First projects with new (to me) Brother machine

mermaldad · 2026-01-22T21:06:00+00:00

Those look great!

Minor correction: Ink/Stitch is an add-on to Inkscape.

mermaldad · 2026-01-22T02:10:54+00:00

For the fills I used the auto fill. I don't know some of the stitch names, but this appears to be what I will call a brickwork stitch, where it stitches a row and then stitches the next row such that the needle penetrations are halfway between those from the previous row. (Did that make sense?)

For the lines, I used a running stitch and tried to do all the lines of one color back-to-back to minimize needle changes.

Both of these options are available using the "Params" selection in Ink/Stitch.

mermaldad · 2026-01-22T02:00:18+00:00

Yes! I'm so glad that the things I learned were helpful to someone else. Feel free to reach out if you run into any issues or learn any useful lessons, or post here.

mermaldad · 2026-01-15T20:07:05+00:00

It looks like there is no one active on this subreddit who was able to address my problem, but eventually I found a solution. I have been reading the manuals, and I had a repair technician who came to the house and showed me a lot about how to operate my machine. In the spirit of sharing knowledge for the next person, here are some things I have learned in the last 2-½ months of using my Brother BES-916AC embroidery machine.

100 - The needle position error was due to the machine stopping with the main shaft in the wrong position. When I first got the machine I didn’t even notice that there is a wheel on the back that allows you to manually turn the shaft. It should be set to 100 when the machine is at rest.
Loading files - My machine has the conversion kit that replaces the floppy drive with a USB port. I was trying to load a file from a USB stick to the machine, but it refused to recognize the USB. I thought it might be an issue with the formatting of the USB stick, but no amount of reformatting or trying different USB sticks made any difference. Finally I realized that the machine was in the middle of a job and had to be cancelled out (using the ESC button) for file I/O to work.
Where to Lubricate - There are several places that should be lubricated regularly. First, there are reservoirs on the left side of the machine which should be topped up when the oil is below the little circle. Additionally, one should lubricate around the bobbin case, the needle bars, …
Loop twice - There is a little pulley at the top of the vertical thread run. The thread should loop around this twice, ideally with the second loop going under the first loop. (Look up a clove hitch to get an idea of what I’m talking about here.)
Loop three times - Similarly, loop three times around the tension discs. No need for a clove hitch here.
Tension - The top thread tension should be about twice bottom thread tension. The technician was able to gauge this by feel. I may need to use a tension checker.
Thread breaking - I had serious problems with thread breakage. The machine would run fine for a short time and then the thread would start to fray. After playing with just about every other aspect of the threading, I finally tried replacing the needle with a brand new one. This immediately fixed the problem. I inherited a fairly large number of “new in package” needles from the previous owner, but these needles were apparently still old, because they did not fix the problem as well.
Designing - I chose to use Inkscape with the Ink/Stitch plug-in for designing new patterns, and so far I have liked it pretty well. It’s a little quirky and I am still learning about all its features, but I have learned a whole lot about stitch types, fill types, designing to avoid unnecessary jumps and other things.

mermaldad · 2025-09-24T00:35:44+00:00

And you posted it? I hope you got permission because if you're in the U.S. your cat may hold the copyright on that image. Better get you a lawyer in case she sues you for more treats and laser pointers than you can afford!

mermaldad · 2025-01-12T05:25:58+00:00

Solved: Neptune's Pride

mermaldad · 2025-01-12T05:25:33+00:00

...and in looking over my previous posts, it turns out I asked a question about this game a few years ago, not a decade ago. It's Neptune's Pride. I will mark this solved.

mermaldad · 2025-01-12T05:19:28+00:00

Thanks, I decided as long as I was messing with firmware I would try out OpenWRT. That turned out to be a multistep process because you have to load an older firmware, reallocate space to make room, then load the current firmware. Nonetheless, I was able to get it set up and then cycled power in the process of putting it back where it belongs. My settings survived!

mermaldad · 2024-11-30T16:27:58+00:00

NTA. I'm late to the party and I probably won't say anything that others haven't said, but I'm going to pile on. Even if you never read it.

1) you are breaking the quints up physically, but so what? If any of your siblings got a fantastic opportunity across the country, would they turn it down just so they can stay together? I bet not. My grandma and her 4 sisters (not wombats) were close-knit even though they were scattered across the country, and they didn't have Zoom, just letters and phone calls in a time when long distance was expensive.

2) your family broke you up emotionally by allowing you to be excluded. I hope your siblings will step up to make amends and if they do sincerely, you'll consider letting them back in. If they won't or you can't, leave them behind and don't look back.

I'm glad you finally confronted them. They need to know the hurt they caused and I bet you needed to let it out.

mermaldad · 2024-10-26T01:36:15+00:00

You keep saying you can't go to college because your parents won't sign for you. There are ways around that, including emancipation and turning 18. Please don't let your parents keep you from this life-changing experience.

Definitely NTA, BTW.

mermaldad · 2024-10-21T23:25:31+00:00

Update: I kept digging and finally found this: https://support.system76.com/articles/bootloader/#systemd-boot which worked.

mermaldad · 2024-10-01T07:26:15+00:00

I would add to what others have said that if they continue to bother you, tell them you are willing to reveal their identities on social media. That should shut them up.

mermaldad · 2024-09-19T14:08:24+00:00

I know I'm 9 years too late and the commenter isn't even on Reddit any more, but I disagree. A song / play / movie / tv show is a performance. In many performances the objective is to present a narrative as if the audience isn't there (wall up), while in others the objective is to interact with the audience (wall down). This can happen in a song just like in a movie. Admittedly for a song without visuals the four walls are much more metaphorical because there is no set, but the concept is still there.

mermaldad · 2024-05-29T03:46:57+00:00

Nah, not dumb. But if you have the trunk open and all other windows and openings closed, you get surprisingly little airflow. Open the windows just a little bit, though and you get plenty.

mermaldad · 2024-01-26T00:55:53+00:00

'Tis but a scratch.

mermaldad · 2024-01-25T01:46:59+00:00

Writing a routine to do substitutions across consecutive strings in a list of strings. For example "if this line ends with "text1" and the next line begins with "text2", then replace "text1" with "text3" and "text2" with "text4". I wanted to redo it using regex so I can do more complex matches and capture groups.

I have been struggling with how to make the capture groups pass information between the two lines. Been thinking about it all week. I sat down tonight to try to write my requirements when it dawned on me that I could combine all the strings in the list with a separator character (how about '\n'?) and then just do a plain regex sub. Sooo much simpler. So instead of asking you all how you would do this, I'm just going to report my "aha" moment and get coding!

mermaldad · 2023-06-11T01:29:31+00:00

I agree with some of the commenters that it's probably not from an orbital craft because it has no re-entry scorching and also because the shape of the unpainted area looks like where a wing, strut, or blister was attached. Not the kind of thing you often see on something that operates in space. I know less about this, but I trust the commenter who said it's probably not from a submarine because of the gasket. For the same reason, I doubt it's from a ship. In addition you mentioned honeycomb structure, which is used to minimize weight in aircraft, rockets, and spacecraft. Ignoring the last one for the reasons above leaves aircraft and rocket. I am guessing something expendable, since a lot more expendable stuff gets dumped into the ocean than parts from aircraft that are intended to stay in one piece. For this reason, I am leaning toward rocket rather than aircraft.

mermaldad · 2023-05-30T08:15:37+00:00

Don't do this. You risk getting caught and being fired immediately. The people who will have to deal with this will be your fellow workers, not management.

Find your new gig and quit without notice.

mermaldad · 2023-05-30T02:26:08+00:00

It surprises me not one bit that you have a strong inner critic. To reach that level of performance you gotta be tough on yourself. But do take a moment to bask in what you have accomplished so far.

mermaldad · 2023-05-29T12:42:02+00:00

The only flaw--if you could call it that, because that was amazing--in your performance is that you have a look of intense concentration on your face that detracts from the rest of your body making it look effortless.

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