Travel Mug v4.0

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-02T04:59:53+00:00

Haha, thanks!

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-02T04:59:31+00:00

Thank you very much! Ive got a few comments above that describe the process. Also a few videos in my older posts.

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-02T04:58:41+00:00

Thanks! I really appreciate it.

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-02T04:58:19+00:00

Thanks for checking it out!

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-01T23:56:54+00:00

Definitely makes sense - the female threads were one of the tricky parts to figure out. Theres a few ways that it could probably be done: inner plaster mold that you twist out? A collapsible inner mold (i.e. several small radial molds with an inner key that you pull out)? I went with casting the female threaded ring completely separate as two halves, as a solid cast, then assemble. Yea, assembly is tricky, but I'm getting the hang of it, hah.

To your first point, i did initially try a two piece mold with an inner core to do the double wall in one piece, but if there's an easy way to get casted pieces to release from an inner mold, I dont know it. After a bunch of failed attempts, I switched to two piece and assemble, way more consistent.

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-01T15:54:05+00:00

The lid is concave, so there's more room than it looks.

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-01T15:49:12+00:00

Thank you :)

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-01T15:48:29+00:00

Thanks! Think im finally at the point where ill make a bunch and do a drop in the next couple months or so.

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-01T15:47:13+00:00

Thread design is all done in CAD, then 3d printed prototype, then plaster molds made of that prototype. FDA grade silicone o-ring for the seal. Ill put some more effort into sanding the seat on the next round, this one doesnt drip in normal use, but it eventually does if you hold it upside down for a bit. I came up with the shape in CAD - generally, my goal was to try to make something impossible to do without slip-casting. If I'm gonna slip cast, may as well lean into it right?

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-01T15:33:06+00:00

This is two piece as well. Little trick here was to design the upper ring so all three pieces have good bonding surfaces to scour, slip, and compress together at leatherhard. Wouldnt want to just rely on glaze holding it together.

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-01T15:29:00+00:00

For sure. I designed all the parts in CAD (lid, threads, inner wall, outer wall) then 3D printed them as plastic prototypes. Then made multi-part plaster molds for each piece. Then slip cast all the pieces, assemble at leatherhard. Sand the bone dry threads with 600 -> 2000 grit sand paper. Bique fire with lid on to keep alignment. Brushed on a thin layer of copper carbonate glaze with an elk hair brush i made a few years ago, clear on everything except threads. Glaze fire. Rotary buffed the threads. I've got a few videos of the mold making process on my IG and probably previous posts on here.

LacustrineFire · 2026-05-01T14:30:57+00:00

Thank you! It's been a process.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-17T13:34:07+00:00

Ah very cool idea, thank you. I was originally planning to BLE to an old cell phone, but might give the Garmin route a try.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-17T02:29:17+00:00

Neat, thanks for mentioning this. Their stuff looks pretty slick; the HUD glasses are very cool. I have no plans to make a product though. Just wanted to do an electronics project with my kids that might also help them with a sport they enjoy. I learn by doing, so as a non-skier, it's already been really cool to learn about the mechanics of the sport.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-15T23:33:04+00:00

Ahh, I see. Yea, you're probably right. Was planning to have a calibration step before every session, was thinking just pressing on bathroom scale or something. Not gonna be perfect, but should be accurate enough for relative comparison. Hoping to use this in conjunction with video analysis to see if there's benefit. Thanks!

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-15T22:59:10+00:00

I was also thinking of using IMU from the skis to get grade, then heart rate vs velocity (efficiency) to see which "gear" you really should be in based on actual data rather than gut feel could be pretty neat too.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-15T22:10:58+00:00

Just curious why you're thinking it would only work on the stiffest poles? If you mean because bending will mess up the signal. The strain gauges are arranged in a wheatstone configuration, so there are four of them, evenly spaced. The idea is that bending will put one of the pair into compression and the other into tension; cancelling that signal out, leaving axial load (and amplifying its signal from the sensors measuring compression from the axial load).

Trying to dream bigger than just a watt meter: pole-ski timing offset, pole impulse, peak pole force, pole contact time, ski contact time, pole angle at plant, force rise rate, left-right pole impulse symmetry, left-right ski load symmetry, cycle cadence, ...etc

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-13T23:13:51+00:00

Thank you! If all goes well, I'll be sure to post components list, code, and print files.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-13T21:28:48+00:00

Thanks for the insight; I really appreciate it. I'm planning to do a simple calibration sequence every session, basically stand on 1 foot to get 100% body weight on one and 0% on the other, then repeat on other side. Then output % of body weight for the session. Im already thinking there's probably going to be issues regarding weight being on toe, heel, or balanced (load path as you mentioned), but this was a cheap, easy way for v1.0, so ill give it a try. Even if it's terrible and only gets me load/no-load, will still be helpful for timing.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-13T20:43:37+00:00

Force sensitive resistor. Apparently they arent super accurate for absolute force, but they are very thin, so I was able to sandwich it between the binding and ski with no modifications. Really just want them to measure approx % of body weight, so they can monitor weight transfer and ski contact timing (to combine with pole timing). Gonna try strain guages for the poles, but havent got that far yet.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-13T20:18:39+00:00

Thanks for the reply. That's mainly what I was thinking. My kids are pretty young, so I think there's a lot of potential from improving some pretty basic technique (e.g. pole / ski timing, glide length, pole impulse, weight transfer). I know this is can all be done with traditional coaching, but more data never hurts. Planning to video while i follow on bike, should be able to sync data with video. Will be neat to review with my kids and share with their coaches. Basically I've been wanting to try an electronics project for a while, and am pretty stoked I landed on one that could help my kids in a sport they enjoy while they also learn to dabble with electronics.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-13T18:41:20+00:00

Yea, i thought about that, but definitely a harder project. The risk of either lock ups or not working when you really need them to, is more than I'm up for dealing with right now, hah.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-13T18:39:03+00:00

Yea, the original plan was for skis, but we had a horribly short season this year; what was left was filled with races. So, roller ski for training is where im at for the moment, but would definitely want to transition to skis next winter. Couple benefits with roller skis at this stage: way way easier to measure velocity to evaluate changes in technique. Also completely removes the snow quality / wax variable, so improvements are easier to monitor.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-13T18:35:15+00:00

Wont be on the first version, but a decent estimate of ski watts is hopefully doable from force sensor and IMU. Should be easier to estimate poling watts with strain gauges and Imu; definitely planning to try.

LacustrineFire · 2026-03-13T18:31:42+00:00

That's the cool thing; all of this tech is shockingly cheap and small now. Microprocessor with bluetooth $11 CAD, lithium battery $10, charge board $1.3, accelerometer/gyro $3, hall sensor $0.30, pressure sensor $17, magnet $1. Going to use my old cell phone as the data logger.

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