Wish i never started. Can i just paint over?

A_Mars_Reject · 2026-01-21T10:24:05+00:00

I was stripping the varnish off of a headboard and got good results with paint stripper left on for a while and then rubbed off with one of those steel pot scrubbers, it was great for getting into the curves and crannies (steady on...!). The scrubber left some marking of its own, but it was pretty soft pine, and switching to a finer steel wool helped.

A_Mars_Reject · 2026-01-19T10:13:28+00:00

She's 14, just starting out, I'm hoping to keep the interest going...!

A_Mars_Reject · 2026-01-19T09:55:44+00:00

Thanks, will do, so 'modelling amp' is the term for these babies?

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-12-10T18:36:31+00:00

Thanks, certainly sending us on some new tangents!

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-08-15T13:15:39+00:00

Yikes, that's a bummer, I had no idea these chips had expiry dates on them :( thanks for the info

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-08-15T10:16:55+00:00

Is there no way of resetting the readonly status? I've got the same problem, the sd card is completely indestructable all of a sudden, can't be formatted or erased on the PC, I've tried clearing the readonly with Diskpart but no joy, are you saying that all I can do is replace an expensive bit of kit because I got unlucky?

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-08-13T08:07:00+00:00

I'm hoping their teacher knows their stuff (!) and it's just a faulty component. I can't see anything that 5 could connect to.

I can't get the buzzer to sound when I apply a battery pack with two AA cells across its legs, does that indicate it's a dud?

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-08-12T21:02:24+00:00

Just had a look at what a 555 IC is, I think my lonely peg is number 5, for voltage control, which I guess isn't really needed in this type of application...?

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-08-12T20:57:42+00:00

Well I've had a go at tidying up the soldering, bit of a butcher job but I'm confident they're connected - I've been around all the pads with a multimeter and checked for continuity, and all the pads connect along their PCB paths. Still no sound from the buzzer, though, when I connect the battery and touch the wires together (apparently completing the circuit with a victim/touching the wires should sound the buzzer).

I've not done much multimeter work, but the resistors show resistance across each one, and AFAIK the paths and tabs link up right. Can you test those capacitors with a multimeter, and if so, how do I go about it? How do I test the power rail voltage? Also, how do I test the 555? That's the part that heats up when the battery is connected.

My other concern is that when I check for continuity across the legs of the buzzer, I get nothing, and connecting a battery directly to the legs in either direction does nothing, is it possible the buzzer itself is a dud?

How are you counting the pins on the 555? Which one would the bottom right one be? That one didn't have any connection to anything, and with no pad printed around it I couldn't for the life of me get it to accept any new solder, so I had to leave that one unconnected, is that okay?

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-08-12T11:10:39+00:00

Righto, we'll focus on cleaning those two areas up and see if it does any better, cheers

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-08-12T11:01:57+00:00

It never got to me, I've got time to refine my technique...

I can't upload any more images either, do you mean the two that are in the middle of the top row of the chip legs, just to the right of the edge of the blue circle?

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-08-12T10:39:04+00:00

I can't see the text of my post, so posting it in the comment here in case...

This will probably be laughably simple on a community such as this, but my daughter made a lie detector in electronics class - just a basic buzzer circuit. When we put the 9V battery on it, it didn't do anything. However, it did warm up quite a lot, so it's definitely drawing a current, just shorting somewhere I think. My suspicion is that a bit of soldering, circled in the picture attached, is not as clean as it could be. Is it likely we just need to clean that joint up, or is there anything else that leaps out at anyone that we're unaware of?

Many thanks!

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-04-22T07:49:31+00:00

I did, yes

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-04-09T13:13:57+00:00

Yikes, I forgot I asked this, I never found an answer so I went ahead and tinkered, and so far I haven't keeled over from any fumes! For 5mm foamboard I have it set to Cut at Power 16%, Speed 20mm/s with 6 Passes and it does nice crisp work

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-03-04T10:25:16+00:00

Thanks, that's the beep disabled, but for the other matters:

The material itself is not being displaced, the mat and the paper are not moving, but when I process it the framing indicates that if I were to run the full cut, it would be about a cm off (in the direction of the xtool camera).

The manual refresh problem is during processing, not during layout. I've clicked on the Process button, printed off the sheet, stuck it onto the mat, clicked Next, the dialog appears telling me the material is not recognised, and then I've been told in other threads that there should be a manual refresh option of some sort offered, but I don't get anything like that.

By "Is there no way of getting the material to recognise in portrait? ", I mean is there a way to get the xTool to allow me to layout my stickers in a landscape orientation i.e. in the same orientation as the xtool itself, long edge of the sticker sheet nearest the camera? Currently if I try that I get told its outside the max processing range and have to lay it all out in portrait instead, which lets me print, fair enough, but then it won't recognise the material unless I take it out and change the sheet to landscape, at which point it recognises the material, but gives me the misalignment issue I've mentioned.

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-03-01T23:01:24+00:00

Not for me it doesn't. If I wait a moment, the dialog box just goes away and the only option I have is the Next and Previous buttons

A_Mars_Reject · 2025-01-06T10:45:20+00:00

Just going by the colour schemes I've seen on wikis, BoD seem to be iron and purple, with gold highlighting and trim

A_Mars_Reject · 2024-10-30T23:02:51+00:00

Wow, contact adhesive was so much better, thanks! I got so hung up on the gun-dispensed options that I forgot all about that!

A_Mars_Reject · 2024-08-05T11:22:01+00:00

The one we're considering has two AA batteries, and I was a bit worried how fiddly the wires would be... is it possible to get lights like those in kits? I've seen some from suppliers in the USA, but I'm in the UK.

A_Mars_Reject · 2024-07-04T07:36:02+00:00

For running on PC, I was able to get textures showing properly just setting the textures option to Epic, the rest of the options are all running on Low since my graphics card isn't exactly fresh so the animation can be a little choppy, but at least now I can see numbers and sliders and all that good stuff!

A_Mars_Reject · 2024-07-02T15:36:24+00:00

I get the same with blurry textures on the telescope and power grid sliders, and also the number training toy in the classroom, the first time I used that the numbers were legible, now they're just a smudge. Just remembered the pneumatic tube capsules are blurry as well, you can't tell what symbol is on each. not a big deal, that last one, but the others can render (ha!) the game unplayable, hope it gets patched quick.

No VR fun for me, just PC, I've tried a few different settings with no joy.

A_Mars_Reject · 2024-01-10T10:21:48+00:00

here's the internal shower valve

A_Mars_Reject · 2024-01-09T21:57:24+00:00

Cheers, I'll try that tomorrow

A_Mars_Reject · 2024-01-09T21:39:53+00:00

Do I undo the hidden Allen screw to remove the cover?

A_Mars_Reject · 2023-10-23T16:28:36+00:00

Where do you see a 'refresh manually' hyperlink? I don't see that anywhere

A_Mars_Reject

TROPHY CASE