The Do-it-Yourself Thread: A Home for Handymen and Artisans - General

[QUOTE=deathmog;46730115]So I think Nixie tubes are REALLY cool. I want to do a project with them but I don't know where to start or what to make. Any one of you immensely-more-talented guys have any suggestions or tips?[/QUOTE] [URL="http://arduinix.com/"]ArduinoNix[/URL] is a good start as they sell kits. If you're more familiar with HV (Most Nixies operate in the 100-200VDC range), then I'd recommend buying or building circuits like [URL="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nixie-tubes-Magic-eye-tubes-high-voltage-power-supply-module-kit-DIY-/261169220982?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item3ccee60d76"]these[/URL] to supply the voltage. After that it boils down to just a few transistors for each of the digits (If you're doing a common anode design, which most common nixies like the [URL="http://tubehobby.com/datasheets/in14.pdf"]IN-14[/URL] use). And just drive all the transistors with a BCD-to-Decimal decoder IC, or use application ICs like the [URL="https://neon1.net/nixieclock/sn74141.pdf"]SN74141[/URL]).

Found another Luxo that I had stored away and forgot about, so I whipped up a wall mount and put it on my work bench. [img]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/ajackss/lady_luxo_zpsff2d2683.png[/img] I still want another, three would light it up perfectly. So I'm keeping my eye out for another beige luxo. I've passed up three of them in recent months because I already have 5, but now I need more.

I bleached Link's Outset Island pajama design onto a shirt. [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/qKTSDl4.jpg[/thumb] wow, fuck the LG g3 and it's gigantic photos.

Nice shell chair, where is it from?

Thanks! Unfortunately, it's a knockoff that I overpaid for for $70 as I really needed a chair for my desk. It's comfy though. I did however find a vintage warehouse in long beach where I can take my pick of legit Herman Miller fiberglass chairs for the same price.

[QUOTE=ToastedBread;46747052]Thanks! Unfortunately, it's a knockoff that I overpaid for for $70 as I really needed a chair for my desk. It's comfy though. I did however find a vintage warehouse in long beach where I can take my pick of legit Herman Miller fiberglass chairs for the same price.[/QUOTE] Do it. The fiberglass chairs are great, and almost indestructible. I say that as someone who snapped a knockoff clean in half once, and threw out my back for a week. (It was one of those super cheap Walmart knockoffs, made of the brittle plastic. A few months of use had caused a crack in it, and eventually it just snapped when I went to lean back.)

Eh, I can wait. This is serving me well for now. The plastic is quite thick so I don't think it'll break catastrophically. (knock on wood)

[QUOTE=ToastedBread;46747164]Eh, I can wait. This is serving me well for now. The plastic is quite thick so I don't think it'll break catastrophically. (knock on wood)[/QUOTE] The plastic on mine was pretty thick too, but it was a brittle plastic. Yours looks like the softer plastic they make the official Eames shells out of now.

[QUOTE=woolio1;46747194]The plastic on mine was pretty thick too, but it was a brittle plastic. Yours looks like the softer plastic they make the official Eames shells out of now.[/QUOTE] It's got some flex. If I tried to break it, i'm sure it would just deform and crease.

I still need to figure out how to do the foam for my upholstered fiberglass shell chair. The fabric and rubber are in good shape, it's just I need to 'sculpt' the foam so that it fits properly, it wasn't as simple as just a single piece of one thickness foam.

Purified a really tiny amount of silver from contactor buttons today. That's neat, I guess. The contactor bits I separated today were done by the "heat it up until it falls off" method, which didn't work on like 80% of the contacts I had, so I only had about 15 buttons or so. When I first started the reaction I was kinda concerned because the nitric acid started turning green, when it's supposed to be more a blue color. Then I started getting this white flaky shit that looked almost like frost floating in the solution. "Well balls, fucked that one up" I thought, until I diluted it with a little water and the white stuff dissolved. By that time, I finally had the pale blue silver nitrate I was looking for, and one of the buttons didn't dissolve at all (must've been tungsten/nickel). Cooled it down, added more water, stuck in a piece of old copper ground wire and instantaneously the silver started precipitating, so I was pretty stoked. With so little material to start with I'm not going to have much silver to speak of from this batch, but I'm glad it worked out in the end. Only took one picture after it started precipitating but sadly my phone cable is in my work truck so it'll be a while before I can post it, sorry. I also have a coworker who found out what I was doing and she offered me her old silver from when she was taking some jewelery courses in college, so that's neat. Might use some of that to make silver chloride so I can process the rest of the stubborn contacts.

That's awesome, I've always wanted to get into 'chemicals', home chrome plating seems like something I'd love to know how to do. How much silver do you think you got? Do you have a triple beam balance?

[QUOTE=Ajacks;46763915]That's awesome, I've always wanted to get into 'chemicals', home chrome plating seems like something I'd love to know how to do. How much silver do you think you got? Do you have a triple beam balance?[/QUOTE] I don't even know. As I said, I only used a [I]really[/I] small amount of buttons because by the time I actually got around to the chemical bit it was getting dark, and the torch removal method wasn't working worth a piss, so I'm going to have to try the Silver Chloride route for the next batch. Basically just using Aqua Regia with silver chloride to protect the silver from reacting while the regia does its thing with the copper/brass/aluminum. I've got probably half a pound of contacts left, though most of that weight is going to be from the crap the contacts themselves are attached to (didn't bother clipping them down because I figured the torch method would work better than it did). I also do not have a balance, my folks might, but not likely. And it's probably gonna remain in this flaky, powdery form for a while because I don't have a crucible of any sort to smelt it in unfortunately.

[QUOTE=Zero-Point;46764600]I don't even know. As I said, I only used a [I]really[/I] small amount of buttons because by the time I actually got around to the chemical bit it was getting dark, and the torch removal method wasn't working worth a piss, so I'm going to have to try the Silver Chloride route for the next batch. Basically just using Aqua Regia with silver chloride to protect the silver from reacting while the regia does its thing with the copper/brass/aluminum. I've got probably half a pound of contacts left, though most of that weight is going to be from the crap the contacts themselves are attached to (didn't bother clipping them down because I figured the torch method would work better than it did). I also do not have a balance, my folks might, but not likely. And it's probably gonna remain in this flaky, powdery form for a while because I don't have a crucible of any sort to smelt it in unfortunately.[/QUOTE] My inner environmental/health/safety guy requires me to ask what kind of PPE you are wearing when handling/disposing that stuff, out of curiosity :v: in industry, Aqua regia is the kind of stuff that's nasty enough that we require people to wear chemical gloves, aprons, and often a respirator to even look at it funny. [editline]21st December 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Ajacks;46763915]That's awesome, [B] I've always wanted to get into 'chemicals',[/B] home chrome plating seems like something I'd love to know how to do. How much silver do you think you got? Do you have a triple beam balance?[/QUOTE] Not to be an ass, but I would advise against it. Your average home/workshop really isnt equipped to deal with the consequences of a chemical accident.

[QUOTE=Timebomb575;46764876]My inner environmental/health/safety guy requires me to ask what kind of PPE you are wearing when handling/disposing that stuff, out of curiosity :v: in industry, Aqua regia is the kind of stuff that's nasty enough that we require people to wear chemical gloves, aprons, and often a respirator to even look at it funny. [editline]21st December 2014[/editline] Not to be an ass, but I would advise against it. Your average home/workshop really isnt equipped to deal with the consequences of a chemical accident.[/QUOTE] Obviously you have to dispose of your chemicals properly and observe the proper safety precautions and equipment, but home plating isn't unreasonable and lots of people do it, and there are many kits on the market.

[QUOTE=Timebomb575;46764876]My inner environmental/health/safety guy requires me to ask what kind of PPE you are wearing when handling/disposing that stuff, out of curiosity :v: in industry, Aqua regia is the kind of stuff that's nasty enough that we require people to wear chemical gloves, aprons, and often a respirator to even look at it funny. [editline]21st December 2014[/editline] Not to be an ass, but I would advise against it. Your average home/workshop really isnt equipped to deal with the consequences of a chemical accident.[/QUOTE] I don't think you know Ajacks... The guy usually knows what he's doing.

[QUOTE=Timebomb575;46764876]My inner environmental/health/safety guy requires me to ask what kind of PPE you are wearing when handling/disposing that stuff, out of curiosity :v: in industry, Aqua regia is the kind of stuff that's nasty enough that we require people to wear chemical gloves, aprons, and often a respirator to even look at it funny. [editline]21st December 2014[/editline] Not to be an ass, but I would advise against it. Your average home/workshop really isnt equipped to deal with the consequences of a chemical accident.[/QUOTE] I would disagree strongly - I have worked with nasty chemicals but I have seen several amateur setups in workshops that I would consider safer than industry - so long as you understand the risks involved and actively work to mitigate them I don't think there will be an issue.

[QUOTE=Timebomb575;46764876]My inner environmental/health/safety guy requires me to ask what kind of PPE you are wearing when handling/disposing that stuff, out of curiosity :v: in industry, Aqua regia is the kind of stuff that's nasty enough that we require people to wear chemical gloves, aprons, and often a respirator to even look at it funny. [/QUOTE] Well I'm at the point in my life where I'm getting up there in years (turned 30 this year), so I figure I might as well start experiencing shit, you know, go a little crazy and get wild, so I put "become horribly disfigured and incapacitated by highly corrosive acids" on my bucket list. So far it's going well, though I only lost the finger prints on 7 of my fingers and I still have my sense of smell. Gonna have to try harder next time. (I went to Lowe's and purchased the appropriate gear, a respirator that was rated for acids, chemical-resistant gloves, and goggles. I did a fair bit of research into this process before I started, and I'm not one to ignore warning labels. I got this, man) Granted I don't quite know what I should do with this left-over solution once all the silver's been precipitated out of it, that's the part I forgot to research because usually, they'll tell you "Oh just go to your local such and such" but we're a small town so it might be tricky, and for now I just have it sitting in an old Pace Picante Sauce jar. Any suggestions?

[QUOTE=Zero-Point;46766416]Well I'm at the point in my life where I'm getting up there in years (turned 30 this year), so I figure I might as well start experiencing shit, you know, go a little crazy and get wild, so I put "become horribly disfigured and incapacitated by highly corrosive acids" on my bucket list. So far it's going well, though I only lost the finger prints on 7 of my fingers and I still have my sense of smell. Gonna have to try harder next time. (I went to Lowe's and purchased the appropriate gear, a respirator that was rated for acids, chemical-resistant gloves, and goggles. I did a fair bit of research into this process before I started, and I'm not one to ignore warning labels. I got this, man) Granted I don't quite know what I should do with this left-over solution once all the silver's been precipitated out of it, that's the part I forgot to research because usually, they'll tell you "Oh just go to your local such and such" but we're a small town so it might be tricky, and for now I just have it sitting in an old Pace Picante Sauce jar. Any suggestions?[/QUOTE] Lots of towns, even small ones do a once a day 'chem-away' day. Even my little town does. They just don't like to advertise it because it'll be more work for them if they do.

[QUOTE=woolio1;46765815]I don't think you know Ajacks... The guy usually knows what he's doing.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=metallics;46765827]I would disagree strongly - I have worked with nasty chemicals but I have seen several amateur setups in workshops that I would consider safer than industry - so long as you understand the risks involved and actively work to mitigate them I don't think there will be an issue.[/QUOTE] Again, you can do whatever the fuck you want in the comfort of your own home, but from my experience in industry, I don't think you would be able to get to a really safe level on an amateur setup. I would be very interested to see the amateur setups that you considered better than industry, given how massively expensive the industry controls I worked with were :v: [QUOTE=Zero-Point;46766416]Well I'm at the point in my life where I'm getting up there in years (turned 30 this year), so I figure I might as well start experiencing shit, you know, go a little crazy and get wild, so I put "become horribly disfigured and incapacitated by highly corrosive acids" on my bucket list. So far it's going well, though I only lost the finger prints on 7 of my fingers and I still have my sense of smell. Gonna have to try harder next time. (I went to Lowe's and purchased the appropriate gear, a respirator that was rated for acids, chemical-resistant gloves, and goggles. I did a fair bit of research into this process before I started, and I'm not one to ignore warning labels.[B] I got this, man[/B]) [/quote] I mean no offense, but thats exactly what people tell us before they fall into a switchgear/nearly kill themselves with hydroflouric acid :v: [editline]22nd December 2014[/editline] dont take this as a knock at your guys skills or anything, even masters at a particular craft can hurt themselves if the process they are working is inherently unsafe. [editline]22nd December 2014[/editline] As for what to do with the stuff, technically as civilians we are allowed to put our hazwaste directly into the trash. That's kind of a dick move though because it's bad for the environment and can cause injuries to sanitation workers. I would give you county health/sanitation department a call, they are usually very accommodating and happy to help, in fact I would be prepared for them to be surprised that you actually care enough to give them a call instead of just trashing the stuff :v: [editline]22nd December 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Ajacks;46766504]Lots of towns, even small ones do a once a day 'chem-away' day. Even my little town does. They just don't like to advertise it because it'll be more work for them if they do.[/QUOTE] Sadly it varies pretty heavily from municipality to municipality. I know my town doesnt do HHW disposal anymore, I have to take it 20 minutes out of town if I ever have any. [editline]22nd December 2014[/editline] Worst case if you do have to dump it in the trash, put it in a container the acid wont eat through (glass, inorganic stopper/top), put that container in a non-organic box with packing, and label the box with this: [t]http://i.imgur.com/u8eBwS4.jpg[/t] and maybe write "DANGER: CORROSIVE/OXIDIZER HAZARD" on it

I've used hydrofluoric acid extensively in printmaking, and never had an issue with the standard issue corrosive resistant gloves and apron and safety goggles. We're not talking about 2,000 gallon tanks filled with noxious and/or corrosive chemicals, we're talking about small scale hobby setups. You just need good ventilation and the proper saftey gear. It isn't that scary. You can talk all you want about how dangerous industrial applications are, but that's like saying someone shouldn't use a benchtop hobby lathe because an 40' swing industrial metal lathe sucked an operator in and rung him out like a towel. Yes you need to be aware of the dangers, but it does scale. Yes chemical burns are nothing to joke about, but neither is slicing off your hand at the palm on a table saw, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use a table saw, just be smart.

[QUOTE=Ajacks;46767668]I've used hydrofluoric acid extensively in printmaking, and never had an issue with the standard issue corrosive resistant gloves and apron and safety goggles. We're not talking about 2,000 gallon tanks filled with noxious and/or corrosive chemicals, we're talking about small scale hobby setups. You just need good ventilation and the proper saftey gear. It isn't that scary. You can talk all you want about how dangerous industrial applications are, but that's like saying someone shouldn't use a benchtop hobby lathe because an 40' swing industrial metal lathe sucked an operator in and rung him out like a towel. Yes you need to be aware of the dangers, but it does scale. Yes chemical burns are nothing to joke about, but neither is slicing off your hand at the palm on a table saw, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use a table saw, just be smart.[/QUOTE] It's not totally fair to compare chemicals to power tools. With tools, as you said, the danger absolutely scales, and the dangers presented by power tools are pretty easy to control (many power tools already come with industry-acceptable guards and the like). Chemicals are a whole different animal though. Chemicals dont come with guards, and often dont come with specific safety instructions for their handling and use. The PPE needed for chemicals (especially the dangerous shit like HF and Aqua Regia) can vary wildly depending on the chemicals properties. Nitrile "chemical" gloves from Home Depot work great for some chemicals, but wont do diddly shit again Aqua Regia or 30%+ HF. Some acid gas filters for respirators wont do shit against certain acidic gasses (lol). The vast majority of protective equipment that hardware stores and the like sell is meant for low grade home use, not for use with highly corrosive/toxic chemicals. Ventilation is a whole other issue that most likely isnt going to be solved by something as simple as opening a few windows. A hobby sized lathe isn't going to turn you into ribbons like an industrial lathe can, but a "hobby" level of hazardous chemicals can easily injure/kill you or cause long term damage. [editline]22nd December 2014[/editline] Again, please dont take this as a dig against your skills or anything like that. I just try to discourage people from working with hazardous substances and shit if they dont have to.

Fun little fact about Aqua Regia. It was used to keep the Nobel Prizes of Max von Laue and James Franck away from the Germans during WWII. They were dissolved in it, and the mixture was placed on a shelf until after the war, where the gold was then removed and recast into medals. That's about all I have to add to this conversation.

So one of my ex's friends recently cut down a tree that's been a nuisance in his yard for a while, and my ex said she'd pay him $100 to have it quartered into firewood for her. I came over one day and saw what she was burning, called her crazy and snagged a few pieces. [IMG]http://s21.postimg.org/6ioqifotz/2014_12_21_00_59_18.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://s21.postimg.org/esa97pe9j/2014_12_21_01_00_05.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://s21.postimg.org/3vi4af69j/2014_12_21_01_00_15.jpg[/IMG] It's a shame it was all cut the way it was :suicide: I'm used to guitars, but what other kinds of shit do you guys think this could be good for? They're not really big enough to do anything major

That's not zebrawood, is it? It looks amazing. Considering the way it's cut, you could probably do some really cool stuff on a lathe, make some knife handles, pen cases... Anything small, really. I'd look at getting it kiln dried before you do anything with it, though. Also, I'd go ask /r/woodworking about it. They might be able to give you some inspiration.

That is some beautiful grain, what a waste of beautiful wood. Is it seasoned or recently felled?

I bought these bottles in a cheap spice rack I found in an op shop recently and filled them with lemon cordial, mounting 4 addressable LEDs underneath. [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/62766551/Projects/PC220073.jpg[/t] I plan on adding a microphone soon to make it into a music visualiser.

[QUOTE=Timebomb575;46767185]Again, you can do whatever the fuck you want in the comfort of your own home, but from my experience in industry, I don't think you would be able to get to a really safe level on an amateur setup. I would be very interested to see the amateur setups that you considered better than industry, given how massively expensive the industry controls I worked with were :v:[/QUOTE] You should probably turn your question on it's head: How bad were the industry setups I've seen? Either way, everything has inherent risk as Ajacks said, it's all about managing it - you can never 100% mitigate any risk as you point out but I don't think being in an industry setup magically makes anything safer. Processes are good, but only when they are well drawn up, people stick to them and when there is sufficient investment to support it - this is not always the case and that is the main reason I have seen safer amateur workshop setups.

[QUOTE=metallics;46769703]You should probably turn your question on it's head: How bad were the industry setups I've seen? Either way, everything has inherent risk as Ajacks said, it's all about managing it - you can never 100% mitigate any risk as you point out but I don't think being in an industry setup magically makes anything safer. Processes are good, but only when they are well drawn up, people stick to them and when there is sufficient investment to support it - this is not always the case and that is the main reason I have seen safer amateur workshop setups.[/QUOTE] Ohhh I see what you mean. Yeah Ive definitely seen some appalling industry setups before. When I was saying that an amateur setup couldn't be as safe as an industrial one, I was assuming a [I]fully compliant[/I] industrial setup, which usually ends up costing a metric buttload of cash :v: Surprising to hear that from a Brit though. H&S guys over here in the states generally regard British health and safety regulations/enforcement to be superior to ours.

[QUOTE=Timebomb575;46769775]Ohhh I see what you mean. Yeah Ive definitely seen some appalling industry setups before. When I was saying that an amateur setup couldn't be as safe as an industrial one, I was assuming a [I]fully compliant[/I] industrial setup, which usually ends up costing a metric buttload of cash :v: Surprising to hear that from a Brit though. H&S guys over here in the states generally regard British health and safety regulations/enforcement to be superior to ours.[/QUOTE] It all depends on who's in charge, really. My workplace uses Muriatic acid and other types of acids, but I don't see any goggles/gloves that they hand out for their use. (thankfully my department doesn't use any of that stuff)