Recycled Soap #6

 

Another batch of recycled soap. I had several small hotel soaps. I chopped them up, added coloring and water, and reformed it into a large block of soap. 

The soap needs to have enough water to form into a block and stick together, but then afterward it needs to be dry to use without making a sticky mess. For this batch I used a mini crockpot to melt the soap, allowing me to add less water.

This time, I dried the soap by putting it in a large plastic bin with a dehumidifier. I couldn't find my hygrometer to measure the actual humidity, so I just went by the feel.

Battery Sorting System

 

I previously used boxes and plastic bags to hold batteries after they had been sorted. I also made a battery dispenser box to hold the usable AAs. But they were taking up a lot of space on my desk. So I decided to start over and make a battery sorting system. There is a tube for each category which funnels the batteries into bins on the shelf below the desk. I used a 2 1/2 inch hole saw to make holes in a strip of pallet wood. Luckily it was the right size, because the hole saw arbor was stuck and I couldn't change bits. I think the hoses are a type used for vacuums. The ridges make interesting noises when batteries are sliding through them. All the bins are stored below the desk, and I can see when the recycle bin is full and needs to be emptied. 

USB Arcade Controller

Last year for my math class, the homework was mostly online. I made lots of typos because I pressed the enter key too soon or pressed other buttons around it by accident. So that gave me the idea to build a giant numeric keypad with a joystick. My dad said I just wanted it for gaming, and I realized that was an even better idea (but don't tell him I said that).

I was inspired to build with arcade buttons because I work in an arcade. I ordered a kit for a 2 player arcade controller with 10 buttons per player. This gave me a lot of parts to work with. The controller board was not compatible with any of the programs I tried, including Minecraft or Roblox, so I decided to use the Makey Makey board I had bought at the Radio Shack going out of business sale.

For the box, I used a box from an old satellite DVR donated by a neighbor. It is made of thin painted black steel. For the joystick center holes and smaller button I was able to use a step bit to drill the holes. Unfortunately, my step drill only goes up to 25mm, and I needed 30mm holes for the larger buttons. I looked for another way to drill the holes. My grandad suggested a chassis punch, but I didn't have one. I tried the 1 1/8" hole saw that I already had, but it wasn't sharp enough. So next I shopped around for either a larger step bit or a bi-metal hole saw. I wanted either a tool that was in my budget, or a set that I could use for other projects in the future. I ended up getting a 1-1/8 inch bi-metal hole saw.

The left stick is WASD and the right stick is mouse, the lower two buttons are space, the top 2 buttons are click, and the middle button is G.

Electric Soap Dispenser

Electric soap dispensers are not a new idea, but this one is unique because it is made out of an old inkjet printer. My neighbor was getting rid of some printers and saved them for me to take apart. The roller pump was designed to handle 6 different colors of ink in an inkjet printer. I washed out most of the ink residue with clean water, but there's still a tiny bit that the soap will remove eventually. I connected all the inlets of the channels together with irrigation t-fittings. 

I added a bottle to hold liquid soap and connected it with tubing from a Keuring. It has an AC adapter built in so it doesn't use batteries. Then I added a pushbutton switch. When I press the button, six drops of soap cascade from the nozzle block onto my hand.   

Starrett Key 🗝 Caddy

I have a bad habit of leaving my drill press chuck key randomly on my work bench. I tried tying a string to it and that failed when it got caught in the chuck and flung. I searched for a spare key but couldn't find a compatible one. I spray painted the handle neon yellow. I tried making the handle longer and wrapping it in colorful Duck tape. I even posted a note on the door to remind me when leaving the workshop. None of this worked, and I still kept losing the chuck key. 

One day, I went to the animal shelter thrift store in Austin and found a Starrett key caddy. It's designed to clip onto your belt to hold keys (like car keys). I mounted it on a custom bracket where the original key holder was and zip tied the chuck key to the retractable chain. It worked perfectly! When I let go of my chuck key, it goes up and puts itself away.

Here's an Amazon Affiliate link to the key caddy: https://amzn.to/3fpItMh

Network cabinet

I built this cabinet to hide the wires near the network, phone, and TV jacks. I used IKEA "wood" cut into strips on a table saw. The cabinet door is also from IKEA, and matches the other furniture in the room. I made sure to have plenty of ventilation by leaving gaps at the top and bottom of the door as well as at the back. I measured the temperature inside, and it was just slightly above ambient.
This cabinet blocks the annoying light from the network equipment in case someone wants to sleep near it. It will also keep dust out.

Before organizing the wires

Building the cabinet was the easy part. The hard part was doing the cable management. There are 3 boxes, 3 AC adapters, a power strip, a phone splitter, 3 phone cords, 5 ethernet cables, and a coax cable. It took lots of Velcro straps to keep the cables tidy. It would be nice to have shorter ethernet cables that don't need to be looped.

After organizing the wires (and adding an additional box and AC adapter)

Teabot Cord Replacement

When I first built my tea robot, it had an 18 inch long 14/3 SJT cord. I decided to replace it with a 5 1/2 ft 16/3 HSJO cord because the short cord annoyed me.

The old short cord

There are lots of types and sizes of cords that I have learned about. Here's a website I found that has a good guide to cord types:
 https://www.interpower.com/ic/designers/designing-for-export/guides-and-charts/ULCSA-Classification-of-cords.html

The new longer cord

Several of the parts I have added to my tea robot recently have been recycled from a device I took apart. The large water tank, one of the water level sensors, tubing, and cord are all from a neighbor's broken Keurig that I wasn't able to repair. The problem with it wasn't electric or electronic- the pod chamber just wouldn't stay closed. Even if I had been able to fix it, it was annoying because it wasn't compatible with reusable pods.
One water level sensor turns the pump on when there's not enough water in the upper tank. I made a second water level sensor for the lower water tank out of metal skewers (since the probes needed to be food safe), separated by a piece of plastic to prevent short circuits. When the tea robot senses that the lower water tank is empty, it disables the pump and a pink LED lights up to let me know to refill it.

Pink LEDs are rare in most products, but they are becoming common in grow lights.

Torque Wrench

When we cleaned up my grandparents' duplex, we found some old tools. My grandpa had moved them twice before that, but then couldn't take them with him to assisted living. At that point, he wanted us to store the tools for him in case he moved back to a house again later.

What I noticed first about the torque wrench was that it was still in the box. Some of his tools were in toolboxes, and well used. Others were rusty or mixed up in the bottom of a plastic bin. There was even a screwdriver that appeared to be melted by a solvent. The torque wrench, on the other hand, was in pristine condition.

At the time, I didn't need a torque wrench. I kept it because I knew it might be useful. Last weekend, I finally got a chance to use it. I replaced the differential fluid in our pickup truck. The fluid hadn't been changed more than once in 100,000 miles. I used my impact wrench with a new 3/8 drive 1/2 inch impact socket to remove the differential cover. Then I drained the old fluid into a drain pan. It didn't look too bad, but was definitely time to change it. I used a premade gasket to seal it. I used the torque wrench with a 1/2in drive 1/2in socket to tighten the bolts in a star pattern to 30 ft-lbs of torque. Then I refilled with the recommended fluid and put the fill plug back in.

Making a Knife from Scratch- Second Attempt

This is my second attempt at making a knife. This time, I used part of a dishwasher door bracket for the metal blade. I beveled the correct side for right-hand away cutting use. I also made the bevel angle more acute. It’s still the same basic square shape as the last one, but like a mirror image. Just like the previous version, I used scrap cedar that I picked up at either Lowe's or Home Depot. I used my angle grinder to cut the blank and to rough grind the bevel. Then I used my strip sander to sharpen the blade and round over the handle. It’s not the sharpest knife because I am still honing my honing skills. It’s good enough for opening boxes and carving balsa.

More Teabot Upgrades

I have made a lot of changes since my last post about 6 months ago. I replaced the servo motor with a waterproof one. I added a start button with a "breathing" light effect programmed through the Arduino. Then I upgraded the heat sink to make room for the button's MOSFET. I descaled the coffee maker part, and it made such a difference that I had to reduce the heater time so the cup wouldn't overflow, without reducing the cycle time. I replaced the switch cover with a waterproof one that has a sideways lever.

New blue servo motor

Green flashing start button

New main power switch

After all those changes, I used it for awhile. And then changed it even more! I salvaged parts from a neighbor's broken Keurig. I added the 90 ounce water tank which means I don't have to refill very often. From the Keurig parts, I also used a pump, output check valve, and the water level sensing pins from the heater tank. I have a MOSFET to turn the pump on when the sensing pins are above water. I attached an MDF base so it's easier to move the whole thing. And last, I added labels to make it easier for my mom to understand the purpose of all the switches.

pump, valve, and tank

Programming port