA-mF7FDazfBq452OSKjjTg8R79sI6Do-VgwObin0QNVSN00RXIsNQ3kvfYaNMse3HbdDy8ZFY5b2m/s1600/IMG_2580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAdbXnoORthBCcWTNOMGgP_VtatdBIzdJokRzxnUfteQAtYzwd5KeqVF1SgjztB7sA-mF7FDazfBq452OSKjjTg8R79sI6Do-VgwObin0QNVSN00RXIsNQ3kvfYaNMse3HbdDy8ZFY5b2m/s320/IMG_2580.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GIGY08OJ9DqjUyPbGFeVvOy9LCrDGB0YNqbYZit8Pv9lAZuZ3oHFOxsLW-7sFzXIQag9-_vMQ0s6tUoJ2cHRRZB4cog4wQhsTjJeEqNVdqVhLoTRVrSvChQ8nxRmQqBKyxR66tJYgftu/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GIGY08OJ9DqjUyPbGFeVvOy9LCrDGB0YNqbYZit8Pv9lAZuZ3oHFOxsLW-7sFzXIQag9-_vMQ0s6tUoJ2cHRRZB4cog4wQhsTjJeEqNVdqVhLoTRVrSvChQ8nxRmQqBKyxR66tJYgftu/s320/013.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
Lin took a look at the ~8" x 6" model you see above, frowned and said "how big can you make it?". I had to laugh, because that was the exact comment that lead to the <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/01/glow-in-dark-sketch-wall-and-led-pens.html">glow in the dark wall</a> after I showed Lin a scrap of parchment paper I'd covered with glow-in-the-dark paint. The main size limitation turns out to be the trunk space of our Nissan Dissapointment - I can just about fit a 4' x 4' sheet of plywood in there, so that's how long the main side walls are. This had the unexpected benefit of making the house a 1/12th replica of the original. This means that we can buy 1/12th sized doll house furniture and it will be in perfect proportion. It also meant that the dolls house furniture that our friends, Jessen and Lani, bought for the girls fits perfectly. Thanks guys, if you're reading this!<br />
<br />
After deciding on the final design, I set about drawing each individual piece and working out where all the mating slots should go - this is important because it defines the order in which the walls can be slotted together. I wanted to work out a sequence that's easy (no having to straddle a couple of pieces while a second person slots something in) and that makes sense (large outside pieces first to make a frame for the inner walls to slot onto later). For this design I was limited by the fact that I've put the roof on the front piece so the slots have to go on the bottom, this makes the first step in assembly slightly awkward, but the rest is a doddle.<br />
<br />
I popped over to home despot to decide on what wood I was going to use and to pick up a dadoe blade set for the table saw (hey, there's nothing wrong with using present making as a reason to pick up some new tools!). I've ended up using some fairly decent 1/2" plywood.<br />
<br />
I had to make a new insert for the old Atlas table saw - a zero clearance plate for the dado blade. Here's a few pictures to give an overview of the process (I cut out the initial shape using the original plate to draw a template and a scroll saw to cut it out).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqqjE0t5sJqO4j0SAsaNEJdigU-Avn7g4mvTL-6RBkTwncrLvmMeJVuFjtcDiwwGJdEpHaU_wDJ10JfbxJZIu_qq_JprZ9sXfCljS2v9MR6QPQnQZ1RDOmWQ45MJnF1-5rgMvYK4Chhga/s1600/IMG_2705.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqqjE0t5sJqO4j0SAsaNEJdigU-Avn7g4mvTL-6RBkTwncrLvmMeJVuFjtcDiwwGJdEpHaU_wDJ10JfbxJZIu_qq_JprZ9sXfCljS2v9MR6QPQnQZ1RDOmWQ45MJnF1-5rgMvYK4Chhga/s320/IMG_2705.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3SdSxsyjUbvrbUlbCeWRfxEy_VcwOwt3jMsJbkTMyOML0lEMqNrzfX4kTlHBI9QAOPo25RklgqBo5poJUWy4NHrjRCL59N1MqT5nze0rQwtZoCyz_9JmynBq_mor6k4uRjLVphWe0Yyh/s1600/IMG_2706.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3SdSxsyjUbvrbUlbCeWRfxEy_VcwOwt3jMsJbkTMyOML0lEMqNrzfX4kTlHBI9QAOPo25RklgqBo5poJUWy4NHrjRCL59N1MqT5nze0rQwtZoCyz_9JmynBq_mor6k4uRjLVphWe0Yyh/s320/IMG_2706.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I used the table saw to cut out the main house pieces and a jigsaw to cut out the shape of the roof and the windows. The dadoe blades (1/2" wide setting) were used to cut all the slots and finally a router, with rounding bit, to curve the edges. I used a scroll saw to cut out a few of the more awkward parts at the end & now I wish I'd used that for all the windows and doors... It was much easier and more accurate than the jigsaw.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcJh_L3ScWBLzochPsvnNrCD4tLzDyG9uqNHbqMCT-bA1BRYJ9yDWMFcf3QTzxcVPAry49TjkjJ0cAQGTYH1YJcBGZMzWNifgYJfVqYdZePUHiZi53Ixkf7apGrxxRL6BqKFzkQ83jS4Y6/s1600/IMG_2715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcJh_L3ScWBLzochPsvnNrCD4tLzDyG9uqNHbqMCT-bA1BRYJ9yDWMFcf3QTzxcVPAry49TjkjJ0cAQGTYH1YJcBGZMzWNifgYJfVqYdZePUHiZi53Ixkf7apGrxxRL6BqKFzkQ83jS4Y6/s320/IMG_2715.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7LJeSaN0jdHEbSpkwofBXqJI4svnuZqmeppxytJGMeW7xia82VFR_xhMkx0oBQLYMGFmr7i2FFO_sVGKmuteyE6qfBiTzigAstCb0M4D6ZIL7edTtXDG5DuSfXLtSuhRUjvEfjUrSr8Ww/s1600/IMG_2716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7LJeSaN0jdHEbSpkwofBXqJI4svnuZqmeppxytJGMeW7xia82VFR_xhMkx0oBQLYMGFmr7i2FFO_sVGKmuteyE6qfBiTzigAstCb0M4D6ZIL7edTtXDG5DuSfXLtSuhRUjvEfjUrSr8Ww/s320/IMG_2716.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfAJP36E6LSlty6hy6nWvtKTL_hj_U5RHj1x65cIJSqRzob7Qbyf3eYq1O0dqOxN4YO0La3RHfC3Fh6lBIZA7u4DacQYF_aKCTXC68RT3oKqGILoSZJLr_cUO28IUf5cCtCR9eE5aWD31T/s1600/IMG_2717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfAJP36E6LSlty6hy6nWvtKTL_hj_U5RHj1x65cIJSqRzob7Qbyf3eYq1O0dqOxN4YO0La3RHfC3Fh6lBIZA7u4DacQYF_aKCTXC68RT3oKqGILoSZJLr_cUO28IUf5cCtCR9eE5aWD31T/s320/IMG_2717.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Here's the house assembled in the kitchen. I hadn't decided on how to do the porch at that time, so it's still missing.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJjeMPeC2MEe5UDLhxH2nFFEKlNThT2k32iTPnFHQTBjzvlmQxRRqQN6YJEYmuNNvVQvj67PUXvp9mtd-AryHGSpaQRk1WAAOf90CORFEt7F8qS-6QlxkNOtZUo5_y_umUAbz6oMqFZI7m/s1600/IMG_2754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJjeMPeC2MEe5UDLhxH2nFFEKlNThT2k32iTPnFHQTBjzvlmQxRRqQN6YJEYmuNNvVQvj67PUXvp9mtd-AryHGSpaQRk1WAAOf90CORFEt7F8qS-6QlxkNOtZUo5_y_umUAbz6oMqFZI7m/s320/IMG_2754.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLAFRhXPYbcQG5qNi0B0BQ6Iax-AC0WLc6byAEngKZhXlPE4_JRkdh7X1mXbt91bVbQ2m-C6Bsp7piFRkNdQADUYyX_SDRlo9sWV5yiYDf6VZVLcVLC91edYy_ehrryBpXbeie7q_welr/s1600/IMG_2756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLAFRhXPYbcQG5qNi0B0BQ6Iax-AC0WLc6byAEngKZhXlPE4_JRkdh7X1mXbt91bVbQ2m-C6Bsp7piFRkNdQADUYyX_SDRlo9sWV5yiYDf6VZVLcVLC91edYy_ehrryBpXbeie7q_welr/s320/IMG_2756.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
After cutting out the main shape (and deciding on the porch design) it was just a matter of painting it. This took a bit longer than I expected... we wanted to keep it a surprise so it was only worked on in "the mystery room" after the kids were in bed.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivp8-5stsqmlevtA1Wj248bjCHJtEOOh6z6vMwLwfY60gwEPHyp_Jv4kYKuP6GPB_CH-WV-Bi8pKPAxdddLUHs-D6JHN5BhyAXKZekU-qMg8lfwsbAvsdbToYsRDOQ6LNGMc3Xdn1b98JK/s1600/IMG_2757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivp8-5stsqmlevtA1Wj248bjCHJtEOOh6z6vMwLwfY60gwEPHyp_Jv4kYKuP6GPB_CH-WV-Bi8pKPAxdddLUHs-D6JHN5BhyAXKZekU-qMg8lfwsbAvsdbToYsRDOQ6LNGMc3Xdn1b98JK/s320/IMG_2757.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8gaSrfbkExGRowlGvuZmHm3NfkcSmrwM9144JwdQ3h34nSNbdARJ8xkoRT_tyCw7eDrxnljT_49AHG9zMRwNeAg9auNDbo4TXXtnFWakojO3I7B1taUITa-d0hOl38B1Cl4O5pLdyCVC/s1600/IMG_2759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8gaSrfbkExGRowlGvuZmHm3NfkcSmrwM9144JwdQ3h34nSNbdARJ8xkoRT_tyCw7eDrxnljT_49AHG9zMRwNeAg9auNDbo4TXXtnFWakojO3I7B1taUITa-d0hOl38B1Cl4O5pLdyCVC/s320/IMG_2759.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTgQvQPJwyCpCPMrMosGtODEUpk-Y7tIk0GQcDoQhKc_os0esNtzbDVK25DHd-QwJP-fna_2Uql15wXNtRGHgHFzdQvawTvJRRKPgjyCz6eGAQlCU3r9p0-H9hpFnQ1WF1NS4TGV3qRnD/s1600/IMG_2880.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTgQvQPJwyCpCPMrMosGtODEUpk-Y7tIk0GQcDoQhKc_os0esNtzbDVK25DHd-QwJP-fna_2Uql15wXNtRGHgHFzdQvawTvJRRKPgjyCz6eGAQlCU3r9p0-H9hpFnQ1WF1NS4TGV3qRnD/s320/IMG_2880.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIrpim-ah04WGy9QghV_la76b1NiHtVCkRZhKHK2RDODfnTrw9-oE9hfN9KJQOu4RLgWjVZ3wPo8wZa8OEXpwkFcoXCRsqt57QuDE8zdPLi1hbhoiRVoOHqAfhzYHz0NAfbVvJy6cTpAN/s1600/IMG_2894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIrpim-ah04WGy9QghV_la76b1NiHtVCkRZhKHK2RDODfnTrw9-oE9hfN9KJQOu4RLgWjVZ3wPo8wZa8OEXpwkFcoXCRsqt57QuDE8zdPLi1hbhoiRVoOHqAfhzYHz0NAfbVvJy6cTpAN/s320/IMG_2894.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Here's the completed house with some kids in the mix so you can get a sense of scale :)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEva9f9voKxGQw4CXybsdC3LyYUScACZN28zbSh3CBSgz30e3YvrVzZ0m8ZLt9dYI-u108Ob9ERuiCi8J-jvHdMWzYxtCLAyx2yk1sjNiTOqxkPbpT0y5mmH7KD9DM7O68ZLPuTJSzWemx/s1600/dollhouse3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEva9f9voKxGQw4CXybsdC3LyYUScACZN28zbSh3CBSgz30e3YvrVzZ0m8ZLt9dYI-u108Ob9ERuiCi8J-jvHdMWzYxtCLAyx2yk1sjNiTOqxkPbpT0y5mmH7KD9DM7O68ZLPuTJSzWemx/s320/dollhouse3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEuf-K-IdTY-r5qFYNT0yYhp1liV-cBiB77GZCsnwbCxqVRpyDSUytbQkySBSiyOJs6qJYj0qYNMFNWSSorZGkXfOUC6KeSPfpOnYHIDR4ozd7m0iQRh1uAWYVlhb-YyDGQS-8YS2_UETM/s1600/dollhouse5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEuf-K-IdTY-r5qFYNT0yYhp1liV-cBiB77GZCsnwbCxqVRpyDSUytbQkySBSiyOJs6qJYj0qYNMFNWSSorZGkXfOUC6KeSPfpOnYHIDR4ozd7m0iQRh1uAWYVlhb-YyDGQS-8YS2_UETM/s320/dollhouse5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrNUcADAMfdxfvUa6u769XMb2kaXYNg4p3TxfG7RyWtslV8BBVxevKXOb4WUWuPlXpJqFm0yfIhp7RKMEZnL2yTW-FtWrD6GWZ4RC8zGGsmxf2NmX4vGtoEq9zdPFjhwgj2vALXPwsq1l/s1600/dollhouse1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrNUcADAMfdxfvUa6u769XMb2kaXYNg4p3TxfG7RyWtslV8BBVxevKXOb4WUWuPlXpJqFm0yfIhp7RKMEZnL2yTW-FtWrD6GWZ4RC8zGGsmxf2NmX4vGtoEq9zdPFjhwgj2vALXPwsq1l/s320/dollhouse1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNVl_Po4MUDU0a_E6Z78pR8I2cHrwV3_G2u5fKY3NbhtZZFrp0W6bXSUnpj3ruTE6dqVo_71D7utS05sSFzLQ1QfQq-dfxFH7me9S_wRxO8leHaGOqY1y2a9PUW5qxSJ_RV71eIeCrgxgX/s1600/dollhouse2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNVl_Po4MUDU0a_E6Z78pR8I2cHrwV3_G2u5fKY3NbhtZZFrp0W6bXSUnpj3ruTE6dqVo_71D7utS05sSFzLQ1QfQq-dfxFH7me9S_wRxO8leHaGOqY1y2a9PUW5qxSJ_RV71eIeCrgxgX/s320/dollhouse2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
As always, some of my favourite touches are the ones that <a href="http://www.filthwizardry.com/">Lin </a>added. She did all of the detailed painting and went one step further by creating some scaled versions of the more recognizable items around the house (rug and pillows in pic below). Awesome!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMHaNvwWOPh4VLMNxt9QazeG4jGU-x4wG5mlr8ryN-6tkpkJ4TqV6IULmsnZcPaD9RLAitnFDLc_DePiqKtQP4A4YaUfAO-O19oirc7vr7UeFwORuG7Cs5xgGPtInskokDflWSQMf3Bzt/s1600/IMG_4321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMHaNvwWOPh4VLMNxt9QazeG4jGU-x4wG5mlr8ryN-6tkpkJ4TqV6IULmsnZcPaD9RLAitnFDLc_DePiqKtQP4A4YaUfAO-O19oirc7vr7UeFwORuG7Cs5xgGPtInskokDflWSQMf3Bzt/s320/IMG_4321.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBoYDRzg6cLdG26GMJwk2SkwJbTTlraoQkBhvEl7QW_v_C9jgs9noeXvY0AXND5f8TQOU6lQ2MEFtOAv4SZRHGM2oBwW8SqofKWyOhkWS41lmTy1oXE7Xpb4qNnIMGopF7AypEpwMenPWS/s1600/dollhouse4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBoYDRzg6cLdG26GMJwk2SkwJbTTlraoQkBhvEl7QW_v_C9jgs9noeXvY0AXND5f8TQOU6lQ2MEFtOAv4SZRHGM2oBwW8SqofKWyOhkWS41lmTy1oXE7Xpb4qNnIMGopF7AypEpwMenPWS/s320/dollhouse4.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<br />
I love the rug on the rug effect. Ffion often comments on my enjoyment of recursion... We were reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142411388/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=fangletronics-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0142411388">Charlie Cook's Favorite Book</a> recently and she said "Look dad! That's the kind of thing you like!" pointing to the cover (which has Charlie reading his favourite book, which is the very book he's in). I haven't yet made a small enough copy of the house to fit on the small rug though. That'd be great - a playhouse within a playhouse within the house it was modeled on.<br />
<br />
Here's a load of sketches I made whilst thinking about and planning the house. You can see the evolution from "I don't really know what I'm making" to "how is this all going to fit together?" to "this is where everything goes and this is where the slots need to be".<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5uTmcoYN3Puv4KimVH4U-Wu95BxzeQX-LKJgleP0vjyexX70_x7F-PTUggRCK0jTPaxON_ElNwW8YWtXYpwvwO5UibzuCqzokYU94RPAguDlEsI9O5IXbqmzixYB4zSrVCKU5h_HESXNt/s1600/notes_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5uTmcoYN3Puv4KimVH4U-Wu95BxzeQX-LKJgleP0vjyexX70_x7F-PTUggRCK0jTPaxON_ElNwW8YWtXYpwvwO5UibzuCqzokYU94RPAguDlEsI9O5IXbqmzixYB4zSrVCKU5h_HESXNt/s640/notes_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgTR1IiCoN28sU9gwIMf57dAPxGaw2dQvPqzgzW-r-xG1T3d1HuWNkc2RvROq6mZQKwv6Vru_8Z5jU1LxScCn2wm013qJBdIL-baTJCDrhF5-1eClC0T0xVra3NLCaHU2uuZj1hZ6N6YB/s1600/notes_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="580" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgTR1IiCoN28sU9gwIMf57dAPxGaw2dQvPqzgzW-r-xG1T3d1HuWNkc2RvROq6mZQKwv6Vru_8Z5jU1LxScCn2wm013qJBdIL-baTJCDrhF5-1eClC0T0xVra3NLCaHU2uuZj1hZ6N6YB/s640/notes_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAMHsCszLNTXsLMUQgB8Jh6upTufwp2naC-iBeRs-T7XsZYi4WSmP4LEMkAPFnlF3FJSdDPkfPlf6_Vj2bhGeiusB6XIDEYuEWmK3pDjd9ubqPHquw6ZLjf7IwiId9cZ4Z8EUtyRjVmlEp/s1600/notes_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="499" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAMHsCszLNTXsLMUQgB8Jh6upTufwp2naC-iBeRs-T7XsZYi4WSmP4LEMkAPFnlF3FJSdDPkfPlf6_Vj2bhGeiusB6XIDEYuEWmK3pDjd9ubqPHquw6ZLjf7IwiId9cZ4Z8EUtyRjVmlEp/s640/notes_3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE730K0LiePh20bHAdgjq5U7vHmHytI8aHMpoqt5oA3nXYzD2a5lXrbngdXmWtE7RN4h-RxdyDc_o42KBpUkTtqjx2bznS46FiI479vUT7AEPD3ah0FY9-o27KlBHqpALrIrrhIAXAC_Fo/s1600/notes_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE730K0LiePh20bHAdgjq5U7vHmHytI8aHMpoqt5oA3nXYzD2a5lXrbngdXmWtE7RN4h-RxdyDc_o42KBpUkTtqjx2bznS46FiI479vUT7AEPD3ah0FY9-o27KlBHqpALrIrrhIAXAC_Fo/s640/notes_4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizGG8YKooi09DCS96k2BhU7nUngMEmJeXw5DAEX9KLe_lIK54Qz7B3wm2NylUV-pbEtyLKpCskVFAdLdx-w_EfOIiPi-tiQeZM2HAbiTRCu6JkkBHbSLPSO1BLsFWDviy-93je4PmbBcip/s1600/notes_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizGG8YKooi09DCS96k2BhU7nUngMEmJeXw5DAEX9KLe_lIK54Qz7B3wm2NylUV-pbEtyLKpCskVFAdLdx-w_EfOIiPi-tiQeZM2HAbiTRCu6JkkBHbSLPSO1BLsFWDviy-93je4PmbBcip/s640/notes_5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHJGZPZQno8NAzhThJITPaozi4JIMxuAmhOJiF5aQ3KMxzUM_BkuM6Ohyo53fiLOzlPRIjMPgEtIUNokIeglKJhpybTjWo_3-9Za3OlPZsq8fHFosFM2dOGEjqE2iG2mJelSiLXldScle/s1600/notes_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHJGZPZQno8NAzhThJITPaozi4JIMxuAmhOJiF5aQ3KMxzUM_BkuM6Ohyo53fiLOzlPRIjMPgEtIUNokIeglKJhpybTjWo_3-9Za3OlPZsq8fHFosFM2dOGEjqE2iG2mJelSiLXldScle/s640/notes_6.jpg" width="528" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2sh3LTPe_euIVqmV3E6LxOG8RihF6j-75EU2zDWpzUID5qlFHjh5zZtoEJOTwGEqjCdH_ZHQaJwgFbFB_Bjsau69kF3yTT62vl7gnEUq6DfuVJ5RbTUtrD-mGSIyp6Klp6nDGUYpGTi4/s1600/notres_6b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2sh3LTPe_euIVqmV3E6LxOG8RihF6j-75EU2zDWpzUID5qlFHjh5zZtoEJOTwGEqjCdH_ZHQaJwgFbFB_Bjsau69kF3yTT62vl7gnEUq6DfuVJ5RbTUtrD-mGSIyp6Klp6nDGUYpGTi4/s640/notres_6b.jpg" width="420" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFsk2n1OTVORchgKf6aIfUeroE_H5GiIqmxCNJTR4P9zN1-huRkrOErTYP2fD59Z26NCgByE6BcgBhTPjYKLhyTl59C-pqiAFfwIkA9cfMmwQFJbct0NM75boWPbDqPIzY2Mc2UO3l-88/s1600/notes_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFsk2n1OTVORchgKf6aIfUeroE_H5GiIqmxCNJTR4P9zN1-huRkrOErTYP2fD59Z26NCgByE6BcgBhTPjYKLhyTl59C-pqiAFfwIkA9cfMmwQFJbct0NM75boWPbDqPIzY2Mc2UO3l-88/s640/notes_7.jpg" width="507" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp9a6M4F1pG1F1UVyrPB_Q30uWZMsgHXYv38cBtzzOIbSe5qJ7zChEX2M1H1Pl5mBkyiAJUo5wh9Qd7mMr2KxznseKZTbf3BcYzj_7k4zyqRX9FNWM02azlSMlLHa_NSw9CIw4K5-I5Pd/s1600/notes_8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp9a6M4F1pG1F1UVyrPB_Q30uWZMsgHXYv38cBtzzOIbSe5qJ7zChEX2M1H1Pl5mBkyiAJUo5wh9Qd7mMr2KxznseKZTbf3BcYzj_7k4zyqRX9FNWM02azlSMlLHa_NSw9CIw4K5-I5Pd/s640/notes_8.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgqYJrBMPmBRXCYpSgwFShn_re13jmtFZCImV1bpe_mVpouMHRKt2PAEiGTj2lwU8datqRuf2vw-ZSR9Up2KSydT-sEbeQX-g_7u1KaoP5sBlEdHdnW2MMaV0lACF1TqlJtwfwaDnWIcf/s1600/notes_9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="457" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgqYJrBMPmBRXCYpSgwFShn_re13jmtFZCImV1bpe_mVpouMHRKt2PAEiGTj2lwU8datqRuf2vw-ZSR9Up2KSydT-sEbeQX-g_7u1KaoP5sBlEdHdnW2MMaV0lACF1TqlJtwfwaDnWIcf/s640/notes_9.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBAusx8yhuJDdyMmHo4C1z1J3PwsaaTww-7aQ8FcYE7VAoC-NMGuZaV4UI_mDjpKKQ4ioSxQQxBiWxr4j6UYZmHo4lKYxue7Z7qShjnv1DoAaUPkZWaHgVCkUx9b51jA9EKPKYKASC8Y8k/s1600/notes_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="553" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBAusx8yhuJDdyMmHo4C1z1J3PwsaaTww-7aQ8FcYE7VAoC-NMGuZaV4UI_mDjpKKQ4ioSxQQxBiWxr4j6UYZmHo4lKYxue7Z7qShjnv1DoAaUPkZWaHgVCkUx9b51jA9EKPKYKASC8Y8k/s640/notes_10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
In retrospect, if we were doing this again from scratch we'd probably make the corridor wider to make a bit more room.PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-18491708165802595812012-01-28T23:15:00.000-08:002012-03-12T22:18:45.485-07:00Homemade Christmas Presents<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6QMfwtG18B1EAfbRpC4Zf5nOPt_pBol9UmNMAM_F0kOVIc_ce9vFIfbvjnhPfObuJrDXLcLOWm5LSlfKOfd8V7rsXP9r8XeIlckojipDf-J6F4I3PNKes0qNB_PyxtmFAqYlH0iPjoPg/s1600/IMG_4120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6QMfwtG18B1EAfbRpC4Zf5nOPt_pBol9UmNMAM_F0kOVIc_ce9vFIfbvjnhPfObuJrDXLcLOWm5LSlfKOfd8V7rsXP9r8XeIlckojipDf-J6F4I3PNKes0qNB_PyxtmFAqYlH0iPjoPg/s320/IMG_4120.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEOv-Fd8V0XmhmNZso7xpB423ynkBcpsKPp6Kwk5N-4M90iU14Vd4IdTsy1qyV3PLs6iTLZ0RiaKpP04xCdQ_aUTmpkoFgQJLd8HXwvT0aIhAuh30oicSqgMGd67fKBYxq3aKadcRokYC/s1600/IMG_3673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEOv-Fd8V0XmhmNZso7xpB423ynkBcpsKPp6Kwk5N-4M90iU14Vd4IdTsy1qyV3PLs6iTLZ0RiaKpP04xCdQ_aUTmpkoFgQJLd8HXwvT0aIhAuh30oicSqgMGd67fKBYxq3aKadcRokYC/s320/IMG_3673.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Every Christmas, Lin makes a load of lovely presents for friends and family, and I run with the excuse that I'm too busy to make anything. Well, this year, I thought it was about time I got off my arse and made a few presents for friends and family and not just sit around watching Lin make awesomeness. <br />
<br />
We came up with a hunormous list of things we'd like to make for people and very quickly realised we'd have to think a little smaller - Delyth was only 4 months old and had regressed into bad sleeping patterns so Lin and I had to take turns holding her in the evening, which didn't leave much time for, well, anything really.<br />
<br />
I'm enjoying a little bit of woodworking at the moment (I think I can blame the CNC build for that) & I liked the idea of making a few wooden toys for friends & family back in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blighty">Blighty</a>. I found a scroll saw on sale at home depot one day & couldn't resist - so I've been playing with it (partly with the help of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565232070/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=fangletronics-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1565232070">this book</a>). It came in pretty handy when making Carys' birthday present (which I'll blog about next since it turned out really well) and got some good usage making these Christmas presents.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565232070/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&tag=fangletronics-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1565232070" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1565232070&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=fangletronics-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" width="238" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
A few of the presents were cut from patterns in this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565234294/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=fangletronics-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1565234294">scroll saw book</a>, <insert amazon="" link="">which has a load of good ideas - I'm most fond of the ones that make something the kidlets can play with, so those are the things I chose to try first. I particularly liked the interlocking/nested animal patterns & there were a couple of beginner ones that I could start - a zebra/horse set and some elephants.</insert><br />
<insert amazon="" link=""><br /></insert><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565234294/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&tag=fangletronics-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1565234294" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1565234294&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=fangletronics-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" width="248" /></a></div>
<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=fangletronics-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1565234294" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=fangletronics-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1565232070" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
<br />
<br />
Here's the first set of horses I cut (out of poplar); Lin finished them off for me by whittling the sides and giving them a couple of coats of tung oil.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZRh039COyhMLICzpu8L7Hl1j0_1qx4_waw_zFKIyy8IbwL_aL2e9E9NPmo3T9MeZnHpXTu5Tp0eB2phvX2rlEErba63UoQ73pZMXEckocXaTqrmvnBnIP8Py7ZepJlgIG58JNtzhCiXr/s1600/IMG_3664.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZRh039COyhMLICzpu8L7Hl1j0_1qx4_waw_zFKIyy8IbwL_aL2e9E9NPmo3T9MeZnHpXTu5Tp0eB2phvX2rlEErba63UoQ73pZMXEckocXaTqrmvnBnIP8Py7ZepJlgIG58JNtzhCiXr/s320/IMG_3664.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1t9-8mipO4cLZE89hz2537T6T8ihI6uvnIoidRkW9m7Fz5iUAANl2Pa-mV2d33eWyoURW1LMIopV5VsOMEl4ES5x2cJ1xTY6_d4G5-VL8U0DSPwsRDmpnPJyEk-rlpsLi_cDgICzEEiHO/s1600/IMG_3665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1t9-8mipO4cLZE89hz2537T6T8ihI6uvnIoidRkW9m7Fz5iUAANl2Pa-mV2d33eWyoURW1LMIopV5VsOMEl4ES5x2cJ1xTY6_d4G5-VL8U0DSPwsRDmpnPJyEk-rlpsLi_cDgICzEEiHO/s320/IMG_3665.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Since the horses turned out well, I used them as an excuse to pop down to my local woodcraft to pick up some more wood to experiment with. The <a href="http://www.woodcraft.com/stores/store.aspx?id=561">woodcraft in San Carlos</a> stocks a load of interesting and beautiful wood. You can buy it by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_foot">board foot</a> (a uniquely North American unit of measure), which means that you can pick up a small amount of a variety of wood to play with without it costing an arm and a leg.<br />
<br />
After a long lunchtime looking at, feeling, and smelling all the interesting wood, I ended up buying some purple heart wood and some zebrawood (no prizes for guessing what that one is going to be used for). The purple heart wood is just so visually striking! I'd never seen a wood that was naturally purple!<br />
<br />
I used the same horse/zebra pattern with the zebrawood and tried out an elephant pattern with the purple heart wood:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqnRPwbOZr34R7iDwZbYL8qm9oqpIalwyNwHady2BW5gxFHbQUGWp5gFWXvfANEcaNFHn2KHwXfUTgQkFaD_9eh2Rs8BWO3FoEajQC5OXTt_6usAJ1vCwZJ2teAnHTM5K___Xu6QvNk4a/s1600/IMG_3670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqnRPwbOZr34R7iDwZbYL8qm9oqpIalwyNwHady2BW5gxFHbQUGWp5gFWXvfANEcaNFHn2KHwXfUTgQkFaD_9eh2Rs8BWO3FoEajQC5OXTt_6usAJ1vCwZJ2teAnHTM5K___Xu6QvNk4a/s320/IMG_3670.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4x7LCcqSkSvJoyw5phtjxRZXy3w5IBx3S80nV8H4BoCSYe5nm3C0q6oUz37PVc_EQfVWRLcYQfAFDjj4wPRD_btLeXMlnG-OTkKqlmvLxbspssEa1C_vTb6N77ETIg-5m68oeSP5HyCB/s1600/IMG_3671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4x7LCcqSkSvJoyw5phtjxRZXy3w5IBx3S80nV8H4BoCSYe5nm3C0q6oUz37PVc_EQfVWRLcYQfAFDjj4wPRD_btLeXMlnG-OTkKqlmvLxbspssEa1C_vTb6N77ETIg-5m68oeSP5HyCB/s320/IMG_3671.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEOv-Fd8V0XmhmNZso7xpB423ynkBcpsKPp6Kwk5N-4M90iU14Vd4IdTsy1qyV3PLs6iTLZ0RiaKpP04xCdQ_aUTmpkoFgQJLd8HXwvT0aIhAuh30oicSqgMGd67fKBYxq3aKadcRokYC/s1600/IMG_3673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEOv-Fd8V0XmhmNZso7xpB423ynkBcpsKPp6Kwk5N-4M90iU14Vd4IdTsy1qyV3PLs6iTLZ0RiaKpP04xCdQ_aUTmpkoFgQJLd8HXwvT0aIhAuh30oicSqgMGd67fKBYxq3aKadcRokYC/s320/IMG_3673.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
\
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAULllp0GrcPaQA7g8zGD-CIT-HyulqEL_liC-s9q8UkY81QPj4Y8U_iXEZZFlyzDoN_chr7GfV5nCYJmM0VuRLk3NqZQxDgZ_lmTn86_dXfdQImTvg9_Mk2OeExEGIFZ_KF8bY3JuOzhg/s1600/IMG_3666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAULllp0GrcPaQA7g8zGD-CIT-HyulqEL_liC-s9q8UkY81QPj4Y8U_iXEZZFlyzDoN_chr7GfV5nCYJmM0VuRLk3NqZQxDgZ_lmTn86_dXfdQImTvg9_Mk2OeExEGIFZ_KF8bY3JuOzhg/s320/IMG_3666.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGnvXtgPF41gSEMnrliVQfU2e365jnAWNM6Mw5-TiGKnng7BPoNn4LoZIafzOQTHLZnsZdO-4A1-Km82PHAhiDnegRhe7MnGVsyTB5nrVNuUhDKQNSx_nrZb9VmtN-nn-y89xK2iVGHTA5/s1600/IMG_3668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGnvXtgPF41gSEMnrliVQfU2e365jnAWNM6Mw5-TiGKnng7BPoNn4LoZIafzOQTHLZnsZdO-4A1-Km82PHAhiDnegRhe7MnGVsyTB5nrVNuUhDKQNSx_nrZb9VmtN-nn-y89xK2iVGHTA5/s320/IMG_3668.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The last present I want to talk about was something we made for my nephew. I have some very fond memories of receiving hand made gifts from my granddad around Christmas time; he made me and my brother a few cool things - school desks, go-karts and a wooden castle are the ones that I remember fondly (they all got a ton of use and play!). <br />
<br />
My nephew is 19 months old and loves anything with wheels. Lin came up with the idea of a truck made into the shape of his name; I'd had a different plan that I'd been trying out, but it was complicated, fiddly and a little frustrating - we were a little short on time at this point so it was a huge relief to have something more tractable to work on. Also, we had all the necessary pieces on hand!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6QMfwtG18B1EAfbRpC4Zf5nOPt_pBol9UmNMAM_F0kOVIc_ce9vFIfbvjnhPfObuJrDXLcLOWm5LSlfKOfd8V7rsXP9r8XeIlckojipDf-J6F4I3PNKes0qNB_PyxtmFAqYlH0iPjoPg/s1600/IMG_4120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6QMfwtG18B1EAfbRpC4Zf5nOPt_pBol9UmNMAM_F0kOVIc_ce9vFIfbvjnhPfObuJrDXLcLOWm5LSlfKOfd8V7rsXP9r8XeIlckojipDf-J6F4I3PNKes0qNB_PyxtmFAqYlH0iPjoPg/s320/IMG_4120.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The truck was cut out of some 2x4 Douglas fir I had left over from building the CNC machine (If you're interested there are a few posts about that here: <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/06/cnc-machine-build-part-i.html">part1</a>, <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/08/cnc-machine-build-part-ii.html">part2</a>, <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/10/cnc-machine-build-part-iii-its-alive.html">part3</a>, <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2011/12/cnc-update.html">update</a>). Here are a few gratuitous "in-progress" shots:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0nEDMcpmuE2G9fRW8oFpHXC4hQ_UIY17zeet_KsdoCekrOTSkPxlpwuHDkURordixrkhQzwHcsj-zb084My6z54r-ggf_ar8NbuLCjnaDRhRgIBSJUVrfSZ9SNJgCEp71nNrJuWm9e9G/s1600/IMG_3603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0nEDMcpmuE2G9fRW8oFpHXC4hQ_UIY17zeet_KsdoCekrOTSkPxlpwuHDkURordixrkhQzwHcsj-zb084My6z54r-ggf_ar8NbuLCjnaDRhRgIBSJUVrfSZ9SNJgCEp71nNrJuWm9e9G/s320/IMG_3603.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfxpymHaUpfwXVm5DqqBCUF0cNhtBmCGJElMLUuROpelOEBaUYZlnehFYmOxq7jER2v7GWpw0I2KnmpKgy_K9cD0nRzCkkvnm9bfoYm1p7MU_xw4il2fDQHf2FU__gyHY_o3mnVkteOmO/s1600/IMG_3604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfxpymHaUpfwXVm5DqqBCUF0cNhtBmCGJElMLUuROpelOEBaUYZlnehFYmOxq7jER2v7GWpw0I2KnmpKgy_K9cD0nRzCkkvnm9bfoYm1p7MU_xw4il2fDQHf2FU__gyHY_o3mnVkteOmO/s320/IMG_3604.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3PHiAjFTJbY4uzsEqe4V3rwTIRR4hVEC3nOzhUflRwTxayqA2SUUfFagfabluU9KPMlAh9wWMlNd46opEPGPqXTo1ZvJr1S9P7PjRF3zQ7KbOaTWYpbeuSpeN-245yjSX68tKl2l9v3-g/s1600/IMG_3605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3PHiAjFTJbY4uzsEqe4V3rwTIRR4hVEC3nOzhUflRwTxayqA2SUUfFagfabluU9KPMlAh9wWMlNd46opEPGPqXTo1ZvJr1S9P7PjRF3zQ7KbOaTWYpbeuSpeN-245yjSX68tKl2l9v3-g/s320/IMG_3605.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEZ-W8f7p2MjMNpz8sV2kkm_1lMvHktjkxTTFMgeiHv2pKXw_46SDRCdR5JPLeHmmCQGkxEC-ijS3iAuWGQtH7nIRZkpia9BuDvG3KBwevw24kKZCbWs_wjWA2YPws6JZz_Wwnn30_Vc-/s1600/IMG_3661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEZ-W8f7p2MjMNpz8sV2kkm_1lMvHktjkxTTFMgeiHv2pKXw_46SDRCdR5JPLeHmmCQGkxEC-ijS3iAuWGQtH7nIRZkpia9BuDvG3KBwevw24kKZCbWs_wjWA2YPws6JZz_Wwnn30_Vc-/s320/IMG_3661.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The wheels were from a bag of wooden shapes that LiEr (from <a href="http://www.ikatbag.com/">ikatbag</a>) sent to us when Delyth was born. Thanks, LiEr! That bag of wooden tidbits has been a life saver.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0WNgiRB8ExFdeFCRER1Dh7HJJ2ClsWoZIAOx0C1h6DvB2VfAWU8PT4xZkSYSxzY9l4Hzgp9kYXCHwGEdpb-uTGW_GUwIeZBSZlVmPVIZKifVH8beoPhsbDlnr_n8vNJjKnOwjB7Y86c/s1600/LiErsgifts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0WNgiRB8ExFdeFCRER1Dh7HJJ2ClsWoZIAOx0C1h6DvB2VfAWU8PT4xZkSYSxzY9l4Hzgp9kYXCHwGEdpb-uTGW_GUwIeZBSZlVmPVIZKifVH8beoPhsbDlnr_n8vNJjKnOwjB7Y86c/s320/LiErsgifts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
I really like how the truck turned out - It's personal, robust and simple. I think Harry liked it too, he certainly played with it a lot over Christmas :)
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSOn3g3IJOMP4twBCB0SoY4KmjrPpT-AKK663FA4mDY7wIE23hDwltfzyI1qR1qqyyq0_hoDh8STLkXyZTUsEoZKMxyb02xnkDo5p5lUyxkXwIZIctDIC6sS-P_U3vJAC9BThJtFTRxpi/s1600/IMG_4122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSOn3g3IJOMP4twBCB0SoY4KmjrPpT-AKK663FA4mDY7wIE23hDwltfzyI1qR1qqyyq0_hoDh8STLkXyZTUsEoZKMxyb02xnkDo5p5lUyxkXwIZIctDIC6sS-P_U3vJAC9BThJtFTRxpi/s320/IMG_4122.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6QMfwtG18B1EAfbRpC4Zf5nOPt_pBol9UmNMAM_F0kOVIc_ce9vFIfbvjnhPfObuJrDXLcLOWm5LSlfKOfd8V7rsXP9r8XeIlckojipDf-J6F4I3PNKes0qNB_PyxtmFAqYlH0iPjoPg/s1600/IMG_4120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6QMfwtG18B1EAfbRpC4Zf5nOPt_pBol9UmNMAM_F0kOVIc_ce9vFIfbvjnhPfObuJrDXLcLOWm5LSlfKOfd8V7rsXP9r8XeIlckojipDf-J6F4I3PNKes0qNB_PyxtmFAqYlH0iPjoPg/s320/IMG_4120.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKa4hmnk6oeqhPWSot66LQU6HqLPIG_jkcBnAVOm-HVEOJo4fGFaL5Rh_-fpb0FWf5w4OyFy4yoeLNW8f3CGPQU9fHHC5O9pwt9_W2OuKb_5QUi0J3POH2r4sdNrEWsJnJGCvsENW_h-EB/s1600/IMG_4121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKa4hmnk6oeqhPWSot66LQU6HqLPIG_jkcBnAVOm-HVEOJo4fGFaL5Rh_-fpb0FWf5w4OyFy4yoeLNW8f3CGPQU9fHHC5O9pwt9_W2OuKb_5QUi0J3POH2r4sdNrEWsJnJGCvsENW_h-EB/s320/IMG_4121.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCwVREdc4gbE-KcdOmMOBHR058Kkw2oCdkqbgYpXIghoEOY3j4Sk8sI6zO2yOT4n-J2qLMfYCcqjsIPhuLRmIdWcV8F_au3hH_ddnATi7Zki4jfjrtCtnl56I-BBoUhJtpIH0j1Ycxx3X/s1600/IMG_4123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCwVREdc4gbE-KcdOmMOBHR058Kkw2oCdkqbgYpXIghoEOY3j4Sk8sI6zO2yOT4n-J2qLMfYCcqjsIPhuLRmIdWcV8F_au3hH_ddnATi7Zki4jfjrtCtnl56I-BBoUhJtpIH0j1Ycxx3X/s320/IMG_4123.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWekTWK1jOwaFYLzpcHN9kAKemb58uYmyfx9U8QaqNtcuYjoks3mTyhKTEozvQ3oWNMC5FY1M7uc87adVRCU8TmIF-nZ6zEQP3S33yZqdZqO1Zd7XnvqHN5vQlI7Hm7TU8kxz95T2AgkZu/s1600/IMG_4150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWekTWK1jOwaFYLzpcHN9kAKemb58uYmyfx9U8QaqNtcuYjoks3mTyhKTEozvQ3oWNMC5FY1M7uc87adVRCU8TmIF-nZ6zEQP3S33yZqdZqO1Zd7XnvqHN5vQlI7Hm7TU8kxz95T2AgkZu/s320/IMG_4150.JPG" width="189" /></a></div>
<insert amazon="" link=""><br /></insert>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-89636080170950772392011-12-09T07:35:00.000-08:002012-03-12T22:17:43.666-07:00Battery pack for medical device<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_3Tk6m0V3ENmwHAq5ffeQtCxmQSi3AYilFxgwxLuKMiCJEzqQ5sTG0KpI0mAUaM8OnSTqocks0KJ-d4tjjoRRc_vp43q22pVK3rTFAXS25Mgt0KMGfo-PT-foWDl8ukd54BOofo-e6Lh/s1600/IMG_2552_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_3Tk6m0V3ENmwHAq5ffeQtCxmQSi3AYilFxgwxLuKMiCJEzqQ5sTG0KpI0mAUaM8OnSTqocks0KJ-d4tjjoRRc_vp43q22pVK3rTFAXS25Mgt0KMGfo-PT-foWDl8ukd54BOofo-e6Lh/s320/IMG_2552_web.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
<br />
Any guesses as to what I've been up to? It certainly looks a lot more dangerous than it really is. The object on the left is an electronic ambulatory infusion pump used by medics. The object on the right is a makeshift battery pack I put together to power the pump.<br />
<br />
A little while ago a friend of mine came to me with a problem - he was running an in-vivo experiment using one of these pumps to provide a continuous nutrient supply; the problem was that he needed to run the pumps continuously throughout a two week experiment. The pumps only accepted AA batteries and would run out of juice after only 4 hours of use. Having to go to the lab and change batteries every four hours sounds a bit too much like experiencing the sleep debt of having a very young child... So, he asked me if there was a quick and easy way to improve the situation.<br />
<br />
Connecting the pumps directly to the mains was out of the question; they needed to remain portable and untethered. So I thought we could add an external battery pack instead which would house larger, D size, batteries to increase the available power supply.<br />
<br />
These pumps cost around $800 each, so I wanted to make the least invasive upgrade possible - yes, I'm a scaredy cat. Rather than ripping them open and soldering directly onto the circuit board, I decided to make some fake AA batteries to interface with the internal battery terminals. A couple of screws at the end of correctly sized dowels should do the trick. So, I measured an AA battery (length and diameter) and headed over to OSH to pick up some doweling (I know... I feel like I was cheating on home despot).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgouXu93xzO6LzmmZeBB6Mr3xy0mM75Anf7u-pI2IBnoREg02I0ZXUJh0sgwicgCDtOai9VB6PtnvJqpkHpVqlWJLOfxAdnD1JBjTMyfEYgv3PtkZ0vhEer3tS6f9v-kvnKypFyVhxhTbWK/s1600/IMG_2553_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgouXu93xzO6LzmmZeBB6Mr3xy0mM75Anf7u-pI2IBnoREg02I0ZXUJh0sgwicgCDtOai9VB6PtnvJqpkHpVqlWJLOfxAdnD1JBjTMyfEYgv3PtkZ0vhEer3tS6f9v-kvnKypFyVhxhTbWK/s320/IMG_2553_web.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I cut two AA sized cylinders and decided on the right length of wire. I attached the wire to the ends of the dowel using a circular crimp terminal and a couple of wood screws. I had to drill a small hole in the pump casing in order to have the wire accessible, I threaded the wire through the hole and attached a mono jack plug to the end. For some reason I have a bag of these plugs and paired sockets sitting on my workbench... I figured they'd make life easier when replacing batteries by allowing the pump and battery pack to be separated and, if needed, I could make a few packs which would allow even quicker battery replacement.<br />
<br />
If you've read any of my other posts you won't be surprised to hear that I opted for PVC pipe when making the main body of the battery packs. It turns out that D batteries fit snugly in 1 1/4" PVC piping, which is readily available in Lowe's/OSH/Home Depot.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaW4uMrDU-lF-8f4Xo_djdFafivQm9qkBt8mh_PDs56ejq9_29JtmPqmLSrvCzILC1ohxtxV5nC_xTAiAr_GyCabpMLAjrJi7ML1ori9lagLA5HhiN6te2WY4qK2-JrxwN1BlLYdiDZ-DD/s1600/IMG_2546_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaW4uMrDU-lF-8f4Xo_djdFafivQm9qkBt8mh_PDs56ejq9_29JtmPqmLSrvCzILC1ohxtxV5nC_xTAiAr_GyCabpMLAjrJi7ML1ori9lagLA5HhiN6te2WY4qK2-JrxwN1BlLYdiDZ-DD/s320/IMG_2546_web.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I bought some single D battery holders from RadioShack so I could cannibalize the springs (and wire). I dissected them using a proxxon (a dremmel variant gifted to Lin by my PhD buddy Claire) and glued them to a couple of PVC end caps. If you look at the picture below you can see that one of the end caps consists of two pieces where one slides onto the main body and the other screws onto that piece. I glued the spring onto the inside lip of the larger piece, drilled a hole in the smaller cap to fit the jack plug and soldered it all together. The connecting wires were passed through small holes drilled in the sides of the cap. The black tape you can see is to secure the wire that connects the lower terminal with the jack socket. I thought about passing the wire down the inside of the case, but I figured that having the wire on the outside would make it very obvious how far the wire can be stretched safely. If it was on the inside someone might pull the cap off too hard/far and damage the battery pack - not good halfway through an experiment!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_3Tk6m0V3ENmwHAq5ffeQtCxmQSi3AYilFxgwxLuKMiCJEzqQ5sTG0KpI0mAUaM8OnSTqocks0KJ-d4tjjoRRc_vp43q22pVK3rTFAXS25Mgt0KMGfo-PT-foWDl8ukd54BOofo-e6Lh/s1600/IMG_2552_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_3Tk6m0V3ENmwHAq5ffeQtCxmQSi3AYilFxgwxLuKMiCJEzqQ5sTG0KpI0mAUaM8OnSTqocks0KJ-d4tjjoRRc_vp43q22pVK3rTFAXS25Mgt0KMGfo-PT-foWDl8ukd54BOofo-e6Lh/s320/IMG_2552_web.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It turns out that the modified pumps and battery packs worked well. The D batteries supplied enough juice to run the pumps at full pelt for over 16 hours; Result!</div>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-43945333290692546662011-12-07T22:50:00.000-08:002011-12-09T00:33:32.446-08:00CNC updateI just realised that I haven't posted about the CNC machine for over a year! Judging by the blog, it looks like I failed and let it die a quiet death... but in reality it's been pretty great; it is up and running and working better than I had originally hoped. <br />
<br />
Admittedly, it took longer to get into a decent state than I had planned for, but then I never had a lot of time to dedicate to it and I am not "skilled in the art" (oh no, not by a long shot!). One of the main reasons for embarking on the CNC build was to push myself into learning a lot of new skills; with that in mind it's been a huge success :) I picked up more woodworking skills, some metal working skills, knowledge of CAD, CAM, gcode and learned a ton of other random facts and figures along the way. But, best of all, I have this amazing contraption in my garage that can craft things out of wood, plastic, foam and aluminum with speed and precision that I couldn't possibly hope to achieve by hand.<br />
<br />
So, what have I done with it so far? Well, a lot of the things I've made so far have been improvements and additions for the machine itself. First off, I made some hold downs (<a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:776">thingyverse thing:776</a>) and some knobs to go with them (gcode provided free by <a href="http://www.solsylva.com/cnc/18x24_knobs.shtml">solsylva.com</a>, which is where I bought the CNC plans from in the first place).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVmtft5VlU5YRIa2Unhps5eVxdokqRLNiteZZP-98_ae9nIuZrieNkpB4QOLPQ0tyLwBEC-T0tQ428f1XcpugcZi9WQsggzCVrWy6fzvmBo3UsMzkgtv32q5qlYTL2OTDhouXwJCzjyOD0/s1600/65828_484165450394_524500394_7486130_7392642_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVmtft5VlU5YRIa2Unhps5eVxdokqRLNiteZZP-98_ae9nIuZrieNkpB4QOLPQ0tyLwBEC-T0tQ428f1XcpugcZi9WQsggzCVrWy6fzvmBo3UsMzkgtv32q5qlYTL2OTDhouXwJCzjyOD0/s320/65828_484165450394_524500394_7486130_7392642_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQp3to7zKNEkYumT0MkIISoDB7aUbx9jZ98ByE329I7znfy7Sdb0ihWHMNvCrXwrQrdLW047V8OrnEr6tPv-Bxcta1ZT63KU-FBZ6_fSlmZtL_vFwtrpoZo5rewgX1iI1s1Jx-rZ6kih_c/s1600/132347_10150105843885395_524500394_8049519_1320666_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQp3to7zKNEkYumT0MkIISoDB7aUbx9jZ98ByE329I7znfy7Sdb0ihWHMNvCrXwrQrdLW047V8OrnEr6tPv-Bxcta1ZT63KU-FBZ6_fSlmZtL_vFwtrpoZo5rewgX1iI1s1Jx-rZ6kih_c/s320/132347_10150105843885395_524500394_8049519_1320666_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
You can see the new knobs and a couple of the hold downs in use here, holding down some 1/2" MDF with some more hold downs being cut out.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCAt2sACrnbmOZaz5eTPMapscKagbDI2O7NgztURW0EO8Ug3pXDbfo-YmSTDz-v2qEjEI5BWlFJfHT9zDcp0zGoH5uE5omPv_lhmOIW1sAazdcVGlThgZ3MBUfXeX1cxDTF7MAyFDjXBi/s1600/78089_10150105843870395_524500394_8049518_564231_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCAt2sACrnbmOZaz5eTPMapscKagbDI2O7NgztURW0EO8Ug3pXDbfo-YmSTDz-v2qEjEI5BWlFJfHT9zDcp0zGoH5uE5omPv_lhmOIW1sAazdcVGlThgZ3MBUfXeX1cxDTF7MAyFDjXBi/s320/78089_10150105843870395_524500394_8049518_564231_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
At the start of the year I upgraded the leadscrews from all-thread to ACME rod (the cheap stuff from <a href="http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INLMPI?PMPANO=0610730&PMKBNO=2611&PMPAGE=56">Enco</a>) which meant that I needed new leadnuts (also from <a href="http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INLMPI?PMPANO=0610730&PMKBNO=2611&PMPAGE=56">Enco</a>) and leadnut holders - I designed these in CamBam and cut them out on the machine (after a few false starts mostly to do with my <a href="http://geekbraindump.blogspot.com/2010/11/emc2-g64-and-sharp-corners.html">understanding of g-code</a>). I guess I should upload those designs to thingyverse really; though I'm not sure how useful they are to others.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQwpf_V3MV0HW7t1FnX3-2ek1uIcSold8NL98yG2Vm_RLkC1DArfiWpWLIQsSaI2aJzRSWiZrfsCrCvz7cS9hMMuzp0b7bdxUYGrh8yi7o5p7KcJXpW1CjjCdFBjoLHGGoACDWXu8EokN/s1600/132255_10150118094755395_524500394_8281028_1897472_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQwpf_V3MV0HW7t1FnX3-2ek1uIcSold8NL98yG2Vm_RLkC1DArfiWpWLIQsSaI2aJzRSWiZrfsCrCvz7cS9hMMuzp0b7bdxUYGrh8yi7o5p7KcJXpW1CjjCdFBjoLHGGoACDWXu8EokN/s320/132255_10150118094755395_524500394_8281028_1897472_o.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDeD-O-I1hXCeQ6hPC67yffNRaTKjCaB0ZToGkLy9Rb7di_pWAEPipxf8W-Xaa4t13Gd06uWdwyCoCYRpJABIaA7C40vD4jK2j-WjJz78w_JIM8xQqL91IuNCAFc3imDYVhp5_TiZfLNI/s1600/133931_10150118094795395_524500394_8281034_2266611_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDeD-O-I1hXCeQ6hPC67yffNRaTKjCaB0ZToGkLy9Rb7di_pWAEPipxf8W-Xaa4t13Gd06uWdwyCoCYRpJABIaA7C40vD4jK2j-WjJz78w_JIM8xQqL91IuNCAFc3imDYVhp5_TiZfLNI/s320/133931_10150118094795395_524500394_8281034_2266611_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The leadscrew upgrade removed a lot of backlash and resulted in faster and smoother performance.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I noticed that the cutting surface wasn't level so next up was to add some MDF planks and level them using the machine to mill the entire surface flat. After spending a couple of hours following the router bit with a vacuum hose and still getting myself and everything in the garage covered in a fine layer of MDF dust (not nice) I decided the next upgrade should be a vacuum system - I went with the one described on the<span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><a href="http://www.solsylva.com/cnc/vacuum.shtml" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Solsylva site</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">with one minor modification. I had a lot of trouble getting the ring cut from a 2 liter plastic bottle to fit around the vacuum attachment, so I cut it open and attached it with duct tape... frustrated, moi? That was a bit unstable (and ugly) and I ended up replacing the tape with a #56 band clamp, which has been working fine so far. I intend on cutting out a few more in order to have quick change vacuum feet with different length bristles on each of them.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSw7WMxkDxGYzwqRI9-eG5gu9j-V6LkQqM447VXGuJavTCN-fo8u2C-TsSS7DNxCLkX_dfa8lEiKoJXAQrE_PHiZ6F8nyNT1oMCrxQbxgB9WNiL9sokzte24tlydS-ajjYjR9L79-HsJ-/s1600/IMG_2854.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSw7WMxkDxGYzwqRI9-eG5gu9j-V6LkQqM447VXGuJavTCN-fo8u2C-TsSS7DNxCLkX_dfa8lEiKoJXAQrE_PHiZ6F8nyNT1oMCrxQbxgB9WNiL9sokzte24tlydS-ajjYjR9L79-HsJ-/s320/IMG_2854.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhdTS9vcBYwUaRZe5aIpNM-yljVkzHhESFafspfzg7grjQ3FDjWCEh9Gh5BJ9ThJpX-wNVuhOLEJWDBuNayrb0h4U5yV0_AlGoSic1icUku3O8nsL8W2ohy3UiJZtRgdrQwSaQs3i1qev/s1600/IMG_2855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhdTS9vcBYwUaRZe5aIpNM-yljVkzHhESFafspfzg7grjQ3FDjWCEh9Gh5BJ9ThJpX-wNVuhOLEJWDBuNayrb0h4U5yV0_AlGoSic1icUku3O8nsL8W2ohy3UiJZtRgdrQwSaQs3i1qev/s320/IMG_2855.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeQk77fvKAY_bul-gQKxMgnbIaDl-WJyRhVHmxIYtLTnt1-xeD2pN6Vk_zy9-JzQ_kornx-SmDFeCnftvzOuvdlU5glxh_rjZ0F8-f8elAyd6sP0Qzr8w3fv8fJKPu1LZAJbbJkEQZ4n7/s1600/338969_10150423456860395_524500394_10856118_177231806_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeQk77fvKAY_bul-gQKxMgnbIaDl-WJyRhVHmxIYtLTnt1-xeD2pN6Vk_zy9-JzQ_kornx-SmDFeCnftvzOuvdlU5glxh_rjZ0F8-f8elAyd6sP0Qzr8w3fv8fJKPu1LZAJbbJkEQZ4n7/s320/338969_10150423456860395_524500394_10856118_177231806_o.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
It's not all been machine related production though. Some of the first things I made were random carvings for the kids. I carved their names into blocks of wood; made spirals, hearts and shapes for them to colour-in and mess around with; I made a few door signs for bathrooms; name plates for kids friends bedrooms; and a few other random objects. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzbLcoLtIfai7BxAwDTmuw-3hGE_YB49tQn9LCnAfjfrc-jDtG8d9UehqCkHY2yW-KK-gvmEIE_-Ttbla2va__mP7sOLoJDajF9m21gjkErjQRVwu4SbpAMvWiENRv7kDsyWt5oksHef3/s1600/40732_10150089359510395_524500394_7811230_444268_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzbLcoLtIfai7BxAwDTmuw-3hGE_YB49tQn9LCnAfjfrc-jDtG8d9UehqCkHY2yW-KK-gvmEIE_-Ttbla2va__mP7sOLoJDajF9m21gjkErjQRVwu4SbpAMvWiENRv7kDsyWt5oksHef3/s320/40732_10150089359510395_524500394_7811230_444268_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipyGhncmjkTYU3WVaOb7soMoE5jedK65bK-FJULI6U0yXxH6OAlr4wyot3hdMZcjUoJO2h-5zT6kPvrKjfsNBJg5BHj7BVkPpfR2CL91LaP5WEgcr8w5Ypoo1Iy-wbE7KNUa2WK9qPWFfZ/s1600/64687_484164845394_524500394_7486119_3231038_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipyGhncmjkTYU3WVaOb7soMoE5jedK65bK-FJULI6U0yXxH6OAlr4wyot3hdMZcjUoJO2h-5zT6kPvrKjfsNBJg5BHj7BVkPpfR2CL91LaP5WEgcr8w5Ypoo1Iy-wbE7KNUa2WK9qPWFfZ/s320/64687_484164845394_524500394_7486119_3231038_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I've also mocked up a small version of Carys' birthday present and cut it out on the machine. I can't wait to be able to post about the completed full sized birthday project, but that's going to have to wait until it's finished. I love the fact that the kids birthday presents are always collaborative efforts with my lovely missus - all the projects are so much better when she's involved. Remember the <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCUQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fangletronics.com%2F2010%2F02%2Famazing-dr-boardmans-colour-conundrum.html&ei=t2PgTqC0FOadiAL34-2BDw&usg=AFQjCNHLM2tukaX-wyjY2bj0igOyRfsClA&sig2=S0jJMWqzENqYRoPEdqU16w">colour conundrum</a>? That would just have been an ugly cardboard box with wires sticking out if it weren't for her creative talents and influence!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefSce3-lFT_2MC2I-emXDbqysrzDM1o3d7nzHTySmh4ftl8Wr72fwhGv8fDIYi6oXKL1QiAlxXKloHwwBWsfIv8CEhnZRB7qgVBisEsV5o7Wx6XOAydcZ5xzo80zBvi8MwnrOdTvbwIuZ/s1600/IMG_2578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefSce3-lFT_2MC2I-emXDbqysrzDM1o3d7nzHTySmh4ftl8Wr72fwhGv8fDIYi6oXKL1QiAlxXKloHwwBWsfIv8CEhnZRB7qgVBisEsV5o7Wx6XOAydcZ5xzo80zBvi8MwnrOdTvbwIuZ/s320/IMG_2578.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lcm_1dq2PEUZ71w_827jWfBfU8NWvWDP3HmNMd2kwCNXtFkPVt8P_ezlPjHofe2hr9Dq_yYxPMMIgJBpekAZpVRYQIfvwbs7KVzxISAGZl_-ioIDIEa19qlZ9lzagQ_0SKKmYtvlAFAB/s1600/IMG_2580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lcm_1dq2PEUZ71w_827jWfBfU8NWvWDP3HmNMd2kwCNXtFkPVt8P_ezlPjHofe2hr9Dq_yYxPMMIgJBpekAZpVRYQIfvwbs7KVzxISAGZl_-ioIDIEa19qlZ9lzagQ_0SKKmYtvlAFAB/s320/IMG_2580.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The current crop of unphotographed and unfinished projects include "kids name marble mazes" and rubber band guns. I've been wondering how hard it would be to make simple versions of star wars ships like the millenium falcon and mill them out. I guess I wouldn't be able to share the files though (or I'd risk getting sued). The one thing I haven't really thought about is actually one of the reasons I thought the CNC machine would be ace - PCB milling. It turns out that getting boards through <a href="http://dorkbotpdx.org/wiki/pcb_order">DorkbotPDX </a>is much simpler than milling your own (unless you're in a rush) and the results are fantastic - you can see a few of my completed boards <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2011/11/techliminal-pcb-design-workshop.html">here</a>.PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-52502019820868757692011-11-01T23:35:00.000-07:002011-11-04T21:33:09.658-07:00Techliminal PCB design workshopA while ago, as part of the bay area <a href="https://whatwillyoulearn.com/">workshop weekend</a>, <a href="http://techliminal.com/">Techliminal </a>held a 3 hour "introduction to PCB layout" class instructed by Malcolm Knapp. I'd tried using <a href="http://www.cadsoftusa.com/">EAGLE</a> a year ago when I first wanted to produce some schematics for my blog posts, but I found it a bit unintuitive and very frustrating. I went along to the class hoping it would be a quick and easy way to get to grips with schematic design and board layout. In short - it was. Malcolm is a really good teacher and I think everyone in the class got to grips with the software pretty quickly and got a lot out of the session. This course is being run again this coming weekend; if you're around and want to quickly get to grips with Eagle I strongly recommend signing up (just click <a href="http://whatwillyoulearn.com/">here</a>)!<br />
<br />
After the class I headed home and immediately created my first schematic and board. There are a few I want to make but I figured the simplest would be a board for the <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2009/12/duplo-traffic-lights.html">traffic lights</a> I made for the kids ages ago. I got a little bit carried away and made designs for a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistence_of_vision">POV </a>writer, an <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/02/rgb-night-lights.html">RGB LED night light</a> and for a smaller version of "<a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/02/amazing-dr-boardmans-colour-conundrum.html">Dr Boardman's Color Conundrum</a>". Here's the first schematic for the POV writer:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFInMBHgsmzF-O9trKqnkFJvPuL641eHWa6WWZnN6_wsfrg9gqt7s90EO5ElPISpMTaeUf04g1xrraAddb6nfluTPObrSB8b2LgxwfSbF9IiwAqSdyGwyrv065p2kdJhrlnklTgAWOjFO-/s1600/povWriter_v0.1.schematic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFInMBHgsmzF-O9trKqnkFJvPuL641eHWa6WWZnN6_wsfrg9gqt7s90EO5ElPISpMTaeUf04g1xrraAddb6nfluTPObrSB8b2LgxwfSbF9IiwAqSdyGwyrv065p2kdJhrlnklTgAWOjFO-/s320/povWriter_v0.1.schematic.png" width="320" /></a></div>
And here's the board layout:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLzCVBgv0MM5FrTvHmukFNJG_q-7mkWx4MEQqoBZb20Eeg0RBk9NCG0AZALFqqvf-P2UoZoPAr8Lsp2kwHV9AQlYKRRuig_y7b7z7fhjlJKhmTsm203yU2Tc00o-CP3dAGT3gODy25r2D1/s1600/povWriter_v0.1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLzCVBgv0MM5FrTvHmukFNJG_q-7mkWx4MEQqoBZb20Eeg0RBk9NCG0AZALFqqvf-P2UoZoPAr8Lsp2kwHV9AQlYKRRuig_y7b7z7fhjlJKhmTsm203yU2Tc00o-CP3dAGT3gODy25r2D1/s320/povWriter_v0.1.png" width="115" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I was immensely proud to be able to put this together. I know this is simple stuff for many people, but this isn't the easiest software to work out late at night (the only time I have available).</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I submitted my gerber files to the <a href="http://dorkbotpdx.org/wiki/pcb_order">DorkbotPDX PCB order</a> and waited (eagerly). The boards cost $4 per square inch (for which you get 3 copies of each board) and arrived a couple of weeks later. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here they are fresh from the fab:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA2YNm3aKAsJxOfUYL7Wuu22rbNHDTyg_8-CrJn7oo3QYXzOBR16a6jL2Ltbqc6FxGfSgg9ousONCNyUobDAJT9k1qwB_6acAgjNiDiJeAwOhc0MHdU-ymOOY775Su5YtHKEJnO_bzw3gq/s1600/IMG_1737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA2YNm3aKAsJxOfUYL7Wuu22rbNHDTyg_8-CrJn7oo3QYXzOBR16a6jL2Ltbqc6FxGfSgg9ousONCNyUobDAJT9k1qwB_6acAgjNiDiJeAwOhc0MHdU-ymOOY775Su5YtHKEJnO_bzw3gq/s640/IMG_1737.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
That's four designs with two boards positioned so you can see the front and back of each (the boards are actually double sided).<br />
<br />
I've had a chance to solder parts on to all of these. Of course I found a couple of mistakes and oversights in these first designs, but that's no surprise really. This is all a learning process. They all work though - which is a big shocker!<br />
<br />
All in all this has been a great experience. It's fantastic to go from idea -> design -> PCB -> working device; this is very empowering. I'll write more about the individual boards later, but for now I just wanted to post something to give a shout out to Malcom and to encourage anyone interested to head over to the workshop.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-70918772567342616762011-08-03T23:10:00.000-07:002011-08-03T23:25:23.114-07:00PVC Pipe goal postsThe girls have been going to summer "soccer" practice over at a local gymnasium They've really been enjoying it and I thought it be fun to set up a goal at home for them to have a play with. I noticed that the goal posts at the gym are made out of one of my favourite materials: PVC pipe (see <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2011/03/pvc-pipe-dressing-up-rack.html">here</a>, <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2009/09/pvc-pipe-marshmallow-gun.html">here</a> and <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/03/saving-disney-princess-remote.html">here</a> for more evidence on my apparent obsession). So, I had a look online to get some inspiration by seeing what designs other people have come up with. If you perform an image search for "pvc soccer goal" you should get a pretty good overview of the basic designs.<br />
<br />
Afer sketching something on our blackboard and making sure the girls were excited by the idea we headed out to OSH to pick up the bits. We decided on a goal which measured 4' wide, 3' tall and 2' deep and came home with 4 x 8' lengths of 1" pipe, 6 x 90 degree elbows and 4 x Tees.<br />
<br />
Here it all is, cut to length all ready to be put together (this took less than 10 mins):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLYSX3WnorWnQmkxqudJK6KrOu7GNAerpg1_mo7LP4vLVqaEKXhnVOAk3nGHIfOT8VvHFlkdaJauEPszWiLHCZf7MSUcConmKW4f1s88wmXqhjrs_fScgOoLqelFXmp8Wtjp-KjwAkYg3f/s1600/IMG_1668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLYSX3WnorWnQmkxqudJK6KrOu7GNAerpg1_mo7LP4vLVqaEKXhnVOAk3nGHIfOT8VvHFlkdaJauEPszWiLHCZf7MSUcConmKW4f1s88wmXqhjrs_fScgOoLqelFXmp8Wtjp-KjwAkYg3f/s320/IMG_1668.JPG" width="202" /></a></div><br />
The lengths are: 2x 3'7"; 2 x 3'; 2 x 2'; 4 x 1'6"; and 2 x 1'. Working out the lengths of the diagonal braces was the first time I've used Pythagoras' theorem in ages.<br />
<br />
Here you can see my little helper, 'helping out' midway through the build (she was keen to get playing, bless her):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuEpg3nPYjE6FobMKmFwLvPXhXvP7pOTFRtVgwijh2uvNgToB1BDutvk-Ip7JyDvHxWULo2Gk5MIbjsqG9boIRdFd2MhYd5XKs_IL8pmpcRu25MxIqeceXH_mMghFBXRMBu44mBKrvOSeS/s1600/IMG_1672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuEpg3nPYjE6FobMKmFwLvPXhXvP7pOTFRtVgwijh2uvNgToB1BDutvk-Ip7JyDvHxWULo2Gk5MIbjsqG9boIRdFd2MhYd5XKs_IL8pmpcRu25MxIqeceXH_mMghFBXRMBu44mBKrvOSeS/s320/IMG_1672.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQikAtT8OSLY1GG2MC8alE0aNzVAWTesl2bhlegea-rzNEXhHFNN7yhg2ttl131BjnjfP3CiWpTxlHRUFUaY81yqp72YQLuvMClvUVCDde14jYINljLMup9Djxz0RYepAOib3H-vP1w0K/s1600/IMG_1673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQikAtT8OSLY1GG2MC8alE0aNzVAWTesl2bhlegea-rzNEXhHFNN7yhg2ttl131BjnjfP3CiWpTxlHRUFUaY81yqp72YQLuvMClvUVCDde14jYINljLMup9Djxz0RYepAOib3H-vP1w0K/s320/IMG_1673.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And here's the final product being put to good use:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7J0MUXITJQa9mmCAEvy7oD4izWohYZ6odKM3kscXKAfcF-9Yie-4MktN-Vlstz9WO-0zFwllzIqgcdjv-gsdK6Msn6GvTwPxWuTGNy9ZnwAM6QkBZjFPdtmLCdPfQZcqjaZQz652XqOe/s1600/IMG_1675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7J0MUXITJQa9mmCAEvy7oD4izWohYZ6odKM3kscXKAfcF-9Yie-4MktN-Vlstz9WO-0zFwllzIqgcdjv-gsdK6Msn6GvTwPxWuTGNy9ZnwAM6QkBZjFPdtmLCdPfQZcqjaZQz652XqOe/s320/IMG_1675.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihzaq2oWHt8t-0qWTIPdrB12zkouiMPcxfw30c1htKYH0xrhyd25ONpwfnwEENgygSJp-hnRTrACg5FjaspYTH6zounkcBCXbez7eWwPNzPdtzVFDjSHAmNFAgzL3djVvWX4pPLRBe8V9u/s1600/IMG_1676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihzaq2oWHt8t-0qWTIPdrB12zkouiMPcxfw30c1htKYH0xrhyd25ONpwfnwEENgygSJp-hnRTrACg5FjaspYTH6zounkcBCXbez7eWwPNzPdtzVFDjSHAmNFAgzL3djVvWX4pPLRBe8V9u/s320/IMG_1676.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I was hoping to find some netting at the same time as the pipes, but we had no joy. It seems to work well enough without the net for now though (the kids have been enjoying it anyway).<br />
<br />
I know things have been a little quiet around here recently. It's mainly because we've just had a 50% increase in the number of girls in the house (sorry Lin, I'm not counting you). If you're interested in meeting the latest addition, take a look at Lin's post - <a href="http://www.filthwizardry.com/2011/06/baby-is-here-and-thank-you-lier.html">here</a>. Yes, this was from a month ago... as you can tell, Lin is much more on the ball than I am :)PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-90908398961438790792011-05-28T23:18:00.000-07:002012-03-12T22:18:45.497-07:00From Futon to Planter Boxes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWi13MraBpGBlGSX7aUDcCTr0NqgM_HdMTDfEVD3HDYky9IoHO20ZUeShcYNaYtrqjiWzoExvfoJxhJoKiAwANAvAbBk7zsM5Wf4DOSsNLBTi4yQNyMHzWHDuKAiCeg10Ow1L2YacO2VI/s1600/IMG_0989.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWi13MraBpGBlGSX7aUDcCTr0NqgM_HdMTDfEVD3HDYky9IoHO20ZUeShcYNaYtrqjiWzoExvfoJxhJoKiAwANAvAbBk7zsM5Wf4DOSsNLBTi4yQNyMHzWHDuKAiCeg10Ow1L2YacO2VI/s320/IMG_0989.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
When I first moved to the US, I had about 5 cardboard boxes of stuff to my name. None of those boxes contained any furniture and so a very kind young lady lent me her futon so that I'd have something comfy to sleep on. The futon has stayed with us from one move to the next, but it's time has come. It's last incarnation was as part of the kids bed (we merged the futon base with the main body of a kids single bed) but we recently bought a loft bed for them to share and the futon was suddenly in the way. The mattress is currently a sofa/bed in the kids room which left this lovely source of untreated pine just staring at me wanting to be used. Rather than put it on craigslist, I gave in to my urges and decided to transform it into something we needed (and would keep for a long time to come). We've been experimenting with growing fruit and veg in our back yard since last year so it seemed like a good use of the wood to make some planter boxes.<br />
<br />
The base was kept together with bolts and screws - no glue! which made for a fun half hour with screwdrivers for me and the kids. <br />
<br />
Here are the spoils (except the two 2"x2" poles which were bought at Home Despot):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqU4aID-H3ELFP0Jpc_gni3H6G3_B_G0tbnKGndOPtbnvhdMzSlGcxYba2_zKjmvmL7bwBAQMccpB9rI6cVNWCRyrE4hiHEbqiZ6xeXyfQ891D6PbeIB0bJMhZJygZe79Jxw_nt4benUbB/s1600/IMG_0860.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqU4aID-H3ELFP0Jpc_gni3H6G3_B_G0tbnKGndOPtbnvhdMzSlGcxYba2_zKjmvmL7bwBAQMccpB9rI6cVNWCRyrE4hiHEbqiZ6xeXyfQ891D6PbeIB0bJMhZJygZe79Jxw_nt4benUbB/s320/IMG_0860.JPG" width="231" /></a></div><br />
I figured we could make a couple of planters from all this wood. Lin had the bright idea of using some metal mesh we had left over (from some <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stacking-Wire-Storage-Cubes-Silver/dp/B001H35NWY?ie=UTF8&tag=fangletronics-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">stacking wire storage cubes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=fangletronics-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001H35NWY" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />) as the base of the planters and it just so happens that the 2"x2" poles fit snugly in the corners after a bit of metal snipping. <br />
<br />
After measuring the wood and the wire mesh, it turns out that I could make two planters around 17" tall. I cut up the 2"x4" planks into smaller pieces each 14 1/4" in length and cut 4 legs from the 2"x2" - each measuring 17".<br />
<br />
Here are a few rough sketches I made whilst trying to think it through:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkl5cz0vwFwmUv2EAadvueFjrBtY6vnfwVz_FzlrmoC0Ed57SXEsRNZil4w_NQZ_cninxPCUIilBaGee7dKif5b4pDPbFYnGoTSpTCQijOvijJcJ1k-Q4YZ8Nxc4g7oNn0DHdZsnkHuON/s1600/IMG_1218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkl5cz0vwFwmUv2EAadvueFjrBtY6vnfwVz_FzlrmoC0Ed57SXEsRNZil4w_NQZ_cninxPCUIilBaGee7dKif5b4pDPbFYnGoTSpTCQijOvijJcJ1k-Q4YZ8Nxc4g7oNn0DHdZsnkHuON/s320/IMG_1218.JPG" width="188" /></a></div><br />
And here are all the bits cut to length and ready to be assembled:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAh-NAgVS1iwc4tmno4xkVRgaXt6KiAsxUJsNT3VVv209XhfnYhVBG6hVdJ2KFRfgEgMTyuFYI54JSJ3wSSpNVN6WgAWI0PHc5u8lGxVu0FYvLfOpPo_HwSxSIF9xCcE3YS6kxPaa4zmpW/s1600/IMG_0877.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAh-NAgVS1iwc4tmno4xkVRgaXt6KiAsxUJsNT3VVv209XhfnYhVBG6hVdJ2KFRfgEgMTyuFYI54JSJ3wSSpNVN6WgAWI0PHc5u8lGxVu0FYvLfOpPo_HwSxSIF9xCcE3YS6kxPaa4zmpW/s320/IMG_0877.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I routed out a 1/4" wide by 1/4" deep dado around 1/2" from the bottom on 4 of the small planks so that the wire mesh fitted snugly.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_cjBuhi58Qy3-r98DTEKPDC5FBMAe5cFfg-aXJaKVp-zlvSCD6EiBFsLBDBbGDu7qsxrkLLFNa5F3GCDIV4vQu7np2T7WrUpqw7i7hIBwIxvBETw5iVtOVchQTA2z31X5ZcSY5DG_e2r/s1600/IMG_0875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_cjBuhi58Qy3-r98DTEKPDC5FBMAe5cFfg-aXJaKVp-zlvSCD6EiBFsLBDBbGDu7qsxrkLLFNa5F3GCDIV4vQu7np2T7WrUpqw7i7hIBwIxvBETw5iVtOVchQTA2z31X5ZcSY5DG_e2r/s320/IMG_0875.JPG" width="307" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrIUihakSol7tmMOQXdUIcNpgCHVFNxVdxll8zf0a6yX6WmcNk0ipyhH_CUDZ0NY-wKNLq_JEQChUzF0DbJyYXYb6GObTZjuC5Njxk0T5ps7JebelVpTLaL0m3axf0AHYcvs0VnvlG_Ll/s1600/IMG_0874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrIUihakSol7tmMOQXdUIcNpgCHVFNxVdxll8zf0a6yX6WmcNk0ipyhH_CUDZ0NY-wKNLq_JEQChUzF0DbJyYXYb6GObTZjuC5Njxk0T5ps7JebelVpTLaL0m3axf0AHYcvs0VnvlG_Ll/s320/IMG_0874.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
I routed out a similar channel on two adjacent sides of the legs (higher up though, so that the legs stick out the bottom) and then secured the planks to each other and to the legs with wood screws.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZusxXnALQW8Kbm18DxW4tXWNn6hEOXj7KXJSS52UO5NWjzIQNP1IDbKed70vIBojuN4cm3LUExUqNkWcGVeYUTGxxh3sVdO9waAcs7lSlxnKF3QyF2sG5h_hEi_KFBeuXb34PqJ1rH0cj/s1600/IMG_0879.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZusxXnALQW8Kbm18DxW4tXWNn6hEOXj7KXJSS52UO5NWjzIQNP1IDbKed70vIBojuN4cm3LUExUqNkWcGVeYUTGxxh3sVdO9waAcs7lSlxnKF3QyF2sG5h_hEi_KFBeuXb34PqJ1rH0cj/s320/IMG_0879.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Then it was just a matter of attaching the rest of planks. I went for an alternating spiral like pattern.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_erARWHPZNYjegdsNLhhjVeLh-3wpQykf3-oIB0Jozqzm7ovh35BwEFu1SQ4bWzB7WETGqD_bppG9Jzqo7jH56NJRr17gjo4XOcvK3TlJKq_0HMQykHaksL2KcV8c_DQ4JzzbRKoHM3K/s1600/IMG_0881.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_erARWHPZNYjegdsNLhhjVeLh-3wpQykf3-oIB0Jozqzm7ovh35BwEFu1SQ4bWzB7WETGqD_bppG9Jzqo7jH56NJRr17gjo4XOcvK3TlJKq_0HMQykHaksL2KcV8c_DQ4JzzbRKoHM3K/s320/IMG_0881.JPG" width="271" /></a></div><br />
To finish off I added a lip by cutting and mitering (45 degrees) some siding from the futon and gluing it on (with yellow wood glue). The wood already had a groove in the middle which slotted nicely in place on top of the planters. Then the kids personalised them with some watered down food colouring.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWi13MraBpGBlGSX7aUDcCTr0NqgM_HdMTDfEVD3HDYky9IoHO20ZUeShcYNaYtrqjiWzoExvfoJxhJoKiAwANAvAbBk7zsM5Wf4DOSsNLBTi4yQNyMHzWHDuKAiCeg10Ow1L2YacO2VI/s1600/IMG_0989.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWi13MraBpGBlGSX7aUDcCTr0NqgM_HdMTDfEVD3HDYky9IoHO20ZUeShcYNaYtrqjiWzoExvfoJxhJoKiAwANAvAbBk7zsM5Wf4DOSsNLBTi4yQNyMHzWHDuKAiCeg10Ow1L2YacO2VI/s320/IMG_0989.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I put on a couple of coats of polyurethane to protect them from the elements (i.e. the kids). Lastly, Lin used some black plastic sheeting to line the inside and attached some cheap acrylic felt to the wire mesh to allow drainage.<br />
<br />
The green planter already has some sugar snap peas sprouting out and the red one has some pole beans. Can't wait to start munching on them! Om nom nom!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPsVvHngx2QfpxSONPrY1QGT7JTkaqzwdGdQbyjX_gLMwAEOpKktbqaHQ8Q9MRiOq5H5zrxNvcWY1zul-dfItMKabDyviRmpu2HlQSgqtGtpyLMtrv10gm52kxucUKhjyvwXA9sq_ldv0J/s1600/planter1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPsVvHngx2QfpxSONPrY1QGT7JTkaqzwdGdQbyjX_gLMwAEOpKktbqaHQ8Q9MRiOq5H5zrxNvcWY1zul-dfItMKabDyviRmpu2HlQSgqtGtpyLMtrv10gm52kxucUKhjyvwXA9sq_ldv0J/s320/planter1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhbKTCDEnK7-dFJm3VsWzh3a4wLG6iuvdVjcDKEFwZSBeHRIwkBRBaBy7FCFpr0xr3XoE_WTOH6tkVRRpz2R3gc88H-gCtn2iNnKxV1f0RbwTi57hyJVpIm3spst0FUejRmS2_QKZRMZ3/s1600/planter2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhbKTCDEnK7-dFJm3VsWzh3a4wLG6iuvdVjcDKEFwZSBeHRIwkBRBaBy7FCFpr0xr3XoE_WTOH6tkVRRpz2R3gc88H-gCtn2iNnKxV1f0RbwTi57hyJVpIm3spst0FUejRmS2_QKZRMZ3/s320/planter2.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><br />
There's still quite a bit of wood left over (all the thicker pieces and the two widest planks). I think I'll make those into another type of planter when I get the chance (similar to the one in the bottom left of the above picture). <br />
<br />
I must get to posting a few more 'tronics' things... The CNC machine has been up and running for months (and is an endless source/sink for tinkering/tweaking) and I have a load of things to post about it. But I think some <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/02/charlieplexed-leds.html">charlieplexed LEDs</a> should come first since I mentioned them so long ago, built a few prototypes and then went silent. In my defense, <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/search/label/CNC%20Build">building the CNC machine</a> took a lot of time and effort and we're expecting baby#3 any day now. There always seems to be lots going on :) Oh, I found an old Atlas Cabinetmakers saw at a garage sale down the road as well! I think it was built around 1959 & I've got that up and running too. Now that I've gotten over my fear of table saws it'll be good to use it for something creative.PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-57586303671213137402011-03-15T22:50:00.000-07:002011-03-15T23:06:27.072-07:00Kid made go-kart<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr> <td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8a_730DDTC0j6qczrfBOVU1L2OyFI_WBw2OTo9tHg6m-m3OpgzUkJq1FdzVAuZ5WJupNpipbYUrL6yJTTs8EWr8rHNdXTYDvtCy_lTQvy_A42_CngyShGyOWOaaHZRKRKFlNaNJEBO8Io/s1600/IMG_0682_new.jpg"><img height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8a_730DDTC0j6qczrfBOVU1L2OyFI_WBw2OTo9tHg6m-m3OpgzUkJq1FdzVAuZ5WJupNpipbYUrL6yJTTs8EWr8rHNdXTYDvtCy_lTQvy_A42_CngyShGyOWOaaHZRKRKFlNaNJEBO8Io/s320/IMG_0682_new.jpg" width="300" /></a></td> <td><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQFqcMIe7LSOkqWutPQF6wpu4QBX6GQMgUVKn0KZpFAZKBOGM6lJy91h2CkGkOiZk46rOLmy6MoqXi6jFCA674iUk3YuSBgGVeAoQthpK7ls-QAjGi1z5etf5hTVSskjZay943jvUaIg_/s1600/IMG_0688_new.jpg"><img height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQFqcMIe7LSOkqWutPQF6wpu4QBX6GQMgUVKn0KZpFAZKBOGM6lJy91h2CkGkOiZk46rOLmy6MoqXi6jFCA674iUk3YuSBgGVeAoQthpK7ls-QAjGi1z5etf5hTVSskjZay943jvUaIg_/s320/IMG_0688_new.jpg" width="300" /></a></td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br />
A few weekends ago we popped into the city to meet up with a <a href="http://getyourmesson.blogspot.com/">blogger friend</a> of Lin's. She was working with <a href="http://tinkeringschool.com/">Gever Tulley</a> on a tinkering workshop. We were a little late but caught the tail end of people as things were winding down and being cleared away. Carys was very excited to see that the kids in the workshop had make some go-karts. She immediately wanted to make one of her own and when we got home she drew up some plans at the kitchen table.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLLzA4HOIgybL_EfQmOrjA-u5XcKaro0zJTbmG2jpnPmub5j2xtQGF2cASQOCdLgaYz292OoharVkc7wp08SuVyqyTkOPmuisg0A85r6L9hTBrffh5jhWBNnaaSVvO9r8QdFTdYrRUnzB/s1600/IMG_0639_new.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLLzA4HOIgybL_EfQmOrjA-u5XcKaro0zJTbmG2jpnPmub5j2xtQGF2cASQOCdLgaYz292OoharVkc7wp08SuVyqyTkOPmuisg0A85r6L9hTBrffh5jhWBNnaaSVvO9r8QdFTdYrRUnzB/s320/IMG_0639_new.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I was so impressed with this that, of course, I had to help her build it. We headed out and picked up a few supplies:<br />
<ol><li>2' x 4' board of plywood (just about fits in the trunk of our Nissan Dissapointment)</li>
<li>4 casters (I got ones that were rated up to 80lb)</li>
</ol>Everything else we had lying around (some 1" x 2" wood, wood screws, nylon rope).<br />
<br />
The base of Carys' car is a big circle, so we first drew out two circles on the plywood (I thought we were going to make two cars, but we've only made one so far). I wanted Carys to do as much of the building as possible so we drew the circle by hammering a nail at the center of the circle and then tying a pencil to the nail with some string. I measured out enough string to have the pencil reach the edge of the board - this gave us a 2' diameter circle, plenty big enough for the kids to sit on.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigf22mg0c9HrMs9kwsE1pOA99_RfO-8AnS7wMEBAo91rULGSUGTgA040YB6ZP4mAtF8wuu6IIK-M6JQqqdJEiqK-W1HacrhMHUQytK35PotViImJvuM30D8I_HzwL-ByCM1i0ZTy3afdVe/s1600/IMG_0622.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigf22mg0c9HrMs9kwsE1pOA99_RfO-8AnS7wMEBAo91rULGSUGTgA040YB6ZP4mAtF8wuu6IIK-M6JQqqdJEiqK-W1HacrhMHUQytK35PotViImJvuM30D8I_HzwL-ByCM1i0ZTy3afdVe/s320/IMG_0622.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I used a jigsaw to cut out the circle - this was the only step I didn't let Carys do (partly because she couldn't stand the noise and partly because she wouldn't take off her roller-skates). The kids then sanded down the rough edges.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNacSYylRm3Q9CtbotUUX2gkIcaDTvPa69HVAfgYYZUao8aVJmJphXWiyyv17n1TfaysjlFpgh_eD91ODF67PMkMo12nw0tTFvy7UcADqy7zSrw8PfV4GKzGG-1Q1Y9GAgX1gGKAkX-YOX/s1600/IMG_0625.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNacSYylRm3Q9CtbotUUX2gkIcaDTvPa69HVAfgYYZUao8aVJmJphXWiyyv17n1TfaysjlFpgh_eD91ODF67PMkMo12nw0tTFvy7UcADqy7zSrw8PfV4GKzGG-1Q1Y9GAgX1gGKAkX-YOX/s320/IMG_0625.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_1B6TV0LFDSQ5gegu6adwpBJU-dnJRpUV-wbW1nxS4Ar5eVQCLHZuaA6c258j15H3lCd-RhlSgBDmGMtYkM-v-pIeJLu4f8uDPoOQB1oivXeVbCDZYgOXWIALA-CzbdhNLHZRiD8diYE_/s1600/IMG_0629.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_1B6TV0LFDSQ5gegu6adwpBJU-dnJRpUV-wbW1nxS4Ar5eVQCLHZuaA6c258j15H3lCd-RhlSgBDmGMtYkM-v-pIeJLu4f8uDPoOQB1oivXeVbCDZYgOXWIALA-CzbdhNLHZRiD8diYE_/s320/IMG_0629.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5HZeTL8dL0-0D12WB-rK0OevWIUA7BTP87N4TWslqlYD1_RHeT4MTeyU64xY_nzquM8Spu-skPVLigquzebN9FwpbYN65YkanzClpdD4BN_Qywt3e0xiD0ffZ73jODd6DkYY3MNuyuUG/s1600/IMG_0634.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5HZeTL8dL0-0D12WB-rK0OevWIUA7BTP87N4TWslqlYD1_RHeT4MTeyU64xY_nzquM8Spu-skPVLigquzebN9FwpbYN65YkanzClpdD4BN_Qywt3e0xiD0ffZ73jODd6DkYY3MNuyuUG/s320/IMG_0634.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Time for a quick break :) It turns out tape measures are also good for pulling people round on roller-skates. Who knew?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sIeNd-oPCEIoihXHY9aRPUT84_-J8zcEX49xX-BLUbh-3GUIlLrOY3KbajFbWHF0EujCWbf5S2aJB0-QhWnhjtDqNvFXvs_bR4B7gQzbxfcd1opiwypoaB97__VNFzFwNkrT12bsmPzQ/s1600/IMG_0637.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sIeNd-oPCEIoihXHY9aRPUT84_-J8zcEX49xX-BLUbh-3GUIlLrOY3KbajFbWHF0EujCWbf5S2aJB0-QhWnhjtDqNvFXvs_bR4B7gQzbxfcd1opiwypoaB97__VNFzFwNkrT12bsmPzQ/s320/IMG_0637.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Then we cut a couple of lengths of 1' x 2' wood for attaching the casters to the base (this was part of Carys' plan). Both Carys and Ffion had fun sawing the wood (with a hand saw). Then I marked out the hole placements for the casters and Carys drilled the pilot holes.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWaeVGGDnCcE_y4gSgb0L8kHnOkCT6UG3XjcBJJJUZV2Ux6OBbPz-kf4_F5gwuyvQb1Za1lsR_AttVN76wKgeSLU_8SI5_DOwIEsS9JL3MKeRPzPW3TOY_KD3NpMTfxXd1PmUeMfjOaJA0/s1600/IMG_0658.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWaeVGGDnCcE_y4gSgb0L8kHnOkCT6UG3XjcBJJJUZV2Ux6OBbPz-kf4_F5gwuyvQb1Za1lsR_AttVN76wKgeSLU_8SI5_DOwIEsS9JL3MKeRPzPW3TOY_KD3NpMTfxXd1PmUeMfjOaJA0/s320/IMG_0658.JPG" width="257" /></a></div><br />
Time to attach the casters. Carys was really steady and accurate with the drill, but she needed a little bit of extra weight (i.e. me pushing down on the back of the drill) when using the screwdriver bit.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZhtDg4t95-8j6MepuExu8Q-0HrsYuO5-I6BeRAnpdRgw2Jp4Od7UxuOfIgt-smDjiqLJ4-xLgtRixkjmCYhHCa0gIhcg7LNzkwheY8IQPVg31ukCLVOi5Rh8z1xFlj6XZiUR8w3aBHkhk/s1600/IMG_0666.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZhtDg4t95-8j6MepuExu8Q-0HrsYuO5-I6BeRAnpdRgw2Jp4Od7UxuOfIgt-smDjiqLJ4-xLgtRixkjmCYhHCa0gIhcg7LNzkwheY8IQPVg31ukCLVOi5Rh8z1xFlj6XZiUR8w3aBHkhk/s320/IMG_0666.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><br />
Et voilà !<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-8veFgKzdnsajcsO3cBdJXADXnzKE_Igb4VhZHBiP7hI2GPor8YQrWX0wNsquwPrTUWOA-9Zu-MTVzSAP-WmadEiocJMdwUwEyGSNWyLHlQ1dN6odHajekdUDFSJ2ueboykUoKe68cza/s1600/IMG_0669.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-8veFgKzdnsajcsO3cBdJXADXnzKE_Igb4VhZHBiP7hI2GPor8YQrWX0wNsquwPrTUWOA-9Zu-MTVzSAP-WmadEiocJMdwUwEyGSNWyLHlQ1dN6odHajekdUDFSJ2ueboykUoKe68cza/s320/IMG_0669.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The plans also had a rope loop tied to the front to pull the car around with. I decided to add handles to the side to keep the kids on the car during the inevitable speed racing. I marked out the positions and Carys drilled the holes using a 1/2" drill bit - this looked comically large with her using it! I put some scrap/sacrificial wood under the car whilst drilling so that the drill-bit didn't hit concrete on it's way out.<br />
<br />
By now it was getting dark and cold so we retired to the kitchen where the kids set about decorating their creation using permanent markers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsVJKtulf7x7OyrF8WHYBDXKL1ndAm1XsI3BjMUrELkHrM_sY3DkMFxpS9tsZKvQ_ZkReWkYI2bi6lDE_JvwzGdC1AMaw_Qc0tmFLU-owo203g9kfSeuG0DpNEIpA_xae3T9L4zZCmqKK/s1600/IMG_0671.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsVJKtulf7x7OyrF8WHYBDXKL1ndAm1XsI3BjMUrELkHrM_sY3DkMFxpS9tsZKvQ_ZkReWkYI2bi6lDE_JvwzGdC1AMaw_Qc0tmFLU-owo203g9kfSeuG0DpNEIpA_xae3T9L4zZCmqKK/s320/IMG_0671.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42Hpqwa-Kj8PUpu88BxiAFJWcFiiOSLcpxEeQBQNahboN800UV7qtltnDp_4WznG7ZF1tbX5l0W2spE3Ogg6205bjdgVbFMki-qxX9PmAxNcQNsJPIl42WMU6SHTjT9srdwlhqmYPWaur/s1600/IMG_0676.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42Hpqwa-Kj8PUpu88BxiAFJWcFiiOSLcpxEeQBQNahboN800UV7qtltnDp_4WznG7ZF1tbX5l0W2spE3Ogg6205bjdgVbFMki-qxX9PmAxNcQNsJPIl42WMU6SHTjT9srdwlhqmYPWaur/s320/IMG_0676.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Then it was just a matter of adding the rope (2 handles and 1 long line for pulling). <br />
<br />
Carys is immensely proud of her car. Doing all the planning, building and decorating has given her an amazing sense of ownership and accomplishment. She's already planning a ton of new projects, unfortunately this includes a death-defying bionic zip line out of the bedroom window to the <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/07/rescuing-cedarworks-swing-set.html">reclaimed play structure</a>... I wonder if I can persuade her that she wants to build an electric guitar or a laser cutter.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr> <td><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQFqcMIe7LSOkqWutPQF6wpu4QBX6GQMgUVKn0KZpFAZKBOGM6lJy91h2CkGkOiZk46rOLmy6MoqXi6jFCA674iUk3YuSBgGVeAoQthpK7ls-QAjGi1z5etf5hTVSskjZay943jvUaIg_/s1600/IMG_0688_new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQFqcMIe7LSOkqWutPQF6wpu4QBX6GQMgUVKn0KZpFAZKBOGM6lJy91h2CkGkOiZk46rOLmy6MoqXi6jFCA674iUk3YuSBgGVeAoQthpK7ls-QAjGi1z5etf5hTVSskjZay943jvUaIg_/s320/IMG_0688_new.jpg" width="320" /></a></td> <td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4VwqtyNwUdTTMDQeQyE4resRXqMVkuDPWOKqEWhwBP0Ft4F3amngsBasOB_N71fTyxprPv8S6G8j4jWl2pZz2GoASurQZEAFsdGJjNkTWZOn7wtLIBGoIhh8v2ToyK6spkfbskpcoiKS/s1600/IMG_0679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4VwqtyNwUdTTMDQeQyE4resRXqMVkuDPWOKqEWhwBP0Ft4F3amngsBasOB_N71fTyxprPv8S6G8j4jWl2pZz2GoASurQZEAFsdGJjNkTWZOn7wtLIBGoIhh8v2ToyK6spkfbskpcoiKS/s320/IMG_0679.JPG" width="320" /></a></td> </tr>
<tr> <td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8a_730DDTC0j6qczrfBOVU1L2OyFI_WBw2OTo9tHg6m-m3OpgzUkJq1FdzVAuZ5WJupNpipbYUrL6yJTTs8EWr8rHNdXTYDvtCy_lTQvy_A42_CngyShGyOWOaaHZRKRKFlNaNJEBO8Io/s1600/IMG_0682_new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8a_730DDTC0j6qczrfBOVU1L2OyFI_WBw2OTo9tHg6m-m3OpgzUkJq1FdzVAuZ5WJupNpipbYUrL6yJTTs8EWr8rHNdXTYDvtCy_lTQvy_A42_CngyShGyOWOaaHZRKRKFlNaNJEBO8Io/s320/IMG_0682_new.jpg" width="316" /></a></td> <td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyl9Mm1wXLlSUzhjQjA5FtfzaSFJBaiwZAysnStCHTR0EVVePg-3UdHVJMjGrqa0yoAPux6vV8nkhJtc1ifcd62Y4Jl8gw_22Ux6yRi3ri5LLUngvK2symSp6bk5XYslqzlGfARyYAUQW/s1600/IMG_0685_new.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyl9Mm1wXLlSUzhjQjA5FtfzaSFJBaiwZAysnStCHTR0EVVePg-3UdHVJMjGrqa0yoAPux6vV8nkhJtc1ifcd62Y4Jl8gw_22Ux6yRi3ri5LLUngvK2symSp6bk5XYslqzlGfARyYAUQW/s320/IMG_0685_new.jpg" width="320" /></a></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-84179240039820795452011-03-05T23:16:00.000-08:002011-08-03T23:25:35.193-07:00PVC Pipe Dressing-Up Rack<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIDEid9mIIBsrol3vVgKB-xRi1-nFA44wfMdoQUx6fSAsm5_2j5AD-yih5yXtrsksoS4CcXlJVYWUxA_awbChmuStE72Mwj2A8QwHjMpqXMY676XIYkohcikRTLBauRTNyaalbuJKf6kGr/s1600/IMG_0726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIDEid9mIIBsrol3vVgKB-xRi1-nFA44wfMdoQUx6fSAsm5_2j5AD-yih5yXtrsksoS4CcXlJVYWUxA_awbChmuStE72Mwj2A8QwHjMpqXMY676XIYkohcikRTLBauRTNyaalbuJKf6kGr/s320/IMG_0726.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="281" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6a0siTQqKesBzIia-uKK4NhlMAI4wS8BgszmE-HfxCujm-as12v-TjOw98iWSyJur2QXS5bYyhpfDzQhuIsIYE0oR_xvgepUSElbxqH6Jl2rw6J5j9nSdGseZ79pAwXqFrz_lRZT3nLph/s1600/IMG_0740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6a0siTQqKesBzIia-uKK4NhlMAI4wS8BgszmE-HfxCujm-as12v-TjOw98iWSyJur2QXS5bYyhpfDzQhuIsIYE0oR_xvgepUSElbxqH6Jl2rw6J5j9nSdGseZ79pAwXqFrz_lRZT3nLph/s320/IMG_0740.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="213" /></a><br />
We started playing around with PVC piping at home quite some time ago (see the <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2009/09/pvc-pipe-marshmallow-gun.html">marshmallow gun</a> post) we quickly realised that it was a cheap and easy medium for building simple things (take a look at the <a href="http://flexpvc.com/projects.shtml">projects</a> page on this site: <a href="http://pvcfittings.com/">http://pvcfittings.com/</a> for a ton of examples). The kids 'building box' outside has a load of pipe and connectors in it for impromptu creative fun. Most of these bits were left over from Carys' pirate-superhero-mermaid birthday party where we put together marshmallow-gun party favour bags (If you're interested you can read about that on Lin's <a href="http://www.filthwizardry.com/2009/10/marshmallow-gun-party-fun.html">blog post</a> over on <a href="http://www.filthwizardry.com/">FilthWizardry</a>).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBvYw24M6J42I8xtKHi94LPSXPmWk8QcNfIuYBAAeJun8n3jRqyjBa4nQMMz307uvXqI3hkB158BRBtGs1WF8kSBPXTW-rfdNnI8Qcq5KDrjQFmAAkyhPuB11SkaqwQLiFc6ncJ4BVmFc/s1600/IMG_3391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBvYw24M6J42I8xtKHi94LPSXPmWk8QcNfIuYBAAeJun8n3jRqyjBa4nQMMz307uvXqI3hkB158BRBtGs1WF8kSBPXTW-rfdNnI8Qcq5KDrjQFmAAkyhPuB11SkaqwQLiFc6ncJ4BVmFc/s320/IMG_3391.JPG" width="186" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The kids have most of their make-believe/dressing-up items in a single toy box in their bedroom. The original lid on this didn't stand up to the test of multiple children piling into it day after day, so it's been an 'open plan' box for most of it's stay. On a daily basis we find the complete contents of the dressing up box emptied onto the bedroom floor. I guess that's the only way the kids can find the clothes for that day's dressing up desires. <br />
<br />
We're a bit tight on space in the kids bedroom, so it seemed like a good idea to build a clothes rack that'd fit inside the box; then we could hang up most of the clothes for easy access and keep the hats, crowns and other accessories in the box itself. At least this way they wouldn't have to completely empty the box each time and we wouldn't have to tidy it up every day!<br />
<br />
This is actually something I've made twice now (hence deciding to post about it)... The first one was dismantled and used to build random things out in our backyard a few months back; we soon realised the folly of our ways when we were once again greeted with the dressing up clothes piled on the floor day after day. Time to build another!<br />
<br />
It's really, really simple. The fixtures and piping are 1/2" schedule 40 PVC. They're available in Lowe's, Home Despot, OSH, ACE hardware etc. and they're pretty cheap. This was today's shopping list from the local Lowe's:<br />
<br />
1. 8 * 5' of pipe = $8.96 ($1.12 each) - I bought extra for other fangling.<br />
2. bag of 10 tee junctions = $1.95<br />
3. bag of 10 thread to slip adapters = 20c<br />
4. bag of 10 elbow joints (90 degree) = $1.80<br />
5. 4 x 3-way corner elbow = $5.28 ($1.32 each).<br />
<br />
Ok, so $18 may not seem that cheap, but there's left over material for other projects and the rack itself will get re-used as something else when it's no longer needed. On the other hand, good luck finding something that'll exactly meet your requirements for $18 ;).<br />
<br />
Here's everything I used:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIDEid9mIIBsrol3vVgKB-xRi1-nFA44wfMdoQUx6fSAsm5_2j5AD-yih5yXtrsksoS4CcXlJVYWUxA_awbChmuStE72Mwj2A8QwHjMpqXMY676XIYkohcikRTLBauRTNyaalbuJKf6kGr/s1600/IMG_0726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIDEid9mIIBsrol3vVgKB-xRi1-nFA44wfMdoQUx6fSAsm5_2j5AD-yih5yXtrsksoS4CcXlJVYWUxA_awbChmuStE72Mwj2A8QwHjMpqXMY676XIYkohcikRTLBauRTNyaalbuJKf6kGr/s320/IMG_0726.JPG" width="281" /></a></div><br />
I measured the inside of the dressing up box (before deciding on the parts) and sketched out how I wanted the rack to look. Then it's just a matter of measuring, marking and cutting the pipe and then sticking it all together. You don't even need glue/cement, unless you want the final 'product' to be permanent and durable.<br />
<br />
Here's a load of in-progress shots to give you a feel:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQa9K0cVctGV5cPIoS3kYxVvmy2OhA0nFhzyJIwwArLD4n4uXuBx6mO-dxjT7uu9OGdLqh91Z7wbQZe313kIqoNkfgqXn5Q2L3_eR9fMVchNlyYPND30rFRtKpIW-4kTmTvXLD67p_f4sT/s1600/IMG_0728.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQa9K0cVctGV5cPIoS3kYxVvmy2OhA0nFhzyJIwwArLD4n4uXuBx6mO-dxjT7uu9OGdLqh91Z7wbQZe313kIqoNkfgqXn5Q2L3_eR9fMVchNlyYPND30rFRtKpIW-4kTmTvXLD67p_f4sT/s320/IMG_0728.JPG" width="203" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKaF72Dm2nd_ec_xHeu2GBA-0WmReM5aUbmaPtvVp-q5eYfAWbJd9twOue3lmMHGbJ6hCjp5MUFv3GRAn8XiBf5b6_QgUA6aJgyQ3kUHUdQQ_TyzC3AX1U2CY3OjWSHQ6EMSOWASm2B1uH/s1600/IMG_0729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKaF72Dm2nd_ec_xHeu2GBA-0WmReM5aUbmaPtvVp-q5eYfAWbJd9twOue3lmMHGbJ6hCjp5MUFv3GRAn8XiBf5b6_QgUA6aJgyQ3kUHUdQQ_TyzC3AX1U2CY3OjWSHQ6EMSOWASm2B1uH/s320/IMG_0729.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="225" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrpS6JCZyhysj3ZrxpzEnXtYWpvlvtQUpyKuhb8WmxeETpoXO0sxaYM4xxwUnuXqbqOl14RiVJsmnNsxzSDZgKOXOf8yM93hS8YHljI05E5UtqtuDkSbKOpwDHof9iizxGyP87P7_ztQB/s1600/IMG_0731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrpS6JCZyhysj3ZrxpzEnXtYWpvlvtQUpyKuhb8WmxeETpoXO0sxaYM4xxwUnuXqbqOl14RiVJsmnNsxzSDZgKOXOf8yM93hS8YHljI05E5UtqtuDkSbKOpwDHof9iizxGyP87P7_ztQB/s320/IMG_0731.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnjxBMyiQRRu8fOWYQMvMTw1ih1TUZbJi2FcP3b3RnEEK8V4wpthhFOEYYXoIq0u_h1kvYiWS-sFda1b-ZU_1XqxdV_L5GM_Vqxw6QlZAeUIcff88XkoGJqj4vG9RC9Dk2VTvX9uDFJjFH/s1600/IMG_0732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnjxBMyiQRRu8fOWYQMvMTw1ih1TUZbJi2FcP3b3RnEEK8V4wpthhFOEYYXoIq0u_h1kvYiWS-sFda1b-ZU_1XqxdV_L5GM_Vqxw6QlZAeUIcff88XkoGJqj4vG9RC9Dk2VTvX9uDFJjFH/s320/IMG_0732.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And here's the final frame. I added a little nubbin afterwards for Ffion to hang her handbag collection on... you can see it in the action shot below to the left of the ballerina. I replaced a tee junction with a 4-way and slotted in a small bit of pipe terminated with a pipe cap (all left overs from previous messing/building).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Hp54CCKXB3mQjvcDX4bAn9vUBR0kzVxLr5dKTSo5ZwlmkdubeNFztb5C34DVsAgr_AIjHM3l2qMgj6BD9MR23ePeh-JW18N7NJicPxUCTRgrfB4Dp2DhrmPd4CP0tG6vRtTLagDVksK0/s1600/IMG_0735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Hp54CCKXB3mQjvcDX4bAn9vUBR0kzVxLr5dKTSo5ZwlmkdubeNFztb5C34DVsAgr_AIjHM3l2qMgj6BD9MR23ePeh-JW18N7NJicPxUCTRgrfB4Dp2DhrmPd4CP0tG6vRtTLagDVksK0/s320/IMG_0735.JPG" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6a0siTQqKesBzIia-uKK4NhlMAI4wS8BgszmE-HfxCujm-as12v-TjOw98iWSyJur2QXS5bYyhpfDzQhuIsIYE0oR_xvgepUSElbxqH6Jl2rw6J5j9nSdGseZ79pAwXqFrz_lRZT3nLph/s1600/IMG_0740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6a0siTQqKesBzIia-uKK4NhlMAI4wS8BgszmE-HfxCujm-as12v-TjOw98iWSyJur2QXS5bYyhpfDzQhuIsIYE0oR_xvgepUSElbxqH6Jl2rw6J5j9nSdGseZ79pAwXqFrz_lRZT3nLph/s320/IMG_0740.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The shoes are now all paired up and hung up as well. I think these were the main culprits of the 'toss everything on the floor' routine. Fingers crossed for a slightly tidier bedroom from now on.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBdHhi2trDJ-Rcpy5vohj6tYB0BQSa_MO1vTEZQogB5BjAf1t3JkF2-7m6HddUNJCKNfDKo2QOKwKtZti9eNOLSAQSYSou1TssSQaTOMmdXqm3pEq1jAMEQhK9M13pGQvjMle_p70MDtLJ/s1600/IMG_0745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBdHhi2trDJ-Rcpy5vohj6tYB0BQSa_MO1vTEZQogB5BjAf1t3JkF2-7m6HddUNJCKNfDKo2QOKwKtZti9eNOLSAQSYSou1TssSQaTOMmdXqm3pEq1jAMEQhK9M13pGQvjMle_p70MDtLJ/s320/IMG_0745.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-19302290034741537512010-10-06T22:21:00.000-07:002010-10-06T23:28:02.723-07:00CNC Machine Build - Part III "It's Alive!"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuN8-gROOY3yOxJpYRrFlA2_6_qPQMk3n-qYmy-jZ-6eGsxCK0mJYtbCuGFUn6JZg48IHc-lM_3VuXBe6IFtwDeQpQIjriPiLUulBFaSD1jiRIJ5OdrIX-TqIj-t8LM-MKUmheWqAmNteA/s1600/IMG_9797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuN8-gROOY3yOxJpYRrFlA2_6_qPQMk3n-qYmy-jZ-6eGsxCK0mJYtbCuGFUn6JZg48IHc-lM_3VuXBe6IFtwDeQpQIjriPiLUulBFaSD1jiRIJ5OdrIX-TqIj-t8LM-MKUmheWqAmNteA/s400/IMG_9797.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Finally... after a lot of work and learning, the CNC machine is up and running.<br />
<br />
I got the main machine finished and connected to a computer about a month ago, but I've been having trouble getting the z-axes working properly. I tried tuning/adjusting it as described in the plans and I even remade the leadnut bracket, replaced the leadnut (twice), replaced the leadscrew (twice) and went through 3 couplers (these are only made out of cheap hose so that was no biggie). But, each time I put it back together, the axes would stall part way through a job (ruining the workpiece and usually destroying the coupler). Eventually, I had to walk away for a week to cool down - at least that gave me time to make the <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/10/diy-millenium-falcon.html">Millennium Falcon</a> dolls house for Carys' birthday.<br />
<br />
Last weekend I went back to it. I replaced the lead-nut and lead-screw assembly (again), this time making sure to buy some new threaded rod that was straight. It turns out that the previous ones were slightly warped and this was causing most of the drag. I guess that's the problem with building a CNC machine with bog standard threaded rod as a lead-screw, they're not meant to be used in applications where the rod has to be straight... I also updated the coupler tubing - I'd been using clear vinyl tube from Lowe's (the kind used for irrigation) which is weak and slippery. I bought some fuel pipe from Kragen and this works a lot better. <br />
<br />
I did a couple of test runs on some kitchen cutting board and quickly realized that I'd have to work out how to hold/clamp things down whilst cutting. I have a few clamps, but none of them fitted well between the slats so I made up a few hold downs using some left over wood and some bolts (you can see them in the picture below).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC2HCZJJB2PeLAda3OSu-0uoDd65FTF0hcsgR1WEQusVecoRnsZrpuErQVzH_CMjyXK1MxA1O8IUZzXAMjZFrH7SmucmuC2y2oIDHK_mEHyaWkw60-8hIdcqPlMwSsSS6-0W7fGOQYJUbW/s1600/IMG_9796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC2HCZJJB2PeLAda3OSu-0uoDd65FTF0hcsgR1WEQusVecoRnsZrpuErQVzH_CMjyXK1MxA1O8IUZzXAMjZFrH7SmucmuC2y2oIDHK_mEHyaWkw60-8hIdcqPlMwSsSS6-0W7fGOQYJUbW/s400/IMG_9796.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
If I were to start this again, I think I'd opt for the more expensive ACME lead-screws/nuts and associated couplers. I spent a lot of time over the last few weeks tuning the axes and I think a lot of this would have been avoided if I'd gone with the better rods and lead-nuts. All in all though, I'm very chuffed that this is actually working! Last year Lin did a <a href="http://www.filthwizardry.com/2009/11/pumpkin-carving-in-bath-and-with-power.html">detailed pumpkin carving</a> of our CSO, this lead to some geeky conversations at work about how you could automate the process but we ended up deciding that it was too complicated (mainly due to the issues of mapping an image onto the surface of a pumpkin in order to carve it). I'm wondering if I can actually achieve that this year using the CNC machine - just like <a href="http://lumenlab.com/d/2008/10/pumpkin/">this gu</a>y did. I bet all the CNC carving time gets eaten up with hearts and unicorns though... you know how it is ;)PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-84995973550515499872010-10-02T13:11:00.000-07:002010-10-14T11:37:51.979-07:00DIY Millennium Falcon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWqKOhVMIGJBMREHNZ5K0F1NE7TdKRhCqbnDEF_6gORMfdZWpkHB7jjyP5-BGFoy3yTu-KGJFyv6NC4f50GprWruc_06BJnaS3mSV4KlR2Yqa5s_JKyDXY2AuicU-Vxg2xAplNxOSFDpSq/s1600/IMG_9706_new.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWqKOhVMIGJBMREHNZ5K0F1NE7TdKRhCqbnDEF_6gORMfdZWpkHB7jjyP5-BGFoy3yTu-KGJFyv6NC4f50GprWruc_06BJnaS3mSV4KlR2Yqa5s_JKyDXY2AuicU-Vxg2xAplNxOSFDpSq/s320/IMG_9706_new.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYu-0hciv2uYSrIqAHCR5yLYXg4jvQVBxYh4u6gd3hm9g99JHq5TBpp-T3DEbn_ZQKEKTt2UpV1efH-JCPu3yP8VPc0lQ8fnlVL_5Ud5_toN3KNcp9B0vrGMKytu3UA4G34Zw5tFsALDCu/s1600/IMG_9703_new.jpg"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYu-0hciv2uYSrIqAHCR5yLYXg4jvQVBxYh4u6gd3hm9g99JHq5TBpp-T3DEbn_ZQKEKTt2UpV1efH-JCPu3yP8VPc0lQ8fnlVL_5Ud5_toN3KNcp9B0vrGMKytu3UA4G34Zw5tFsALDCu/s320/IMG_9703_new.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
Carys was turning six at the beginning of October and had recently become StarWars obsessed (we let them watch the original 3 movies a few weeks back and they loved them). Lin and I like to add a few home made presents to the mix on the kids birthdays; So, we decided to make a few StarWars themed things for Carys' birthday.<br />
<br />
Lin started out making a set of StarWars figures using wooden craft pegs (more about that on her post <a href="http://www.filthwizardry.com/2010/10/diy-star-wars-toys.html">here</a>). We were going to make a Millenium Falcon using a couple of plastic frisbies, but then thought it'd be nicer to create something a bit larger and more durable so that they could use it with the figures for some make-believe fun.<br />
<br />
It took us a little while to decide on the components to use. We found this weird wooden board at the local thrift/charity store. I think it's used for carving meat and the grooves capture the juices (there's even a "patent applied for" stamp on the back). I forgot to get a picture of it in its original state; the picture below shows it after a little bit of modification. It was originally symmetrical - I rounded off one of the handles/ears and cut a groove in the other in preparation for adding the front prongs.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin47prG5uut8LiiNrD856QT7BCPFXUiJo4KhIvZf2wF0p_Yb1Nv74iVC-SMJLCK1dDBxvysltJ_dcjnGXZdMGbjVKm38VrJJGlFC4E7bi4pcZNIzPZ3uDcpp-2v24SHe2QG7H1apY3y5om/s1600/IMG_9612.JPG"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin47prG5uut8LiiNrD856QT7BCPFXUiJo4KhIvZf2wF0p_Yb1Nv74iVC-SMJLCK1dDBxvysltJ_dcjnGXZdMGbjVKm38VrJJGlFC4E7bi4pcZNIzPZ3uDcpp-2v24SHe2QG7H1apY3y5om/s320/IMG_9612.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_1IBVBp9lwNkjItpfaZO8jLEPDPGADQ_K-h3fMiNaoDyE8JkBEHKUtmrD9z2giH0ZL0sVtR_W2tO9uys75CaygLV8zyzlM7XZm2DkBtriaBLI8dAvb8ZJbt4xiT05s_lcCQxflRl30jBs/s1600/IMG_9613.JPG"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_1IBVBp9lwNkjItpfaZO8jLEPDPGADQ_K-h3fMiNaoDyE8JkBEHKUtmrD9z2giH0ZL0sVtR_W2tO9uys75CaygLV8zyzlM7XZm2DkBtriaBLI8dAvb8ZJbt4xiT05s_lcCQxflRl30jBs/s320/IMG_9613.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
Here's a quick overview of the components:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNGEE5atUiZgX3Rr4EZIa4-HPMWitTX8BUOt-i8E0F82VlSwrXvEg_Hef6IMkcOsiCRgycPwPMKAMjO5TbgqT7MseLTtFa2GRJzgwzXt00H7AEivZecaVCs5TKJ6Ap3AM1001IvKApbzWr/s1600/IMG_9611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNGEE5atUiZgX3Rr4EZIa4-HPMWitTX8BUOt-i8E0F82VlSwrXvEg_Hef6IMkcOsiCRgycPwPMKAMjO5TbgqT7MseLTtFa2GRJzgwzXt00H7AEivZecaVCs5TKJ6Ap3AM1001IvKApbzWr/s320/IMG_9611.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
There's the weird carving board, a plastic lid (another lucky thrift store find as it fits perfectly in the groove of the carving board), some PVC pipe (2" diameter) and a 90 degree elbow joint (both from Home Depot). There's a dollar tree airfreshener case (the white tear drop thing by the black pipe) and some wood. There are some other bits and bobs that aren't in this picture (I hadn't figured out what was going to be used at the time): a hinge for the cargo bay ramp, some more wood for the internal walls, screws, nuts/bolts, wood glue, some grey spray paint, a few plastic bottle caps, and the outside case of a CD spindle.<br />
<br />
From the 'ingredients' picture you can see that I cut and sanded the carving board first and then made the front 'prongs'. For the prongs, I looked at a few online plans and scaled the dimensions to fit the cutting board. I used a scroll saw to cut out the shapes and then screwed and glued them onto the main board.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyPJ9hasZkwBvbCJ2T-BZapWtSoiHX76yxB5HrsmnhzTXP8BI2e6X_-H7GtxNORLmiiEMFkiAuATAjCx-tRV6l20t2tkcIM8W0t34qPPFH5BQnpOxXbY-MS9hYgeFNkHYIdq6UFoy7X9g/s1600/IMG_9632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyPJ9hasZkwBvbCJ2T-BZapWtSoiHX76yxB5HrsmnhzTXP8BI2e6X_-H7GtxNORLmiiEMFkiAuATAjCx-tRV6l20t2tkcIM8W0t34qPPFH5BQnpOxXbY-MS9hYgeFNkHYIdq6UFoy7X9g/s320/IMG_9632.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
While the glue was drying I made the internal structure. It's made from the outside of a CD spindle and some wooden boards (2" hobby board from Home Depot). I cut the CD spindle to fit the height of the lid and then measured out the boards to fit up to the edge of the curve. That was a bit of a mistake as the lid didn't fit with the boards that long and I ended up having to sand the ends down a bit.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPlRl9ZGZMlj4LIWsocP4RMto1-UZs9bbF68DZqEudVQQk15GBgwVo-lveoE-fE6q21P13KmcEFAlhohjGSWnM403oo-RIs20fM6Gk4bxGG_NO_SqPI8cp4WGWHvLWc9IaW3STJbbw6gJO/s1600/IMG_9633.JPG"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPlRl9ZGZMlj4LIWsocP4RMto1-UZs9bbF68DZqEudVQQk15GBgwVo-lveoE-fE6q21P13KmcEFAlhohjGSWnM403oo-RIs20fM6Gk4bxGG_NO_SqPI8cp4WGWHvLWc9IaW3STJbbw6gJO/s320/IMG_9633.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I thought it'd be fun to have internal doors but didn't think the spindle would survive with large chunks cut out of them, so I just put some painters tape where I wanted the doors and then painted it all leaving some see-through areas after the tape is removed.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEv9azQ9wBCHie9SlAKW2UiwHGyO-501-tFDJxt5gSZBomzvDQtX956wpV0fj0FwxfCn7_mb8sdDGZU9jykmLPgE3jRMlMh9qfXek2wMWE3NaOuJgrI45947jx1YkbxPoiLRAnnAww9xG/s1600/IMG_9634.JPG"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEv9azQ9wBCHie9SlAKW2UiwHGyO-501-tFDJxt5gSZBomzvDQtX956wpV0fj0FwxfCn7_mb8sdDGZU9jykmLPgE3jRMlMh9qfXek2wMWE3NaOuJgrI45947jx1YkbxPoiLRAnnAww9xG/s320/IMG_9634.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxakLFa6Vm20TRxIDPgEt9F0_D0xI6Q78XrRaBr6a5rA9bEmofNXabPcvRX7Tvn-iaCWjXRmLAVhBSEsV2TOpQfILFL2kAJomi8E1tJSlSH5qsB9wDMAa_KleO6WF336CoZFck72ZcX_qc/s1600/IMG_9636.JPG"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxakLFa6Vm20TRxIDPgEt9F0_D0xI6Q78XrRaBr6a5rA9bEmofNXabPcvRX7Tvn-iaCWjXRmLAVhBSEsV2TOpQfILFL2kAJomi8E1tJSlSH5qsB9wDMAa_KleO6WF336CoZFck72ZcX_qc/s320/IMG_9636.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I gave the lid it's first coat of paint, bolted on a few bottle caps and wood disks to mimic some of the structures seen on the original, and then gave it all another coat. The lid needs to be cut in a couple of places to make room for the cockpit attachment/corridor and for the cargo bay ramp.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3RXcwMYRILNMqFN-md9modUIllzMpIDTPDNobDZUmNCB_yAMSjXPt367sjIk4coLTEt8XZ0NYOYQm5mNHvUqAxOOWHM_5ZInjanj-1eX3CrKW89iBeLbg5XeQUFAm2jw7PnCNeegj-8lc/s1600/IMG_9637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3RXcwMYRILNMqFN-md9modUIllzMpIDTPDNobDZUmNCB_yAMSjXPt367sjIk4coLTEt8XZ0NYOYQm5mNHvUqAxOOWHM_5ZInjanj-1eX3CrKW89iBeLbg5XeQUFAm2jw7PnCNeegj-8lc/s320/IMG_9637.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I used a miter saw to cut one end off the PVC elbow (so that the cockpit would face forward) and to cut an angle into the corridor (makes it easy to screw the pipe into the base). My first attempt failed as the corridor was too short, but I had plenty of pipe left over for another go. Everything was given a coat of paint.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-V97r_cspznxVm7c9TdfBnNuJX0FpGJfkJ7IbdZfsjCTw3P08bDyg_m-SoyYHrahjN2sC4HuwkjDuDyRo3VYR56A7BuUTPlUeKi714GmV3ZkDEIjUSeIovkMofHoLWJ8rFIYFuOCjDFOM/s1600/IMG_9635.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-V97r_cspznxVm7c9TdfBnNuJX0FpGJfkJ7IbdZfsjCTw3P08bDyg_m-SoyYHrahjN2sC4HuwkjDuDyRo3VYR56A7BuUTPlUeKi714GmV3ZkDEIjUSeIovkMofHoLWJ8rFIYFuOCjDFOM/s320/IMG_9635.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7E_fKKg3c9mylDAPdoMoXzfQ_SnGoaCenXP-wZyqcUQ336mWWu787_HKHSgC4ILxbpL3BIRzsBEPz359Di55rHBdO5Zc7ws3X4vNCEyqeMO00UIa-RVKqD6uzpOrOzv5AhyphenhyphenSVOQmYJf6f/s1600/IMG_9682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7E_fKKg3c9mylDAPdoMoXzfQ_SnGoaCenXP-wZyqcUQ336mWWu787_HKHSgC4ILxbpL3BIRzsBEPz359Di55rHBdO5Zc7ws3X4vNCEyqeMO00UIa-RVKqD6uzpOrOzv5AhyphenhyphenSVOQmYJf6f/s320/IMG_9682.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I cut the airfreshened body down to a size that would fit snugly over the pipe and then used hot glue to attach it. I like the fact that the cover comes on and off so we can put pilots in there. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LadIK8PLFdGA0McduXqq_RMSz7jCRnBdJD8Plm-tncHNq9PJ0R3SaeQj9Slytw3YBpxhY-qyrrMscFEDtgLICTcSOztEV5uOoKtI1q7KWeaoVSJgdJcijo-TQq3okgXWSFnErEsB5IWi/s1600/IMG_9704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LadIK8PLFdGA0McduXqq_RMSz7jCRnBdJD8Plm-tncHNq9PJ0R3SaeQj9Slytw3YBpxhY-qyrrMscFEDtgLICTcSOztEV5uOoKtI1q7KWeaoVSJgdJcijo-TQq3okgXWSFnErEsB5IWi/s320/IMG_9704.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Here's the final set-up (with cargo bay ramp attached with a hinge):<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgts4drf8rdLGIzsXcrbnvYrhMXNGFUMIZakKcOU5sC1AJgNL5Tme2fNEqlcuvqXCYXHqNy5LgzUwmEjIF5S1X6GqlJZsAPJNi8GhUegXpd8k-xzvw9LYa8JbnaShEEgyIBMvDtZ5bJH-MS/s1600/IMG_9708_new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgts4drf8rdLGIzsXcrbnvYrhMXNGFUMIZakKcOU5sC1AJgNL5Tme2fNEqlcuvqXCYXHqNy5LgzUwmEjIF5S1X6GqlJZsAPJNi8GhUegXpd8k-xzvw9LYa8JbnaShEEgyIBMvDtZ5bJH-MS/s320/IMG_9708_new.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>Lin made some ace characters for Carys' birthday and the two presents go really well together. I love the fact that Darth Vader's helmet comes off to show his pale splotchy face :)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSI_Vj6gIqOSRnzNBl0F_xqp2wqemmRe-wWAHKWmOpmS6lVmOvq5u3Z1Els1dWkqjan6nXAmXYX-Ga_W2GE9-_K4c8Fhq1T22eGicH66_LRrpMaZxVmjeVqR9ZYQ7lFd1rRuSUNKjz_Kw/s1600/IMG_9698_new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSI_Vj6gIqOSRnzNBl0F_xqp2wqemmRe-wWAHKWmOpmS6lVmOvq5u3Z1Els1dWkqjan6nXAmXYX-Ga_W2GE9-_K4c8Fhq1T22eGicH66_LRrpMaZxVmjeVqR9ZYQ7lFd1rRuSUNKjz_Kw/s320/IMG_9698_new.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4Uv5qWiMLUd2K_QrYoyX7tdrh90lYljbjmdlEkZ-yDpJOhJQmAqrLQY_yCdhcK7p5qaR1SRhDGuDJj4iBp1Hgv0Yb4VoEDa2JllpXoTxIHV3jEfvcFvvK9bz-uJcU-_EweFNkD5EnxlH/s1600/IMG_9702_new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4Uv5qWiMLUd2K_QrYoyX7tdrh90lYljbjmdlEkZ-yDpJOhJQmAqrLQY_yCdhcK7p5qaR1SRhDGuDJj4iBp1Hgv0Yb4VoEDa2JllpXoTxIHV3jEfvcFvvK9bz-uJcU-_EweFNkD5EnxlH/s320/IMG_9702_new.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
And, just to finish off, a gratuitous set of action shots:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4UgVebowc7ZdeRgachqkmBkdpvI3_Zv5nSRJGlJcxP5LVV-enkHmCvEz_ZGZGxBc_smLJ4S6SOtZMHo4J1qtpbZkHmklScrLBnlZ4-1K06ZuukNx8uX_i-Oy4CGorpVi91R_0wZHtyZt/s1600/IMG_9712.JPG"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4UgVebowc7ZdeRgachqkmBkdpvI3_Zv5nSRJGlJcxP5LVV-enkHmCvEz_ZGZGxBc_smLJ4S6SOtZMHo4J1qtpbZkHmklScrLBnlZ4-1K06ZuukNx8uX_i-Oy4CGorpVi91R_0wZHtyZt/s320/IMG_9712.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatyebH4_EFi5ScdAYt2tsRri4_MKr9PZI7reQQNdRYPnsajoOEOmeNJtyn_cqafPqMd2MVsuFC4It8svdEBFrDgA4QA9Aj2jXFGjoHeOSsDDA5N9ekY1j16VFy9S7AbgLZVJwt6Gd9Vlo/s1600/IMG_9714.JPG"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatyebH4_EFi5ScdAYt2tsRri4_MKr9PZI7reQQNdRYPnsajoOEOmeNJtyn_cqafPqMd2MVsuFC4It8svdEBFrDgA4QA9Aj2jXFGjoHeOSsDDA5N9ekY1j16VFy9S7AbgLZVJwt6Gd9Vlo/s320/IMG_9714.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctigz9yqwA5aLClf1oBQZRZ-dVAZBk2k22WhzsWu_IGZ8iff2vQO-2QtXN_Igob87vhNU25ZMqNRCMO3vFfnBRFLuGz_yMrvjoFGIQHs1tldKSE6KaQPi8dcTU5jOAcJjfp7k1P5u8cw0/s1600/IMG_9722_new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctigz9yqwA5aLClf1oBQZRZ-dVAZBk2k22WhzsWu_IGZ8iff2vQO-2QtXN_Igob87vhNU25ZMqNRCMO3vFfnBRFLuGz_yMrvjoFGIQHs1tldKSE6KaQPi8dcTU5jOAcJjfp7k1P5u8cw0/s320/IMG_9722_new.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhux3VGX18OCTX5oA1dJt6sQKXL8opMDFgYDruOzN9PGqZashYxClJu4WFIvjlIEyVaKMP1Cs0CIXJ23AOIVuR0cK_TotVP0ETsIVCHdCtzSmFOQO8TG8Jw5MnWOn8mK1aXXj-CRecPLLtK/s1600/IMG_9724.JPG"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhux3VGX18OCTX5oA1dJt6sQKXL8opMDFgYDruOzN9PGqZashYxClJu4WFIvjlIEyVaKMP1Cs0CIXJ23AOIVuR0cK_TotVP0ETsIVCHdCtzSmFOQO8TG8Jw5MnWOn8mK1aXXj-CRecPLLtK/s320/IMG_9724.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_QEc1n2Lq66ZPEUVold1EzkmQ3enpzdD-O-kwv5dnVioyRbdaqWKlrvu6JqlEhFmnKRJtL5ahFA3Prmw_oTSZkNtxETFAC_AxjeNkntrVAswX4KF4-Necs2dyuN1TrcV9g4B_PeXgd2_g/s1600/IMG_9729.JPG"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_QEc1n2Lq66ZPEUVold1EzkmQ3enpzdD-O-kwv5dnVioyRbdaqWKlrvu6JqlEhFmnKRJtL5ahFA3Prmw_oTSZkNtxETFAC_AxjeNkntrVAswX4KF4-Necs2dyuN1TrcV9g4B_PeXgd2_g/s320/IMG_9729.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-20694511639989309872010-08-26T23:21:00.000-07:002010-08-27T07:26:55.117-07:00CNC Machine Build - Part II<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkG09TL1m_NFnYS0MVrM5UKdJtu5YttMqRxcla-dzz6OPw1ZQCas8hXHKX_DczeXTQjyCw64RyPc-sleI-NHO8J26FFtwCJ5nfQbK09-fDJYgHEyp7rnam44AyNjqbV2u8NbYNe563z6l/s1600/IMG_9069.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkG09TL1m_NFnYS0MVrM5UKdJtu5YttMqRxcla-dzz6OPw1ZQCas8hXHKX_DczeXTQjyCw64RyPc-sleI-NHO8J26FFtwCJ5nfQbK09-fDJYgHEyp7rnam44AyNjqbV2u8NbYNe563z6l/s320/IMG_9069.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509946978572478306" /></a><br /><div>I bet you'd all thought I'd given up on this! Well, I just got a little sidetracked with a few other projects - the main one being the <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fangletronics.com%2F2010%2F07%2Frescuing-cedarworks-swing-set.html&ei=Nnx0TJqrI4zQsAPUjK3iBQ&usg=AFQjCNGDZbok5p1yvW6_QhDHCuUcZG2GpA">play-structure restoration</a> and a load of garden "improvements" (I hope the landlord agrees!).</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, I was wondering if I could finish it before posting again, but I got impatient. Most of the hardware is done, but there's still some fine tuning to do on the axes and I still have all the electronics to sort out.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've been really happy with the plans I bought from <a href="http://www.solsylva.com/cnc/25x25.shtml">solsylva.com</a>, they are detailed and straightforward to follow. Most of this has been new to me, so I've taken my time (not that I had much choice) and it's been working out ok. It must have been comedic seeing my sleep deprived carcass hanging around the wood or screws/bolts at Home Depot around midnight on Saturdays, looking confused and eyeing everything up suspiciously. I had no idea what all the numbers and specifications meant on the parts when I was first buying them... trying to match up what was in the plans with what was on the shelves took a lot longer than I'm willing to admit.</div><div><br /></div><div>There were a few choices to make when building the machine:</div><div><ol><li>What wood to use.</li><li>What leadscrews/leadnuts to use (ACME rod or hardware store threaded rod).</li><li>What bearings to use.</li><li>What stepper motors, power supply and controller board to use (main choices seemed to be <a href="http://www.hobbycnc.com/">hobbycnc </a>and <a href="http://xylotex.com/">xylotex</a>.</li></ol></div><div>Since cost is definitely an issue for me, I mostly went with the cheapest options. So, whatever wood was available at Lowe's/HD (pine and Douglas-Fir); threaded rod leadscrews (I can always upgrade to ACME later); hardware store tee-nuts as the leadnuts; skateboard bearings from <a href="http://stores.ebay.com/Slam-N-City-Skateboards">Slam N City's ebay store</a>; and I ended up choosing the xylotex <a href="http://www.xylotex.com/3AxSysKit.htm">3 axis system kit</a> for the electronics/steppers. I went with Xylotex over HobbyCNC mainly because the HobbyCNC kit appeared to require more work to get it up and running (like buying a separate transformer and fitting it in with the rest of the kit).</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a few in-progress shots:</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5OmR3FPCHzzk8TCNbL-DigyvB8sTMX9xBi4VaAWkUeo4qA1Exf5aOrLv_cdBW8THdnbVvuqhT6qspFlEPDCXqqmS6Sl600B0rDNXWjpjwnML6xhvGk-Di7poghoulJtji5w3HoqFvyUg/s1600/IMG_8504.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 184px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5OmR3FPCHzzk8TCNbL-DigyvB8sTMX9xBi4VaAWkUeo4qA1Exf5aOrLv_cdBW8THdnbVvuqhT6qspFlEPDCXqqmS6Sl600B0rDNXWjpjwnML6xhvGk-Di7poghoulJtji5w3HoqFvyUg/s320/IMG_8504.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509163089358038162" /></a><br /></div><br />This is after installing the y-gantry on the x-rails.<br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9uS-j5mXJBg0lR1lMzk2N5fZWSeO1NpPjPuZ9biOBPb-bD2B-RakhC-iuijMx6Uu8bSU-VukRnEGkD9-u1aK4ydm2ztOHeFgzkb05C9TKArfeK2-g7TdS18C48pBy_YjOwor4ZIW4VWjs/s1600/IMG_8591.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9uS-j5mXJBg0lR1lMzk2N5fZWSeO1NpPjPuZ9biOBPb-bD2B-RakhC-iuijMx6Uu8bSU-VukRnEGkD9-u1aK4ydm2ztOHeFgzkb05C9TKArfeK2-g7TdS18C48pBy_YjOwor4ZIW4VWjs/s320/IMG_8591.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509163098541992386" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>These are the bearing flanges cut out of kitchen cutting board. I bought some Forstner bits from ebay in order to cut the recesses. There are a few holes in the wood that require either spade or forstner bits as well -> the bits have been handy on other projects like drilling recesses for the bolts on the <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/07/rescuing-cedarworks-swing-set.html">play-structure</a> and making holes in our upside-down tomato plant buckets (you can see them somewhere in the middle of one of Lin's <a href="http://www.filthwizardry.com/2010/07/sorry-ive-neglected-you-and-bunch-of.html">more epic posts</a>).</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgKvJm8FiA0loH-e19IE8gEfrK2xYapFzKZANFDRU7kAv5qLsL-agMoViqE64goavckk_ZlC83X-lDwEp2s9b4EBEVkNdx2dOH1KsWWRwIax69ptkQhXvEmoGWqc15k8UkGQja7l2TWCHz/s1600/IMG_8608.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgKvJm8FiA0loH-e19IE8gEfrK2xYapFzKZANFDRU7kAv5qLsL-agMoViqE64goavckk_ZlC83X-lDwEp2s9b4EBEVkNdx2dOH1KsWWRwIax69ptkQhXvEmoGWqc15k8UkGQja7l2TWCHz/s320/IMG_8608.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509163103706477138" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1QHkYctmMTIPXbju5hTCUQPvftSffoQdxjk7PsHtVKP4q6PTHZVBQhPYGpB8A5LOT_xP1KcPZ56b2Q69rXlINCC5YJ-CYIVc4SJQKv4ZRgxh6SXSkMoYLY_JsZ4UPMFVRvxmPu5xiLOW/s1600/IMG_8611.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1QHkYctmMTIPXbju5hTCUQPvftSffoQdxjk7PsHtVKP4q6PTHZVBQhPYGpB8A5LOT_xP1KcPZ56b2Q69rXlINCC5YJ-CYIVc4SJQKv4ZRgxh6SXSkMoYLY_JsZ4UPMFVRvxmPu5xiLOW/s320/IMG_8611.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509163112272535874" /></a><br /><br />This image shows the machine after the x-axes leadscrews and nuts have been added - there's one on each side of the machine. The x-axes stepper motor is connected to the two leadscrews by a belt and pulley system (suppliers and part numbers were given in the plans for these, so there was no confusion).</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWWPemi9LnxzQAV51nQeJsSj8DgRXesmcsUsvHb7P9nXKS6oBw-luneni8ahyNEsPNouysS0yUKYabDd8MlscDaSZ6N0plT76GVfm33ergDkGGNtn5yp7FPLwYzaaDheyYywIkAuEG4_6A/s1600/IMG_8812.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 243px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWWPemi9LnxzQAV51nQeJsSj8DgRXesmcsUsvHb7P9nXKS6oBw-luneni8ahyNEsPNouysS0yUKYabDd8MlscDaSZ6N0plT76GVfm33ergDkGGNtn5yp7FPLwYzaaDheyYywIkAuEG4_6A/s320/IMG_8812.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164240512363698" /></a><br /><br />This is the cage that moves along the y-gantry rails and houses the z-axes spindle plate.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCew2m_wD_G8QW8bC27vkbQHDwP7PbGJ-YMKjN0UH6bWK525JyCtNljn4Nf8ILW9RoAqUOWLq-5zrYyvjhuxhcZGPVJghH84anlcKxlrx46n-bk_enHkdFM3IJCjSvtuZJQy3usNIjPMdO/s1600/IMG_8920.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 202px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCew2m_wD_G8QW8bC27vkbQHDwP7PbGJ-YMKjN0UH6bWK525JyCtNljn4Nf8ILW9RoAqUOWLq-5zrYyvjhuxhcZGPVJghH84anlcKxlrx46n-bk_enHkdFM3IJCjSvtuZJQy3usNIjPMdO/s320/IMG_8920.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164221281137554" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oN6pPL-C9vc/TTHR7rvwV1eI/AAAAAAAACA0/_0mdAcBTzco/s1600/IMG_8920.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOAL5_890RDPJ453QBTdV_Jc-_7ZuaU5fYj9RvSQLPJi7S1Akiz6NNdqEtEgHD5Egc-VHA-MbKdcZVdDL3UH-BtaxRV9LgNZdlAoYYm5dKnDUm36PdJ_k9lLYvdas-Cwu8IAj_2PIqqBb/s320/IMG_8919.JPG" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 174px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164235664774626" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>This shows the cage in position with the z-axes leadscrew assembly and stepper motor. The rods in the right hand picture are tension rods to press the bearings into the rails and allow the cage to run smoothly along the y-gantry black piping.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2iinOcn7u6UTJyfS80p8jhPCm-j_frrXM6HHWp-1qVrgy4ucsrttVFX2h_YktO4qYUeYYt6OcY3K2oaeJ3h3nMfCbuYXgwMWQGh252oLvrkiHfxnOjmkniKhL6q2fjD60OPX-R5flPclb/s1600/IMG_8937.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 144px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2iinOcn7u6UTJyfS80p8jhPCm-j_frrXM6HHWp-1qVrgy4ucsrttVFX2h_YktO4qYUeYYt6OcY3K2oaeJ3h3nMfCbuYXgwMWQGh252oLvrkiHfxnOjmkniKhL6q2fjD60OPX-R5flPclb/s320/IMG_8937.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164212346677346" /></a><br /><br />and here's the z-axes complete with spindle plate. The metal band at the front is used to clamp the router onto the spindle plate (as you can see in the picture below). </div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkG09TL1m_NFnYS0MVrM5UKdJtu5YttMqRxcla-dzz6OPw1ZQCas8hXHKX_DczeXTQjyCw64RyPc-sleI-NHO8J26FFtwCJ5nfQbK09-fDJYgHEyp7rnam44AyNjqbV2u8NbYNe563z6l/s1600/IMG_9069.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkG09TL1m_NFnYS0MVrM5UKdJtu5YttMqRxcla-dzz6OPw1ZQCas8hXHKX_DczeXTQjyCw64RyPc-sleI-NHO8J26FFtwCJ5nfQbK09-fDJYgHEyp7rnam44AyNjqbV2u8NbYNe563z6l/s320/IMG_9069.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509946978572478306" /></a><br /><br />So, I think <i>all</i> I have left to do is to wire up the steppers, controller board and power supply; connect these to a computer (I'm planning to use <a href="http://www.linuxcnc.org/">linuxcnc</a> on an old disused laptop - so old it has a parallel port!) and then work out how to use the software. Can't wait to carve out my first test pattern!PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-28704167148225714452010-07-31T00:14:00.000-07:002010-07-31T00:15:43.290-07:00Rescuing a CedarWorks Swing Set<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOfFeWsOr7cMzTZp4iVkIEeebbiYYndcCZT8yHGCgYkBnBdDg9IoOIgcrfCZZRxez1WBh6jH4oQJc-1JLoG1G3GHIh4R9lSu23dozK6H6HVKZ2D5JAnnpaiR-tIcajM6iDrvhQHTzLvTUd/s1600/july2010_23.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOfFeWsOr7cMzTZp4iVkIEeebbiYYndcCZT8yHGCgYkBnBdDg9IoOIgcrfCZZRxez1WBh6jH4oQJc-1JLoG1G3GHIh4R9lSu23dozK6H6HVKZ2D5JAnnpaiR-tIcajM6iDrvhQHTzLvTUd/s400/july2010_23.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499943808312936786" /></a><br />We had the good fortune recently of being offered an old play-structure by a lovely couple who'd recently bought a house with it in the garden, but their kid was too old for it. They'd tried to give it away a few times over the last year or so, but no one who came to look at it had any clue how to take it apart - I'm beginning to suspect that they were just sensible and realised how much work would be involved in deconstructing and reconstructing it all ;)<div><br /></div><div>It was completely worth the effort though. These <a href="http://www.cedarworks.com/">CedarWorks </a>play-structures are fantastic (seriously, check out that link, it's like swing set porn) and there's no way our kids would ever have had anything like this under other circumstances. We managed to salvage the whole thing for about the cost of the metal steering wheel it came with (~$160).<br /><br />I took a look and thought, yeah, that'll come apart easy and should squeeze in our back-yard. So the missus and I went down one Sunday with a big U-Haul truck (one of <a href="http://www.uhaul.com/guide/index.aspx?equipment=truck-17">these</a>) and spent about 4 1/2 hours taking it apart with the help of the original owners (and Jessen and Lani who were looking after the filthwizards). We'd actually been down the day before to show the kids and to get started (we spent about 1 1/2 hours there that day). These things are definitely built to stay up!<br /><br />Most of it was pretty straightforward to deconstruct, it's mostly held together by long bolts and <a href="http://www.fasteners-cn.com/etw_c_m/upfile/fasteners-cn/fasteners-cn2009-10-30-10-38-05.jpg">hex-screws</a>. The hardest part was removing all the dowel rods... These were all kept in place with nails driven through the main posts... this turned out to be the biggest <s>pita</s> time-sink of the day. I ended up clearing some of the wood around each of the nail heads by hammering a 7mm socket around the top of them and then using a claw hammer to pull the nail out. We left parts of the structure intact (the smaller tower, the monkey bars and 3 rows of the larger tower). Phew! That was quite hard in the midday sunshine... and guess who forgot his hat! Doh!</div><div><br /></div><div>We did joke a couple of times that we may have landed ourselves some very elaborate firewood.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Here it is, taken apart and stored down the side of our house waiting for some attention (both of us quietly hoping not of the bonfire variety):</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5y_Z0hKQ1GFqATdL_-pqAaPRnN1AxU5KBqWjO1WNSsUoJkaXmWjZ94z7pyS0WbZ8mCvzlrtrzPlq6oc2o57hi8MW1SfKivQT2X22NlmMlHb4n8rr3wIBQat5US84GeoGDm8G7aKMKshkm/s1600/july2010_25.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 276px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5y_Z0hKQ1GFqATdL_-pqAaPRnN1AxU5KBqWjO1WNSsUoJkaXmWjZ94z7pyS0WbZ8mCvzlrtrzPlq6oc2o57hi8MW1SfKivQT2X22NlmMlHb4n8rr3wIBQat5US84GeoGDm8G7aKMKshkm/s400/july2010_25.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499943818879353746" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJnMoALrFU5rW-k-tXNSTNc-R0gHizdXuW7pHteyyYwNwTm2af2-qh10qJ-3iKJg3g-JdHVcH-TBLpqgH6sNQvFNQFhCB0oCLRzCtsLI70JnlMDLQj2yYw6EPCI_9ey41_1AQdnSeR2pr/s1600/july2010_9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJnMoALrFU5rW-k-tXNSTNc-R0gHizdXuW7pHteyyYwNwTm2af2-qh10qJ-3iKJg3g-JdHVcH-TBLpqgH6sNQvFNQFhCB0oCLRzCtsLI70JnlMDLQj2yYw6EPCI_9ey41_1AQdnSeR2pr/s400/july2010_9.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499943686232334418" /></a><br />Whilst taking it apart we found that the lower 6 inches of the structure was rotten (including the A-frame support beams/crossmembers) so we'd have to come up with a plan for fixing it up. A few of the dowels were rotten as well and one of them wouldn't come out, so we ended up sawing it in half in order to get the frame apart and out of the garden.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOwtFImtGdq36xaLj8YwXqlQcSWG4T6lgUqt_R6s4KEv63TG6dNIObnSgUGiyuJ4bzOg78iqJU5xjevro9PlCXtpUnlMpBAE6O_pXFg_JWRlHAUWDIp9YrvyofvexD5ZE2xTGY1YIS1NR/s1600/IMG_8539.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 281px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOwtFImtGdq36xaLj8YwXqlQcSWG4T6lgUqt_R6s4KEv63TG6dNIObnSgUGiyuJ4bzOg78iqJU5xjevro9PlCXtpUnlMpBAE6O_pXFg_JWRlHAUWDIp9YrvyofvexD5ZE2xTGY1YIS1NR/s400/IMG_8539.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499943673899595970" /></a><br />We decided to stain the wood to protect it from further water damage and to make it look a bit nicer. We picked up the stain from Home Depot (Red, Brown and a small pot of green for the horse swing) and set to work.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYnyG6PqkDG2HmOtyleZXKoKKqXMs8ccWLL96PlVCv9YWjg62wZxbx1XTQl32Nuf4dGIuzl_zJx1LnJySbODibK-LDJmoZcxGfCbnjOfit41Hju6HGpzUa-a6bk7bP0gccKWNdlN7VINE/s1600/july2010_7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYnyG6PqkDG2HmOtyleZXKoKKqXMs8ccWLL96PlVCv9YWjg62wZxbx1XTQl32Nuf4dGIuzl_zJx1LnJySbODibK-LDJmoZcxGfCbnjOfit41Hju6HGpzUa-a6bk7bP0gccKWNdlN7VINE/s400/july2010_7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499943681779090018" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdktEmwwtKLmUFRpiBB-ZpBr66kRwsRujdY26t6z1OdkZfQYpm-bEsVbCxAnZZJC_2wlv5-h6yHXYK2QQ_M-aZbgRElwAtDgqsVYfV2QLTZk8EQPiqIOQ81-untPKZ-C__kafZIFvZoCL/s1600/july2010_3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdktEmwwtKLmUFRpiBB-ZpBr66kRwsRujdY26t6z1OdkZfQYpm-bEsVbCxAnZZJC_2wlv5-h6yHXYK2QQ_M-aZbgRElwAtDgqsVYfV2QLTZk8EQPiqIOQ81-untPKZ-C__kafZIFvZoCL/s400/july2010_3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499943675485550306" /></a><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlb2NW7wI1H1VcGHcjwEOuloKRlReV3dBvLZvkLT_q5Rjs23IhNCY6qwRZ5o5blFlsEIZrD0f5y8xfeqzemtfPMfjkKGOa-VxuAeVIbIt4M1kEWTx1RCFANX65RvblNTvIwB8rIeVBOqh/s400/july2010_26.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499943824188027010" />It took a couple of weeks of preparation (mainly painting and grabbing some supplies) and an entire weekend of painting, sawing, hammering, drilling, lifting, squeezing, sneezing, spluttering (I got a lot of sawdust up my nose and in my mouth) and standing on-top of things with my mate, Jessen, bashing away with a big rubber mallet to get it finished and in a good state to play on. I sawed off the lower 6" or so of the entire structure (16 vertical legs and 3 A-frame legs) and replaced the unsalvageable, A-frame crossmembers with some 8' 4"x4" from Home Depot.<div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div>It was going dark on Monday night by the time the kids got a chance to test it out - They were very excited and I had to fend them off for a little while whilst finishing up the A-frames. You would have thought the sight of me running back and forth with a big drill in the twilight would have been intimidating enough... apparently not.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOfFeWsOr7cMzTZp4iVkIEeebbiYYndcCZT8yHGCgYkBnBdDg9IoOIgcrfCZZRxez1WBh6jH4oQJc-1JLoG1G3GHIh4R9lSu23dozK6H6HVKZ2D5JAnnpaiR-tIcajM6iDrvhQHTzLvTUd/s1600/july2010_23.jpg"></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOfFeWsOr7cMzTZp4iVkIEeebbiYYndcCZT8yHGCgYkBnBdDg9IoOIgcrfCZZRxez1WBh6jH4oQJc-1JLoG1G3GHIh4R9lSu23dozK6H6HVKZ2D5JAnnpaiR-tIcajM6iDrvhQHTzLvTUd/s1600/july2010_23.jpg"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 258px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOfFeWsOr7cMzTZp4iVkIEeebbiYYndcCZT8yHGCgYkBnBdDg9IoOIgcrfCZZRxez1WBh6jH4oQJc-1JLoG1G3GHIh4R9lSu23dozK6H6HVKZ2D5JAnnpaiR-tIcajM6iDrvhQHTzLvTUd/s400/july2010_23.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499943808312936786" /></a></div></div><div><br />Well, it's still not quite finished. The platforms that go inside the main structure still need sanding and painting, but we can do those piecemeal. Hopefully this means I've got some time to get back to building that <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/06/cnc-machine-build-part-i.html">CNC machine</a>!</div><div><br /></div><div>It feels like we're pretty good at not necessarily biting off more than we can chew, but rather biting off enough to give us very sore jaws... It really felt worthwhile when Ffion came running over and hugged my leg, saying "you're the best dad <b>ever</b>!" and Carys shouts out (from the apex of a high swing) "This is AWESOME!". Yeah fine... they have me wrapped around their little fingers...</div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16k6HZdG2DhipNxOOw2hktWGooK41lrTNXlFiaobUxw68WSgj5HX714z5_ohXSUp2Q_KUrTydUbYXfsAQFKGikrz5DD-YwEYN7UEKEi78AoXvVLYo7FCZIfg4BKV9wN4UhaCprub3gQD1/s1600/july2010_24.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 273px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16k6HZdG2DhipNxOOw2hktWGooK41lrTNXlFiaobUxw68WSgj5HX714z5_ohXSUp2Q_KUrTydUbYXfsAQFKGikrz5DD-YwEYN7UEKEi78AoXvVLYo7FCZIfg4BKV9wN4UhaCprub3gQD1/s400/july2010_24.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499943816551023234" /></a></div>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-47786051781242995202010-06-23T08:36:00.000-07:002010-07-20T10:41:06.082-07:00CNC Machine Build - Part I<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxThL3U3BXGARnpf5yCxAdnxKAK-VOJhOH7-GTMvSHpaBEY5fwPQyXsktUqVL5eu0-_J3rfGVImr11lF0ymEn-r1W-R2fh-Of2An78MraTzR5AcRAu592vdMFOIHclUKBe2YJfhRueGmzO/s1600/IMG_8274.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485993751096186354" style="WIDTH: 184px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxThL3U3BXGARnpf5yCxAdnxKAK-VOJhOH7-GTMvSHpaBEY5fwPQyXsktUqVL5eu0-_J3rfGVImr11lF0ymEn-r1W-R2fh-Of2An78MraTzR5AcRAu592vdMFOIHclUKBe2YJfhRueGmzO/s200/IMG_8274.JPG" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKFvqKtoaAWzMGOjCGpSgnZFi_EAiukX__2Jj1MOvP0h5CPuLoFYHb0svWpmyHy5GjU6ZL2-rFdygmF21nE8bdBhYR8jjUkSdH1ZIBQ2xo4uRYBKzhF5yrGwR7WVAIUlSWpvHLxRL5bMZ/s1600/IMG_8273.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485993747236009010" style="WIDTH: 160px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKFvqKtoaAWzMGOjCGpSgnZFi_EAiukX__2Jj1MOvP0h5CPuLoFYHb0svWpmyHy5GjU6ZL2-rFdygmF21nE8bdBhYR8jjUkSdH1ZIBQ2xo4uRYBKzhF5yrGwR7WVAIUlSWpvHLxRL5bMZ/s200/IMG_8273.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I've started a 'little' project that promises to take up most of my free time (what little there seems to be of it at the moment) - I've decided to build a CNC machine.<div><br /></div><div>To be honest, I've had gadget lust for a CNC machine for some time now... all the talk on the blogs about <a href="http://store.makerbot.com/cupcake-cnc/cupcake-cnc-deluxe-kit.html">Cupcakes </a>and <a href="http://makerbot.com/">Makerbots </a>and <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page">RepRaps</a> got me looking into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_control">CNC </a>machines some time ago. I could never bring myself to spend the money on one though since they're a little pricey. The cheapest options that looked any good were the <a href="http://www.zentoolworks.com/">Zen Toolworks</a> machines, which came with stepper motors but no power supply, controller boards or router/spindle. The cheapest of these can be got from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Toolworks-CNC-Carving-Machine/dp/B002ARTLUG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1278399359&sr=8-1">Amazon</a> for under 350 dollars. Still, it only works on a 7"x7"x2" area. The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Toolworks-Carving-Machine-12x12/dp/B0037NVPSI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1278399359&sr=8-2">next machine up</a> is around $600 and works on a larger area of 12"x12"x2". At this price I get a little scared and only being able to carve a foot is a little disapointing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I held off for ages but then came across <a href="http://solsylva.com/cnc/25x25.shtml">these plans</a> at <a href="http://solsylva.com/">solsylva.com</a> which detailed the construction of a CNC machine that would cost a little bit more than the larger zen toolworks one (all inclusive), would use mostly materials from Lowes or Home Despot and also promised to be pretty easy to follow (a definite bonus for me, since I chose to do needlework and cookery rather than woodwork and metalwork when given the choice at age 13...). I've seen lots of online instructions for building various types of CNC machine (like <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Three-Axis-CNC-Machine-Cheaply-and-/">this one</a>, and <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/29/how-to-build-your-own-cnc-machine-part-1/">this one</a>, and <a href="http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/MIT/863.09/people/dcarr/final/final.html">this on</a>e... well, you get the idea), but they all left me a bit confused and unconfident about being able to build something worthwhile.</div><div><br /></div><div>The promise of the solsylva plans were enough to make me order the 25"x25"x7" plans to see if they were idiot proof enough to give me the confidence to get started.</div><div><br /></div><div>I received the plans a few weeks ago, read them over and then excitedly started to spend money on wood, bolts, washers, screws, pipes, all thread (threaded rod), forstner bits and skate bearings. So, yes, they appeared to be detailed and simple enough for me to follow from start to finish. </div><div><br /></div><div>I like the fact that the solsylva plans allow for someone who doesn't have a truck. The wood measurements are for planks 8' and smaller, which fit fine in my little Nissan disappointment (with the back seats down). Recently I've been taking advantage of craigslist in order to pick up a few power tools on the cheap. I got hold of a drill-press ($50) and a miter saw ($60), which have been very useful so far. You'll laugh at me, but they were a bit intimidating to use at first - especially the miter saw. I kept having these images running through my mind of flying fingers and trips to the ER (in my defense, the miter saw is very loud). After a bit of practice I've become <s>flamboyantly reckless</s> much more confident. I'm definitely enjoying learning the new skills involved.</div><div><br /></div><div>The pictures at the start of this post are the main base of the machine, put together over a few hours on the weekend. In the picture below I've added the X-rails and X-stepper motor support (this was done on the following weekend).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaN2Ho4kTf8nN4LZ-fE3BDsUSy3HUAt1Nw8MUccHdTejRPG0i6xMzQU1caS7vHBWepMUVT84FlCZ9RRi9fixMCALMjoLetaEsfrj3WGa7Xd9r_JAMzucIg_WmDprFoKvXdFqn5JbV7963z/s1600/IMG_84093.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489922263780404482" style="WIDTH: 175px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaN2Ho4kTf8nN4LZ-fE3BDsUSy3HUAt1Nw8MUccHdTejRPG0i6xMzQU1caS7vHBWepMUVT84FlCZ9RRi9fixMCALMjoLetaEsfrj3WGa7Xd9r_JAMzucIg_WmDprFoKvXdFqn5JbV7963z/s200/IMG_8409.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So far, it seems that things are going well. I'll keep you posted.</div>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-22088657270234558582010-06-16T22:22:00.000-07:002010-07-20T10:41:00.573-07:00Upcycling: wine rack to doll bed<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwZ3Bg4NHxDPeyyF9p0Z2vWc-Krrnawh-gS6qFofQZ5zvm68CTGvBwNo3NyAslNJ0FQBv36mgsz4ZOiLZyq_q1eS_0qbNZClw907CcRAQ2piRf-3ZCB7cGOvSf-oB2vwjSoVieowszgtY3/s1600/IMG_7991.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 163px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwZ3Bg4NHxDPeyyF9p0Z2vWc-Krrnawh-gS6qFofQZ5zvm68CTGvBwNo3NyAslNJ0FQBv36mgsz4ZOiLZyq_q1eS_0qbNZClw907CcRAQ2piRf-3ZCB7cGOvSf-oB2vwjSoVieowszgtY3/s200/IMG_7991.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483613032683456530" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY49iYjXjW4OIWmvu2YuDYeArQrO9WcUsktJDIc9SOcV89PRArnAsvHMJrbmSfioL-XN9U918p3ZnNw7TQJvV8b2fUYAj_xFho5OFgyPMp6ec7gxL8I22acZEcsQjywWU6J1fnbaXo-Ou4/s1600/IMG_8154.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY49iYjXjW4OIWmvu2YuDYeArQrO9WcUsktJDIc9SOcV89PRArnAsvHMJrbmSfioL-XN9U918p3ZnNw7TQJvV8b2fUYAj_xFho5OFgyPMp6ec7gxL8I22acZEcsQjywWU6J1fnbaXo-Ou4/s200/IMG_8154.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483613221442664114" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We found this little wine rack in the local thrift store (savers). Lin thought it'd be cool to turn it into a bed for the kids baby dolls. We bought an American Girl doll crib ages ago at a garage sale that was made of plastic and it inevitably fell to pieces... So the idea of the girls playing with a more sturdy one that I'd made was appealing, especially since they had a lot of make believe fun with the old one.<br /><br />The idea was very simple: Take the rack apart, stick it back together again with some wood-glue for added strength, cut out a base, screw this on and then paint.<br /><br />I was going to make a crib by adding doweling bars between the cross beams, but the way the rack was put together made this a bit too fiddly so I decided to just replace the bottom beams and make a baby bed instead.<br /><br />I sanded the pieces to get rid of some of the murky dirt. Then I painted on some wood-glue to the ends of the beams, reattached them and left it all to dry overnight (with a toolbox weighing it all down from above so that it'd set straight).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXPSTzqrdYMs3BI6Ka5bLlYE3CxMq0L58BtuW_DQK3hSBFrizmuHiG-NryLNZUECIQw6HvVbr32PQpFfb9FfPTwtXRo3hG5Xt9lbWkk2beg9bZcUb9RAisNBTzXlVSTyfvBrWdod0zVvn/s1600/IMG_8109.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 152px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXPSTzqrdYMs3BI6Ka5bLlYE3CxMq0L58BtuW_DQK3hSBFrizmuHiG-NryLNZUECIQw6HvVbr32PQpFfb9FfPTwtXRo3hG5Xt9lbWkk2beg9bZcUb9RAisNBTzXlVSTyfvBrWdod0zVvn/s200/IMG_8109.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483613034171492866" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I used one of our "new" purchases (a very old scroll saw) to cut out a base. Very straightforward really, just measure the distances on the wine rack, mark those out on some wood and then cut.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMVigHVN6SPPu9veWDq2IeGvs3m5R7aD2q-J-gYEU1jY4CcgMRHnNQVOTnAtXSFxWSoaKwaQwD3bCNiQ203cmZ5rWqFVgEobSKlLovnTUFPkCFaZG8c-c_h5PgwfpYGYBr6eolS5DHh-K/s1600/IMG_5359.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMVigHVN6SPPu9veWDq2IeGvs3m5R7aD2q-J-gYEU1jY4CcgMRHnNQVOTnAtXSFxWSoaKwaQwD3bCNiQ203cmZ5rWqFVgEobSKlLovnTUFPkCFaZG8c-c_h5PgwfpYGYBr6eolS5DHh-K/s200/IMG_5359.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483615194026966850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQkXbXy8KIhNGivMaAglRnql6f_G4L0Ngpf_QQj006BOFB71DkJPs9C8uZueCfaYGHKFaZ1ccVCeNVV1LZKAVnfDkX8IplYFNWn-RR0YCZohsCFmuLQk4g3cTkTesYPv1Bc1_VsF44QvF/s1600/IMG_8111.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQkXbXy8KIhNGivMaAglRnql6f_G4L0Ngpf_QQj006BOFB71DkJPs9C8uZueCfaYGHKFaZ1ccVCeNVV1LZKAVnfDkX8IplYFNWn-RR0YCZohsCFmuLQk4g3cTkTesYPv1Bc1_VsF44QvF/s200/IMG_8111.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483613052326513538" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Ooo look, a rectangular bit of wood ;)<br /><br />I drilled out holes at the points where the new base board met the cross beams and then fixed the base to the frame using some wood screws.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgmhdRq95q8k8OTLz7lFT6esW-hArg71QqoRl3WJZFEv3iK0V9MI-dfwfDQSn55aorJVnMHGreEF5wPBI47FU2mYjH1XPgBTXaT7eOygno16pfNcimCbRMvNNPq-5JAAYXuqJIek6rloP/s1600/IMG_8120.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgmhdRq95q8k8OTLz7lFT6esW-hArg71QqoRl3WJZFEv3iK0V9MI-dfwfDQSn55aorJVnMHGreEF5wPBI47FU2mYjH1XPgBTXaT7eOygno16pfNcimCbRMvNNPq-5JAAYXuqJIek6rloP/s200/IMG_8120.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483613059343326514" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Then I let the kids paint on a layer of primer. I think they quite enjoyed it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNXX95ZbA3ZR4H5U5Oi10cLaPMRcA6nbKAdIE0STHRKuDwrr4hcZPAgtvSoyuka19EHWqeaHtFcqelw1tncS9ED_7f_23Mp7-CDZ-hZaIP172BpQnePdYjaMuVgtblJeRkV4uBlXzN7WF/s1600/IMG_8127.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNXX95ZbA3ZR4H5U5Oi10cLaPMRcA6nbKAdIE0STHRKuDwrr4hcZPAgtvSoyuka19EHWqeaHtFcqelw1tncS9ED_7f_23Mp7-CDZ-hZaIP172BpQnePdYjaMuVgtblJeRkV4uBlXzN7WF/s200/IMG_8127.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483613201038653826" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDpjirDDAN9WKohAXwhvd3fyZo3ykQWlLG839H-oj55VE6Wlz4-o8PfIzZQIp0pdqlrrqItAPcMSTlvJrHw_OpSrC-9MNjPj6JZ5AQ6Vl7lDT8Bnz_hZaIeOBds-sIbgTjvky3LZ983yJV/s1600/IMG_8126.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDpjirDDAN9WKohAXwhvd3fyZo3ykQWlLG839H-oj55VE6Wlz4-o8PfIzZQIp0pdqlrrqItAPcMSTlvJrHw_OpSrC-9MNjPj6JZ5AQ6Vl7lDT8Bnz_hZaIeOBds-sIbgTjvky3LZ983yJV/s200/IMG_8126.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483613198789190050" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBObLmI-erfif3L9ASyzTatHUW-eYdoMAP70rp6297aA3l_MWIUuEUgHsjUKkrYy18LlIoI9rrSungphV_kHhXNLeAnXUkfxt_p03NRMwSS_wuxO7qjzyAv5DZBgbdBym-s2ABJzLXmdM-/s1600/IMG_8122.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 138px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBObLmI-erfif3L9ASyzTatHUW-eYdoMAP70rp6297aA3l_MWIUuEUgHsjUKkrYy18LlIoI9rrSungphV_kHhXNLeAnXUkfxt_p03NRMwSS_wuxO7qjzyAv5DZBgbdBym-s2ABJzLXmdM-/s200/IMG_8122.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483613063333081698" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_qZerqBgum9ta1_c2hvsL6sye_MQHg2psc77K0Zx8Mk5GDXwQlsY572Ftms8aAjkM1SgL-JgIojqVkixz9UgzS4DxchYkTj9fdNVdMC74L52Mcxdvml9GRHaRs2xqCs5Hme1SQe0O-no/s1600/IMG_8128.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_qZerqBgum9ta1_c2hvsL6sye_MQHg2psc77K0Zx8Mk5GDXwQlsY572Ftms8aAjkM1SgL-JgIojqVkixz9UgzS4DxchYkTj9fdNVdMC74L52Mcxdvml9GRHaRs2xqCs5Hme1SQe0O-no/s200/IMG_8128.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483613211511881042" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After the primer had dried I painted on a coat of gloss. Hopefully that'll keep it in good condition for a while.<br /><br />I wasn't sure if the kids were taken with it or not until the next morning when a couple of their friends came over for a play date. "Dylan! Dylan! Come and see! I've got something AMAZING to show you!" cried Carys. To be honest I wasn't sure what she was going to show off, but was very touched to find out that it was the baby bed we'd made. Poor Dylan was a little bemused as to why she was so excited ;)PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-4052818397237518862010-05-17T16:25:00.000-07:002016-12-18T01:46:14.734-08:00Pixie-Dust Bottles<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHhiH-I2h4o-uhjsUQTHIL8JgsS9SmkED5JU7dwkEyhM-D6ntTrUZx9uwjrlyeKobbUofJqdnyFGIvqF1-9600eudn56prnkXOCI4zgEzbOQcFSwX0VPvb39sLPTTAsI-v1dqahDHRIv-F/s1600/IMG_7795.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471938831587624210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHhiH-I2h4o-uhjsUQTHIL8JgsS9SmkED5JU7dwkEyhM-D6ntTrUZx9uwjrlyeKobbUofJqdnyFGIvqF1-9600eudn56prnkXOCI4zgEzbOQcFSwX0VPvb39sLPTTAsI-v1dqahDHRIv-F/s200/IMG_7795.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 128px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdxUsK9YFWzOj_9diaq9ziDtjpQNvWlr7VgeVFOgJGhFVbw_jeR5APrQs1G9pIm7IW_2uBmUDq9R0U9kJY0jltHJdSWpfRC9X16YRTL77nY6IQrLJlHZsltpK9llzNLOaBKhG4h1Q7cdgt/s1600/IMG_7794.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471938831604371586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdxUsK9YFWzOj_9diaq9ziDtjpQNvWlr7VgeVFOgJGhFVbw_jeR5APrQs1G9pIm7IW_2uBmUDq9R0U9kJY0jltHJdSWpfRC9X16YRTL77nY6IQrLJlHZsltpK9llzNLOaBKhG4h1Q7cdgt/s200/IMG_7794.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 95px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
It occurred to me whilst making some <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/02/rgb-night-lights.html">RGB nightlights</a> for the kids that it'd be fun if they could make the lights change to whatever colour they wanted; kinda like the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TFEQQC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=fangletronics-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B003TFEQQC">Philips LivingColors lamp</a>, but about $100 cheaper. Lin suggested that having a few of these (say 5 - 7) would give the kids more room for imaginative fun, so I set about making a prototype and then a few more when that was up and working.<br />
<br />
The kids love them (which is always good) and have been claiming that the bottles contain pixie dust (hence the title of this post).<br />
<br />
Can you guess what Ffion's favourite colour is? She claims that this is the 'right colour' for pixie dust.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1I7C7Zdl10z4zxoaWhE7ZvVducphB7Pkip47uogiejxcMOCpsIn3Q8OhxKDxmx2PLsu-qN1kEU4uBenauZPWvFN2MgMMb5e8FkCMri9pV1CSLeBpRKYnwv4Y7A2jz0atv08e15l1qUX0K/s1600/IMG_7796.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471938908207492290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1I7C7Zdl10z4zxoaWhE7ZvVducphB7Pkip47uogiejxcMOCpsIn3Q8OhxKDxmx2PLsu-qN1kEU4uBenauZPWvFN2MgMMb5e8FkCMri9pV1CSLeBpRKYnwv4Y7A2jz0atv08e15l1qUX0K/s200/IMG_7796.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 126px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
The hardware is pretty straight forward. I used a potentiometer with an in-built on/off switch, like <a href="http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/ATP-90KS/90K-AUDIO-POT-W/SWITCH/1.html">this one</a>, to simplify things. I thought it'd look much nicer than having a separate switch. The rest of the parts are the same as for the <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/02/rgb-night-lights.html">RGB nightlights</a> project. The trickiest part was the coding, mainly because I'm doing it late at night when my brain isn't working quite so well...<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Ingredients</span>:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCx3exNGw32qwzl-oOwj-lmeHn-UaBZ1zYNJSSNiPTkYrEscfdNVUIWHECdjmDng5jJD15q_9U2QG_FjdC1Hq0g1iXGhJAElvK81x850spDMWW6k-FKns0y5luZB0kjwC5ckV-TZwdWpb/s1600/IMG_7782.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471938626209525346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCx3exNGw32qwzl-oOwj-lmeHn-UaBZ1zYNJSSNiPTkYrEscfdNVUIWHECdjmDng5jJD15q_9U2QG_FjdC1Hq0g1iXGhJAElvK81x850spDMWW6k-FKns0y5luZB0kjwC5ckV-TZwdWpb/s200/IMG_7782.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 133px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
1. Potentiometer with switch<br />
2. ATtiny45<br />
3. 8-pin IC socket<br />
4. coin cell battery holder<br />
5. RGB LED (common anode) - I bought mine from <a href="http://evilmadscience.com/partsmenu/89-led">EMSL</a>. These are 10mm diffused RGB LEDs.<br />
6. hookup wire, solder etc.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Methods</span>:<br />
<br />
I soldered the coin cell holder onto the potentiometer first.<br />
<br />
Then I hooked up the RGB LED to the DIP socket. I'm using common anode LEDs so the long LED lead is soldered onto pin 8 of the IC socket. I have the RGB channels/leads connected to pins 5, 6 and 7 and the potentiometer output (middle pin from the pot) connected to pin 3.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIs7ufZvT1FT72FxnWBRZRKm_LZeW16oDNuyrVrX73heEgVWj4dYx-RNympghZc7VsIgOtdU5sptJ0qbKWUvEIbC1-Tr-NNknUaXNqysE1-7vR8euYRrdLsOlE5LwrorITkpq5IQvKFM9/s1600/IMG_7785.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471938633975589282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIs7ufZvT1FT72FxnWBRZRKm_LZeW16oDNuyrVrX73heEgVWj4dYx-RNympghZc7VsIgOtdU5sptJ0qbKWUvEIbC1-Tr-NNknUaXNqysE1-7vR8euYRrdLsOlE5LwrorITkpq5IQvKFM9/s200/IMG_7785.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 101px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSW5Zlv5PeFRepY9KS8H_5PafVBvhdttq8u_sfVSFyTCcTPdh5GdcPzvNsLPbO1Y_2aqmWGF9e_KdT6Dz3ZTXW5FUba-4XaLUvjC7KCKf2G4nDdDQZ8lhyphenhyphene1soaAGbWEOmm8ghn_D_s3sg/s1600/IMG_7787.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471938639032887106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSW5Zlv5PeFRepY9KS8H_5PafVBvhdttq8u_sfVSFyTCcTPdh5GdcPzvNsLPbO1Y_2aqmWGF9e_KdT6Dz3ZTXW5FUba-4XaLUvjC7KCKf2G4nDdDQZ8lhyphenhyphene1soaAGbWEOmm8ghn_D_s3sg/s200/IMG_7787.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 162px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
After that, all you have to do is solder on the potentiometer's middle terminal to the IC socket and finish off connecting the ground and power connections.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXBv3GyOTgoddOThpo98aylEOTRnDTOdE3P7hrsSi5KauwnV2Pe0CEPGmuOqxRgQQ3fP8peyYYuhOtcRWgKFpCZmncQlF766dfLf8RdjVl4yCBooM9HqgfbQokDkBf8FYoNWKyi2cFqvrc/s1600/IMG_7791.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471938817326282786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXBv3GyOTgoddOThpo98aylEOTRnDTOdE3P7hrsSi5KauwnV2Pe0CEPGmuOqxRgQQ3fP8peyYYuhOtcRWgKFpCZmncQlF766dfLf8RdjVl4yCBooM9HqgfbQokDkBf8FYoNWKyi2cFqvrc/s200/IMG_7791.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 94px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZgYomg3VKKXh85IGCHbiUrYTSkoTzmONAwzolhVS_jL_rgbEs3Kr3biX1I0I55D_ykYp5yKCWo-YoKYSpbLLs9UCKu9y7BNqxxXF24e9M-GiXo4z-Q0Bds0_r8ReJ8A-TsHnuY1wC7i0/s1600/IMG_7790.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471938812982721490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZgYomg3VKKXh85IGCHbiUrYTSkoTzmONAwzolhVS_jL_rgbEs3Kr3biX1I0I55D_ykYp5yKCWo-YoKYSpbLLs9UCKu9y7BNqxxXF24e9M-GiXo4z-Q0Bds0_r8ReJ8A-TsHnuY1wC7i0/s200/IMG_7790.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 68px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8D6m0MpOjJhvfQVRsk3pQUnNi1ZBNKDliDGdPBMMEF7SKy8e4WMT7U6rsGPb9-6DrKyJEBPiFjhHuY6pihnHW_HFPl-2E_MTWnoLzPKC_hRKCty4mOLVHchOYy8yLGm4xasq3gmIMLW26/s1600/IMG_7789.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471938649281887122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8D6m0MpOjJhvfQVRsk3pQUnNi1ZBNKDliDGdPBMMEF7SKy8e4WMT7U6rsGPb9-6DrKyJEBPiFjhHuY6pihnHW_HFPl-2E_MTWnoLzPKC_hRKCty4mOLVHchOYy8yLGm4xasq3gmIMLW26/s200/IMG_7789.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 138px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
And there we have it. Some kind of strange Borg eye ready to be put somewhere.<br />
<br />
We had some plastic kids drink bottles sitting in the recycling bin - they're made from white plastic so I thought they'd diffuse the light nicely. I drilled a hole in the bottle cap for the potentiometer shaft and fitted it all together. Finally, I added a knob (radioshack purchase) to make it a bit prettier and easier to use.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpBH2fnrzDQ3N2XQmyuh5CwZdr_6M1IWaJ8_Af598yqrs6qv26xWUVANssI5R0YzwrjgS91V5TWuh2VQLXT-Za6GlyEDBwyH11n3PBsURsekrqhNmrDySCeMNxgZ_bMBfgV7LC6tKUujV/s1600/IMG_7793.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471938824151757202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpBH2fnrzDQ3N2XQmyuh5CwZdr_6M1IWaJ8_Af598yqrs6qv26xWUVANssI5R0YzwrjgS91V5TWuh2VQLXT-Za6GlyEDBwyH11n3PBsURsekrqhNmrDySCeMNxgZ_bMBfgV7LC6tKUujV/s200/IMG_7793.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 88px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Coding</span>:<br />
<br />
I'd already worked out how to do the software PWM (pulse width modulation) and how to measure a variable voltage input using ADC (analogue to digital conversion) so all that needed to be figured out, for this project, was how to map the ADC input values to the desired range of colours.<br />
<br />
I wanted to let the kids cycle through the entire spectrum in much the same way the previous night-lights cycled automatically.<br />
<br />
So, in the <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/02/rgb-night-lights.html">RGB nightlights</a> project there were 6 transitions/steps:<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr align="left"><th>step</th><th>Red channel value</th><th>Green channel value</th><th>Blue channel value</th><th>changing channel</th><th>colour range</th></tr>
<tr><td>1</td><td>255</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>increase Green</td><td><span style="color: red;">Red</span> to <span style="color: yellow;">Yellow</span></td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>255</td><td>255</td><td>0</td><td>decrease Red</td><td><span style="color: yellow;">Yellow</span> to <span style="color: green;">Green</span></td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td>0</td><td>255</td><td>0</td><td>increase Blue</td><td><span style="color: green;">Green</span> to <span style="color: cyan;">Cyan</span></td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td>0</td><td>255</td><td>255</td><td>decrease Green</td><td><span style="color: cyan;">Cyan</span> to <span style="color: blue;">Blue</span></td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>255</td><td>increase Red</td><td><span style="color: blue;">Blue</span> to <span style="color: purple;">Purple</span></td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td>255</td><td>0</td><td>255</td><td>decrease Blue</td><td><span style="color: purple;">Purple</span> to <span style="color: red;">Red</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
If we use a 10-bit ADC we have 1024 values (<tt>2^10</tt>) available for mapping to colours in the above steps. This means that each step can contain 170 values/colours (<tt>1024/6 = 170.666...</tt>).<br />
<br />
So, to map the ADC value to a colour we first assign it to one of the 6 steps and then use it to determine the value of the varying channel (Red/Green/Blue) for that step.<br />
<br />
There are 6 steps and each step can have 170 ADC values associated with it. So I binned the ADC values into steps like so:<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr align="left"><th>step</th><th>ADC value</th></tr>
<tr><td>1</td><td>< 170</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>< 342</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td>< 512</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td>< 683</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td>< 854</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td>>= 854</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Here's an example to clarify: Say the potentiometer is set just over half way, then the ADC value should be between 512 and 683; this would put us in step 4 where the red channel is off, the blue channel is completely on (255) and the green channel is varying (in this step the green levels are decreasing from 255 -> 0 as the ADC value increases from 512 -> 683). We calculate the green level by translating the ADC range to 0 - 170 (in this case by subtracting 512) and then multiplying by a scaling factor (255/170) to transform the 0 -> 170 range to a 0 -> 255 range. If we're increasing the level of the channel (steps 1, 3 and 5) then we just use this scaled value as the channel value. If we're decreasing the level of the channel (as is the case for step 4) then we inverse the scaled value by subtracting it from 255.<br />
<br />
Here's the bit of code that sets the RGB values (see the complete listing here: <a href="https://github.com/paulboardman/avr/blob/master/selectableColourLight/selectableColourLight.c">selectableColourLight.c</a>):<br />
<br />
<pre class="brush:c">#define SCALING_RANGE 170
#define SCALING_FACTOR 255/SCALING_RANGE
...
void setRgbLevels(uint16_t pValue)
{
if(pValue < SCALING_RANGE)
{
mRgbValues[RED_INDEX] = 255;
mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX] = pValue * SCALING_FACTOR;
mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX] = 0;
}
else if(pValue < 342) //SCALING_RANGE * 2
{
mRgbValues[RED_INDEX] = 255 - ((pValue - SCALING_RANGE) * SCALING_FACTOR);
mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX] = 255;
mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX] = 0;
}
else if(pValue < 512) //SCALING_RANGE * 3
{
mRgbValues[RED_INDEX] = 0;
mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX] = 255;
mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX] = (pValue - 342) * SCALING_FACTOR;
}
else if(pValue < 683)//SCALING_RANGE * 4
{
mRgbValues[RED_INDEX] = 0;
mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX] = 255 - ((pValue - 512) * SCALING_FACTOR);
mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX] = 255;
}
else if(pValue < 854)//SCALING_RANGE * 5
{
mRgbValues[RED_INDEX] = (pValue - 683) * SCALING_FACTOR;
mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX] = 0;
mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX] = 255;
}
else
{
mRgbValues[RED_INDEX] = 255;
mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX] = 0;
mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX] = 255 - ((pValue - 854) * SCALING_FACTOR);
}
}</pre>
PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-81185975193089868282010-03-22T08:53:00.000-07:002011-08-03T23:26:18.546-07:00Saving a Disney Princess Remote Controlled CarDuring a trip to Savers I spotted this Disney princess car:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ayIAogL3uVKQoAcd8r9hFb_0zvP4SgCJLen64WAgvftaDamn1-6L0kqwK_94r3I1GGlFtmi61OsNCM79eE3yIMlf3PyVSCTA9ajUFb2eT69o6DExoOeFcA1cvA4pZ0TIomv0EqMCwHyi/s1600-h/IMG_6499.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ayIAogL3uVKQoAcd8r9hFb_0zvP4SgCJLen64WAgvftaDamn1-6L0kqwK_94r3I1GGlFtmi61OsNCM79eE3yIMlf3PyVSCTA9ajUFb2eT69o6DExoOeFcA1cvA4pZ0TIomv0EqMCwHyi/s200/IMG_6499.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444652665886650018"></a><br />I noticed the sensors in the head and tail lights, they looked like <a href="http://www.digikey.com/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=PNA4602M-ND">IR receivers</a>. At first I thought the LED in the body of the car was an IR LED and that the IR receivers detected the IR light bouncing off objects in the cars path (not that the tail lights would make much sense in this context), but when I got it home and put batteries in it, the LED turned out to be just a colour changing LED put there for decoration.<br /><br />A while back I headed over to <a href="https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Noisebridge">Noisebride </a>on a Monday night to check out their circuit hacking/soldering workshop (hosted by Mich Altman). During the workshop I put together one of Mitch's kits - "<a href="http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKCE4">The Trippy RGB Waves</a>" kit (here's my <a href="http://fangletronics.blogspot.com/2009/04/noisebridge.html">Noisebridge post</a> if you're interested in reading about the experience). The point is that this gizmo uses an IR LED and an IR receiver to detect overhead objects. The LED pulses IR light at 38KHz (not to be confused with the actual frequency of IR light which is ~ 3THz or 3 x 10<sup>12</sup> Hz) which the IR receiver detects if there's an object above the LED reflecting the pulses back down.<br /><br />I wondered if the car has a similar set-up and was just missing the remote control (which would have a pulsing IR LED). First off I tried a regular remote control, which had no effect so then I tried pointing the Trippy RGB LED kit at the car and voila! It reacted to the light. So, I set about creating a wand/gun for the kids to use to interact with the car.<br /><br />First off I tried setting up a 555 timer to pulse an IR LED at 38KHz. It worked but the signal was weak (maybe I got the values off a little). I decided to use a microcontroller instead. The ATtiny range are pretty cheap - I bought some ATtiny45s for $1.20 each which is ~3x the cost of a 555. The hardest part was finding/creating a housing for the circuit. I looked around and decided to make my own out of PVC piping. They look like tiny guns and work a treat :)<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx_nypOqe5vpQSApCDnSkvTEtQhrL6xfvGhY7GjHxyuJjTsbI1aZKCcGJshD2iI6udkhuoPCqMCR5CxirL-Hg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Methods:</b></span></div><div><br /><br />Here are the final "guns".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-Iuj2r5cDVNN4oN_PrSJ2HzeLhCb9YCh3PEDWsKKPSLqbT_68eKgT51gd1BTDcXW-LIwd2ST6J3mA1w7c7WnHIB9k7DKl1rd9E9AUk3U5dDAidxAYgMrxxLKWeYLFiiJBYab4FDvlnMP/s1600-h/IMG_6663.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 137px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-Iuj2r5cDVNN4oN_PrSJ2HzeLhCb9YCh3PEDWsKKPSLqbT_68eKgT51gd1BTDcXW-LIwd2ST6J3mA1w7c7WnHIB9k7DKl1rd9E9AUk3U5dDAidxAYgMrxxLKWeYLFiiJBYab4FDvlnMP/s200/IMG_6663.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451495188536935394" /></a><br /><br />Ingredients:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNmHYqc4SeA9fOJTXeHvl5BEDVx-r2ldArgjKm5ZF3m7J2umvpkC6etN1BYrMtoBhyphenhyphenZGv5Alck2lPq19LdA-IyzYEIyoPfqYvnnIt2VzMsP-oq4k__ZXjY01RIbHaI33gBZtN14iBkz_9o/s1600-h/IMG_6490.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 141px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNmHYqc4SeA9fOJTXeHvl5BEDVx-r2ldArgjKm5ZF3m7J2umvpkC6etN1BYrMtoBhyphenhyphenZGv5Alck2lPq19LdA-IyzYEIyoPfqYvnnIt2VzMsP-oq4k__ZXjY01RIbHaI33gBZtN14iBkz_9o/s200/IMG_6490.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444652522407766018"></a><br /><br />The pipe is 1/2" PVC piping from Lowes (Home Depot have it too).<div><ul><li>PVC elbow joint</li><li>PVC pipe (cut to a v.small length 1 1/2")</li><li>PVC pipe cap</li><li>Coin battery holder (3v, 20mm)</li><li>8-pin DIP socket</li><li>momentary push button</li><li>IR LED</li><li>ATtiny45 (originally made with an ATtiny13). </li></ul><br />The plastic dome is the case from a 25c toy from our local taqueria. The base fits snuggly on the end of the elbow joint and I've used it to cover the battery holder in the final 'product'. The piping paraphernalia was all left over from the <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2009/09/pvc-pipe-marshmallow-gun.html">marshmallow-gun</a> fun.<br /><br /></div><div>The wiring is all very straightforward. The hardest part was adjusting the elbow joint so that my coin cell holders fitted snuggly inside (and getting the pushbutton in place).</div><div><br /></div><div>So, first off is to drill some holes: 1 in the end cap for the LED and one in the elbow joint for the pushbutton. Then I used a rotary tool (Proxxon) to carve out some of the innards of the elbow joint until the battery holder fitted snuggly inside.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then I soldered one short and one long lead to the pushbutton and fitted it into the elbow joint (see below).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNI98_UiwASX9tGL2KDTLV_odU4P5GRKiYDwIR7-BqcxbxrFj4JDJoaV_GIEtltBJFzy5oK0XZR7_62ElzjbC484aUs1qOM_DlCUuGP8WMrbKoyQdNFX4j3ksi8WQ1IWrNzKgLEcSzQ5Y/s1600-h/IMG_6493.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNI98_UiwASX9tGL2KDTLV_odU4P5GRKiYDwIR7-BqcxbxrFj4JDJoaV_GIEtltBJFzy5oK0XZR7_62ElzjbC484aUs1qOM_DlCUuGP8WMrbKoyQdNFX4j3ksi8WQ1IWrNzKgLEcSzQ5Y/s200/IMG_6493.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444652531177486834"></a><br /><br /></div><div>Then I soldered a long ground lead to the battery holder and connected the short positive wire from the pushbutton and placed the battery holder in the end of the elbow joint.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJkaYjjXPwGhzR_iPYK7vBoiNRbhlwhkv4jTmCMBKhAQ2PLYJA4cB6RVKMNf6qzwz-_7S1np6S3SOoz3E0z-kgRhOeAMRss6UwOSTPHzyqWEpDC_LpmrJ33pN2vsh6OpZ5AMsJjRepPNE/s1600-h/IMG_6494.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJkaYjjXPwGhzR_iPYK7vBoiNRbhlwhkv4jTmCMBKhAQ2PLYJA4cB6RVKMNf6qzwz-_7S1np6S3SOoz3E0z-kgRhOeAMRss6UwOSTPHzyqWEpDC_LpmrJ33pN2vsh6OpZ5AMsJjRepPNE/s200/IMG_6494.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444652535132089026"></a><br /><br />Solder on the DIP socket. Using a socket was a great choice for me because it turns out that the code I was running was not getting the best results from the car. Having the socket let me replace the uC after I'd worked out the kinks. I guess it'll also let me easily recover the uC when the kids are bored of this toy. I stripped a little bit of insulation from near to the end of the ground lead and soldered it to the ground pin (rather than adding a couple of wire ends at that point).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3xUFwnKS3aW2I8aWad_bmhk9nmvy70QrKzRs-BnsXYmV6zIacoStzzy6R0vLv1BX8Mzbd-OzXWAiG9g5nouTYc8Lswi1kjuQHy5AONIJe1mbMsMOl-4CkzwG7VADMzx_799zpruIFP-i9/s1600-h/IMG_6496.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3xUFwnKS3aW2I8aWad_bmhk9nmvy70QrKzRs-BnsXYmV6zIacoStzzy6R0vLv1BX8Mzbd-OzXWAiG9g5nouTYc8Lswi1kjuQHy5AONIJe1mbMsMOl-4CkzwG7VADMzx_799zpruIFP-i9/s200/IMG_6496.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444652550086809746"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcL5Ebrva5ksQkriTwaQKoPreKv9NY7U0Z8HgOGfx7KJUiNggnjJee6mMg3NHU8k29_gTGBsk46p9HGVbnyaFFcZvEOaeO6Xe5HyxjTBtjy8T9_aSGDTNX5-17rDuqKYYOeUQSakBm-3E/s1600-h/IMG_6495.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcL5Ebrva5ksQkriTwaQKoPreKv9NY7U0Z8HgOGfx7KJUiNggnjJee6mMg3NHU8k29_gTGBsk46p9HGVbnyaFFcZvEOaeO6Xe5HyxjTBtjy8T9_aSGDTNX5-17rDuqKYYOeUQSakBm-3E/s200/IMG_6495.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444652539277522626"></a><br /><br /></div><div>Then it's just a matter of connecting the LED, placing the uC in the socket and fitting the remaining piping.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY8CbcNgBzyGtT28XDFoXmXutKCQbsBNaP5vJPVk1TZlE3KsYb6F1N4_XwfuDfRK_PwK7E-9gKIIpBXGQW8P79lXUuoDPWmXb-WADg01Mmxd9BkQmslAK24b-gdCF1C0fumPGzRhyxKN0o/s1600-h/IMG_6497.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY8CbcNgBzyGtT28XDFoXmXutKCQbsBNaP5vJPVk1TZlE3KsYb6F1N4_XwfuDfRK_PwK7E-9gKIIpBXGQW8P79lXUuoDPWmXb-WADg01Mmxd9BkQmslAK24b-gdCF1C0fumPGzRhyxKN0o/s200/IMG_6497.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444652645283657314"></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHo_yEWnWCnm7JnL1jic__qryouoLB7hk5nrePA87QbuElAY9NlFLUeI6BWHxxdlGFu7EHpSpdN4-6nJnrbl_YQGX2tfd9hyphenhyphenbK77rPccTXWAGFFPPxYJ8R-VdCJDgZ4l77Svi3x15YECyT/s1600-h/IMG_6498.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 119px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHo_yEWnWCnm7JnL1jic__qryouoLB7hk5nrePA87QbuElAY9NlFLUeI6BWHxxdlGFu7EHpSpdN4-6nJnrbl_YQGX2tfd9hyphenhyphenbK77rPccTXWAGFFPPxYJ8R-VdCJDgZ4l77Svi3x15YECyT/s200/IMG_6498.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444652651621471090"></a><br /><br />I made two so both girls could play. Although that also opens up a huge opportunity to fight over who's in control as well...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZHqRupA14Lz_EH-iqQM_wYnnomLnk5RZpiJqhZzKFqWlbdNjBu6SDevK1CXkm1YcPszdp62es8S0WCfVmJpwIIkggtNDI9etEko8egDt8o52yuc8N9wFL3YDUib6a4Xqs_FYWJdOwLAn/s1600-h/IMG_6663.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZHqRupA14Lz_EH-iqQM_wYnnomLnk5RZpiJqhZzKFqWlbdNjBu6SDevK1CXkm1YcPszdp62es8S0WCfVmJpwIIkggtNDI9etEko8egDt8o52yuc8N9wFL3YDUib6a4Xqs_FYWJdOwLAn/s400/IMG_6663.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451495015135590178" /></a><br /><br />And here's the code (for some reason the car reacted best if the IR was pulsed for ~170 microseconds with a 400 microsecond pause before the next set of pulses):<br /><pre class="brush:c">/*<br /> * IrLedPulse.c<br /> *<br /> * Distributed under Creative Commons 3.0 -- Attib & Share Alike<br /> *<br /> * Created on: Dec 26, 2009<br /> * Author: Paul<br /> */<br />#include <avr/io.h><br />#include <avr/delay.h><br /><br />#ifndef F_CPU<br /> #define F_CPU 1000000UL<br />#endif<br /><br /><br />// Use Timer 0 to pulse the IR LED at 38KHz<br />void pulseIr()<br />{<br /> TCCR0A = 0 | (1 << COM0A0) | (1 << WGM01); // COM0A0=1 to toggle OC0A on Compare Match<br /><br /> TCCR0B = 0 | (1 << CS01); // 1/8 prescale<br /> OCR0A = 104; // to output 38KHz on OC0A (PB0, pin 5)<br /><br /> _delay_us(170); // delay 170 microseconds<br /><br /> // turn off Timer0 to stop 38KHz pulsing of IR<br /> TCCR0B = 0; // Stop Timer0 (turn off IR emitter)<br /> TCCR0A = 0; // Disconnect OC0A from PB0 (pin 5)<br />}<br /><br />int main(void)<br />{<br /> DDRB |= (1 << PB0); // set PB0 to output<br /> PORTB = 0xFF; // all PORTB output pins high (LED off).<br /> while(1)<br /> {<br /> pulseIr();<br /> _delay_us(400);<br /> }<br />}<br /></pre></div></div>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-5117674930037874352010-02-28T10:46:00.000-08:002016-12-17T03:03:40.018-08:00The Amazing Dr Boardman's Colour Conundrum"<b>Roll up! Roll up! Try your hand at The Amazing Dr Boardman's Colour Conundrum!</b>"<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPM-inEQO-eE8ladlh4vAYIm-39YA0gCneadCYI5Id5diK2no3w1YnfRIn-DXA7OOOa6rf0w3kVXmgjbUDk2HiW_WMUI6bQABaOwvl4Cxfasz_bSQE-FoLu8pvDodyV80e9Cp95BHEpsC/s1600-h/IMG_6387.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445773322562532562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPM-inEQO-eE8ladlh4vAYIm-39YA0gCneadCYI5Id5diK2no3w1YnfRIn-DXA7OOOa6rf0w3kVXmgjbUDk2HiW_WMUI6bQABaOwvl4Cxfasz_bSQE-FoLu8pvDodyV80e9Cp95BHEpsC/s400/IMG_6387.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 400px; width: 265px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4y4TzkJHPgRn8LqVYrdOL6u8uUERHSjVrmyDAisXFkr-5pgOgdalpK-4RehdCQfs-8DFii9Pa2oS4cgwPw0u1nDBtvrh7Bjc_wFVOlbHMnx193UELDA7XpJrOIj54Dnxpwag5JXn0GAu/s1600-h/IMG_6389.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445671026214735714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4y4TzkJHPgRn8LqVYrdOL6u8uUERHSjVrmyDAisXFkr-5pgOgdalpK-4RehdCQfs-8DFii9Pa2oS4cgwPw0u1nDBtvrh7Bjc_wFVOlbHMnx193UELDA7XpJrOIj54Dnxpwag5JXn0GAu/s200/IMG_6389.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 133px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iWm7iNzeXx-zeI6CG1AuXfq_8B3Kzbgo3h9wu5VESj7Vw5UuXb7dA-yJFXPWYapb3aVTBpfaqFGW9h13Mu8WYScMWy7PWx5Zk3Kj2H-w7m2x0BailC_BICUmF12uZUy-X4aU_ojfN4IJ/s1600-h/IMG_6388.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445671024193951842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iWm7iNzeXx-zeI6CG1AuXfq_8B3Kzbgo3h9wu5VESj7Vw5UuXb7dA-yJFXPWYapb3aVTBpfaqFGW9h13Mu8WYScMWy7PWx5Zk3Kj2H-w7m2x0BailC_BICUmF12uZUy-X4aU_ojfN4IJ/s200/IMG_6388.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 173px;" /></a><br />
<br />
This is a little game I've been planning on making for quite some time. I finally got round to learning the necessary microcontroller details to pull it together. The basic idea is that that there are two, full colour 'bulbs'. One bulb lights up with a random color and the player tries to match this color by adjusting the RGB values of the second bulb (the bulbs are actually RGB LEDs with ping-pong ball diffusers). When the colors are similar enough then the player 'wins'.<br />
<br />
This was quite hard to do for the younger kids, so I added a speaker to the mix & set it so that the sound frequency increased the closer the player got to the correct colour. It's still pretty hard, even with the speaker on.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I added a difficulty switch so that the daring/cocky can turn the speaker off.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here's a little video of it in action. My 5 year old daughter kindly agreed to walk us through it.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx3HvRYvdOpjjm4LhFgSBlxOMnSvKNxrLpFgOIiFBrdXdJpGStDXf94barfofCOw-ra6tuQ4M_MSrpm4tTqkg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3LnhKED0VzpOw8NIVtxKZ0XufljZ_fKWKglwpzGtYlj-QJ8pHqp86jZOsnS-YOw4yrg-5iTsgWuTUpaY1y30voDj1cuySktqhjN3tBkAQdPX1UAcmNu54kPgba3GjXb5wpeXflteWurXn/s1600-h/IMG_6393.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445671105655619346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3LnhKED0VzpOw8NIVtxKZ0XufljZ_fKWKglwpzGtYlj-QJ8pHqp86jZOsnS-YOw4yrg-5iTsgWuTUpaY1y30voDj1cuySktqhjN3tBkAQdPX1UAcmNu54kPgba3GjXb5wpeXflteWurXn/s200/IMG_6393.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 133px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtK1klzlCIvo1NH51nC8aqZWUbcm_ZI0VjSflVmULWjv_iZgFl_tsMRg3_kZoB_Mo1C4eCQboRTaiC95N-kOPAIym0dAc3A1r9QroxAzJxOhc0FchilfKaLFIrBRpR1J6qrKqXFb7x8vMm/s1600-h/IMG_6392.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445671097164870786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtK1klzlCIvo1NH51nC8aqZWUbcm_ZI0VjSflVmULWjv_iZgFl_tsMRg3_kZoB_Mo1C4eCQboRTaiC95N-kOPAIym0dAc3A1r9QroxAzJxOhc0FchilfKaLFIrBRpR1J6qrKqXFb7x8vMm/s200/IMG_6392.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 133px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwyNm3G4o-mNkB-IoP0lkJ3X-2oC0xTPn0IHk56PhOY6SewZuGT_Iq29jpj-lpEQyURfl0ukOt_IoZp51u_ZsIcfWoONrrlUQUn6KrWMNDt0nbB7LPll7dLfa4nsWPiwdZe__bl_Ub92H/s1600-h/IMG_6194.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670913255642306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwyNm3G4o-mNkB-IoP0lkJ3X-2oC0xTPn0IHk56PhOY6SewZuGT_Iq29jpj-lpEQyURfl0ukOt_IoZp51u_ZsIcfWoONrrlUQUn6KrWMNDt0nbB7LPll7dLfa4nsWPiwdZe__bl_Ub92H/s200/IMG_6194.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 133px;" /></a><br />
<div>
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">How it was put together</span></b><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Ingredients</b>:</div>
<div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisEBZUeFGtK2XtKVqyKrxUvXL7C_5J-raY2VYuqU7PqnFWAwDTqEkLMxGHwuyk6SIn65cpS8Nl3HQZ9Dofzqb9lF7npJhP14SzgWP2QvwRVmlKKwHBwD81hZw5SLTs_4Y-YBISmGtwa2dV/s1600-h/IMG_5974.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670626651681938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisEBZUeFGtK2XtKVqyKrxUvXL7C_5J-raY2VYuqU7PqnFWAwDTqEkLMxGHwuyk6SIn65cpS8Nl3HQZ9Dofzqb9lF7npJhP14SzgWP2QvwRVmlKKwHBwD81hZw5SLTs_4Y-YBISmGtwa2dV/s200/IMG_5974.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 194px;" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>3 potentiometers (20K ohm - but the absolute value isn't very important)</li>
<li>3 knobs for the potentiometers</li>
<li>8 ohm speaker</li>
<li>wooden box (I found this one at Savers)</li>
<li>perf board</li>
<li>2 baby food jars </li>
<li>2 ping-pong balls</li>
<li>28 pin DIP socket</li>
<li>ATmega8 </li>
<li>2 RGB LEDs (common anode)</li>
<li>2 toggle switches (for power and speaker on/off)</li>
<li>hook-up wire</li>
</ul>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Methods</b></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First off drill holes in the ping pong balls, the box and in the baby food lids. Obviously, the size of the holes will depend on what you want to put through them so you'll have to work this out yourselves). Here's the layout I used:</div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyuAq2SeKWkSd2TpoOvoFvB_Q6Cvo5tiE0KOCr7CjbUP-UwxFhd4d7TOnt8IRO6nkUcr1FF8kQVAynRULAJiRZEQpb84JqN-qcuK6nthKfDJXYcwhkLFPe1ZrPoMHV0S-YGhSAwv3Jbq4/s1600-h/IMG_5975.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670638347959762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyuAq2SeKWkSd2TpoOvoFvB_Q6Cvo5tiE0KOCr7CjbUP-UwxFhd4d7TOnt8IRO6nkUcr1FF8kQVAynRULAJiRZEQpb84JqN-qcuK6nthKfDJXYcwhkLFPe1ZrPoMHV0S-YGhSAwv3Jbq4/s200/IMG_5975.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 116px; width: 200px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHOMabtg6VhS-wjAquDwZtCfqKSlklmLHGCZGO-q3dvvxD_8DYjDVHCjWjNJIw12zJjTs1pZAzWtOGETwwsYBo6GeBKfxSNUnKheTwI5sNgH3kEAzCkbauonSi2oAwd3nBS4Hdv_GGhww/s1600-h/IMG_5976.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670647144172722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHOMabtg6VhS-wjAquDwZtCfqKSlklmLHGCZGO-q3dvvxD_8DYjDVHCjWjNJIw12zJjTs1pZAzWtOGETwwsYBo6GeBKfxSNUnKheTwI5sNgH3kEAzCkbauonSi2oAwd3nBS4Hdv_GGhww/s200/IMG_5976.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 134px; width: 200px;" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There are 3 holes in a row for the potentiometers, two holes for the LEDs, one hole in the middle for the difficulty switch and one on the side for the power switch.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Next up is to solder leads to the pots. I used speaker hookup cable for the +ve and GND connections and then soldered 3 different coloured wires to the center terminals (I would have used blue instead of black, but I don't have any blue wire). These are going to control the red, green and blue levels of the 'player' RGB LED.</div>
<div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1VkZsAgr-b5uf8bTwYTWAhDxpP6L4ad8MyGn7zLwE7fq9Vwm0nm0_J_rsRA2JEH8kT1BjPEM8ASnnqMd-UOfvNdldc-T5lVnfoxo_o-U2PHGBHo2KpPkLJsY14e8Bp7BzLnLGXzTb6jJ/s1600-h/IMG_5978.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670651926686386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1VkZsAgr-b5uf8bTwYTWAhDxpP6L4ad8MyGn7zLwE7fq9Vwm0nm0_J_rsRA2JEH8kT1BjPEM8ASnnqMd-UOfvNdldc-T5lVnfoxo_o-U2PHGBHo2KpPkLJsY14e8Bp7BzLnLGXzTb6jJ/s200/IMG_5978.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 86px; width: 200px;" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I sanded the LED lenses to make them diffused (I could have just bought diffused lenses... doh!) and then soldered the leads in place. I used some speaker cable again here too to keep things simple (and some heat shrink tubing to prevent shorts).</div>
<div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIcswXb-BDO9-nDBWO4kG6FiGTJ9vB46uyuZPefVyCQ4287bUeADy4if9Swh111IkcKfjW6nACcu0P5L8Lb7wx8bF4czpG_6kCjmXMI3EdFbK6dCFX5O-TrXRZrzWAoq7EEzbAt3TUMmcL/s1600-h/IMG_5981.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670763571908962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIcswXb-BDO9-nDBWO4kG6FiGTJ9vB46uyuZPefVyCQ4287bUeADy4if9Swh111IkcKfjW6nACcu0P5L8Lb7wx8bF4czpG_6kCjmXMI3EdFbK6dCFX5O-TrXRZrzWAoq7EEzbAt3TUMmcL/s200/IMG_5981.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 156px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Then solder the DIP socket onto the perf board. Add the potentiometer leds and the power supply. All the wires were cut to be a little generous in length - I wasn't sure how everything was going to fit so I figured I'd play it safe and allow for wiggle room in the box.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIego8Az7nvZKtTFjeXHVf1epi0EEKAw6dXsvo5-PhwuLIq-zg4KkbLeDEbiv5fBUpMiDwWsQM6Bc93oiG1qSlLlQYVGyBsfFlI7xuEJpeavMKpctVTo5ylcvhNVmkzihzd3qFJU-YeEaQ/s1600-h/IMG_5982.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670772654241426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIego8Az7nvZKtTFjeXHVf1epi0EEKAw6dXsvo5-PhwuLIq-zg4KkbLeDEbiv5fBUpMiDwWsQM6Bc93oiG1qSlLlQYVGyBsfFlI7xuEJpeavMKpctVTo5ylcvhNVmkzihzd3qFJU-YeEaQ/s200/IMG_5982.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 195px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj86wTnCMOPtMUj9g6YA_dJDuYiebPStz6kv88dJX8zWLuh0BJN3Sh2oR1HJJkX_AEo54pgTIJrDhYufR4jvRe-uDfWnaf7qRNoOwMG7t7tFHTVPWa8vFcYS-98_jGPnk2DbtDzbNyiuUPr/s1600-h/IMG_5983.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670776461389026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj86wTnCMOPtMUj9g6YA_dJDuYiebPStz6kv88dJX8zWLuh0BJN3Sh2oR1HJJkX_AEo54pgTIJrDhYufR4jvRe-uDfWnaf7qRNoOwMG7t7tFHTVPWa8vFcYS-98_jGPnk2DbtDzbNyiuUPr/s200/IMG_5983.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 141px; width: 200px;" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I used one of the IC perfboards because I figured having the central Vcc and GND rails would make life easier as well as the already connected pads around each pin of the uC.</div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW3ginqA3QlJoXlA0mqBdHQF8u9_iGTdVyibJWKouNu0B2ueShjI0jOgvjLoJzTbvcCw9M1U8x46Bz8HqzS1WufufpPqxywyapG9pZBvn8dTl8EtUILhccEeSXybyxyDrfO2jmLgYmdPB6/s1600-h/IMG_5984.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670781993573058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW3ginqA3QlJoXlA0mqBdHQF8u9_iGTdVyibJWKouNu0B2ueShjI0jOgvjLoJzTbvcCw9M1U8x46Bz8HqzS1WufufpPqxywyapG9pZBvn8dTl8EtUILhccEeSXybyxyDrfO2jmLgYmdPB6/s200/IMG_5984.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 142px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Attach the LEDs to the board:</div>
<div>
<br />
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GcmYfdRvnjaSUpQCBbYTQXOgWeAbRPfJvV30baLoQf64tZOch_uIIfK__iGtIVROOLz3-fZWa5gxO4wkbpU7nw1tII1GwLtLYN4g6jYA1H61DViZ55Xrt1WTYSIIRaeOf7jaMhxfqf2G/s1600-h/IMG_5986.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670785941699778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GcmYfdRvnjaSUpQCBbYTQXOgWeAbRPfJvV30baLoQf64tZOch_uIIfK__iGtIVROOLz3-fZWa5gxO4wkbpU7nw1tII1GwLtLYN4g6jYA1H61DViZ55Xrt1WTYSIIRaeOf7jaMhxfqf2G/s200/IMG_5986.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 196px;" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Then add the speaker and difficulty switch (this just connects/disconnects the speaker from GND rather than being directly controlled by the microcontroller) and test the set-up for shorts, cold solder joints etc.</div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTvdB9K9n1mdAP5IPUFi9U-o10zQMtpYOS-bj5YJWwC8vx-2NltOeJ2rgfQL8cyFuQD5Fm4Paq98N-ediijt0Rq6p-Z35S2Q2RxobhpbkCK7w83CYyAPgUVyMFX8m0vZNXAuFwP9d1jW15/s1600-h/IMG_5987.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670892216547874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTvdB9K9n1mdAP5IPUFi9U-o10zQMtpYOS-bj5YJWwC8vx-2NltOeJ2rgfQL8cyFuQD5Fm4Paq98N-ediijt0Rq6p-Z35S2Q2RxobhpbkCK7w83CYyAPgUVyMFX8m0vZNXAuFwP9d1jW15/s200/IMG_5987.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 178px; width: 200px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFfmnc6qDFejQMU5um0GIlVaJLE7y5d-o0ygfF0YyA2CT47gL74afCsxMCCZQeWI5XlKYOGQgumgg7DW0hBObJOuJI24ZM7Jw23clBfyceRDcF-5xpIk0A4DlXisNWWYVdDk2VMuVQuhC/s1600-h/IMG_5988.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670893144650530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFfmnc6qDFejQMU5um0GIlVaJLE7y5d-o0ygfF0YyA2CT47gL74afCsxMCCZQeWI5XlKYOGQgumgg7DW0hBObJOuJI24ZM7Jw23clBfyceRDcF-5xpIk0A4DlXisNWWYVdDk2VMuVQuhC/s200/IMG_5988.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 159px;" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The LEDs are poked through the holes in the box without the ping-pong balls on (no surprise there). I had them on in the above photos to see how well they worked.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Place everything into the case and hot glue it all securely - I glued the switches and the LEDs in place. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I positioned the uC within easy reach so that I can tweak the software and update easily. Next time I think I'll just add programming headers to the board.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoh06rkWRCW1DoEOABTgkevj9wWuiU7Dvq8BRBsC6o60SBmtcvQT8Pf1AkBHwJNCTHoOom8vh-RlVPsqc-WwC5hcLR9RKldpku5ikgV5lavvHLF5y7Un3hk3mcD8v_s9JFSOOTIY3-d3SU/s1600-h/IMG_5997.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445670899588759586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoh06rkWRCW1DoEOABTgkevj9wWuiU7Dvq8BRBsC6o60SBmtcvQT8Pf1AkBHwJNCTHoOom8vh-RlVPsqc-WwC5hcLR9RKldpku5ikgV5lavvHLF5y7Un3hk3mcD8v_s9JFSOOTIY3-d3SU/s200/IMG_5997.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 134px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
If you're very lucky then you're either artistically gifted or you have a talented partner in crime who can make your project look a hell of a lot better. Lin (my lovely lady and the hostess of <a href="http://www.filthwizardry.com/">filthwizardry.com</a>) had the fabulous idea of creating a Coney Island theme for this game. I take no credit for how good it looks, that was all down to Lin. I think I was going to put it in some old Tea box and leave it at that. Thanks, hon! She was also responsible for the game name. I'm far too British to call myself amazing. Oh, and the American spelling of <b>colour </b>she claims was for symmetry purposes.</div>
<div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hT_vd6orkHq9mDs8WC2lZdK4t7Q7rVtous0jDlyVaKWrpdYZ43_QAjWdRoH8c9LjGvNb94myq7N-MmHjBKR3nNi_1T54cOxxL9W4Z7BWHinc4e5Cye50JNzybSArgojQcHy-dTRIk7bU/s1600-h/IMG_6387.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445671014866805506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hT_vd6orkHq9mDs8WC2lZdK4t7Q7rVtous0jDlyVaKWrpdYZ43_QAjWdRoH8c9LjGvNb94myq7N-MmHjBKR3nNi_1T54cOxxL9W4Z7BWHinc4e5Cye50JNzybSArgojQcHy-dTRIk7bU/s200/IMG_6387.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 132px;" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
I drilled a few holes in the back to increase the apparent volume of the speaker. Also, it took me a while to work out how to keep the lid/base on the box (there were no fasteners built in, the lid was meant to be kept on by gravity). I'd almost given up and was going to attack it with nails when I realised I could simply drill some holes in a couple of washers and screw them into the base... I'm stupidly proud of that little idea. Ah, the little things...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizsNSJOktdp5IlCc55Cbn_JoW6dswzmMlyl_qbL4EXf8oODx36hljnhJXT16MnBk9LZntOTDPTDA6Ew4FL8jl47w_xiY2qTXxcRl320CW9hBDDgzqhNc4xdyrI2X0I1DSnM-YaWogx80D7/s1600-h/IMG_6391.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445671035114584370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizsNSJOktdp5IlCc55Cbn_JoW6dswzmMlyl_qbL4EXf8oODx36hljnhJXT16MnBk9LZntOTDPTDA6Ew4FL8jl47w_xiY2qTXxcRl320CW9hBDDgzqhNc4xdyrI2X0I1DSnM-YaWogx80D7/s200/IMG_6391.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 134px; width: 200px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4PN-y_OYayyFe7p7hl0s0OLKUGmXiIaKLx9MrQEiKAVsXvaNCHIRM9JRuvanzYjcf4cISCHFWoC0-zuvoXuOc3IsnewcOruQe5qy5yRFOC0S_pPI77Ld_IxnayqD75tIDUnMVJ8PAYGc/s1600-h/IMG_6390.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445671033313538114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4PN-y_OYayyFe7p7hl0s0OLKUGmXiIaKLx9MrQEiKAVsXvaNCHIRM9JRuvanzYjcf4cISCHFWoC0-zuvoXuOc3IsnewcOruQe5qy5yRFOC0S_pPI77Ld_IxnayqD75tIDUnMVJ8PAYGc/s200/IMG_6390.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 134px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Software</b></span></div>
<div>
<br />
The code is available <a href="https://github.com/paulboardman/avr/blob/master/rgb_color_matcher/rgb_color_matcher.c" target="_blank">here </a>on <a href="https://github.com/paulboardman/avr/blob/master/rgb_color_matcher/rgb_color_matcher.c" target="_blank">github.com</a>. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The output from each potentiometer is read via ADC. These values are used as the 'player' RGB values and are compared with the 'game' RGB values. I started off using the euclidean distance of the RGB vectors as the difference metric, but - with kid friendly values - it meant that you could sometimes match red to green (and green to blue etc.). I ended up requiring each colour be within a defined distance for a successful match.</div>
<div>
<br />
When a match is detected we turn off interrupts, flash the LEDs and modulate the speaker sound. Then switch interrupts back on and assign a new colour to the system RGB LED.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
It uses double buffered software PWM for the LEDs and standard PWM for the speaker. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The only other trick is that the random seed is stored in EEPROM and incremented each time the uC is booted up. The incremented seed is fed to srand and from there we just use the rand() function. This way the game sequence is different each time (well, different for 256 games in a row anyway).</div>
</div>
<pre class="brush:c">
#include <avr/eeprom.h>
/*
* Use a variable stored in EEPROM to ensure the random color
* sequence changes from one game to the next.
*/
void initRand()
{
uint8_t vSeed = eeprom_read_word(0); // load last stored seed
srand(++vSeed); // increment and use value as seed
eeprom_write_word(0, vSeed); //store the new seed for next time
}</pre>
</div>
PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-78700554193192403502010-02-27T23:21:00.001-08:002016-12-18T01:45:40.306-08:00CharliePlexed LEDsThere are quite a few things I've wanted to try out and post about as I've been learning them (it seems like a good way to remember them!). For example, I have a half-written post on AVR ADC (analogue to digital converter - for reading inputs like potentiometers and light dependent resistors), one on using pulse width modulation (PWM), one on using LEDs as light sensors...etc, etc. well, so I don't always get round to finishing what I've started. I'm not sure those posts would even be popular and I've concentrated on real/physical/entertaining projects instead. Of course now I have a load of half written posts for almost finished projects... aaaaannyway, onto the point. <br />
<br />
I've heard a lot about charlieplexing since starting out on the electronics adventure & the idea of controlling lots of LEDs from only a few microcontroller pins is very appealing. I've been wanting to make some interesting ways to play with the <a href="http://www.fangletronics.com/2010/01/glow-in-dark-sketch-wall-and-led-pens.html">glow-in-the-dark wall</a> and this has lead me to my first practical use for charlieplexing. I thought that a controllable row of LEDs would open up a lot of possibilities: scan back and forth for a sine wave; all LEDs on for caligraphy; random flash for making star-scapes; POV style message writing; printing patterns - hearts, smileys etc. <br />
<br />
So, the problem is that with an ATtiny, if you don't want to mess with the reset pin, you only have 5 I/O pins available. I want to use two pins as input - a potentiometer and a push button. This would leave me 3 pins for controllign LEDs... not much to play with really. That's where charlieplexing comes in. I can control 6 LEDs using these 3 uC pins.<br />
<br />
The wikipedia article on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlieplexing">charlieplexing </a>is pretty good, so I won't repeat what's already been said. Take a look at the tri-state logic part to see what's going on here. There are a load of <a href="http://www.instructables.com/">Instructables </a>which cover charlieplexing - <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Charlieplexing-LEDs--The-theory/">this one</a> on the theory is worth a read.<br />
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/3_Pin_Charlieplexing.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/3_Pin_Charlieplexing.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 266px; width: 440px;" /></a><br />
In the code below the LEDs are numbered <strike>slightly differently than</strike> exactly the same as in the wikipedia diagram (I just soldered up a prototype and the wiring is much easier to route with the wikipedia numbering). The trick is that we switch two pins to output and one as a high-impedance input (this is the 'floating' pin that is effectively taken out of consideration). One input is set high (+Vcc) and one is low (0v). Current is sourced by the +Vcc output pin and sunk by the 0v output pin. So, for each LED we have different data direction (DDRxn) and port (PORTxn) register settings.<br />
<br />
In order to control the 6 LEDs in the diagram above we use the following settings:<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr><td><b>LED</b></td><td><b>PIN1</b></td><td><b>PIN2</b></td><td><b>PIN3</b></td></tr>
<tr><td>1</td><td>+Vcc</td><td>0v</td><td>Input</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>0v</td><td>+Vcc</td><td>Input</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td><td>Input</td><td>+Vcc</td><td>0v</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td>Input</td><td>0v</td><td>+Vcc</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td>0v</td><td>Input</td><td>+Vcc</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td><td>+Vcc</td><td>Input</td><td>0v</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The code below is just an initial test set-up where we activate LEDs in a scanning pattern (classic 'cylon eye'). It has all the basics necessary to implement the more complex behaviours. Having the structure array hold the PORTB and DDRB values makes controlling individual LEDs very easy. I'm hoping this will scale up to allowing PWM, but I haven't put much thought into that yet.<br />
<br />
Hopefully I'll get a chance to make the UV LED gizmo this week and post about the results.<br />
<br />
You can download the source-code from <a href="https://github.com/paulboardman/avr/blob/master/charlieplex_test/charlieplexed_cylonEyes.c">github</a> or use the cut and paste options in the top right of the code box below.<br />
<br />
<pre class="brush:c">/*
* charlieplex_test.c
*
* Running on an ATtiny45.
*
* Here we control 6 LEDs through 3 pins (PB0:2).
*
* In order to illuminate each LED we do the following:
*
* LED1 - PB0 & 2 output PB2 input. PB0 sourcing, PB1 sinking. Pull-up on PB2
* LED2 - PB0 & 2 output PB2 input. PB1 sourcing, PB0 sinking. Pull-up on PB2
* LED3 - PB1 & 3 output PB0 input. PB1 sourcing, PB2 sinking. Pull-up on PB0
* LED4 - PB1 & 3 output PB0 input. PB2 sourcing, PB1 sinking. Pull-up on PB0
* LED5 - PB0 & 3 output PB1 input. PB0 sourcing, PB2 sinking. Pull-up on PB1
* LED6 - PB0 & 3 output PB1 input. PB2 sourcing, PB0 sinking. Pull-up on PB2
*
* This little ASCII diagram shows the wiring and orientation of the 6 LEDs.
* The hyphens ('-') identify the cathode pins of the LEDs.
*
* PB0 ----------------------
* | - | |
* 1 2 | |
* - | | -
* PB1 -------- 5 6
* | - - |
* 3 4 | |
* - | | |
* PB2 ----------------------
*
* Only a single LED can be illuminated at any point in time.
*
* Distributed under Creative Commons 3.0 -- Attib & Share Alike
*
* Created on: Feb 27, 2010
* Author: PaulBo
*/
#include <avr/io.h>
#include <util/delay.h>
#ifndef F_CPU
#define F_CPU 1000000UL
#endif
#define DELAY_TIME 50
#define N_LED 6
// see class comments for pin setting explanation
// unused pins are set to input with pull-up resistors activated
struct leds {
uint8_t mDdrB;
uint8_t mPortB;
} ledData[] = {
{0b00011011, 0b11100101},
{0b00011011, 0b11100110},
{0b00011110, 0b11100011},
{0b00011110, 0b11100101},
{0b00011101, 0b11100011},
{0b00011101, 0b11100110}
};
int main()
{
uint8_t i;
for(;;)
{
for(i = 0; i < N_LED - 1; i++)
{
DDRB = ledData[i].mDdrB;
PORTB = ledData[i].mPortB;
_delay_ms(DELAY_TIME);
}
for(i = N_LED - 1;i > 0; i--)
{
DDRB = ledData[i].mDdrB;
PORTB = ledData[i].mPortB;
_delay_ms(DELAY_TIME);
}
}
}
</pre>
PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-37460699644961968152010-02-07T23:21:00.000-08:002016-12-18T01:44:52.003-08:00RGB Night-lights<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4TJY7lbgmalP0qIF6IAdS2BrwWHAcXlBZjOMgj2ZvhqN6wju0Ywlwn1xYkv34UHXdWmq9LPaRaHR35Rkc0YHCC8EDqwxIsPy2FHRrtIqteogSlb_iT5ixleSgDNLxx0bT0oRuodjKBYr/s1600-h/IMG_6107.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435592513830110722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4TJY7lbgmalP0qIF6IAdS2BrwWHAcXlBZjOMgj2ZvhqN6wju0Ywlwn1xYkv34UHXdWmq9LPaRaHR35Rkc0YHCC8EDqwxIsPy2FHRrtIqteogSlb_iT5ixleSgDNLxx0bT0oRuodjKBYr/s200/IMG_6107.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 134px; width: 200px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ASe-ZjH1AucJBXu0CxXNtHkNuL-Sh_eOAUh9m0SNmGTNdwR2eguvzkVT7FZVvux5ztotvsEKs750E9GqXF9Vl169LwzboDzaVlO1AT8t5U-1rZZ2oJ-Y3pbpwiJ-ozUWrfR1zAVq3tn4/s1600-h/IMG_6108.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435592517154083298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ASe-ZjH1AucJBXu0CxXNtHkNuL-Sh_eOAUh9m0SNmGTNdwR2eguvzkVT7FZVvux5ztotvsEKs750E9GqXF9Vl169LwzboDzaVlO1AT8t5U-1rZZ2oJ-Y3pbpwiJ-ozUWrfR1zAVq3tn4/s200/IMG_6108.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 122px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<div>
My kids love lights; flashlights, LEDs, house lights, pen-lights, light-up teddy bears, the northern lights... you name it, they love it. I've been playing around with RGB LEDs for another project along with ping-pong ball diffusers and baby jar containers. It occurred to me that I could make a simple night-light with most of the same components & the girls were bound love 'em. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I put it all together on Saturday evening after the girls were in bed. I think I'm getting better at all this as I had the code working and 2 lights put together by midnight. The girls found them in the morning (unfortunately, very early...) and came into our bedroom to play with them. First off, they played some kind of colour matching game where they were shouting (yes, shouting, early, in bed...) "RED! I'm wearing red!", "Blue! My socks are blue!". After a bit of this they moved into their bedroom to make a 'tent' out of a couple of chairs and a duvet (comforter). They played with the lights in there for a while; I'm not sure what they were doing as I was drifting in and out of consciousness.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's Sunday and I've just put the kids to bed. They wanted to go to bed with their lights right next to them. I declare them a success! </div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
I apologise for the quality of this video. It was taken on an iPhone and I've not been able to get hold of them again to take a proper vid. I'm sure you get the idea though.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzBk6UU6uwbiQtvPWag0iCxzPykax6huQ7JoR9qfox8qhYsfymDtvCl-8XM_eOQX3DbTBSDs9JTdsODRzOB' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<br /></div>
Ingredients:<br />
<div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJ6ReX0IT0Hlx5RS4uvteOzaxIpEYi-SOc2_HfRza8FmXob8tWwYhHl1kbjjBnr2JqC8f67ghbRH9O-ni_CbFK8vUKGaLzQ0VBk6mMjgPHHZayp-gDD0CDjcc5OhPXz8W9_XQs_D561AB/s1600-h/IMG_6092.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435592402799349138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJ6ReX0IT0Hlx5RS4uvteOzaxIpEYi-SOc2_HfRza8FmXob8tWwYhHl1kbjjBnr2JqC8f67ghbRH9O-ni_CbFK8vUKGaLzQ0VBk6mMjgPHHZayp-gDD0CDjcc5OhPXz8W9_XQs_D561AB/s200/IMG_6092.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 172px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>ATtiny13</li>
<li>RGB LED (common anode)</li>
<li>8 pin DIP socket</li>
<li>switch (the ones I used were SPDT)</li>
<li>coin cell battery holder</li>
<li>coin cell battery</li>
<li>baby jar</li>
<li>hookup wire (I used stranded 24 AWG).</li>
<li>ping pong ball</li>
<li>neodymium magnet</li>
</ul>
<div>
I used the magnet to attach everything to the lid of the baby jar. I've not had much luck with hot-glue and lids (metal ones), so I figured this should work better. I decided to put this together free-form (i.e. no perfboard), mainly for space reasons - but also as I like the aesthetics of the free-form projects (like this <a href="http://tinkerlog.com/2009/12/12/geeky-advent/">advent wreath</a> or this <a href="http://tinkerlog.com/2007/05/09/programmable-led/">programmable led</a>).</div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
First off I realised that the DIP socket would fit nicely onto the side of my coin cell holders:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilsbEZGBHzxb2B-8H2SfaUmuvhuWCziVDCrEDomUE54bG24t3W6lPtbrEK6n0DtkQ46IRIyciP9lNz_KfUl4UjXgjv_PsLj7ueUwGZx_jJninuvYtOP2ZWajJ4g3v0F1XspzCUG5dL7rjO/s1600-h/IMG_6095.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435592409177423218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilsbEZGBHzxb2B-8H2SfaUmuvhuWCziVDCrEDomUE54bG24t3W6lPtbrEK6n0DtkQ46IRIyciP9lNz_KfUl4UjXgjv_PsLj7ueUwGZx_jJninuvYtOP2ZWajJ4g3v0F1XspzCUG5dL7rjO/s200/IMG_6095.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 146px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Then I added the neodymium magnet to the center of the holder:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcye3MoxDRgyDu2oBpf9kURfCG_79psKqnQsu2CIhaykf0H1HAtc2qGXAZyoXZJSlIdGDAbpR8OkvGoZcuaPjcYFbw6po7TPAeo67vTxfIrBXNIOO1K5jklo0Eviu25tevoya5iOaNpzr/s1600-h/IMG_6097.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435592415195564434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcye3MoxDRgyDu2oBpf9kURfCG_79psKqnQsu2CIhaykf0H1HAtc2qGXAZyoXZJSlIdGDAbpR8OkvGoZcuaPjcYFbw6po7TPAeo67vTxfIrBXNIOO1K5jklo0Eviu25tevoya5iOaNpzr/s200/IMG_6097.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 146px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
This was actually a bad idea... these things are very strong and everything you're playing with at this point has some kind of ferrous metal involved. This thing attracted the soldering iron, the solder, cut off leads, pliers, the helping hand... If I do this again, I'd definitely wait until the end to attach the magnets.</div>
<div>
<br />
Next step was to solder on the RGB LED:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXrf2aGuk6KybL1okYPaZwanVay4ZbEcqtA34AWxXSayUSV5NkzYtAzERiBnU1Twi3msyvRZKjp7XiKGX-BQGvzZAXzxFUPy_FeHUmW55TB4sDmqKl9n0lhoEmtO18gCiud90Q6QjeNPsh/s1600-h/IMG_6099.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435592419790575426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXrf2aGuk6KybL1okYPaZwanVay4ZbEcqtA34AWxXSayUSV5NkzYtAzERiBnU1Twi3msyvRZKjp7XiKGX-BQGvzZAXzxFUPy_FeHUmW55TB4sDmqKl9n0lhoEmtO18gCiud90Q6QjeNPsh/s200/IMG_6099.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 132px;" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
You may notice that the socket has changed orientation. I was planning on attaching wire to the leads of the LED so that it'd be easily positionable. Then I realised that, since I only had a tiny amount of room in the jar, I could leave the LEDs leads in place and bend them to put the LED into the correct position. That meant re-orientating the DIP socket (as seen above).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The LEDs common anode has not been attached at this point. I added some heat-shrink tubing to this lead to insulate it from the others. It has to be bent forward and could easily touch one of the adjacent leads.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Also, I sanded the LED casing to diffuse the light. Without this step there are obvious areas of red/green/blue that shine on the ping pong ball from the LED.</div>
<div>
<br />
Now all that's left is the final bit of wiring:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj85C9s8zRYYxeUbI1C2TFvwV6g4WJZv-NZlQEsF8huGWVaDh-nT-wFppLr_L3kj-V67XNeiI6vjN1PqsvvXKA4Ju6bkHcOIjqKrmTrivzRKcYcsNCVIAlCCx8fZbszDXMj_ZrKyFFEPCCa/s1600-h/IMG_6105.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435592507445540066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj85C9s8zRYYxeUbI1C2TFvwV6g4WJZv-NZlQEsF8huGWVaDh-nT-wFppLr_L3kj-V67XNeiI6vjN1PqsvvXKA4Ju6bkHcOIjqKrmTrivzRKcYcsNCVIAlCCx8fZbszDXMj_ZrKyFFEPCCa/s200/IMG_6105.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 152px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoUMmIRVGLJDTuMyDQ-j7yZkDpqbULeyrQOSW-OZvPR7u5T6N3BZL7736eS1Rhdzt47wYM8R-6URxiz2XCM3eCocbMmoEDC4e9jJbesP-6_Ov0MPYtZVjkwO7cZ8UqmQKAWv8It8DKV4f/s1600-h/IMG_6101.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435592425141386546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoUMmIRVGLJDTuMyDQ-j7yZkDpqbULeyrQOSW-OZvPR7u5T6N3BZL7736eS1Rhdzt47wYM8R-6URxiz2XCM3eCocbMmoEDC4e9jJbesP-6_Ov0MPYtZVjkwO7cZ8UqmQKAWv8It8DKV4f/s200/IMG_6101.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 198px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
I attached the switch to Vcc and added a ground wire from the battery holder to the DIP socket. The wire is bent around the magnet and was, er... "fun" to solder in place. The soldering iron kept 'pinging' onto the magnet just as I was getting into position... like I said before, put the magnet on last!<br />
<br />
I decided to house the lights in baby food jars. The only modification was to cut some holes for my switches (I used a Proxxon rotary tool for this).</div>
<div>
<br />
Here's a few shots of them in working order:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ASe-ZjH1AucJBXu0CxXNtHkNuL-Sh_eOAUh9m0SNmGTNdwR2eguvzkVT7FZVvux5ztotvsEKs750E9GqXF9Vl169LwzboDzaVlO1AT8t5U-1rZZ2oJ-Y3pbpwiJ-ozUWrfR1zAVq3tn4/s1600-h/IMG_6108.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435592517154083298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ASe-ZjH1AucJBXu0CxXNtHkNuL-Sh_eOAUh9m0SNmGTNdwR2eguvzkVT7FZVvux5ztotvsEKs750E9GqXF9Vl169LwzboDzaVlO1AT8t5U-1rZZ2oJ-Y3pbpwiJ-ozUWrfR1zAVq3tn4/s200/IMG_6108.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 122px; width: 200px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4TJY7lbgmalP0qIF6IAdS2BrwWHAcXlBZjOMgj2ZvhqN6wju0Ywlwn1xYkv34UHXdWmq9LPaRaHR35Rkc0YHCC8EDqwxIsPy2FHRrtIqteogSlb_iT5ixleSgDNLxx0bT0oRuodjKBYr/s1600-h/IMG_6107.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435592513830110722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4TJY7lbgmalP0qIF6IAdS2BrwWHAcXlBZjOMgj2ZvhqN6wju0Ywlwn1xYkv34UHXdWmq9LPaRaHR35Rkc0YHCC8EDqwxIsPy2FHRrtIqteogSlb_iT5ixleSgDNLxx0bT0oRuodjKBYr/s200/IMG_6107.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 134px; width: 200px;" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Code:</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
I'm running the ATtiny at 8MHz. This requires setting the fuse bits because the default setting is to divide the clock by 8. This code uses the same software PWM as the <a href="http://fangletronics.blogspot.com/2010/02/jar-o-fireflies-mark-ii.html">firefly-jar-II </a>I wrote about previously. No other tricks here, other than a hack (in the main method) to increase the duration of the RedToYellow transition. That's just personal taste though & (since I'm fickle) I may remove that section in the future.<br />
<br />
Current code is available on <a href="https://github.com/paulboardman/avr/blob/master/rgbLedNightlight/rgbLedNightlight.c">github</a>. Here's the code that's running in my kids bedroom at the time of posting:<br />
<br />
<pre class="brush:c">/*
* rgb_strobe.c
*
* Distributed under Creative Commons 3.0 -- Attib & Share Alike
*
* Created on: Feb 6, 2010
* Author: PaulBo
*/
#include <avr/io.h>
#include <avr/interrupt.h>
#include <util/delay.h>
#ifndef F_CPU
#define F_CPU 8000000UL
#endif
//Hardware definitions
#define RED_LED PB2
#define GREEN_LED PB1
#define BLUE_LED PB0
#define ALL_LEDS ((1 << RED_LED) | (1 << GREEN_LED) | (1 << BLUE_LED))
//Maximum value for led brightness
#define R_MAX 255
#define G_MAX 255
#define B_MAX 255
#define RED_INDEX 0
#define GREEN_INDEX 1
#define BLUE_INDEX 2
//Cycle States
#define RedToYellow 0
#define YellowToGreen 1
#define GreenToCyan 2
#define CyanToBlue 3
#define BlueToMagenta 4
#define MagentaToRed 5
//set red to max (we start in the RedToYellow state)
volatile unsigned char mRgbBuffer[] = {0,0,0};
unsigned char mRgbValues[] = {255,0,0};
unsigned char mState;
void init_timers()
{
TIMSK0 = (1 << TOIE0); // enable overflow interrupt
TCCR0B = (1 << CS00); // start timer, no prescale
//enable interrupts
sei();
}
void rgbCycle(){
switch (mState) {
case RedToYellow:
mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX]++;
if (mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX] == G_MAX)
mState++;
break;
case YellowToGreen:
mRgbValues[RED_INDEX]--;
if (mRgbValues[RED_INDEX] == 0)
mState++;
break;
case GreenToCyan:
mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX]++;
if (mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX] == B_MAX)
mState++;
break;
case CyanToBlue:
mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX]--;
if (mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX] == 0)
mState++;
break;
case BlueToMagenta:
mRgbValues[RED_INDEX]++;
if (mRgbValues[RED_INDEX] == R_MAX)
mState++;
break;
case MagentaToRed:
mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX]--;
if (mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX] == 0)
mState++;
break;
}
//state should never advance beyond 5.
//It wraps back to 0 when we reach 6
mState %= 6;
}
int main(void){
//Set LED pins to output
DDRB |= ALL_LEDS;
init_timers();
while (1) {
rgbCycle();
_delay_ms(250);
//I like the orange state and it only lasts for a second
//so lets extend it a little bit more
if(mState == RedToYellow)
{
_delay_ms(250);
_delay_ms(250);
}
}
return 0;
}
/*
* Timer/Counter overflow interrupt. This is called each time
* the counter overflows (255 counts/cycles).
*/
ISR(TIM0_OVF_vect)
{
//static variables maintain state from one call to the next
static unsigned char sPortBmask = ALL_LEDS;
static unsigned char sCounter = 255;
//set port pins straight away (no waiting for processing)
PORTB = sPortBmask;
//this counter will overflow back to 0 after reaching 255.
//So we end up adjusting the LED states for every 256 interrupts/overflows.
if(++sCounter == 0)
{
mRgbBuffer[RED_INDEX] = mRgbValues[RED_INDEX];
mRgbBuffer[GREEN_INDEX] = mRgbValues[GREEN_INDEX];
mRgbBuffer[BLUE_INDEX] = mRgbValues[BLUE_INDEX];
//set all pins to low (remember this is a common anode LED)
sPortBmask &=~ ALL_LEDS;
}
//this loop is considered for every overflow interrupt.
//this is the software PWM.
if(mRgbBuffer[RED_INDEX] == sCounter) sPortBmask |= (1 << RED_LED);
if(mRgbBuffer[GREEN_INDEX] == sCounter) sPortBmask |= (1 << GREEN_LED);
if(mRgbBuffer[BLUE_INDEX] == sCounter) sPortBmask |= (1 << BLUE_LED);
}</pre>
PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-38733349715048812252010-02-02T23:53:00.000-08:002016-12-18T01:44:06.014-08:00Jar-O-Fireflies (Mark II)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0y8ufJrkFJZZcYLLZV2P4D0r0_CvO8CMC8o9mp2fkPbXP6nAVg02lIivE3RBztIHUYKqlqDqSMAXONwRM_0ecs7BZ9gigITI12d119-aYYJyaMr637NKR2lPvFCs7gwqVxRC0p6IjFjt_/s1600-h/IMG_6031.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433553674403926450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0y8ufJrkFJZZcYLLZV2P4D0r0_CvO8CMC8o9mp2fkPbXP6nAVg02lIivE3RBztIHUYKqlqDqSMAXONwRM_0ecs7BZ9gigITI12d119-aYYJyaMr637NKR2lPvFCs7gwqVxRC0p6IjFjt_/s200/IMG_6031.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 118px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
I really enjoyed the process of making my first '<a href="http://fangletronics.blogspot.com/2009/05/jar-o-fireflies.html">Jar-O-Fireflies</a>' but I was a little disappointed with the performance (i.e. the software), especially the obvious flicker when the lights were pulsing on and off. I've learned a lot more about how to program the AVR uCs over the last few months (but still just the basics really). So, I decided to re-write the software and make a smaller, battery powered, version. I'm going to make another and put it in an empty Nuttela jar for the girls to use as a night light (I'm sure the girls will help me empty the jar).<br />
<br />
The software took a little while to sort out but the hardware, on the other hand, only took about 2 hours to put together. Most of that was due to the fiddlyness of using magnet wire for the LED leads.<br />
<br />
Below is a little video of it working. Yes, we have 'pet' ants at the moment - at least it was interested in what was going on...<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz4sZ8x3YO0BnVk6VHi-i_b8I7io38BTK-TtxBzcKMUing8I31TwuKqir2zqEc9mrahW63l5uPyoXdtX8KbeQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<br />
The parts:<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li>some magnet wire</li>
<li>coin cell holder (and coin cell to go with it)</li>
<li>perf board - I used a board with a semi breadboard layout (see picture below), but it wasn't much more help than a standard one other than having a common power and ground rail to connect everything to.</li>
<li>switch (one that fits onto a PCB/perf board)</li>
<li>8-pin dip</li>
<li>5 green LEDs (3mm)</li>
<li>ATtiny13</li>
</ul>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylweZTf__CppttWadNBEBrO6m4Y08nsiTLfiXn9kyIKEYnxLcRbEMGM7selFoAfPEkQD5GRHNYb4micMtf7RD8-ZpysZIRudXlAIkZkEvWW6cMc8gt5y-rsnupfG7FQYUX216mTFJwq1o/s1600-h/IMG_6024.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433553565717552082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylweZTf__CppttWadNBEBrO6m4Y08nsiTLfiXn9kyIKEYnxLcRbEMGM7selFoAfPEkQD5GRHNYb4micMtf7RD8-ZpysZIRudXlAIkZkEvWW6cMc8gt5y-rsnupfG7FQYUX216mTFJwq1o/s200/IMG_6024.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 127px; width: 200px;" /></a></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
This is the layout I used (for the battery holder, DIP socket and switch):<br />
<div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9f8TG1Z_EMgjZXt7X-FBrfDAsHQpW6l_HwreYSx8zPQG73Zq56AvYpLdV56FNOolabJV9l1Muo-Oj9m1B7ag8ZIZqTvYW5_Rj3sVGWqH2DRBB49DnDoBuqRIcnYDgy9qDVn4Rray0yVY/s1600-h/IMG_6026.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433553576540808786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9f8TG1Z_EMgjZXt7X-FBrfDAsHQpW6l_HwreYSx8zPQG73Zq56AvYpLdV56FNOolabJV9l1Muo-Oj9m1B7ag8ZIZqTvYW5_Rj3sVGWqH2DRBB49DnDoBuqRIcnYDgy9qDVn4Rray0yVY/s200/IMG_6026.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 152px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
The trickiest part was soldering the magnet wire onto the LEDs. I used a third-hand to hold all the pieces together. It helps that the magnet wire is quite stiff and bendable even though it's thin. </div>
<div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpgWtckojhvETSvFgMq3xcRz_UStv76bSGheQ82NGnAV-YQqGWsw2lKhJ2gG_vmPoW2is-t_a3PPfC_pjZ3Jvwr17TLY0QAEzl-v9az_TW-pKGjp4lGyXGnZpTL62oLZ4qKwxP1wkEFGG/s1600-h/IMG_6027.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433553578780760034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpgWtckojhvETSvFgMq3xcRz_UStv76bSGheQ82NGnAV-YQqGWsw2lKhJ2gG_vmPoW2is-t_a3PPfC_pjZ3Jvwr17TLY0QAEzl-v9az_TW-pKGjp4lGyXGnZpTL62oLZ4qKwxP1wkEFGG/s200/IMG_6027.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 133px; width: 200px;" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As you can see from the photo. After soldering on the wire I twisted the two strands together. After doing the 5 LEDs I realised that it'd be really nice to have 2 different colours of wire so that the positive and negative leads were obvious... oops. I ended up testing each pair of wires with my <a href="http://fangletronics.blogspot.com/2009/11/led-tester-mark-ii.html">LED tester</a> to determine which lead was positive and which was negative.<br />
<br />
Then it's was just a matter of soldering on the LED leads to the board:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VF8e_2oxvjvKh2zvSkYcWrvY6yZpXrQeHHiTU_XyEsj5w9h9GGFIUgZOe3QDuJYqxqIvfRQjPN384vZ8avqB1ybietu7Oy9TTlNL6DpsH3mZjcT8gHjzr81xGBzJcdbTgROvjtHpRBxe/s1600-h/IMG_6028.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433553594392878418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VF8e_2oxvjvKh2zvSkYcWrvY6yZpXrQeHHiTU_XyEsj5w9h9GGFIUgZOe3QDuJYqxqIvfRQjPN384vZ8avqB1ybietu7Oy9TTlNL6DpsH3mZjcT8gHjzr81xGBzJcdbTgROvjtHpRBxe/s200/IMG_6028.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 200px; width: 185px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Then I glued everything onto the jar lid (using a hot glue gun):<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPMxbOiKyVfriU1eZWBilJ8Q85F8wPMzNq2dR0Q2jAhPKbQ8l6ERxCfnFICE6ihycjyziP38mcq0GfQ5FuI174LoMOCKr-AX99YE6tqbbo8gROFjTokftrCAxKXSyEOa_mXbJ014-pYWp/s1600-h/IMG_6030.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433553601121936034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPMxbOiKyVfriU1eZWBilJ8Q85F8wPMzNq2dR0Q2jAhPKbQ8l6ERxCfnFICE6ihycjyziP38mcq0GfQ5FuI174LoMOCKr-AX99YE6tqbbo8gROFjTokftrCAxKXSyEOa_mXbJ014-pYWp/s200/IMG_6030.JPG" style="height: 200px; width: 192px;" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Et voila!</div>
<div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0y8ufJrkFJZZcYLLZV2P4D0r0_CvO8CMC8o9mp2fkPbXP6nAVg02lIivE3RBztIHUYKqlqDqSMAXONwRM_0ecs7BZ9gigITI12d119-aYYJyaMr637NKR2lPvFCs7gwqVxRC0p6IjFjt_/s1600-h/IMG_6031.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433553674403926450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0y8ufJrkFJZZcYLLZV2P4D0r0_CvO8CMC8o9mp2fkPbXP6nAVg02lIivE3RBztIHUYKqlqDqSMAXONwRM_0ecs7BZ9gigITI12d119-aYYJyaMr637NKR2lPvFCs7gwqVxRC0p6IjFjt_/s200/IMG_6031.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 118px; width: 200px;" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 130%;"><br />Code</span>:<br />
<br />
<strike>I've just started using <a href="http://code.google.com/p/pboardman-avr/source/browse/">code.google.com</a> as a code repository. The google site supports subversion source control (and there's a good plug-in for eclipse called subversive). I'd been going back and forth between computers and it was turning into quite a headache trying to get the code in sync. Now I can just push and pull from the code repository.</strike><br />
<strike><br /></strike>
<strike>Here's the location of the firefly code:</strike><br />
<strike>http://code.google.com/p/pboardman-avr/source/browse/firefly_jar/firefly_jar.c</strike><br />
<br />Google code is no-more. I've moved all the code to github.<br />
<br />
https://github.com/paulboardman/avr/blob/master/firefly_jar/firefly_jar.c<br />
<br />
This may change in the future as I tinker a bit more, so I'm including below the version of the code that was running when I wrote this post. This version required setting the fuse bits for the ATtiny13 to make it run at 8MHz. I also wrote a better software PWM routine (see the Atmel technote: <a href="http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/doc8020.pdf">"Low-Jitter Multi Channel Software PWM"</a>. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Warning</span>: PDF link).<br />
<br />
There are a few enhancements that I have in mind like actually using a random number generator for generating random numbers... The reason I didn't was that I had trouble coming up with a method for generating a seed (without a differing seed, the pseudo random number generator would give the same sequence each time the AVR was switched on). My latest project (post forthcoming) saves the seed in EEPROM and increments it each time the AVR is booted up - this way the random number generator produces a different sequence each time. Anyway, here's the code:<br />
<br />
<pre class="brush:c">
/*
* firefly_jar.c
*
* Distributed under Creative Commons 3.0 -- Attib & Share Alike
*
* Created on: Feb 2, 2010
* Author: PaulBo
*/
#import <util/delay.h>
#import <avr/io.h>
#import <avr/interrupt.h>
#ifndef F_CPU
#define F_CPU 8000000UL
#endif
//LED pin definitions
#define LED1 PB0
#define LED2 PB1
#define LED3 PB2
#define LED4 PB3
#define LED5 PB4
#define N_LEDS 5
#define ALL_LEDS (1 << LED1) | (1 << LED2) | (1 << LED3) | (1 << LED4) | (1 << LED5)
//Max value for LED brightness
#define MAX 100
#define PULSE_UP 1
#define PULSE_DOWN 0
volatile unsigned char buffer[N_LEDS];
//counter for use in updateLedState() and pulseLeds()
unsigned char i;
//structure for storing data on each LED
struct ledData {
unsigned char mBrightness;
unsigned int mTime;
unsigned char mPin;
unsigned char mPulseDirection;
};
//set up some initial values
struct ledData led_data[] = {
{0, 1000, LED1, PULSE_DOWN},
{0, 10, LED2, PULSE_DOWN},
{0, 500, LED3, PULSE_DOWN},
{0, 50, LED4, PULSE_DOWN},
{0, 150, LED5, PULSE_DOWN}
};
//return a random time interval from 0 to 255
int getTime()
{
return TCNT0;//just read the current timer/counter value
}
void updateLedState()
{
for(i = 0; i < N_LEDS; i++)
{
switch(led_data[i].mBrightness)
{
case MAX://led is on
if(--led_data[i].mTime == 0)
{
//decrement the brightness, this puts the LED in a
//pulse state
led_data[i].mBrightness--;
//specify the "down" direction for pulsing
led_data[i].mPulseDirection = PULSE_DOWN;
}
break;
case 0://led is off
if(--led_data[i].mTime == 0)
{
//increment the brightness,this puts the LED in
//a pulse state
led_data[i].mBrightness++;
//specify the "up" direction for pulsing
led_data[i].mPulseDirection = PULSE_UP;
//set the ON time
led_data[i].mTime = getTime() + 1;
}
break;
default: //pulse state
if(led_data[i].mPulseDirection == PULSE_UP)
{
led_data[i].mBrightness++;
}
else
{
if(--led_data[i].mBrightness == 0)
{
//set the OFF time - make this longer than the on time
led_data[i].mTime = (getTime() + 1) * 5;
}
}
break;
}
}
}
void init_timers()
{
TIMSK0 = (1 << TOIE0); // enable overflow interrupt
TCCR0B = (1 << CS00); // start timer, no prescale
//enable interrupts
sei();
}
void init_io()
{
//set all LED pins as outputs
DDRB |= ALL_LEDS;
PORTB &= ~(ALL_LEDS); //off to start
}
void setup()
{
init_io();
init_timers();
}
int main(void)
{
setup();
//infinite loop
while(1)
{
updateLedState();
_delay_ms(10);
}
}
/*
* Timer/Counter overflow interrupt. This is called each time
* the counter overflows (255 counts/cycles).
*/
ISR(TIM0_OVF_vect)
{
//static variables maintain state from one call to the next
static unsigned char sPortBmask = ALL_LEDS;
static unsigned char sCounter = 255;
//set port pins straight away (no waiting for processing)
PORTB = sPortBmask;
//this counter will overflow back to 0 after reaching 255.
//So we end up adjusting the LED states for every 256 overflows.
if(++sCounter == 0)
{
for(i = 0; i < N_LEDS; i++)
{
buffer[i] = led_data[i].mBrightness;
}
//set all pins to high
sPortBmask = ALL_LEDS;
}
//this loop is considered for every overflow interrupt.
//this is the software PWM.
if(buffer[0] == sCounter) sPortBmask &= ~(1 << led_data[0].mPin);
if(buffer[1] == sCounter) sPortBmask &= ~(1 << led_data[1].mPin);
if(buffer[2] == sCounter) sPortBmask &= ~(1 << led_data[2].mPin);
if(buffer[3] == sCounter) sPortBmask &= ~(1 << led_data[3].mPin);
if(buffer[4] == sCounter) sPortBmask &= ~(1 << led_data[4].mPin);
}</pre>
PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919742446731219052.post-61958406329213666872010-01-12T23:40:00.001-08:002010-01-29T11:54:25.759-08:00Glow-in-the-Dark sketch wall and LED pens<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4BjLGxnn36PnMGhbzR4rljt046oCB2opZ5cOZ_uUAHAX6KNo3RCB_A3g5kOoaDQRh6iUzXMnBYpvWmePrhsfs9OQfqPT2rZI_yymoa1woj8rEt-gDB5NU0pqXzFjH1rwDcpLS1Jjl8xZ/s1600-h/glowinthedarkwall7.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 118px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4BjLGxnn36PnMGhbzR4rljt046oCB2opZ5cOZ_uUAHAX6KNo3RCB_A3g5kOoaDQRh6iUzXMnBYpvWmePrhsfs9OQfqPT2rZI_yymoa1woj8rEt-gDB5NU0pqXzFjH1rwDcpLS1Jjl8xZ/s200/glowinthedarkwall7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427223619187638514" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV698QWKbxKpNRlF8aZQjpN-oA_f9CRd0rQXdPG1aRdW82IZ57WBOn03jx4N-pqocl0QLMBK1p6XIIuLBisVZDSK0CR82n-UnKf5aLiqMYevP1q-Phoi6H5kDW5liQcFUyio1y99q1a4H1/s1600-h/IMG_5790.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV698QWKbxKpNRlF8aZQjpN-oA_f9CRd0rQXdPG1aRdW82IZ57WBOn03jx4N-pqocl0QLMBK1p6XIIuLBisVZDSK0CR82n-UnKf5aLiqMYevP1q-Phoi6H5kDW5liQcFUyio1y99q1a4H1/s200/IMG_5790.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 194px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126248897065426" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiud4kd_MUHoHvzN87vRfyRO73aMPQPbuLjwYNwHfs1X9jv59jEKi4d83RZdtH1Nd2ZnlDeAb3REySK3YucIiTjvcGT5-O6TuvcFwtcjQG0KoOoapO1V-I6UYBh5qusbCoXLLZnyhtZ6czG/s1600-h/IMG_5865.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiud4kd_MUHoHvzN87vRfyRO73aMPQPbuLjwYNwHfs1X9jv59jEKi4d83RZdtH1Nd2ZnlDeAb3REySK3YucIiTjvcGT5-O6TuvcFwtcjQG0KoOoapO1V-I6UYBh5qusbCoXLLZnyhtZ6czG/s200/IMG_5865.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126901170329682" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I've finally realised one of my childhood dreams; I'm now the proud owner of a glow-in-the-dark wall - just don't tell the landlord!<div><br /></div><div>I've had some glow-in-the-dark paint knocking around for quite a while and was inspired to do something with it when I saw this post on hackaday.com - "<a href="http://hackaday.com/2010/01/05/record-player-display-sans-pov/">Record player display sans POV</a>". I thought "the kids" would have a lot of fun using LED flashlights to write on something that was phosphorescent.<br /><br />To start with I just coated some stiff card with the phosphorescent paint and hacked together a simple UV-LED flashlight. The flashlight design was taken from this Instructable - "<a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Make_A_Mini_LED_Light/">Make A Mini LED Light</a>". I found it while trying to find ways to make my own battery holders for a more standard flashlight, but this idea was so simple and small that I decided to go with it instead. All I did was to substitute a UV LED in place of a standard one.<br /><br />After making the prototype I showed it off to "'er indoors" (this may not mean much to you if you didn't grow up watching "Minder" in the U.K.). Her response was a little unexpected - "Hmmm.... why don't we paint the wall with glow-in-the-dark paint? That way loads of kids can play at once!". So that's what we did :) We isolated a good amount of wall with painters tape, we just wanted it to be slightly taller than the kids. Then we put on 2 coats of white primer, 3 coats of the glow-in-the-dark paint and a couple of layers of varnish (so the kids didn't immediately scrape off the latex based glow paint). After removing the painters tape, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the wall didn't look much different.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdwQNesmEF1pUAALGBZ3xCRNA2iOF6pZT59BuB3PK18yGrkZvnYuxRkcEKBKfzrKCGuQGvQSPw3G9uWe0NjoGSwHg9z3_Yj0vlkOdzyZ1y4FBCix1ZIDNlCoNDARKEafsDQwlyRklNERE/s1600-h/IMG_5808.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdwQNesmEF1pUAALGBZ3xCRNA2iOF6pZT59BuB3PK18yGrkZvnYuxRkcEKBKfzrKCGuQGvQSPw3G9uWe0NjoGSwHg9z3_Yj0vlkOdzyZ1y4FBCix1ZIDNlCoNDARKEafsDQwlyRklNERE/s200/IMG_5808.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126643239796802" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4buGXaVr_EO5_JfagzRCEwLZhTyFpPTd8DDdjbmVQYvPD85G8jm_956jqgh77RKn_1rWtP0zhGe7NWWRs6Mdz3xnK0-CPo-3bPQ9GSlTX4P4tR3fc-p5m84D5WKXKByqLbHy4jFBF3DT/s1600-h/IMG_5941.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4buGXaVr_EO5_JfagzRCEwLZhTyFpPTd8DDdjbmVQYvPD85G8jm_956jqgh77RKn_1rWtP0zhGe7NWWRs6Mdz3xnK0-CPo-3bPQ9GSlTX4P4tR3fc-p5m84D5WKXKByqLbHy4jFBF3DT/s200/IMG_5941.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427224934960113634" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px; " /></a><br /><br />Unfortunately, my night time camera skills leave a lot to be desired (i.e. they're crap), so I don't have many pictures of the kids playing with the wall. I can say that they were very excited and played with it for days & were very keen to get all their friends to play too whenever they came over. At one point we had a complete sea-scape covering the whole canvas with storm clouds, jellyfish, 'normal' fish and deep sea monsters. In the picture below I'm holding one of our home made light-sabers next to the wall in an attempt to allow the camera to focus (see this filthwizardry post for more lightsaber fun- "<a href="http://filthwizardry.blogspot.com/2010/01/balloon-and-torch-lightsabres.html">balloon and torch lightsabers</a>").</div><br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPtgSdswrWJSRH8N4TwkEn3apJ2dlr2mcLtAeqkexMValUJkyrzHxGyzbuiMuYlGtOI6Dl3As9Mx_asMeUyuntZ1mZCE9WZj295zOhsNGdR8vtekXgxWZM944fzwJ28qlOpyVEeB07Li_b/s1600-h/IMG_5810.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 124px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPtgSdswrWJSRH8N4TwkEn3apJ2dlr2mcLtAeqkexMValUJkyrzHxGyzbuiMuYlGtOI6Dl3As9Mx_asMeUyuntZ1mZCE9WZj295zOhsNGdR8vtekXgxWZM944fzwJ28qlOpyVEeB07Li_b/s200/IMG_5810.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126646414049010" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYs4-UVL6uoAk23pqd03yr6mFuS1Tk5ZkeXKifg-McAdcbdo6joOCjEC61J2BoGk-VXEw3EA-XyNhwYFVQtnBLuLjyxmjm-j_MoblTfkjSR-UT266vayGJyt4F40xNy8w9dGNe_ABjPdi0/s1600-h/glowinthedarkwall9.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYs4-UVL6uoAk23pqd03yr6mFuS1Tk5ZkeXKifg-McAdcbdo6joOCjEC61J2BoGk-VXEw3EA-XyNhwYFVQtnBLuLjyxmjm-j_MoblTfkjSR-UT266vayGJyt4F40xNy8w9dGNe_ABjPdi0/s200/glowinthedarkwall9.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427223622151683922" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 123px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPtgSdswrWJSRH8N4TwkEn3apJ2dlr2mcLtAeqkexMValUJkyrzHxGyzbuiMuYlGtOI6Dl3As9Mx_asMeUyuntZ1mZCE9WZj295zOhsNGdR8vtekXgxWZM944fzwJ28qlOpyVEeB07Li_b/s1600-h/IMG_5810.JPG"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5U46ck5UlCJieh9YHPAGZ6uOo_KrFK6CWwOHPUaNuZINhpsJKWmeVJr80STuICgBVvHNczSUYCUQJzEsMPs8xsWA1SSiQ8il-4iPx2NUNivipdAZ3DMrzvkpTpZEdT1fnJgWLgMuiooKY/s1600-h/IMG_5858.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5U46ck5UlCJieh9YHPAGZ6uOo_KrFK6CWwOHPUaNuZINhpsJKWmeVJr80STuICgBVvHNczSUYCUQJzEsMPs8xsWA1SSiQ8il-4iPx2NUNivipdAZ3DMrzvkpTpZEdT1fnJgWLgMuiooKY/s200/IMG_5858.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 174px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126893122245682" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsflY_qADlKD_mpyGQ6BWLZe0p5gV1-1Zp7ZdN6JJVMHYBV6oyUOS10iWYNabGA4PDBnBy-et86BzKQaBC6oAN6pknjYLSYuvOQsnFbDrDrPa8R-KF0yKaMu4VaDATePJm_8sgHbxFbwk4/s1600-h/IMG_5915.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsflY_qADlKD_mpyGQ6BWLZe0p5gV1-1Zp7ZdN6JJVMHYBV6oyUOS10iWYNabGA4PDBnBy-et86BzKQaBC6oAN6pknjYLSYuvOQsnFbDrDrPa8R-KF0yKaMu4VaDATePJm_8sgHbxFbwk4/s200/IMG_5915.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427201962266927042" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 122px; " /></a><br /><br />I think one of the favourite activities, however, was with an old SLR camera flash. Get the kids up against the wall and blind them with the flash. If they recover (ok, you could just tell them to close their eyes) they'll get to see themselves glowing in silhouette form on the wall .</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkktehQpvrVZHTlFJgD3NRzc-UBoRZO-IgSWvilfQ_N21l38PgzJtSbfUjlaHAE4NicyBPKUQp6ur1EZLo6UoIBZeGX1juTOnwoFS1f9Aip1Xf83jMrcDoouu4Lt6bRxmNNS712usNZorY/s1600-h/IMG_5822.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 121px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkktehQpvrVZHTlFJgD3NRzc-UBoRZO-IgSWvilfQ_N21l38PgzJtSbfUjlaHAE4NicyBPKUQp6ur1EZLo6UoIBZeGX1juTOnwoFS1f9Aip1Xf83jMrcDoouu4Lt6bRxmNNS712usNZorY/s200/IMG_5822.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126659977184210" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZcPWc7JLc__tr2JKPCyRodZrMZTu9QdYb8T6KxgROsiq5qWQn7U8x_3uOCmym-b20SGE3VGbZMpHta8EiAaT3TzmlrwzaXmqXyH8ZYUokZoYnr4j9NVd1tbbMJD-rDKTewly2X2hT1dW/s1600-h/IMG_5820.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 102px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZcPWc7JLc__tr2JKPCyRodZrMZTu9QdYb8T6KxgROsiq5qWQn7U8x_3uOCmym-b20SGE3VGbZMpHta8EiAaT3TzmlrwzaXmqXyH8ZYUokZoYnr4j9NVd1tbbMJD-rDKTewly2X2hT1dW/s200/IMG_5820.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126654227717314" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH11hzOL0hbVBqc3OUUVRkPnbwzgJWR20luXSweNfVXqyVWhgV-McDQZ7OIpg9sT9tkhDBX-TO1SwrY_bXmxRBa6f7F2dbRZH9LAfSBMJ-_X44r4MxLG6sM8fZ2rICgTdM_vgbMGaYGnY5/s1600-h/glowinthedarkwall3.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH11hzOL0hbVBqc3OUUVRkPnbwzgJWR20luXSweNfVXqyVWhgV-McDQZ7OIpg9sT9tkhDBX-TO1SwrY_bXmxRBa6f7F2dbRZH9LAfSBMJ-_X44r4MxLG6sM8fZ2rICgTdM_vgbMGaYGnY5/s200/glowinthedarkwall3.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 126px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427201961411073778" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9_jaUypCG2u2CDc2wDqsq20cqqXDdT1FCTF6d6J7X2i79dVuuNqMrWUIOHnSLcImfmx9kn7p9C4Yt7CIXXXOoDzT6VXndo1cEDT-8zgW05L9TS4knDGP_oRttYAChZ1Lkb-cxuKfcHlr/s1600-h/glowinthedarkwall8.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9_jaUypCG2u2CDc2wDqsq20cqqXDdT1FCTF6d6J7X2i79dVuuNqMrWUIOHnSLcImfmx9kn7p9C4Yt7CIXXXOoDzT6VXndo1cEDT-8zgW05L9TS4knDGP_oRttYAChZ1Lkb-cxuKfcHlr/s200/glowinthedarkwall8.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427223630068402818" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px; " /></a><br />Hmm... ok, maybe it was one of my favourite activities as well.</div><div><br />After a couple of days playing, I ended up buying some LED keychain flashlights (like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/MICRO-BLACK-KEYCHAIN-BRIGHT-FLASHLIGHT/dp/B001I9EICI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1263621469&sr=8-3">these</a> from Amazon) as I quickly ran out of parts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a few in-production pictures of the ones I made:</div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLvJ_FT8MqHKGy7tlmARhjxqqEVzHhwqEEU20wQN2rnMOth3S0zLbzWq_B6SszOJ_EruVNPw6nTo8Bw6Ddaehfi2cDb4TWartfK4MdHGyOYsDfBiO6gOBSrF2NAicSXXe-A7ipfFUZOXv/s1600-h/IMG_5787.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLvJ_FT8MqHKGy7tlmARhjxqqEVzHhwqEEU20wQN2rnMOth3S0zLbzWq_B6SszOJ_EruVNPw6nTo8Bw6Ddaehfi2cDb4TWartfK4MdHGyOYsDfBiO6gOBSrF2NAicSXXe-A7ipfFUZOXv/s200/IMG_5787.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126229803744274" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEH89Oxp42kkIAiuOXiFGqrIVv5a8GqFCAAp2QFaqKBd49hV2j4hyoM-zkprI1VeoZxr_xXKlXK0cl3gMrJpwROcygnlp7LHSi4cgqNxGzufgy3Cj3MJKN0qScccKwHJguxVDuv7SgRh_/s1600-h/IMG_5788.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEH89Oxp42kkIAiuOXiFGqrIVv5a8GqFCAAp2QFaqKBd49hV2j4hyoM-zkprI1VeoZxr_xXKlXK0cl3gMrJpwROcygnlp7LHSi4cgqNxGzufgy3Cj3MJKN0qScccKwHJguxVDuv7SgRh_/s200/IMG_5788.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126236884321426" border="0" /></a></div><div>I made 4 to begin with. All you need is a pushbutton, a UV LED, a coin cell battery and holder (and a soldering iron + solder for connecting it all up).<br /><br />Connect the positive lead of the LED to the positive battery holder connector, cut off the rest of the lead so it doesn't get in the way, then attach the pushbutton to the negative battery holder connection and the negative LED lead. That's it!<div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFyqqLGHN9G1yaGdRzlpP59Nh68ZO0YVWLbFJDmR58E3UT0hQllZwBDDEWZ2Vl933qAt28UIAJt5Q9rCxqC2XzbOKvasi2zxiSZ_q7NqCbzArGeganatW47rSwW2qnD7rHusH7nuMxV1j/s1600-h/IMG_5789.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFyqqLGHN9G1yaGdRzlpP59Nh68ZO0YVWLbFJDmR58E3UT0hQllZwBDDEWZ2Vl933qAt28UIAJt5Q9rCxqC2XzbOKvasi2zxiSZ_q7NqCbzArGeganatW47rSwW2qnD7rHusH7nuMxV1j/s200/IMG_5789.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126248103031618" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV698QWKbxKpNRlF8aZQjpN-oA_f9CRd0rQXdPG1aRdW82IZ57WBOn03jx4N-pqocl0QLMBK1p6XIIuLBisVZDSK0CR82n-UnKf5aLiqMYevP1q-Phoi6H5kDW5liQcFUyio1y99q1a4H1/s1600-h/IMG_5790.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV698QWKbxKpNRlF8aZQjpN-oA_f9CRd0rQXdPG1aRdW82IZ57WBOn03jx4N-pqocl0QLMBK1p6XIIuLBisVZDSK0CR82n-UnKf5aLiqMYevP1q-Phoi6H5kDW5liQcFUyio1y99q1a4H1/s200/IMG_5790.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 194px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126248897065426" border="0" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here's the first one working (nice purple glow). Some hot glue made for good protection and electrical tape wrapped around the base of the LED helped to focus the beam.<br /></div><br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmg1fPLcBFq1FNI1P30YKTOwa6bW4VgRV8XNU4Btb3X5qW3cORRQ_g6OFO5BCWdW5WLi3mdyryUL-o5Y3hVgr71j5tlDnn-Qm_syq8cWDelRFDgIO8Hf6zkLEs9gtJlgxRtCRRMG5_D-eY/s1600-h/IMG_5792.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmg1fPLcBFq1FNI1P30YKTOwa6bW4VgRV8XNU4Btb3X5qW3cORRQ_g6OFO5BCWdW5WLi3mdyryUL-o5Y3hVgr71j5tlDnn-Qm_syq8cWDelRFDgIO8Hf6zkLEs9gtJlgxRtCRRMG5_D-eY/s200/IMG_5792.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426126261142906882" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FJOicn1Mgalk0AkRe8m9DBso7IR-0SNr3BQri62CbJl-ONS7vWxzVW9RKZrLGHRw1C6SuSBElOdLLGlxH1dIN7GtZX4xqVGlckF22V3dMnlpkrGusy8QBo7h2zvHDD1nZjCRU_QV5J-B/s1600-h/IMG_5921.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FJOicn1Mgalk0AkRe8m9DBso7IR-0SNr3BQri62CbJl-ONS7vWxzVW9RKZrLGHRw1C6SuSBElOdLLGlxH1dIN7GtZX4xqVGlckF22V3dMnlpkrGusy8QBo7h2zvHDD1nZjCRU_QV5J-B/s200/IMG_5921.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 120px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427223636361794770" /></a></div><div><br />You should probably use a resistor to protect the LED... The datasheet for my LED stated that it required 3.2V to operate and the coin cell is only rated at 3V so I decided to leave the resistor out.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Important:</b> Bright lights/UV lights can damage your eyesight. Do not shine the lights into anyone's eyes and make sure any kids playing with these are supervised and told to shine the light only at the wall. Extra care should be used when using UV light - the human eye can not detect it (i.e. you can't see it) which makes it easier to overexpose your retina as you don't have the same pain response as with intense light in the visible spectrum.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you're nervous about this then the standard keychain lights work pretty well. The homemade UV ones just give a longer lasting glow.</div></div></div>PaulBohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14617260943732454939noreply@blogger.com41