The weather this time of year is only partly conducive to shop work. It’s cold. So, in addition to being uncomfortable to use metal-handled tools (wood and plastic handles are OK) there are some machines that just won’t work right.
Take the 3D printers, for example. I ran out a pretty good-sized print this week. With the change from summery weather, though, I needed to add a full 10C to the nozzle (hot-end that melts the plastic filament) and 10C to the heated print bed, which is where the models are “laid down.”
One of the two problems, learned in early cool-weather 3D print projects, is “layer adhesion.” Normally, a general purpose PLA is good from 195 to 205C but this is all over the place depending on whose filament and whether you preheat the material. The subtlty of 3D printing is that the new (melted) material coming out of the nozzle needs to not only be hot enough to flow; it also needs to flow into (thus creating a melted joint) with the layer beneath it.
In a cold shop, the nozzle will flow OK, but the quality of the prints when you stress test some number, will be found deficient. Adding 10C (and I have gone as high as 25C more when it’s really cold) retains good print quality down to overnight temps around 45F.
Keep an eye on your shop’s Hi/Lo recording thermometer. Because once you get up over a 20F temperature swing, then the expansion and contraction of the aluminum extrusions can become an issue.
The second cold weather problem is the printing bed. The “normal” bed temp run here is 50-55C. But again, if you understand what’s going on, some critical insights into better prints will slap you upside the head!
The bed needs to be hot enough that the first layer of melted filament has something to stick to. BUT if the bed is too hot, the first layer may flow too much, so that’s a concern. The other artifact of “too hot” is that the first layer problems line up at the door.
Too hot can cause excess adhesion. This makes it hard to remove a print from the printing surface, especially if you’re using a plastic substrate. My personal preference has evolved to a good heated glass bed and then prep it with a good dollop of an alcohol-based adhesion and parting compound. I’ve gotten good results with Layerneer Bed Weld.
This is where the Scotsman in the genes comes out. Right out of the dauber (almost like the kind they use for liquid shoe polish) it’s a fine product. In my use, though, I have taken to putting down only a small area in the center. Then I’ll pour a half a shot (0.75 oz for grownups, or 0.50 oz for kids) of icy-poo-poo alcohol and mix it up with a throw-away foam brush. 2″ works fine.
What you’re after is a better leveling (and a shade thinner) bed covering. You will have to work quickly, though, especially if the bed is already warming. The alcohol evaporates quickly and you can get a (dull) glass-like dead-level glazing with no dauber marks on the bottom of the print. And that gets to a First Class first layer.
Not all is lost in the 3D printing department in winter. Any extra time (in heated living spaces) can be devoted to snooping around Thingiverse. Interesting story there from the Old Man files? OK…
One of my “neat ideas for Peoplenomics” readers was to create a clearinghouse for the free exchange of STL and gocode files for the emergent 3D printing world such as it was in early 2009. That effort was called The Public Design Library and if you click there, you’ll see the Archive.org view of the site.
At the time, I wasn’t aware or, nor could I find Thingiverse. But a lot of 3D sites followed. Take Yeggi.com, which indexes sites with STLs. They came along in 2013, Four years after the Peoplenomics report that launched at least one business model into the space.
We’re not the only smart folks in the world isn’t the point. It’s that any time you have a new “concept” making the rounds, like 3D printing, a whole bunch of people will come up with similar ways to cope with – and maybe make a buck some day – monetizing that newly minted corner of the Future.
IBC Tote Turned Water Works
That 275-gallon IBC water tote was finally cleaned out and filled this week. One of the questions the upcoming weather this week should answer is whether the unit will remain above freezing during a cold snap, or whether it will freeze, expand, and muck up my plans. We will top 60 mid day but drop to the low 20s tonight. A 40F swing!!!
As this story unfolds, there’s an interesting sidebar about being an “old man” and how personal resistance to change can sometimes be embedded in us at surprisingly deep levels.
I’ll explain as we go.
It begins with me strong-arming the container into the position I wanted – because once the water-filling was started, there would be no moving anything.
In case you forgot, water weighs eight pounds per gallon. Or, to make it easier, Pappy recalled it as “A Pint’s a pound, the world around.” Which, prior to the lunatics taking over Europe was nearly true. Oh, and the ones in Canada, but no point taking the “monarchy bashing angle” here.
With the tote in placed (yes, scrubbed out and doused with regular unscented bleach (which is an OXY-moronic thing – I mean how is overpowering chlorine “unscented” right? – there’s my water tote ready for action.
Now, where’s that olive drab cover I bought for it (on sale?)
I looked all over the shop, swearing six-ways to Sunday and eventually gave up. Ordered a new cover on Amazon.
But then, on reflection, it occurred to me I should take a picture of the handy-dandy “Pressure Water Kit in a Box” that had been neatly put together a few months back in a caffeine-driven fit of rage-cleaning after not being able to find something.
Which meant going into the office to grab the camera – and while I was there, I ordered a replacement tote cover, and then went back to the shop. Fully intending to review the contents of the “Pressure Water Kit.”
There was the box! Right where it was supposed to be! It was a miracle, I tell yah…
And inside the box were all the parts to provide pressure water via a backfeed to the house.
- Two adapters to fit the IBC totes (another one will be along some day) to the outside hose outlet.
- Drinking water safe hose…
- A self-priming, pressure regulating 110V water pump which will do 4.5 gallons per minute.
- And…what’s this? Why, I’ll be damned…
Yes – I had put the “missing cover” that I pissed away half an hour looking for, inside the place exactly where it needed to be. I had simply been tripped up by my recently turned-over fit of shop organization.
By the way – ’cause some wise-ass will ask: “How are you going to pump water if your inverters break down in whatever End of the World you’re prepping for?”
Step over here, my good fellow:
“Yeah? No charger. What if the solar panel charge controllers get knocked out?”
“Next aisle over, twit. Now shut-up and step outside, you’re holding up the Shop tour. Go look as how the cover looks when I got it on…”
Elaine assures me that this lightproof nylon will “hang out the wrinkles: but when pressed (sorry for the pun!) she admitted not knowing if either of us would live long enough to see that glorious event. I’ll put it in the Ansel Adams shot list for when the weather warms up. Some day…
T2FD Plans
OK, I have been found out. My ordering of a tilted-terminated folded dipole may have hinted at plans to get one of my (several) ham stations up to run ALE. Which everyone remembers (you do, right?) that I worked on while peddling radio gear to paramilitaries around the world back in the day. (If you need a drop-in HF jamming buoy, let’s have a cuppa coffee sometime…)
ALE is “automatic link establishment” as embodied in Mil-STD 1045 to FS-1051. We successfully used a folded dipole, and SG-2000, and an SGC-230 SmarTuner on ALE using a Frederick Electronics ALE controller.
If you’re not into ALE, tisk-tisk. Study the A.I. quickie read here:
“Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) is a technology used in HF radio communication that allows two radios to automatically establish a connection without manual operator intervention, by scanning through a set of frequencies to find the best available channel for communication, then initiating a digital handshake to confirm the link is established, all while considering factors like signal quality and propagation conditions; essentially, the radios “negotiate” the best frequency to use for a reliable connection.
Key points about ALE:
Scanning for frequencies:
The radios scan through a predefined set of frequencies (called a “scan group”) to find a clear channel with good signal strength.
Digital calling:
When a radio wants to initiate a call, it sends out a digital “call” signal containing the intended recipient’s address, allowing only the targeted radio to respond.
Link Quality Assessment (LQA):
Both radios continuously monitor the signal quality and use this information to determine the best channel for communication.
Handshake process:
Once a radio receives a call, it sends a response signal back to the calling station, which then sends an acknowledgement to complete the link establishment.
Benefits of ALE:
Improved efficiency: Eliminates the need for manual frequency selection, saving time and operator effort.
Reliable communication: Automatically selects the best available frequency based on current propagation conditions.
Reduced operator skill required: Even inexperienced operators can establish reliable connections.
Applications of ALE:
Emergency communications: Used by emergency responders and military forces to quickly establish reliable links in challenging environments.
Maritime communication: For ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communication.
Amateur radio: Amateur radio operators use ALE to connect with other stations around the world.
What A.I. doesn’t come out and say explicitly is that ALE is a nuclear-survivable message store and forward system, Some pals at Mitre Corp were able to hit 86 percent reliability using just 100-watts (and the T2FD) between their digs in Virginia and an American diplomatic spot in Australia. Mighty impressive and just the tool when the ionosphere gets wonky in WW III.
Back in 1997, or so, were able to make ALE connections both using the T2FD type antenna (Yes, to WmoRR, it was the dreaded govspeak B&W). But the SmarTuner worked fine, too, once it had been through a few sounding cycles to capture the antenna presets which varied, of course, by frequency.
You can download the software to get started with ALE by visiting PC-ALE PCALE Software Download ALE Automatic Link Establishment Controller.
Just remember, this is a multi-part system. First, you have to get the gear set up for the ham frequencies which use ALE. The next step is to get included in a an ALE “net” so that you can start exchanging “link scores” and get at least to the low-speed Order Wire (60 baud) digital messaging. Then, you can use ALE for linking and flip over to voice. Easy, huh?
Usually, this far into the discussions about digital multi mode, Elaine’s eyes begin to droop.
“Does this have anything to do with he old Morse operators that had “banana boat swings” on their keying style?”
No dear.
Maybe another day for that tale.
For now, I’ll be on 3806 for a few minutes early. And then a comparison of Ref Desk with the Popular Woodworking reference guide. (I expect better welding dope in RefDesk.)
After that? Some neighbors are coming over to help us drink anti-freeze with the first hard freeze of the season due in tonight. Polar something-or-other which I will try not to make fun of…
Write when I grow up,
P.S. Yes, I canceled the replacement tote cover. $24 bucks will still buy a half gallon of vodka down here.
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