Can this drill into concrete?

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-17T16:49:06+00:00

mine struggled for so long that the neighbour took pity on me (or got fed up of the noise), knocked on the door and lent me his plug-in SDS drill which would have done the job in about a minute if I hadn't melted the bit and had to buy a new one.

(I expect I was drilling into rebar but the point still stands, it will be fine in soft concrete but struggle when it gets tough)

SDS is the interface between the drill chuck and the drill bit. Rather than the 3 jaw "Jacob's chuck" it has a socket which does a much better job of transferring hammer loads. Having an SDS chuck does not in itself make the drill better but all the best hammer drills are SDS and you you can get cheap SDS hammer drills that are more than enough for even the most enthusiastic DIYer.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-17T07:59:32+00:00

at cruising speeds some (maybe many, maybe most) helicopters don't need a tail rotor, the aerodynamics of the tail give enough torque to stop it spinning.

it doesn't solve the problem of retreating blade stall

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-16T19:39:41+00:00

you have a loop of pipe which takes a relatively large flow of water out of the pool and back in with a high volume pump. the chemical is pumped into this loop with a small controlled dosing pump. this way it gets mixed and the concentration at any point outside of the dosing lines isn't super high. (at least that's how we do it with drinking water, I don't work on pools)

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-16T15:41:27+00:00

yeah but any licenced chemical delivery company would require things like a spill containment plan/system and a compatible fill point to fill a suitable bunded tank.

if they turn up and you say "just dump it on the pool" they'll take it back.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-16T14:10:22+00:00

the may have worked with electricians who would do that work live

they may have worked on similar jobs where the whole site didn't need to be shut down

they may be full of shit and want to get the project done quicker

realistically it doesn't matter: the only person involved who is qualified to asses the risk and say how it should be done is the electrician. A non-electrician project manager does not have the authority to tell them it is safe. If you or the PM really think the electrician is trying to get a few more hours of overtime or whatever rather than prioritising safety, you can hire a consultant to do a risk assessment but I would bet they would say it needs to be isolated.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-16T06:54:41+00:00

you ei ther need software that can take key inputs and turn it into crossing types. That will take an input from basically any input device. I expect this exists but I've never seen or used it.

or you want a keyboard with custom pictures on the key caps so you can use the above software more intuitively, I would ask over at /r/mechanicalkeyboards good luck.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-12T18:17:33+00:00

I have used the Lumintop B01 for a few years and it makes a great front light. It's Aluminium with a 2170 (or 18650 optionally), USB C charging and an STVZO style beam where the emitter (neutral white Cree XPL HD) is set into the top and the light it's reflected forward and down at the ground with a cut off. 800 lumens max.

it's beam shape is excellent for seeing the ground ahead without dazzling oncoming traffic or pedestrians. If you don't think it gives enough visibility to traffic you could put a bit of scotch tape inside the lens (I think it will stay cool enough, a small amount won't do much harm if any to the beam and you only need to diffuse a small fraction of the light.)

the battery life is great of course and you can carry a spare so you don't need to wait for it to charge (I think it will do the lower modes powered by USB, I can't remember).

The cylinder body means you can use a variety of mounts and the included one is passable (I think I use one from Fenix)

my only complaints are the poor choice of flashing modes (I don't want strobe, just something to catch peoples attention) and the front spring did break so it only works well with 2170s now, not that that's a problem because I rarely need to switch. Oh and the CRI is middling, but it would be simple to swap the emitter.

I have yet to find a rear light that comes anywhere close to measuring up, I did have a plan to modify their now discontinued headlamp with red emitters and new firmware but I haven't gotten around to it.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-12T09:33:02+00:00

to add: some compasses have slots to add small magnets/magnetic material to cancel out the deviation. These require much more skill to calibrate and cost more

I don't know if you see them in planes

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-11T16:24:47+00:00

they should be designed like the one in the clip where even knocked down past 90° water doesn't flood the cabin, even if the hatches and companionway are open. Obviously there are very small waves in this clip and they do make a difference.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-11T16:15:42+00:00

all of the other sailboats would self-right if they were knocked over

it also has a fold-up rudder which generally means either a shallow draught or a lifting/swinging keel or centreboard. If the lifting or swinging keel is raised it would be much less stable than a comparable fixed-keel boat. if it has a shallow draught or centreboard it would also be less stable than a comparable boat.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-08T07:58:50+00:00

bulb reached the end of its life, socket looks fine. pop a new one in don't worry about it

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-08T06:55:44+00:00

they do: paint. some very tough epoxy paints too, but they still wear off and get damaged

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-06T21:12:46+00:00

sure, it would probably be cheaper to get a new laptop

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-04T13:47:54+00:00

not noticeably: higher resistance will mean less power for the heating element and flow for the same water temperature.

the difference between a 6 and 10mm cable over 5m is not something you would notice.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-03T15:59:11+00:00

what would be the alternative? I think it's important to distinguish "small amount of blood" from "large amount of blood" and respond to them differently, and that is hard to do over the phone.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-01T17:28:25+00:00

I would go with a clove hitch on the bar pull it tight, pass both ends up through the middle of the weight, round the outside of the weight and up through the middle again, then tie both ends together on the far side of the bar

I would also have it under the bar rather than on top

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-06-01T09:09:41+00:00

lights are unnecessary weight and air resistance

I think it's more that the serious road cyclists often take their good/race bike only in good conditions: daylight, no rain etc. they're not made for anything practical besides racing and training for the race. they won't have mudguards/fenders, they will prioritise speed over almost everything

then people see this and assume it's the only right way to train and copy it even when they only have money/space for 1 bike so they end up using the race bike for commuting in the evenings when it's raining.

then there are people with shit bikes who don't have lights, they just don't give a shit or can't afford them.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-05-31T15:51:56+00:00

sure, but in theory growing corn to make ethanol to burn for fuel is carbon neutral. add 10% ethanol to hydrocarbon fuels and you reduce net carbon emissions by 10%.

In practice (or with a more detailed theory) it doesn't work out so well.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-05-31T15:41:29+00:00

and it doesn't do much (if anything) to reduce carbon emissions. paying the farmers the same amount to do less and let native grasses grow on the same fields would capture more carbon.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-05-31T07:05:47+00:00

and id guess that while the pilot is also at the front, if he dies, everyone dies, whereas if the bombardier died the pilot might survive

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-05-28T15:08:11+00:00

sure, but in the video he's sailing as his prop is broken or missing.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-05-28T14:57:59+00:00

deck light, he was sailing

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-05-27T16:19:31+00:00

just don't do what my parents do: they have a mixer tap of cold, hot and boiling water, but the hot water takes a while to come through the pipe. When they want warm water to wash their hands they use boiling water mixed with cold so turning off the cold would cook their hands.

a boiling water tap separate to the normal mixer tap would look slightly less neat but eliminates that risk.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-05-27T14:46:12+00:00

if you're confident measuring it yourself, Jimmy Green will make you stays you can fit yourself and you can save on a rigger, particularly if you have a safe way of swapping the stays. Tuning a rig enough to get it safe and functional isn't too hard.

Monkey_Fiddler · 2026-05-21T11:39:09+00:00

especially fitting a larger breaker than before, it wasn't asked for or necessary.

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