Stuff Andy Makes – DIY, make, tinker, play

Tony Stark for Halloween 2010: The Arc Reactor (RT Mark II)

Oct 28

AndyArt/Design, Electronics, Projects, Woodworking/Shop casting, costume, halloween, led, pcb, propmaking, resin, smd, wearable 10 Comments

I have been dying to post photos of my latest colossal time-sucker-of-a-project: My Halloween 2010 costume is Tony Stark. Iron Man would have been a pain in the mechanical arse, but Tony Stark’s only challenge is that crazy super-glowy round life-saving thingy thing in his chest which is visible under a shirt. This is the most ridiculous and complicated build I’ve done to date.

This post is about building the arc reactor Tony Stark needed to survive in the Iron Man movies. The particular version I wanted to build was the RT Mark II, which Tony built in his home lab once he got home from his captivity in the desert. It’s more refined than the first version he built in the cave and every bit as swanky. Mostly, I liked the look of the second one better, myself. The one I’m talking about can be seen in the movie fairly up-close when Pepper Potts has to remove the old one and replace it with this new one.

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My Very Own Useless Machine Ever!!! (Finally!)

Aug 10

AndyElectronics, Projects, Woodworking/Shop brass, engraving, finishing, gift, servo, useless machine, woodworking No Comments

I finally finished my own UME Mark II for my own desk for me! Woohoo! My flavor of useless machines ever has a “presidential” look, as some have put it.

Latest UME Mk II (Useless Machine Ever)

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DIY Workshop Stereo Boombox Kinda Thing

Apr 29

AndyElectronics, Projects, Woodworking/Shop 12V, car, diy, garage, pc power, speakers, stereo, woodworking No Comments

Workshop car stereo boombox

I had a couple of car stereo speakers sitting in the cabinet in the garage and some other miscellaneous parts relating to those. All I ever used for music in the garage was an old AM/FM radio that worked well, but it didn’t allow for using my little portable XM satellite receiver or my iPod or iPhone. So, I ran out and bought a low-end Pioneer 2200 car stereo and a 600-watt computer power supply and BOOM! Semi-instant garage stereo system with XM and iPod capabilities.

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Turn a Servo Into an Inexpensive Geared Motor

Apr 29

AndyElectronics, Projects hack, servo, upgrade 1 Comment

In my UME Mark II’s (UME = “Useless Machine Ever”), originally I would program an Atmel AVR microcontroller to turn an RC servo forward and backward using timed pulses like you’re supposed to. But, when you want to build many machines, microcontrollers are not the way to go. Simple polarity-changing circuits are the way to go. But, you still want the RPMs of a servo without the hassle of the pulsing control. So, you hack the servo and make it a geared motor. Easy! Here’s how…

Futaba S3004 servo intact

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Cigar Coolidor (Wine Cooler + Humidor = Coolidor)

Apr 29

AndyElectronics, Projects automatic, cigars, fridge, hack, humidor, spanish cedar, upgrade, wine, woorworking 1 Comment

This is one of the first “major” projects I built that involved electricity and electronics. This project makes it super-simple for me to manage my expensive (for me) cigar collection with minimal effort. It uses a 6-bottle wine fridge, some custom-cut Spanish cedar, and a Cigar Oasis XL electronic humidor humidifier.

Completed coolidor, initial test run

The fridge was about $99 on-line (I may have gotten it at Wal-mart’s website, I can’t remember). The Cigar Oasis was about $90 on-line. The Spanish cedar was the expensive part. I think I spent about $160 for a 6′ piece of uncut and unfinished wood. I had to have the people at Woodworker’s Source (Phoenix area, near my home) rip the big plank down to nice and thin planks with which I could line the fridge. The cutting part was about as much as the plank of cedar.

I kinda rushed this project, as you can see. The shelves are not completely level and don’t fit perfectly. Most of my time was spent measuring and shaping the pieces so that they would fit without needing glue or fasteners. It turned out well enough to do the job.

The electronics weren’t too tough. It was my first project that involved busting open a device that used wall power. That was unnerving. But, it isn’t rocket science. I just opened up the back of the fridge, found where the power supply fed the electronics of the fridge at ~5V and tapped the power cord of the Cigar Oasis into that line. The Cigar Oasis doesn’t draw a lot of power, so it seemed the power supply wouldn’t mind. Er, at least, in the two or three years it’s been running in my Man Cave™, it hasn’t quit or caught fire.

Like I just said, it’s been running for about two or three years and I’ve filled the Cigar Oasis maybe twice. Other than that, I haven’t touched the humidor for maintenance, only to select cigars to enjoy. The fridge keeps the temperature at 70 degrees fahrenheit and the Cigar Oasis keeps the humidity inside the fridge at about 70%.

Coolidor after 2 or 3 years, loaded, happy, working

The photo above is the coolidor after about two or three years. I’ve loaded and unloaded lots o’ cigars. The little readouts on the Cigar Oasis and the little electronic hygrometer don’t ever match. The cigars smoke perfectly, so the “63%” showing on the gadget there is low because, when you open a humidor in Arizona, the humidity escapes rapidly… Because we’re in a desert. But, when it reads about 65% upwards to %68, the cigars are happiest in my experience. To get the optimum humidity, I have to keep the Oasis set at about 68%.

This project is easy to do. If you’re a cigar geek, I highly recommend taking a little time to build a humidor that can manage itself. Set and forget. It’s awesome.

Office Chairiot™ First Run a Success!

Apr 13

AndyElectronics, Projects, Woodworking/Shop 24V, chair, motor, office, speed controller, stainless steel, welding No Comments

The Office Chairiot™ is a project I’ve been designing and building since last summer. The Office Chairiot™ is a battery-powered office chair towing device built with custom steel work and motorized scooter parts purchased on-line. With the amazing welding skizillz of the father of one of the owner’s of the company where I work, my dream of a modular powered office chair came to fruition recently.

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