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ArjinFerman  Tinfoil Gigachad  20hr ago (text post)   123 thread views

Tinker Tuesday for April 29, 2025

This thread is for anyone working on personal projects to share their progress, and hold themselves somewhat accountable to a group of peers.

Post your project, your progress from last week, and what you hope to accomplish this week.

If you want to be pinged with a reminder asking about your project, let me know, and I'll harass you each week until you cancel the service

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Parts arrived for my TRON helmet/vest/bike lighting project. I spent the weekend reading about ESP32 programming, buck converters, logic level shifters, etc.

I spent a long time trying to diagnose problems with the logic level shifter before just skipping it. Then the LEDs on the lighting strip lit up fine with the ESP32 driving it; got a basic POC working. Next it's time to pick a battery pack and also find a project box I can cram everything into. I guess also figure out if I want to use clear heat shrink tubing to protect the LED strips or get silicone diffuser tubing.

Also I'm getting a bit annoyed that everything I need comes in a 6-12 pack that costs $10 on Amazon. Prime shipping has it's down sides I guess.

Also there's, like, a lot of annoying one millimeter misalignments to deal with? My ESP32 doesn't fit into my breadboard, and neither does the buck converter. Only the logic level shifter does. Cool. Guessing it'll be some different annoying combination of issues with a protoboard?

It would be really nice to walk into a store or sit at a small electronics work bench just to see what all of the options are rather than blindly guessing at what I might need off of a web site.

This is what I mostly don't enjoy about small electronics hacking, feels mostly like you need to be very familiar with catalogs to avoid wasting a ton of time or making a lot of compromises.

Working on replacing a couple of the hundred year old double hung windows in my house. Not really that challenging as far as home improvement projects go, if you order prefab vinyl pocket replacements. But I'm at the point now of being ready to install the new windows and am wondering is there is a better way to seal it on the outer stop than applying a thick bead of caulk and then working fast as hell to shim it true and square as is reasonably possible in such an old house.

New construction usually just spray foams from the inside (low-expansion kind) after installation -- depends a bit what your reno situation is.

What are you trying to accomplish with this sealant exactly? I do think I've seen guys slap some sort of cheap latex on there before installation; open time on that is plenty to get your shimming done. I've never been sure what the point was supposed to be though.

I'm not replacing the outer stops, which are rather rough and still have some old paint. The new window pushes up against it from the inside, so the caulk would, I guess, create a seal between the stop and the window. Granted, I'll also caulk between the edge of the stop and the window on the outside so maybe it's not that necessary anyways. It's just what the installation instructions say to do.

I think I see -- yes, that would be a good place to caulk. Reno guys around here typically come from the outside, I was confused.

You could test fit and get your shims (at least the bottom) figured out first I guess, but I think you'll have lots of time. Probably don't need any super high performance caulk in there -- you should use pretty good product for the outer bead, so that space will be dry and dark.

106k words on my NaNoWriMo project. If I can maintain the pace I've been writing at for the past two weeks, I'll have a first draft by May 21st.

Last week’s issues: I delayed sending a birthday gift due to anxiety and emotional avoidance. No point in self-blame now—just need to act.

This week’s goals:

Must complete:

1Send the delayed birthday package.

2Systematically think through (and possibly write about) the Western romanticization of Japanese and Korean culture, and my personal discomfort with it.

3Book a dentist appointment regarding my wisdom tooth issue (growth spotted, no pain yet, but CT scan shows problematic angle).

Optional tasks:

1Watch Adolescence.

2Avoid burgers and fried chicken for the week.even if it happens, don’t beat myself up or force myself to purge.

3Buy a new t-shirt.

4Apply for a Korean 5-year visa just need to bring basic documents—stop overthinking.

Notes: Small tasks, but after weeks of spirals and hesitation, any forward motion is valuable.

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