The circular cutout of my previous project gave me an idea: what if I drew a planet next? I’d bought some red card from Hobbycraft, so Mars was the obvious choice. I always liked the name for Mars, “Barsoom” from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars Series, so that would be the title. The Map Data WhereContinue reading “Die Cutter Project 2: A Map of Barsoom”
Author Archives: adq
Playing With a Die Cutter
Since I last posted, I’ve been busy going on holidays in Scotland, zooming about on my new bike, and generally going out and doing stuff. But as its getting dark again, and the weather is getting worse, its time to make some stuff. Months ago, I bought a Silhouette Cameo 4 Die Cutter. I’ve gotContinue reading “Playing With a Die Cutter”
Useful Kiln Tools + Beeper Upgrade
Kiln Beeper I installed a mini beeper in my kiln and adjusted the software to beep letters in Morse code depending on the stage of the program. I just used the same transistor+resistor+5v supply design as for the SSD control line to prevent damage to the pi. Kiln Tools Roll of cake making acetate: useContinue reading “Useful Kiln Tools + Beeper Upgrade”
Succeeding with Prometheus Copper Clay!
This is the process I’m now using: its had 100% success so far. This post is stitched together from various pieces; I unfortunately didn’t take pictures of the complete process for a single piece. Step 1: Roll out and mould the clay I’m working on a smooth piece of board with some acetate film stuckContinue reading “Succeeding with Prometheus Copper Clay!”
Prometheus Copper Clay Experiments
PMC clay, or Precious Metal Clay clay(sic!) is a mixture of tiny metal particles with an organic binder. It allows you to mould metal objects by hand at room temperature, then sinter them into solid objects once they have dried. Its pretty awesome stuff! The original PMC clays were silver or gold. More recently, thereContinue reading “Prometheus Copper Clay Experiments”
Upgrading my Jewellery Kiln
I have a small “Prometheus Pro-1 PRG” Jewellery kiln for experimentation and artwork. Its a programmable kiln, which allows you to have programmes with multiple cycles of heating and cooling over time, which is essential for glass fusing. However, the user interface leaves something to be desired: At the bottom you’ll see there’s a 4Continue reading “Upgrading my Jewellery Kiln”
Bring Me The Head of Emperor Trajan!
A friend asked me to 3d print this 3D scan of Emperor Trajan. Its taken me a while to get round to it though (guiltguiltguilt!). I decided to chop the scan so just his head and shoulders were visible using Fusion 360’s mesh editing tools. I tried printing it upright originally, but it failed partwayContinue reading “Bring Me The Head of Emperor Trajan!”
Taking a Google Stadia Controller Apart and Dumping its ROM
I acquired one of these in a deal Google had running. After trying it out, I decided it wasn’t really for me, so I had an unused Stadia controller lying around…. The design is interesting; in order to reduce latency, it connects directly to Google via WiFi by itself, rather than locally to the Chromecast.Continue reading “Taking a Google Stadia Controller Apart and Dumping its ROM”
Identifying a thermocouple
Next up in the riveting Thermocouple series is how to identify an unknown thermocouple as a Type K. There are loads of videos on Youtube on this, but I didn’t find them completely conclusive. Many of them advise “checking the colours of the leads”. Surprise! There are at least six different standards for colour codingContinue reading “Identifying a thermocouple”
The Perils of cheap Ebay stuff, or, why doesn’t my MAX31855 thermocouple board work?
I’ve been playing around with Type K thermocouples for a project. These are cheap, commonly available, and can read a temperature range from –270C to 1260C (though it depends on the exact thermocouple). It looks similar to this (you stick the metal pointy end in the hot thing): The above is a Type K thermocouple,Continue reading “The Perils of cheap Ebay stuff, or, why doesn’t my MAX31855 thermocouple board work?”
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