Making a Knife from Scratch- First Attempt

I made this boxy carving knife out of a piece of metal that might have been part of our old doorbell. I used my angle grinder with a standard grinding disk to get the rough profile, then a flat sander on my drill press to get it closer to final. Then I used my "strip strop" (my band saw converted to a strip sander, with a worn cloth sanding belt) to finalize the edge. It is not the sharpest knife, but it's the first one I've made from scratch. The handle is made from scrap cedar that I picked up at Home Depot or Lowe's. I used my strip sander to round over the corners of the handle. Considering that my budget was zero, I think it turned out pretty good. The main mistake was that I ground the edge on the wrong side. I picked that side because it was more ergonomic to grind, but it turned out to be a left handed knife. This knife can be used for opening boxes or carving if you are left-handed. It is sharp but not pointy.

Quadraphonic UTAU Cover

One of my hobbies is mixing music with computer generated voices. So far, I have started with UST files that other people have created. These files describe the length, pitch, and pronunciation of each note. I created this mix of Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two) using UTAU software. Vocaloid is another type of software that is used for this, but it costs $500 for the base software plus $100 for each voice bank. So creating this song mix with Vocaloid would cost $900. Instead, I am using UTAU which is free with mostly free voice banks.

For this quadraphonic mix, I used four characters with different voices- Waltt, Ken Shippai, Alice 16,  and Daronavo Odalakian. I put one on each channel. Audacity only supports 2 channels, so I downloaded a new audio editor, OcenAudio, that supports plenty of channels. I set up the mix so that it sounds like a different character is singing from each corner of the room. This fully takes advantage of my speaker system.

Quadraphonic systems have largely been replaced by more advanced surround sound, so there isn't much quadraphonic music available to download. There's not even much surround sound music available, and it isn't supported by Youtube. If I upload my music to Youtube, it will be converted down to stereo (2-channel). If I put it on Google Drive instead, the integrity of the file is preserved. To get the full experience you must have a surround sound system (quadraphonic, 5.1, 7.1 etc.) You can download it or play it in newer browsers such as Chrome and Edge. Please ask before reposting.
Here's the link to my wav file:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Ia0jza4F4fMdphNz7FHNxe5EL9CWK5AW



Sources:
I got the UST file from Amzsie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXWbO5SjgGE

Strip Sander Light

Several years ago, I got a glass-cutting bandsaw from my grandpa. He hadn't used it in several years, and unfortunately the blade broke the very first time we tried it. I tried to convert it to a regular bandsaw, but then I found out that the belt had rotted. It burned through a new belt, so I superglued it back together a few times. Then I tried some alternatives such as a vacuum cleaner gasket. Somewhere along the way, the regular saw blade broke. The glass cutting blade was at least $80 to replace, and the regular one was about $20. So it sat on the shelf for a while because I didn't want to keep spending more money on it. Finally, I decided to use a roll of cloth-backed sandpaper to convert it into a belt sander. I superglued the ends of the fabric together. It has held up quite well, completely wearing the sand off the cloth before the sanding strip breaks.

The next modification was mounting it to the workbench so it wouldn't shift around. I put it next to my drill press, and I was using the light from the drill press above. But this was awkward. So next, I decided to add a separate light to it. I used an led desk lamp from IKEA. They seem to only have a smaller USB version now. Here's an affiliate link to a similar one on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2UoUmLg
To mount the light I drilled 2 quarter inch holes the right distance apart and made a quarter inch thick wooden spacer with the same hole pattern because the base from the original light was thicker than the sheet metal of the sander's box. Then I screwed the light in with some small machine screws. My dad suggested changing the switch. So then I found a toggle switch with an led. I drilled a half inch hole to mount the switch.
I installed an outlet inside the box of the strip sander so it wouldn't need an extra plug.

Quadraphonic Surround Speakers

I watched a video on quadraphonic sound. It's like the surround sound of the 1970s. Most surround sound systems these days are 5.1 or better.
I have collected a few too many speakers, so I decided to put another set to use. I already had two 4 ohm speakers on the sides of my computer monitor, and I decided to add two more on the other side of the room.
I purchased a 2x20W amplifier and installed it on the front speakers. The rear speakers are now using the old amplifier that used to be on the front speakers. The front speakers are used more so they needed a more efficient amplifier. the 2x20W class D doesn't need a heat sink. the 2x15 class A/B needs a heat sink and fan.
I used a 22 gauge 4 conductor wire running under the rug to the splitter box. I used an 18 gauge 2 conductor wire from the splitter box to the rear speakers. For the splitter "box" I used a section of wood from a peach tree with a 2 1/8 inch hole drilled in it.

I tested this setup with Minecraft. It was interesting to have the sounds of different Minecraft animals coming from different directions.  Hearing the ender dragon behind me was the most impressive.

6 pin PCIE to XT60 Adapter

Since I am going to college soon, but I'm not planning to bring my solar battery box, I will need a different way to power my computer speakers. They use about 24 Watts at max volume. My dad suggested using an AC adapter, but I don't have one of that level. Buying one would be too expensive. I was inspired to use my computer power supply because I have seen that arcade games do the same thing. Arcade games usually have Molex connectors- lots of them. I do not have any Molex connectors on my power supply but I do have a spare 6 pin PCIE connector. So I made an adapter to power my speakers from my computer power supply. That is a 6 pin PCIE to XT60 adapter.

Layered Resin Necklace

I made this colorful layered resin necklace for a friend.

I mixed EasyCast resin and hardener with small amounts of laser printer toner. The colored toner powder was from an old color laser printer that a neighbor gave me to take apart.

I tested two or three batches of resin before the final design. The first test was single color batches to see how long it took to be firm enough to add a hook or to unmold. The single color tests turned out perfect, even though I didn't follow the directions exactly. I was supposed to mix the resin in one container, remix in a 2nd container, and then pour into the mold. I used small plastic hotel shampoo bottles for the molds.
The second test batch was with two color layers. I poured the blue layer first, waited a few hours, and then poured the yellow layer. Unfortunately, I didn't wait long enough and the yellow(now green)  layer sank to the bottom while the blue layer rose to the top.

Based on these results, for the final version I waited at least 8 hours for each layer to set.

Big Air Pressure Gauge

I bought a giant air pressure gauge at a garage sale. I bought it because it looked cool, but I didn't know what units it was. It turned out to be standard psi. I removed the faceplate and cleaned the glass, but I chose to leave the rust on the case.

I had to buy a splitter from the air tool section of Lowes because they were out of stock in the plumbing section.  This one turned out to be better because it had 2 female ends and 1 male end. I have the main air flow going through the straight section and the gauge on the side with the male thread. I used a small hose because the air flow requirement of the gauge is zero.

 I mounted the gauge to a shelf in the garage next to the air compressor. Now I can see it while standing at my workbench.

I used a piece of Betaduct to hide the excess hose. The Betaduct, which is a UK brand of control panel trunking, was recycled from an old AV cart I took apart at work.

Monitor Stand

In a previous project, I made a stand for my computer speakers. The speakers are mounted to wood, with a white base that matches the desk. Then the monitor stand would sit on top of the white base. This was nice but took up too much desk depth and made it hard to do homework.

I thought about mounting the monitor on the wall, but I didn't want to make holes in my green screen wall. So I decided to add a metal mesh panel to the back of the speaker stand. I don't know what the mesh was originally designed for because I rescued it from a neighbor's trash. I used a cordless jigsaw with a blade designed for cutting steel. (Worx Axis, Amazon Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/2TY1rmm) 

I had to drill or enlarge holes in the mesh for the speaker bolts, speaker wires, monitor screws, and power cord. I also had to cut a slot for the monitor cables. Then I used Harbor Freight pink grinding wheels with a rotary tool to smooth and deburr the cut edges. They did the job but wore out way too fast.

My dad was skeptical at first and refused to help. But after I finished he agreed that it looked good. It looks almost as good as wall mounting, but it's even better because I can move it anywhere with the desk, and run the cables behind the mesh.

Keurig Switch Mod

I recently bought a Keurig for $5 at Goodwill. I wanted to see how the design of it compares to my robotic tea maker.
It takes a while for the water to preheat. That uses 1.3 kilowatts for a total (48 watt hours) to get up to temperature, and then about 500 watts periodically to maintain. But even after pressing the off button, it still uses 6 watts due to the iron core transformer for the control circuitry.
To prevent the constant 6 watts, without having to unplug it all the time, I added an extra switch. This modification makes it possible to turn it all the way off without unplugging it each time.

Teabot Upgrades

My teabot was only able to remove teabags after 3 and a half minutes, but sometimes I make tea that brews longer. So I decided to add a switch to allow for the removal of the teabag at an adjustable time. The switch determines which GPIO pin, if any, is connected to the motor. If pin 9 or pin 13 is connected to the servo, then it will remove the teabag at 3 and a half minutes or 5 minutes, respectively.
I also replaced the front panel, which was made of a very thin clear plastic, with a half inch thick acrylic panel that I got from my great uncle Mike.
There were also electrical issues. The lift motor was just barely working on the 5 volt output from the Arduino. The minimum voltage for the motor was 4.8. Sometimes it would cause electrical issues such as boot looping. So I added an LM7806 to the power board so I could run the motor off 6 volts, which is right in the middle of the voltage range.

When I reinstalled the power board, there was a short circuit between one of the inputs and the positive unregulated rail, this caused the transformer to dissipate over 100 watts and overheat, so I added a dual fuse holder, with 1 amp fuses. It would also reboot at the end of the cycle  (and start pouring the water over again), so I added an ac capacitor in parallel with the contactor

clear panel and new switch

Fuse holders