Catalog (/diy/)

Welcome to /diy

This board is for the discussion of all topics relating to:

- DIY

- crafts

- hobbies

Please ask for advice, but preferably do a bit of research first. Well thought out responses are more likely if you seem to have some idea of what your doing.

This is a "Safe For Work" board, so please no porn/drug related images.

Methane extraction from sewage

Hi there diyers, does anyone have any good sources on extracting methane from sewage? I have tried looking for ebooks on this but to no avail. I have checked a few diy torrents and mostly its about extraction of gas from kitchen waste as opposed to sewage.

Repairing antiquarian books

I have two 19th century books with partially damaged spines that I would like some advice on.

The first one has a leather binding and a piece of the spine has fallen off. I still have the chip of leather (it may not be easy to see, but I have placed the loose piece next to the empty spot in the photo), and I would like to know whether it's a good idea to simply glue it back in place. It was only the outer part of it that fell off, so it wouldn't be attaching the spine to the pages or anything. If it should be glued back, what is the best type of glue to use for it? Would simple Elmer's glue be best, or would it be better to use superglue?

Also, the leather seems to be very dry on that book and is cracking along the front and back creases of the spine, so it needs to be oiled. I have different types of mink oil for my leather shoes, so would that work on a leather book binding?

The second book is a cloth bound one that has part of the upper spine partially torn. In this case, part of the paper beneath the spine's binding is also damaged. It looks like I could glue it between the paper below that is intact and the cloth at the top of the spine.

I normally wouldn't ask for help on this, but I'd like to be especially careful due to the age of the books.

R/C Multirotors

New multimeter troubles

So I'm trying to swap the end of power adapters to get one the size and voltage I need. I have a box of them, and was trying to check the polarity after I cut the end off. It was supposed to be 9V, but read about 3.5 then rapidly dropped off to zero.

I tried another, it was supposed to be 10v, but started at 6 and settled at 2.8.

I plugged it into a wall socket (240v), and it reads 10.5.

What's going on guys? This meter is supposed to be good quality. There are very few settings, could I have something wrong?

Quick fix thread.

Quick jobs to keep the household operating smoothly are the diy-ers near and butter. Post your quick fixes in this thread. Bonus points if they are negligible cost.

Easy breadboard for the SJWberry Pi

I've just came up with a super-original-idea-do-not-steal, that I can't be arsed writing-up on a monetized blog before telling websites like Hackaday.

It's a variation on the 'Solderfree Breadboard from IDE connectors' idea (http://www.instructables.com/id/Bread-Board-from-IDE-Cables/ et.al), where the 50-way IDE header sockets have the adjacent pins of the bottom half soldered together.

It gives you multiple access points to GPIO signals which is really handy too.

halp.

How do I get woodstain off of a plastic/vinyl/cheapass shower. I don't want to have to pay for a new one.

Choosing an RC plane

I've been thinking about getting a Multiplex Easystar 2 as a cheap entry into the world of RC. Eventually I would like to fit it with FPV gear and fly like that. It's this a good plan? Show me your RC planes here.

i am burning

I want to burn fucktons of candles all day everyday.

How to do so efficiently and enjoyably?

Massive vibration

I have a 2002 Toyota prado, and today it started with a massive vibration. I was driving along the highway at 100kph when it happened. I pulled over, and checked that all the tyres were full, and that the wheel nuts are tight, then continued. The vibration started again when I reached 60kph.

I stopped and checked for damage on the tyres, and that the suspension and steering did looked good. I checked the weights on the wheels, and it doesn't look like any have fallen off. Shortly I will go and get a wheel balance done, but does anyone have another idea?

are these capasitors worth pulling out?

My boss would rather Frankenstein the power supply than make a trip to the surplus store.

They have a slight bulge but aren't blown yet.

I would rather buy a new psu, but it's some small form factor for lenovo desktops

Restore knife handle

I've got a nice old knife which has worked well for me but I would like to restore it a bit. The handle was coming apart and starting to collect nasty debris behind it.

I was going to rust convert and prime the handle part of the blade. The wood I would sand a couple of times then glue and hammer the handle back on, and another layer of varnish. Any comments on this plan? Does anyone know view old it is? I was thinking maybe about WW1…

Think pad t450 custom leds

I wanna add leds (possibly a strip) to my new T450 (like the old school keyboard lights) and I'm not really too sure how hard it would be to do this. I am someone who has very little experience with circuitry, so I don't exactly know all this project would entail. So I would like to know what this project would entail as well where I should start researchwise.

Custom desk thread

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)

Tiny Houses are a bunch of bullshit

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 evict your ass.

I could go on, but the point I'm trying to make is that the Tiny House idea is fundamentally flawed in some ridiculous ways. Even if you find a city that won't bankrupt you for living in one of these things, the actual quality of life is severely hampered and really only suited to anorexic hipsters who subsist on rice, books, and checks from mommy and daddy.

tl;dr - Is there any fucking hope for this idea and if not, then what's a better alternative?

"Instructables Website"

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?

Aquaponics

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?

Pop-up Computer Monitor

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

Newbie furniture building

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.

Foam gun

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

Amazon Drone

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?

Homemade ferrite cores

Fixed It Thread

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.

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?

videos channels

webm youtube embeds

I've struggled a bit with tool sharpening, but I've found I get really nice results when I get all autistic about it and make sure to grind the bevel completely flat for each successive grit. So I had the idea of using a permanent marker to stain the bevel so I could see when all the high spots were off, but it tends to be washed away, even with waterstones.

Is there some kind machinist's blue that's appropriate for this? I was thinking maybe giving it a try making my own with some alcohol, shellac and Prussian blue. Or maybe even acetone for extra quick drying.

Beat up silvertone

Picked up this beat up old silvertone recently and looking to get it in presentable shape again. I have the the saddle and the bridge already. It's just I'm looking for parts to replace one of the tuning keys. A gear is missing and the rod just slides back and forth.

I would also enjoy any tips or advice as well.

I pod 3rd Gen Revival

I have an old ipod 3rd gen. and I want to do something with it. but i think it has software problems. the screen pops out "authentication required". How to i fix it?

Mame cabinet

I'm planning on making a budget mame cabinet but need some help.

Where can an ausfag buy a cabinet?

Welding

I thought /diy/ might help, I have a large amount of books that I would like to convert to pdf. Does anyone know how I could do this without taking pictures or buying a machine for it?

M.A.M.E Cabinet construction

In this thread, OP's a faggot.

Simple as all Hell USB F5 foot switch

You will need:

1) a junked USB computer keyboard

2) something foot-switch'ish– a musician's stomp effect pedal would be ideal.

Rip the keyboard apart, and determine which of the membrane contacts are the row and column pins for the F5 (..or whatever key you want). In my case they were covered in carbon, but that scraped off and the trace underneath could be tinned without any problems. Wire those up. Wire to switch. Live the life.

Another good place for /diy/ on the alternative chans

Tusken Raider

>>1

Since this board wasn't affected much by the gamergate happening, it'll still grow slowly. I suppose a sticky with some useful resources could help. Here's the diy sticky: https://sites.google.com/site/diyelmo/

I also am using a resource for learning about electrical at the moment, he's at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOTPsWDzNAosVd6vc3pCPHQ and his tutorials seem pretty good (I haven't delved too deeply in them yet). I'll post on and off every few days if I find anything interesting. Good luck on the board.