Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cerebus]

We realise it has to be bad, since it has reached mainstream news over here.

We normally learn of momentous and terrible events overseas thusly:

Terrible events in some other country - n Britons feared missing

n Britons are fearing missing in some other country where a nasty event has left 1000s of people missing and 100s feared dead. Mr. Smith of some tiny village, Backwatershire says "My sister is in some other country and we haven't heard from her in 24 hours. cont. p 96

If there are no Brits involved we don't necessary hear about it unless we actually bother reading the overseas section of the newspaper.

The wild fires in Aus have reached the level of note here that the story is appearing near the front of the paper without the normally obligatory reference to Britons in the headline. Although at the moment they have been upstaged by the volcano in NZ.

The only thing I can say in defence of Britain's mainstream media is that it is less parochial than US mainstream media.

[mnementh]

Or you would maybe to a neater job with a stone for sharpening scythes. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=scythe+sharpening+stone&_sacat=0

Those would work; some even mention billhooks specifically - but none of the pictures have quite such a pronounced hook.

I have used similar hooks on long handles way back when for Thistles. I even used a Scythe ONCE for fun then got out the Brushcutter out for the Bracken as Scythes are to much like hard work for scrub.

I love using that billhook, but only for small gardening trimming jobs, e.g. taking twigs off a branch so that both can go in a chipper.

Scythes look great, but also look hard work. It can't have been fun when they were the only way to cut wheat crops.

That's really the only thing they're meant for; grasses and grains with a soft, dry stalk that cuts easily with a pulling/sawing motion. You'll get Popeye forearms like mine just using them for that.  The joint at the head is not meant to handle the load of anything strong enough to cause real impact; even if you don't break the haft, you'll eventually wear/smash the wood down in the gullet of the clamp to the point where you just can't tighten the head anymore. This requires replacing the haft or shortening it and whittling a new gullet on the haft; you can do this maybe twice before the haft is too short and the recurve is at the wrong angle for it to be usable.

A scythe is a tool that has been refined over millennia of evolutionary engineering; it really has been pared down to the absolute minimum required to do its one job extremely well. Trying to use it for anything else is the wrong tool for the job. I learned this viscerally spring over summer over fall of tending electric fences on 300+ acres. 

mnem
"I've got blisters on my blisters!!!"

[mnementh]

8 hours and no posts  Lucky I have been working on Zombie apocalypse defense today 

Tested out the files  Practiced draw filing on the edge (I am more rusty than the Hatchet was before I started)  Linseed Oiled the handle and will tidy up the edge tomorrow on the stones as now it is well past Beer O'Clock.....

How would you recommend sharpening the concave cutting edge on this billhook?   

If you want to get rid of the rust patina on the flats of the blade, use a sanding block with 120 grit for the rough work, then wet-sand with 220 & 320 grit in a circular motion to buff it out. You'll still have some dark pits & spots; this is the "character" of the blade. Learn to love that "character" as you do the knife itself. Do this BEFORE you start sharpening the edge; it will make your work much easier and will help you cut the bevel more smoothly.

I would use a Dremel with either diamond cylinder or a 3/8"-1/2" 80-120 grit sanding drum and a chainsaw sharpening guide to do the heavy hogging out of metal required to get a proper bevel on that compound curve; this will probably need grinding on both faces. You have several deep nicks in the edge; given the usual applications for a billhook, I'd probably ignore them and NOT try to level them out. If you're a bit more careful in its use, those will disappear over the next 5-10 regular sharpenings or so.

After that, draw-filing with a large mill file (you've already done the bastard work with the Dremel) on the straight edges, then finish it all with the cylindrical/oval profile stones. You may be tempted to do the curved areas with a half-round file; DON'T. They're usually only available in a double-cut face (like a bastard file) and you really never want to use anything but a single-cut face for sharpening.

Get in the habit of touching it up with the stones every 5-10 uses for a while to establish a proper edge over time... this will yield the best edge while costing you the least irreplaceable metal on a tool that has important memories attached.



Cheers!

mnem
*final cut*

[BU508A]

For all of our Nixie fanboys here:

Dalibor Farny has tested Nixie tubes at 100kHz:

[bd139]

Random 3d print attempt... Can I make a single piece morse single paddle to stick on the front of a QRP Labs QCX? Place your bets. Printing now...



Needs added two brass screws, two bits of brass shim and some wire to make it work.

[kj7e]

Just got 2 linears for my tnut-side





Also have a 24v linear on the way for my "new"  10811 OCXO

/Bingo

While this would have been cheaper, I had fun just building my own 3amp LDO linear supply for a pair of GPSDO's and a distribution amp.  Used a MIC29300-12WT regulator, the hard part was distributing the high thermal density.  Used a ceramic TO-220 insulator and added a polished aluminum heat spreader (out of some scrap aluminum plate) and bonded it with high thermal conductive epoxy to the Hammond box.  I wanted a super clean dedicated source that ran cool for 24/7 operation, and it came out great. I didn't document it very well, I just tossed it together.  Need to pull it out as it sits behind my DSO and see whats in it.

[Saskia]

...- ...- ...- -.- ...- ...- ...- -.- .-- --.. -.. .-- --.. -..

yes, it's music ...

sorry, not authorized to give a translation

[BU508A]

...- ...- ...- -.- ...- ...- ...- -.- .-- --.. -.. .-- --.. -..

yes, it's music ...

sorry, not authorized to give a translation

You mean, similar to this?

-. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- --. .. ...- . -.-- --- ..- ..- .--. -. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- .-.. . - -.-- --- ..- -.. --- .-- -. -. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- .-. ..- -. .- .-. --- ..- -. -.. .- -. -.. -.. . ... . .-. - -.-- --- ..- -. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- -- .- -.- . -.-- --- ..- -.-. .-. -.-- -. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- ... .- -.-- --. --- --- -.. -... -.-- . -. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- - . .-.. .-.. .- .-.. .. . .- -. -.. .... ..- .-. - -.-- --- ..-

[kj7e]

...- ...- ...- -.- ...- ...- ...- -.- .-- --.. -.. .-- --.. -..

yes, it's music ...

sorry, not authorized to give a translation

When I first started to learn code, age 9, I remember an instructor saying think of Beethoven fifth symphony ...- for V or roman numeral 5.  To this day I cant hear ...- without hearing it in the tune of Beethoven.

[mnementh]

27 RU:      Cost: The time and fuel to pick it up.

Looks to me like the perfect home for a couple Tevo Tornadoes/CReality CR-10s.

mnem
*nukular*

[BU508A]

Random 3d print attempt... Can I make a single piece morse single paddle to stick on the front of a QRP Labs QCX? Place your bets. Printing now...



Needs added two brass screws, two bits of brass shim and some wire to make it work.

I'll bet one pack of Gummibears (Haribo) that it'll work out. And will burst into flames after 10 seconds or so.

[bd139]

That can be organised 

[mnementh]

That's much too pretty for our little corner of the intardnet. will be along any minute now to fix that with some fresh smurf-squeezins... 

mnem
*agitating-ily*

[xrunner]

YES! 

Random 3d print attempt... Can I make a single piece morse single paddle to stick on the front of a QRP Labs QCX? Place your bets. Printing now...



Needs added two brass screws, two bits of brass shim and some wire to make it work.

[mnementh]

...- ...- ...- -.- ...- ...- ...- -.- .-- --.. -.. .-- --.. -..

yes, it's music ...

sorry, not authorized to give a translation

When I first started to learn code, age 9, I remember an instructor saying think of Beethoven fifth symphony ...- for V or roman numeral 5.  To this day I cant hear ...- without hearing it in the tune of Beethoven.

Well, yes... they share a common root. Morse code is a mathematically derived alphabet; patterns chosen specifically to be identifiable even in heavy cross-channel interference. Music is mathematics out loud; so obviously there has to be both in Morse Code. 

mnem

[med6753]

That's much too pretty for our little corner of the intardnet. will be along any minute now to fix that with some fresh smurf-squeezins... 

mnem
*agitating-ily*

I have no idea what you're talking about and I'm not so sure you know either.  The Canadian Winter getting to you already? Got cabin fever? Better suck it up Sunshine...got at least 4 more months of this. 

[mnementh]

Fine.... you made me... 

      

   

   Here, I made one JUST so you could dress up for the holidays:   

mnem
 

[tautech]

Although at the moment they have been upstaged by the volcano in NZ.

And about that......authorities over here are as dumb as fuck a sack full of hammers !

There's a few small islands around our coast that are totally closed to the public in order to protect the pristine flora and fauna  and you can be fined if caught setting foot ashore onto them.

Yet, our one small offshore active volcano that was once inhabited with a small scale sulphur mine has previously erupted and took a dozen guys lives a century ago, had a 5.4 mag earthquake a week or more back and our GNS (https://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Our-Science/Natural-Hazards-and-Risks )raised the threat level one notch and still let the also dumb tourist operators take innocents to their deaths !

Really what's up with gubbermints, restrict access to pristine islands and yet give greedy tourist operators access to islands that with a tiny cough of natures processes might KILL YOU !

Dumb as a sack full of hammers !
/Rant

[Saskia]

<rant>
get the tourist operators to work as chemical plant workers in a FOOF or ClF3 lab and double their current pay.
The will give no shits of a f**k about the warning signs.
</rant>

[med6753]

   Here, I made one JUST so you could dress up for the holidays: 

mnem
 

Holy crap....you're stalking me!  Either that or I have a secret admirer. Sorry pal.....you're not my type.   

[tautech]

 
Missed out with a last second evilBay snipe on a P6021 current probe....and still it was cheap ! ....went for $204 ! 

[Saskia]

Does anybody by any chance have a still functional KSS123a laser module floating around ?

[Kosmic]

I'm done printing the first batch (and hopefully the only one) of upgrades for the Ender 3. Now I need to dismantle half the machine to install them on 



Made couples of errors but overall the process is fairly easy. The tools (Cura, Fusion360) are incredibly powerful I'm impressed.

[bd139]

Ender 3 FTW!

Mine is as yet unmodified other than glass bed. Today's creation, which works, which was also quite surprising. Not perfect so needs some fettling with the design. I made a couple of holes too small for the screw heads (I just eyeballed it so my fault entirely). But the idea works!

So input from FreeCAD I put together while in a meeting today (yes still no Fusion 360 - don't need it, don't want it  )



Output. Little fettling other than removing a difficult to reach support underneath the paddle arm. Turned out some 0.6mm PCB rammed under it did the job. Contacts are squares of 0.6mm thick FR4 PCB substrate glued to the paddle arm.



In action, to prove it just doesn't look pretty. Please excuse my shitty sending. This is literally the third thing I've sent on this key. Not got used to it yet.



About two years ago I was introduced to 3d printing here and skipped it. And here I am  . Thanks all - another TEA thread initiated tool in the box!

[Saskia]

Where is Capacitor Claus ?



when you need him ?



honestly.



I need to drive to Reichelt over the week end ...