Category: Random Projects
Random projects that I do to improve my life, try out an interesting new technology, learn a new skill, etc.
-
Soldering iron tips are made of copper plated with a very thin layer of iron. Unfortunately, this plating can oxidize if you don’t clean and “tin” it (that is, coat it with solder to protect it), and this can be very annoying because the oxidation is difficult to get off and prevents the solder from…
-
A spinning gyroscope can balance on a pivot, defying gravity by remaining horizontal while resting just on the tip of its axle. Instead of falling off the pivot, the gyroscope circles around it. The explanation for this amazing feat lies in the effects of precession. Like all other objects, the rotating wheel of the gyroscope…
-
I made a gyroscope. Part of that involved casting 12 zinc weights to go around the rim of its rotor, which gave me a lot of practice ramming and pouring molds, and I learned a lot. Firstly, for my extremely rudimentary dirt-bonded sand, the right moisture level is just enough to turn the sand noticeably…
-
WARNING: This is quite a dangerous project if you don’t know what you’re doing. Take proper precautions if you decide to try this: never leave the stove unattended, plug it into a GFCI outlet, use proper wire connections, and use a cord of the proper gauge. Above all, USE COMMON SENSE; IF A SITUATION LOOKS…
-
Introduction There is a medicinal ointment popular in Hong Kong called 白花油 (“White Flower Oil”) that produces a cool, minty feeling when rubbed on the skin and is used as a pain and itch reliever. (A similar product called 风油精 (“Wind Oil Essence”) is used in Mainland China.) Interestingly, one of its main ingredients, which…
-
Introduction and Rules 24 is a card game in which players try to use the basic arithmetic operations and each of four numbers exactly once to get the number 24. I play the game with my friends as follows: in each round, 4 cards are dealt face-up, and the first person to yell out a…
-
Introduction I have some dirt,I have some sand.Uh! Green sand. I poured zinc,into the green sand,Uh! Sand casting. (The PPAP song went viral when I was in elementary school and the funny lyrics made an impression on me. So here we are.) My previous attempt at casting focused on casting a detailed model with no…
-
The other day, as a result of playing with gasoline, I got some second-degree burns. Eight years ago, in preparation for a backpacking trip to Sword Lake, my dad bought a 1-gallon can of Coleman Fuel (a petroleum distillate similar to gasoline but without the engine-performance-enhancing additives), to fuel his Coleman 442 pressure stove. After…
-
Introduction For no reason at all, I decided one day to make one of those top-lit updraft (TLUD) wood gasifier stoves that are a common design for DIY small biomass-fueled stove projects. The design has been researched pretty extensively and is viewed as a promising stove design to replace dirty and smoky biomass stoves commonly…
-
The concept of an oil lamp made out of a sardine tin is nothing new. The idea has been explored by others as a sort of survival lamp, which can be made with very simple materials. However, my design is different in that it’s meant to be used regularly and provide a brighter flame than…
