Scratch Build – In Progress RTX scratchlog: done, but not final update

yikes i don't recall saying look how perfect that is? if so it was unclear sarcasm.

Im in a bummer spot right now.

My classes are so hard, that when i get home from school all i can do is veg out, work out, or hang with friends. I just can't concentrate or produce good work unless i have the stress of my homework gone(finished) and have gotten school off my mind(after an hour or so of non-school related stuff). I hate working in 15 minute periods, which is all i have been able to do for the past 2 weeks. I have not lost motivation for this project, yet im to busy to work on it in the way i like to work on it.
For those who have been in a similar spot as me, what do you do? just work on weekends on freetime or is it time to take a break?
Another thing... im getting kinda sick of posting whimpy 1/2 pic updates of not much progress, yet if i didn't post those it would be weeks without updates. What do you prefer, a bunch of short skimpy updates or 1 long, detailed update with lots of time in between?

thanks.

reed

 

I'm primarily working on my project on weekends since I'm currently in college. I tend to then post an update of the progress I've made over the weekend; or if a certain milestone has been achieved.

 

Agreed. Skip the little one pic updates and rather post a weekly / fortnightly update. That way you will get much more interest drawn to your log.

Also, dont do those 15 minute mods, you tend to skimp a lot when you have such a small time limit. Wait for weekends bro then you can spend one whole day (or two) working on your mod. Trust me, you get much better results this way.

 

im kinda in the same situation as radodrill as far as the time ive got to work on my project due to work an family commitments.

an come on guys cut him some slack im sure when he posted about how straight the cut was he was commenting on the improvement of his work,which i think is a good thinglook at the fangrill he made an the stick he took for it,if his cuts improve like they have give him credit for it.

when i get a free hour i normally just look at the case thinking what next,an go over what ive done an see if it can be improved,spend the odd hours you have planning the next stage rather than try an mod mate,like Dean MF said wait for the weekends when you have some proper time to mod and if youve used the free hours wisely you'll have a plan already made.

as for taking a break mate only you can decide that,i wont be doing much this weekend caus im off fishing but when i return all fresh an keen to go things should start to pick up again(main reason im off fishing is so i dont go polishing my paint too soon,caus if im just sat here the temptations next to me screaming at me to do it)

 

I didn't say what I said to criticize you or place blame, but to give suggestions for future improvement. Most modders are in the same situation as you and have to work their modding around their everyday lives. My main computer has been disassembled and awaiting modding for about 8 months now as my life simply doesn't afford me much time for it.

Take things slowly. If all you can do in one day is plan a little bit or drill a few holes, so be it. You can take the photos and maybe jot a note or two down. When you have a decent amount of photos (or it can just be one), you can post it for discussion. I think that your work is pretty good so far, but the presentation and ensuing chatting (by everyone) doesn't entirely do it justice.

Out of these 500+ posts, there are quite a few that are not project related. I come to the forums daily for some distraction and entertainment as well, and sometimes post ridiculously as well.

I'm working through my 2nd month as a married man and my apartment still isn't up to shape yet. I too have homework to do, deadlines to meet, research to conduct, and some complicated modelling to learn, so I have zero time to devote to my mods. It happens. A lot of the great logs that I've seen were created weeks if not months after the mod was started and some work was completed. Your work is decent, especially considering your age, but for your next project log or continuation of this one, you might want to consider the audience. That is who a project log is mostly for - the audience. Newcommers are going to see the 500+ posts and just skip it over since most people won't want to put the effort into going through the whole log. What you might want to do is update your first post with a few of the better checkpoint photos to show in summary your overall progress.

Again, I do not at all mean to discourage you; I just wanted to pose a few suggestions for improvement. Something that you're probably aware of is the fact that most people in the bit-tech community are adults (maybe not in attitude but at least in age). You just have to keep that in mind, I guess.

Anyways, I want to repeat that I really don't intend for my comments to come across as hurtful or anything like that.

 

great post. I like the updating first post idea. ILl look into that.

Thanks for replies guys. I try to sketch lots of my ideas in school, but my scheduals a joke I have no classes that are not tough(aka no p.e, no electives) so i guess when my english teacher starts talkign about pregnancy i start sketching.
Untill the weekend

reed

 

started with the pump housing. Still need to drill 2 9/16" holes for the barbs of the pump, but almost there. This will have no bottum, it will just go over the pump and will be held down with the worm drive clamp for the barbs. This is just a teaser. I bent it all by hand, ac ryan mesh. Still gotta rivit it together.

 

Top pic is cool

A couple flaws and in flight corrections. Bottum is it rivited together, but i realized that i needed to drill the top like that so,(longways) so i could slide the pump in, otherwise i couldn't get it in(the barbs...) Need some more dremelsanding, then some mouse sanding, then paint!
(sorry bout blurry pic)

 

ah, that top pic looks awesome.
but thats a good looking pump housing, keep up the great work!

 

thanks the holes look pretty horrid right now but thats becuase i stoped in the middle of do ing it. Im tired
but mark my words they will look better(but the top one will not be perfect hole, and it can't not be like that unless i want the pump in more then one piece... iw ish the barbs were removable!!!!!!!)

The top pic... ah i couldn't get it to work while holding camera, but if i tilt it the other way(the dremel) all the sparks go into the housing, and fly aroudn looking like a spark box it was awsome...

 

Just a rhetorical question; would it not have made more sense to make the pump housing in 2 pieces? Then you could have had 2 perfect holes.

 

One thing my and my shop lacks: taps, and screws. Im not very creative at connecting things... my first thing to run to is the rivit tool. I need an ebay tap and die set, and i need lots of screws.....
Ill think of something to cover the hole

 

sickness!!!!
i got a mitre sawww!!!! a 10" hitachi with a laser. I was between a 130$ and a 140$ one, and i ended up with the 180$ one im trading my dad for it, he bought me it , im painting a couple of canvases for him. Seriously though its sick, its hitachi, 10 ", got a laser, tilts si de to side, slides left to right, jumps up and down, spins round and round(lol i had to XD)
pics later. Update tonight, depending if i get my HW done.

On another note: im thinking about fiber-glassing the pump housing! what do you think? my only problem is airflow, would the pump die of heat?

reed

 

Update time!
I spent a lot longer on the update this time. I cropped and photoshoped all the pics prior to update.
Just did some more work on the pump housing. Before I was just showing teasers.
So, here are some pics, prior to paint.

With pump


Used heat gun(shown) to dry it after soaping. This is for paint. But more pics first.

That is what the rear hole is for. To let the wire out.

The top hole. Pretty good for mesh IMO.

Here are some pics after 2 coats of black primer(flat)


Will probably skip paint, and clear coat it. I love the flat black look. Need your opinions here.

Then the miter saw:
(or is it miter?...)

Hehe “o noez laser!”


Look at that! One of the features I spent more money on. Look at that! That will be dandy for frame making…

Hmmm somebody likes Hitachi power tools All of whats listed is Hitachi, not to mention hand drill.

I have only used a miter saw once, but its scary… So loud lol, I know its not that dangerous but if anybody has some tips please share. Mostly safety. I think I will be using lots of clamps on this to keep fingers out of blade. I can’t use the miter saw yet, as I don’t have room for it. I need to build a bench for it(soon) or clear up space. But what its on right now is to tipsy and unsafe.
So hope you liked the update.
Reed

 

.

 

to big? different sizes? whats wrong there?

i was thinking of fiberglassing over the whole pump housing. What do you think?

 

Lowes carries a basic Kobalt set for cheap, maybe ~$15-20. That's where I got my dies from. But for taps, I recommend that you pick the sizes and styles you think you will need and get the exact wire gauge drill bits that they call for. Mcmaster Carr is good, but so is use-enco.com. Use-enco has better prices but much slower shipping.

Also, it looks like you might need some clamps - was the cube you were dremmeling just sitting flat on the table??

Sweet! I'd recommend against insulating the pump in such a manner - it probably will cook itself like you're worried about.

 

Overall the pump cage isn't bad, but yeah - the u channel (ESPECIALLY ON THE POWER CORD HOLE!) would really help to stop the cage from eating wires or tubes.

 

Really nice work there mate,
about the pictures, the text is really too big and I would use another font (but thats just me) something like Arial, nice looking font.
Anyway really like the pump cage in black looking foreword to next update.

 

Nice dude. i think we have the same Miter Saw