Always Random
Just worth saying
Make a Cannon
I have been corresponding with a old fellow named John Gerling about the X3 motor controller. He must be really old as he says he is older than me! 🙂 He is retired ( I am not) so I guess he does have the age credentials.
I found a link to him in the Little Machine Shop web site. Chris Wood, the owner of LMS, has a suggestion posted on the page where he sells the Sieg replacement board I need, to check John out if you have a Sieg controller board that needs serviced.
John is a retired electrical engineer who now has a small business repairing said controller boards. A recommendation from Chris is good enough for me, so I have been emailing John several times. John seems like a fair enough guy, a great repair flat rate (if repairable) and an otherwise good first choice if you have a bad board. Here is his website: http://www.www.repaircontrol.com. He calls himself Gerling Laboratories but the URL is a bit different. (Yes, two WWW’s?)
John, Chris and I all decided in my case that two burned through traces from lighting is not a good thing as certainly most other parts are affected (no more magic smoke left), so I have ordered a full replacement board from LMS.
John is also an active hobby machinist and has produced a very well done instruction manual for building an all brass cannon from raw stock. He gave me permission to publish the link to the manual. So it is free to you to download. He intended to publish the instruction manual as a part of a kit for a profit. I assume to invest in more tools for his retirement center.  … Continue reading
X3 Lighting Damage
The X3 mill motor controller was damaged in a lighting strike that took out a lot of electronics in my home. Mostly all the phone, computer and amateur radio gear. It also did some damage in the workshop.
The overhead door opener went out and had to be replaced. Here is the visual damage to the X3 motor controller board. The arc traveled between the solid jumper wire and the trace below which is ground.
The shop light transformer just burned out today. So the repairs are not finished. The new board is worth about $180.00 if it can’t be repaired.
Just another adventure after another… 🙂
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Here is a picture of the backside of the board. I found another blown trace. Who knows what is also blown in those SM (Surface Mount) components. I was checking out having the board tested and repaired but now I intend to replace this board.
You know how it goes. Fix the obvious then other things start to fail like a week later. Not worth the time or aggravation…
The Creation
With HB2 running it has been fun refining MACH3. There are just so many things that software can do that I am always experimenting with settings. Thank goodness everything can be saved under various setup names. I have two main versions, one for the little Taig CNC mill and the other for HB2.
I am also spending time with the Vectric Aspire software. This is a serious program that works very well at composing very nice projects. I hesitate at saying it creates very nice projects as I feel that is still a human function. Aspire is simply a tool.
I am making signs and nameplates. I am looking for the “killer app” that will be something I can make in suitable volume for sale to others. Gross profits after taxes will go into a building fund to eventually find or build a better shop. That is my long term goal.
The replacement metal gears I sell have been a good sideline but the lack of inventory is killing me. My import person is also beside himself wondering what is going on. I can only think there has been a breakdown somewhere in the shipping process. I can’t sell from an empty basket or without finished product of my own design.
All in all, I am still excited HB2 is a success. Now to put it to work.
A Taxing Easter Weekend
Sometimes I seem to hit a slow time. I have a lot of things I need and want to do in the workshop. Some of them I consider very important. I temper that with the real fact that my workshop is just my hobby. Other real time events must come first, like taking a whole weekend just to figure out my taxes.
I also got very ill last week, upper respiratory infection. I crashed into bed rest for two days solid then struggled the weekend doing what I mentioned above. I didn’t even see Easter. When someone said, “He has arisen” I thought they were talking about me doing my taxes. I said, “So have my taxes!” What bad timing, but God understands. I remember the story in the Gospels when Jesus was asked about taxes said, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s…” Â Right now I feel very well rendered.
Now is the time to do the same for God.
Shoeless
This blog is attracting a lot of European registrations. Most are just name and email registrations through gmail. It is obvious who they are. A few post inappropriate links that the filters eat. Yum!
I try to understand why but I am at pretty much of a loss. I assume it might be a way to improve standings in the web crawlers, but most seem to be private entries. Maybe it is just a game. Perhaps they just want to belong. If it is marketing, it is way off track. (Old railroad term). It does prove (I think) someone is reading this blog. Ha!
TEDEX was suffering the same flood, so I shut the door.
At TEDEX I first suspected frustrated kiddie hackers who have written or downloaded a program that crawls the web just trying to blindly enter and join open blogs and BBS’s. However, I don’t see how they get past the visual filters. So it must be live people with a lot of time.
Joining here is quick and easy but just permits replies. Not much status there. Most post nothing after joining. Those that do take the form of very strange links. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maybe they are barefoot like me except when I am in the shop… 🙂
Dan’l