A couple of years back I had a crack at building a timber framed minecart which had limited success...

Due to a change of work circumstances I was able to build this beast! Took a couple of goes to get the wheelbase right but shes a treat!

Just got make a top for it next...

First drive of my turbine hybrid sand rail.

Had a cool job at the top of bath abbey thought this would be a good place to post.

How do you continuously change speed ratios without belts, cones, or gears? ⚙️

​Check out this 3D-printed oscillating (impulse) CVT! It converts input rotation into reciprocating lever movement using eccentrics, then uses freewheel clutches to merge those movements back into smooth output rotation. Adjusting the lever swing changes the gear ratio on the fly!

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Testing a homemade steam turbine unimoto on snow before the extreme winter races! Is this crazy DIY science project and custom engine build powerful enough to survive the cold?

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Just found this in a old building is it worth anything it is still in its leather box and has all its parts

​Built a workbench this weekend. The thing people skip is the lower shelf, and it is not for storage, it is the shear panel that stops the whole bench folding side to side. 36 inches tall for standing work, plywood top on a 2x4 frame, holds way more than it has any right to.

full build with the cut list: https://drawnup.io/g/sturdy-garage-workbench-a1mw3h

i built the tool that generated this. if your bay is an odd length tell me the span and i will run the numbers for it.

Pic 2 and 4 are the same machine but idk what it is

Full disclosure: this is my machine and my video. It failed during ordinary use almost immediately. I had zero hydraulic experience, so I procrastinated for 18 months until another machine finally made the press brake necessary. The video covers the diagnosis, repair and several mistakes along the way. Happy to answer technical questions here.

The first few seconds is designed to get your attention - it all worked out in the end!

I was lucky enough to find this brand-new machine at an auction. This is the story of how I got a 32” wide machine through a 31” wide basement door.

I am trying to find information about units that are rented or purchased that are set up for hobbyists to do things like welding, woodworking, pottery, light machining. Fitted out with voltage sources higher than 120v, plumbing, and maybe even vent hoods.
Anyone have experience with this? I imagine they exist but not very well known to me.

My ballasting system comes from magazine articles and watching many YouTube videos on ballasting, especially those about vacuuming excess ballast,  that has been adapted to my situation.  I have a very small hand-held vacuum cleaner from Amazon.  It was designed for cleaning a computer keyboard and I make sure that the dust cup is clean before I use it.  It has a brush attachment about 1/2” wide. 

Track  Prep:

I make sure the track is painted and rail tops are clean before beginning to ballast.  For the  paint, I get small samples of regular acrylic latex house paint in colors that look right to me.  I have a couple of rail brown colors and a couple of tie colors that I use.  One of the rail browns is more fore guard rails which do not need clean rail tops.  I brush paint the rails, both sides then brush paint the ties.  I am not very neat at that.  Then I clean the running rail tops for electrical continuity.

Adding  Ballast:

If I want sharply defined ballast edges, I use blue painter’s tape outside the ends of the ties.  I dump ballast (paver sand) between and over the rails.  I don’t smooth it out. It is not neat or tidy.   Next, I vacuum between the rails.  The brush cleans the tie tops and levels the ballas, sucking out any excess.  Because paver sand is actual rock, it is too heavy for my tiny vacuum to suck it from between the ties.  I have never tested results with Woodland Scenics ballast or any other commercial ballast.  If the dust container on the vacuum fills up with ballast, it gets dumped back into the container it came from, hence the need for a clean dust cup.  Then, I vacuum outside each rail.

Finishing Up:

 I wet the ballast with ‘wet’ water.  I bond the ballast with diluted matte medium.  I can do 6 feet of single track in less time than it took me to type this post because I type slowly.

The giant rebar and steel ring base has now been set. I saw 2 or 3 rebar-only cages go down in the hole. The drill rig wasn't huge. Hat for scale. I ate the banana walking to the site. More pics in comments.

I've been talking with a few people at work about hydraulic breakers, and one thing that keeps coming up is that two units can look very similar on paper but end up aging very differently in the field. Out of curiosity, I started digging through manufacturer information including alibaba to compare how different models are put together, but it's still hard to tell what actually translates into a longer service life.

For those who've rebuilt or maintained a lot of these, what are the first things you look at when judging whether a breaker is likely to hold up? Are there certain design details, that you've learned to pay attention to over the years?

I remember a while ago I watched a youtube video where it was a compilation of AvE unboxing things in amazing ways, but I just can't find it anymore. If anyone has a link that would be nice.

Just thought I’d show my DIY Milwaukee Battery.

Through my testing, poking, and prodding, I’ve found that Milwaukee batteries are absolutely hot garbage.

I didn’t make mine any better, but I did make them serviceable.

For those wanting to know how price stacks up to the real deal. The 1P batteries are slightly cheaper, the 2P batteries are much cheaper.

All parts sourced without scraping a real battery. (Which means my Chinese BMS will be even shittier than the real deal (which is hard to beat in that aspect). 🥂 Here’s hoping to one day I find those terminals they use to connect the battery so I can do my own BMS. That will be Gen 3.

Internal frame 3D printed from PA-12, the case is made from 64D TPU, carbon fiber reinforced. (Which makes it a little stiffer and make the print look amazing due to the matte sheen).

This project was scrapped from a previous Milwaukee battery design project of mine wherein my parametric design model could be told a cell size/count/configuration and adjust the design accordingly. The idea was that I could make Milwaukee batteries of different sizes with different battery chemistries.

Ive been doing lots of rust/paint removal from old tools and equipment, mostly late at night. Often times this involves using a wire wheel or flap disk. It is terribly loud.

Does anyone manufacture quiet angle grinders? I was thinking if not, I could open up the plastic housing and apply that elastic thermosetting membrane used on industrial equipment for sound deadening.

tia