Things have been pretty busy in October!

• Continuing to 3D print cases for the IO card for the Bell Project. Past 60 of them now!
• Also, designed and printing cases for the LCD display for each bell.
• Upgraded the sawdust storage for the CNC Router to use a full size garbage can to catch the chips and dust. This was a very messy job!
• The Voronoi box project is continuing. Brooke has been working hard painting and doing final finishing on the boxes. They are looking great!
• I built a rotary table for welding. I used the components of a CNC Router 4th axis, with an Arduino to drive the pulses and direction. This is all in a box with a speed control and a foot switch, and a direction switch. Using the Arduino allows me to add functionality later if I want to – like unwind the table between welds so that the ground cable doesn’t get caught. I can also set the foot switch to be momentary contact, or latching, and I can even use a foot control in order to control the speed of the table! But, all that’s for later. Just using the basics now, with the Arduino controlling the pulses and direction based on the switch input…
• I’ve been practicing welding a bunch of metal trees. I want the joints to look good straight off the welder – without a bunch of grinding. So, this means dealing in the settings and training the person who welds! (Me.)
• Updated the sign outside our studio, with a sort of an exasperated message, which seems to resonate with a lot of people!
• We are hearing that a disaster has befallen Knuckle Bump Farms, in the form of avian flu, which has killed most of their birds, and Emmanuel is fighting for her life! We wish them luck in their crisis. Emmanuel was featured in one of our sign messages last month.

  

• I’ve been continuing to work on getting my old G0704 CNC mill up and running again. I’ve decided to abandon the old PlanetCNC controller, and upgrade to a new smooth stepper, and Mach4. This may be a brilliant move, or just causing myself a ton of work for no reason…
• We updated the sign to say “KAATU BARADA NIKTO” from the 1951 movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still”
• The wifi card in our Vestaboard has bit the dust. The support people at Vestaboard are excellent, and are “on it.”
• I built a rolling storage cabinet for Stanley Organizer bins. This is my go-to bin system.
• I had a bunch of scraps after practicing welding thick walled pipe to 1/4″ plate. So, I decided to weld them all into a 3D shape. And it turned out quite ugly. So, I am calling it a pumpkin, and I put a flame-bulb in it.

  

• We’ve designed and ordered test circuit boards for the bells project. This is a big step towards implementing the system.
  It’s pretty interesting to see it all come together!
  The bells project requires:
  • server software,
  • embedded Arduino code,
  • mechatronics (electric motors, sensors, switches, mechanical linkages),
  • electronics,
  • and display mounts and stands for a ton of bells.

• And, we continue to build Voronoi Cubbies. 12 complete so far…
• We have upgraded our fibre laser to use the excellent Lightburn software – they finally released a version that supports fibre lasers on June 30, so there was a frantic few days of checking out the new capabilities of Lightburn, and how best to use it with the fibre laser. It’s pretty cool.
• I’ve been working on a design for something to hold and display a bunch of bells. Fired up the ‘ole plasma cutter, and now making “bell trees.” We shall see!
  
• Changed up the sign to display an internet meme. I generally avoid anything this obvious.

• And this lead to someone putting it on TikTok… 
•  And that lead to an article on a news site!

• Updated the sign!  Everything Happens So Much.
• Working on the clock. It’s actually moving and telling time, and sometimes it really screws up. Quite maxing out the Arduino CPU running it. Working on cleaning up things so it looks nicer.
• The LEDs in the Nazca cat are burning out for some reason. Maybe I got the voltage wrong. Or, maybe they were cheap eBay LEDs!
• Working on a new video about the CNC Router upgrades we just completed.
• Upgrading the DRO’s on our Aciera F5 mill.
• Thinking about welding something.
• DRO has been upgraded on the Aciera F5 to a 3 axis unit from DROPROS.com. Very happy with the upgrade.
• Switching the clock over to Teensy 4.1 device – has a much more powerful CPU and a lot of nice capabilities. This is done now, and things are much improved. 
• Written 10 rendering routines for time, selectable by a pot, so you can set the clock to be quiet, or more rambunctious. 
• Released video for CNC Router upgrade
• Continuing to improve the CNC Router – stiffening the rack and pinion gear system. Done!
• Working on a small end-table for a couch
• Updated the sign! I am not a cat – maybe.
• Cleaning out the rubbish in the storage area. Old stuff from my childhood, micro-boards I’ll never use, old books and CD’s.
• Updated the sign again! First I was afraid, I was petrified.