Generation Experiments
Some progress on the Dodo Automata. I’ve an Ikea frame to house the scene, some bookshelf holders to act as supports and some MDF to make the volcano and some plastic to act as the lava. I’ve also some flickering orange LEDs on order.
My plan was to have a small DC motor to generate a voltage for the LEDs. I did a quick experiment with the motor by spinning it and it only generated a tiny 0.3v which is not enough to light an LED. I did think about having a simple gearing to increase the motor speed but I don’t think that is going to be sufficient.
I took a look online and found a selection of hand-cranked generators and these all had multi-stage gearing. Most of these were either large or tricky to integrate into a project.
I do have a selection of gears that I could use to create a compound gearbox but I worry that it would tricky to make it work reliably. To save myself some grief, I’ve ordered some small DC motors with metal gearboxes. These are a better size and should be easier to mount. I made sure that the gearing was just straight gears with no worm drive. I’ve ordered a few different gear ratios so can try them out to see what voltage they generate and how hard it is to crank them.
Posted in: Dodo Automata
Tags: Electronics, generation
Cross vice riser block
Quite a few years back I looked at an Axminster Cross Vice. One of the biggest issues was the vertical height. It gave very little clearance when placed on the drill table and then too much clearance when placed on
Posted in: Tools
Tags: Cross Vice
Halloween Projects
Here’s a couple of projects that I did for HackSpace Magazine last year. You can find all the code on my Github repo, https://github.com/Workshopshed/HackSpace Skull For HackSpace #12 I teamed up with The Kuriologist and we created this monkey skull
Pi4 Gotchas
I’ve started a project based around a Raspberry Pi4 and thought I’d share some of the “gotchas” that I spotted and in some cases didn’t spot. Power The Pi4 is faster and more powerful than previous models. This means that
Posted in: Electronics
Tags: Raspberry Pi
9 Easy Ideas for Your Next Welding Project
Having DIY skills is a bittersweet thing. It is great knowing that you can build stuff, but you always feel a little bit let down when you’re in between projects and just aching to get to work. There are plenty
Top 10 Car Maintenance Tips for a Healthy Vehicle
If your car is getting a little older now, you’re probably increasingly starting to dread your next trip to the garage. A quick service could easily turn into a new camshaft here, a new head gasket there and a four-figure
Posted in: Guest
Tags: cars, maintenance, Sponsored
Kilner Jar Repair
A bit of simple kitchen repair this week. A Kilner jar is a brand of glass jar with a toggle clamp style fastener. It typically has a rubber seal between the glass lid and the glass body. Unfortunately after years
The history of British video gaming
For many of us, our workshop sheds are more than just a functional space, they are also a space for us to relax and be at ease whilst doing things we love. For some, it’s DIY, for others its scientific
Posted in: Exhibition
Tags: Sponsored
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Metal sculpture in brass, mounted on an 1800s French Coin
