tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10374071415601254412024-03-12T17:16:00.628-07:00Short CircuitA Compilation Of My Electronic And Woodworking Projects.David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-69678482840416885462019-12-04T18:02:00.003-08:002019-12-04T18:12:00.356-08:00Paddy's Pub Shadowbox<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I made two of these shadowboxes of the Always Sunny In Philadelphia facade. I made one for my sister and brother-in-law's 30th birthday because they really love the show, and the other I made with the intent to sell, but I have it hanging in my den instead. I actually did these over a year ago, but I have been really bad at posting my projects. This will most likely just be a dump of the photos I managed to find. My old phone got damaged and I haven't been able to retrieve the rest yet.</div>
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Finding a straight image of the bar was pretty hard, but it made the work really easy after printing it to scale.<br />
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Why make one when you can make two for twice the price.<br />
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The foil ball worked great at making texture on the brick. <br />
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I wish I had a picture of the facade outside of the shadowbox... <br />
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Some Post project research. We were in Las Angeles this summer and tracked down the actually building they use for the outside of Paddy's. Supposedly Danny DeVito was just there moments before this. Darn!<br />
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Fun Fact: This building is used in a whole lot of films and the like. I know Fast and Furious used it, and Kelly pointed out the building in an old gogurt commercial from the 90s. Yeah, sometimes we watch old commercials for fun.David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-17163157950642066312018-12-26T18:30:00.000-08:002018-12-26T18:30:36.687-08:00Merry Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-87708167124700519302017-03-15T17:53:00.001-07:002017-10-17T19:27:58.224-07:00Squirtles Tank Renovation<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.potatoprojects.com/2017/03/box-turtle-enclosure.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSj-CWhN0R_sQR8e27oVH9lP3sjXS8kHZXkMPj7_dVcdgNwlim74DD4T2nLeYU5jZ2H4bAN1NheGMeEP6MbGD_bNFY_3Z2TUBHqb6r2MIlLEgNBdYcqoPgqNUxQwRvsHD2EJJMGVFdS0/s400/20170303_234542.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They're hunting us.</td></tr>
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Many nights before falling asleep I would stare over at my turtle's enclosure and long for something better. Hours of thought were spent trying to come up with a more suitable design. Something automated, cleaner and easier to maintain. This is my 4th, and perhaps not the final, attempt at creating just that.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDMDNbzUNG83WlzvUm7VSbH18deRQbLq9pHxVCLDKBYQZfkz8gOuUr6qYyv5thf5vqG6d_5oU-GMeNv-Ftzbuq0-_174MbpEz9wt1lCrQmmKYZbeyyMELifgGgZOziI1qaX_D38vKMRxs/s1600/20170312_183620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDMDNbzUNG83WlzvUm7VSbH18deRQbLq9pHxVCLDKBYQZfkz8gOuUr6qYyv5thf5vqG6d_5oU-GMeNv-Ftzbuq0-_174MbpEz9wt1lCrQmmKYZbeyyMELifgGgZOziI1qaX_D38vKMRxs/s400/20170312_183620.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up to date photo for your convenience </td></tr>
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<a href="http://assets.pokemon.com/assets/cms2/img/pokedex/full/007.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://assets.pokemon.com/assets/cms2/img/pokedex/full/007.png" height="200" width="200" /></a>In the summer of 2012, I was driving with my dad down the road from the house where my grandparents had lived in southern Indiana. On the road in front of us, I saw a turtle in front of our truck. I yelled for him to stop before he ran it over. Luckily he stopped in time and the turtle was fine. After getting out and grabbing the turtle, I took it back to the truck to show him. He knew right away that this was a terrapin. All I knew was that it was indeed a turtle. He asked if I was going to keep it, and honestly, the thought hadn't even occurred to me. I thought for a second and decided yeah, why not. That moment after I decided to keep the turtle, it peed on me. So naturally I named my new turtle Squirtle, after the Pokemon. I set her into an old Jimmy Johns 6 gallon pickle bucket, and we went on our way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-iWLij3KNfl0v5xVDwefhLHIPXXCDQLH54_7czFrtqbDZrug7TaE5nrn6hJ2kdY8IWuOlbFG5DhJc4PBQZysSgMlbSwFVWhGMWOP6qBynUcpmpuY1Qb792Clrb62iIn03G8XBvqSgOoA/s1600/Status_iucn3.1_VU.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-iWLij3KNfl0v5xVDwefhLHIPXXCDQLH54_7czFrtqbDZrug7TaE5nrn6hJ2kdY8IWuOlbFG5DhJc4PBQZysSgMlbSwFVWhGMWOP6qBynUcpmpuY1Qb792Clrb62iIn03G8XBvqSgOoA/s1600/Status_iucn3.1_VU.png" /></a>Later I learned that Squirtle is a female common box turtle of the species Terrapene Carolina. Knowing what I know now, I should have helped that turtle across the road and went about my life. The <i><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrapene_carolina_carolina" title="Terrapene carolina carolina">Terrapene c. carolina</a> </i>is a protected subspecies of the common box turtle classified as a vulnerable species. Their numbers are dwindling in part from urban development and the international pet trade. The common box turtle is listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES). Removing this species from its natural habitat is now prohibited in many states. By the time I learned this, it was too late. I had her in captivity long enough that reintroducing her to the wild would likely be detrimental to her and the other creatures. So I had two options: take her to a wildlife center that would possibly care for her or do my best to take care of her myself. I have been choosing the latter ever since.<br />
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I learned quickly that these turtles are quite the escape artists. I had removed her from the bucket and temporarily placed her outside, into a whiskey barrel that had long been used as a planter. The soil in the planter had to have been at least a foot and a half deep into the barrel. I thought surely she wouldn't get out. After coming back outside around an hour later, I discovered she escaped from the barrel. I was so hard pressed to believe she could climb out that I asked around to see if my relatives took her out. I figured if she did get out, she probably crawled over to the trees and foliage alongside the sound barrier for the interstate. I found her after about 3 minutes. Afterward, I placed her back into the barrel and sat back and watched her escape. I was amazed to see her find her footing and pull herself up and out of the barrel. After landing on the back of her shell, she looked hopeless and in need of assistance. But no, she used her head and rolled herself back and forth before finally righting herself up and continuing on back to the foliage. <br />
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Thinking back, one of my first assumptions on the turtle's whereabouts should have been birds of prey. Owls and hawks will often swoop down and grab them if presented with the opportunity. These turtles don't have the best eyesight and are as slow as a turtle, so they aren't well suited for escape. So this species is one of the few that evolved to be able to pull themselves into their shell and close the lid completely. A bird or animal is going to have a hard time trying to pry these things apart. Unfortunately for our turtle friends, they still have one weakness: gravity. Large birds have learned of this weakness and exploited it by carrying the closed turtle high into the air and dropping it over the hard, dense rock.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only picture I have of the plywood habitat</td></tr>
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Squirtle was back in the pickle bucket for the ride home to Illinois. When we got back, I built a small habitat out of plywood and plexiglass. She had one of those half log hideaways for a home, coconut choir for substrate, a small feeding dish and a very small pond dish for drinking. I was able to lift the plexiglass window in the front up and out when I needed access to the tank for cleaning and feeding. This seamed fine for the first few days but very soon I learned it just wasn't good enough. She didn't have adequate light, there were no plants, and the red worms that would escape her dinner were drying up soon after that. In fact, everything was too dry. And I learned something else pretty quick about these turtles too; they prefer to defecate in the water. So her drinking dish became her poop dish overnight. It was time to get something new.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe42tObMBVOTlyMu7Jm4vkDJSMferWXPf_sv12uCzDPmtfejaThYFgJjtAzziPaoyH9EQXLbMzz5BdHikJneZ-X6jdMdE_ps2zjZg4bKIR2VHCgZodKYXW54D86SuEEhLbWRoYdVII_XE/s1600/Photo05051930_2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe42tObMBVOTlyMu7Jm4vkDJSMferWXPf_sv12uCzDPmtfejaThYFgJjtAzziPaoyH9EQXLbMzz5BdHikJneZ-X6jdMdE_ps2zjZg4bKIR2VHCgZodKYXW54D86SuEEhLbWRoYdVII_XE/s320/Photo05051930_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCiLC4R51jgNBj8ohUVj_K614NqP42S8DSHBCrKfp_jtqHhTazsnT5r0xnYetSUVMLcKXijXeKAUG5Myp0R0C3rEgs0_69CoVGPZIWhxPNiOjUtS11Acpnf1jpEmoReQYRhQ694mAjzM/s1600/Photo05051931.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCiLC4R51jgNBj8ohUVj_K614NqP42S8DSHBCrKfp_jtqHhTazsnT5r0xnYetSUVMLcKXijXeKAUG5Myp0R0C3rEgs0_69CoVGPZIWhxPNiOjUtS11Acpnf1jpEmoReQYRhQ694mAjzM/s320/Photo05051931.jpg" width="320" /></a> I found some communities online for terrariums, vivariums, and paludariums and started on my own. I picked up an <a href="http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/natural_terrarium_large.php">Exo-Terra 36x18x18</a> tank with the capacity for about 11 gallons of water at the base, and 2 hinged glass doors on the front. I made a land mass out of rock and soil on the left side of the tank and a slope into a filtered pond on the right. I planted moss and ground cover into the soil, placed leaf litter around her hideaway and had a new light fixture on the top with bulbs that would mimic night and day. In the water I had some blue LED lighting that looked pretty neat from the outside. The worms that would escape her dinner thrived just under the soil and procreated, giving the turtle a chance to hunt for protein at her heart's content. She enjoyed the water much better than the poop bowl she had before. And now that she had a light, she would climb on the top of her hideaway and bask for hours.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7z8rQSFF1JmMHaQCFqgv7iD2RnRWojFDiFxMAmot_NKia3hErAo-igDE77AJ0W3j9PuHC5_bfrY4tXkIWgFp5fBTfXpblrLtUNIFQ-okVlkLFUz5b2IkcZBroKG3sYfovMEe-qtyybWw/s1600/Photo05051930.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7z8rQSFF1JmMHaQCFqgv7iD2RnRWojFDiFxMAmot_NKia3hErAo-igDE77AJ0W3j9PuHC5_bfrY4tXkIWgFp5fBTfXpblrLtUNIFQ-okVlkLFUz5b2IkcZBroKG3sYfovMEe-qtyybWw/s320/Photo05051930.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lush Paradise</td></tr>
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I was proud of this setup now. After all, it was a lot better than the dry plywood enclosure of before. Unfortunately, it soon changed from being a lush green paradise to a desolate, dirty wasteland. The dirt would easily erode into the water, and the filter was constantly clogged with mud. The land mass, because it was being supported by a mound of rock pebbles, was displacing so much water that I probably only had about 3 gallons in the tank. The soil was so saturated with water that plants were not able to survive for very long. When she would soak, she would involuntarily kick up dirt and debris causing the water to look like a murky mess. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnFgez-HARtgvQujE0nuC74JGj4r6lTRDLhF2RFxX0mIoWR1y355bQDpDBKhBaLxxdhuqr-LR4MUn88PQAL2ZRZEC2K3T5Pd-LKxErHSbbqoCllLAza2Wmb_xuhIpOmWruIx0qelq68A/s1600/20170220_161029.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnFgez-HARtgvQujE0nuC74JGj4r6lTRDLhF2RFxX0mIoWR1y355bQDpDBKhBaLxxdhuqr-LR4MUn88PQAL2ZRZEC2K3T5Pd-LKxErHSbbqoCllLAza2Wmb_xuhIpOmWruIx0qelq68A/s320/20170220_161029.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Murky Wasteland</td></tr>
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I knew I needed a way to separate the water and land. I needed to create a raised platform for the soil to sit in so that it could behave like a flower pot instead of a swamp. This would give plants the chance to thrive, as well as help maintain a cleaner pond environment for the added volume of water. I wasn't sure what material I was going to use for the platform. I was originally thinking I would sculpt a mold and vacuum form a strong plastic insert I could place inside and cover with dirt and rock. I was not convinced it would be strong enough and didn't want to invest in building a vacuum former to find out. After long consideration, I settled on cement. I would make the inverse of what I wanted and cast the insert out of cement.<br />
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Creating the mold for the cast was a very tricky thing to think about. I basically had to attach material everywhere I didn't want cement and leave negative space everywhere I did want it. On top of that I had to be able to pour my cement mixture into everywhere I needed it. So the mold had to be assembled in multiple pieces during the pouring process.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DXfKH7AsSlsbQIlItXPv7SpT3lLQQWp-oHUqfEH9GdT4oaxTLfAQPZrcnahEkRGIZh0B3TVjVebL8kN2RSH7EeWRvK1eEKc1OAaspu07W1Ah9bxvU_Wg1HNriHdtbPPz4WuTvCqH2SI/s1600/20170218_182111.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DXfKH7AsSlsbQIlItXPv7SpT3lLQQWp-oHUqfEH9GdT4oaxTLfAQPZrcnahEkRGIZh0B3TVjVebL8kN2RSH7EeWRvK1eEKc1OAaspu07W1Ah9bxvU_Wg1HNriHdtbPPz4WuTvCqH2SI/s320/20170218_182111.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Makeshift hot knife using nichrome wire</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1tgpklQBTsbZgRvGT8R4oNp5eUoWH78T_rPctAb5cD4FFWgZlYO9UJ55FPsYekjfUjp1n1QCVmwPMXjCTw9ZwhwS79C2Cnb9Zyv-ExA-F-nsVpDR4rbCYFt36TqKHh-D_ytQuqCiZsQ8/s1600/20170219_171951.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1tgpklQBTsbZgRvGT8R4oNp5eUoWH78T_rPctAb5cD4FFWgZlYO9UJ55FPsYekjfUjp1n1QCVmwPMXjCTw9ZwhwS79C2Cnb9Zyv-ExA-F-nsVpDR4rbCYFt36TqKHh-D_ytQuqCiZsQ8/s320/20170219_171951.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foam supports for the top piece</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJz54-6IdMa3iPSr6ns5dEWT1TadXdPF-tnubCuWXKGlJsven1VEatPCy8xbfXewZANt7jbMQu62oFnGgkmJutWlgHzaaYlwDt_iE8s0AN0eAAm_8f6I5RZGR1tOGmHiiy28alfobkm4g/s1600/20170219_163056.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJz54-6IdMa3iPSr6ns5dEWT1TadXdPF-tnubCuWXKGlJsven1VEatPCy8xbfXewZANt7jbMQu62oFnGgkmJutWlgHzaaYlwDt_iE8s0AN0eAAm_8f6I5RZGR1tOGmHiiy28alfobkm4g/s320/20170219_163056.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anywhere I wanted empty space needed to have foam</td></tr>
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I started the mold by measuring the inner dimensions of my tank and making a mock up version of the tank out of plywood, leaving 10.5 inches for the entrance to the water feature. I designed a very basic 2-dimensional version of what I wanted using CAD and printed out templates for cutting the foam. The foam cutting proved to be very slow using my hobby knife, so I made an electric foam cutter using nichrome wire and an ATX power supply. It worked pretty well, though I had to limit the current due to the foam melting so fast. The hot wire melted the foam right along the lines I drew and, after a light sanding, left nice smooth arches. I set those arches into the box and made precise measurements for the
foam that would go in between. Since I wanted water to be where the foam inserts were, I had to prevent cement from getting through the cracks. Anything
that wasn't a good tight fit needed to be sealed with hot glue before
pouring the cement. I cut small support blocks to hold up the
center piece of foam between the arches. The cement mixture was sure to be quite heavy, and I wanted to be certain the foam wouldn't bow or break where the ceiling was going to be. Most of the foam pieces were hot glued together. Unfortunately, I had to use my older glue gun because my new Dewalt one made the glue so hot it melted right through the foam.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNhf0s2uRs95PJI-lQnU4IeeHo3X6on0lUXUNGPkeyOLg-XkdMuoKwOaXYbuegTaN83vfZRTthSBffmP-19hk3xCg2RmqTrN724rttbJ1HqaHahm41e78KnIkw4Xl2RmAzc3avv-_icY/s1600/20170219_203449.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNhf0s2uRs95PJI-lQnU4IeeHo3X6on0lUXUNGPkeyOLg-XkdMuoKwOaXYbuegTaN83vfZRTthSBffmP-19hk3xCg2RmqTrN724rttbJ1HqaHahm41e78KnIkw4Xl2RmAzc3avv-_icY/s320/20170219_203449.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken wire to help support the floor/ceiling</td></tr>
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I wasn't sure how necessary it would be, but I used chicken wire to help support the cement surface that would bear the weight of the dirt and rock on top, kind of like rebar. The following foam pieces were glued to where the cement platform would be in order to create access points for various additions or maintenance: four 3" x 4" holes at the corners and one 5" x 5" hole in the center. The center hole will chute up and beyond the dirt level for easy access at anytime to the water below. Later, it will be covered with rock. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqloQd6qKi83UnweKfW4BiHyj3PB3MiEYiWyinFIHJTRlVDdb0y8SaXS6-2s-l1DqtTvLBPJrItKWyKdIdzcu3Bchf30D4ozgGIZRiFt4yAcBk96JOYWBtz7mINAhgnulyI6-MSJTff2Q/s1600/20170219_200914.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqloQd6qKi83UnweKfW4BiHyj3PB3MiEYiWyinFIHJTRlVDdb0y8SaXS6-2s-l1DqtTvLBPJrItKWyKdIdzcu3Bchf30D4ozgGIZRiFt4yAcBk96JOYWBtz7mINAhgnulyI6-MSJTff2Q/s320/20170219_200914.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only 1 chance to get it right or I have to make it all over</td></tr>
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Because the cement structure had walls and a floor, but I only had 1 pour to create the structure, I had to make an additional part of the mold that would hold the liquid cement down, which would allow the walls to rise to the top. Before pouring, I laid everything out in the order it needed to go back into the frame while pouring.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyWPtKUJ1t_0kjqSNO8RVQOiCvV6jcz0Vejwg6Jeb8GZGWPGzQN_Si_bG5UGxf2MAkQ7mrLvs7LuQPMbSrAqjsDGEELkXuLQe88Lj8zMrxoSds2MqVl2hXQkpWCQDsxVEHKMcazsrEe4/s1600/20170220_162702.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyWPtKUJ1t_0kjqSNO8RVQOiCvV6jcz0Vejwg6Jeb8GZGWPGzQN_Si_bG5UGxf2MAkQ7mrLvs7LuQPMbSrAqjsDGEELkXuLQe88Lj8zMrxoSds2MqVl2hXQkpWCQDsxVEHKMcazsrEe4/s320/20170220_162702.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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I didn't get a chance to make a video or take any pictures during the actual pour and mixing. The cement formula I used was 1 part water : 2 parts cement : 4 parts play sand. I actually ran out and had to mix more about halfway through. I tried to get the consistency the same but, as you will see further down, the difference is visible.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawJgfcsC1U62tCPZhwrLnk2EdeYROi_G01G85t0o1cb5qTyv94tSBgPsvZDgbskjbmSOPdiydo2Sxo6O7xALbN_tNEuBMTI7c-tWWaSZbKYHeQfb-_DHmz3-he44FqPPPp2wxA2ZQl8A/s1600/20170220_164137.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawJgfcsC1U62tCPZhwrLnk2EdeYROi_G01G85t0o1cb5qTyv94tSBgPsvZDgbskjbmSOPdiydo2Sxo6O7xALbN_tNEuBMTI7c-tWWaSZbKYHeQfb-_DHmz3-he44FqPPPp2wxA2ZQl8A/s320/20170220_164137.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj735vi6G4GEO_KY_URfK-piVPXzbVB9xLl0nMlaIiVQD0qCeO8CJBVrK3eUcLVW2XwyJEWCPYi9rO1RWYFOMn2o58wIphp-u4K0k48sHf5krmQ7XnnVc7bguTn8cHdH8Jn4cBS4fcA7Xs/s1600/20170220_173017.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj735vi6G4GEO_KY_URfK-piVPXzbVB9xLl0nMlaIiVQD0qCeO8CJBVrK3eUcLVW2XwyJEWCPYi9rO1RWYFOMn2o58wIphp-u4K0k48sHf5krmQ7XnnVc7bguTn8cHdH8Jn4cBS4fcA7Xs/s320/20170220_173017.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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I let the cement sit for nearly 30 hours before giving in and ripping the wooden walls down. I was nervous about using a hammer to bang the walls off each other. They were glued together pretty tight; I hadn't used any nails. I decided to start off using clamps, and I slowly increased pressure until one side just popped off. Some of the boards broke multiple places, and I did end up using a hammer after gaining confidence the shock wave wouldn't damage the cast. What was left after removing the walls was to tediously remove the foam that remained in the structure. This is why I knew I only had one shot at this. The mold wasn't going to easily slide off the casting. I chiseled, stabbed and hammered the foam into bits to get it out. By the time I was done, I think maybe only one piece was left intact. After getting all the foam out, I was left with a heavy rough casting with uneven surfaces and flashing near where all the joints were. I filed down the rough spots and defined the arches in more detail until I was left with something close to what I had originally imagined.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8GDIlW7qYtYOO8VYCz5a4SlkKTyc5ZWMrBWsZgmuK3Av9uaNoSvqoU4EaZ6BqhIe58VgCruk1bsHnVv2-XGAL1laW5hhiF_QT0VbM02N7ZnwJieSn2fTuKO9vpnveItF05AYw2pWm3Q/s1600/20170220_181632.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8GDIlW7qYtYOO8VYCz5a4SlkKTyc5ZWMrBWsZgmuK3Av9uaNoSvqoU4EaZ6BqhIe58VgCruk1bsHnVv2-XGAL1laW5hhiF_QT0VbM02N7ZnwJieSn2fTuKO9vpnveItF05AYw2pWm3Q/s400/20170220_181632.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3eAJsJw4PPX37PP7eUhhwkMhUi2L9gSiYH1rBP7fDtVaKoLdXhjyR8zKfHl2s2lFsf43pes67HmczzeEJxMxQ9MOsSMp4QJ5KowoOiTuCs0TFOs95SMuS69tyBgRFKhDgRqyEGpE4VkQ/s1600/20170220_181601.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3eAJsJw4PPX37PP7eUhhwkMhUi2L9gSiYH1rBP7fDtVaKoLdXhjyR8zKfHl2s2lFsf43pes67HmczzeEJxMxQ9MOsSMp4QJ5KowoOiTuCs0TFOs95SMuS69tyBgRFKhDgRqyEGpE4VkQ/s400/20170220_181601.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Access holes in the ceiling for future peripherals. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3agLkXo0g9KmT-i2EBv8xuK9Y5WHXsB-YhsxVsrZ-60L6s2tHdv-IFsDlWPv3nUzO2GqOaRqWuEL9qlW6shdRLX4AaGCnUXNnJcY_37-L-F1nqmEbBgMiHjcKOty3fFIZDfQ9JFIvw0/s1600/20170222_225131.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3agLkXo0g9KmT-i2EBv8xuK9Y5WHXsB-YhsxVsrZ-60L6s2tHdv-IFsDlWPv3nUzO2GqOaRqWuEL9qlW6shdRLX4AaGCnUXNnJcY_37-L-F1nqmEbBgMiHjcKOty3fFIZDfQ9JFIvw0/s320/20170222_225131.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_7kUAutDO2-FH1SiMuJ3NWDCOzjQjx2sBLWv3WMZYVy-HvBh1cFI08w2jykSLH81XPFcpWGPvCcrYBzvo0CvKJ_-Mz2IKwTavJWI4fRtEXkKDJcXcfcUskdkLq77-nKgBALJ1krOC0w/s1600/20170221_175703.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_7kUAutDO2-FH1SiMuJ3NWDCOzjQjx2sBLWv3WMZYVy-HvBh1cFI08w2jykSLH81XPFcpWGPvCcrYBzvo0CvKJ_-Mz2IKwTavJWI4fRtEXkKDJcXcfcUskdkLq77-nKgBALJ1krOC0w/s320/20170221_175703.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
The white/grey concrete look was rather boring. I carved two sides to make it look like stacked rock or maybe something ancient that had long been forgotten. I started carving it by hand using a pick and file, but quickly resorted to a rotary tool and engraving bit. It took several bits and hours to carve two sides and the insides of the arches. I decided not to do the back and left side considering it would never be seen. My hand hurt pretty bad by the time I was finished. In the picture on the top left, you can see I cracked one of the legs. In actuality, I cracked 3 legs. I should have used supports for more than just the floor/ceiling. Luckily I was able to disguise the crack somewhat as part of the rock face later on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZ-VqZLb7Z2kSKhLSC3_SDC3vYLJS1UeXO6FzzP1b7IAzpLJp0clgmDP3UOW7YN10bEEcYttbDb8ITpYfXMvl9m5rsH2JlZ8Wgd-8n3m-kqXFK8VjGvZZh-QLHx7Zr_nUyWIVtce66RY/s1600/20170222_185106.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZ-VqZLb7Z2kSKhLSC3_SDC3vYLJS1UeXO6FzzP1b7IAzpLJp0clgmDP3UOW7YN10bEEcYttbDb8ITpYfXMvl9m5rsH2JlZ8Wgd-8n3m-kqXFK8VjGvZZh-QLHx7Zr_nUyWIVtce66RY/s320/20170222_185106.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5M7Zjh3Q8mE5OzLkStK79odgH3Cvbnj5SRsAi6CS6_EuLiwlNvMBzfo6ieGsXvlbmtPjt5YdIJv_874CmJqT_O-MwXh-VsNXEZ-bFUDCuHYDRh9JGWLuiCFxmesEjeg_2tajcSQmQTM/s1600/20170223_203707.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5M7Zjh3Q8mE5OzLkStK79odgH3Cvbnj5SRsAi6CS6_EuLiwlNvMBzfo6ieGsXvlbmtPjt5YdIJv_874CmJqT_O-MwXh-VsNXEZ-bFUDCuHYDRh9JGWLuiCFxmesEjeg_2tajcSQmQTM/s320/20170223_203707.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painted using acrylic paints and a brush</td></tr>
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After finishing up on the carving, I black-washed the sides and top in acrylic black paint mixed with water. This was to get black into all the small cracks and "grout" lines in the carving. I used a dry brush technique and painted on tan, brown, green and red for the detail/accents. I think I found this part to be the most fun. You could really see it coming to life after each detail was added. I tried not to make anything too uniform to avoid it looking too purposeful.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSObRvzF77fm54iovfuQnsU62z20YhyphenhyphenSYcsff9XI1AwybUQ3BfqB2Rd0DUfi3WyUNfeFp2FErNwd9zoPhHBo2LALywvZUCDUE9-NjmSA0goUCoCKejmjr1Oh8DxSmS4I3aJljXuNurH4w/s1600/20170223_231355.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSObRvzF77fm54iovfuQnsU62z20YhyphenhyphenSYcsff9XI1AwybUQ3BfqB2Rd0DUfi3WyUNfeFp2FErNwd9zoPhHBo2LALywvZUCDUE9-NjmSA0goUCoCKejmjr1Oh8DxSmS4I3aJljXuNurH4w/s320/20170223_231355.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moved a wall to give turtle more clearance</td></tr>
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I ran into an issue I should have thought through from the beginning. The entrance at the back right of the structure would become too narrow once I added in the foam backboard. My solution was to cut out the back wall and reattach it near the front (see bottom right picture for reference). This would give her an extra inch of clearance to fit through. To reattach the wall, I framed up the sides with foam, poured in some plaster/sand mixture and dropped in the top wall fragment. There was some runoff of plaster, and I had to touch up some paint afterword. Once I was satisfied with my edits, I turned the ancient structure onto its side, painted the rest black, sealed the bottom, flipped it back over and sealed the rest. It really didn't look too bad. The only issue was a small visible crack near the center, but other than that, it was great.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQN-GXs6ED1EcMcu-gXGl8t2Ctd-B0qNWmufIfebX8v5BUM14AhnX1AmJ8m0m1Je5Pkfo1y_ht6J806n7VyYtWV_JOhcMqs3jiRf_xI4qnS4_HfoasTAh-NIUAerovKr6U7ZS6O4adPHs/s1600/20170226_152825.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQN-GXs6ED1EcMcu-gXGl8t2Ctd-B0qNWmufIfebX8v5BUM14AhnX1AmJ8m0m1Je5Pkfo1y_ht6J806n7VyYtWV_JOhcMqs3jiRf_xI4qnS4_HfoasTAh-NIUAerovKr6U7ZS6O4adPHs/s320/20170226_152825.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had to shave material off threshold to fit structure in place</td></tr>
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While the sealer was drying, I emptied out the tank and temporarily placed Squirtle into a 10 gallon plastic bin. She didn't like it one bit. The measurements I took at the beginning of this project didn't account for the bezel on the top or the door threshold on the bottom of the glass tank. Oops. In order to fit the Ancient Castle Rock Concrete Thing I had just built into the tank, I had to remove the top bezel and also remove a 1/4" of material off the threshold. The latch for the doors needed to be slightly modified as well to work properly. After that, I only had 1/8" of clearance for the structure to slide in. It took two people to lower it into place. The tank is sitting on a cabinet grade piece of 3/4" plywood I cut for the tank to sit on and to make it easier to transport.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1rJZGDgx5_tussnKk9Nwev8XxR2pVlOCNGDDM2DaOSjRyjc-9N3FikZnwIJ3aIBODZEJ9ScMJR5tRBHiYH9HRpGVo9UGRTL2nj_vqccc0LyA50KKsY6oeog5pyKDRU-7X0ErBtm3hOBY/s1600/20170226_160313.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1rJZGDgx5_tussnKk9Nwev8XxR2pVlOCNGDDM2DaOSjRyjc-9N3FikZnwIJ3aIBODZEJ9ScMJR5tRBHiYH9HRpGVo9UGRTL2nj_vqccc0LyA50KKsY6oeog5pyKDRU-7X0ErBtm3hOBY/s320/20170226_160313.jpg" width="320" /></a>I decided to throw away the old foam backboard that was in her tank. It was slightly discolored, broken, and I wanted something on all three sides, not just the back. I also needed to build steps leading to the top ground area. I made all these items from foam. I've come to really love pink insulation foam as a material. It is easy to cut and carve, and texture can be added quickly using any of the various techniques I've learned so far using this stuff.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVFOh9N5DfUz9joGY3ooFBJAmQOQjeB2XrwOAos6-jUKeaVh-U2ChIlCMogwDJnYSsWBBdvOgzXN1HeEsZ1H2-_OiebBuEmiouAtcpqgnMxhd1nAJvu_Z-GoBBL8du_lIHtgXKNnlpMi4/s1600/20170226_163920.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVFOh9N5DfUz9joGY3ooFBJAmQOQjeB2XrwOAos6-jUKeaVh-U2ChIlCMogwDJnYSsWBBdvOgzXN1HeEsZ1H2-_OiebBuEmiouAtcpqgnMxhd1nAJvu_Z-GoBBL8du_lIHtgXKNnlpMi4/s320/20170226_163920.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
I cut foam to fit in place on the sides and back of the tank and made sure to leave space in the corners and top for any tubing or wire that needed to be hidden. The steps serve a dual purpose: one being a filter and housing for the waterfall pump, and the other being, well, just steps. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZhVQOoqsFNSNBcZRa1R9ot5MFhh0fEjHw3Ikw_rnoCNg2Y7Cl82W8Fsqme1FT4FpGqHsUcm23zwo2a9iwL7-gjO9a6ab5I8HKmH_0j2_2GcxbSQ5m8ffQBWz0m_BAknydsVekr62g-Bo/s1600/20170226_170845.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZhVQOoqsFNSNBcZRa1R9ot5MFhh0fEjHw3Ikw_rnoCNg2Y7Cl82W8Fsqme1FT4FpGqHsUcm23zwo2a9iwL7-gjO9a6ab5I8HKmH_0j2_2GcxbSQ5m8ffQBWz0m_BAknydsVekr62g-Bo/s320/20170226_170845.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
After cutting each step to size, I numbered them and sanded them smooth. I wanted to make sure they were glued together in the right order with the correct side facing up. I know, it should have been easy to figure out just based on the shape, but I didn't want to make any mistakes. The rectangular holes near the back are for the filter and pump.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlt6tXfOyRQZf0eHnO9lUi19qEKWe8DfvkOEmhluXHqzj3r4e4iPVVcwKkzBoXG95rkZ_8wLAm88mmRa_FwLFLx3CRO95R6TyPkrws-YEBLBj-L-iGhNPV6ED1SD1Fu4FbqR0wdT4PLI/s1600/20170226_183825.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlt6tXfOyRQZf0eHnO9lUi19qEKWe8DfvkOEmhluXHqzj3r4e4iPVVcwKkzBoXG95rkZ_8wLAm88mmRa_FwLFLx3CRO95R6TyPkrws-YEBLBj-L-iGhNPV6ED1SD1Fu4FbqR0wdT4PLI/s320/20170226_183825.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I made a lid that is held on with magnets and a block to prevent horizontal shifting when the turtle walks on it. I had to remove material from the bottom of the lid to allow it to fit nicely over the filter. I drilled holes into the side with the filter for the water intake. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRagTeV8dQQE2JaiXJUfEuYqMUtk079XJ2WOsE7Ny7qpBfMNi-AXm8YQTkQCtZhebaq6IjZRJPMVNX4g3wGlpLQCcoSNNOLbkFtVkjbS6vaquEgyJ84UHaeFcaT-9mnzxphIDlZaLCkro/s1600/20170226_213927.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRagTeV8dQQE2JaiXJUfEuYqMUtk079XJ2WOsE7Ny7qpBfMNi-AXm8YQTkQCtZhebaq6IjZRJPMVNX4g3wGlpLQCcoSNNOLbkFtVkjbS6vaquEgyJ84UHaeFcaT-9mnzxphIDlZaLCkro/s320/20170226_213927.jpg" width="320" /></a>I wanted to go for a natural layered rock look for the walls. I didn't really get exactly what I was going for, but in the end, I think it worked out.<br />
Each of these "rocks" had to be cut out with the hot knife and shaped by hand with 60 grit sandpaper. It took longer to finish the walls than the concrete structure. I think each rock took about 3 minutes, not including texturing and painting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi668dPUoE2MXo0fjzsFJtl4ldpbGHONIO4D0EzUGMdpIjub9Tfq2Xid_Xoe73WciF_ql-CPGy-j4r08V2xcNZXQa0xFVkYqnFKuwPFTnerdmeGEwcaeELQcV3LsrORsXtoKbWDcaFGD_8/s1600/20170228_000811.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi668dPUoE2MXo0fjzsFJtl4ldpbGHONIO4D0EzUGMdpIjub9Tfq2Xid_Xoe73WciF_ql-CPGy-j4r08V2xcNZXQa0xFVkYqnFKuwPFTnerdmeGEwcaeELQcV3LsrORsXtoKbWDcaFGD_8/s320/20170228_000811.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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I designed the walls and steps to be removable for cleaning and maintenance. The pieces are keyed to each other and lock each other in place. They also hold the steps down and prevent them from floating to the top. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-bf8fXUpiw78QcDDc8HY3lTummiU68RsTgmZGU0fBsramwCaDAy3g8SSMJyr20MN4yWrvvmW84V9DM5VPYv5M3_2uAyHwALYWoCUqP1Le_3JPcnIiJJU1j1DzwZmYPHwy7n6-N1RerI/s1600/20170228_001049.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-bf8fXUpiw78QcDDc8HY3lTummiU68RsTgmZGU0fBsramwCaDAy3g8SSMJyr20MN4yWrvvmW84V9DM5VPYv5M3_2uAyHwALYWoCUqP1Le_3JPcnIiJJU1j1DzwZmYPHwy7n6-N1RerI/s320/20170228_001049.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tank with walls removed</td></tr>
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To the right is an image of the tank with the walls removed so I can show how it all fits back in. You can kind of see in this picture that the floor beneath the glass is not the same color as the plywood, like it was in the old tank. I painted and textured a sheet of foam and placed it in the gap under the glass. Even though I will eventually have some form of substrate on the bottom I wanted to make sure the wood bottom wasn't visible.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZEk-vpYdElHijmldiTuNmEursqY94mu-w8cx53n526bVwfT2o6Bo2MCQLP8oQ-8lmieHVQ8AXJmAeLofsT6ANBN-jgNrkixc19mC-aKL-PSQKJKgScdooCrpZjEggwvpTVdahpAAhCgw/s1600/20170228_001109.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZEk-vpYdElHijmldiTuNmEursqY94mu-w8cx53n526bVwfT2o6Bo2MCQLP8oQ-8lmieHVQ8AXJmAeLofsT6ANBN-jgNrkixc19mC-aKL-PSQKJKgScdooCrpZjEggwvpTVdahpAAhCgw/s320/20170228_001109.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steps go first</td></tr>
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It was very important to me to be able to remove as much as I possibly could in case I ever need to make a change or swap out a component. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6PjJIlBJplGkaBcS-rqWaQXQ2LUd-V9GUu80CMID6_ahXDMHSMurdWU6Zy0Edhzj3n2fWvBQP2b77iUeIvmM4O44PAu7jN9NLeb0agqLa2cytqgHmKWhe1IRsJf__mBr83tkJaJHq4Y/s1600/20170228_001122.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6PjJIlBJplGkaBcS-rqWaQXQ2LUd-V9GUu80CMID6_ahXDMHSMurdWU6Zy0Edhzj3n2fWvBQP2b77iUeIvmM4O44PAu7jN9NLeb0agqLa2cytqgHmKWhe1IRsJf__mBr83tkJaJHq4Y/s320/20170228_001122.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wall piece keyed to the shape of the steps</td></tr>
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The right wall piece needed to be split horizontally into two separate pieces. I did this because both pieces are locked vertically. The first piece of the wall to be removed needs to be pulled up from the side. The back wall has to be pulled up from the top, and the right side of the wall won't fit through the door. So I split the right wall in two pieces so that the top half can be pulled through the door. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDl4HezlixkctR5jVd36bHVgBQS-ZzwKcPIWpA-4t7S15lbq89WcWmJ7bQlbuYj9t7s7X7CpUTgzI7NUheJIJY1WdUvrqa4t0Cv19RNGkhmbNvthFxQ2TRiNEriaUQFUEDV7cqahoc_M/s1600/20170228_001148.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDl4HezlixkctR5jVd36bHVgBQS-ZzwKcPIWpA-4t7S15lbq89WcWmJ7bQlbuYj9t7s7X7CpUTgzI7NUheJIJY1WdUvrqa4t0Cv19RNGkhmbNvthFxQ2TRiNEriaUQFUEDV7cqahoc_M/s320/20170228_001148.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back slides behind the steps</td></tr>
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The back piece has a conduit cut into the foam on the back side for tubes and cables to run hidden from view.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The top right side locks over the bottom</td></tr>
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The missing rock in the top right corner is for the waterfall and fogger to slide into place locking everything together.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The left side and waterfall slide into place last</td></tr>
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Once everything is together, there are very few things that indicated that the walls are even separate pieces. A little light comes in from some of the corner,s but I can mask that off later with something on the outside of the glass.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Testing the fogger and waterfall</td></tr>
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The fogger/waterfall turned out pretty nice. It has a port in the back for the 1/4" tubing and another port for the fogger power cable. The top rock is held on with magnets and also friction from the walls. The fogger is nested down inside the other two pieces of foam. The way the fogger works is by vibrating a ceramic disk to create ultrasonic waves. The fog doesn't start getting produced until about 3 centimeters above the disk so I had to cut a hole in the top piece.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxror7lbf7f8rjxFxnwyqHDBXniBW3U3lAChY_L5d3xF6nhcj5X73ZyJY7TK4e0_-WmByYRU-okTaTU6VSsy9yz3xXGuuuQojIca18F2t8sNpyo_9_cZYNKEotWqUGEYSo295l593fmc/s1600/20170302_181730.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxror7lbf7f8rjxFxnwyqHDBXniBW3U3lAChY_L5d3xF6nhcj5X73ZyJY7TK4e0_-WmByYRU-okTaTU6VSsy9yz3xXGuuuQojIca18F2t8sNpyo_9_cZYNKEotWqUGEYSo295l593fmc/s320/20170302_181730.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
I gave the foam extra texture with a nylon wire brush and pressed a lava rock into the foam.<br />
Like the cement structure, I painted everything black and then used acrylic tans, browns, greens and reds to detail and accent the rock.<br />
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On several places before black-washing, I brushed on some Plaster of Paris to fill in some grooves and give the foam a less flat surface. It also added a bit of heft to each piece. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timer for day/night cycle</td></tr>
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At some point I added a panel mount timer to my light fixture. I grew tired of switching the lights from day to night and back to day. What I like about this timer is that it has a normally open contact and a normally closed contact. With this, I was able to switch between day and night with a single timer. But ever since I installed the timer, it just dangled on the outside of the tank. I wanted to mount it to the plastic light fixture for a while now, so I finally did. I measured out a square just big enough to fit it and cut the square piece out with my dremel. Originally I was going to remove both switches and replace them with the timer, but I decided to leave one switch in case I ever want to use it in the future. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hideaway fit right over the walls by chance</td></tr>
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The wood hideaway fit right over the two walls just by happenstance. I needed a place for her to hide and be comfortable but wasn't really sure what I was going to do, so I was happy that this just fell into place. I made steps from real stone cascading from the front to the back wall and cut a notch out of the log as a doorway for her to get to and from the pond.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILZJMOwRN5niJ7t8_CPcBdBflhV4v6w4MEoQ9ailYIcjVIzIlYCRNSahDgd8PGxp4SwyOowPecaJHa9ty4QOhaL-12RQR-Zfmwn_8ePvLvPFT7a4iMgLRUPNFx0muZtQnrhv6ufJCGsM/s1600/20170303_185321.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILZJMOwRN5niJ7t8_CPcBdBflhV4v6w4MEoQ9ailYIcjVIzIlYCRNSahDgd8PGxp4SwyOowPecaJHa9ty4QOhaL-12RQR-Zfmwn_8ePvLvPFT7a4iMgLRUPNFx0muZtQnrhv6ufJCGsM/s400/20170303_185321.jpg" width="400" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squirtle exploring her new digs</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUxSnil6771UJ2MgHT4omjA1Fi-kHx8rWI-oxXk_VFZs1gGjo1RvJH9pg9MDiAmHljCILhPqE__SVsD7hHLjiqn15atfW2g5UbK1EtClVuVhS7nSJAEjz1_yF-_V4a-hUGGiCFdHlShgc/s1600/20170303_230653.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUxSnil6771UJ2MgHT4omjA1Fi-kHx8rWI-oxXk_VFZs1gGjo1RvJH9pg9MDiAmHljCILhPqE__SVsD7hHLjiqn15atfW2g5UbK1EtClVuVhS7nSJAEjz1_yF-_V4a-hUGGiCFdHlShgc/s400/20170303_230653.jpg" width="400" /></a>After everything was dry and the tank was cleaned up, I brought everything into the house from the garage where I was working and set it back up. The cement structure stayed in the tank and everything was very heavy. Once getting it all back together, I covered the maintenance holes with foam covers and filled the top to the brim with soil. I planted some foliage in the corners and scattered some small rock for decoration. On top of the soil I placed leaf litter and very small twigs, and on top of that, I let free around 48 red worms. And on top of all that, I laid down some damp sheet moss. I also covered the stone steps with sheet moss to make a more comfortable bedding in her hideaway. The red worms are meant to break down some of the leftover food and dead plant matter. She eats a lot of tomato and the seeds go everywhere, so little tomato plants pop up all over. They get trampled and die, and it's nice to know that any dead plants and leaf litter will get consumed. Interesting little fact: The worms don't directly eat the plants in a compost bin, but instead consume the micro-organisms that feed on the dead plants. The turtle will also regularly hunt for worms to eat as well and she is quite good a it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look of approval</td></tr>
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Worms aren't the only protein she has to chose from either. In the lower portion of the tank live Rosy Red Minnows native to her wild habitat. If she pleases, she can go fishing and catch a snack. I haven't decided whether or not I want to let any crickets have a permanent residence in the tank. I like to research the various things I allow to live in her tank. I find out what they eat, what their bioload will be, and see what effects they might have on other species in the tank. A stable ecosystem can easily be desolated if the wrong species is introduced. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clever girl.</td></tr>
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Did I mention she is an escape artist? Some people questioned my steps, thinking they were too steep for the turtle to climb. The first thing she did after I placed her inside was check the walls and corners for weakness, like raptors at an electric fence. Turtlesaurus. Terrapinasaurus. Jurassic Turtle. I could go on. I should make her a travel habitat that looks like the velociraptor enclosure. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard to get a good picture with the lights on.</td></tr>
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The automation is currently run using 4 timers, but I will eventually use a PLC with the built in real time clock. Currently the only logic being used is timing. At 6am, the fogger turns on raising the humidity and spreading a cool haze over the land and water. At 7am, the fogger turns off and the aquarium light turns on as well as the top light switching from the night light to the daytime light. At noon, the bright warm heat lamp turns on to mimic the sun. At 4pm, the heat lamp turns off. Then at 10pm, the pond lights turn off and the top lights switch from daytime back to night. At midnight, the fogger turns on again. Once I have my PLC programmed and my sensors all added in, I want to install a misting system like you might find spraying the veggies at a grocery store and have it automatically water the plants. An auxiliary 10 gallon tank will eventually be housed in the cabinet underneath this one and will house a larger filter and pump. This will help keep the water balanced as well as auto fill the pond when the sensor detects that it is low. <br />
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[Not finished, More to come]<br />
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David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-20693244476172956822016-04-04T14:05:00.000-07:002017-04-02T13:32:13.018-07:00Mouse Trap Challenge!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.potatoprojects.com/2016/04/short-circuits-mouse-trap-challenge.html"><img alt="http://www.potatoprojects.com/2016/04/short-circuits-mouse-trap-challenge.html" border="0" src="http://www.dan-dare.org/FreeFun/Images/TomAndJerryTomsTrap-o-Matic1.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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It appears we have a slight mouse problem. Some sort of new <i>"Brain Mouse"</i>. <Insert Starship Troopers reference here> This mouse has evaded all attempts to be captured. He has no interest in any of our conventional mouse traps which leaves us thinking outside the box for a more unconventional trap. Fortunately enough we seem to have a think tank of STEM students in need of a good engineering challenge. Who can come up with the best mouse trap and rid us of our sneaky little uninvited guest? The volunteering students at a local middle school will be submitting their built designs to their teacher and delivered to me to be placed around my home. The student who designs and builds the best mouse trap will be named champion and receive a brass mouse trap trophy. The student's designs will be judged based on originality, functionality, and how well their design amuses me.<br />
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Updates and pictures after the jump!<br />
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Five students submitted traps on Friday. They have been placed, set, and are waiting for<b> </b>Fievel to show himself. We never told the contestants to name their traps so I will pick names for them. <br />
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<b>Number 1: "Francois Restaurant"</b></div>
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A string hanging from the ceiling holds the bait. Possibly a bowl of pea soup? The string is routed to a swinging trap door that should close off the doorway and trap the unsuspecting Bernard and Miss Bianca.<br />
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<b>Number 2: "Stuart's Coffin"</b></div>
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All we know about this trap is that the mouse can overcome the door into the box, but will never find its way back out. It is still a mystery what fate will come to Mr. Little after entering for no one knows what is in the box. <Insert Se7en reference here><br />
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<b> Number 3: "Wedge of Starvation"</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5Y0moLTz727Hgi5wE7zIDQDj1soeJMw9-5K9zICzcFT1Ua1YTUMNRBWx-qxcWGUqXDqUDFqicpK12xZabX76R8PO713vkkcrT8FkpYeSXEp477Zw-YPDes7q09BCv-wEUSS8QWgPsiM/s1600/20160408_195624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5Y0moLTz727Hgi5wE7zIDQDj1soeJMw9-5K9zICzcFT1Ua1YTUMNRBWx-qxcWGUqXDqUDFqicpK12xZabX76R8PO713vkkcrT8FkpYeSXEp477Zw-YPDes7q09BCv-wEUSS8QWgPsiM/s320/20160408_195624.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The cheese inside of this small cozy shelter may be quite a delight if you are a temperate little mouse, but we know far too well that this mouse is greedy and will always come back for more. If all the cheese is this trap is eaten the string holding the door up will come down in a hurry and trap the mouse. Only a smart mouse which eats only a moderate serving of cheese will live to tell his tail.</div>
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<b>Number 4: "Hotel California"</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPsKtOIl3hvEk86NDsnWw_SF5sLFmMB9OfVd-nRbHmaiaENU0lOPxMWAo9acnJQtvY8KJMO30vttNp-Af4LzJrJqpw4mr-zR0uXWLbwzv5hygXDsQkl8H9PSeTe_qK0OLC3NmW_K1dupw/s1600/20160410_154329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPsKtOIl3hvEk86NDsnWw_SF5sLFmMB9OfVd-nRbHmaiaENU0lOPxMWAo9acnJQtvY8KJMO30vttNp-Af4LzJrJqpw4mr-zR0uXWLbwzv5hygXDsQkl8H9PSeTe_qK0OLC3NmW_K1dupw/s320/20160410_154329.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave!"<br />
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Theory behind this one is that the mouse can open the door flap from the outside, but not the inside. If it actually has frosted flakes in there it may just trap me instead. I love frosted flakes. They're great! </div>
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<b>Number 5: "Disney Land"</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy8WQ5Zq8V_d-7zovKEvwvJD8mFhoKNqosX5KyqB8VCtsMrWLJ4U63bZHc5qLuSRuXRUI-w3nu7mXgty-auDZ5Lgg_c8KOu5fhS9-fz2hiJeNGB-YETnnpXddAnBOe1-YOjjnucQI9AUY/s1600/20160408_195733.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy8WQ5Zq8V_d-7zovKEvwvJD8mFhoKNqosX5KyqB8VCtsMrWLJ4U63bZHc5qLuSRuXRUI-w3nu7mXgty-auDZ5Lgg_c8KOu5fhS9-fz2hiJeNGB-YETnnpXddAnBOe1-YOjjnucQI9AUY/s320/20160408_195733.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The theory behind this trap is a new take on mouse traps all together. Much like Disney Land is a trap for humans set by a mouse, this trap is a theme park for mice designed to make the mouse never want to leave. It comes equipped with honey coated sugar cubes, blankets, tubes to play in, and quite possibly a day spa. If mice manage to come across this gem they are sure to stay. Plus, it appears most the materials are recyclable.<br />
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<b>Number 6: "Bottle Shock"</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzRTfDf3I1uDahniUwYeOk_ephFjwjMlWfYBwqOPF7eIGYEo-4kFvujf2JrqVH7DU6GbMIx-zERbCVmLw-ErJt8rzJCfp8poTMy-Ky8VGY-18D_viksNfzRHwL7GLI_dqKGQNjLFJ8og/s1600/20160410_164811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzRTfDf3I1uDahniUwYeOk_ephFjwjMlWfYBwqOPF7eIGYEo-4kFvujf2JrqVH7DU6GbMIx-zERbCVmLw-ErJt8rzJCfp8poTMy-Ky8VGY-18D_viksNfzRHwL7GLI_dqKGQNjLFJ8og/s320/20160410_164811.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Although we have seen this design used in the past, the execution and resourcefulness does impress. Paper clips, card board, and hair bands. When the mouse, or human, presses down on the ramp, the bottom of the bottle closes shut with great force leaving the mouse shocked and trapped and unable to crawl out of the bottle. <br />
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That's all the designs for this year. We haven't yet seen any signs of mice interactions with these traps, but we will give them another week before finally revealing who the winner is. <br />
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I also made a mouse trap just in case none of the former do the trick either. Its my take on the pivoting bottle trap, except this one should reset itself and is capable of catching 5 gallons worth of mice in one sitting.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/s_vi/Yu0s4EbtLeM/default.jpg?sqp=CLTQsbgF&rs=AOn4CLCrrr5bThXwMSKxbSqGEv9WiVO3NQ" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yu0s4EbtLeM?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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I have since increased the off delay to be 8 seconds.<br />
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The winner this year was the wedge of starvation!! Although none of the traps actually caught any mice This one has been named the winner for originality as well as ingenuity. We especially enjoyed the posters inside to prevent the trapped mice from getting bored.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL93BsyjsGOMy7YwVpoEyvruEZLd1jfTgkeJ17Pu9ieS5edxHPt5PavAYhXNJT2fS3b7XiBvWSb7G_GDW12oYQc0QpVvrLGd6-OJhiX14WgGCYw_siZFyf2cfrGE2z-vYO58JPW38n090/s1600/20160501_151709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL93BsyjsGOMy7YwVpoEyvruEZLd1jfTgkeJ17Pu9ieS5edxHPt5PavAYhXNJT2fS3b7XiBvWSb7G_GDW12oYQc0QpVvrLGd6-OJhiX14WgGCYw_siZFyf2cfrGE2z-vYO58JPW38n090/s320/20160501_151709.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Here's the trophy I made for the winner.<br /><br />
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David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-20204267093761715242016-02-25T13:52:00.002-08:002016-02-25T13:52:27.631-08:00New ATX Bench Supply, Importance of fresh multimeter batteries<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A few years ago I converted an old PC power supply into a fixed voltage, bench power supply. They are very handy to use considering the common voltages they produce. But I have been in need of another one due to me leaving my old one on my bench at a friends house. So about months ago I procured an old ATX supply, an enclosure, various parts to mount onto the face and back, and a new tool to add to my collection called a "nibbler". Unfortunately, after wiring everything up and flipping the switch, nothing happened. I started probing everything I could and snipping wires hoping to break a short that occurred someplace. I felt like I failed and shoved everything aside, telling myself I would deal with it later. It sat up there on the graveyard for 3 months. The graveyard is what I call the top shelf of my bench. It's where projects go to die. It sat up there taunting me until my friend and I needed to purchase a higher wattage supply for our server we were building. So, figuring that the problem was with the ATX supply, I took it back down from the graveyard and started fresh.<br />
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Hit the jump for more.<br />
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Above is the old bench supply I made a few years back. I built this one in a couple hours and even made a little circuit board to plug a new supply in if the other burns out. It has worked really well and continues to work today. Every shop should have an easy to find source for these common voltages.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6duUVbbLH2-y96Zy3f2zYsrr43NTnWWIB5_ix0tOAWSfhHyAsRqeB6ikK4WKAj7zPgpwjeuedoRgaD6DOxG4skIYLG252hvvKkeaqiqMpjpwYqBXHnexgzA6ysP-ANHAXnA7bsau6DYw/s1600/connector_atx_pinout.GIF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6duUVbbLH2-y96Zy3f2zYsrr43NTnWWIB5_ix0tOAWSfhHyAsRqeB6ikK4WKAj7zPgpwjeuedoRgaD6DOxG4skIYLG252hvvKkeaqiqMpjpwYqBXHnexgzA6ysP-ANHAXnA7bsau6DYw/s320/connector_atx_pinout.GIF" width="320" /></a></div>
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Every ATX power supply has the same pinout with standard Molex connectors. A few options are available to use with this pinout and a couple things must be done in order to make it operate.<br />
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Brief description of the pinout:<br />
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+3.3VDC ----- Positive 3.3 Volts DC<br />
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+5VDC ----- Positive 5 Volts DC<br />
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+12VDC ----- Positive 12 Volts DC<br />
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COM ----- Common, 0 Volts DC<br />
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-12VDC ----- Negative 12 Volts DC (IIRC this is used for addressing with RAM. Is not capable of handling very much current. Some people have used this in conjunction with +12 to get +24 though I wouldn't recommend this. I haven't tested it's limits myself though. I should do that sometime.)<br />
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PWR_OK ----- This is a 5 volt signal that is output from the ATX supply after the supply passes all of it's internal self tests. When you first turn on a power supply, the voltage outputs will fluctuate up and down before finally stabilizing at a nice clean DC current. Basically this signal will turn on after the supply stabilizes. A PC uses this signal to prevent various hardware damages by not allowing current to flow from the rails until the motherboard sees this signal. This signal could be used to light an LED indicating that the rails have a stable voltage.<br />
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+5VSB ----- Standby Positive 5 Volts DC. This is a 5v source that is on as long as the supply is plugged into the wall. It will remain on even when the rest of the supply is switched off. I used this on my old supply to light an orange LED. I don't recommend having an LED always on shining at you even when the device isn't being used. <br />
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PS_ON ----- This is a PNP signal line used to turn the power supply on. All that is needed is to connect this wire straight to any COM wire and Boom! The power supply switches on and a voltage will be present at the rails. I usually do this with a switch on the front of the supply.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgczBUpgcxRa0l4LDjye5DIV-H64DKQVmUVihWqeVlMPlNA8aNHxCjLgreavz5WaKbpqVuR83j3nPQoJCWIuGFdt0Nqyz5jQNJkqnjPYMn7wj6Xo2XSs2TfJGzv5ip3sELbqktkCkLoxH0/s1600/20151129_110843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgczBUpgcxRa0l4LDjye5DIV-H64DKQVmUVihWqeVlMPlNA8aNHxCjLgreavz5WaKbpqVuR83j3nPQoJCWIuGFdt0Nqyz5jQNJkqnjPYMn7wj6Xo2XSs2TfJGzv5ip3sELbqktkCkLoxH0/s320/20151129_110843.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I used the "nibbler" tool (nothing like the old game) to "nibble away at circular holes I cut out in order to get nice 90 degree angles. I mounted that fan using a jig saw. That would have taken way to long for the little nibbler to do.<br />
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Here's the inside before I started wiring everything up. The ATX shown in the picture is actually the old one that didn't work. Which brings me to why it's important to keep fresh batteries in your multimeter. I know what you're thinking and no, the old supply really was dead. There was nothing wrong with my meter at the time. Now when I was testing out the new supply to make sure it worked I was reading 5.4 volts on the 3.3 rail, 8.6 volts on the 5v rail, and 15.6 volts on the 12v rail. I was troubled, and thought that perhaps this ATX was bad as well. I remembered I had another ATX in my arcade powering lights and pulled it out and still, it had some odd readings. Then I remembered that sometimes these old supplys needed a minimum load of around 1 amp to operate. So I attached a 10 Ohm 10 Watt Resister on the 5v rail and again, strange high readings. I looked up at my variable voltage supply which has it's own built in meter and turned the pot to 3.3v and measured with my meter. The meter read 5.4 volts. Well wtf. I pretty much new by now that my meter was wrong and used my bench meter to test the outputs of the ATX. All the rails were fine. After finishing up installing the ATX supply and 24V supply into the enclosure, I replaced the 9v battery in my meter and it was back in business. I hope I remember this next time...</div>
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I have always been under the impression that all that was needed to combine multiple power supplys is to connect the 0v references with each other. Basically, connect the grounds. In the past, when running into certain issues at work I have suggested doing this with various things and my coworkers were always reluctant, saying they don't think you can do that. I even read somewhere before that in certain cases it's not this simple. So I have started to second guess myself about all of it. Well, it is that simple and that is the way it works. 0v isn't necessarily a real thing. 0v is a reference to all other voltages. just like earlier with people using +12 and -12 to get +24. The math is the same. Voltage is nothing more than a potential difference in electrons. My new supply has a dedicated 24V supply that is now sharing the same common(0V) as my ATX and everything is reading fine.</div>
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The red switch was originally a 120v switch with a 120v lamp inside. I took it apart and wired in an led and 330 resistor. The switch connects the PS_ON and COM and the LED is connected to the 5V rail as opposed to the PWR_OK. The display is a combination volt/amp meter and isnt currently attached to any rail. I'm not sure yet how I want to utilize it. The banana plugs on the far left are also currently not connected. I'm thinking about routing them to screw terminals on the back in order to have sort of a contextual power source. for instance, I have a large 40V supply I'm using for <a href="http://shortcircuitpinball.blogspot.com/">my pinball machine</a> and it would be nice to store it off my bench and up on the top shelf. By routing it through my bench supply I can conveniently have +40v at my disposal until I finish with the project that's using it.<br />
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David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-45575972272747884502016-02-22T15:40:00.001-08:002016-02-23T23:17:28.260-08:00Short Circuit Pinball<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitpinball.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Short Circuit Pinball" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fJtM9lhBpt8SX4wG3y-Zsp7zkosCVzrSVuFNamg5ogYLQHAh-QaEucPYODPwn12cEWbyx_k3qoz6r6BpzU6G72kfglalyMxv2SV_zxS5ZVIR_qr39y8hYoqK6WjdD7uR9dL3JSeo10s/s1600/SGC_Logo.png" /></a></div>
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I have made a new blog dedicated to building my pinball machine. The theme of this pin, if you haven't yet guessed, is Stargate SG-1. Or more precisely, Stargate Command. The military installation at the bottom of Cheyenne Mountain that houses the interplanetary doorway known as the Stargate. I have been thinking about this project for so long, and I plan for it to consume most of my time at my bench. So if you have any interest head over to <a href="http://shortcircuitpinball.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Short Circuit Pinball</a> and follow along. I would love to have your input and support in the design process of this project. I will also be traveling around the Chicago area playing various pinball machines, so if you would like to join me, send me a PM. Thanks. <br />
<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-41538172904244699352016-02-08T20:53:00.001-08:002016-02-23T23:15:35.031-08:00Xbox, Super Nintendo, Playstation, Cyclops Hybrid!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2016/02/xbox-super-nintendo-playstation-cyclops.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2016/02/xbox-super-nintendo-playstation-cyclops.html" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRw5hwZIhaezf5zW1cumgZL_sxPn-Q2x428f_h076Qv3sby3nqJeJ2RmdaqqDCDMR5zLXuMY-5suNX3i2Dyi3AwE-8JLileMeYM_8qH-o0mmo17FnvRcU-gR9yAM6PkAmxyNnaokNncH8/s320/20160208_213049.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Or more accurately, I gave a 360 controller a better D-pad. I have recently started playing more local coop games on my with a friend and was in need of a controller so I could sit back and play games from my steam list without needing my mouse and keyboard. And let me just say, Steam Big Picture mode is fantastic for this type of experience. So of course, being so naively seduced by Valve, I purchased their new Steam Controller. I tried really hard to defend my purchase for awhile but finally had to admit that it is a total piece of luh-suh garbage. Now the 360 controller was a treat the first time I grabbed it and still feels as comfortable as ever to me. The problem with it however, is the D-pad. your finger has the tendency, when moving between the left/right pads, to trigger either the up or down pads. This design flaw can often be the deciding factor between victory and defeat. The Playstation's D-pad however, was<i> </i>Just right. The actuators were separated and could easily be navigated by the players thumb. This was my motivation for giving the controller the superior D-pad.<i> </i>As for the eyeball where the Xbox logo is supposed to be, I don't know. Found it on ebay. Thought it was neat.<br />
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There it is. The ugly old D-pad that some engineer thought was a good idea. Honestly, how do things like this happen? I'm looking at you Valve! Haptic touch pad crap.</div>
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Here is my initial fit for the dpad. I Measured and cut it out directly from a ps2 controller. It fit quite well, but I didn't want it to look modded. So I pushed it up a bit and did some body work.</div>
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I'm not particularly proud of this part but I'll tell you anyway. I used a soldering iron to meld the two pieces together. It looked ugly. Didn't fuse right, and made terrible marks all over.</div>
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This is JB Weld. I didn't have any Bondo, but this seemed to do the trick just fine.<br />
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After sanding. Still had some bad marks as well as high and low spots. I sanded until I thought I worried about the controllers structural integrity, then sanded some more.<br />
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I painted it green because <strike>I like the color of trees and the grass in summertime. As well as peas, frogs, and broccoli.</strike> I had green paint.</div>
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Too many spots and craters. I sanded again.</div>
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The Ps2 controller had one of those flimsy plastic contact points that couldn't be soldered to. Luckily the Super Nintendo controller shared the same foot print. So I cut a round disc out of that which would fit nicely into the Playstation dpad well. <i>Disclaimer: The SNES controller was a Chinese knock off that had several issues of its own to begin with. I dont go around chopping up classic hardware like that Ben Heck guy. Just kidding. I love Ben. And Road House.</i></div>
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I'm not really proud of this either, even though it works. I really couldn't figure out waht was going on with the common for the dpad and ended up soldering off each contact. This is more of an extension than a hack.</div>
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And Bam! Magic. It works. Sorry, no more pictures. Remember? All I can tell you is that it took patience, foam. and a cotton ball to make everything fit nicely and have the right amount of pressure on the back of the added contact board. Once I finally got it right, I really didn't want to take it back apart. If I ever do this again, I can take more pictures. Also, If anyone buys that eye, I strongly suggest cutting .18 inches out of the middle and gluing it back together. Otherwise, it sticks out like Forest Whitaker.</div>
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<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-58883418667239132652015-10-25T12:55:00.001-07:002016-02-23T23:15:51.640-08:00She Said Yes!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I proposed to my girlfriend yesterday, and despite her better judgement, she said yes. I kidnapped her in the morning and told her we were going for a drive to look at the fall trees. The place I wanted to propose was in Galena IL. So I had a couple hours drive to get out there. She eventually knew where we were going. couldn't really keep that a secret for long. When we finally walked over to the place I would do it, she was pleasantly surprised. I however, felt like I might vomit.<br />
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Anyway, I built a small ring box to present it to her. Hit the jump to see some more pictures of the build.<br />
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I started with a piece of bocote. The wood was really eye-catching and wasn't too expensive. I found it among other exotics at Rockler.<br />
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I used the table saw to cut out a few pieces for the top and bottom. After matching up the different grain patterns, I picked the 2 pictured above. I loved how well the grains matched.<br />
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With a quick jig I set up on the router table I was able to cut out the insides of each piece. I only took about 3/32" at a time to be safe. Scary Router... The hole drilled into the jig was to allow me to raise the router bit slowly without removing my jig. <br />
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Here is one of the pieces after finishing the routing. After I was done routing, I used the table saw again to cut some angles into each piece. This piece above was a test piece I worked on first to make sure I wasn't making mistakes. This one has angles on the edges that line up with the other side. I decided to omit this from the final piece.<br />
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With the two pieces aligned how I wanted, I clamped down the two in place while drilling for the hinge. After screwing the hinge in place, I sanded the sides to make everything flush. The screws intruded into the box, so I used the dremel to grind them down. Then instead of staining, I rubbed the whole thing with linseed oil to give it a little shine and bring out the detail.<br />
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Oh, Nerf darts, you served me well. I was in a rush and didn't know what to use. I thought a foam cylinder would be perfect and immediately thought of nerf.<br />
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Took a trip to Joanne Fabrics and grabbed some, uh, fabric. Sorry, I don't know enough about fabric to say anything else. I wrapped my little nerf-dart-block-of-wood-thing like a present. Using hot glue, I secured everything together and into the box. Applied a little dusting, and it was finished.<br />
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I spent a total of 8 hours working on this box. I had to to rush after work for two days before the weekend. It is kind of silly that this box only held the ring for a few hours until I proposed. But a precious little ring deserved a precious little box for it's short journey.<br />
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I am really happy, and can't wait to build other trinkets and furniture for out future home.<br />
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David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-77859836426022975702015-10-13T08:47:00.003-07:002016-02-23T23:16:13.816-08:00Map Of Middle Earth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was recently commissioned to make a map of Middle Earth. The maps I have listed from my shop are smaller 10" x 7.5". The customer wanted a version that was more around 20 x 14. I believe this one turned out to be around 21 x 15. The map is mounted to a 3/4" stained sheet of plywood with rounded edges. Instead of adhering the map permanently to the board, the customer wanted the map to be pinned. So I made some wooden pins look rustic and attached the map with those.<br />
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Hit the jump for more pics.<br />
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The paper I used for the map is a cold pressed paper. It came from an artist's shop in downtown Elgin. He was very helpful getting me what I needed and showed me many types of paper before I chose this one. Now, I don't have access to a large printer that could handle this size paper. I had to improvise. I used a high res version of the map and edited it using Paint.net. I took out all the color and darkened everything else. The map was then printed backwards onto several transparencies that I could then transfer using my clothes iron.<br />
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The first time I tried to transfer the images, I taped the transparencies to the paper and ran the iron over it. This caused the transparency to make "waves" and the image never made it to the paper in the right places. The ink went onto the paper sure, but the image was very, very blurry. Turns out the trick to this is only using the tip of the iron and going over all the details individually. This meant tracing over every path, letter and mountain there was. This took around 4 - 5 hours to transfer the image completely. The image was clear in the end, but not perfect. I thought it made it look more old and used, so I was ok with it.<br />
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After cutting the map to size, I sanded the entire thing to bring out the fibers in the paper. This helps give it texture that feels more like cloth. I used very fine sawdust while sanding because some of the fine dust settles in the paper and gives it a mild marble like discoloration. Afterward the map was dyed using coffee. Yep, coffee. As it turns out, coffee and tea are very reliable dyes for antiquing paper.<br />
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After dying, the map was quite damp. The halogen lamp fixed that in under an hour. You need to be careful doing this though. That light could have easily started a fire with that map. And I assure you, a woodshop is the last place you want that to happen.<br />
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The board was cut from a 3/4" piece of oak plywood. Luckily, I had just enough left over from the arcade project that I didn't need to buy more. That cabinet grade plywood cost around $50 sheet.<br />
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I didn't want and sharp edges to he board, so I used the router to round over the edges of the plywood. Routers are scary. They are the loudest tool we have, they spin the fastest, and hold the record in shop for most blood shed. That being said, I wasn't using safety glasses the other night... I'm an idiot.<br />
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Brush on, Wipe off. I think cherry stain on oak is really beautiful, and his project has shown no exception. After only two coats, the grain of he wood popped out and looked great.<br />
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I really like these saw tooth hangers. You almost never miss the nail you're hanging on. These particular ones had little brads on them. So all that needed to be done was gently tap them into place with a hammer. I spaced the two hangers 8 inches from center. I did this because most studs in the wall are 16 inches apart. I am realizing now, however, I should have put a third directly in the center in case the customer wanted to mount the board with only one nail.<br />
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Because the map needed to be pinned, I found some wooden pins and made them look a little more rustic. I did this by sanding unevenly with rough sand paper. Then I dipped the pins into a walnut stain and dried them off in a paper towel. I only used 4 pins to mount the map and sent the rest in the package in case any get lost or broken.<br />
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The edges of the map were darkened using my soldering iron and slowly running over the perimeter of the map. In a few spots I purposefully burned a tear into the map. There are also two small burn holes in the body of the map as well. I imagine Bilbo would have been looking over this map in candle light and burned it every once in a while.<br />
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I loved making this map. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to figure out how to get the map image onto the paper. I am glad to have made the acquaintance of the artist down the road. And very glad about a couple new skills learned in the process.<br />
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Thank you Christy for the chance to bring this prop to life. I hope you enjoy it.<br />
<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-31978884418015590622015-09-23T19:11:00.001-07:002016-02-23T22:59:14.846-08:00Fallout Props<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/09/fallout-props.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/09/fallout-props.html" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCsYDg0SZKRc1aDdAFWY0FX2lB0NpYEcUGMx1-C1dKtICCh00QOy3t0s_a-P7HMbq91arKybptIYmNlcANXZvTfCiez3Eoosp3_Svsat7hTzbFoGmlM625WNHbgOKYgOV3Dwxwq9jI4Y/s320/20150921_221036.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I made some Fallout stuff. It's amazing how many props I was able to recreate after playing a little more fallout and looking at google images. And so many more could potentially be made from this series as well. I used some various new techniques on this and learned quite a bit. Hit the jump to see some more pictures I took in the process of replicating these.<br />
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Started out with a vintage lunch box from who knows when. It's older than me that's for sure. I made sure to find one that didn't already have art on it. I know that some people collect these things, and although Strawberry Shortcake means nothing to me, I know other people out there might want it. It just felt like I was doing less evil using a plain one.<br />
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I actually pulled the Vault Boy characters from the fallout wiki. They were in black and white so I had to color them and add them to a background using Paint.net. Thanks Tim. I printed all the art onto full sheet label paper. Everything was antiqued using acrylic paint, play sand, wire brush, and sand paper. I then sealed it using polyurethane.<br />
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When I first started doing this I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. The first method I tried was Mod Podging a printed sheet of paper to the tin. It turned out ok but after sitting in the hot car, the paper bubbled up and was ruined. After this I tried a process called toner transfer method. Basically you print your image in reverse and iron it onto your surface. Didn't turn out too bad but I liked the way the paper looked better after being painted and torched.<br />
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So I used the paper. Though this time, I printed it onto self adhesive label paper. Then I used acrylic paint to orange it and a little red for rust. After that I took the torch to it and burned the corner. A copper wire brush removed the peices that were too charred, and helped blend the effect in. Afterward I rubbed in play sand all over the tin to give it an old worn look. <br />
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I still had the problem with humidity and the label peeling. So I sacrificed 9 stickers to the science gods. On each sticker I applied a different technique for sealing them. As it turns out polyurethane wins again. I'm really just now understanding how wonderful that stuff is and how terribly it may kill the user. <br />
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This close up of one of the tins after applying several different methods. It is slightly glossy and the burn mark has a really cool crackling thing going for it. <br />
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In order to get the vault logo onto the thermos, it had to be able to stick. Otherwise the teeth of the cogs lift off and you wont get a decent image when painting. So what I did was cover a piece of wax paper with masking tape, then tape the stencil on top of that. <br />
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After cutting the stencil, the wax paper easily peeled off the tape. Leaving behind a pretty nice sticky stencil. I will definitely use this method again.<br />
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It came out pretty good. A little touch up was required by scraping the details with an xacto knife. Then it was only a matter of detailing it the same way I did the lunchbox and mint tins. <br />
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I used cotton cloth paper for these bills. On account that only the US Mint is allowed to purchase 75% cotton 25% linen blend. After rubbing the paper lightly with sand paper and darkening the edges with a soldering iron, the bills turned out pretty good. I would love to play a game of caravan using these and the caps as the pot.<br />
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Just like a good counterfeiter, I made a front page and a back page and printed to both sides. It took a little thought to get this just right, but I managed to pull it off.<br />
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Why do some images flip when uploading them to my blog?</div>
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Nuka-Cola. Mildly irradiated, Extraordinarily Delicious. </div>
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A lot of people, I noticed, use the American Coke bottles when doing these props. I think the taller Mexican bottles fit the in game bottles more. So I used those. First things first. Drink. Then removed the labels with a wire brush wheel on my drill press.</div>
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Cut some bottle cap stickers out of more label paper and stuck them to the bottles. Brushed them with the wire brush and called it done. Looks pretty good. however I would make the stickers bigger next time. <br />
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I actually purchased a capper and new caps to professionally seal up the bottle after replacing the cola with a blue liquid and isopropyl alcohol to prevent it from growing mold. </div>
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Right now the Quantum is only glowing with an LED sitting behind it. I want to drill out the bottom and install circuitry and a battery to have a hand held glowing bottle. But that's on the Shelf for now.<br />
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Well that's it for fallout for now. I may come back to this franchise later for some other props like Stimpaks and Radaway.<br />
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If you would like any of these builds, I may still have some for sale in my etsy store linked in the sidebar.<br />
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Comment and tell me how you like them!<br />
<b></b><br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-17233804614618378312015-09-23T19:10:00.002-07:002016-02-23T23:00:28.148-08:00Dark Brotherhood Note<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/09/dark-brotherhood-and-maps.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/09/dark-brotherhood-and-maps.html" border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8B8P7yrxN7WrN2LSQzVgzdGzlKj_PsYiFb_EwaG9y5zcVjIAJauyDKTfGeapDLPVs6fGTgZtA-GZLxY5UQNB3GeoaDF9_g72enLVk6GZmTdoWKLwRx8VgEdB-16NZJfKuv5k0akkpuA/s320/20150918_011436.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
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Made a few props with cotton cloth paper, aka, Resume paper. I remember when I was a kid I had a fascination with trying to make paper look old. I would usually cut pieces of brown paper bag from Aldi and just rub it in ash from the fire pit. But I think this new method is much better.</div>
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I used coffee and tea both, but I think the tea gives a better color. Either one looks good though. I let the pages soak in the tea for 10 minutes one at a time and then air dried them under a lamp. <br />
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I sanded the entire page, front and back, with rough sand paper. Not too much. Just enough to bring out the fibers and give it a cloth like feel. I originally used copy paper, but a friend of mine was disappointed that it didn't feel more like cloth. I have to agree. This does feel a lot better now. After sanding, I slowly ran along the edge of the page with my soldering iron. After I finished burning the edge, I did a once over of the whole thing with sand paper. <br />
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While I was at it with the Dark Brotherhood Note, I made a map of Tamriel and Mordor. Using the soldering iron I made longer tears/burns into the maps.<br />
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If you look at the close up you can barely see the little cotton fibers sticking up off the map.<br />
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I would be happy to make more things using this technique. If you can think of any, leave it in the comments and I will try it out.David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-78145645334349593982015-09-23T18:34:00.002-07:002016-02-23T23:01:23.979-08:00Mint Tin First-Aid<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Made a little mint tin First-Aid Kit. Not really much to say about this one. Put a sticker I made onto a mint tin and sprayed it with polyurethane. Now it shall hold my band-aids in my glove box. I suppose I could also keep some Excedrin and Ibuprofen in there too. Not much room in there. But pretty cool for band-aids. <br />
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<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-56708181899516134362015-08-17T18:16:00.001-07:002016-02-23T23:01:51.971-08:00Bioshock Little Sister Syringe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ever since starting to work on the Farnsworth from Warehouse 13, I have been very interested in making replica props. If you've played Bioshock you should recognize this scary thing. It's the adam syringe carried around by the frightening little girl in the game. Well, I tracked down some parts and put it together in a weekend. Now the paint job isn't perfect, and the needle may be slightly curved, but I think it turned out pretty nice. The bottle looks a lot better irl. For some reason I couldn't get a decent picture of it turned on. There are some other pictures after the jump.<br />
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Here's one of the in game screen grabs I used for reference.</div>
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I started out with this vintage gas nozzle I found on ebay for around $25. It isn't the exact one they modeled the in game version after, but I liked this one more.<br />
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It's nice being on the good side of the guys in the shop where I work. I had one of them show me how to use the mill. <br />
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The piece that holds the bottle in was cut from an old oil filter or exhaust for a lawn mower. Not sure exactly. Found it with some unused junk.<br />
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Interesting assortment of goods being purchased at target. Hair gel, red nail polish, hand soap, and baby bottle nipples. I chose hair gel for the liquid because of how well it holds bubbles. I couldn't find dark red hair gel so I went with clear and tried to make my own. <br />
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I tried nail polish first, but it completely ruined the transparency. I should have known though.</div>
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Turns out the perfect combination was what I tried next. I grabbed the nearest red ink pen I could find and squeezed out some red ink into the gel. I added more ink until I thought it looked right. It didn't take much, and look at that gel. Used hot glue to fill the neck of the bottle to keep it from leaking.<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPTSNiZzaYUo3KEQtgsHX4zLvlvJxAsneIKEDOTy-YLZmHDfp4gGhdByWtSf2BKo44k-lK10ftZNSRvkjKEf4CPGxrPAHH628vf6ozUTATmhOK79V8f8-BUT8JXlUNPbnQwb5X_l_VR0/s320/20150814_215219.jpg" width="180" /> </div>
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The LED was pulled out of a flashlight from the hardware store. I wired one lead back through to the bottom of the handle and wired one strait to the chassis of the nozzle.</div>
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I tried every adhesive and epoxy I could think of to get the bottle cap to hold to the steel but nothing seemed to work. The weight of the bottle was too much for anything to hold. What I needed was structure.<br />
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Structure is what I got. I cut a circle out of wood and inserted the bottle cap from the bottom. Glued it in using Elmer's wood glue and now it's not going anywhere.<br />
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Here I made the inside of the nozzle like a flashlight. Just insert the battery pack and screw in the cap. I also drilled out a hole(not very center) into the bottom cap to toggle the state of the LED.<br />
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I found something out I didn't know before this. Silicone rubber really doesn't paint well. That piece on the left. It was spray painted, acrylic painted, and dyed yet there it is still looks like it did when I bought it. the paint rubbed right off. So I made a plaster mold of the inside of the nipple and painted that instead. I may make an aluminum cast of the nipple eventually, but this will do for now.</div>
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Well there it is. Again not perfect, but I like it. I'm still young. I can learn to be closer to perfect later. Now all I need is a Big Daddy suit and a small child and I'm ready for a con.David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-61119018804021282652015-08-16T22:32:00.000-07:002016-02-23T23:02:39.155-08:00My Redworm Compost Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Feeding my turtle is quite easy. She knows what she likes and doesn't like. But the one thing she goes nuts for, is worms. Worms, however, can get expensive if I'm buying them by the dozen. So I built a worm farm to turn my unused veggie and coffee ground leftovers into worm food.<br />
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I started by dovetailing 5 identical trays. The dovetails didn't need to look pretty. just functional. And he dovetails give the trays a sturdy frame.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIT03GXZR7Hnqdsu1PVEanljDyoL4n0UAOLMB49L-pQUw0u_vb0U0fTXJLk54L0pGc9SgwwmWmJgp9NSQVQ0eZHc5StU6UVd01suLYbA_pbSpd_fhumm9Gz3SUSY6qFvg69VMPOc3AuU/s1600/20150427_194443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIT03GXZR7Hnqdsu1PVEanljDyoL4n0UAOLMB49L-pQUw0u_vb0U0fTXJLk54L0pGc9SgwwmWmJgp9NSQVQ0eZHc5StU6UVd01suLYbA_pbSpd_fhumm9Gz3SUSY6qFvg69VMPOc3AuU/s320/20150427_194443.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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A lip on each tray helps them sit square on top of one another. I added handles for each one using 2x2's.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlBdcZ4Ji0j_H9eOw196hlGsIHFkbp-bDwyh7d9unXN26-P-uNPzDXPZci33yBaAidwAFbloUkTdDuaGAFe54nD1rN3PRiY1gd_DMRXJoWI85qjN-BAoNO943G6YcYsI5rN4fUXG9rtQ/s1600/20150427_194507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlBdcZ4Ji0j_H9eOw196hlGsIHFkbp-bDwyh7d9unXN26-P-uNPzDXPZci33yBaAidwAFbloUkTdDuaGAFe54nD1rN3PRiY1gd_DMRXJoWI85qjN-BAoNO943G6YcYsI5rN4fUXG9rtQ/s320/20150427_194507.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Some construction wire on the bottom of the trays allows the worms to wiggle their way up to the next tray after finishing the one they are in.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRy2RNQgJa5yYo6LnCjquzcgsZugDMr2HSg76grG6Cr3E3DwLVuNEIcMrFwBvGUEmPDbpA0wpYi0ntPpvNzHx3ySMN-XKXGCGuLnKf0JmLaFR95FKlG2m92o2D0rLsDALUOlUDdM5UzMY/s1600/20150425_163430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRy2RNQgJa5yYo6LnCjquzcgsZugDMr2HSg76grG6Cr3E3DwLVuNEIcMrFwBvGUEmPDbpA0wpYi0ntPpvNzHx3ySMN-XKXGCGuLnKf0JmLaFR95FKlG2m92o2D0rLsDALUOlUDdM5UzMY/s320/20150425_163430.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The trays are by no means perfect. but they do work well. They aren't too tight yet not so loose that they would fall off each other. <br />
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With leftover wood I started to see what it would look like if I gave it a roof. After deciding I like it I went to Home Depot and picked up more wood and finished the roof.</div>
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The little worm farm has been working well for 2 1/2 months now. I think in the future I may paint the outside and maybe add a front flap to help add the food. Though it really isn't much trouble to just lift off the roof. I purchased 1000 worms for $35 from Uncle Jim's. I think I may have anywhere from 1500 to 2000 worms now.David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-72023403348679518212015-08-16T22:03:00.001-07:002016-02-23T23:04:47.486-08:00Fishing Pole Mount For My Bike<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/08/fishing-pole-mount-for-my-bike.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/08/fishing-pole-mount-for-my-bike.html" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-eT7CDqSkW4YwHpH3RdjoyZnvZZ-qqARbHiqcPuc4fF_DX29yf7Y8hrJvZdh5pisfFHUMbceoRuyV_Om66DNKGV1zQbV5wUl3AJ7S81JcNQp9npVPUbTqc10Or3lW2QenLgGeUT2o5-k/s320/20150519_184629.jpg" width="180" /></a> </div>
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Sometimes, when I go fishing, I need to walk a couple of miles to the fishing hole. I don't want to carry my pole, tackle and chair for that distance. So instead, I can just load it all quickly onto my mountain bike and ride to my favorite spots. Hit the jump to see the build log.</div>
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I started out with one of these 3 dollar rod holders you can get at bait shops or some gas stations.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsXp2iLiSHRlTt5X9pcEAqzb9s9g1h8vhpZ1jRGyULvWWZutGcknWWP5S3d6oKpX-N9UHpcmh7BZ59mICfo7QtUYcOhBXxzktvieux3txlv6eHBBCqeU5Pc8j3XQn-lzk-6lILVM_IDA/s1600/20150518_223555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsXp2iLiSHRlTt5X9pcEAqzb9s9g1h8vhpZ1jRGyULvWWZutGcknWWP5S3d6oKpX-N9UHpcmh7BZ59mICfo7QtUYcOhBXxzktvieux3txlv6eHBBCqeU5Pc8j3XQn-lzk-6lILVM_IDA/s320/20150518_223555.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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I bent a 90 into the holder and hammered flat the end. Holding it up where I wanted it on my bike, I marked where I needed mounting holes and cut them out.<br />
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Quick few coats of black gloss and threw it onto my mountain bike. Looks pretty good too. The only issue with it is I cant get off my bike using my traditional method. swinging my right leg around and over the back tire. But aside from that it can be wonderfully useful.<br />
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<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-75389281799050174362015-08-16T21:25:00.002-07:002016-02-23T23:05:16.592-08:00My New Bicycle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/08/my-new-bicycle.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/08/fishing-pole-mount-for-my-bike.html" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxPoVzkMdFgxDucFVcyqqw-DZ_OD0tvOBgM07fMDwsXOwD2pa1sbxhhybTle7M53Ebd0ViXoMHqR7IrRQ7hxtLd_LgihSo8a2fvlER-k-SmahzbpBmo3L5iOAiWm2YlJ-_TtZ5Ij8254/s320/20150616_185431.jpg" width="320" /><span id="goog_533931853"></span></a><span id="goog_533931854"></span></div>
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For a while now I have been wanting a touring bicycle. And after looking at several, I decided on the Novara Safari. Because this is the 2014 version instead of 2015, it was on sale for nearly half off! I had no idea retailers even did this with bicycles so if anyone is in the market for a new bike go with the year old one. I mean, if you can handle the shame of riding a year old bike. I wanted a touring bike because I'm planning to, at some point, go on a cross country bicycle tour. So I will need a comfortable bike that can handle full loads of gear... <br />
<a name='more'></a>The transition from my mountain bike to this one didn't seem to make very much difference at first, but after jumping back on the mountain bike again, I knew I could never go back. The handle Bars on this bike do look a little funny but they offer many positions for my hands. Also, the height of the bar was a tad strange so I turned the bar upside down and remounted the brake levers and shifters. The frame has mounting points for disc brakes. So I may add those in the future.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhDGo9U_4q_zeKDGvlHBHoMvCtOEiFNf2YbREA2ck0Wp6yqclhiXa15pBMHugweCAd5WoGGBm_gTvmX1PdVwxXokCvMXMoqvQ1YmcK55dUHMn5SA_FljsGoVXw-n_HLhdlgpAXu-hkUE/s1600/20150615_170642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhDGo9U_4q_zeKDGvlHBHoMvCtOEiFNf2YbREA2ck0Wp6yqclhiXa15pBMHugweCAd5WoGGBm_gTvmX1PdVwxXokCvMXMoqvQ1YmcK55dUHMn5SA_FljsGoVXw-n_HLhdlgpAXu-hkUE/s320/20150615_170642.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The second modification I did to my new bike is throw on a Brooks saddle. The brooks is a hand crafted, leather bike saddle that is designed to treat your sit bones to a small leather hammock. Or the way I like to describe it to people, It forms to your ass the way a baseball glove forms to your hand. Just have to ride on that English leather for a few hundred miles to break it in.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFTrbRKYBGvv7yEphyaRBm-WeNx-w_0YwpEi4q4pcCbgzHNZVnwHcAU6Y5IwZUzhrIvvSv77B7ZyKy4keZ1JCgvS-SE2QzQ6zrO0ivud71ebqqr_sARNRYeFN-7Jqa3U56mir7CKihzw/s1600/20150615_170630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFTrbRKYBGvv7yEphyaRBm-WeNx-w_0YwpEi4q4pcCbgzHNZVnwHcAU6Y5IwZUzhrIvvSv77B7ZyKy4keZ1JCgvS-SE2QzQ6zrO0ivud71ebqqr_sARNRYeFN-7Jqa3U56mir7CKihzw/s320/20150615_170630.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The packaging for the saddle was incredible. This print of their catalog looks and unfolds like a newspaper. Even the warranty information was nicely folded into a tan envelope with a stamp. David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-6395762350938727052015-08-16T20:54:00.002-07:002016-02-23T23:06:10.289-08:00Polymer Clay Trinkets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/08/polymer-clay-trinkets.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/08/polymer-clay-trinkets.html" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxNnIXNA2ewalXxgy85dnZdTuuImBATioagy2qQqRkL9g_MzEF6OKljXgyIQPIGIvJvByehFFu3MOco1DmVOAZa-9wMsCLe6L6c2ldPHPKCdr0PA_1JBuhAOxSush3f7cza-MbXy8kXac/s320/20150809_010952.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Did I ever mention I am one of those people that can never seem to take a decent picture or video with a phone? Vertical pics and videos everywhere. Anyway, here's an interesting project. as I was sitting at lunch one day I heard someone talking about mold making and I got to thinking. I don't know anything about that. And this got me thinking. There are so many methods of making out there in which I know very little about and have no experience trying. So through some research I came across polymer clay. Polymer clay is a material that takes a long time to dry out, becomes easier to shape the more you play with it, and can be safely fired and cured in the oven at 230 degrees Fahrenheit in about 30 minutes. I purchased the polymer clay and several colors of acrylic paint from hobby lobby on a Friday, and by Sunday I had all of these little trinkets. I had a ton of fun making these and painting them that it exploded an interest in several other upcoming projects in my future.</div>
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Hit the jump for more of my trinkets from the weekend.</div>
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The first one I made I modeled after a little Easter Island figure I had on my shelf. It turned out ok and I was proud. I stuck a magnet in the back and it now hangs on my fridge. <br />
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The mask from Crash Bandicoot. One day I want to build a life size version of this out of wood.</div>
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Miniature replica of my turtle. She's an eastern box terrapin carolina named Squirtle. The mini looks dirty but half the time so does the living one. <br />
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The Millennium Falcon. I haven't quite finished the way I want to paint it yet. Also, I'm really excited for the new movies.<br />
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Mask from the movie "The Mask." Oh Cameron Diaz, you gave my younger self funny feelings. I want to make a life size version of this one day too. The mask not the actress.<br />
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Stargate and DHD from Stargate SG-1. Because, whats the point of a stargate if you can't dial out? <br />
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Toad. Kelly likes Toad so I made her a little Toad figurine. Whenever we play Mario Party she wants to be Toad. However I only have the N64 versions so she can't. Maybe if Nintendo would have put some thought into it they would have understood no one wants to play as the bitch Peach and the hoe Daisy. <br />
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Ah, the Serenity. This one took a couple hours just to shape and form the clay. I built a skeletal structure from wire and aluminum foil. the it was a non trivial matter of wrapping the skeleton with clay and cooking it. This was also my first attempt at painting a weathered effect onto an object. It was fun and I didn't do so bad. </div>
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David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-45082124693952429482015-08-16T20:12:00.000-07:002016-02-23T23:06:38.286-08:00WorkBench Evolution 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/08/workbench-evolution-2014.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/08/workbench-evolution-2014.html" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjZGbB0-snwBNgstZ7KEGFNaP6cRLlo0g16nF27oFgfG_zprcI7RPfjV4jjGV3BZQ4PGLhjQLp1KlQqD-Y53I365xmR4nwxQV1CPR0VlnY0FeGvAOCOUYWSSb0XWs36cIUuOTh55mHtek/s320/IMG_3646.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Just like our Pokemon, our workbenches grow and evolve over time. Since the last time I updated with pics of my bench I had no shelves and much fewer tools. I have a new Weller soldering iron. I bought two used analogue Oscilloscopes, a function generator and parts bins full of components. Along with my new tools and parts, I added two shelves, a trash can, work light and an AC power strip. I'm sure I have missed some other additions so hit the Jump for more shots of my bench.<br />
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Here's a picture of my previous bench post to see the contrast. Pretty significant difference. It's amazing how much can change in one year of active use in a given area.<br />
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You can barely see here, but underneath the bench is a 5 gallon bucket on tracks I use as a trash bin. I threw a handle on it to pull it out and push it back. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6rQmaVatEYFHNwwkYCa-NQeGe9LeRtgkW3R9iROX50SIahHIDsXRHTwR98kjcBpYLv8Ydo7B3cmiU6O9_Y9mz4n3XLaBz_LJctx2w71FghZAQYcvNTpD76dlJCUZ4NozYGb6OW9EEpY/s1600/IMG_3604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6rQmaVatEYFHNwwkYCa-NQeGe9LeRtgkW3R9iROX50SIahHIDsXRHTwR98kjcBpYLv8Ydo7B3cmiU6O9_Y9mz4n3XLaBz_LJctx2w71FghZAQYcvNTpD76dlJCUZ4NozYGb6OW9EEpY/s320/IMG_3604.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div>
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Pretty Sure I'm browsing /r/workbenches in this pic. Also, my bicycle is hanging there because I honestly don't have another place to store it. <br />
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I needed two o-scopes once ever and now hardly use the one. Though I do like the way they add symmetry to the shelf. Also, I purchased one of those self healing cutting mats and laid it across my work surface. But it was doomed the moment I ordered it. It has burns, scratches, glue, paint and holes all over it. Not sure if it was a necessary addition considering I would otherwise be cutting on plywood and not a kitchen table, but either way, I like the way it feels.</div>
David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-79813580731312292962015-01-31T13:35:00.000-08:002016-02-23T23:07:05.671-08:00Spiral Bound Forrest Mims Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For so long I have enjoyed the notebooks released by Forrest M. Mims III. The wealth of knowledge the books have offered for so long have been an invaluable asset to so many. Including me. These books are filled with tables, charts, and small circuits that can be tested, learned, and implemented into larger designs. Often, when I am building a project or watching TV, I have a reference book open. However there is a problem with most printed reference material. They are soft bound and will not stay open by them selves. Which is why I jumped with joy upon finding out that for less then $10 each I could have them spiral bound at Fedex or Office Max. (My girlfriend says not to trust Staples) <br />
Hit the jump for some before and after pics.<br />
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Try getting one this size to stay open on your bench. The amount of space it takes up is unacceptable.<br />
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Ah, That's better.<br />
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I wanted to add all four mini notebooks together and although Fedex had no issues with doing so, I still thought it would be too thick. So instead I added volumes 1 and 2 together and 3 and 4 together.<br />
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While I was at it I went ahead and had them do The TTL Cookbook as well. In fact, I see no reason not to do it to every reference book I get in the future. Except for maybe The Art of Electronics. That thing is too damn big. <br />
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I haven't decided yet how I want to label these. I do realize how difficult it will be to pick the correct book on the first go just based off of the same blue covers on each. I'm thinking of using an embossing label maker with the green tape to give it an industrial/retro look. <br />
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If anyone has any other electronics reference books they suggest please leave them in the comments below. Thanks.<br />
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<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-548359206934117132015-01-24T21:55:00.001-08:002016-02-23T23:07:34.001-08:00Simon Frankenstein, or "The Project From Past Failures"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/01/so-awhile-ago-i-started-simon-project.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2015/01/so-awhile-ago-i-started-simon-project.html" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KbW0cFFGkZycTkTDgeRXldnk-LI_iBCH6SU95mRzf8Xm4mAHA0uabTVsLrRm9ndzjD_JXCFDDBM6pSbC-0O0H-qfF-JUareHzPeinyW19c9_Q9w1OXwQYHIBd6ENnao2mRyDa3WnzNE/s1600/IMG_3618.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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So awhile ago I started a Simon project. You know the one. Repeat the sequence of colors/sounds until you inevitably screw it up. I had a working version of this game on my bread board at one point but took it all apart and saved the code for later. I never got back to finishing this project until today. Like many of my projects this one also went to the top shelf of projects "I'll get to later." Well, unfortunately most of these projects never get finished after moving up there to collect dust. So I decided to take it down and build it with whatever I had laying about. left over parts and parts from the other shelved projects were sacrificed to complete this abomination of a toy. I gave myself a 3 hour time limit on this project. Video after the jump of me showing off my incredible inability to remember the simplest of sequences. <br />
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I have tried several times to find a practical use for this teak bowl I found at the thrift store. I was keeping my wallet, keys, knife, and what have you inside of here for some time, but ever since I built my arcade I have just been keeping these items on there instead. So the bowl became the first item to volunteer for this new purpose.<br />
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Left over from my original arcade prototype were these nice colorful buttons. The Red button was used in the Taunt Button Prototype. Yet another shelved project. These buttons illuminate with LED's and fit snugly inside the bowl so I actually lucked out here. <br />
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The Arduino was ripped out of a "Button Box" I was building back in the fall. It was originally intended for sending shortcuts to the computer for RSLogix 500 but it never worked the way I wanted. Menu's and such couldn't be trusted to be consistent and caused more harm then good. Although after building it I just felt wrong for not giving it a purpose. So I set out to equip it with IR and RF and turn it into a multi-function universal remote. I got as far as building a 4 x 8 button matrix and then started something else. Leaving the Button Box up on the dreaded top shelf. Today however the Button box came down and was dismantled ripping out the brains for Simon.<br />
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The speaker sitting underneath the arduino is out of one of my old computer speakers. They were taken apart and mounted in the top of my arcade cabinet. My arcade cabinet however needed more base, something these speakers and amp just couldn't provide, so I got a new set of speakers and a sub woofer leaving behind the unused parts still mounted inside the cab. I remembered this today while building and opened up the cabinet and ripped out one of the speakers. I then mounted it into the bowl with standoffs from I cant even remember what project. I realized that needing to plug this into a wall wart or any external power source would just be a silly thing to do. So I started looking around for a power source I could fit into the little space that was left. I purchased a rechargeable battery pack awhile back for the Farnsworth Communicator and thought that would be small enough to fit, but as it turned out that pack will stay up on the shelf for a little while longer. I did however find a battery pack from a flash light I had taken apart and it seemed to fit. so I used that.<br />
Now that I had limited power I had to focus on minimizing the power consumption. For this it involved limiting the current on the inputs from the buttons and adding a power switch. Now speaking of the power switch, It is a push button switch left over from the ATX Power supply build last year. After installing it I noticed there wasn't a good way to tell if it was on due to the long initial start time. So I drilled another hole for a green LED I purchased for the "LOGIx BLOx" project I never finished. The LOGIx BLOx project was a set of blocks with individual logic gate and timer functions that could be connected by 3 conductor cables to build little logic circuits. I was designing these to help teach kids and adults alike about logic and electronics. I was never able to develop a decent prototype for the cables and connections so It was shelved. I'm still convinced I will one day build these.<br />
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To close up everything I quickly and quite crudely cut up a piece of plywood to affix to the back. I was running out of my 3 hour time limit I gave to myself so I used some Velcro to secure the plywood to the bowl. I had to trace the bowl onto the plywood due to the bowl being more of an oval than circle. The Velcro I had was left over from making a strap for my multimeter inside my toolbox.<br />
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In the video I have the game plugged in, but It is battery powered. The sound is very quiet. I havnt yet figured out why. The sequences are never the same and are totally random. The counting sounds at the end of each game count up to your score.<br />
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For a 3 hour project I can say I am decently proud of the work. This project is still however a prototype and future changes will include:<br />
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-Longer lasting battery pack and charging port<br />
-Custom built wood enclosure<br />
-Printed circuit board<br />
-6 colors to contend with in a hexagonal enclosure<br />
-potentiometer/off switch in the middle<br />
-Custom acrylic button actuators <br />
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Special thanks to Joey for his compliance in writing any function or library I ever need.<br />
And a big thanks to failed projects. For what would we have learned had we not first failed.<br />
<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-43200362468211573072014-08-10T23:02:00.003-07:002016-02-23T23:08:24.158-08:00The PirateCade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, I honestly don't know where to begin on this one. This project took way too long and caused me much headache. But in the end I now have myself a beautiful cabinet that may last my lifetime. I started this project In March 2014, 6 months ago, and just finished today. This project was originally my first Raspberry-Pi project. I used the RetroPie Project with the frontend Emulation Station and a Xin-Mo keyboard encoder. However, after all the issues I ran into along the way I ended up using a PC, AtomicFE frontend, and an Ultimarc Ipac. Just last night I scrapped the whole raspberry-pi aspect after one final SD card corruption killed the idea for me. Anyway, Hit the jump to see more pics and details of the project.<br />
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First thing I did was build a "prototype control board" to plug into the TV while I worked on getting the raspberry pi and other software up and running. In the picture above I purchased the buttons and joysticks in one package for around $40 and the Xin-Mo (simulates keyboard) for $20. The Xin-Mo turned out not to work properly for linux systems and I ended up purchasing the Ipac. Much Better. The consoles I decided to emulate for my cabinet were as follows: MAME, Super Nintendo, Nintendo, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, Atari 2600, and Sega Genesis. I managed to get all of them working but ran into an issue with MAME. It always bothers me with mame that often, there are 2 or 3 rom files that need to be in the rom folder in order to get a single rom running. So my friend Joe came up with a great plan and wrote a script for each game that called the right file in a separate folder. All the scripts to each rom were named after the actual game and the frontend displayed the name for the script opposed to having the game frogger listed 3 times as frogger, froggz, and mfrogger. This cleaned the menu up very nicely. <br />
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I wanted to be able to add SNES controllers to my arcade but I didn't want to use USB controllers. I wanted to actually be able to take a SNES controller and plug it in. So I took one apart. Immediately after taking it apart I saw that the buttons were directly connected to a shift register and the clock, data, latch, an power lines went straight out to the plug. So I hacked it even farther and plugged them all into an Arduino Leonardo. I wrote a little program for the "decoding" of the the controller inputs and had the micro controller send out key-strokes to the raspberry pi over USB. This all seemed to work well except when you actually played a game with it the button either appeared to rapidly be pressed or pressed once and stop. Well, I scrapped this idea as well and purchased 4 SNES to USB adapters to stick into the front of the cab. These worked right away after getting all the config files worked out. the only problem I was having was that when I was in a menu, sometimes the down or left, or some other button would seem to be held down. The only way to fix this would be to disconnect the adapter or mash all the buttons on the controller. I didn't want cables sticking out of my arcade cabinet, nor did I always want a controller plugged in to "fix" the problem by mashing. Instead I bought a little black toggle switch from radio shack and connected it to the +5V line from a 4 way USB hub. Now I can switch all the adapters on or off if I need to reset them.<br />
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After getting all the software working the way I wanted it to I designed on paper over and over the side panel of the cabinet until I got it just the way I wanted. My goal was to get it to fit through regular doorways so It had to be just right to fit and still look good. I think many cabinets are much too skinny or disproportionate. So I got it how I thought I wanted it and cut it out of some cardboard just to make sure. After I drew the lines for the cuts, I rounded over the corners with a stencil. Actually I used the bottom of a salt shaker. Though I suppose anything small and circular would have worked. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOZHW5WpWVaBWJvE3gi2jMpVVBB9rS9PN6HvPaigptj0kb5UYZ_GDpb9yy4K_6EYkwq4ljttFkcOMMCq3WepWwbL-Z739QSPvmrxNkH_ZJr8IJVV5OuH7-xq-50Ber2WR5jaPGnEpXYf8/s1600/Photo03220944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOZHW5WpWVaBWJvE3gi2jMpVVBB9rS9PN6HvPaigptj0kb5UYZ_GDpb9yy4K_6EYkwq4ljttFkcOMMCq3WepWwbL-Z739QSPvmrxNkH_ZJr8IJVV5OuH7-xq-50Ber2WR5jaPGnEpXYf8/s1600/Photo03220944.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg83NS2xXig1QhVmJAxkY4scPJVNSyWT-xRKo3cRt2xNko8E3UNHTEUGYJ69w3u-8t_pgotPk_8d0DvS4EF3ZbOOkL6NYquV4C63VtpfQ68PtKOzk6Flj7YtDatqE-5KecLDDVW3dA64R8/s1600/IMG_3166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg83NS2xXig1QhVmJAxkY4scPJVNSyWT-xRKo3cRt2xNko8E3UNHTEUGYJ69w3u-8t_pgotPk_8d0DvS4EF3ZbOOkL6NYquV4C63VtpfQ68PtKOzk6Flj7YtDatqE-5KecLDDVW3dA64R8/s1600/IMG_3166.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLxG_YxDcRWAPj9_r0B_wfZnjH_6KJJx2ktTR7Vap39Ge74LNQa20gSbIro5hQh5OvfQ1YbJibpB0IEmHQU2C2z0yePx5eqXytIbSpZfMDxS9U6oBKWuq2IdVDXOAbsQ27HyneW6cm7kQ/s1600/IMG_3168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLxG_YxDcRWAPj9_r0B_wfZnjH_6KJJx2ktTR7Vap39Ge74LNQa20gSbIro5hQh5OvfQ1YbJibpB0IEmHQU2C2z0yePx5eqXytIbSpZfMDxS9U6oBKWuq2IdVDXOAbsQ27HyneW6cm7kQ/s1600/IMG_3168.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Upon deciding I liked the way it looked I purchased a sheet of
cabinet grade oak plywood for around $50 I measured out the design again
and made sure I could fit two pieces. I cut the majority of the excess
wood off with a jig saw and went back over with a smaller saw and
finally a sander and straight edge to get the first piece just right.
After the first piece was done I placed the second piece over the first
and cut it out with the router to make and exact copy of the first.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVbZ-PrjijYKcTgAemK3zmV_0VMmyvccZxwzsriuELKdJx3NqF8BuecdKkSYeRQgG-miKpWWdP6hGIF5plLPR2slmOs9ErjEvelyV8Xh9ea6jOUx-SP4rbwuhkJSuzg5xyDTELI3Dicg/s1600/IMG_3170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVbZ-PrjijYKcTgAemK3zmV_0VMmyvccZxwzsriuELKdJx3NqF8BuecdKkSYeRQgG-miKpWWdP6hGIF5plLPR2slmOs9ErjEvelyV8Xh9ea6jOUx-SP4rbwuhkJSuzg5xyDTELI3Dicg/s1600/IMG_3170.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkp1Riu6Ej88FK_GhjoBPqO0_GT-QpZkDIrpKNjXD3BNB73oed2TxU-fxMTNUStq9FeVP-4dMhrKQxMuYRz2bVj27_ILd6tMB0vvplSRV6Oi41cAD05QEpH6FTsv3XKwXoHJbleIO8zIc/s1600/IMG_3173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkp1Riu6Ej88FK_GhjoBPqO0_GT-QpZkDIrpKNjXD3BNB73oed2TxU-fxMTNUStq9FeVP-4dMhrKQxMuYRz2bVj27_ILd6tMB0vvplSRV6Oi41cAD05QEpH6FTsv3XKwXoHJbleIO8zIc/s1600/IMG_3173.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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After some thought (and by thought I mean a lot of procrastination) I started drawing out how I wanted to frame it. I knew I didn't want any nails or screws showing on the outside anywhere on the sides or front, so taking that into consideration was a bit tricky.<br />
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The monitor was purchased at a pawn shop down the street. I couldn't find the 25" 3:4 tube display I wanted so I had to use this instead. I mounted it on with the same screws and brackets used to mount it to the stand it came with. and around the bezel used 1/2" pine ply. I used something cheaper because I would cover it up later anyway.<br />
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The marquee at the top of the cabinet was framed out with 4 pieces of solid oak from the same board. I cut a notch and curve into the board with the router then ripped them on the table saw. They are connected at 45 degree angles and there is a slot at the top for the picture to slide into snug. the plexi glass in the front was left over from the tank I built for my terrarium and didn't even need to be cut to size. <br />
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The light was around 15-20 dollars at home depot and was mounted about 7 inches from the plexiglass.<br />
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The next step I took was making the front 3 panels. The front most panel with the SNES ports and switch, The bottom panel which has the hole for the coin-op. and the bottom angle that connects the two. If you look at the left side of the coin-op hole there are little notches that were required to fit the device inside. I cut them out with a coping saw and chisel.<br />
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Side View: This is what I looked at every time I walked into the garage for 5 months taunting me that I hadn't gotten it done yet. My friends and family commented that whenever they came over a little more was done to it.<br />
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I couldn't find any closer pictures, but if you look here on the edge of the side panels there is a small 3/32" notch all the way around the cabinet on both sides to fit the t-molding. The little black piece in the corner was a piece I used to test it with. The control panel here was cut, sanded and fit into the cabinet before taking it off to be drilled into for the controls.<br />
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I used a template and punch to get the center of each hole and made a small pilot hole before using expensive bits to ensure I didn't have any blowout of wood.<br />
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I used graph paper and a small drill bit on the press to make the holes for the speakers. The speakers were from my friend Paul who wasn't using them anymore. I mounted them with standoffs and hot glue. The potentiometer for the amp sticks through the board to be turned up and down by the player.<br />
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I covered the areas of the cabinet I didn't want to get any stain or polyurethane on. The stain I chose was a Minwax oil based called country maple. However it came out almost exactly like I imagined. I covered the dust collector, band saw, table saw, router table, ect... with tarps before I started spraying. The finish came out very well after a few coats. The next step would be to make the Marquee.<br />
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I made the marquee with Paint.Net and just pulled images from the internet and edited them onto a black canvas. however the only background left is in the top left corner. the rest of the background is being taken up by Mario's Rainbow Road and Starfox's Galaxy Map. I had my nephew Case and my niece Caitlyn help me with deciding what pictures to grab and where to put them. The pirate ship was pulled from a children's book and then the Jolly Rodger and TMNT's added. This is however only a temporary image. I asked my friend James to design one for me. He would most likely do a better job and he is trying to build his portfolio.<br />
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Fed-Ex printed the image off for me. They did it on standard paper they had in the right size and it turned out to be quite good at lighting up when back lit.<br />
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The bezel around the screen was don with mat board from hobby lobby. I also bought a piece of plexiglass and cut it to size to cover the bezel and screen. after that I framed it out with oak trim around the edges. before installing the glass I used window cleaner on the screen and back side of glass.<br />
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The T-molding Went very smooth and quick. My dad and I plopped the cabinet up on the table saw and used 34 feet of T-molding around the cabinet. I used a combination of hobby glue and wood glue to hold the molding in the groove and onto the edge. After finishing this two friends, my dad, and <br />
I hauled this thing back into the house to have the electronics fitted inside and finally free up some space in the garage for a new project. <br />
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Like I said before, The cabinet now has a PC inside instead of a raspberry pi. The electronics worked fine before building the cabinet. I don't know if it was how long I went without using it or If i messed a few things up along the way. but The software had so many bugs and the sound quality was so poor that when it eventually did die last night I was so fed up. I reformatted and old PC that was sitting around, Loaded new software on and have it at least working right now. I will eventually do more custom software eventually.<br />
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One thing I did add just before posting this is a function for the little black button. I made the black button take screenshots and automatically save them as png's in a folder. I then used that same folder as my screensaver. now if my arcade isn't being played with, then after two minutes the screensaver will start which is a slideshow off all the screenshots taken of people playing.<br />
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I have to thank all the people that helped me with this project. My friend joey and all his work with programming on every project, writing functions and other wizardry. Paul for his speakers he donated. James for the artwork he's working on, the communities on Hack-a-day, /r/raspberrypi, /r/electronics, /r/arduino, PetRockBlog, and all those others I have failed to mention. Also I would like to thank my Dad, Dave Carver Senior for his never ending flow of knowledge about woodwork. This would not be possible without him.<br />
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I am very pleased with the way it turned out and know that for a while It will be hard not to walk passed it without playing a game of Pengo. For those who know me please feel free to come by and take a look. I will be more than happy to show it off.<br />
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I haven't posted the insides because it is an absolute mess right now. I am waiting to put a back on and wire everything permanently until I have a better idea what exactly is going inside. The coin-op at the moment does nothing, however I am thinking about making it send the Konami Code to the emulator. Also I may later put a more beefy PC inside and install games from my steam account and other PC games. </div>
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Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed the project. I did spend a good amount of time on it and I would really appreciate a comment on your thoughts. So please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for future projects. Thanks!</div>
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<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-dstwo-flashcart-arived.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-dstwo-flashcart-arived.html" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcqK7_yE66S1-Ad-SPEBiECZHtE1LTaVUqVeEpaOfR1XmEPFyPrHHQuwrTpSzNYXtbhOb3C9yzBPamkw-D7EjFOmNzPHzsQAZ7GIqo6kKmIurD8gZslIE09TCzmDQSBYpEiETCnscm2A/s1600/IMG_3149.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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A while back I got a DS Lite from a friend and as soon as I got back home I googled ways to hack it. After not finding anything I was really looking for I came across this lovely little product. A flashcart or flash cartridge. These are reprogrammable cartridges that you stick into devices and run your own games, programs, or ROMS. When I was a kid I wanted one for my gameboy but never got it. And now, here I have one for my DS.<br />
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Video of it working after the jump. <br />
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The card came in pretty nice packaging. I guess I'm so used to getting dev boards and parts from china that I expected a brown packaging envelope with the card inside. But this arrived in a box with pretty good graphix, user instuction booklet, and a nice Mini SD to usb adapter. Which is good because it's much faster than the one I had.<br />
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I downloaded the firmware and emulators from here: <a href="http://eng.supercard.sc/manual/dstwo/">http://eng.supercard.sc/manual/dstwo/</a> <br />
I'm not sure how large of an SD this will support but I'm using an 8 gig Samsung. It works fine.<br />
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There is a lot of different firmware you can put on this card. The one I'm using is pretty good however it does still need work. The SNES emulator doesn't seem to have the ability to exit without shutting power. The GBA and SNES cant save unless exiting out first. save state does work but again you have to be able to get to the other menu first and that isn't working on SNES. Some games on GBA and SNES don't work or freeze, but for the most part its fine. MAME4ALL works on here but I didn't bother installing it. The DS games save just fine. No need for save state. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kkx9Fuq-KZ0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Overall I'm happy with this. I can now play tons of games and never need to change a cartridge.<br />
And for any Advance Wars fans, I highly recommend Age of Empires - Age of Kings game for the DS. <br />
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Also, my Raspberry Pi arcade cabinet is near completion and I will hopefully be uploading the post in about a month and a half. It has taken so long because I really only have the weekends to work on it anymore.<br />
<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-29350598994724346562014-01-10T14:38:00.001-08:002016-02-23T23:09:08.935-08:00The Taunt Button<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2014/01/video-game-chat-taunt-button.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2014/01/video-game-chat-taunt-button.html" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivvYDLOrNJobrnDcUfKjNDN3nueeFaoZDMxQBJu80f_9xL0V7mhmiuCb5-PIphVSrME3MW0oONm2kCloG7sMfSjiPqeFe2SglwOjEGNN0pwgLyUa2y8yaQZhIxDGnP2wFcCgToxjUwSiE/s1600/IMG_3143.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Here is my "Taunt Button" or what my brother-in-law called it, "Shit Talking Button". Basically every time I press the button in game it sends an insult to the other players through the in game chat. So far I've learned that half the people find it funny and the other half just want to kill me that much more. So I guess its doing it's job. I built it using an arcade style push button and an arduino Leonardo.<br />
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It's Just a little something I have been working on just while waiting for the arcade parts to arrive. I ordered the buttons, Joy sticks, got a raspberry pi computer from a friend and I'm just waiting for the joy sticks to get here before i start building.<br />
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Any Who, click the jump to see it in action. <br />
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This is just a temporary setup because it is still in the development stage so it looks like crap until I actually build a permanent enclosure. Also, the button I'm using is an arcade button I bought for the Simon game I'm also making. I purchased a 46mm red push button from eBay that will be used for this. <br />
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<b>THIS VIDEO JUST SHOWS THE SETUP AND THE BUTTON WORKING IN NOTEPAD.</b><br />
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This is the in game video. Here I'm playing red faction, but this can be used in most games. In the video I push the Taunt Button after every kill. Normally I would only press it if I'm doing well and the kill is impressive. In the video I am talking but you cant really hear me so just ignore the voices. your not going crazy. Also turn the quality up to see the chat window at the top.<br />
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<b>TURN THE QUALITY UP ON THE VIDEO AND WATCH THE CHAT.</b><br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>LIST OF TAUNTS:</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Ive Killed More Men Then Cholesterol.</b></div>
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<b>Puny Mortal</b></div>
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<b>Chicken Ass</b></div>
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<b>Clean up on isle 5</b></div>
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<b>Forget the brown bag - you need a body bag</b></div>
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<b>He's outta there</b></div>
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<b>Is there a doctor in the house?</b></div>
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<b>Get Some</b></div>
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<b>That Had To Hurt</b></div>
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<b>These Aint Yo Mammas Guns</b></div>
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<b>Keep the change</b></div>
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<b>Take That</b></div>
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<b>OUCH!</b></div>
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<b>I'm an equal opportunity asskicker!</b></div>
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<b>Go Home And Be A Family Man</b></div>
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<b>My Attacks Will Tear You Apart</b></div>
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<b>My gun's bigger than yours</b></div>
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<b>You're An Inspiration For Birth Control.!</b></div>
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<b>How Can You Challenge A Perfect Immortal Machine?</b></div>
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<b>You Weak Pathetic Fool.</b></div>
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<b>Yep. He's dead.</b></div>
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<b>Piece Of Cake!</b></div>
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<b>You Are So Unlikable</b></div>
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<b>You Cannot Stop Me</b></div>
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<b>BOOM!</b></div>
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<b>How Does Freedom Taste?</b></div>
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<b>That was nasty</b></div>
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<b>Squeal Boy Squeal</b></div>
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<b>Your Blood Smells Like My Duck Butter.</b></div>
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<b>Hail To The King, baby!</b></div>
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<b> Now that's a blue light special<br /> Oww - do you have a booboo<br /> Damn you're ugly!<br /> Smells like chicken<br /> Taking Candy From a Baby<br /> You should've gone to Disney Land<br /> Are you still there<br /> Buckle up bonehead, cause you're going for a ride<br /> Burn baby burn<br /> I still got the touch<br /> You Are Inferior<br /> Its GO! Time<br /> You're a bumbling inept fool<br /> Hail to the King Baby Bring it on<br /> You weak pathetic fool<br /> That was too easy<br /> My boot, your face; the perfect couple.<br /> Hello yoohoo anybody here<br /> goodbye<br /> Yippie ka-yay, motherfucker!<br /> AWW SMLUCH!!<br /> You Like That?<br /> your ass is grass and I've got the weed-whacker<br /> Do You Need A Carrot?<br /> Choke On That<br /> Die, Weakling!<br /> I Salute My Fallen Enemy</b></div>
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<a href="http://pastebin.com/vCJA6MJD" target="_blank">Code for this project</a></div>
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The cheesier the taunts the better.<br />
Thanks. Please Comment and let me know what other taunts to add.<br />
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<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-72037095075699199442014-01-02T15:06:00.002-08:002016-02-23T23:09:35.300-08:00Other Christmas Presents<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2014/01/other-christmas-presents.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2014/01/other-christmas-presents.html" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK2uSSqAu9H26vK34NL03rWseqsDhVST7Q7OL5Nz-b1miHjJDvkkTGxa27C-hqf2CwUtiMQRGNLz5EFdBQBtPnAsd8gjelcCpo5FIo5xX-kU6OKXYTcDJT1SlnREaKvK8riTJpjgfYsvg/s320/IMG_3140.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
This Christmas I had very little money to give gifts to my family. I made this wooden basket for my Mom. I used a 2x10 I got from the "call cart" at home depot. Everything in the cart has something wrong with it, So things were cheaper. The 2x10 I bought was only $2.00. I planed down the wood, sanded it, and cut out the weave design with the scroll saw. After shaping and sanding I glued the 5 layers of the basket together. while it was gluing I made the handle on the scroll saw as well and shaped it with a drum sander. I wrapped it up as is so my mom could decide what color she wanted it painted or stained. I also made her a Christmas ornament out of scrabble pieces that spelled out JOY.<br />
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Click the jump for the rest of the gifts I made.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLZovUrUgAKs0uERBaiDBqhv4435PbvOrUPL12hAZ63LlW714hyphenhyphenbTCvpT7jPgG0bKvHqa1UmFArmxgrnZQiFnKuoWzVCqffs2I5jgefkp-50UUSrn1Xp-04iOf8TnmQTcpkNWgkPteAr4/s1600/IMG_3118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLZovUrUgAKs0uERBaiDBqhv4435PbvOrUPL12hAZ63LlW714hyphenhyphenbTCvpT7jPgG0bKvHqa1UmFArmxgrnZQiFnKuoWzVCqffs2I5jgefkp-50UUSrn1Xp-04iOf8TnmQTcpkNWgkPteAr4/s320/IMG_3118.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is a flashdrive I made for kelly. Well I shaped and hollowed the wood pulled the parts from an existing drive I had. kelly has been borrowing my flashdrive for about a year now, and it was time for her to have her own. It is an 8 gig sandisk drive wrapped with a scrap piece of hardwood laying around. I say hardwood because I'm not sure if it was cherry or oak. I made the light on the drive visible by drilling a hole into the wood before inserting the drive. then filled the hole with hot glue. When I sanded it before staining the hot glue smoothed out very nicely. I used this method with the clock I made and would really recommend it for any future projects it might be effective. The cap fits on very snug. It was too loose at first but I squeezed some more glue into the cap and used the soldering iron to coat the inside until it fit better. On the drive I wrote her a little Christmas note.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSrxBejT77pX5w5aVpN_MW14bO2KBjA79euJ69aywreLxjkTI-oXHQxzS9trQCksjkGemc225ksJ_x1tyOGvUrfsp8dZ4tZGwA-869C6au676HEuKCAQgfzej7bHv5ItIwS6wCvnMZtM/s1600/IMG_3139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSrxBejT77pX5w5aVpN_MW14bO2KBjA79euJ69aywreLxjkTI-oXHQxzS9trQCksjkGemc225ksJ_x1tyOGvUrfsp8dZ4tZGwA-869C6au676HEuKCAQgfzej7bHv5ItIwS6wCvnMZtM/s320/IMG_3139.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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For my dad I made 4 coasters out of Popsicle sticks that look like pallets. I originally wanted to make him a tape dispenser for all the tape in the garage but I ran out of time. I used really strong super glue I got at a hobby store. Cant remember the name of it at the moment though. After I finished gluing I brought the coasters out to the scroll saw and cut the ends of the sticks. The end result really did look like coasters. The idea for pallet coasters isn't original by any means though I have seen countless others do it all over the internet. I don't think he has quite finished giving up on that blue towel just yet.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilKszwRiZ4nRe3_oRanXd0U5uboVGu0sk0fEAxMy2boyghjGYY6hKUMRPuPRo-Fsn6QcisD89VDMU-iQzM-BMhdNmZxzfJ0ABT-rAt4yyflXFysjCWM3vP3ZXya2T8SvXCILBq0J6ChzQ/s1600/IMG_3138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilKszwRiZ4nRe3_oRanXd0U5uboVGu0sk0fEAxMy2boyghjGYY6hKUMRPuPRo-Fsn6QcisD89VDMU-iQzM-BMhdNmZxzfJ0ABT-rAt4yyflXFysjCWM3vP3ZXya2T8SvXCILBq0J6ChzQ/s320/IMG_3138.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
For my niece and nephews I made these little wooden cards that I called adventure tickets. I basically promised that once a year they could individually ask to hangout with me and I would take them out to do something fun. They really seemed to like them. however now I will have to free up 5 random Saturdays a year for the rest of my life. <br />
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<br />David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037407141560125441.post-64476642788087607642013-12-29T12:59:00.000-08:002016-02-23T23:10:02.857-08:00Arduino Alarm Clock<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2013/12/arduino-powered-alarm-clock.html"><img alt="http://shortcircuitprojects.blogspot.com/2013/12/arduino-powered-alarm-clock.html" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMygk1wqSbqRcf1iZCF_acZlY_dBFCAAzeUJ8mQi4oML2Au_blyvonK_JtKJi5UsxciF6drP-iNLT4lgjLdDwgWZkoEbBxH5N55HeSc-05GlX4Vc_G-dGT0CPIP8ogy0dN86gSLWaU1Ng/s320/IMG_3128.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is a wooden alarm clock I made using the ATMega328 micro-controller, programmed with the Arduino IDE. For the time keeping I used a DS1307 RTC with a Li-ion rechargeable battery on a trickle charger. the battery is used to keep the time even when the clock is unplugged. If the power goes out or the clock needs to be moved it will still display the right time when power is reconnected. I believe the data sheet for the RTC (Real Time Clock) says that on full charge of the battery, it will maintain it's charge for 5 years before needing to be charged again. The five buttons on the top from right to left are as follows: ALARM SET, TIME SET, SNOOZE, HOUR, MINUTE. There is a switch on the left side which is used for turning the alarm on and off. There are two LED's at the top of the face the left one is orange and represents the alarm being on, and the right LED represents PM. Over The coarse of this project I was able to introduce myself to a ton of new things I will be able to use in so many more projects. <br />
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When I very first started to work on my clock I had nothing but a blue display and an Arduino UNO Dev Board. The display wasn't even meant for displaying time. There was no colon in between hours and minutes. The displays I used are multiplexed together. all of the Positives of each seven segment display are connected and each segment has it's own Ground. What I did for this in my programming was cycle through which ground is connected 1 at a time. Apparently most 7 seg displays are this way. only one display or one LED is on at anytime. They are switched on and off so fast that the human eye cant see the change. The time keeping was done all inside the microcontroller which I found to be very difficult and almost impossible to stay accurate. So the first two changes that were made were a new display which featured the colon separator, and the DS1307 RTC for keeping time accurately. <br />
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Above you can see, between the Arduino and the breadboard on the right, is the RTC. And the display is now sporting the nice and shiny colon that was so important. Just thought I would add in, I would have used a different color for the display but when i was looking for one on Ebay, Kelly wanted to know if I could get it in blue. <br />
The RTC is interfaced to the ATmega through an I2C bus consisting of two wires plus power and ground. Also in this picture you can see I started to add an LED and a couple buttons. The LED was the PM indicator. The two buttons are normally open Momentary switches I used them to test the changing of Hours and Minutes. I want to add in right now that if anyone is planning on ever doing anything with switches and digital logic I cant stress enough the importance of Pull Down Resistors and Debounce Functions. Thank God my friend Joe is a programming wizard and made me my very own Button Library to use with future projects. In fact Joe helped me out with a huge portion of the programming and it would have taken me a lot longer to learn some of the tricks he threw in there.<br />
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Here I cleaned up the breadboard some and also added a 74HC595 serial in parallel out Shift Register. The shift register was needed to expand my i/o on the microcontroller. I wouldn't have enough after the Buzzer, LED's, and Set buttons were added. I used the shift register only for the display. Before the display used up 8 i/o plus 4 i/o for the grounds. Now I reduced it to 3 plus the 4 transistors switching the grounds.<br />
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Now After Finally having tested everything and breadboarding was complete it was time to make some circuit boards. I used graph paper to lay out the real estate for the parts and connectors. I had to make sure none of the traces would be touching. however I did end up using much more jumper wires than I thought I would.<br />
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The three main boards were the motherboard, which contained the power input/regulator, everything the ATmega328 controller needed to run, And some connectors I ripped from an old computer to use to connect to the other parts. I used a linear regulator for the input power. These are inefficient and waste a lot of power depending on the source. but I wanted to make sure everything fit and that a stable 5 volts would be available. Because of how they work, if you try to drop anything from 9 - 24 volts down to 5 through the regulator the regulator will get very hot. So on the top right of the motherboard I added a heat sink. I'm using a 6 volt supply so right now the reg doesn't get hot at all.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge4PTi0HA7Ez_clQDmcxeKYaTFLewc67Mc_rJvKFu5ewawKqarHvRhv3m-4RwSDVlj30fW0Iq-WNTk41kC29JXIuCXLBA7iPzLD1PO9gjp0tnN-7rSlDJqo05FEJfw-Y9UKWxFJvu20W4/s1600/IMG_3103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge4PTi0HA7Ez_clQDmcxeKYaTFLewc67Mc_rJvKFu5ewawKqarHvRhv3m-4RwSDVlj30fW0Iq-WNTk41kC29JXIuCXLBA7iPzLD1PO9gjp0tnN-7rSlDJqo05FEJfw-Y9UKWxFJvu20W4/s320/IMG_3103.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The back of the boards are kind of ugly. I didn't actually print any of the circuit boards. I used perf board from radio shack and used very thin wire to make the traces. I am in the process of learning EAGLE CAD to design my PCB's and have them professionally printed at a board house. It will be nice once I'm comfortable knowing my Gerber files for cad are actually sized the way i need for everything because making boards the way I did is a royal pain in the ass.<br />
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Here is all the hardware for the clock. I am a firm believer that you should never build anything you cant take apart later. So I made all the wires just a bit longer than needed and also added connectors so every part can be connected and disconnected with ease.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGcBlz4e4Pb3UQM9jfTOn3RiDqgrQQdvvE8dQdFhBfrSYgVXS6NKnfnvtALGrB7kOoA1WREg08KmvrLuC1PyWbnq_4vgVJOAyZyxwvd8nPHyGbNPfNbjri89yU7Hp5ucZkeIgpQQxUzo/s1600/IMG_3111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGcBlz4e4Pb3UQM9jfTOn3RiDqgrQQdvvE8dQdFhBfrSYgVXS6NKnfnvtALGrB7kOoA1WREg08KmvrLuC1PyWbnq_4vgVJOAyZyxwvd8nPHyGbNPfNbjri89yU7Hp5ucZkeIgpQQxUzo/s320/IMG_3111.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The wood I used is Oak for the three thicker layers and teak for the darker, smaller two layers. The teak came from a close out of flooring at a sorry excuse for a home improvement store I worked at a few years ago. I wanted the Clock to be as small as possible. This is why everything on the motherboard is so close together. I made the wood just big enough to fit the motherboard. All five pieces of wood were cut to exactly the same length and width. I slowly cut out the centers of the wood to fit the various parts. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm34JbdB-Zy7vSNMQQWr2P9ltMCrWzpVXnpWeWXKaGtMo8c73pqAJ5Jj1ywmoT12aDjPow5kGBlNk-QtLM2T5ZMIugEjKJnaqk2NOtIHck8qsgWTNapWfd472uS3HKIqw7wrnc7NZSs8I/s1600/IMG_3112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm34JbdB-Zy7vSNMQQWr2P9ltMCrWzpVXnpWeWXKaGtMo8c73pqAJ5Jj1ywmoT12aDjPow5kGBlNk-QtLM2T5ZMIugEjKJnaqk2NOtIHck8qsgWTNapWfd472uS3HKIqw7wrnc7NZSs8I/s320/IMG_3112.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm pretty happy with how everything was able to fit into the enclosure. There isn't any wiggle room for the parts. The only thing that might be a pain to get out if I have to fix it is the RTC and the switchboard. The RTC is hot glued in place to the side of the box and the switchboard was built all in one with the top of the box and then that was glued on with wood glue. <br />
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Here it is turned on while the glue is drying. The LED's at the top are behind a 1/4 layer of hot glue that is actually flush with the rest of the face because of sanding. I did this on another project and It turns out pretty good.<br />
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After it was done gluing I sanded it down nice and smooth, rounded over all the edges and prepared it for the polyurethane.<br />
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I don't have a picture of the bottom of the clock but on the bottom is another very thin layer of teak with 4 screws holding it in place on the bottom of that I glued on 4 rubber feat to keep it from easily sliding on whatever it may be sitting on.<br />
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Finished. I have been working on this clock for about 2 months. I originally wanted to give it to my girlfriend Kelly for her birthday in November but it didn't end up being completed until mid December. So I wrapped it up for Christmas instead. I spent very little money on this because I didn't have any money to spend. Like I said, most parts were pulled from broken junk I had laying around and scrap wood in the garage the most expensive part was the 7 segment LED display which was a whopping $4.00. So happy with the Project. Spent a ton of time working on it. and I learned a whole lot. So if you liked it please comment and let me know. Thanks and Merry Christmas.<br />
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Here's a link to the code: <a href="http://pastebin.com/CBranrW7">Clock sketch</a>David Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02651713588092463745noreply@blogger.com9