I finally changed to a PeerTube account with my usual handle (trevorflowers@diode.zone) so today's #OnTheBench is coming to you from new digs! As always, thank you to @scanlime for hosting a solid node.
#PeerTube #fediverse #shopLife
https://diode.zone/w/tCcirfha2b6DXVwpa4UqEL

How to start an argument in a machine shop: post this chart
#shopLife

After a couple of weeks of no cable staying put, I finally shaved down a toothpick and fished out my phone's USB-C port. I found lint, dog hair, one lovely aluminum chip that I'm stunned didn't short anything, and two kinds of soil. This is why I can't get a folding phone. The hinge would last about ten minutes.
#shopLife

Ok, I believe that the CAD for V1 of the Tiny TRS-80 Model III is complete and now it's time to nail down the production process. There will be printing. There will be adhering. There will be painting. And there will be sanding. So, so much sanding.
#shopLife #retrocomputers #miniatures #trs80

I'm thankful for a quiet day in the shop. Scrubbed a layer of gunge a few thou thick off of the drill press's machined surfaces and they look good. Made some chips on the little Sherline mill, the first time I've used it for any length of time so now, of course, I have a list of improvements to make to the milling station.
#shopLife #machining

For the past couple of weeks I've dropped off from posting daily shop videos and I think it was a good decision for both my mental health and because I was working on projects that a) I couldn't share or b) were even more boring than usual. But, I miss making them and I'm back to working on non-secrets so perhaps tomorrow I'll get back into the swing. Who knows, maybe I'll even shoot and edit a video longer than one minute!
#shopLife #peertube #youtube

I finally have a day to set up the new lathe and mill. Step one: WD-40 away the cosmoline. Step two: take a shower.
#shopLife

Cursed earworm every time I chuck up a bar that needs a reduced OD:
🎶 Turn Down the Stock 🎶
#shopLife
https://youtu.be/HMUDVMiITOU

What do y'all use for labeling bins and such in the shop? For years I've written on gaffers' tape with a white paint pen but now I'm looking for something that doesn't depend on my handwriting but is more lovely than the usual little label printers' tapes.
#shopLife

I've daydreamed a bit about a concept I call Always Be Prototyping, ABP. The idea is that for some people there's no good reason to "go into production" because the tools of design, marketing, fabrication, and sales are oriented around one-offs or varied small runs. Every unit is a test of something. A process. A concept. A material. Importantly, buyers are involved in that test!
#shopLife #abp #prototypes

I'm a bit late to this party but this Bambu Lab machine behaves like I expected 3D printers to behave before I started using them. So far, the futzing it requires is forgivable. Put in filament. Mess about with a slicer. Wait an hour or so. Finally, pop everything off of the build plate. Repeat. If it continues to perform like this for a week or so then I might even stop watching the video stream to make sure that it's working.
#bambuLab #3DPrinting #shopLife

I hope this new wave of switchers has a lot of #machining and #shopLife people. Come for the lack of centralization, stay for the chitchat about #cad, #feedsAndSpeeds, and whether left-handed threads are the work of the deep state. 😹

The eternal urge to make tools for tools.
#shopLife

The good news: Three new machine tools are on their way to my shop.
The problem: That shop rearrangement that I made in May? It won't work. At all.
Current state: Standing in the shop, staring at benches, stuck in decision paralysis.
#shopLife

Wasted an hour figuring out that the reason my resin printer would only read from the USB drive that came with it was because the printer firmware requires the drive to have a MBR, use an old version of FAT, and only contain 8.3 length file names. Apparently, my printer lives in 1992.
#3dPrinting #shopLife

Why oh why do I always sadden when I finish a piece? Tiny Memex No.6 is complete and I had great fun making it. I have more fun work lined up. And still... sad. #shopLife #art

Pro tip: luthiers have the good clamps.
#shopLife

I fixed my brad nailer and now I can quickly make tiny custom shipping crates for my wares. A Tiny Memex should ship in a tiny crate, don't cha know.
#ShopLife

I wonder how many times I'll run machine grease through my hair before I kick the habit of running my fingers through my hair while thinking. #ShopLife

Hello, friend. I heard you like chucks so I put a chuck on your chuck so that you can turn while you turn.
#machining #ShopLife