3D Printed Direct Current Electric Motor

This basic direct current electric motor has been designed with simplicity and ease of construct in mind, as such there are a minimum of parts and requires no soldering. This makes it an ideal classroom or children’s project.   The project consists of only 3 printed parts, four 2x10mm neodymium magnets, 2 C cell batteries…

Wanhao Duplicator i3 Y-Axis extension

So i went shopping in ALDI a little while ago and ended up coming home with a 3D printer and a bunch of other impulse items. The Cocoon Create 3D printer is actually just a re-badged Wanhao Duplicator i3 which is a very popular entry level printer with a huge online community. However after using…

Chickens and Other Living Stuff

A few spring showers and cooler weather this year meant that the garden picked up nicely, there is still a huge amount of work to do removing the nutgrass lawn and installing an irrigation system for the orchard, but it will happen. Trying to get the belgian d’uccle back into the hutch, she is a fast…

Restoring the Cosmos Valve Amplifier

A few months ago I spotted a very interesting and attractive looking valve amplifier on gumtree that I couldn’t resist. The amplifier was being sold for repair or parts as one of the valves was red-plating leaving one channel dead. This really didn’t phase me as troubleshooting valve gear is pretty straight forward, and red…

Setting up a planted aquarium

A few months ago I had the idea to drag my old aquarium out of storage, it had been stored away after my original fish died from old age (6 years is not bad for a goldfish). The aquarium base had been a quick job that I had made out of scrap timber from an…

Fixing an old electric synchronous clock

Some years ago I found what I thought was a very cool electric clock in an opp shop. It was 240 volt powered and had rotating numbers as opposed to the usual flip down numbers. Upon getting it home I realized that the mechanism had seized, after disassembling the little geared engine assembly and re-lubricating…

Making a picture frame

One afternoon while sitting in a park a friend of mine drew an adorable picture of the Polaroid camera that I had with me. I thought the drawing was gorgeous and unique so really wanted to frame and hang it. She is an amazingly talented artist and I highly recommend that you take a look…