NessoAsks

@nessoasks.bsky.social

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Software developer, oblique thinker, maker, science geek, seeker of valuable questions.

The picture features two curved pieces of white 3D-printed "trench". Each piece looks like an upside-down letter "J" (or an all white candy cane). The one on the right has just the trench, plus the three pieces of "ledge" that form the inside of the curve. The one on the left is just those three pieces of ledge, attached on the inside with blue painter's tape.
A shot looking down at both trenches laid out on a dark grey work surface. When assembled as shown on the right, the trench will look like a white letter "J", with four small, square, mounting posts at various points around the outside. The trench on the left has all of its components pieces laid out - the two pieces making up the base of the trench are in the center, and the six pieces that form the "ledges" where the diffusion film will be suspended. These six pieces will be mounted vertically along the inside of the trench base.
On a dark grey work surface are two sets of white, 3D-printed parts. Some are curved and some are straight. Some of them have the cross section of a trench, while the rest are "shelves" that will fit down into the trench, and allow me to suspend a piece of diffusion film across the top.
On a grey work surface are four pieces of 3D-printed "trench". On the left are the two original v1 prototypes, printed in grey. One is a straight piece laid out horizontally on the works surface, nearly 20cm long, 1.8cm wide with 1mm walls. the other piece on the left has the same basic dimensions, but is curved to look like the letter "J". On the right are the version 2 iterations, printed in white. All of the dimensions are the same except the width - they are nearly twice as wide. These also have small tabs that protrude from the main structure. Each tab has a hole in it. These will be how I attach them to the rest of the piece.
An oblique shot of a grey, 3D-printed trench sitting on a dark grey work surface. The trench is nearly 10mm wide at the base and has walls that are 20mm tall. The trench is curved 180 degrees, forming a half-circle, with one end extending off out of frame to the right.
A split image. On the left is a strand of LEDs, lit up in a yellowish-white, laying on top of a light brown workbendh. On the right is the same strand, unlit. A portion of the strand is facing the camera in the foreground, showing repeating segments, designed to allow you to cut the strand to length. Each segment is denoted with a vertical line, partially visible. This is the line that you would cut the segment to length. On each side of every segment are copper pads - points where you would solder wires to complete the circuit. On the tops of each segment are "+5V" (plus 5 volt) pads, and on the bottoms are "GND" (ground) pads. in the background is more of the LED strand, coiled up on a light brown workbench.
A light brown work bench is partially in the upper left corner by a dark grey work surface. On the work surface is a length of coiled LED rope, lit up in a light blue. Going off to the right are four alligator clips powering the rope - white, green red, and black. The alligator clips are taped down with blue painter's tape so they don't accidentally move and short each other out.
A string of lavender LEDs, encased in a white diffusion sleeve, is curled up and sitting on top of a dark grey work surface.
A split photo. On the left is a small strip of LED lights on a work surface, lit up in a light purple. The wires for the lights are coming out above it, and are connected by alligator clips to the power source (not shown). An orange curly bracket was added to the photo, illustrating where the light stops on each end of the strip. On the right side is a red light source under a layer of diffusion film. The film is suspended in a circular "tower" that sits on top of the light source. The effect is a red circle with a more intense red oval in the center. The light source is the same small strip of LEDs. The wires for it are shown coming out of the tower on the top.
A piece of light brown plywood with some additional blocks of wood attached around the border. Three pairs of black nuts on top of silver washers can be seen protruding from the back of the board. Each pair runs horizontally, with the pairs arranged in a diagonal with respect to the rest of the box.
A white cylinder sits on a piece of light brown plywood. The cylinder has a piece of diffusion fil stretched across the top, which obscures the small book light I have inside. At the bottom of the frame are four grey and orange lever connectors. One side of the levers connect to wires (not visible) that come out of the tower. The other side are open, and will connect to wires that come off of the LumiDrive processor that will drive the light sequence. On the left side of the picture there is a black USB cable laying on the plywood.
A dark grey, non-static mat lays on top of a light brown work bench. There is a white partial-box with a red Lumidrive micro-processor inside on the mat in the foreground. It's connected via a series of colored alligator wires to a 2-inch diameter LED ring in the background, also on the mat. In the extreme background is another light brown work bench with an assortment of other tools.
A white, 3D-printed base sits on a dark grey work surface. The base is 10cm in diameter and 3mm thick. A 2-inch diameter LED ring sits on top of the base. Between the ring and the base is a light grey, 3D-printed adapter that clamps 6 wires to the surface mount pads on the underside of the ring. There are 6 wires coming off the ring going to the lower left of the frame - 2 green, 2 blue, a white, and a red.
A 2-inch diameter LED ring sits on a dark grey work surface. Below the ring is a light grey, 3D-printed adapter that clamps 6 wires to the surface mount pads on the underside of the ring. There are 6 wires coming off the ring going to the lower left of the frame - 2 green, 2 blue, a white, and a red.
A view of a living room with a recliner on the left, a white cabinet, and a series of wire-mesh gates that bisect the room, keeping our two bunnies separate. A black bunny is sprawled on the floor in the center of the shot.
On a dark grey work surface lay 9 light grey, 3D-printed clamping prototypes lined up going left to right. Each one is numbered. The first is a square 20mm on a side and 3mm thick. The second is a half-circle that is roughly 45mm in diameter with a small "handle" sticking off the left side. Prototypes 3-8 are slightly more than a half-circle and are only 1mm thick. Prototype 9 is slightly more than a half-circle, is 3mm thick, and has the handle sticking off the left side. Prototypes 2-9 have three holes (top, left and bottom) to attach to the LED ring.
My first bracket prototype sits on a dark grey work surface (crisscrossed with scratches). The bracket is a square piece of 3D-printed plastic, 20mm on a side and 3mm thick, with four grooves on the top that run the full width of the piece. In each groove is a wire. The bare copper has been pressed into the groove, holding it in place (barely). From top to bottom, the wires are colored white, green, red, and blue.
A white 3d-printed box sits on a dark grey work surface. The box has no top, only the floor and the sides. It has two sections of the walls cut out - one in the background to allow four wires to exit, and one in the foreground to allow for the USB power cables to enter. Inside the box are two printed circuit boards - a small USB power converter sits in the foreground, and a larger red LumiDrive sits in the background. The two boards are connected by red and white wires. In the background, poking out of the board, are four wires (white, green, blue, and red) that will lead to the LEDs.
A white rectangular box sits on a dark grey work surface. The box has a portion of the wall removed from the upper right corner to allow for the wires that will lead to the LED lights. There are four risers at the bottom of the box at various points. Each riser is 6mm tall with a 5.5mm outer radius. Mounted in each riser is a brass heat-set insert, threaded for a M3 screw. There are also 3 small holes in the bottom of the box. These are what I will use to mount the box to the bottom of the piece I'm working on.
On a dark grey work surface, there are 10 LED strips of varying lengths, some vertical and some horizontal. Next to each LED strip is a similar length of white diffusion channel.
A near-floor level picture of a white rabbit with red eyes, black ears, and a black nose. The rabbit is to the right of the picture, eating out of a red and white ceramic bowl. To the left of the shot and further into the background is a grey litter box. Litter has been kicked out by the rabbit onto the rugs on the floor. There are also several small toys, and several small black poops scattered around on the floor.
A dark grey work surface with many scratches on it lies on a light brown workbench. On the work surface are 10 pieces of LED strips, ranging in sides from 2 LEDs to 12 LEDs. The 4 connection points on each end of each strip now have a small bead of solder.
A piece of wood runs diagonally through the image, going from the upper left to lower right corners. The wood is capped by a piece of acrylic with diffusion film on top, painted solid black. In the center of the image is a silver finished washing with a silver Phillips-head screw in the center.
A split image. The left half shows one of my towers, 3D-printed in white. There are narrow ledges running around the outside of the top of the tower, from the 1 o'clock position to the 5 o'clock, and then again from the 7 o'clock to the 11 o'clock. Below the tower, in the lower left corner of the picture, is a piece of diffusion film, cut out to just fit onto those ledges. The right half of the image shows the tower after the film has been attached. It completely spans the tower, and is nicely taut throughout.
A split image showing nearly identical images. The left half shows a portion of a circle, glowing pink appears on the left. Merging with the circle is a straight segment, much narrower than the circle's diameter, extending off to the right. Where the circle meets the segment is a partial shadow, created by the structure I have behind the front-most layer of diffusion film. The right half shows nearly the same pink circle and straight segment, with two exceptions. The first is that the partial shadow is gone. The second is that there is a thin, pink halo showing in the straight segment about a centimeter to the right of the circle.
A portion of a circle, glowing pink appears on the left. Merging with the circle is a straight segment, much narrower than the circle's diameter, extending off to the right. Where the circle meets the segment is a partial shadow, created by the structure I have behind the front-most layer of diffusion film.
My current project lies face down on an aluminum work table, with the edge spanning most of the picture left to right. The edge is painted black with two black "butterfly twist" latches attached, one on the right is the original one and the one on the left is the new one. To the extreme left, at the corner of the piece, is the hole where the power cord will be fitted eventually.
A circle glowing orange with red-orange borders is shown. Two red arrows point to shadows that cut across the circle, parallel to each other (known as "chords"). The glowing circle is surrounded by black (paint).
A grey non-static mat lays on top of a light brown wooden workbench. On the left side of the mat is a 2-inch LED light ring mounted to a flat white base. There are four wires protruding from both the left and right of the ring (red, blue, green, and white). On the right side of the map is a red, Sparkfun Lumidrive, connected to a green USB power input, using two wires (red and white). There is a black USB cable connecting to the USB power input, running down and off to the right out of frame. The USB power input is connected via red and white alligator clips to the LED light ring. Green and blue wires run from the top of the Lumidrive to the light ring, connected with grey and orange lever wire connectors.
A light brown workbench extends from the lower left corner of the picture to the middle right. A second light brown table sits to its right, holding my 3D printer. The main workbench holds, from left to right, an orange extension cord, one of the LED light rings in a non-static bag, some solder, black plyers, red wire snips, a non-static mat with more electronics on it in non-static bags, and my soldering iron. Behind the main work bench (in the upper left corner of the picture) there is a filming light and a tripod for my camera next to it.
Three "towers" made out of white PLA 3D-printed plastic, sit on a grey work surface. Each tower has a piece of white diffusion film stretch across two slits in the walls of the tower. There are two brown clothes-pins sticking up from the tower, holding the film in place while the glue sets up.
A split picture. In the top half is a close-up of a black hinge with four black screws, attached to two halves of the wooden frame for the piece I'm building. The bottom half shows a black "butterfly twist" latch, attached to two halves of the wooden frame. The top two screws holding the latch in place are silver-colored.
A pile of grey, 3D-printed plastic pieces sit on a piece of paper toweling. The pieces are connected by blue painter's tape, and have black paint all around the edges. These pieces covered up the places I didn't want painted.
2mm wide, golden Tamiya masking tape wound on a white spool sits on white paper. To its right is a gentle curve made with the tape, going from the upper right corner of the pic to the bottom.
A light brown piece of plywood sits on a workbench. Laying on the center of the board is a 20-pound free-weight with black, hexagonal ends connected by a silver hand-hold.
An aluminum table in the foreground with a large piece of white paper, held down with blue painter's tape. On top of the paper there is a piece of acrylic with diffusion film, also taped down. In the background are several shelf-units with equipment and supplies. I've intentionally shot this picture at an angle so as to not show the template, itself. That would give away the surprise!
A table with a flower-print drop cloth on top holds a 2-foot square wooden frame and a 2-foot square piece of plywood with some blocks attached. The two pieces are held up on scrap pieces of wood to make it easier to paint. The external edges of both pieces are painted black.
A black spool holding less than a single winding of grey PLA filament left. The spool is held aloft on the feeder arm of my 3D printer.
Part of an LED light ring is shown, inside a white cowl. Coming out of the bottom of the cowl are four wires that are hooked up to alligator clips (from left to right - white green, black, and red). Between the clips are pieces of blue painter's tape.
On a light brown wood workbench sit three white "cowls", each with a 2-inch LED light ring mounted to the middle. The wires for the rings protrude from the bottom of the cowl, and are connected to each other in series through a mess of multi-colored wires with alligator clips on the ends. The rings are lit up in a rainbow of colors.
My workshop with my main workbench in the foreground. Visible in the background there is a 3D printer, several tools used for electronics work, and a red fire extinguisher sitting on a black and light-brown secondary workbench. To the right of that is a black shelf unit with several spools of 3D filament, and several black and yellow parts-boxes. There is a 3-legged camera tripod leaning at an angle against the main workbench, with only two of its legs touching the ground. This allows the camera attachment, shown at the top, to look straight down at what's on the workbench. On the workbench are three white discs that are the bases for the LEDs.
Three identical white discs organized into a triangle with two on top and a third on the bottom, laying on a scratched-up, grey work surface. Each disc is 10cm in diameter, and has two small holes (left and right) that I'll use to attach it to the background of the piece I'm building. Each disc also has 4 mounting posts arranged in a square, about 2cm in from the edge. Each post rises up 6mm from the base, and has a heat-set insert mounted in the center.
On a scratched-up, grey background lays a 2-inch LED light ring, with 6 wires attached. The ring is upside down, showing the wires attached to the underside of the ring. White and red wires span the entire width of the ring, and then some. There are two sets of blue and green wires - one that attaches to the ring on the right and crosses the ring going left. The other set of blue/green attaches on the right and goes off to the right. Below the light ring are two additional sets of wire, cut and bent into the necessary shapes. The exposed copper on these loose wires has not yet been tinned with solder.
Looking down at a lineup of 3D-printed cowls going left to right, on a light brown workbench. The first two, in grey, are one-piece.. The second two, also in grey, are two-piece and show the "towers" offset from the "bases". The final one, a two-piece version in white, is on the far right. Each one has 4 mounting posts for the LED light that will eventually be mounted to it. The final version is white for to reflect that the better.
Looking straight down into a light grey cylinder that is just under 45mm tall. At the bottom is an LED light ring, with all 40 LEDs lit in magenta. The inside of the cylinder reflects the magenta. The cylinder has matching slits left and right, through which is suspended a piece of diffusion film, which blurs the light ring. This first layer of film spans the entire width of the cylinder, left to right. With this one layer, you can still easily make out the shape of the light below it (a ring). My thumb is just visible on the far left of the picture, holding a second piece of film above the cylinder. This second piece only spans the left half of the cylinder, so you can see the difference between one layer and two. With the second layer, the ring is far more obscured, and the light is much more even spread out. At the very bottom of the picture are two alligator clips (red and white). These attach to wires that are soldered onto the ring, powering it.
Looking straight down into a light grey cylinder that is about 45mm tall. At the bottom is a 2-inch diameter LED light ring, lit in magenta. The inside of the cylinder reflects the magenta. Below the ring, running the full width of the cylinder from upper left to lower right, are two wires (white and red). These are connected to red/white alligator clips outside the cylinder, in the extreme upper left corner. Attached to the lower right corner of the ring are two additional wires (green and blue). These extend out to green and black alligator clips (I didn't have a matching blue, unfortunately).
Two pictures, spliced together side by side. In the left one, I'm holding a light grey, 3D printed collar with a conical top to allow the screw to sit down in it (as shown in the picture on the right). In the right picture, the sharp end of the screw protrudes from the base of the collar.
Two grey 3D-printed cylinders are show, one rest on top of the other. The top one has a slit in its side that is nicely rectangular. The slit in the bottom one is partially deformed, and looks like a smile more than a rectangle. A spaghetti-mess of 3D filament can be seen inside the cylinder through the slit.
A grey, 3D-printed, disc with four small pylons rests on a workbench. Laying on top of the pylons is an LED ring. There is a red wire, attached to the underside of the ring, sticking up in the foreground. There is a white wire, also attached to the underside of the ring, that extends off the left out of frame and towards the background of the shot.
In the foreground is a light brown workbench, with a grey piece of plastic on the top, covering most of it. On top of the grey plastic is an assortment of tools, wire, electronics, and 3D-printed parts. In the background you can see the bottoms of my black and silver tool chests.
A light grey plastic cylinder takes up most of the frame. At the bottom there is an 2-inch diameter LED light ring, with 40 individual LEDs, and 8 white attachment points. The ring is held in place with a single screw going through one of those attachment points. There is a white wire running the full width of the cylinder, passing under the ring going left to right. On the left of the ring are two short lengths of wire attached to the ring - one red and one white - bent so they face up (and out of the way).
I am mostly off camera to the right, holding a green & black nail gun in my right hand and a piece of wood in my left. The wood is clamped and braced up against a second piece of wood, forming a right angle. The clamps are red and black. I'm on the floor (for additional bracing), which is vinyl but looks like dark brown wood planks. The nail gun is pressed up against the wood, about to inject a nail into the corner.
An LED ring sits inside a 3D-printed, battleship grey, cylinder. The ring has four attachment points on the inside of the ring, and four on the outside. The four outside points are resting on mounts at the bottom of the cowl, and that will be where the screws will hold it in place.
A yellow DEWALT miter saw, clamped to a workbench, in a garage. A piece of work about to be cut is clamped to the cutting surface. The closed, white, garage door is shown in the background.
Two light-skinned hands on a dark brown wood table with black grain. The left hand has has one finger bandaged, while the right one has three fingers bandaged.
A snow-covered berm showing an animal trail leading down, and then quickly doubling back. There is a chain-link fence behind the berm, separately my backyard from my neighbor's. On the other side of the fence is a grey shed with a snow-capped roof, and beyond that my neighbor's light-grey house, also with a snow-capped roof, and a yellow-brick chimney.
At the bottom of the picture is a light brown wood workbench. On the workbench is stacked a thin piece of plywood, a sheet of clear acrylic, a Lumidrive LED driver in a pink see-through pouch, an LED strip coiled around a black spool, and 3 LED rings in pink see-through pouches. At the top of the picture to the left is stool with a light brown wood seat, and white legs. The rest of the top of the picture shows shelf units with various items on it.
Tila, a white rabbit with black ears, a black nose, and red eyes, is sitting on floor on the left side of the picture. She's looking at me over her right shoulder. To her right is part of a greenish hay cube. There are four poops in a line with the hay cube at the 10 o'clock position. There is a fifth poop at the 12 o'clock position. The hay cube represents the Sun, and the five poops represent Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter.
A table covered in an off-white towel, with dozens of piles of screws, sorted by type.
I'm sitting at a card table, facing towards the left of the picture, sorting through a bit full of bolts. On the table in front of me are several small piles of screws, each sorted by their size and type. Also on the table are a labeler, scissors, and a ruler. In the background to my right is another card table with a couple of Tuanse double-sided toolboxes with black sides, white translucent lids, and blue snaps.