Random slightly cool stuff you built but not worth its own thread, thread

[tortron]

i believe machineries handbook refers to that as a 'Japseye'

[63Ragtop]

Father in-law asked me if I could fix his numberplate light off his 1953 Ford Prefect.

Some Barry had given him piece of 2mm acrylic but he reckoned a old coke bottle works better.

From when tail lights were glass.

Stripped it down, blasted it clean, primed and painted it.

Cut out a seal for the clean glass.

Found some thin frosted plastic sheet.

Only problem is now it's the nicest thing on the car!

 

[63Ragtop]

Fuck you sistema and your shitty little clips.

 

[SOHC]

I made a Kukri, the long curved one and a British jungle knife, the round one and some more clevers

[h4nd]

Was cobbling up an RF field strength meter, so blobbed this up:

but it was deaf as a post.

I figured out that the junk shop meter is open circuit. I guess someone put more than 100uA through it at some point

I dragged out the microscope, but I couldn't see any burst wires on the coil,

Though at 0.063mm, I'd be unlikely to be able to repair it

 

edit: amusingly, it later looked like the steel spring had been cooked, the 0.063mm wire copper wire outlasted it!

[tortron]

man why would anyone do drugs when you could make wooden handles on a lathe

 

 

[cubastreet]

ready for whacking day

[SOHC]

You making a pub in the garage?

[tortron]

was there a woodworking tools thread

 

anyway

for $2 i felt there might be something decent under this santas workshop display piece

 

15 minutes with wire wheel, a couple grades of sandpaper, and some penetrol on a grey scotchpad

 

unfortunately someone had gone all over the blade with a file for some reason (but not the still kinda sharp tip? paint keying i guess), so theres no makers stamp. i could probably bring it back with the stuff i use for ground out motorcycle frame numbers. 

will tidy the steel up a bit and put it back to work without thinking too much on it

[SOHC]

Reclaimed reinforcing steel

[SOHC]

New gas forge almost done, all that plate I found, its 3/8" and 1/2" so its super heavy

[h4nd]

Nice, how you gonna insulate it?

[SOHC]

3 hours ago, h4nd said:

Nice, how you gonna insulate it?

I am going to use that 50mm ceramic fiber board and a layer of high temperature refractory cement in the bottom and a layer of board in the roof and then a layer of Kawool under the arched roof cover. actually thinking about it someone gave me some of the 25mm board.

[Bearded Baldy]

Have been learning cad to do car related activities. First off the screen is this winch mount for my cruiser. After lots of mistakes and remeasures, i sent it off to the local metalshop and got the part yesterday.

Gave it a quick etch prime and some satin black before i left work for the day.

Spent today fitting it and trimming the bumper/wiring the winch up.

Turned out mint i reckon.

[h4nd]

Prius replacement lamp, goes from 8W to about 0.25 for the same light, so more time before dome lamp does the 12V battery in. Works perfectly, except...

... except I screwed up the measuring, and it's about 3mm too short. LOL. I'll pad it out with nickel strips

[h4nd]

From V0 to V1, works and fits now.

I mean, it's not rocket-appliances

[h4nd]

I'm glad I used the bigger size of the ol' 103, so I could gob another one on here

It's a board for monitoring nature thingies, and someone's hiding under it...

[yoeddynz]

On 17/08/2025 at 12:31, tortron said:

man why would anyone do drugs when you could make wooden handles on a lathe

 

 

why not do both? 

[h4nd]

My syringe of lead solder paste arrived with a broken plunger. This did for the 1st day

But it took me a couple of days to mull over a better solution

Sustainable, reusable and an excuse to get/make a wee wood lathe

[h4nd]

So I used that to make an updated version of a 'Solar Engine' - saves solar up in a cap, turns on for a moment when there's a worthwhile store of energy (think cat toy motor, enviro monitor etc)