Let’s make our own CMM….

Yup, this big arm is nice. I’ve got the power section working again, now I need to see how the rest of the electronics are working.

But…… this arm is too big for doing smaller pieces on my bench top. So I want to use the lessons learned so far to make my own. I have the Langmuir MR-1 cnc to make my aluminum parts, and I can buy carbon fiber tubes. Most of the hard work will be making sure there isn’t any slop in the joints.

This is the MR-1 cnc in the shop…

Gantry style 3 axis with tool measurement and touch probe. I’m really happy with this machine.

I started laying out the structures for the joints. I’m using encoders and carbon tubes available from Amazon. Who knows, someones else may want to build one and specialty suppliers are no fun.

Rhino 3D, the only CAD program I like to use. I have experience in Solid Works, Sketchup, Fusion 360. Rhino is the only one you buy and use, no subscriptions. Used Rhino4 for years up till a few months ago. Upgraded to Rhino8 commercial for less than a year of Fusion.

As you can see, picked up some nice looking carbon tube and started cutting pieces. Watch for future updates, when its running I will make a parts list. Maybe make a couple arms to sell if there are people wanting them.

I’m back again……. I think….

Ok, it’s been a while since my last post again. I may make a separate post with all the details, all the changes, jobs, experiences, ect. But it isn’t this post. This post is about an arm…..

This is a CMM arm, or a coordinate measurement machine. This arm is incomplete and broke, but that has never stopped me from making useful tools from unloved parts piles. The purpose of this arm is that you fix the base firmly in space (like to a table where it won’t move), and you use the other end to probe an objects shape.

This is the end the probe goes in, I’m gonna have to build one. This arm is so old you can’t get parts for it unless you luck out on Ebay or some other online antique shop. Once you have the probe up against the object you want to measure, press the button. This will cause the software (don’t have that either, lol) to measure the angle of al the joints in the arm and create a data point in 3D space using the fixed base as the reference point. Move the probe to another spot on the object to be measure and press the button. Doing this repeatedly creates a Point Cloud that is a digital outline of the object that can be used in modern CAD software. It’s a very useful tool to digitize large parts like the missing pieces of my various projects. If there is a left side part on my project, but I am missing the right side, I can digitize the side I have, and then mirror it in software and have one of my machines make the missing part.

So why but a broken arm missing pieces with no software? Because these arms new go for tens of thousands of dollars. Used arms go for multiple thousands of dollars. This arm was a couple hundred dollars, with a bunch of metal bits I don’t have to machine from raw stock, and expensive encoders that measure the angles in the joints for accurate point data. Bonus is the arm has carbon fiber tubes that make the machine accurate in almost any temperature or humidity level. So……

I pulled it apart to see how bad it is.

Not gonna lie, it’s a mixed bag. On the bright side it’s a known major manufacturer, using good hardware, so that’s a win. On the down side, it’s going to need some major work. I applied power to the unit and checked voltages. It should use 12VDC in, which is knocked down to 10VDC using a LM33T, followed by a 78M05 to give me 5VDC. The 10VDC and 5VDC test pads are showing the full 12VDC. The whole arm is getting unregulated voltage that may have wiped out sensitive components elsewhere in the arm electronics.

First things first, have to get my voltage under control. So I will be replacing the LM338, the 78M05, and any other item I find out of spec in the power regulation section. Once I have done that, I will continue posting the progress on this. I may also make a smaller arm from scratch using the ideas I see in this arm for inspiration. It will have much simpler electronics though……

You might want to try ‘prepping’……

Ok, first off a disclaimer. Im going to try and make this as non-political as possible…. while still dealing with political issues. No promises I will be successful. I have friends all over the political spectrum and if you know me then you know I dont like to talk politics or religion because its the easiest way to alienate friends. So the fact that Im talking about it….

On to the meat of this issue. I did open source intellgence analysis for a while, and I still keep track of world events as much as possible. There are two things of note that I am keeping a close eye on and you should too. The first is the Chinese merchant fleet in the Phillipean national waters, and the second is Russia’s push into Ukraine. Both have the very real possibility of dragging the US into conflict. If you have been to any store lately you have noticed that food, lumber, ect. is scarce in areas and the price is rapidly increasing. Plywood that cost me $25 a sheet in December of 2020 is now selling for $77 dollars at Lowes. What do you think will happen if we tangle with China, our biggest supplier of goods. What do you think China will do if we have to move our forces to the opposite side of the world in Ukraine?

See where I am going with this?

I think Putin is playing a very smart game right now, and is managing to pay Biden back for his “Putin is a killer” and “a man with no soul” comment. If there is any legitimacy to the claim that Hunter and Joe Biden had inappropriate dealings in Ukraine resulting in large payments to Biden, then that would explain why Biden announced ‘total support’ for Ukraine. Biden cant afford for that claim to be legitimized by Ukraine, so he will have to pledge troops to keep it quiet. The american public has shown it doesnt like to send its children to fight in border conflicts and is usually reflected in the polls. A win for Putin. If Putin can escalate to the point where the US has to move troops and supplies to Ukraine then he has a political win, but if he then offers Ukraine a peace deal to release the alleged info on Hunter Biden’s dealings he scores a possible double win. If Biden chooses to not support Ukraine then Putin can reclaim some or all of Ukraine, show that Biden (and the US) went back on his word for “total support”, plus demand the release of information. A possible three way win for Putin.

In the meantime China has already declared preperations for conflict with the US over Taiwan and has moved a fleet of over 200 merchant ships into Phillipean waters. The Phillipean military is now doing over flights of these vessels and any slip by either side could cause conflict. China is still one of, if not the biggest, supplier of retail goods to the US. If there is open conflict between the US and China a lot of things just wont be available no matter the cost.

And what do you think China will do if we are involved in conflict or possible conflict over Ukraine? The smart thing for China to do is move while we have forces and attention split between two literal opposite sides of the world.

These are my thoughts, I wanted to share just in case you hadnt heard about these things. You can find videos for both sides of the Biden/Putin comments, China merchant fleet / readiness for conflict, and the Hunter Biden Burisma story online, even on YouToob.

If you want more of what I keep an eye on in the future, or dont want to hear another word about it, leave a comment on this post.

Where has the time gone?

Well, it seems I have been remiss in my posting duties. I often forget that there are people who actually read these ramblings of my addled brain, and they arent just to supplement my faltering memory. If I was texting I would insert a smiley face at this point. Maybe an ‘LOL’ would work better.

I would like to start off with a heart felt ‘Hello!’ and ‘Miss you all’ to Dan, Liz, Kerri, and Dr KM in Aussie land. You know who you are. It has been too long since my last road trip, but the world has changed since then and travel isnt as easy a thing to do.

So…. where to start so everyone can catch up? If I type all of it out then this will be a small novel and I dont write as well as King or Koontz. So I will give a brief synapses and fill in the blanks later. Find something else to fall asleep to.

Most know that my dream job after Harley was working for the flight school. I thoroughly enjoyed the job, managing the maintenance department at the school I recieved my pilot licenses at decades before. I got to fly a lot, turn wrenches, tear apart airplanes and watch them be reborn stronger and better than they were. Alas, it could not last and the flight school went belly up. I was offered a job within 15 minutes of leaving the final farewell meeting of the school as they shut the doors. It seemed like a good opportunity, but it turned out to be the type of job I despise. It was a dead end, 8-5, M-F clusterfuck with bosses who had no vision and were jealous of those with real world skills. I was pigeon holed for 3 years until the dreaded Cov-19 hit and I was let go in the economic downturn. Most who know me know I thrive in an environment where I can use my mental and physical talents. Glorified phone marketer was pure hell but it paid the bills.

During the last year of employment before the evil spectre of plague decended upon the world, I had been working toward opening a small watch and clock repair shop. I was working through online and other classes for certifications, while purchasing problem watches and repairing them at home. The plague changed all of that and left me wondering what I was going to do with no job, limited funds, and the whole world closed down in July 2020 due to ‘infection rates’.

I will pause here while those of you who have known me for a while figure out what my typical response to this dilema would be…..

Lol.

If you guessed I would say ‘Fuck it. What will be, will be’ and went on my merry way then you are right. Oh, and insert the little face with the tongue sticking out. Make it the one winking and sticking out its tongue, thats more my style.

I was able to be on sight as the last of my 40’×50′ shop was finished. I was able to be there when other friends had their lives disrupted by Cov19 stupidity. I was able to be there when my parents house sold months before they thought it should and could help them move. I was able to help my parents build a lovely 30’×14′ she-shed for my mom in their new place.

And…. I was able to finally take some time for me to start remembering who I am. Time that I wasnt on the go from 7am to midnight trying to squeeze in a full time job, side jobs, family, and friends. Its nice to be able to stop, breathe, sit down on a rock on the property, just let go and enjoy nature.

I will need to post updates on the gardens (yes, plural), car projects, building progress, random thoughts, pictures and such. But this will be in future posts. Hopefully not too far in the future.

Thank you to all who read this. Time is flying by all too quick nowadays, I will try to post more often.

A quick update

Hello everyone. Its been a while, but things have been busy. I have two new project cars, the shop is under way, more work on the garden on the property, and other bits of news.

Im not sure which topic to start with so I think I will go with “Happy New Years”. Yes, in Feburary. I honestly dont know how January slipped by so quick. Time seems to be speeding up, or I am slowing down, either way I blink and another month is gone.

In other news, there is finally progress on the shop. The pieces for it have been up on the property for a few months, but I couldn’t get the tractor guy to show up. So for New Years I decided to go with someone else. The new tractor guy was there in a couple days of me accepting the contract and had the pad done in two days! Here are some pics of it.

Thats moving the big darn rock in the middle of where my shop goes.

And thats where the shop is going.

Thats all I,have time for now. Im thinking about doing some vids from the property showing the different projects: garden, shop, rusty engines and antique restoration. If you think this is something you would be interested in seeing, leave a comment to let me know.

By popular demand…

Actually, not so popular but someone asked…. so……

As most of you who know me should know, I’m kind of a bit of a prepper. What am preparing for you ask? I am preparing for retirement and I’m stocking my pantry and tool shed deep so I won’t be bored or hungry later in life. I don’t expect social security to be all that, so best I have all the toilet paper I could possibly use stocked before I have to choose between eating cat food or squeezing some Charmin. But thats not what this post is about. This post is about the spices I am stocking away so I can flavor my Friskies when the day comes.

I purchase my spices in bulk and repackage in smaller containers for my own ease of use. It also makes it easier to hand them out to people who might be caught short on something you have stocked or share the awesomeness of really good spices. I tend to share the spices amongst family and friends while putting the majority into my stockpile. I buy my spices from some odd vendors, but thankfully the majority of them can be easily found on Amazon. I’m not going to use the fancy little affiliate links that kick me back 1/1000 of a cent on every dollar you might purchase through the links because I personally detest people offering up advice for the benefit of others while still making a cut on the info.

The bottles I use to package are the clear plastic type with shaker or spoon/shaker tops. They also come with the little styro freshness seal that goes on top for long term storage. The ones I use regularly are:

16 Spice jars 6oz –

12 Spice jars 3oz –

The spices that follow are all ones I have personally tried, and many I have given bottles to friends to try, and these are the best of the ones I have tried.

Dried Basil leaves

Oregano – great citrus note when you smell this Oregano

Cayenne Pepper powder – careful with this one, used usual amount in my last ribs and people said it was noticeably hotter/spicier.

Whole Cloves

Pumpkin Spice mix – hands down the crowd favorite. This mix is amazing, the only spice mix I find I literally kept sticking my finger in to taste… along with everyone else I let sample it. My friend Dr.M may need help to break the addiction to this stuff.

Granulated Onion – awesome sweet onion flavor. Be aware that if you repackage you may be tasting onion for a day or so. Not that I’m complaining…..

Turkish Bay leaves – so fresh you can smell them when you open the package. The local grocer has bottles -> 3 whole leaves for $8, and not EVEN close the the aromatic and flavors of these bulk pack.

Ground Sage

Diced Dehydrated red and green bell pepper

Cinnamon – I used to buy William Sonoma cinnamon for the flavor when it came to cooking, this is every bit it’s equivalent. Rich in cinnamon oil.

Well, there is a good start. I will do another post with some more spices and another way to stock up some essentials that I enjoy. I will try to remember to do some Augason farms reviews too. If you don’t know Augason farms for storable food you are missing out. More to come.

Random stuff…

I have a little bit of time so I thought I would post some random things.

First off, most of you know that I have been growing my coffee plants for around 5 years. I have only had blossoms on them twice and earlier this year was the one of them. I was really happy to see blossoms, since its a good indicator that I’ve finally gotten close to making them happy. I was watering them a couple days ago and almost didn’t notice these…

Those are coffee beans! The very first time in years of growing I have had coffee beans! They are hard to notice because they really blend in with plant. As proof, see how many beans you can count in the next photo..

Hint: there are 5 beans in that photo, but I bet you counted 3. I’ll post more pics if they get to the ripe phase and turn red. Overall, I’m just happy to see any beans, ripe or not.

Switching gears…… Some of you know I enjoy making small engines and I have met many wonderful people going to miniature engine meets and forums. One of the great men I got to meet was Bruce Satra. He revived a model engine from the 1940’s called the Morton M5. The Morton model engine is actually based on the LeBlond engines in the previous post. Here is a pic of the Morton Bruce built in the ’80’s.

I started a Satra M5 from castings that Bruce sold several years back, but I didn’t buy a complete kit, just a few to get me started. When I ran into a couple machining questions I emailed Bruce and he was always super helpful. Unfortunately Bruce passed away several years ago and many of us were left without parts. A friend of Bruce, whom I will not name but is an easy Goggle search to find, was supposed to keep the Satra Morton M5 going in memory of Bruce. Alas, he has completely dropped the ball, even going so far as not keeping VernalEngineering.com (Bruce’s M5 webpage) running. Here is a pic of the fantastic castings Bruce used to sell…

So, left without a source of parts after several attempts over several years to contact Mike (oops, wasn’t going to name drop) I am left with my usual answer. I will make my own castings based on Bruce’s notes and conversations we had. (As if some of you out there couldn’t guess I was going to say that)

I’ve started the process and here is a little info on progress. I started by modeling the parts in CAD software and then printing out the parts to verify dimensional accuracy…

Those quick and rough prints checked out, so now I am making my wax molds. I’m a couple revisions in on the rod and piston molds, and have found a wax suitable to injecting into the small lines and cavities. Now I am just refining the molds to help with the last small imperfections in the wax parts. I’ll post more pics and info when I have some final wax parts before attempting the first metal castings.

New things happening this month….

Well, the heat is finally here and I haven’t been spending too much time up on the property. Mostly I go up in the morning and take care of the things I need to do like watering the plants and checking on stuff. I purchased two new raised beds made from corrugated Gavalume, with some kind of paint on them to help with corrosion. I plan on putting one together this weekend and getting some pictures of it. I probably won’t install them this weekend since I want to level a spot and put some gravel under them. I also plan on trying Youtuber ‘Self Sufficient Me” way of doing Hugelkulture planting. It’s interesting and sounds like something that may work. He lives in Australia and has a pretty nice set up in an arid hot land.

I also worked out a deal with a gentleman in Massachusetts for some antique engines. Yes, I know…. how many antique engines does one person need? I already have a turn of the century Half-a-Horse, 5 Model A engines, a ’20s Fairbank Morse Z 3hp, and others. And yes, they all need a little bit more attention than I have been giving them. But how could I not rescue what looks to be four 1930’s LeBlond 5 cylinder radials? After all, not only are they fairly rare antique engines, but they are also radial airplane engines! The only downside is that they are in pieces… and in Massachusetts.

This is one of several pictures full of parts for the engines. The gentleman I am purchasing them from didn’t want to ship, but after talking over things came to an agreement that he will ship some parts to me now and then bring the rest out to Cali later this year. He has been packing things this week and plans on shipping them next week. It’s a good thing I am building a shop.

Or am I……..

*Sigh* So, I have no pics of shop construction yet because the person who has the bulldozer to start cutting the pad broke his hand. He seems to be healing up fine from what I am told, but no date yet when I can expect some dirt to be moved. In the mean time, I do have the permit for the shop and the metal parts are in production. I should have a truck of parts heading my way in about a months time and hopefully some dirt moved by then.

That’s the update for now. I will post more when there is anything interesting to see.

A quick update…

I haven’t had much time to post the last couple of weeks. My shop is a ‘go’. Submitted the paperwork for the permit last Friday and am waiting to hear back. For all those that that have dared the maze that is my garage workshop, I will soon have a 40’x50′ workshop if all goes to plans.

The plants seem to be happy still. I had to move the Tayberries out of the greenhouse. They were taking over, tangled in each other and the other plants. I moved them out to the deck for now, but plan on trellising them when I figure out where I want them permanently.

I spent my first night up there in the shed on Saturday of Memorial weekend. I was pretty excited about it until I realized around 11pm I had left the only way to fill my air matress back in town. The sleep was a little rough, but breakfast made up for it. I made ham, eggs, and coffee with a couple cherry turnovers.

I enjoyed my breakfast as I listened to the rain hitting the metal roof.

Last bit is an update on the Medlar, still has fruit and is going strong.

That’s it for now. Maybe more after this weekend.

Spring Storms….

The first week of May brought a storm through the area. It’s kinda rare to have a thunderstorm in the central valley but we received a good one complete with plenty of thunder, lightning, and wind. It is beginning to become apparent that if there is a stiff breeze on the valley floor then it’s going to be gale force up in our hills. If you think I’m exaggerating, remember this pic from a couple weeks ago showing the new screens for the greenhouse roof?

Well, this what I found two days after the storm came through…

Um…. yeah…. did a bomb go off nearby? Seriously. It blew bunch of fairly heavy (appx 5lbs or more) stuff all over the place. I found some of the panels that are missing in the second picture over 200 feet away. The greenhouse put up a fight before it blew apart, it bent a 1/4″ x 3/4″ brace and a corner bracket before it went.

The bracket in the second picture is showing the entire roof moved over about half an inch. I found all the panels, straightened the structure, reinforced some areas, and then put it all back together. On the bright side, all the plants survived just fine and look even healthier than the last post. we are supposed to have another set of storms roll through this Thursday (5/16) and Saturday (5/18), so we will see if it holds together.

Oh, check out what it did to the solar panel mount. Lol.

I laugh because the expensive mount literally blew apart, but my cheap temporary rigged mount below it did better with the storm.

I also did some more work on the raised bed planter. I continued the work by putting down a thick layer of weed block….

Then I put down two layers of fine aluminum screen mesh to see if it will keep out gophers, cause there are a TON of gophers…

No, the dirt didn’t get darker, the light being reflected caused my phone to filter it. As you can see I used the next layer of blocks to hold the weed barrier and screen in place. I also figured it wouldn’t leave gaps for anything to get though. Next came the final layer of blocks….

I was going to use PVC pipe in the cinder block holes to interlock the blocks and layers together, but PVC pipe has gone up in price. Would have cost me over $40 to cut 28 pieces of 2″ pipe at 24″ long. Instead I went with….

2×3’s. Yup, 2×3 wood instead of PVC cost me $17. I’m cheap and this is a proof of concept trial, so wood works. Since the blocks overlap I figure locking them together will give them a little resilience in case the pigs investigate it….

Next is to build the wood portion on top of the block base that will have the screening to keep out the bugs. I will tap all the 2×3’s down to level before I cap the blocks with the wood structure.

Finally for this post, I’m trying something I have never grown before but have always been interested in. I’m trying to grow some tobacco from seeds. I started the seeds in a seed tray on the 26th of last month and here is a pic of the fresh little sprouts….

I started them in potting soil put in paper ketchup cups. The seeds are super tiny and I didn’t realize I got so many in some of the cups. Lol. When they get about 2″ tall I’m going to try and separate them out into individual plants. There are 5 different variety and 4 have sprouted. From left to right (in vertical rows) are Yellow twist, Virginia Gold, Standard Burley, Tennessee Red Leaf, and Orinoco. I’m hoping Orinoco is just a late sprouter.