/366 - There Is No Ending

Today marks 1 year of daily posting to this blog. Looking around and all I can think is of all the things I didn’t do, wanted to do, or are sitting partially done. This isn’t to say that I am unhappy with things, quite the contrary, it’s just that there really is no end to the things I want to work on.

I am still debating on whether or not to finish out 2020 with a post a day. Seems weird to end with 1 month left even though I started on December 1st, 2019. I’m also not sure if I’m quite ready to say goodbye to it. The blog has become such a huge part of my life that it’s impossible to imagine my days without it. What comes next?

/345 - Sooooo Close

I tried my hardest to get this thing done (pretty bored of posting about it, really want to get back to making music with it) but didn’t quite get there. 3.5mm midi in and out tested and working! LEDs tested and working! All that’s left is to mount and wire the encoders. Not too hard, just a lot of wires.

Oh, then I have to program it to do something. ;)

(New phone this week pleeeease my camera is dying)

/344 - Here We Go (Again)

Another beautiful day. We took a long walk and played on the playground this morning, then finished up all my pre-winter chores (except getting the garage organized) this afternoon. This weekend was great, but it went by really fast!

Tonight I managed to cut another faceplate for moduloti and get so so much desoldering done so I can finally get this thing all the way together and working with the encoders and LEDs. I was really itching to patch a bit tonight, but getting this done and back in the rack will be worth it.

/343 - What a Day

Another beautiful (and choreful) day outside. Spent a little time this morning working out the design changes I need to get everything I need on moduloti under that 10hp plate. Still a bit of redrawing to do, then cut another plate, and wiring…

ON TOP OF THAT: Today the first day in 4 years that I haven’t been ashamed to be an American. Unity and respect, what an idea. ♥

/339 - Sounds and Connections

Although it’s now apparent that the axoloti module needs some rework to make everything fit, I was able to get it finished to a point where it works to pass midi, and act as a usb host and a device simultaneously. This is really cool! Was using the qunexus to play a sample chromatically, while norns running Kria was triggering and pitching 4 others. This isn’t all that musical, but it’s the record of playing and tweaking and trying and listening for quite awhile so I might as well post it. Regardless, those doumbeks sound cool.

/337 - Moving Ahead

Made more progress on the Moduloti board today. It turns out that whatever aluminum alloy was used for the panel material I have is too hard for my tiny endmills. Not to be undone, I grabbed some plastic laminate that I had and sort of matched the bare aluminum. This cut lots better (obviously) but I did have to cut a second because the hole positions put the axo board into the rail and the module wouldn’t fit.

Boards are cut and all the desoldering is done. It’s a tight fit and wiring this might not be very fun. but in the end this is going to be a really amazing tool for my case. I was hoping to have this ready by the time my modules arrive (tomorrow!) but hopefully I’ll get it wrapped up by next weekend at the latest.

/336 - Moduloti

Made some more progress on this today. Tested and confirmed being able to power it board off the modular power bus and that hacking on 3.5mm trs jacks works for midi I/O. I can use the encoder switching/control subpatch I’ve already made for my other Axo, so just need to work out a 3 or 4 midi LFO scheme. Hardware seems like it won’t be too bad, but I always seem to end up in trouble on something. haha

/335 - Something Useful

I have an extra Axoloti board here that I never had a plan for. I was thinking today about midi control for the bitbox, wishing I had a rackable host, etc, etc when I put it together that Axo could be this for me. It can’t handle modular levels of CV or Audio, but it can act as a midi device and/or a host and it runs on 12v. It will take some hacking and fabbing, but if I can make it all fit (I think I can, in 10hp) I’ll have a module which acts as a midi passthrough for my controllers and ipad or norns, but I can also program midi LFOs, envelopes, or sequencers, AS WELL AS a standalone audio device that I can plug my guitar into for looping or effects. Fingers crossed but this could be pretty cool.

/320 - All Together Now

All done, and they turned out pretty great! The stitching still isn’t the prettiest, but it felt awesome to sit down at the machine and be confident about what I was doing after all the practicing I did. These also probably wouldn’t have been my color choices, but these were what I had and after all I like them just fine. Wonder if there are white Grolsch grommets to switch out my red “straplocks.” Guess maybe I have to play standing up now?

/319 - Ready to Go, Sew

The last attempt at making an effective hot knife still didn’t work, so I slummed it back to exact-o knife and a lighter. Turned out great! haha The end design was refined (red was the tester, white is the final) to make it smaller, but also stronger around the strap. Feels pretty good now. Just need to sew both ends and thread it up, but ran out of time tonight. I’m a little worried that the webbing I have is too slippery, but will see how it feels once it’s hanging with the weight of a guitar on it. Fingers crossed for nice stitches and stable positioning.

/317 - Clean Cuts

Attempts 1 and 2 to make a hot knife to get clean cuts on the nylon strap. Cutting webbing like this results in massive fraying unless the ends are sealed. The right way to do it is to cut and heat at the same time so no fraying occurs. The first attempt got hot, but the attachment bolt didn’t seem to transfer heat to the blade. The second attempt got the blade hot, but I think the razor edge is actually too sharp so there’s not enough metal contacting the strap at the cut point to melt it. I have one more idea to try and if that doesn’t work I might have to settle for a clean exact-o cut sealed with a lighter.

In the meantime I am still practicing with the sewing machine. I’m getting more consistent stitches, but my lines are still all over the place. It’s hard to concentrate on everything at once. In the end I know that I have all the parts and pieces to bring this together so one of these days there will be a sweet new guitar strap.

/315 - Just Sew Sew

But getting better! Watched a lot of youtube tutorials and make some progress. Also made a ton of bird nests underneath, but think I figured that out too. Now if only I could stitch a straight line — Probably just use black thread so it’s not as noticeable. Also wish I could manage a nice even pace instead of the machine going into overdrive when I touch the pedal. haha

/307 - Maybe Steps

Still hesitating on the enclosure for the Rip due its potentially long machining time. The file is ready, and the enclosure is flattened and secure so whenever I’m ready…

The parts for my guitar strap arrived so those are also ready to go except learning how to use a sewing machine. Luckily Ash knows and we just got her grandma’s (a professional seamstress) machine. Maybe I can learn and then make while the enclosure is running?

/304 - Not Quite Ready To Rip

I got the file all setup to run but all that detail means a tiny (.5mm diameter) endmill and a lot of time. The program currently estimates 8.5 hours to engrave, and that’s only half as deep as I usually go. There have been plenty of times when the actual time is much less than the estimate, but I’ll start here and see how it turns out. Probably work in the basement tomorrow to babysit the machine while it runs.

/303 - Ready To #Rip

I think I previously mentioned that I got a bare board #rip. pedal in a trade with my buddy Jack at droppingacidpedaletching. Well, it’s been sitting on my bench too long waiting for an enclosure to be made for it so I knocked one up tonight based on an old linocut print. I always go for bold lines on stuff like this, but this is also a nod to the man himself because he’s crazy about surf music. I probably won’t be playing much (any) surf through it, but it’s cool nonetheless. Wanted to run down to machine this tonight, but I have a feeling it’s going to take awhile to etch due to the thickness of the lines.

/302 - Communication

Got a nice little 3d printed ring to close up the sides on my Norns shield so I had a go at Awake sequencing Timber. I’m pretty sure that the only thing better than norns is 2 norns.

/299 - Materiality & Necessity

One big perk of my job is having access to lots of interesting materials. Since I got the jazzmaster I have been thinking I should get a new strap since I only have 1. The problem there is that it can be hard to find something to buy that doesn’t use leather, so I have been brainstorming alternatives. I found this piece of rubber flooring in my stash and it seemed like a good candidate, and a quick test seems to agree. It cuts fuzzy, but with the right tooling and setup I bet it would be very clean. I just want to test weight resistance/tearing and the potential for abrasion of the guitar finish. Either way I’m happy that I just went for it instead of overthinking as is my wont.

298 - Suet To It

When we stopped putting out suet cakes for the birds the woodpeckers almost completely stopped coming to our feeders aside from an occasional peanut grab. Since the weather is getting cooler (it melts in the heat) we are now able to put homemade peanut suet so Emi and I made a batch from this recipe I found online. The only change I made was to use up some cashew butter we had in the pantry. I put 2 cakes out — one with the front feeders and 1 below the platform in the back — and they were busy almost immediately. We had visits from the male and female downy woodpecker, the mail red-bellied woodpecker, and the male hairy woodpecker, who very rarely came around before. Not only that but also the red-breasted nuthatch who we’ve only seen once before. The only one missing is the northern flicker, but hopefully he will come back too. Very, very happy with how this turned out.

/297 - Axoloti, A Tragedy in Four Acts

Oh tiniest resistor, a jumper, to be de and re-soldered. You give them each their name.

You wake, yet there is a duplicity — the connection is not properly made. One wonders why.

Oh tremulous heart, here you both stand properly before me!

Oh cursed fates, a crack is heard as you settle into place. One twin shall speak no more.

/scene.

/295 - A Good Project Day

The jazzmaster template is scaled correctly, which means the annodized aluminum panel I have is big enough to cut the guard from!

Ash’s marketplace skills paid off big time with this lot of 60 rolls of expired Kodak Max 400 — all for $10!. It’s not the most special film, but it should keep us set for snapshots for a very very long time.

I tried to desolder the oleds but they just wouldn’t budge and I didn’t want to destroy them. Decided it was easier to just cut a new board on the cnc and it turned out very nice. It’s really hard when the pitch is this small (for example, look how spacious that through-hole destined board is) but this works. I really need to work out a better process to get from layout (via DIYLC) to a file the machine can cut. Then I need to work out a better process for leveling and engraving. Always more to learn.