home improvement turns into science fair projects?

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Gold
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Re: home improvement turns into science fair projects?

Post by Gold »

I meant a Neumann lathe. It’s no more than a couple of hundred pounds. I don’t think I’d even attempt to put a Scully in there. Too heavy. Studer A80 2 tracks are fine. 24 tracks no way.

The minivan also doubles as a closet. I live in a 4th floor walk up and the studio is packed. I might as well get something for the $275 a month I pay for parking.
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JR.
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Re: home improvement turns into science fair projects?

Post by JR. »

I thought I posted this already, but here goes again...

-I tried another value C for speed control... 44 in series with 22 so approx 15uF.. still to fast but now I know.
===
My franken-lamps now have same Ls so same brightness but one died by 5am while both were rocking at 3 am. Today I swapped the batteries to eliminate the battery as the variable causing the difference.

JR

[update] I swapped the batteries, but forgot which lamp was which, so I just swapped them again, and wrote down on a piece of paper which one runs all night.

I noticed the other day while swapping batteries in direct sunlight how hot they were. High temps cannot be good for nicad life.

[/update]
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JR.
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Re: home improvement turns into science fair projects?

Post by JR. »

JR. wrote: Thu Aug 01, 2019 8:01 pm I thought I posted this already, but here goes again...

-I tried another value C for speed control... 44 in series with 22 so approx 15uF.. still to fast but now I know.
===
My franken-lamps now have same Ls so same brightness but one died by 5am while both were rocking at 3 am. Today I swapped the batteries to eliminate the battery as the variable causing the difference.

JR

[update] I swapped the batteries, but forgot which lamp was which, so I just swapped them again, and wrote down on a piece of paper which one runs all night.

I noticed the other day while swapping batteries in direct sunlight how hot they were. High temps cannot be good for nicad life.

[/update]
It took longer than it should have but I completed the battery swap experiment and this time remembered (wrote down) which was which...

The output time issue moved with the battery between lamps. This performance is still not too shabby with the bad lamp staying lit until past 3AM. That is later than I stay lit these days. :lol: If the good battery rocks all night, that raises the issue of "memory" where partial discharge of nicad over time can limit output. Hopefully the occasional cloudy day will discharge it deeper.

I guess I can stick a fork in this design tweak... (doubling the solar panel area, and reducing the lamp output increases performance). The next test will be shorter days and colder nights.

JR
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JR.
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Re: home improvement turns into science fair projects?

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This is day two after swapping in new batteries to both franken solar lamps.

This morning at 5:45AM both were burning brightly.

Next test will be shorter days and longer nights.

JR
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Re: home improvement turns into science fair projects?

Post by JR. »

Image

every weekend this gets a little better.... Most recent adjustment was to grab the rear attachment point down lower on the handle. I figured grabbing the back of the mower higher up the handle would help when the slave mower is down in the ditch to equalize height, but instead it caused an undesirable tendency for the mower to tilt up on two inner wheels, as the rear push handle gets pulled lower.

Yesterdays cutting session started with some extra drama when the running slave mower (with kill switch defeated) flipped upside down while still running. Staring down at the blade spinning full speed was interesting for about 2 seconds, but the good news is that the mower carb does not draw gas when flipped upside down so mower stalled out before I could shut it down. :oops:

I reattached the rear line lower down the push handle and the slave mower remained down on all four wheels for the rest of the cutting session. 8-)

I still can't mow the bottom of my wide ditches and far side of one ditch between my yard and a neighbor's, but being able to take two or three 22" cuts from tops of uneven rain ditches is a huge improvement (and bum knee saver).

This mower makes a nice clean cut along the length of the ditch that looks far better than my old manual mowing. I bumped one tree slightly with the big mower while paying too much attention to steering the slave... but this is a learning process, and I am still learning.

Next time I will probably tighten up the slack in the rear attachment line a little more, now it can be a little sloppy affecting precisely steering the slave after turns.

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mediatechnology
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Re: home improvement turns into science fair projects?

Post by mediatechnology »

I still can't mow the bottom of my wide ditches and far side of one ditch between my yard and a neighbor's, but being able to take two or three 22" cuts from tops of uneven rain ditches is a huge improvement (and bum knee saver).
My terraced backyard takes a similar physical toll.
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JR.
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Re: home improvement turns into science fair projects?

Post by JR. »

mediatechnology wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:32 pm
I still can't mow the bottom of my wide ditches and far side of one ditch between my yard and a neighbor's, but being able to take two or three 22" cuts from tops of uneven rain ditches is a huge improvement (and bum knee saver).
My terraced backyard takes a similar physical toll.
This was surprisingly inexpensive to implement (so far).

Cutting half the ditch is better than not cutting the ditch at all, like many of my neighbors.

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mediatechnology
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Re: home improvement turns into science fair projects?

Post by mediatechnology »

I'm sure it helps keep the snakes down.
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JR.
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Re: home improvement turns into science fair projects?

Post by JR. »

mediatechnology wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:06 pm I'm sure it helps keep the snakes down.
Filleting the snakes with the mower keeps them down too... Snakes are not very smart.

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Re: home improvement turns into science fair projects?

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JR. wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 3:51 pm
mediatechnology wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:32 pm
I still can't mow the bottom of my wide ditches and far side of one ditch between my yard and a neighbor's, but being able to take two or three 22" cuts from tops of uneven rain ditches is a huge improvement (and bum knee saver).
My terraced backyard takes a similar physical toll.
This was surprisingly inexpensive to implement (so far).

Cutting half the ditch is better than not cutting the ditch at all, like many of my neighbors.

JR
For the first time since I started my slave mower project, I finished mowing my entire rain ditches... I am icing my knee as I type, because mowing the entire ditches is not easy.

I got my money's worth out of my DR string trimmer by knocking down some 4' tall weeds my neighbor couldn't (or didn't) cut.

I am thinking of another product improvement.... a handle extension, or longer handle for my trimmer, so I can more easily push it down the sides of the ditch, without actually getting down into the ditch...(maybe for next summer). A simple 4-6' longer handle would be nice.

JR

PS: As reminder of how lucky (wealthy) we are, I just put my recently retired washing machine (25-30 years old) out on the curb for the town's once a month trash pick up tomorrow. I like to put my junk out the day before for the scavengers who cruise around the night before to cherry pick the junk. I am not sure why I waited almost a month to put this one out. It sat on my curb for less than 2 hours before somebody driving past asked if he could have it. I ended up helping him and his daughter (she took the heavy end) load it onto the back of his explorer. The fact that I helped them lift it says something about his condition, and my desire to get rid of it.
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