Category Archives: Projects

Craft, Hardware, or Software projects I’ve done

Maslow CNC “hanging router” review

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I have completed a few projects using my Maslow CNC “hanging router”. Although I’m not yet an expert on its use, I feel like I have enough experience for a general review. The bottom line is that it provides excellent value for the cost for a hobbyist, but will not replace a professional gantry style CNC router for professional use.

 

The source of the Maslow’s sub $500 cost is its unique motion system, which relies on gravity working against two variable length chains to position the router sled, which must slide on a flat work piece. Because you provide your own router, build the frame yourself, and cut out the final round sled using a temporary sled that you cut by hand, the electro-mechanical parts of the Maslow can ship in a large USPS priority mail box.

My Maslow is the 2nd generation that includes a ring for two chain carriages to roll along. The rolling chain carriages allow the two support chains to virtually “end” at the center of the sled where the router bit is positioned. This mostly eliminates negative effects of sled rotation and simplifies the kinematics of the machine. Earlier versions tried to model and account for the sled rotation with chains anchored off-center, or used a mechanical linkage system to achieve a similar effect. In my opinion, the ring and carriages is the best solution.

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Maslow CNC setup

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After building the frame for my Maslow CNC machine, the rest of the setup was just a matter of assembling all of the pieces.  I used 1/4-20 “superstrut” nuts and 1/4-20 machine screws to mount the motor brackets. The slots in the brackets are almost, but not quite wide enough to let 1/4-20 screws go through them, so I had to drill them just slightly larger in the two spots I mounted the screws.

   

I made use of one of the four motor mounting holes to place an extra long (60mm) M4 screw holding a plastic idler that keeps the chain wrapped around the sprocket to avoid chain slips under tension.  I’m currently using a binder clip to keep the plastic idler from “crawling up” the screw and eventually letting the chain fall onto the screw.

I considered buying a shorter screw to keep the plastic idler from crawling up the screw, but if I ever want to manually adjust the chain position on the sprocket all I need to do is remove the binder clip and slip the plastic idler up out of the way, so I’m leaving it as-is for now.  I also paid Lowes an outrageous $5 for a set of two blue plastic end caps to make the end of my superstrut look nice.

 

 

You can see that I also hung the far end of the chain from the idler mounting screw, and adjustable tension is placed on the slack side of the chain with an idler sprocket weighted down with a few pounds of water. (So far I just put a few inches of water in each jug, and haven’t needed to add significant weight.)

I found that I could balance a small level directly on top of the chain and use the bubble to get a tooth of the sprocket aligned vertically within a 10th of a degree. (At least, there was a small but visible difference between the bubble between presses of the 0.1 deg button in the software…you’ll probably have to click the photos to zoom in before you can see it…)

 

I built a temporary sled out of a piece of plywood that was left over from covering a window during Hurricane Irma. Instead of bothering to countersink the heads of the provided brick mounting bolts, I just used deck screws to mount the temporary bricks.  I also was able to use the (too short) screws originally meant for the clear router base to mount the router to the plywood by abusing the heck out of a large countersink bit to REALLY countersink the screws so the short length was no longer an issue.

After calibrating the machine using the foam waste board, I used the temporary sled to cut a fancy round sled out of some MDF I had laying around. I don’t like the super fine sawdust that MDF generates, but it is more slick than regular plywood, which I figure is a good property for a router sled to have. (Plus, already had it laying around….)

 

 


 

 

Long Board & Sheet Storage + Maslow CNC Frame

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I built this rolling triangle shaped frame as a multi-purpose piece of shop furniture. It’s primary function will be as the frame for my maslow CNC router, which is why the front face is at a 15 degree angle and it has the 10′ unistrut beam at the top to mount the chain drive motors on.

But, if I’m going to have a frame to hold a 4’x8′ sheet in my garage, I wanted the back of the frame to serve a useful purpose, so I integrated sheet and board storage into the rolling frame. I can store multiple 4’x8′ sheets inside, along with many long boards in the top. It also stores various pieces of flat plastic and glass I’m saving for important future uses.  Continue reading →

Modular Raised Planting Bed

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I built a raised planting bed using deck rail planters.  This allows each planter to be moved to different locations within the bed, or to be removed from the bed entirely, allowing the bed to be  (relatively) easily moved.

I used pressure treated 2×4’s to make a simple ladder like frame, held up by four legs resting on 4×4 PT ground contact rated timbers. After painting the pressure treated 2x4s with exterior paint, I expect it to last a good long time.

In my effort to reduce daily chores, I’ve installed a drip irrigation system on a timer. Once the plants get established I hope that the drip irrigation system will soak enough of the containers so that I can stop misting the surface.

Cedar Closet System

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I built a closet system for our new closet.

Here is my first video, which shows how I installed the top shelf.

Here is the second video, which shows how to install the shelf cleats and hanging rods.

Here is the final video where I show off some extra work I did that probably wasn’t entirely necessary.

New charging inlet & Drive Away Protection

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So, this happened. A year and a half of meaning to get around to installing the drive away protection circuit later, I eventually drove away while the J1772 charger was plugged in, which yanked my inlet out of the truck, breaking the plastic air dam in the process. (Luckily, my EVSE wasn’t damaged.)  $150 later, I had a new J1772 inlet and air dam, and had to re-do all of my mounting work. I took this opportunity to re-work how the license plate mounted. Instead of tipping up (which shielded the inlet from view and made it hard to plug in without kneeling) I decided to make it slide to the side so that it would be easier to see and plug into the inlet. I used a 12″ stainless steel drawer slide (with self/soft closing features to keep it closed) for the motion.

Mounting the 15 amp RV inlet, button, and rotary switch was a simple matter of drilling the appropriately sized holes, but the J1772 inlet needed a custom mounting block that would match the interior contour of the air dam so that it could be recessed behind the license plate.

I assembled a stack of laser cut plywood into a block with the correct bolt pattern and cutout for the J1772 inlet, and then I sanded it down to match the interior contour of the air dam. I painted it black and mounted it to the inside of the air dam, and then screwed the inlet to the back of the block.

I also hooked up my drive away protection circuit. Here is a video of the finished system in operation.

Megatree: Materials & Costs

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So, what do you need to build a large digitally color controlled LED outdoor Christmas tree display? (Commonly called a “megatree” by people in the Christmas display community.) And how much will it cost?

First, you need strings of color controlled RGB LED lights, wires to connect them, and a few power supplies. I bought 16 strands that have 50 lights each, with 6″ spacing (PixaBulb w/ Strawberry lens) from http://www.diyledexpress.com. (I also got a 17th strand as a spare, and am using it as my tree topping star right now). This cost me $650 (including extra connection wires & two 12 volt power supplies).

Then you’ll need a light controller. I bought a Falcon 16V3 from https://www.pixelcontroller.com for $210, and a CableGuard CG-1500 outdoor enclosure to protect it from the elements. (This enclosure holds the controller board, but is not large enough for the two power supplies, which I have under a better ventilated anti-rain plastic storage box)

Then you’ll need a lot of mounting hardware (lag eyes, quick connect links, etc) and wire ropes (small cables, cable thimbles & crimp connectors) plus zipties, lots and lots of zipties. I used stainless steel hardware from e-rigging.com except for the galvanized wire rope that I bought at Harbor Freight (shipping a 500′ spool of stainless 3mm cable was prohibitively expensive). Including miscellaneous pieces of wood I used for my mounting ring and star tree-topper, a few extension cords, tent pegs and a 100′ run of Ethernet cable, all of this hardware cost me around $245.

I’m not including the cost of all the tools needed, plus a laptop to sequence and control the show.

So all in, for a “mid-sized” megatree (20′ tall, 16′ diameter at the base) you are looking at a little over a thousand dollars (plus a hundred hours of work). On the plus side, this cost can be amortized over multiple years, so it’s cheaper than multiple years of fireworks. Plus, with some creative work, you could re-purpose the lights for Halloween, weddings, parties, etc…

 

A more specific list of mounting hardware:

4x 1/2″ x 6″ Stainless Steel Lag Eye Bolts – Mounted in my tree. Completely overkill for supporting my relatively lightweight megatree, but may be re-purposed in the future for heavier loads. Holds up 4 support cables that allow me to raise/lower my top support ring.
20x 3/16″ Stainless Quick Links – for connecting and disconnecting the four support cables and top ends of the light strands to the top ring. I bought a 50 pack from a Chinese seller on ebay, as stainless steel quick links were quite expensive otherwise.
40x 1/8″ Light Duty Stainless Steel Wire Rope Thimble – Used at the top and bottom of each light strand, plus for the cables that lift the top ring.

40x 1/8″ Zinc Plated Copper Sleeve – Crimp connectors that hold the cable in place around the thimble. (Buy the proper crimping tool for these.)

16x 3/16″ x 1″ Stainless Steel Lag Eye Bolt – For connecting the top of the light strands to the top ring.
4x Eye bolts, washers & nuts to mount in the top ring for the support cables to connect to. (forgot the exact size, bought them at Lowes)
4x 4″ Stainless Steel Flag Pole Cleats – My jury-rigged solution for holding the four cables that support the top ring. I’m sure you could come up with a better solution.
16x 9″ tent pegs (bought at Walmart) for staking down the ends of the light strands.
8 packages 100′ 3mm galvanized wire rope from Harbor Freight (16 26′ light strands, 4 50′ support cables, leaving several 20′ seconds left over…) I seriously considered buying a 500′ spool of 1/8″ stainless cable from e-rigging.com, but the added shipping cost made it prohibitively expensive. I’m willing to pay double for stainless, but not quadruple to get it shipped to me. Plus I figure the LED light strands will probably fail before the 3mm wire rope rusts through….
800-900 black zipties from harbor freight (to hold the lights to the light strand cables.
Misc deck screws to hold the top support ring together (made of 2×4’s) and mount the flag pole cleats and cable guard enclosure to the tree.

Nexus 7 (2013) QI charging frame

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I bought this inductive QI charger which is designed for cell phones, but also charges my Nexus 7 tablet. The only problem is that the tablet needs to be precisely centered to be charged, which takes a bit of effort to get exactly right, and if it’s bumped off center it stops charging. So I built this frame that sits over the top of the charger and holds my tablet exactly centered over the charging coil.

It’s made up of 3 layers of laser cut plywood, one around the charger, and two identical ones to frame the tablet. It even has nice finger slots to make it easy to remove, a feature I identified as necessary in my cardboard prototyping stage….

You can download the files from Thingiverse @ https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2734516

 

Garage Door Insulation part 3 – Window Openings

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I used fiberglass batt and reflectix to insulate the non-window panels of my garage doors, and the process was relatively quick and easy.I decided to use two layers of 3/4″ PolyIso insulation boards with aluminum facing to insulate the window opening panels. The process of cutting out two panels to fit around each window opening was labor intensive.

 

First, I made cardboard templates sized to fit around the windows and cut out my first layer of insulation. On the first layer, I placed the reflective layer “outwards” facing the door, as there is a small air gap between the panel and most of the steel door material due to a decorative “indent”. This first layer goes around the window frame. I would mark each piece of foam with a template, then use a carpenters square to cut straight (and mostly perpendicular) lines.

In the case of the 2nd layer, I had to freehand trace the curves with my razer knife. To keep the reflective side looking nice on the 2nd layer, I would mark and cut from the back, and then finish off the corners of the cuts from the reflective side.

The second layer fits over the window frame, so the openings are cut smaller, allowing light to enter, but covering up any opaque portions of the window or frame.This comes into play more on the front of my garage, which has decorative coverings over part of the square windows.

I faced the reflective side inward to reduce radiant heat transfer to the interior, and to match the reflectix aesthetically.

Two layers of this PolyIso 3/4″ insulation has an R value of 10, although there are some gaps between the layers, along with large openings cut out for the windows, but I prefer the natural light over thermal benefits of covering the windows entirely.

The take-away message here is if you have the choice, always pay extra to buy the insulated garage doors from the factory, as retro-fitting insulation takes time and money.

Easy 4″ exhaust vent outlet

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I needed to add an exhaust vent to my workshop that would allow me to quickly attach and detach a 4″ exhaust hose. I decided to use an inexpensive  ($3.18) PVC 4″ snap in drain to go through the board I had in my window for the portable AC unit.  The nice thing about these 4″ snap in drains is that they will tightly fit inside of a 4″ hole, or a 4″ exhaust hose.

 

Plus, I already had the 4″ hole saw from using the same hardware to vent my truck’s battery chargers.

One hole and a bit of epoxy later, I had a way to vent a 4″ hose out my window.

The drain has a large plastic “grid” to keep out larger creatures, and in this particular application, I have the board mounted inside the normal window screen, so I don’t have to worry too much about bugs.  I also purchased a 90 degree aluminum elbow for $4.28 which makes it very easy for me to plug the flexible dryer hose over the plastic drain piece, and makes the 90 degree turn to go out the window.

It currently sits over the plastic with a friction fit just fine, although I may buy another spring clip to make the connection a bit tighter.  NOTE: This 90 degree elbow is “adjustable” in that you can rotate the different sections around to change the amount of bending. Unfortunately, this let some smoke smell escape into the room from the elbow until I covered all of the seams with aluminum foil duct tape.

Because I only leave the hose attached while venting, I also needed a way to plug the hole when I wasn’t using it. Again, the plumbing section provided the perfect fit with this 4″ PVC DWV to Sewer and Drain Bushing ($2.48), which fits over the outside of the snap in drain very tightly.

I cut a circle of 3/4″ poly iso insulation I had left over from insulating my garage doors to seal the inside of the bushing, and affixed it with hot glue.

Now, whenever I’m not using the Exhaust vent port, I just slip the bushing over the snap in drain and it blocks drafts and provides more insulation value than the plywood board I have mounted in my window for the AC unit in the first place.

 

My total cost for this solution was under $10 (assuming you have 2 part epoxy and poly-iso insulation just laying around…).