Work In Progress 2015/2016

[MikeGyver]

I want to move up there and learn all of the awesome stuff you know how to do.

[Tin Halo]

WOW, Ygmir... those are Beautiful!!
They look so SOLID! You could have a party on top of them.

(I bet you already thought of that, and planned the build accordingly... )

I imagine he's like me... when I build a piece of furniture, I try to build it strong enough to have sex on. Otherwise, it's just... filler.

[ygmir]

WOW, Ygmir... those are Beautiful!!
They look so SOLID! You could have a party on top of them.

(I bet you already thought of that, and planned the build accordingly... )

I imagine he's like me... when I build a piece of furniture, I try to build it strong enough to have sex on. Otherwise, it's just... filler.

[media]

[southern crone]

Where's the pole?

[torrey.smith]

With the Resonator substructures built, it was time to waterjet the Polycarbonate "Combs" to suspend the wire! These combs have a fun shape to float the wire in the air and space them away from each other with a tri-helical wind.



All done! Whew that was expensive



Set up a rotating jig, start mounting the combs...



Some envelope design and a quick trip to our shop...



And wind away!!! That was fast (it wasn't fast )



We have to do this TWICE??? Ooh preeetty



So preeetty. Math was involved. Or Physics. Something like that



Inside... Outside...



This thing is light! (225 lbs vs. 450 lbs last year)



Damn thing is picking up power line noise... Gotta take it somewhere else! Ooh the van fit is convenient



Pretty...



Searching for the resonant frequency... EXACTLY 50,000 Hz? Weird... But we'll take a Q of over 500!!!! We've got a Tesla Coil!!!!



On to Resonator 2 and the Transformer (based on the same tech, plus some extra fun )

See yous soon!

[digital]

Wow torrey.smith! That's damn impressive!

[ygmir]

amazing!! all that winding and stuffs! can't wait to see it, what great work!!

[mooserider]

I wonder how far away I'll be able to hear this contraption on the radio....

After seeing this, I'd feel embarrassed to bring my little Jacob's ladder.

[torrey.smith]

I wonder how far away I'll be able to hear this contraption on the radio....

After seeing this, I'd feel embarrassed to bring my little Jacob's ladder.

Bring your Jacob's Ladder! Set it up in our dome! We'll be at 6:30 & Esplanade.

We will be doing an EM interference test to see where we stand with regards to important things like radio, walkie talkies, LED's and pacemakers ( ).

[Jovankat]

The Husfriend is sitting next to me and just said;

This is what happens when someone takes a physics class in high school and then says, "Yeah that's cool. But what if it was BIGGER?! "

He is suitably impressed.

[robbidobbs]

Stencil: "D-Lot Cares"

[ygmir]

getting the solar array and tracking base made and installed:

pivot, 1" dia axle, inside 5/8" walled bushing, 4" tall for stability, greasable:



plate for attaching 48x1x48 plywood array base:


plate attached to plywood base:




hinges for elevation adjustments:



adjustable legs:



base mounted on truck:


array set up and mounted on 360 deg. swivel base, at angle:


150W of panel, 1500W inverter with charge controller.
now, to mount the electronics and run wires........and hope it works!!

[FIGJAM]

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ratty]

Excuse me men. I have NO idea what i'm seeing. It's very pretty though.

[Molotov]

Looks like a discussion of a solar power setup for a cabover truck camper mounted in the bed of a Mack CF fire truck.

[Roundabout]

Beautiful work. That stand should last a lifetime. Very practical too. Here is something I did for a simple 50 watt panel. It's made of wood so its impermanent. It's mounted on lazy Susan ball bearings for tracking the sun.

[motskyroonmatick]

You guys and all the amazing things you do impress me. Nice work everybody!!!!

[ygmir]

very cool roundabout!!!!

[MikeGyver]

If I only had 2 more hours of Daylight the Durango might be done.

I need it to be done so I can think about ANYTHING else.

Driveshaft, radiator, AC condensor, plumming and fluids and it should SHOULD be done.

All extra bolts are accounted for as going to location bracketry that has been re arranged. Except for 2 fairly large bolts that have me pretty damn concerned, they were in the battery tray on the floor of the garage so they could have been dropped, but its unlikely I would have dropped a pair of large bolts...

[trilobyte]

I know the feeling about wishing you had more daylight... or for that matter time in the day. I'm wrapping up yet another day of non-stop rock from 6am to midnight, on one hand I kind of want to kick back and sleep in but on the other hand I'm really itching to get 'er done.

I've been remiss in posting updates or including pics, let me try and fix that just a little bit.

A couple weeks back when I started building in earnest, I ran into Torrey at the workspace I use - very cool to meet you, man! And I'm excited to see the project you've been working on, too. That was a week of mostly working nights into early mornings, largely because getting that's what it took to get time on the machines. This year's nonsense involves making another 100+ pieces of various shapes and sizes, many of which get cut on the CNC (computer controlled) shopbot and then finished off with either a table router or by hand (sanding and filing).








That last one in the series above shows the 'space invader' connector. On the right side is what one looks like fresh off the shopbot, and on the left is one that I've finished on the router - much smoother rounded edges. Then of course the parts get painted and then from 1-3 coats of clear-coat.






I've finished with the painting, but still have a lot of parts that are in the process of getting clear-coat. I still also have one of the big 'warpy hex' pieces to finish the edges on. Hopefully I'll get that all done in the next few days.

In addition to the CNC work, I've been working on manual projects. Namely, building a cart for the new chest freezer and then tearing apart my generator. That's not something I wanted to do for the hell of it, but as I started on doing the annual maintenance the damned starter rope broke. Getting new rope - easy. Getting at it - not so much. It literally involved taking it all apart. I took the occasion to also give it a better deep internal clean, and then once the starter rope was done I finished off the annual stuff, cleaning filters and changing the oil. I had replaced the spark plug before the starter rope snapped, so that bit was done. Once it was complete and back together, it fired right up, good as new.






Not pictured, I also spent a bunch of time on the laser making this year's new stamps for our camp's rubber stamp bar. That's still in a 'to be finished' state, as I'd been waiting on some other supplies to go with the pieces of rubber I'd cut, hopefully those will be finished by the weekend as well. Then I also have a couple trike related projects, and want to replace some light/lamp bulbs on the van, then I think I might be in the home stretch for stuff like pre-cooking food and packing... whew!

Sorry I haven't been posting and participating in here as much as I'd like, I love seeing everybody's updates and hearing about projects. I hope everyone else's stuff is smooth sailing and comes together in time for departure, whatever your schedule is. Cheers!

[torrey.smith]

Here's a time lapse of our Tesla build currently underway at Commander Moving INC, across from AmSteel in Oakland.

Test fire sometime around Wednesday, plus or minus

[media]

[trilobyte]

Looking awesome, Torrey - good luck with the test fire!

Materials came in and the new rubber stamps were put together, and tested along with the old...



I finally got all the new connectors done... cut, painted, coated, and ready to pack.



Some last minute signs were designed, then printed on the large format printer at the workshop I use and mounted on thin pieces of wood..



Storage is looking full, tis the season!



I started working on a little graphed out 'site survey' for the camp, so that when I arrive I have a quick reference guide to know where all the corners on the major structures will go.



The shirts I designed came in, but I still feel silly taking selfies..



My next/current project is trike boxes and new battery packs for our trikes. While I could work out on the street, since I've been bouncing back and forth between cutting/drilling and doing other bits I didn't want to have to constantly drag everything inside and outside over and over again. So I converted the foyer into a mini-shop so I could work more easily...



I wanted a little spacer between each battery cell, so there's better airflow (there will be a cover on these, the cells won't be exposed to direct sunlight)



I wired up the first battery, and am now giving it a charge. So far no explosions, and in the morning (once it's topped off) I'll test it out to make sure everything works. Once it passes the sanity test, I'll build the second battery.

[ygmir]

wow Trilo..........such cool work!! and so much of it!!
very nice!!

[Ratty]

Honestly, where do you find the time or energy? I can't wait to see this is person.

[Patsh]

Trilo, you're right up there with the Workingest People I Know! Can't wait to see all of this in 3 dimensions!

And, the t-shirt... *drool*
I'd wear that to work! It's PERFECT... I do electronics assembly and wiring... hahahhahaa!

[trilobyte]

Thanks guys, that's a couple days' worth of stuff, I've been too busy to check in that regularly... I'm glad to be finally getting into the last of the projects...

[Elderberry]

Honestly, where do you find the time or energy? I can't wait to see this in person.

I've been trying to figure that out too!! I've seen it--it just keeps getting better! (If that were even possible.)

His storage space looks a lot like our living and dining room right now.

[ygmir]

all this, just to replace a fan belt!!

[EspressoDude]

that looks like an all day job, plus.

[ygmir]

well, just finished up splitting (by hammer) and stacking 23 ish tons of granite bricks for the Hof siding......now to haul them up there and start stacking.

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