Search results

I'm sure it won't come as a shock to any of you that I spend an inordinate amount of time scrolling through auction and marketplace sites looking for deals and curious stuff that I don't know about. There's a lot of strange things out there, and my overwhelming compulsion to understand how...

So in the last update for the AC I mentioned it would be nice to have a yaw and pitch adjustment, the factory mount (I finally got a price list, the stand sells separately for $2200, the AC is $4500) also has height and cross shift adjustments, although because of the way the AC works I'm not...

The main body is 3.5kg. The factory stand weighs close to 30kg though, like I said cast iron and steel. It is made to stay put.

Nikon's solution to position the autocollimator consists of a heavy cast iron and steel stand with a height and shift (horizontal) adjustment, and the ability to pitch and yaw the device, both with micro adjustments. This is a pretty effective and flexible setup, even allowing it to point...

That looks like a good fix. I was surprised how readily a lot of thermoplastics can be re-welded together with a soldering iron. PVC plastics respond well to readily available pipe cement, which is just a solvent. The results are not always pretty, but seem as strong as before the breakage.

I'm not ready for that... I have been known to pack light and hit a local UniQlo if required though.

That's too bad, hope you get another chance. The tracks are quite scenic, and take you closely past Mt. Fuji and the seaside which are easy to take in through the large windows. The trains themselves are stable and feel well planted despite the speeds, and even the normal seats are ridiculously...

Most manufacturers specifications and industry standards use these intervals. For most machine/metrology measurements that 100mm span is more than enough to clearly define any serious deflections of a bearing surface. Even a worn or damaged surface is likely to be relatively flat compared to...

Quick trip on the Shinkansen this weekend to visit Kyoto. I love how frictionless and efficient it is to get around over here, high speed trains are the best. A lot of tourists, which is a good thing to see post-pandemic. My favorite thing about Kyoto is exploring the cool, shaded and...

LOL, I have a Rockwell Retro Encabulator App on my iPhone. Can you believe they needed such a giant machine to encabulate back then?

I've been threatening to cover Motion Stages for a while, I've been picking them up whenever I see an obvious 'deal.' Motion stages are (usually) small devices used to position objects, often optical elements, measurement equipment or other instrumentation. They are one of those items that my...

Perfect color choice. Mt. Shasta?

You can see the inside of the cup exposed on the right side of the second photo. It is sandwiched between that ring with the 8 cap head screws and a large round output plate on the opposite side that is essentially the inner race of the 60mm crossed roller bearing that secures it in place. That...

This is something I think a fair few of you will already know about, but it is no less fascinating despite being a little more ubiquitous than some of the other things I've covered. For those unfamiliar, you are looking at the input side of a small Harmonic Drive. Its purpose is to act as a...

Modeling heads seems intimidating to say the least, did you have some sort of 3D scan to work off of?

Last year I picked up my first BIAX power scraper, and along with the restored diamond carbide blade sharpener and a mix of home made blades and some factory ones, I started practicing on one of my smaller 'mass blocks' I had bought cheaply with a larger one I needed for the CNC. I cleaned up a...

Of coarse!* Fixed. * I knew there was a dad joke in there, but it took me a while.

On today's endeavour into the arcane I want to show you an unusual mechanism, the Differential Screw (in the form of a Micrometer in this case.) I have a large number of Micrometer heads, which are a simple calibrated screw that is used to measure or displace things in a precise way. They are...

Make sure you dry it before use, even if it is still sealed. Print slooooow and hot.

I realize I didn't show the finished product. The replacement end cap has radial vents since the motor uses an internal fan that partially exits from the rear. There is an internal piece that holds two pins that plug into the brush holders, I made the center section and the retaining cap out...