No Chaos No Order

Category Archives: Random

Progress on the cat feeder 101310

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I may have decided NOT to hack my servo.  After doing more reading, I’ve learned that when you hack it, you can’t specify how many degrees it turns. You can only change the rate with which it turns and in what direction.  I’m not sure if that will work well. I can imagine getting it to turn very slowly over a 15 minute time period and by adjusting the gears, change how far the dispenser is turned. OR, keeping the ability to specify how many degrees it turns.  I figure the next thing I need to do is get a way to start attaching gears and actually try it out. That, and buy an appliance timer.

So, tonight I used some very sophisticated and high-tech materials and tools to start that process. First, a very important thing I realized I should share with you all: my thinking head band.

Its a sparkly yellow flower!

Ok, then onto the working!  Here is a very sophisticated and high tech material for the grasping part of my turning gizmo.

Check out my precision measuring and marking skillz!

My very sophisticated and high tech precision tools.  I actually love my tin snips – they cut everything! … I wonder if they ever get dull?

I learned two things cutting these notches out: 1) the pvc pipe cutter breaks the plastic all the way to the end and 2) the tin snips work well, but don’t snip it closed at the end – you’ll get a small break.  Here is the notched graspy thingy!

Look! It fits! At first I thought I was going to drill a hole and glue in a shaft to which a gear would be attached, but now I think I’ll just find a big gear and just glue it to the bottom. I’m all about function here…

Actually… I am harboring fantasies of rebuilding the cat feeder when I know it works using brass and aluminum and the Steampunk aesthetic! Yay!

It’s arrived! 10/09/10

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Warren and I went to Vancouver on the 6th and I bought this lovely industrial brother serger – what a great deal! And I made a good contact.  Ryan seemed to be both knowledgeable and personable … he said he may be able to help me fix or replace the motor in my Elna!

So here’s the serger all threaded and ready to go!

Now I need to cut out a bunch of footed pjs, get more thread, and get goin! 😀    It has made my Craft Room Optimization Operation more challenging, though.  That and the treadle table!  Not much room to move, anymore… (imagine the treadle table between the serger and the white table.)

In unrelated news, I have collected the pieces I need to hack my servo for continuous rotation. Now I just need some time to fire up the soldering gun and do the hacking!

“Too much”?

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So, a friend asked me if I thought I took on too many projects.  I immediately thought of the 40+ projects logged in my project list and answered with an emphatic “YES!”  She asked how I could change that … and I was confounded.  Why would I want to do that?  I figured, so long as I got some things done, it was ok…  I still don’t see this as a major problem. Even when I’ve decided to go to Washington tomorrow to buy a used industrial serger.

And even when I went and got an old treadle table so I could use my Elna Grasshopper with the burnt out motor.  grasshopper

And especially when the treadle table is pretty cool, but really decrepit and in need of repairs…

So, that’s at least three new projects.  It’s a good thing I haven’t officially finished the “Optimize the Craft Room” project, because I’m going to have to do some fancy rearranging to get both of those things in there and would have to consider that a ‘new’ project, too…

So excited!

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I just hooked my servo up to my teensy board and loaded a 180 degree sweep program and it worked!  My heart actually started beating hard and fast in excitement!!  Now I have to figure out how to get it to sweep the servo once at prescribed times and then figure out the mechanics of changing this rotating motion to a continuous motion effecting two cat food dispensers…  Fun nights ahead!

Random home repair 092910

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My waffle iron had a missing shoe. Which made the pancakes have bad posture and list a little lop sided.  For many years.  Tonight, I stopped and got some polymer clay. And then I actually used it!  I was going utilitarian tonight, but while I was waiting for it to bake, I tried a little artistry.  I liked it a bunch until I tried to flaten it a little and obliterated the neat-o twists. But… oh well!

Silk painting 092810

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I fixed the dyes this evening and they are now drying in preparation for the final ironing before wearing. Or something. Still not sure what to do with them. But it’s interesting how the color intensity decreased a bit upon drying. And I may I have waited too long to use the salt – I noticed very little effect.

My favorite part of my favorite scarf (mostly just cause of the colors) although the interesting pattern from the squirt bottle diffused and is no longer noticeable:

favorite

I think the swirls in this one are super awesome!

And here’s a little bit of the salt effect:

PS: Got my servo! If I’m not feeling too icky tomorrow, I may play with it a bit! Woohoo!!

Cat Feeder 091110

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I have gotten tired of my cats scratching and meowing at me before I want to wake up to be fed.  I have also seen how powerful frequent, portion controled meals can be in reducing and maintaining weight and would like to try to share that with my cats. Having a job makes it impossible for me to feed my cats 4-6 times daily, though. So, I naturally decided to make an automatic cat feeder.  I looked a several tutorials on instructables and MAKE, but none of them did what I wanted: multiple, small portions delivered indefinitely. This cereal dispenser is the first part towards my feeder. $38.89 (s&h included)

I took the long back parts off because I’m planning on mounting this on a board out of kitty reach.

While the knob clearly has four lobes, the spindle inside the canister is divided into 6 sections. So, when I build the turning mechanism, I’m going to have to get it to turn only 60 degrees, rather than 90. Turning 90 releases two sections of food. Each section releases 1/4 cup of food. If the knob is turned 90 degrees, 1/2 cup will come out.  If my goal is to feed the cats at least 4 times a day and, since they’re on a diet, they get fed 1/2 cup a day, I’ll need to make each section smaller. Preferably releasing 1/8 cup. 1/16 would be even better though!

I have to decide how I’m going to make the sections smaller.  Using cardboard and tape were suggested to me, but you know how tape can curl and leave sticky residue on the things around it. I’d prefer not to muck up the spindle or feed residue to my cats. I’m thinking about using some sort of styrofoam or spray foam, but am not liking that idea – I’d imagine it would be hard to clean and not be good for cats to eat.  I just now thought of using fimo. I can mold it to shape inside the spindle, take it out and bake it and then varnish it in nontoxic varnish.  I’m guessing two-part epoxy would not be “healthy” so I’ll have to come up with a safe glue.

Once I get that figured out, I have the turning mechanism to build which will be attached to a Teensy or Dorkboard which will do the timing and turning on and off of the turning mechanism servo.  The servo is in the mail and should be here soon! Yay!

Silk painting 092610

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So, I think I’ve finally caught up on all the things I’ve finished so far that I wanted to share with the world.  Now, what I’ve really been wanting to do, which is post as I’m working on projects. Yay!  So, here’s one that came out of nowhere…

My boyfriend arrived home one evening last week with a silk painting kit. I’d never contemplated silk painting, but now I needed to. As soon as possible. So, today I worked through the kit. The kit came with two long silk scarves and I believe his mom put in two silk handkerchiefs.

Since the mordant could only be mixed up once, I felt like I had to paint all the items to fix at the same time.  I decided to paint flowers on the handkerchiefs, but the paint spreads much more than I thought it would, even as it continues to dry.

anemone

orchids

For the really long scarves, I decided to play with the spreading. Since the scarves were laying on plastic bags, the way the dye spread was pretty cool. On the stripy scarf, I sprinkled rock salt, which is supposed to marbalize the dye as it dries. On the blotchy scarf (my favorite so far), I experimented with scrunching up the plastic and a water spray bottle.

blotchy

Now, I have to wait 24 hrs for them to dry. I’ll iron them (to heat set the dye) and then swish them around in a mordant. Let them dry and then iron again and they should be rather pretty.

… I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them, though…  But silk painting was fun! I can’t claim that I’m an incredible artist w/lifelike representations, but its hard to make anything ugly with such pretty colors!

I’ve seen instructions on how to paint on a frame, which would eliminate some of the spreading artifacts. And there were instructions on how to use a resist to keep colors from combining. So, I think this is a technique I’ll be able to use in future costumes.

Camp box: Complete!

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So, I finally finished my camp box enough to put stuff in it!  I still would like to put a vinyl top on the primary work surface and get/make some little shelves/drawers, but figure I’ll do that when I a) plan another camping trip and b) have some extra funds that aren’t needed for my automatic cat feeder.  Here are some pix!

This is as far as I got in my woodshop class – milled and cut the wood out (with many mistakes) and initially assembled.  In this picture you can see that the screws are the steel/zinc (?) ones. This photo is in my craft room, after moving from Beaverton. I’d had those things in my car since January..

pieces of the camp box

Now we’re at the Davis’ Compound Wood Shop where I have finished cutting and assembling my inner box.  After I had it all dry assembled, I took it apart, glued the pieces down and used pretty brass screws.

inner box assemled

Here is the whole-y assembled box. This is what you’ll take out of your car.

whole box

Slide the outer frame off and place where you want your cooking station to be.

base

Slide the sides off the inner box …

sides

… and place them where you’d like. Here, one is set on top of the outer frame as a side-counter, and one as a bottom shelf.

more sides

Then place your inner box on top of the outer frame and – wa-la! – you have access to all your cooking gear with room to work!

done

Current craft room and sundries

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So, it’s still not completely organized, but the main furniture is in place and its even more workable … but there’s a long way to go.  Part of my plan to get there is to finish some projects that have been hanging around for years!!!  ARG!

But, first, I needed to make some curtains for the living room.  There are already those roller shades, but they block out most of the light and I’ve never gotten along well with their type.  Also, I like light and want more in the house, but I want to feel secure walking from my bedroom to the bathroom that I won’t scar someone.  That, and W doesn’t want people scoping out our technology.  SO: Curtains!

BUT, but! I noticed as I was sewing the tab curtains – the easiest curtains to make! – I found myself getting angry.  ANGRY!  Was it the fabric, slippery as it is?  Perhaps the sewing machine, with gnarling bobbin thread?  No, and no… it was while IRONING!  Hm, ironing a flat piece of fabric should be calming and pleasant, yes?  Normally, but in this case the ironing board cover kept flipping up onto the ironing board and shifting around and just making a nuisance of its self. So, now I suddenly have a new project that I felt compelled to start and complete RIGHT THEN.

CURTAINS:  I used some old curtains that warren had, cut them up, threw out the lining and pleating, hemed the edges and sewed on some grosgrain ribbon as tabs. Easy!

Old curtain

Original curtain I cut up and made new ones from.

new curtain

clean and breezy!

IRONING BOARD COVER:  I wanted the cover to NOT MOVE while I ironed, so I used grommets to tightly lace it.  A few items of note…  I bought Soft and Natural batting for the padding, but I washed it and it destroyed it.  I was embarassed and already spent money and wasn’t going to spend any more money, so I used pieces from some old sheets (visible on the chair) and cut out eight layers of fabric which I sewed along the top edge to keep them together instead.  Turned out very nice actually – dense and sturdy!  I also laced it up wrong the first time.  You can’t open the board up when the laces criss cross in the tapered bit, so the next picture shows the final lacing.  And then there’s the final board! Boring, but sturdy, clean and effective! Yay!

lacing

Lacing up the ironing board wrong.

correct lacing

Fixed the lacing

Finished

Ready to use! Nice!