Skip to content

DIY

LinuxCNC and Tuya Smart Plugs

It has been a long wait to have automatic dust extraction on my PrintNC. It comprises of two elements: An extractor – to replace the 20-30 year old Vax/Bunnings bucket combo, and a smart plug to have it automatically turning it on and off. The Extractor The extractor was purchased second hand at a great price ($50AUD). The 5 inch nozzle was reduced to 4 inches, mainly because of the price of 5 inch PVC pipe. The flexible tube is 100mm Ag pipe. I had initially planned to use all Ag pipe, but there was performance issues during testing when using long lengths of it. Automation – Tuya Smart Plug To turn the extractor on and off I purchased a Powertech Smart Plug from Jaycar on sale ($19AUD). My researched shows it was based on… Read More »LinuxCNC and Tuya Smart Plugs

PrintNC – CNC

For those not familiar with the PrintNC project: Home page, Wiki. This has been a project that’s been in design and construction for over a year. Main delays have were due to shipping, manufacturing and poor quality replacements, over all poor communication from vendors, but mostly the reluctance to spend the money – What can I say, I’m cheap 🙂 This CNC was (as it is for many) to replace my MP-CNC that has been mostly unreliable and needed another rebuild. It got to the point the mancave was getting so hot, that plastic parts under tension were warping over time. For the record, it was 52 degrees C this summer. Design and Purchase I went with the default size as it gives me about the same size of work area as the MP-CNC for… Read More »PrintNC – CNC

Amp’d For Profit

I bought a Boss car audio amp (BA-4800) for a staggering $2. There was noticeable physical damage, but it’s worth a gamble for a quick, cheap fix. The damage looked localized to two RCA connectors. The remaining pins from the connector looked undamaged. Without changing anything it was powered with a PC PSU. Volume was good from both the remaining RCA connectors. Desoldered the pins and replaced the RCA connectors with an additional through-hole quad RCA connector. Connected power again: Now all 4 channels were working well. For what started as $2 for 2 working channels is now $6 for 4 working channels. Thats $1.50 per channel. Cheers