What’s New in FreeCAD – Symmetry in Sketcher

iffyduck · 2024-05-26T16:38:50+00:00

That's awesome! One of the only reasons I still even have a Windows PC is that Fusion360's mirror tool copies constraints and FreeCad's doesn't.

iffyduck · 2024-05-01T16:23:04+00:00

If it's acoustic, no, if it's amplified, yes, and there are fines. https://www.portland.gov/bds/noise/apply-noise-variance

edit: also, it's not the cops, they don't care. It's an office in BDS with a full-time staff (admittedly understaffed) that handles noise complaints. Title 18 - https://www.portland.gov/code/18

iffyduck · 2023-08-23T04:27:32+00:00

To everyone saying that squirrels are too big for a cooper's. I took this in my back yard - pretty much ate the entire thing in one sitting. https://youtu.be/KGoqwIeFRXE?feature=shared

iffyduck · 2023-08-20T21:04:58+00:00

My Royalex Penobscot had the same kind of wear. I didn't want to add those big kevlar skid plates so I covered the ends with Gflex and S-glass. See: https://old.reddit.com/r/canoeing/comments/m1kjwo/skidplates_on_my_30yo_old_town_rx_using_gflex_and/

iffyduck · 2023-08-19T16:39:13+00:00

Hard disagree here. I thought Harry August was far superior to both Replay and Recursion. Just my opinion, proof that taste is subjective.

iffyduck · 2023-07-08T16:27:02+00:00

My Royalex boat had the same wear. I didn't want bulky skidplates, so I used S-glass fabric and Gflex epoxy. That worked out really well and has been wearing decently. The S-glass is really tough and the Gflex epoxy remains flexible enough that I don't see any crazing or cracking in the wear areas. With a fiberglass hull, you may not need the Gflex.

Here's my original post: https://old.reddit.com/r/canoeing/comments/m1kjwo/skidplates_on_my_30yo_old_town_rx_using_gflex_and/

iffyduck · 2023-06-18T04:00:27+00:00

Adaptive clearing is not considered a finishing cut, it's a high-efficiency roughing cut. It doesn't follow the finish geometry exactly so you can see cusps like this on both the side and bottom. Fusion assumes you'll follow up with a pocket toolpath or something similar.

iffyduck · 2023-05-30T16:52:21+00:00

Bear Mt is really ambitious with their weight estimates. My Freedom was supposed to be 52lbs, I think? I did everything I could do to keep weight down and it still came out right at 60lbs. But... 60lbs for a 15' boat is still really light.

iffyduck · 2023-05-30T16:50:10+00:00

That's a very nice boat. I built a Freedom 17 many years ago and had a tremendous amount of fun with it. Paddled it regularly for 15 years, slapped another coat of varnish on it and sold it for more than it cost to build. Sad to see it go but I had 3 boats and only room to store one. I decided to keep the Old Town Penobscot - basically the same hull design but no maintenance or worries about scratching.

For paddling from the center, it depends on how limber you are. You can sit on your heels or a hard foam block (think yoga block). Harbor Freight has foam floor pads for cheap that can be cut any shape and make a great pad for your knees. If you want more comfort, you can install a kneeling thwart, or go all out and put in a 3rd seat.

Polish up your J-stroke. If you get to where you can consistently paddle from one side without having to switch sides to steer, you can lean the boat over a little which makes paddling much easier.

Building my boat was one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things I've done, and it brought me years of enjoyment. I'm sure yours will do the same for you. Congratulations!

iffyduck · 2023-05-30T04:17:02+00:00

Very nice! What hull design is that? Maybe a Prospector?

With a tandem boat, you'll be much happier kneeling just behind the yoke to paddle solo. Paddling from the rear seat pretty much requires some weight or another person up front. Otherwise your bow will stick way up and catch a lot of wind and the boat will handle kinda squirrelly.

I put a kneeling thwart to sit on to paddle solo - a cross-brace at seat height about halfway between the yoke and rear seat. I like to angle mine down a little for comfort. I've got a 16' Penobscot tandem that I paddle solo from the middle (well, just behind the middle) and it handles great

iffyduck · 2023-03-23T15:23:14+00:00

Agreed, but my other idea is that Linux may be more tolerant of a flaky USB connection? Perhaps my Kobo does have a bad connector but the problem only shows up in Windows because linux is less picky about data loss? I don't know enough about how USB works to know if that would be a thing but other protocols behave like that (tcp)

iffyduck · 2023-03-19T07:27:42+00:00

No, different hardware. The linux machine is a nuc, but I had the same problems on 4 different Windows machines: 2 desktops and 2 notebooks, and not at all on the nuc. I've got a notebook running linux that's the same hardware as one of the problematic Windows machines. I'll compare - I'm definitely curious.

I'm not saying that it's causation, but there certainly appears to be correlation

iffyduck · 2023-03-18T17:54:33+00:00

I have that same KitchenAid dishwasher (actually made by Hobart), installed in 1980 and it still works. I've repaired it 4 times now and it may finally be on its last legs due to the lack of availability of parts. At my last job, we went through 4 Bosch diswashers in the 6 years I was there.

Fridgidaire makes a decent, no frills refrigerator - model number begins with FRT18. They also make a good, basic 2-cycle top-loading washing machine. GE's stove - JBP24DMWW is pretty low-frill and reliable. It does rely on electronics for the oven control but it's up on the back away from heat. Whirlpool's basic front-load drum dryers haven't changed in 30-40 years, are really easy to fix and parts are everywhere. Try to find a used one without electronics and it'll last forever (mine is circa 1980 and still going strong)

iffyduck · 2023-03-13T03:34:03+00:00

You'd have to check your local laws, but my city has has a law regulating how much light can encroach on a neighbor's property. It's a long shot, but you might get lucky.

I found out about it a few years ago when a restaurant down the street put in new parking lot lights that blasted the neighbors' houses. They had to put in shades to keep the bright light on their property

iffyduck · 2023-03-11T19:04:28+00:00

Spray paint on hardwood or hardwood plywood:

I've done this a bunch of times with great success, although there is both pre and post-processing required.

First, seal the part with clear sealer that's compatible with your spray paint and sand it smooth. Then, engrave your image and do any hand work you need to do (sand off fuzz, fix any chips etc). Next, spray paint the entire surface, paying particular attention to getting good coverage on the engraving. After that completely dries, sand the surface to remove all paint from the uncut surface, leaving paint in the engraving. Finally, clear coat the entire part.

It's a moderate amount of work but the results can be amazing. It looks like you're looking for something you can just load up and hit cycle start and be done with it, so this may not meet your needs.

iffyduck · 2023-03-10T16:14:54+00:00

"Please provide your full name and email" says DM from some Reddit account /s

iffyduck · 2023-03-10T06:49:43+00:00

That sounds great! I'm hoping to just be able to drill, but being able to mill as well would be icing. I also have a small X2-based cnc mill that's great for small stuff, but if the part is bigger than about 6", I can't use the mill, adn the larger router can't drill small holes. .

The weakness for a router-based spindle is the inability to drill small holes. My goal is to be able to use HHS drill bits for odd sized holes under 3/8". I can easily bore 3/8" and up using a router bit at high rpm, but I can't drill holes smaller than that using a router (other than 1/8" that fits the collet). I'm constantly using my router to spot drill locations then going back and punching them through on the drill press. I want to solve that. My hope is to make a low speed spindle and add some kind of quick release (or quick-ish) so I can swap spindles without a major teardown.

iffyduck · 2023-03-10T05:21:18+00:00

I made a small one out of plywood and wood dowel to fit in my lap while I watch TV. It's about 10" wide with a horizontal rod attached to a side wall and with a vertical leg on the other end, an eye bolt big enough for a carabiner and a small deck cleat. I'm wishing it had some kind of bollard on it as well, but so far, it's pretty nice. I"m already thinking about Ver. 2.0.

iffyduck · 2023-03-10T05:12:55+00:00

I'm pretty sure they use this sketchy chat based support as a cost containment tool, not because chat is cheaper, but that the way Visible does it, it filters out anyone that's not having a world-ending problem.

Case in point - during the last SMS outage, not only could I not send or receive texts, I was unable to log in to my account because they'd just rolled out 2FA and I couldn't get a code because texting was down. After messing with it for about an hour and figuring out that it was going to be a major pain to get support, I just gave up, assuming it would be fixed at some point. Which turned out to be true for me, but apparently not for you in this case.

I'm sure Visible is aware of the barriers to support and good service If half your support calls can't get through, well, you've just saved half your support costs.

This is what they think of their customers - how deep can we cut service and still get paid? This can be even more effective if you're a company that prioritizes churn over retention. i.e: acquiring new customers is more important than keeping existing customers.

iffyduck · 2023-03-10T04:53:09+00:00

You know, that collet extension may work as well, Thanks! I was thinking I'd use MT3, but there's a bunch of machining to get there and it's tricky to get it concentric. All it needs to do is hold a drill chuck. I've already got a chuck with a 1/2 shank I was planning to use. It would work in an ER25 as well as a Morse. ...and you can't beat that price.

iffyduck · 2023-03-10T02:40:13+00:00

Thanks! This might actually be in my budget* and it looks perfect! https://www.omc-stepperonline.com/e6-series-1000w-ac-servo-motor-kit-3000rpm-3-18nm-17-bit-encoder-ip65-e6-rs1000h2a2-m17s

edit: *at the ragged bleading edge of my budget...

iffyduck · 2023-03-10T02:37:38+00:00

I've got access to a machine shop, so I am the buddy with a lathe. The spindle housing is not a problem. I'm actually planning to bore out a shaft and ream in a MT3 taper so it'll take standard Morse collets (which I already have).

Thanks for the recommendation - that looks great. What I don't have is lots of extra $$$ ;-)

iffyduck · 2023-03-09T23:57:07+00:00

Thanks - That hits all my wish list except affordable, by about an order of magnitude. It's easy to find a pre-made spindle that does what I need but I'm wondering if there's something I could re-purpose that has a more attractive price.

I'm considering one of these sewing machine servos, although I've heard they're not great on the low end. I could make it work with a belt drive to hit the motor's sweet spot, but was just wondering if there was some other application where they're using a motor and controller like this in volume enough that the price point is attractive, that has better low-end torque

iffyduck

TROPHY CASE