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I was making coffee in the kitchen this morning and was absent mindedly looking at the blue Kitchen Aid mixer on the counter. "Darn, how old is that? 20 years, 30 years?" When I was younger and had lots of ideas and enthusiasm and energy, but no spare money, buying the right tool for the job...

(EDIT) More Details and Video added in post #2 Coming Just finished is this NJK-5002C Hall Effect/Arduino tachometer. Details coming shortly. It works like a charm. Just tape a magnet to a rotating object, press the button on the side of the tach and it displays the rpm. BUT, as happens...

I bought a pair of generic MD brand hearing aids for about $400 USD to see if I could adapt to them. Wasn't ready to spend big bucks if I couldn't adjust or they didn't seem to work for me. I have been using them off and on to hear people mainly. Harsh noises become harsher so I don't use them...

I know that the starting current (inrush?) for a compressor (air, heat pump, AC, etc) can be several times greater than the run amps and even the locked rotor amps. I am trying to size a new portable backup generator but am having a hard time justifying one large enough to start any compressors...

I was doing some calcs for the gear train for the 2 stroke diesel I am building and was thinking about the possibility of adjusting the cam timing when the engine was running. Say, for changing the injection advance and retard curve. Here is a method that is new to me, but might be old news to...

Never put your shop vac away with the hose attached to the "blow" end. Not that I have ever done that....more than once. :mad:

I've been absent for several months for many reasons, but have been working in the background. I hit a frustration threshold on the diesel and shifted focus to other stuff, but came back around to this cheap diy dyno set up with data logging that really works. Here are a few pictures of the...

Well, ok, maybe it is a bit of a mental deficiency. About a week ago I am going into my shop in the morning and there is this tangled pile of swarf just outside the door. The door is open to the house at night. Scratching my head, I remember seeing my cat sniffing around the pile of swarf that...

We were visiting friends in Ireland and went to a wildlife park.

I've had this Grizzly 10" x 22" benchtop lathe for about 13 years and it has served me well. I have babied it and never driven it too hard. But it has been really noisey from the beginning and it is time to try and fix it. I know what a $$$$ Hardinge tool room lathe sounds like, and therefore I...

Exhaust valve malfunction. You have to watch it to the end for an extra chuckle.

Every morning my kitty is waiting to lead me to my shop because I have surely forgotten how to get there. Then she hops up into my computer chair because I obviously have a need to pet a kitty in my shop. And this continues throughout the day except for when she is sleeping, which is actually...

Copper is so grabby with drills and tools. I have a bunch of .020" and .030" thick copper sheet but have not come up with a method to make make little (for example, .300 O.D. x .220 I.D.) ring gaskets. Sure would be nice if I could! I know somebody has a secret that doesn't involve making a...

A friend had a gallon of "Odorless Mineral Spirits," that wasn't needed and they gave it to me. Mineral spirits, or paint thinner, cleans metal parts nicely, but is normally fairly stinky. But odorless? Sounds like an outlandish claim to me. I gave it a try, and sure enough it was almost...

I've got a thread going on a 56cc 2 stroke diesel that I am building. The design process is odd in that I have what I consider the most difficult parts, the roots blower and the unit injector mostly finished and will now be designing the rest of the engine around those successes. Question is the...

22 feet x 22 feet of nice heated and air conditioned space with good lighting and epoxy painted floor, machines, decent attic storage, cabinets, roll-arounds, and a big sink. Seems pretty decent, right? So why do I continue to disrespect it by keeping it in such a mess. A friend once politely...

I respect the fact that selecting the correct grinding wheel is a lot more complex than grabbing one off the shelf at harbor freight. I need something for roughing steel and stainless, something for shaping HSS tool blanks, sharpening HSS tools and drills, and maybe something for touching up...

I am noticing more and more things in my shop getting magnetized: tweezers, cut-off blades, HSS tools, chuck jaws, etc, etc. Nothing serious, but pretty annoying. Do I need a demagnetizer? I have a couple of powerful 3" horse shoe magnets if they are of any help. (And no, they are not setting...

On the helpful advice of forum members, I recently got a no-name AXA QCTP for my Grizzly 10x22 bench top lathe. Gotta say, I love, but I need to get a bunch more tool holders. Luckily, they can be found cheap. When making tiny parts on the lathe, I often had thought how handy a tool post...

I was in the CNC forum looking for some recommendations for a fraction horsepower variable speed motor. I got a recommendation from SteveM for something much better than what I had in mind. It is a 110VAC sewing machine servo motor with controller and several handy user-settable parameters. Max...