remote babysitting of 3d prints
 

A suggestion to make 3d printing a bit more convenient is to use a program called "octoprint"
Especially when you have a spare usb webcam then you can look how your print is going in on a web page away from your printer.
You can also upload prints remotely and change some settings like temperatures and print speed while printing.
And the dutch part of me enjoys that its free (donations are welcome but not required)

https://octoprint.org/
It can run on windows computers/ laptops and also on single board computers like the raspbery pi series.

And if you are even more lazy like me then when you use prusa slicer then you can print right from the slicer.
Cura might also be able to do this but have no used it for years now so no idea..

That never really goes away, now does it? :D

Raspberry pis are expensive and hard to come by at the moment. I pressed an old pixel 1 phone into service using the android version. It makes a great server in a tidy package using old recycled hardware.

I've got cura and it also prints direct but the printer will eventually live in my garage or possibly my shop since I plan to print ASA or ABS.

There's so much new to learn with this printer from cad to slicing to hardware setup. There's also a couple upgrades still in the mail that I hope to receive soon, a cr touch and an upgraded extruder. I'm getting there. I hope to finish and print my first hall sensor bracket as soon as the upgrades arrive and get installed. I also plan to print cockpits and pilot figures.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...d6b60e05c7.png

its a sport :)
 

Had a discussion with the lady next doors about this.
I seperate my rubbish in paper/cardboard, glass, plastic bottles, tin cans, compost heap and "other"
Bring it to the recycling center and they charge €2 each visit so with fuel cost about €20 a year.
The lady next door has her bins emptied by a company and she pays about €350 a year for that convenince.
Told her that compaired to her i saved 3 (used) model planes a year.

The guys on the other side replaced there old kitchen table it was all worn and scratched and one leg had broken off.
Looked at it and it appeared to be heavy solid wood construction.
Asked if i could have it and they even helped lift it into my house (to heavy to lift alone)
Took it fully apart, borrowed a belt sander and sanded it all down.
Put 3 coats of "G4" polyurethane (sold to make basements and water features waterproof) on it and also screwed m8 inserts in every screw hole as mounting point for "stuff"
So now i have a sollid kitchen table/workbench that is fully water/fuel/petrol/acetone proof and can support at least 200 kg.

The white sheet is one of the elction signs i stole a few elections ago; The sign itself has proven to be more usefull then that poletician who's face is on the other side.
Used it while painting a fuselage with the leftover g4 to fuel proof the inside to avoid damage when the fuel tank leaks. Or for when i misjudge a deadstick landing and end up in a lake..again.
Seagull 40 low wing arf models do float quit well btw (also a free rebuild crashed model powerd with the leo engine sold cheap by hobbyking at the time.
That leo is a canidate for the fuel regulator system because the carburator on it isnt on of the best (lean mid range?)

Everything you do not spend you do not have to work for





https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...fbdf048820.jpg
saved from skip

that is the way to go
 

Yea use what you already own and spend the money saved on what you enjoy

I'll tell you one better: Those LEO's were internally copies of the OS SF series, and the piston/liner sets were sought after to replace OS OEM Nickel scrap.
So if you find a same size OS SF, transplant the piston/liner of the LEO (if it is still good) and you'll have a TRUE ABC OS...

almost...
 

This is a .40 ringed edition.
Have to go trough my "engine stash" to see what else there is
Btw later bought another leo for €25 from a guy who bought it in the same sale and never got around using it.
Must say they do take some time to break in and doubd mine is fuly broken in the way it behaves and feels.

And yes its still good; it ended up in the water with the carb fullly closed, Once back on dry land flushed it with wd40. Drained the tank just in case water got into it (didn't).
Ran the engine within minutes of the splashdown to be sure there was no water in it. The lake is in "boggland/ laagveen" and slightly acidic but otherwise verry clean.
Only reason the plane did not fly that plane anymore that day is that i wanted to be sure there was no water damage to the electronics (servos and 35mhz reciever) Did open them up and and exposed them to sunlight and slight brease to be sure any water would dry quickly. That model has it fuel tank secured with that yellow expanding insulation foam (also polyuretane) and that forms a fuel/water tight seal where the fuel lines pass trough the firewall (also coated with g4)

Those leo engines where a steal at the price hobbyking sold them for its just i did not know about them so only got one....





https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...9ea700cef6.jpg
.40 sf ring

leo and future home
 

the seagull .40 with .46 leo, blackhorse sputnik with tunder tigre .36(?), ignore the volantex and on the left a hangar9 p51 "trainer" mustang with a (os?) irvine 51.
Volantex new cheap from banggood all other second hands / rebuilds


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...029e166a79.jpg

This is the current ""in progres" rebuild of a second hand model. Pilatus pc9 oroginaly in australian airforce colors but stripped the fuse whn i found how fuel soaked parts where and some cracks that needed repairs. Also removed the back botom of the fuse to install sullifan snake pushrods instead of the wooden sticks originally in this (b)arf
Came with a .40 la but will have the other leo on it later. The la will end up on the controll line model besides it
Thinking of making it in to a "stand way off scale" version of the dutch airforce pc7 that are black with yellow stripes. Most people don't know the difrence between the pc7 and pc9 anyway or that they are used as airforce trainers.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...6f66350220.jpg
Paint it black

Thanks Lonnie. I appreciate the "something in return" gesture - totally not required - but truly appreciated. Got your address and will send mine along in a PM.

Great news on the tap fit - that was my worry about oversized threads.. Can you measure the OD of the tap for me as a guide - It will probably be slightly undersized I think but just want to make sure.

soome progress
 

Some parts arived today so continued with the boat engine project.
This engine had water in its case when i got it and likely that water had ben there for years.
Needless to say that the bearings where rusted sollid.
Changed to new today and put most back together. One snapped off head bold still needs to be removed and just found out i did not have the correct size to replace the others.
A trip to the hardware store in town should solve that detail.
Also test fitted a spark plug to see how that looks like and it appears to stick out a bit into the chamber. a second bronze glowplug washer raised it up flush.
Another item on the list is to change the plug cap it came with its own soldering tin and am wondering what is so special about it (lead?)
The plan is to test run it with a glowplug and a prop lik a plane engine but for that it needs to have the correct prop driver on it.
Its using a cone to clamp it on the crankshaft so hope one of the other engines have one to borrow.
Once all that is done then mount the magnet for the ignition and find a way to mount the hall sensor.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...e65f779327.jpg
loosely put togeather
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...f770f36f3b.jpg
looks like it sticks out to much without a second washer

I cannot tell you what it's composition is, but I can tell you, you NEED it for that plugcap, because normal soldering tin won't adhere to the material of cap and braiding.
TIP: either buy a cheap throwaway soldering iron or use your least valuable one, because that tin DOES eat away the tip of your iron pretty fast.
You need quite a bit of heat, I used a 75W iron and was not impressed, if I ever have to do it again I'll try a 100W iron.

Yup... I have at least two engines that need one or even two additional washers. and that one of yours also definitely needs one...

My 5/16-32 tap is a three flute and measures 7.91mm between two of the three flutes. Not useful info, I know. 7.937mm/.3125" major dia is spec for our 5/16-32 bolts. https://www.trfastenings.com/knowled...xtra-fine-unef

I'm thinking a looser fit might be helpful, allowing room for more partially tapped threads to be formed/swaged with the Timesert installation tool. Just a feeling, no practical experience. Hopefully the swage at the bottom will form a gas tight seal and any loose fit at the top will be secured with JB Weld.

might try this one.
 

Got this from banggood ages ago and also the 400w (rated) version.
The bigger one did not surfive shipping
Cheap for a reason; a ceramic spacer with wound resisitor wire as heating element.
If you shake hard its might be able to contact the metal tube.
And since that is not grounded it will become live.

We have seperation transformers and variac to adjust the mains voltage at work.
Might be a fun experiment to hook it up and see what it does without electrocuting myself right away.
And yes trew the so called mains lead away it had only a few stands of copper inside and thin insulation.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...bed8aed3a5.jpg
lethal


Got the impression that the cap is stainless steel.
This https://www.wikihow.com/Solder-Stainless-Steel mentiones that the solder tin needed must contain acid to remove oxidation.
Asuming all that is true then the resulting joint should be washed (with soap?) to remove or neutralize acid or the braid could corrode away over time.
It all reminds me of that s39 flux plummers used with copper water pipes.

The cap actually is some sort of stainless, although I do not have a clue what kind or quality. So is the braiding. Normal resin-core solder won't adhere to it.
When I did my cap replacement, I did NOT see anything that resembled a flux in the solder itself, and I did not see any agressive action, not during nor after. I did not wash the solder afterwards and that did not result in corrosion.
Normally, tin solder always eats away the tip of a non-coated soldering iron, but very slow. Like, after 10 years of use the soldering iron I had looked slightly as if tiny rodents had nibbled on it. Visible, but not really "material missing". The tip was still there, just a bit thinner, and small chomps gone.
However, after doing the single job of that cap replacement, that erosion (it is more like the dissolving action mercury has on gold, I believe) had visibly increased, and I have used that iron only a few times more since, for normal soldering, but it kept eating away and there's now maybe 1,5~2 mm missing, in an irregular shape as if a big rodent took a few bites.

I knew of solder tin dissolving some soldering iron tips and it was allready visible on that old iron, but I have never ever seen that happening so fast.

Looks like copper disolves in tin over 350c
 

Just checked some chemistry sites and they state that copper can disolve in tin when its hotter then 350c.
The max ammount is 4% copper disolved into tin.
That explains the protective layer some soldering tips have.
The stainless steel version of soldring tin damages that coating.
So yea cleaning the tip dos not stop it once that coating is gone.

I save my worn out tips and use them for things like melting monocote and loosening threadlocker. I've been known to dress the surface with a file to get it to tin one last time multiple times per tip. That's the tip I use to replace plug caps.

used to file tips too
 

In my controll line days used to make those tanks from tin can sheet metal. that old (long gone) soldering iron also became shorter over the many years it was used.
Forgot about that until i saw your post .

Those plug caps are made of stainless steel... the solder is a "silver solder" with a special acid flux core, at least the ones I have soldered together... the replacements available now are already induction welded together, and all you have to do is insert the resister and lead end, and then crimp the shield braid to the outer end of the plug cap, but I don't use the crimp, I solder the shield braid, for a more secure connection... I do the same with the CM6 split shell plug caps, soldering is the better way to go.

assumption is the mother of all **** ups .....
 

Drove into town to buy the missing head bolts only to find the shop isnt open on weekends...
Should have checked since it most sells to trade.

So no progress on the boat engine..
Time to climb into the attic and see if there is a prop driver that fits so it can be run on the test stand,

would spot welding work?
 

There are those small spot welders intended to make battery packs.
Wonder if spot welding the braid is possible cheapo spotwelder on banggood

13€. That is cheap.

it excludes shipping
 

you end up around €20 with shipping and best to also get some of those nickel (?) strips so it can be used for its intended purpose.
For example make reciever packs out of lidl batteries.

It might work if you spotweld all around the circumference. But it probably won't be strong enough to spotweld the two parts of the cap.

FWIW: I have done a few caps with the soldering method, and in one case the two parts of the cap came apart, immediately leading to A) lots of radio interference, and B) me getting hit with the HV pulses when I felt the head for temperature...

the version i have
 

This is the one it appears to already have spotwelds at the joint. The resistor is already inside.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...d9b35dd867.jpg

That to me looks like TIG welding, not spotwelding.