PFG Live

Guest: Stefan Gotteswinter Self-Employment: How and When What gear do you need first? Links for products/designs mentioned are at pfg.gg/links Follow me on Instagram at "spencer_webb_nh". ("PFG Stones®" is a registered trademark of Kinetic Precision)

Diamond Saw Blade On My Grinder: Crazy? - As the old "saw" goes: if it's crazy and it works, then it's not crazy. Spoiler: I ordered a blade for modifying. Machine Shop Tables and Workbenches - A hot topic in our Discord server. What works, and what doesn't Rotary Blades: "Good First Effort" - So says Mom. But, I make several improvements and get ready to test again. This is Engineering. Links for...

Undercomplicationalism - How to get Mom's rotary blades sharpened in less time than it takes to justify buying new ones. Machinist Every-Day Carry - What's in your pockets? Data Wrangling - How I am learning to gather and deliver useful data from inside my shop and out. Links for products/designs mentioned are at pfg.gg/links Follow me on Instagram at "spencer_webb_nh". ("PFG Stones®" is a registe...

Tolerance is Money, Friend! - Chasing tight tolerances which are not needed is a disservice to your client... and to you. The Tool Your Grinder's Hydraulic Table Needs - Have a grinder with an automatic hydraulic table? Here is a tools which I have been using for years, which improves process reliability and consistency. Web(b)hooks, AIO and Discord: A Dev Story - Ever file a ticket with tech supp...

Very Flat ... Magnet?! - I respond to a client request for a flat surface on a magnet. There were some surprises. Mandatory Grinding Tools - What tools should be within arm's length whilst working on your surface grinder. Besides your tea. HackRH Update - We're slowly improving battery life even further, and using Adafruit IO to good advantage. Links for products/designs mentioned are at pfg.gg/li...

Breaking News! -- a report from the New York City Marathon, LIVE! Instant Kiki Collab - A fast collaboration on 3D printing happened. It illustrates the power of the 'net. Linear Rails: $12 or $450? Yes. - An unexpectedly rich lesson, from unannounced guest Robin Renzetti ( @ROBRENZ ), in bearings, linear and otherwise. Get your notebook. --- https://www.printables.com/model/419247-calibration-kik...

Trebuchet Week: Make 'em Think - The kids design, build and test a trebuchet. The goal? Hit their Physics Teacher in the face with a water balloon at 35 meters. We are joined by that teacher, Mr. Pat Kaplow of Windham High School. A Surface Grinder Finish Puzzle - I worked with John Saunders @nyccnc to noodle out a weird surface finish puzzle. I consulted with @ROBRENZ , and we had the epiphany. A...

I Wood If I Must: I help a team of young'uns from the HS Physics class to build a trebuchet. Outside the shop. Learning From Pythonistas - The RH Sensor project hits new milestones, and is ready for polish and packaging, thanks to the contributions of other software pros. Sensors Now Publishing to AdaFruit IO - The sensors are now publishing via MQTT (?!) and we can bring up graphs, charts, and re...

RH/Temp Sensor Reports On-line For a Year On a Battery! - A software/hardware breakthrough and a hardware guy learns Python. Current measurements say we have arrived at the goal. Boring Tool Breakage Analysis - I broke my boring tool. May as well learn from it. 3DP: Prototype Fast and Smart - My tricks for empirical prototyping of features of larger projects. Links for products/designs mentioned a...

Cardboard Aided Design (CAD) - Prototype #1 needs to be right now! Fixturing Weird Grinding Jobs - You want me to grind WHAT?!??! Sensor Update: More Betterer - We have smoothed out our software, and are getting great battery life. How I learned to love error traps. Links for products/designs mentioned are at pfg.gg/links Follow me on Instagram at "spencer_webb_nh". ("PFG Stones®" is a registered...

Guest: Adam Demuth! - A magnificent Toolmaker and teacher, Adam brings his wisdom. Surface Grinder Workflow - By request by a watcher/listener... consumer? Feather/SHT4x Battery Life: Unlocked! - We lost some hair figuring this one out, but we may have achieved 60-day battery life versus 18-hours. We explain how. Ford F-150 Lightning: 10K Report - Yep, it's going in for it's first checkup. See wha...

Feather Development Stand - The STL files are in the links page. Super useful for desktop development. Sensing: Temp, RH, Battery - getting the most out of the SHT4x, and the onboard battery conditioning chip. Notifications, Network Time, more! - We learn about ntfy.sh and use it for notifications from Feather to Phone. We use the NTP protocol to synchronize the time in the Feather. This is going...

Talking SHT4x: Secrets revealed! - The Sensirion has a heater in it for a reason. We uncover the reasons as well as a total lack of suggestions as to how to use it. Hardware Guy Learns Software? - Adafruit endeavors to make it easy, but it's a bit of a labyrinth. I get help. Prepping a Very Small Well - I need help. I am fixing a broken spoon. A very expensive scientific spoon. And I have been pro...

New 1st Layer Graphics Hack - This is why we have a Discord server: Colaboration!! Thanks, Dylan at Proteum Machining. @proteummachining7039 Advanced Sensors Capability - We unlock the Adafruit cloud solution with no coding, and we start learning how to code for the next step. New Dessicant Procedures - Just when you thought we had dessicants and their use figured out... I change my mind. You'll l...

Adam Balogh - Crushing It In Precision Machining Education (98%) Relative Humidity Remote Data Collection Unlocked - Adafruit has some nice tech, and we are testing it. (2%) Yeah, we went down the rabbit hole with Adam Balogh of Laney Machine Tech. We'll get back to data collection next week. The book that was referenced: Precision Machine Design, by Alexander H. Slocum. (ISBN-10: 0872634922) Amaz...

Improving the Products - we discuss small improvements which is a never-ending process Registered Trademark! Why? - over a year of waiting... why it's valuable. B-200 Production Wrap-up - lessons learned on batch number three. Links for products/designs mentioned are at pfg.gg/links Follow me on Instagram at "spencer_webb_nh". ("PFG Stones®" is a registered trademark of Kinetic Precision)

Software is Hard? Where? - We take the dive into Adafruit Feathers and our favorite humidity sensor. Torque Your Gripper - Wrapping up the 2023 B-200 Balancing Ring production run - Lessons Learned Twisted Concentricity - We collect data on the BS-8 Balancing Stands, and find surprises. Good ones. Links for products/designs mentioned are at pfg.gg/links Follow me on Instagram at "spencer_webb_nh"....

BS-8 3DP TIR... So Far, So Good If it's crazy, and it works, then it's not crazy. Finalizing Our RH Standard - $30 for 1.8% RH accuracy down to 0% SLA Printing a Haimer tip for Saunders Machine Works ( @nyccnc ) Links for products/designs mentioned are at pfg.gg/links Follow me on Instagram at "spencer_webb_nh". ("PFG Stones" is a trademark of Kinetic Precision)

Balancing Stand Calibration - How do you know that it's as good as one costing 5X? We're gathering data. Hygrometer Calibration - How to get 2% accuracy for $30, and keep your filament dry. Bambu Calibration - They release new software and firmware, and we get a calibration gift. ErgoWedge - Fighting to Save The Elbow... and attached stuff. Grinding Red Alert.... and more..... Links for products/d...

Getting Balanced... Finally. I release the KP Model BS-8 Balancing Stand, so you can stop yelling. Packaging is not Trivial - How you ship something is surprisingly important. Duh! Process Reliability Beats Speed - I learn something about turning off a cool feature in my Bambu X1C Links for products/designs mentioned are at pfg.gg/links Follow me on Instagram at "spencer_webb_nh". ("PFG Stones" is...

Does Anybody Really Know the RH? - A person with two watches never knows the time. We discuss the $3 hygrometer, and dealing with its inaccuracies. There's a possible product development in there. Downhole Deburring - some new tools for an old problem. The NOGA RC1000, RC2000, and RC2200. A Better Balancer Thanks to My Wife - She moved it off the table, and I saw something. This led to a design im...

Achieving Balance: The Required Epiphany! What is the WLPC and how does it apply to Balancing Stands? You're going to like the answer. Polymer Hydrolysis: perhaps harder than we thought, but still important. Calibrated Hygrometers? My fellow engineer takes our three-dollar hygrometers for a spin down calibration lane. We are only slightly surprised. Links for products/designs mentioned are at pfg....

Shipping: C'mon CANADA! Sheesh... Balancing Stand Update: I had the Required Epiphany! And it is good. Bambu PETG Basic: I get it, I try it, I have some things to say about it. Filament Drying Chemistry: It's not a sponge, there is some chemistry involved, and we need to grok it. All about HEAT: Conductivity vs. Capacity Links for products/designs mentioned are at pfg.gg/links Follow me on Instagr...

A Tale of Two Lids: Should I change from PETG to PLA+ Minimize Inventory: Superb 3DP reliability means minimum inventory... with a good spreadsheet PVA: Release Stick, NOT Glue Stick RSI: Maximize Automation. Seriously, don't wear yourself out. NOTE: My laser is a "fiber laser" (short wavelength), NOT a CO2 laser (long wavelength) which would interact with the plastic MUCH more. Links for products...

Two is One. One is None. - Redundancy is your friend Of Damping and Dampness - Most problems go away with dry filament and chicken soup. Desiccant? Yes We Can - An end-to-end system for repeatable, predictable 3DP results. NOTE: When I talk about using IPA (isopropyl alcohol), I am referring to 99% IPA. Not 91%, and certainly not 70% as may be found in the local shop. Links for products/designs me...