Random Thread #1

[Richtee]

classic Grand Prix...Now THERE'S an excuse not to attend the woodward cruise this year! Not that I would have gone anyway. It might be a "classic", but currently the Grand Prix is really more of a gansta ride/ pimp-mobile than it is a classic fascination. One time a black guy walked up to us and informed us "the pimps nowadays...they'll drop at least 10 grand in cash on one of those things - on the spot!" Plus sitting in traffic sucks ass, even when it is supposedly "being in a cruise."

 

I did not go down this year either. It's too damn crowded any more. And face it...any hi-po cars really run the risk of overheating. I always liked the Grand Prix. I'm a Pontiac guy myself. Have a '68 GTO under construction...for the last 10 years sheesh.

[TheSidewinder]

I'd give my left arm to have my '71 GTO back. *sigh* ..... 4-Hundred 4-Barrel 4-Speed.

I was 4-warned it would get me in trouble, and it did. 4 speeding tickets in 4 months.

After that, thank god the insurance was only 2 grand a year and not 4.

[Richtee]

I'd give my left arm to have my '71 GTO back. *sigh* ..... 4-Hundred 4-Barrel 4-Speed.

I was 4-warned it would get me in trouble, and it did. 4 speeding tickets in 4 months.

After that, thank god the insurance was only 2 grand a year and not 4.

That was nearly the last year worth owning. '72 was it. The 3 and 4 models were a joke. Probably from a performance perspective <read balls> the '69--'72 Ram air 4's were it. Mine was a "grandma" car, had air LOL! But also rare in that it had a "delete option" chrome bumper. Yes, I have had it validated...and found the "build sheet". They ordered it WITHOUT the brand spanking new in '69 Endura bumper. Weird. Which, BTW, was a HUGE factor in it being chosen Motortrend's car of the year that year. I DO have the Hurst "His an' Hers" tho.

[flying fish]

Cool! I take it you also are in the Detroit area? I really need to join MPAG...

 

The Grand Prix my dad has in the garage is a '79 (more than 25 years, but still probably at that awkward age between pimp-mobile and classic)...with that mandatory 70s' puke green color and fluffy seats! Right now it's suffering from the fact of not having a 4 barrel carburetor. My dad was going to install one, but decided he didn't want to spend any more money on it . When we have gone to the "cruise" in the past, we just went on Sunday. The stands selling T-shirts were still up, the traffic was lighter, but many people still driving around in their classics.

[OneEyeCharlie]

OK you muscle-heads, here's how a pirate sails on land. 1949 Ford with Flathead V-8, "3 on the tree", and for those cold, Michigan nights; Magic Air Heater & Defroster. Bought brand new by my grandfather on Labor Day for the princely sum of $2553.48. I still have the original bill-of-sale and Title.

 

Denalis and Yukons got nothing on this bad boy. Seats 8 adults very comfortably with plenty of room left over for a few cases of Silver Fox De Luxe and Stroh's (that fine Bohemian beer), or Vernor's for the kiddies. Yarggghhhh!

Edited August 19, 2008 by OneEyeCharlie

[Richtee]

OK you muscle-heads, here's how a pirate sails on land. 1949 Ford with Flathead V-8, "3 on the tree", and for those cold, Michigan nights; Magic Air Heater & Defroster.

 

Woah... I dunno if I ever seen the likes... nice ride!

[Richtee]

Cool! I take it you also are in the Detroit area? I really need to join MPAG...

Yeah I'm in N. Oakland county, Lake Orion specifically. MPAG would be a good move, but funds are low as you know in this area especially.

[flying fish]

No kidding! I live in Lake Orion as well, right by the Indianwood golf course. Well, I should say my *parents* live in Lake Orion. I am going to Kettering University in Flint but I come home on the weekends most of the time (where I do my pyro stuff).

[Richtee]

No kidding! I live in Lake Orion as well, right by the Indianwood golf course. Well, I should say my *parents* live in Lake Orion. I am going to Kettering University in Flint but I come home on the weekends most of the time (where I do my pyro stuff).

AhhhHA! THAT'S where I hear "sounds" from sometimes heh! I am no more than a mile away. Across from the P.C. Elementary school LOL!

[flying fish]

Small world! Although...those sounds probably couldn't be from me (in fact, I was thinking the same thing about you, lol). I fire a few stargun tests on the weekends, and once in a blue moon I'll fire a small shell off. I always hear a few shells going off as its getting dark (even this last weekend), so it is probably someone else.

[Swede]

Anyone know of a solvent for cured epoxy? I've got some on an electrode mesh that I want to remove. I can soak it for some time if need be. Thanks!

[TheSidewinder]

Hmmm.... I suspect this will depend on the particular type of epoxy that you used, but generally once they're fully cured they're there for good.

 

(Or won't come off unless you use something strong enough that would ALSO dissolve whatever they're covering.)

 

Good luck. I'm curious to know the definitive answer to this, too.

[oskarchem]

Wow, just got back from my vacation in Poland. I got myself:

5kg Sulfur

1L HNO3 65%

1L H2SO4 96%.

 

My new computer configuration is going to be here in like 2 days;

-Gigabyte EP35-DS3 motherboard

-Intel E2180 Going to overclock (Form 2.0GHz)

-ASUS 8800GT

-2Gb 1066MHz SLI-Ready Ram

-Cooler Master 520W Power unit

-500Gb Maxator DiamondMax 22 SATAII, 32Mb Cache HDD.

 

And I will be buying myself a ASUS 22" LCD monitor. Cant wait for all this to come, anyway, I'll be off to my lab to do some pyro now, after 4 weeks of vacation

[Richtee]

Small world! Although...those sounds probably couldn't be from me (in fact, I was thinking the same thing about you, lol). I fire a few stargun tests on the weekends, and once in a blue moon I'll fire a small shell off. I always hear a few shells going off as its getting dark (even this last weekend), so it is probably someone else.

 

Hmm I did fire a couple 2 weekends ago just at twilight ;{) Seems O.C. comes down I.W. ALOT tho. Grrr...

 

 

 

Anyone know of a solvent for cured epoxy? I've got some on an electrode mesh that I want to remove. I can soak it for some time if need be. Thanks!

I dunno how much abuse this mesh can take, but how bout using compressed butane or a can of Dustoff close up and freezing the epoxy, and try snapping or tapping it to shatter it?

Edited August 19, 2008 by Richtee

[flying fish]

Hmm I did fire a couple 2 weekends ago just at twilight ;{) Seems O.C. comes down I.W. ALOT tho. Grrr...

 

What are those acronyms? O.C. and IW? Probably will have to smack myself for not knowing... nevermind, I think I got it now . The county and their policy on fireworks I assume. I've never really had a problem, but then again I don't set anything big off except for up north at my Grandma's place near West Branch. When I was big into consumer fireworks (when I first moved to lake orion) I did get a police officer telling me "if you are doing fireworks, please cut it out", but that is only because a neighbor complained.

 

Now I'm just waiting for all the other lake orion fireworks enthusiasts to find this thread!

 

As for the epoxy, at my work we sonicate things in methanol to remove epoxy. Depending on the bonded surface area, it can take between an hour and a day. Without the sonicator (just soaking) it would take longer, but the epoxy will probably still come off eventually (say, less than a week maybe). The methanol doesn't so much dissolve the epoxy, as it does cause it to de-bond over time (somehow). It might not work for large surface areas, but Since the epoxy is attached to a mesh screen, I believe the methanol will have plentiful access to the bonded area. We use it to separate parts that only have about a square centimeter of bonded area.

 

Even soaking in water for long durations (several weeks) generally caused the bond to fail. The epoxy we were using was loctite 5 minute.

 

I'm sure more aggressive solvents exist that will actually dissolve the epoxy and not just separate it...but if you want a gentle method...

Edited August 19, 2008 by flying fish

[Swede]

Thanks Richtee, TS, and FF on the epoxy thing. It's standard hobby epoxy. Unfortunately, it's coating a section of platinum over niobium mesh, an expensive little electrode, and the mesh is quite fragile. I tried a mix of acetone, MEK, and xylene, didn't touch it. I'm tempted to try some acids, maybe some heat, but I do not want to hurt this thing. I'll try methanol. If that doesn't work, I think what I will try is a throw-away electrolysis. I'll whip up a beaker of salt water and let rip with some heavy current. Epoxy in a previous cell didn't fare well (it gets brittle, green and cloudy), and this would be a cell devoted to simply eating away the epoxy. I don't want epoxy remnants to contaminate a real cell.

 

We'll see how it goes.

Edited August 19, 2008 by Swede

[tentacles]

Straight MEK should dissolve the epoxy slowly. Soak it. I depotted a CDI ignition from my snowmobile in an attempt to fix it, that was a big solid block of epoxy, after a few hours it would get squishy and you could scrape off maybe .5mm at a time. If you have MEK already it is worth a try.

[asilentbob]

Finally started to get seriously about my thermoelectric cooler... Got 2 heatsinks and 2 fans for free today... and they are like perfect fit for the module... thermal greased it and put it all together then put a bunch of goop clear sealant/adhesive shit on it and the solvent is evaporating slowly now since its rather thick in places... should be completely "dry" by like tomorrow... I have a cooler with a big hole punched through it ready... I just need to get some all weather calking stuff or spray foam or something to seal and adhere it all into the cooler permanently... I'm thinking that I'm going to hook up a few different power supplies to a switch on it so that I can power it by plugging it into an AC socket or from a DC source... and use 2 or 3 AC adapters with different amp ratings to control just how drasticly it cools... IE fridge vs freezer.

 

Actually... the computer store I got the heatsinks from... was so cool about it im considering buying another smaller module and getting one of their copper heatsinks with heatpipes that was too small for the cooler project... but would be perfect for a power generation project.

 

I want to make a piezoelectric continuity tester... IE piezoelectric bbq igniter + neon bulb (?) + terminals + project box. I'm confused about what kind of light I would need that would light up from the current and voltage of a piezoeletric bbq igniter... I might be working on this project a bit tomorrow... dunno.

[Nerdlock]

A neon bulb probably would work the best. I use my fingers to test piezos.

[Richtee]

I want to make a piezoelectric continuity tester... IE piezoelectric bbq igniter + neon bulb (?) + terminals + project box. I'm confused about what kind of light I would need that would light up from the current and voltage of a piezoeletric bbq igniter... I might be working on this project a bit tomorrow... dunno.

What's your application for this? Neon would work, but you'll only get a short duration flash... and continuity means much less at the voltages you are using- Considering you'll be able to jump at least an eighth inch gap in the wire....

[asilentbob]

Basicly a DIY clacker for continuity only somewhat like the clackers used in vietnam (?)... M-57 clacker actually fires I think. The application is temporarily remedy of boredom. A friend showed me a continuity only clacker that used to be used in the military and it was pretty neat. The ability to test continuity with the squeeze of a handle and not worry about batteries, ever. If I could somehow also give the option to have it be a one cue firing box, that would be cool too... but I really don't know enough electronics for that. The piezo bbq igniters are supposed to be like 10,000v at extremely low amps or something. You might need 2 of them... maybe charge and quickly discharge a capacitor? But yeah, never worry about batteries again?

[Richtee]

Basicly a DIY clacker for continuity only somewhat like the clackers used in vietnam (?)... M-57 clacker actually fires I think. The application is temporarily remedy of boredom. A friend showed me a continuity only clacker that used to be used in the military and it was pretty neat. The ability to test continuity with the squeeze of a handle and not worry about batteries, ever. If I could somehow also give the option to have it be a one cue firing box, that would be cool too... but I really don't know enough electronics for that. The piezo bbq igniters are supposed to be like 10,000v at extremely low amps or something. You might need 2 of them... maybe charge and quickly discharge a capacitor? But yeah, never worry about batteries again?

I don't know anything about a "clacker" but what about a small hand generator? I have seen flashlights you just squeeze the handle to charge the bat. It's DC and any LED or lovo bulb would work.

[mormanman]

I was reading the aerial shell thread but thought the post would be more appropriate here.

I have trouble with cakes. I make a 9 shot cake, my first one and it was suppose to shoot 8 aerial shell 1" and then a 1" TT comet. Underneath the comet was a container, if you will, of BP and it was suppose to shoot the comet tube off a fountain and ignite a fountain. "Sounds nice don't it." Failed. It went BOOOOOOOM. Was loud with no pretty. Kids 5 to 6 blocks away could hear it and were cheering b/c they liked the loud noise. Anyway, that one I know my mistake, I got lazy; I fed the fuse through the bottom of the tubes. Second cake was one that should have just shot stars, real small. I fed the fuse through the sides and hot glue the fuse. Like the first, BOOOOM, not as loud.

All my cakes have been in a square or cube shape. Is that my problem? If not what is?

Thanks.

[Swede]

Does "Bomex" brand borosilicate glassware suck? I think it does. I ordered some basic glassware without doing my homework, and my impression of this junk is that it just may not be possible to make glassware with thinner walls and crappier markings. I picked up some surplus "LG" (LabGlass) stuff the other day, and THAT stuff was awesome, thick glass, deep markings, etc.

 

Lab glassware seems a lot more variable these days than what I remember from college. Any specific brands to look (out) for? I've heard that Pyrex is no longer a premier brand but actually may not even be borosilicate glass.

[Bonny]

\I make a 9 shot cake, my first one and it was suppose to shoot 8 aerial shell 1" and then a 1" TT comet. Underneath the comet was a container, if you will, of BP and it was suppose to shoot the comet tube off a fountain and ignite a fountain. Second cake was one that should have just shot stars, real small. I fed the fuse through the sides and hot glue the fuse. Like the first, BOOOOM, not as loud.

All my cakes have been in a square or cube shape. Is that my problem? If not what is?

Thanks.

 

 

I have made a few small cakes and to add the fountain, simply attach the fountain to the side of the comet tube. Glue a SHORT pc of visco into a hole in the side of the comet tube (at the bottom) and then QM into the top of the fountain.

 

As for the other cake, no idea why it failed, probably a gas leak. Commercial cakes are fused through the sides, as are the cakes I've made. I don't even glue my fuses in and have no problems. I'm not sure how you oriented your fuses, but rather than in a straight line where gases could shoot into the next tube, put both (in and out) fuse holes on the same side of the tube so that they will make small 1/2 loops as they go along between each tube. Hope that helps, (and makes sense)