Show and Tell May 2020

jast · May 1, 2020, 11:38am

Please show off anything made OUTSIDE DMS, since we’re CLOSED owing to COVID-19

Post a picture and description of anything you are working on this month at the 'Space here!

It can be anything from a small craft project to a large CNC router project to building a table to 3D printing to a science experiment and so much more. There are lots of people doing cool things at DMS all the time, but most of us don’t get to see it. Post it here and share the interesting things you are doing at Dallas Makerspace this month!

Posting here helps not only promote Dallas Makerspace, but could inspire others to make something. It will also help PR post a monthly look at what can be done here on a blog post or other social media (with attribution to each maker of course).

NOTE: Please try to include the following on each post, to help make for richer social media content!

a decent QUALITY photo
a notation about WHAT you’ve made
WHO you are (for attribution on the blog)
HOW you’ve made it
and WHY

jast · May 1, 2020, 11:38am

ceramicCAP · May 1, 2020, 1:48pm

Abstract lion, climbing up a mountain. Constructed by the feeling of Meh. Random squiggle are used as hair and to represent sound.

Jenny · May 1, 2020, 4:04pm

Hand-built clay vase (16” h) and coffee mug (4” h). Made use of my rolling pin at home to make some slabs. Can’t wait to get these babies bisque fired so I don’t have a heart attack every time I try to move them! Greenware is very fragile.

Tenchi_Wu-Yo · May 1, 2020, 8:35pm

Finally was able to program an esp3266. Missed the class makerspace had because of a conflicting class. Programmed it as a websever that controls an IR light. Put one in the bedroom, one in the living room. Was able to program the html links into an app I used when I had a note 4 (which has an ir blaster built in).
The one in the living room is hooked up to my octoprint server just for power.

coffeebean · May 1, 2020, 9:48pm

If you are anxious to get them fired…take them down to Trinity

Jenny · May 1, 2020, 10:05pm

Oh I didn’t realize they were still operating! Thanks

Monikat · May 2, 2020, 2:56pm

My new entry sign…thinking the fine print should say “maybe”

mrjimmy · May 3, 2020, 8:04pm

I carved the block from a picture I took of the tarantula train out in Grapevine.

ESmith · May 3, 2020, 11:48pm

Weekend before last I dealt with unwanted biosiversity:

Then made a brush pile:

Last weekend I processed the slash:

This weekend I removed more unwanted biodoversity and made a brush pile:

… and also processed the slash:

As a result of these endeavors the property is looking cleaner, I no longer have to maintain unruly shrubs, and I’ve got some potential space for new outdoor projects.

Kentamanos · May 4, 2020, 12:23am

Working on adding the D20 (which I bought from @PearceDunlap, who makes them) to my network as my first home automation device for testing. I replaced the normal controller on it with an ESP32 device (node-MCU) and made it output the common anode signals (just straight PWM, no protocol) to the strip in the D20. To make this accessible via home automation, I wrote a small RESTful JSON web service, which you can find here if you’re curious: https://github.com/Kentamanos/esp32-rgb-webserver

It basically takes the colors (expressed as 8-bit RGB values) and times (expressed as microseconds) in a JSON array of objects (with attributes for each value).

If I send it something like this (via Postman):

It ends up looking like this:

If I send something like this, which are red, green, and blue a second apart, with an instant change back to red:

It ends up looking like this:

It’s not as bright as I’d like yet. The strip takes at least 5v, and the ESP32 is 3.3v. I have some logic shifters I was going to try, but I can’t find my solder at the moment (recently moved and more coming from Amazon).

Eventually this guy will be in a Home Assistant setup and controlled via Node-RED most likely. This will allow an easy to use dashboard with some predefined patterns and have it change state via various events (including time of day etc.).

PearceDunlap · May 4, 2020, 1:04am

That’s awesome.

I made a monitor stand to relieve my poor struggling desk from the weight of 4 monitors.

michaelb · May 4, 2020, 6:03pm

Made a mount so I could use a tablet to control my larger printer. It uses a Duet WiFi and the best way to run it (imho) is the web interface.

got_tools · May 4, 2020, 7:24pm

That’s really cool! I like it…

got_tools · May 4, 2020, 7:26pm

The yard work never ends even in winter there is always stuff todo in order to prep for spring.

ESmith · May 4, 2020, 7:33pm

Eh, I do a few work days a year outside of ~weekly mowing - detailed maintenance of greenery ain’t my thing. Another day of finishing the work I started in 2018 waging war against the ivy and I expect I’ll be done until fall.

got_tools · May 4, 2020, 7:35pm

I’m currently working on making a coffee table and two end tables with concealed drawers. My table tops will have Texas thymes. One will have the Texas war flag, the Texas come and take and a Texas flag.
Currently I’m working on the stain colors for the back grounds of two of the flags. I think it’s calls sham bushiest? I like just the blue best.
But I really need maker space to open back up. I have a bunch of projects that I gone as far as I can go from my home shop,