Get your dunk on, “The Ultimate in Cookie Dunking Technology” from Sam Feller

April 10, 2013

Sam Feller’s “Perfect Dunker” cup prototype.

Sam Feller, AwkwardEngineer.com, has created another invention.  His first was the Panic Button light switch kit, which has been quite successful.  This time it is an even more useful invention.  The Perfect Dunker.  This complex shape of a cup allows you to use only 8oz of milk and still dunk all of your cookies without rusking a partial dunk.  Great design and great implementation of BPA free plastic.  I hope this project takes off, I’ve already donated to it and think you should too.  You only have 15 more days to send Sam a dollar so get on-board!  He’ll appreciate it and so will the rest of us as soon as we can actually get our hands on The Ultimate in Cookie Dunking Technology!

Sam Feller – The Perfect Dunker Project on Kickstarter.com

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No more LucasArts – I do miss Dark Forces

April 8, 2013

It seems that Disney has decided to close down LucasArts entertainment.  The good news is the only game they made that I liked was in 1995, “StarWars: Dark Forces”.  My brother and I took turns (it was one player only) and put on countless hours playing in that game.  We did all sorts of silly things including randomly blowing up our own guys in various ways, coming up with the most interesting ways to kill off your player and trying to “trick” the AI enemies.  Good times.  The graphics were top notch at the time too.

Between this game and Need For Speed II, that was pretty much the majority of my gaming until high school.  Then I got into Age of Empires and most importantly, StarCraft.

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Metal working

April 5, 2013

I’ve been using my little 50 amp stick welder for a few small projects and have found that I really like how 1/16″ 7014 rod runs as compared to 1/16″ 6013.  Now, for either rod it really makes sense to cut them in half first.  This is because 1/16″ rods are extremely flimsly and due to this it is very hard to control them and maintain proper arc length.  With more than 50 amps I could run a 1/16″ 7014 as a “drag rod” and not need to have an arc length, literally just running it across the top of the metal.  But, due to my tiny 50 amp power supply, it makes life a little more difficult.  That said, I’ve had good luck with it and have been able to repair and fabricate stuff up to 1/8″ thick with pretty good success.

My brother wants me to repair a gas tank for an ’89 Honda Shadow VT1100.  I have ground down the rusted areas and there are some decent holes that need patching.  I’ve decided that the safest long term repair will be for me to solder patches over the holes.  I will use a soldering copper so that I don’t need to put a flame directly on the tank.  Once the patches are fully soldered on I will coat the inside with POR15 liner.  Then I will sand, file and shape the outside of the tank (possibly with the help of some JB Weld) until I am happy.  Lastly it will receive a nice new coat of paint.  When I’m done it should look and perform as if it was brand new.

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Brick Church Concerts

March 26, 2013

We have continued on our concert series at New Sharon Congregational Church UCC in New Sharon, ME.  I just hadn’t been posting about the concerts here.  The concert series is now named “Brick Church Concerts”.

Below is our schedule.

January 19, 2013 @ 7 pm
Mt. Blue Jazz Band & Franklin County Fiddlers

February 16, 2013 @ 7 pm
Mark Phillips

March 16, 2013 @ 7 pm
Lissa Schneckenburger

April 27, 2013 @ 7 pm
Mt. Blue Voices

May 25, 2013 @ 7 pm
Sharon Buck and Dixon Road

June 15, 2013 @ 7 pm
Borderline Express

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Oil bath air cleaner

March 25, 2013

My 1954 John Deere 40T utilizes a oil bath air cleaner setup.  In trying to explain it to my brother I realized I didn’t fully understand it myself.  So I did some research.  Here is a site that explains it wonderfully well: http://vintagetractorengineer.com/2009/01/oil-bath-air-cleaners-for-tractors/

The short of it is that the cup at the bottom is full of oil and air has to go through the oil.  The air passes through but the dirt and dust get stuck in the oil and settle to the bottom.  My tractor also utilizes a sediment bowl in the gas line as opposed to a fuel filter.  I guess back in 1954 they didn’t like expendable parts, just expendable fluids.

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