10 Minute Field Expedient Crampons

 We're having a bit of an ice storm and it's somewhat slippery. So I whipped up some crampons to walk safely between our outbuildings.

They work surprisingly well but I have to make sure they are tightly fastened. Not for a polar expedition, but in the absence of real ones they are a delight.

Repairing an Old Toika Loom Bobbin Winder

A friend messaged me that her new (to her) Toika Loom Bobbin Winder was seized up and wanted to know if I could fix it. I told her I probably could.

She managed to pack it so the spindle came out the side.

Nice design, some sort of pot metal case.

Toika Toijala Finland

The only thing holding it together was this snap ring  (aka Jesus clip, C-Clip, Circlip, etc.)

Out came some snap ring pliers.

I tapped it a few times with a soft hammer to see if the shaft would come out but it didn't. The roll pin up top slipped up though and allowed the spindle and pinion gear to come out, which was a win.

The shaft was completely seized.

So after trying various light hammerings, I resorted to trying the arbor press. I was very gentle - pot metal cases are notorious for fracturing in situations like this but with a little pressure the shaft assembly moved.

Notice full support along the sides of the case.

I had to raise it up with 1-2-3 blocks.

Finally free.

The shaft was pretty galled so I sanded it with some silicon carbide paper. until smooth. I think it had been used without adequate lubrication and the pot metal being dissimilar had bonded to the shaft metal. Makes me think it was aluminum.

That was all it took and it went back together. I very lightly greased the gears and used light oil on the shaft.

 Friend is delighted with it.

Triple Shorting Link for Binding Posts

 What? I have been sorting out my bench power supplies lately and finding that several needed shorting links to connect one of the two outputs to ground. I had one but didn't know what they were called. Long story short I asked on the VETE Facebook group and found that Pomona at least calls them Shorting Links for Binding Posts. Here's the one I do have:

Anyway I CNC milled a few up as Pomona helpfully has a drawing in the datasheet. Made out of brass which isn't as nice as being nickel or gold plated but I had brass and a mill and no money earmarked for something that is easily substituted for with a piece of wire, so...

I whipped these out quickly and created a bit of a deburring nightmare but they work. The nice thing about the design is that they stay on one post and can be slid into engagement on the other.

I have a Tektronix power supply that needed a triple shorting link if I wanted to create + and - supplies at the same time. These single links don't work (I mean they do work but) as there's an offset if you stack two together on the ground terminal. So I designed a triple link, milled it and bent a little tab to make removal easy.

And that was this mornings little project. Look, I blogged again. Also I apparently have three power supplies on my bench now. 

Quick Yard Sale Ryobi 40V 300W Power Source Repair

Picked up this Ryobi 40V 300W Power Source at a yard sale for a buck (they had it for $2 but it hadn't sold yet, so...) The seller said it did't work, that his son had fixed it but then it didn't work. Who knows. They sell for $119 at Home Depot so I have incentive to make it work. I have two 40V ryobi batteries for my lawnmower and blower.

Two screws. All screws except for the PCB screws are various Torx.

Two more screws hidden by the swinging handle.

Two more screws by the fan.

And I'm in.

Removing the fan screws.

Removed the bottom 4 screws and the bottom comes off.

Nothing looks bad. Two phillips screws retain the PCB.

There's a soldered in blade type 15A fuse on the other side. I couldn't read any continuity between the two terminals. I quickly bodged on a fuse holder.

And it's alive!

122.1VAC with no load looks good to me.

Bad fuse removed. You can see the link is blown. It's smaller in footprint than a standard automotive type fuse. Ryobi could have designed this better.

Soldered in an automotive type fuse after nibbling down the leads to fit.

Plenty of space for a standard fuse...they could have put in a socket, or even better a resettable circuit breaker.

Charged up a running laptop from 50% to 100%. I'll call this repair good and see about ordering a proper spare next time I get components in. Who knows why it blew, probably powering too big of a load for too long.

Since the last time...

 Just catching up.

I sold a Radio Shack Mini Color Computer on Ebay, played around with it some.

Made a probe to determine the depth of the water in our well.

Went to the coast on a lovely day.

I bought some seeds at the end of February. I grew the King Ka Ae Hobak last year and it's delicious.

Set up a PC to wipe a bunch of old drives before recycling.

Printed an adapter plate that allows manual use of a CNC ready Sherline lathe. 

The cat likes the catnip in the garden.

Made a cold frame for hardening off plants. This has been a cold spring.

Went to Lumos for a friend's birthday at the end of April.

Repaired an old folding stool by making a new steel clip.

Apple blossoms and walking onions.