Proud of my rookie mistake.

summary: I  have a couple pneumatically actuated work holding fixtures and I wanted a clean solution to pressurizing & depressurizing them.  I was getting by connecting & disconnecting compressed air lines on the 1st fixture, but the 2nd fixture is meant to be controlled by the CNC, so manually connecting & disconnecting air lines would not work.  This was new territory to me so I made a rookie mistakes along the way, and the education that came from my mistake is more valuable than the cost of the mistake.

the long story: 

I'm going to start using a pneumatic vise on my CNC mill because I can control the opening & closing of the vise with the CNC control for automated part loading & unloading. I'll also load/unload by hand sometimes, so I want to control the vise with a toggle switch too. Here's my final circuit design, & the earlier bad designs that lead to the good one.
I just realized a much simpler way of doing this, it seems so simple – duh I should've done it this way to begin with. Here's my defense as to why I didn't think of this sooner, & why I intend to make more of these “mistakes”
5/5/19 sketched, identified possible back flow leak problem, guessed check valves would solve.
6/12/19 realized check valve problem.

When switched to manual you need a way to stop air on the A side from exhausting thru the auto valve & vise versa. Check valve on Auto A would stop the exhausting & solve all your problems for manual use, but then auto would never release.
4 ball valves (one at each A or B port shown above) instead of check valves would solve it – you'd have to close 2 & open the other 2 by hand anytime you change over. Drawback – non-technical people will have trouble opening & closing the right ones. You could use an electromechanical version of the ball valves & wire them together with the auto/manual 5/2 – A & B for auto would use normally open & A & B for manual would be normally closed. That's 4 more 3/2 valves ~ $200 :-\ (I hadn't yet found the $20 source.) If the Ts had a gate in them that would close off 1 inlet port or the other (outlet always stayed open) that would solve it all very nicely. Investigate the gate valve T, if there's not a passive version, maybe there's an electro version, or at least a hand powered version. If you can't find that or if it's too $$ just get 4 ball valves – it's cheaper than 1 3/2. (Still want to find that T, could be useful for future stuff)

6/19/19 - Redesign traded 5/2 valves with pairs of 3/2 valves, 1 normally open (N.O.) & 1 normally closed (N.C.) 

6/24/19 - Found a great N.C. valve, but no corresponding N.O. equivalent.  Tech support suggested using a 5/2 valve from the same series & plugging the N.C. port:

It seems like a little thing, but the guy I talked to is a pro for listening to what I was looking for and for going beyond just that & understanding what I wanted to do & (I always try to talk about what I'm trying to accomplish, not just what I'm looking for to keep the support guy's mind open to solutions that I haven't thought of, not just Y / N answers on do you sell this, will this work.  I ask open ended questions like "What will work?'  or "This is my objective, how should I get there?"

It doesn't always work, lots of people in technical support jobs don't know anything more than the script  don't know what they don't know because they don't think about it after they clock out.  They tell you customer service is important because they can't show you.

6/29/19 - Once I'd tested the design, saw it work, & ordered the parts that cleared up bandwidth to realize I was doing it all wrong.  The solution is as simple as this:

1. I don't design electrical or pneumatic circuits...at least up until 2 months ago I didn't.

I took a couple electrical classes in my engineering degree, but I didn't learn anything. I would say they were a complete waste of time because at the end of them I couldn't achieve what I wanted to be able to going in – my goals for the classes. Both classes I'm thinking of I did not objectively pass the final, but because none of the rest of the class did either an F got transformed to a C for all of us. Anyways maybe I'm being too tough on myself, maybe what I expected from the class was unrealistically high & I feel like the classes were failures based on that, when a re-calibrated look sees something different. Compared to zero I did learn something. In the electrical engineering class I learned Ohms law: V=I*R. In the automotive electrical class I learned about series & parallel circuits. If make a list of all my knowledge related to electrical stuff I might come up with a few more principles that I picked up in the classroom, probably not too many more. However the things I've remembered so far are foundational, building block sorts of knowledge, so maybe any other stuff that builds upon it owes thanks to the classroom, in that case it was better than a waste of time. Maybe just a really inefficient use of time. Not a loss, but a really really low return on my investment. 

2. My 3 “mistake” designs didn't cost much – I'm out a small amount of thinking time + a small amount of $ on parts, but I'm at a good solution & can move forward now & that's more valuable than what I spent. The time & $ costs were a very affordable education, here's why I needed the education: 

  -  Never designed a circuit with a relay in it Never even installed a relay in an existing circuit 

 I've replaced starters on engines, & they've got a starter solenoid which is the same as a relay – electricity thru a coil creates a magnetic field which closes a switch “contacts” which connects to other points...actually what is the difference between a relay & a solenoid...(a search engine & 5 minutes later) essentially the same, “solenoid” moves a rod, “relay” closes a switch, & there's another devise I didn't know I didn't know, a “contactor”.

  -  Connecting compressed air to an air ratchet was about the extent of my experience with pneumatics before this, I did know the proper term for pneumatics though. Nothing with “pneumatic actuation”, but I knew that term too.
  -  Didn't know what components I needed
  -  Didn't know the companies in the industry.
  -  I won't say I was starting at zero, I knew what I wanted to do, and had an idea of how I could achieve it so I could ask good questions & move forward from there. 

It's good to make a list of what I learned, not to puff things up to more impressive than they really are, but knowing that the Devil's in the details, it's good to list everything I got thru to get satisfaction from the accomplishment, & to gain confidence for the next project, to realize I can do it, just break the problem down & work on it a step at a time. It's easy to appreciate the importance of a single detail when it holds up an entire project. It's important to also appreciate the importance of a single detail that I check off the to do list when everything has gone smoothly.  An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.

Override mechanism

Here's a latch override mechanism I designed & prototyped a couple weeks ago. It's purpose is to provide access to the inside of an aircraft lavatory in the event that the door knob breaks & traps a passenger inside.

Shelf Light

I made this shelf w/ a strip of LED lights inlaid in the top, it provides storage & illumination for my room.
Mainly I made it because I wanted to design something with oak & aluminum again.

Arcade cabinet #3

As I've mentioned before, I designed an arcade cabinet for a friend a few years back for him to show off a video game he made. The cabinet has been pretty popular anywhere he shows it off & he's gotten a number of inquiries from people interested in buying one for themselves. Over last Christmas break, & the recent spring break we built a couple 4-player versions of the cabinet, refining the original design each time.

This is the latest build that we'll be showing to all those fans of the game who've expressed interest in their own cabinet.
We'll offer it on kickstarter, & if there's enough interest then we'll make more, if there's no interest we won't bother. Either way I have a great new toy in my living room!

Anodized Aluminum Settlers of Catan Pieces:

Update:
These available to buy on kickstarter for the next 30 days.

Settlers of Catan is a popular German board game that has won many

accolades and is adored by thousands of fans around the world. It is
an addictive game that combines elements of Risk and Monopoly into
something that doesn't take a lifetime to complete. As a favor to a friend I made 3 sets of game pieces from aluminum and had them anodized to create something more "permanent" and "special" feeling. The gold colored set is a retirement gift for his uncle.

I wasn't totally convinced at first that all the work needed to create the custom set would be worth it, but after I saw them with their anodized finishes I was very pleased with the results and excited to get them to him.

Hit the jump for more pics.

Arcade cabinet

A good friend of mine programs internet (flash) video games and for the promotion of his most recent project he asked me to design an arcade cabinet that he could take to different events to showcase the game with. 
The reason he needed a custom design and didn't just retrofit an old cabinet was portability; the cabinet needed to sometimes fit in a small convention center booth and other times stand by itself on the floor, and the whole thing needed to break down and fit in the trunk of his car.

The project turned out really great and makes the game even more fun to play.  Click the "read more" link to see more pics & a link to the game website.

Piano Bench

I felt like I hadn't made any cool projects in a while, Christmas even came & went & all I did was install a ceiling fan for my sister in a room that didn't have any ceiling lights at all before. While crawling thru the attic with electrical wire was rewarding & all, it still doesn't compare to conceptualizing something in your mind and then holding it in your hands. - Or in this case sitting on it:

I decided to make this custom piano bench with my free time. Click the link to see the pictures of the build.

We finished the molds yesterday. Here's a nice picture of them installed in a line of presses. It took a little longer than I had hoped, but not too long considering the additional requirements that were added & the other interuptions that stole time away from this project.
I look forward to the day when I see one of these delineator bases out in "the real world"!

Update since I lost my password :/

Yikes! it's been a long time, lets just get right into it:
I made this mold for a company in Orange County:

The mold makes these parts:


Things got slow at work so I made a billet skateboard:


And inlaid it with wood...



Stained it & rode it to the beach...




Then my neighbor took some studio photos of it:



Meanwhile back at work I got a new project: design a new recycled rubber road cone base:



Here's the mold I designed. The part cures at a 2:1 compression ratio in the lower half of the mold (the cavity). When the mold opens the part sticks to the top half (the core). A burst of air releases the part from the core.





The part extracted and ejected from the mold exactly like I designed it to, but we decided to float the part out with compressed air rather than pull it out with the opening motion of the press.  - Something about the safety of launching 16lb. cured parts off of the mold?!?  With the prototype proven & the design settled on we'll be starting production tomorrow on about 20 of these molds.

Claim to Fame

For me, one of the big difficulties of sticking to a regular exercise routine is the time you have to commit to it: apart from the time in the gym there's the travel time to & from, time cooking healthy, and time planning your menus & workout routines. It's nice when I can incorporate physical activity into something I need to do anyways, like commuting. There have been a few times when I was able to commute by bicycle to school & that was so great for my legs! Plus what took 20 minutes by car only took 30 minutes by bike, so round trip I got 1 hour of exercise for the low cost of only 20 minutes out of my day!

I sometimes entertain the idea of building a recumbent bike with the full aerodynamic fairings to use as a short range, occasional commuter. I was searching on line for such bikes & came across a guy who built one for a 24 hour distance record that he set. Greg Kolodziejzyk of Calgary, Alberta, Canada & his team built this bike named Critical Power that he went 650 miles in a 24 hour period. Greg keeps a great blog (adventuresofgreg.com) that talks about past, current & future projects, plus has some inspirational/motivational messages about fitness & achieving goals. Check out his motivational speaker site & get yourself a free copy of his book Bold.

I like what Greg's doing so I made him an oval sprocket for his record attempt boat. According to him the deal with oval (elliptical) sprocket rings is he can rotate the ring such that the widest diameter of the oval coincides with his optimal pedal torque position.

The concept:
10% oval, 64 teeth.

The Creation:


I also threw in a 55 tooth sprocket for his training bike.

The great results:


No pit stops he pedaled through the night and received hand offs of water & food.



Final result a world record: 245 kilometers (152 miles) in 24 hours!

Best Date Ever!

As Happy Birthday presents for a couple friends (Monica & Angel), my friend Ben & I took them out to dinner and made them some jewelry out of 1 oz. silver coins.


The ladies came up with these nice designs themselves. Angel's pendant is on the left; it's an A on a treble clef. Monica made the M on the right. The coin in the middle is the "before" picture.  I got their designs into the computer, then cut out the real thing on the CNC mill.

Smithy

What would I have been if I'd lived 500 or a few thousand years ago--I mean what would I do for a living? What would my life's work be? You ever think about that? I do. I expect I do because I feel so lucky to do what I do for my work; I don't really consider it work. Creating things is fun to me, I have a passion for designing & building things & that's why I chose engineering & manufacturing as my field of pursuit.
So what if I'd lived before computers & electronics, what would I have done then without my beloved CAD & CAM & CNCs? Would I have still built things or would I have been a farmer, or a doctor, or maybe a writer? ...Well assuming I had the choice and chances afforded me to find & follow my passion like I've had in this life, in this country, I probably would have been some kind of creator: a carpenter, or a leather craftsman, or a stone mason, or maybe a tailor; but probably some kind of a smith: blacksmith, coppersmith, silversmith.
I've been toying around with jewelry making lately...

I designed this necklace pendant as a birthday gift for a friend of mine. It's the first piece of jewelry that I ever made so I found a local jeweler who was willing to help me out. He cast & acid antiqued it for me and then helped pick out a pretty chain for it and antiqued the chain to match. What I liked about this jeweler is he's a real gold and silversmith, not just a guy with a jewelry store. If you're ever looking for a mom & pop shop that'll treat you right here's his contact info: Gold 'n Silver Jewelry. 18850 Brookhurst St Fountain Valley, CA 92708 (714) 963-9594 ask for Ron.

Here's The Concept.
Actually I sketched the concept all out on paper before I started modeling, but I threw the paper away after I finished the SolidWorks file.



Here's The Creation



And here's Some of the stuff in Between.

I cut out a machinable wax version of the pendant. It was the same pattern machined on the top and bottom of the pendant with a 3rd set up holding it sideways to drill the hole the necklace goes through.



Ron suggested I make 2 pendants so I could practice on one - as usual I just took my time and worked cautiously so I didn't have any scrapped parts. I gave my sister the extra one.

Acid antiqed and then a final polish.



The final product.

Check this!

Dec, 2006
I like making the gifts I give. I'm sure that when most people think of gifts not bought from some store they think "home-made" & the images that conjures for them are pieces of jewelry made out of pasta, or beautiful cards adorned with something that has a human hand as it's base shape, or they think of the cheap skate/forgetful shopper who gives out coupons for a free back rub.
When I make gifts it's nothing like that! Not since elementary school. I may have gifted free back rubs as late as junior high.

Now that my family is all grown up & moved away from each other, and now that a $5 action figure does not impress like it used to, we draw names and give a gift to 1 person. December 2006 was my favorite Christmas since the Christmas that I got the Ultra Magnus transformer when I was 9. - December 2006 I drew my Dad's name. Here is the gift I made him:

Here's The Concept


Here's The Creation


And here's Everything in Between:

AutoCAD is Great! It works so well & so fast to turn paper sketch into digital sketch. I moved into the 3rd dimension of CAD with SolidWorks, but the quickness & ease of AutoCAD's 2D world is still so very useful. So I drew the chess pieces in AutoCAD & used the ordinate dimensions as my X & Z co-ordinates on the super user friendly Mazak conversational controller. If you like my design email me & I'll send you a copy of the CAD file.

The pawns, bishops (shown here), and queens were all done on the lathe. The knights, rooks, and kings had a lathe operation and then some mill work.

Amassing a small army.

Rooks and Kings got their castle & crown shapes on the mill.

The Knight was probably the fanciest using the indexing head.

2 Knights, both with their feet pointing in, the lower one has the lathe operation done, the upper one has the lathe and the mill operations done.

The finished brushed team, that is to say "the completed team with the brushed finish." The Queen is my favorite.

I couldn't have been happier with the results.




UPDATE:
A guy named Jason asked for a copy of my chess CAD file, & made himself a set.

Carbon fiber car parts

The thing that got me interested in engineering and manufacturing was CARS!!! HOT RODS!!! I was into classic muscle cars in high school, owned a '66 Chevy Pick-up that enabled me to take part in the rite of passage which is doing a burn-out anytime you leave school. After high school the sport-compact scene was what it was all about and eventually I got over my fear of cars with computers in them and got a Honda Civic. Here are some carbon fiber parts I made for it. The tubes are made from pre-preg & the naca duct was done with a VARTM method.

Straight & curved 3" id tubing.

Programming of the smaller tool. I had to include this photo because it got me a job at Applied Aerospace when I showed it to one of their employees who knew they were hiring a programmer.

I Machined the molds on the CNCs in my machine shop class.

Here are the 2 tools in use. With the VARTM (Vaccum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding) method you lay down your dry plys then seal a vaccum bag over them & compact them while they're still dry. Next mix up your resin & let the vaccum draw it into the layup through a hose which passes through your bag.

Here's a part straight out of the mold, nice gloss.