/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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File: 1449332835246.jpg (13.83 KB, 500x500, 1:1, desk.JPG)

Custom desk thread Maker 12/05/15 (Sat) 16:27:15 No.208 [Reply]

Whats up my dudes, I plan on building a desk that at max can be 6 feet 3 inches in length (length of my room wall) and 2 and a half feet tall, and 1 and a half feet in length. what would i do? (also i would prefer a desk like the one in pic)

Maker 12/20/15 (Sun) 10:53:43 No.213

So the first question which you need to ask yourself, is wood frame or steel frame. Steel frame will be more compact, but need different tools, skills, etc.

When you have answered this crucial question, get some designs of the net and post them here. You should get helpful advice.

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Tiny Houses are a bunch of bullshit Maker 11/03/15 (Tue) 03:26:34 No.189 [Reply]

So, for the past few years I've been really interested in the whole Tiny House movement that sprung up. After further research, I've come to realize that the whole damned thing is a scam, or at the very least, a cleverly framed lie that obscures the hidden costs, difficulties, and contradictory reality of how these things actually work.

The pitch goes something like this: For a modest sum, far cheaper than a normal house, you can build or buy a cozy dwelling that you can just tow wherever you want and comfortably live off the grid in a pleasant, low-cost, simplistic lifestyle without bills or any of the stressful clutter of modern living. All you have to do is get a trailer and slap a house on top of it and rig up some solar panels and no one can stop you, because it's not technically against the law!

Here's the reality though..

Tiny houses are fucking heavy, meaning you can't just use any truck and trailer. Chances are you'll need to buy both of those, and without some miraculous craigslist luck, that's already going to cost more than the advertised 20-30k pricetag. When it comes to utilities, you either need to get set up like a camper, meaning dedicated electricity and water lines, or get used to reading books by candlelight and nothing else, because a tiny house is just an overgrown treefort unless you spend a lot more to make the thing habitable year-round. Hope you like shitting in a bucket and keeping it in the same small breathing space as the rest of your life!

Not to mention that most people don't actually live in their tiny houses all year round. They don't tell you that shit. That's because most of them just park in the backyard of property they already own or mooch off some forgiving friend or relative. So unless you're already a wealthy yuppie or you have someone who has the space for the damned thing, you're fucked. Because you might think you can just buy a small parcel of land and park it there, but that's wrong too! Composting toilets, collecting rainwater, and even just parking a trailer on land not zoned for trailers is all illegal in many parts of the country. More likely than not, you're looking at thousands of dollars in zoning fines, provided they don't just send the police in to Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

Maker 11/03/15 (Tue) 11:28:34 No.190

Thanks for going to the trouble of writing this up. I too was briefly interested in the idea of a tiny house which was cheap, and I could move from place to place. Then reality at in. I realised that it would be barely big enough to contain the tools which I would need for maintaining /fixing the thing.

Then I thought back to the time when my girlfriend's Mom announced that she was going to rent out her house and travel the country in a caravan.

…First stop was our back yard, "just while she gets everything sorted for her big trip. She won't be in the way, as she'll be living in the caravan." Well, that didn't happen. She lived of our house, and just went to the van to sleep. This went on for six months till I broke up with the girlfriends kicked them both out.

I think you are right. Little houses are a scheme dependant on mouching off friends and family.

Maker 11/03/15 (Tue) 16:27:26 No.191

File: 1446568046851.png (1.36 MB, 1600x725, 64:29, ClipboardImage.png)

>>190

Not necessarily just mooching, but if someone has the time, money, and opportunity to build a tiny house, chances are they aren't hurting for money or in dire need of the reduced, cheaper lifestyle that a tiny house offers.

I can't even imagine finding a job that would allow me to take several months off just to build a tiny house, assuming I could save up that initial investment while still paying for an apartment or home.

While I think there are a lot of great ideas, especially when it comes to simplified, low-cost living, the general attitude surrounding tiny houses right now limit them to a novelty for people with too much money or too little sense. Which is why there are so many opportunistic vultures out there selling tiny house how-to books and blueprints and instructional video sets, just to prey on the gullible and stupid who don't yet understand that tiny houses aren't what they are cracked up to be.

If you want to live in a cozy mobile home with fewew responsibilities and bills, you're better off just buying and slightly modifying an RV, but even then, you're going to run into the same problems when it comes to living in it full-time, needing income to pay for the various licenses and permits, and all the various equipment and maintenance and gas.

You ever notice that all these tiny house fanatics never mention how much they pay in gas? That's because hauling a 5 ton tree-house on wheels isn't cheap and it really destroys the whole "low cost" image they are trying to sell to idiots, and why so many of them resort to just parking in someone's backyard and mooching off their electricity and running water.

But that's enough bitching.

The ideas that sell people on the whole tiny house are very attractive, but the reality is deeply flawed. I'm interested in finding an affordable way to live in reasonable comfort in a self-built home that isn't a tree fort on wheels or some hipster crapshack.

Maker 12/02/15 (Wed) 21:31:29 No.205

I'm convinced you can do the tiny house thing and have it be everything they claim it to be, as long as you don't actually get a patented Tiny House. Think about it. People have been living in tear drop trailers pulled by cars as puny as VW bugs since the 60s. it should tell you something that regardless of who they pitch them to, all the testimonials you see are from richass yuppie couples who wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of their careers as attorneys and doctors so they sold their 1.5 mil apartment and live the other half of the year in their 800k beachfront condo

Without a great deal of know-how, you can scrounge materials and build a much lighter, cheaper, and ultimately more comfortable tiny house if you do it all yourself instead of following their plans and buying their shit. Its essentially an insulated shed with a loft, power, and plumbing that's sturdy enough to survive transit. You can put all of that together for well under the 30k minimum price tag of a tiny house, and trading a few luxuries like plumbing for a compost toilet and camp shower, easily under 10k. The real bitch is finding a suitable place to put it. Even if you plan on moving around all year, its not like just finding a hotel. You need space, land owner's permission, a way to dispose of trash. Especially in the more densely populated areas of the country like the northeast, its very possible to end up in effect homeless because you have nowhere to put your home.

Theres some people on youtube who have done what I've detailed. granted half of them are nutcase hippies, but still. If you can find a few people who own land and get their permission, It's very possible to live like this for very little money.

I should note that I've personally given up on this. I panic when I get lost in my car with a full tank of gas, I really don't want to be carrying my home around in a trailer with me and do the exact same thing. I'd personally rather suck it up the next few years and save till I can get some land and build a small cabin

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"Instructables Website" Maker 11/15/15 (Sun) 23:06:35 No.199 [Reply]

A friend has been onto me for a while to check out the amazing projects on the Instructables website.

Finally i go there, the projects do look great from the home screen, but once you look closely, you see that they are rubbish.

See pic related. I was promised instructions for a DIY Satellite Speaker System w/ Subwoofer. I thought, "Oh, i wonder how they did the electronics on this, sounds interesting." The biggest detail that i got is that it is a 12V system, but is being powered by 20V, as that works better.

Am i missing something? Do people know how to choose a correct bluetooth amplifier, subwoofer amplifier and voltage booster, but not know how to paint a wooden box black?

I've looked at a few of these instructions now, and they all seem to be missing something crucial in the middle.

Can anyone find a good one?

Maker 11/17/15 (Tue) 10:01:38 No.201

I've literally never seen a good instructable.

Not to say that some of the ideas aren't good, but most people don't bother to draw good plans/schematics, and don't write clear, concise instructions.

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Aquaponics Maker 10/09/15 (Fri) 14:02:07 No.171 [Reply]

I've been considering aquaponics. In the past I've raised aquarium fish, and like the idea of putting them in a big grow tank in the garden. I can get 1000L plastic pod tanks from work, which should work well. My only concern is that this is going to be expensive, and end up with poor results, and a big mess of stuff in the backyard. I'd be following a guide such ashttp://www.backyardaquaponics.com/single-barrel-aquaponic-system/. Had anyone here had experience with these systems? Did you produce fish? Are they messy and time consuming?

Maker 11/17/15 (Tue) 09:57:31 No.200

I haven't done this, but I've heard that tilapia can live at higher densities than other freshwater fish, so I hope you like tilapia.

best tasting fish ever

YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.

Pop-up Computer Monitor Maker 10/11/15 (Sun) 20:47:25 No.174 [Reply]

Any of you know how it would be possible to make that ?

Maker 10/12/15 (Mon) 10:46:39 No.175

>>174

Interesting vid. I found another one which shows how they do it. Looks like an electric motor drives a pair of screws which raise and lower the middle section via a captive nut.

https://youtu.be/-h0pb7aU8bc

A bit difficult to diy (at least for me) she to the specialised parts.

Before I checked the vid I was thinking about a way to do this with the raising drawer almost at the point of balance with a bucket containing weights and bulge pump under the table. You then pump a little water into the bucket using 12v pond pump. The bucket pulls up the TV drawer. To lower TV, pump water out of bucket using bilge pump.

Would be relatively simple and easy, but the water would get nasty after a while.

Maker 10/24/15 (Sat) 11:15:37 No.178

Get an arduino, a stepper motor, a stepper driver, hook them up, attach screen to two slides (you could probably just use ones from drawers but it depends on the design), attach stepper to a leadscrew, make the leadscrew nut move the compartment holding the screen. Adding a counterweight will enable you to buy a smaller stepper motor. This much, ignoring cost of the screen and the table itself, should cost somewhere around $30-$50.

Maker 11/11/15 (Wed) 09:57:05 No.194

protip: sewing machine cabinets have a similar feature and do it pretty simply.

Maker 11/11/15 (Wed) 12:48:22 No.195

>>194

That is a cool protip. Nice work maker.

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Newbie furniture building Maker 10/24/15 (Sat) 20:54:51 No.179 [Reply]

I want to make my own furniture for my home. Im looking for ideas for materials/construction techniques with regards to sturdyness. I want strong shelving, a bookshelf, an entertainment center, a nightstand, a bedframe.

But my first project is a general desk/work table. Suitible for office use such as a computer, reading, writing/drawing, as well as workshop uses (re)building, repairing anything i need. A lot of pics i see have crossbeams all the way around the bottom, but i need to leave one out so i can slide left and right with my chair.

I like dark, but honestly this is a trial run to learn the ropes, so i dont want to get super expensive if i dont need to. In a few years i can do a better set for a new home. I have a decent tool set and can buy what i need.

my idea thus far was a sheet of 3/4" 4x8 ripped to about 30"(standard desk depth, remaining wood saved for shelving or somesuch) and on a support frame of 4x4s. Idk what size fasteners I should go for.

Maker 10/27/15 (Tue) 07:55:00 No.181

>>179

Sounds like a good thing to do, but I don't understand the building materials you are specifying. Are you taking about a plywood sheet? This is what I would use for a desk /project space. And the frame, are you talking 4 inch by 4 inch pine? That sounds quite big. Especially if it runs along the front of the desk.

Maker 10/30/15 (Fri) 13:53:13 No.188

>>179

OP. THIS IS NOW A BUILD THREAD. show us what you've got.

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Foam gun Anonymous 11/18/14 (Tue) 18:13:53 No.20 [Reply]

So my foam gun doesn't shoot shit, but the foam can is almost full.
Kinda don't want to waste the leftover foam.
So my noob question - [b]Can i screw off the gun without getting the foam in my face, are the foam cans meant to be screwed off if necessary?[/b]
pic my foam gun

Maker 10/22/15 (Thu) 06:35:21 No.177

Sorry, you're likely fucked. Check the tip. If it is sealed over, you might be able to scrape off enough to get it to fire. Otherwise, unscrew and toss the can (it'll spew), immediately mount cleaner, and run it through for several minutes until it's clean. Mount a new can, and fire off the first load into the trash because the gun will still be filled with cleaner.

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Anonymous 07/26/15 (Sun) 21:06:24 No.129 [Reply]

Can't I just buy car parts out the junk yard and build a whole car from those and sell them cheap?

Anonymous 08/01/15 (Sat) 14:29:41 No.131

>>129

Do you know what a crank case is and why it needs to be filled with what fluid?

Can you check hoses for millimetre holes?

Can you check alignments and spark gaps, reset timing, and set up suspension?

Do you know how many valves are in a 4A-GE?

What is the proper name for the RX-7's rotary engine.

Anonymous 08/28/15 (Fri) 13:52:45 No.138

>>131

>Do you know how many valves are in a 4A-GE?

16 or 20V if Blacktop

>What is the proper name for the RX-7's rotary engine?

13B(plus any other shit attached to it like REW for the TT version, 13B-T for the tarbo version)

Anonymous 09/18/15 (Fri) 23:00:35 No.146

>>129

I don't thing you realize how much work this is. I also doubt you could buy all the parts for the price of a running or almost running car.

I know people who have gotten cars that still run for less than $400. Find something like that and fix it with junk parts.

Maker 10/22/15 (Thu) 06:28:42 No.176

>>129

If you have a group of friends (at least three, pref. six) including one master mechanic and have at least three years to kill, go for it. Otherwise, just listen to "One Piece At a Time" (Johnny Cash). Major timesuck and you'll need $10K+ worth of tools in addition to parts even with Harbor Freight.

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Anonymous 12/21/14 (Sun) 18:11:11 No.44 [Reply]

Hello /diy/

I heard about an electronics schematics + program to let you hack this counter thought his infrared port.

Does any of you guys know it ?

Anonymous 12/22/14 (Mon) 18:22:58 No.47

bump

Anonymous 12/23/14 (Tue) 04:49:20 No.48

>>44
You'll need to post more information than that.
Is that some sort of meter? What are you trying to accomplish?

Maker 10/10/15 (Sat) 07:41:52 No.172

Via Google: Three-phase electronic meter CX 2000-4

The CX 2000-4 is a direct connection to three-phase electronic meter which has been designed for home use . It has , again , the best of electronic technology applied to energy metering . It was developed in a modular design to best meet the different needs of power companies .

Maker 10/10/15 (Sat) 11:52:29 No.173

>>44

So OP is trying to trick electric power meter in order to reduce electricity bill. Is that correct? Methinks that the designer may have considered this type of attempt. Plenty of people steal electricity OP, but most simply rewire house to go around the meter. Surprisingly few of them are electrocuted or start fires.

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Amazon Drone OP 08/21/15 (Fri) 02:54:08 No.135 [Reply]

Hey /diy/, you know the Amazon drone thing? What would you say if I wanted to do that, how would one go about doing that? Could one write a simple button-program with a claw attached to a gyro-coptor? Or would I need something heavier?

3 posts omitted. Click reply to view.

Anonymous 10/07/15 (Wed) 03:56:46 No.164

>chucking a wobbly when the people on an anon imageboard don't return 14,400,000 results in 0.09 seconds that you've got a Steve Jobs-granted entitlement too.

Anonymous 10/07/15 (Wed) 03:57:27 No.165

>>164

>disabling post deletion on an imageboard

fark

!!smC4BvDdx. 10/09/15 (Fri) 12:52:25 No.168

>>165

At Diy, we appreciate your feedback. Post deletion has now been enabled.

Anonymous 10/09/15 (Fri) 13:31:24 No.169

>>135

Is that really the Amazon drone? It looks like a flying BBQ. Seems to be carrying an esky. Someone knows how to get the weekend started.

Maker 11/20/15 (Fri) 07:15:50 No.204

>>169

I came here to make this exact comment.

>flying barbies when?

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Homemade ferrite cores Anonymous 12/18/14 (Thu) 03:39:16 No.35 [Reply]

Ok /DIY, here is what's up: So I recently made an overpowered as fuck plasma speaker but unfortunately the flyback transformer couldn't handle the current. I'm wondering, would it be possible for me to make my own ferrite cores using some PVC, resin, iron oxide(fe3o4), and a few other additives? I know most commercial ferrite cores don't have any iron compounds in them but that's what I have to work with. Any fellow Anons have any suggestions?

4 posts and 1 image reply omitted. Click reply to view.

Anonymous 12/20/14 (Sat) 02:38:44 No.40

>>39
That might work. I'm not too sure though, I know for the really high frequency stuff the tendency is to go with air core solenoids to prevent the hysteria losses.

For the core then you'll want to go with some kind of two part epoxy.
The kind they use for fiberglass should work.
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-system--g-flex-650-liquid-epoxy-8-oz-one-4-oz-bottle-of-resin-one-4-oz-bottle-of-hardener--9223132
You could probably get away with mixing the first part with the fe3o4 then stirring in the second part. It takes a while to set and should pour into the molds nicely. It will get incredibly hot though so you might consider pouring into something other than PVC.

Anonymous 12/20/14 (Sat) 04:08:15 No.41

>>40
Yeah that sounds like a good idea, I saw a video on youtube where the guy used plaster of Paris instead of an epoxy.
I tested some of the material in the zvs driver(basically an induction heater) and if really didn't heat up all that much so that's a good sight. The fe3o4 has about the same magnetic strength of the ferrite so that is also good.
Additionally, I was looking up some recipes in the depths of the internet, and one went something like this: 85%fe 6%al 5%carbon 4% zinc. All of these I have and in thinking about mixing up a batch of this and mixing it with a bit of epoxy(probably make it into a rod) and then I'll test it to see if it works. I'll post my results in the thread whenever I get the chance to.

Anonymous 04/30/15 (Thu) 12:40:31 No.108

Cores should be made out of layered metal.

With a solid core, the effect of AC will make the current concentrate on the surface of the core, causing inefficiency and overheating.

Anonymous 05/29/15 (Fri) 23:06:32 No.118

I'm someone who isn't OP that has a similar want. I've been experimenting with oscillators and I want to make a dirt cheap diy for my circuit. But a reasonably high permeability core large enough to put several hundred winds on is a rare thing if you try to find it in the scrap pile and an expensive thing if you special order it.

So maybe someone could help me out? A cheap diy 5" toroid or something, bonus points for being made out of commonly available ingredients.

Anonymous 10/06/15 (Tue) 01:16:44 No.161

here's my 2¢

ferrite cores are used when high frequencies are involved because…

a. you want the high permeability and magnetic flux density for power transfer otherwise you'd be air-core

b. you want low hysteresis for the quick reversals of the magnetic field

it's always a trade-off between permeability and low hysteresis

c. you want electrically isolated small particles to reduce eddy current losses

I would suggest experimenting with ferric /ferrous oxides and silicates as fine powders mixed with epoxy resins.

the reason I say use some form of binder is the one thing you must avoid is allowing any part of the core material the ability to move because it will and violently. the number of transformers I've seen that were unusable because of loose core material or a cracked core is not zero. loose core material causes noise at the very least. the commercial high frequency cores I've seen have all been sintered, that is to say made using heat and pressure and molded into a solid monolithic piece.

best of luck with your project

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Fixed It Thread Anonymous 08/27/15 (Thu) 13:29:47 No.137 [Reply]

DIY repair – my microwave, an integral part of my espresso making process (milk steamers are fucking annoying) went on the blink– the magnetron was always-on except went the door was open.

With the choice in front of me being to drop $350 for a new convection microwave, it wasn't going to hurt to open the thing up and see if there was any chance of fixing it myself… and behold, the magnetron was controlled by a relay, making me think immediately that if it were stuck or burnt-out, it would explain the fault.

Controller board out; desoldered the relay; and tested it– and it worked. Crap, probably something less obvious was at fault. Resoldered the relay and reassembled the microwave. There was still the idea to test if it could have been a dry solder joint which the resoldering would've fixed– and luckily the microwave started working!

Awesomesauce. The $180 desoldering station has saved me hundreds of dollars again.

Anonymous 10/05/15 (Mon) 15:45:49 No.159

Good work. I've never really tried at fixing this sort of electronics, but this does to show that it could be worthwhile.

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Anonymous 02/04/15 (Wed) 07:49:44 No.65 [Reply]

Is making your own soap /diy/? I picked up this hobby recently and I'm having a lot of fun and good results from it. (Pic related, it's sort of what the ones I make look like). I like it a lot because I can combine it with my love of hiking; I collect wildflowers and herbs from my hikes and put them into the soaps I make. I was wondering if anyone else has picked up this hobby, maybe we could share ideas or experiences.

Anonymous 02/20/15 (Fri) 04:56:05 No.77

Definitely is DIY.

Anonymous 10/05/15 (Mon) 15:40:28 No.158

My parents used to do this when I was small. They were kind of hippies. Their soap was mostly made of fat rendered down from cattle which we slaughtered for meat. Are you making from fat? Where are you getting yours?

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Anonymous 09/17/15 (Thu) 21:59:06 No.145 [Reply]

the switch in my relay doesnt make a mechanical snapping sound and it also doesnt work.

put simply the little pop doesnt happen

even though its all wired correctly, the light turns on, and it has proper voltage going to it.

what is the licklyhood something is broken inside it?

Anonymous 10/05/15 (Mon) 15:10:28 No.155

I can't see where the light attaches to, but if everything is attached chiefly then chances are that your relay is broken. They are quite cheap though so feel free to try another one.

YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.