I’ve been using Incase neoprene laptop sleeves for the past 3 or 4 years.
I’m not sure why.
I wanted a sleeve that would enable me to recognize it amongst a pile of laptop cases. Just about every sleeve follows the same formula as Incase: form-fitting neoprene and a zipper. One of the few manufacturers making something different is ColcaSac (formerly AppleSac). What they make is basically the opposite of the Incase sleeve: natural materials, velco flap, and not formfitting.
One of the first steps in reverse engineering a product is understanding how it works. Ideally I would have access to the actual mold-a-rama (MAR), however they are rare and expensive. I could find an operating installation, but the closest operating MAR is at a zoo several hours away. I also have been unable to find pictures or video of the mechanics below the cabinet. The only parts visible from the images I’ve seen are the molds, mold rams, and ejector. All the complicated bits are hidden from view in the cabinet. The last avenue is products documentation in the form of manuals and patents. Fortunately I am an awesome google-er and have found both. The operation and repair manual can be found here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/37301298?secret_password=1ehb8rphnat7ykzt6zu3
About an hour ago I discovered an awesome machine from the 60’s called a Mold-A-Rama (MAR):
More info here: http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article1015315.ece
Video of its operation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_sJxxeB5Lo
Are the pictures from your Canon Rebel DSLR coming out with the lower half of the frame black? When you take off the lens and push the main mirror up, does the small mirror below the main mirror not lift up completely? If so, your sub-mirror pin is broken and causing the darkness. There is a pin that functions as a hinge for the sub-mirror. When it breaks the mirror does not fully fold up into the main mirror and thus blocks some light to the CCD sensor. You can manually fold the sub-mirror into the main mirror, which will fix the problem at the cost of your autofocus functionality.
In a move of remarkable engineering Canon decided to make a critical high-stress pin out of plastic. Who would have guessed that a tiny plastic pin would break after being flexed 20,000 times? The only way to really fix the issue is to install a new metal pin, which Canon eventually did.
Cross section of Rebel mirror box
I spent almost 2 hour composing a post on how to replace the CF pin module on Canon digital Rebels, but the post disappeared when I saved it. So here’s a picture of my work bench instead. I’ll probably stop being mad at wordpress next week, and will be able to finish the post then.
The Canon EF 20-35mm is a highly rated wide-angle lens that suffers from a common AF malfunction. Many users find the focus control stops working in both auto and manual mode. An excellent article by Piers Hendrie illustrates very clearly how to take apart the lens, and one possible fix for the issue.
The cause of this problem is that the USM ring motor (#4 below) is not applying enough pressure to the focus ring (5). Pressure is applied to the focus ring via a spacer (1), wave washer (2), and a felt ring(3). When you have this issue you can still hear the USM motor moving, but the focus ring does not move.
Photo credit: Piers Hendrie
All the parts for my mega P7 bike light have arrived. The driver from Kai Domain came relatively quickly, but the P7 LED emitter from Deal Extreme took forever to arrive. Of course the driver came without any sort of labels or instructions so I’m going to have to search the candlepower forums to figure out how to hook it up. Now that I have all the parts I am going to draw them in solidworks and start designing the housing around them. The reflector ended up being much larger than I had thought so I may not use it.
The top case on the first generation MacBooks are dirt magnets. While the palm rests on the black models simply become polished with use, the white models gain a disgusting brown patina. Apple’s usual suggestion of a damp cloth does little to nothing to remove the tan stains on the palm rest. Dirt and sweat from your wrists seeps into the tiny pores on the plastic surface, rendering in nearly impossible to remove with traditional cleaning methods.
They key to cleaning the top case is melamine foam. Melamine foam is formed when melamine resin cures under certain conditions. Melamine foam looks like standard open cell foam and is comprised of tiny, extremely hard fibers. These characteristics allows it to scrape away material from extremely small cavities, which is exactly what is needed to clean the top case.
Melamine foam is marketed under the trade-name Basotect from BASF. Fortunately it is also available to the consumer in the form of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser from Procter & Gamble.
Most twelve-year-old’s idea of a crazy project is building a Lego car or a tree house. Mine was to build a backyard foundry. I’m not sure where I got the idea from, but I think it was seeing an advertisement for Dave Gingery’s series of books in the back of Popular Mechanics. Dave Gingery created a whole series of instructional booklets and plans for the home machinist. He had books on how to build just about any piece of equipment from lathes to band saws to foundries.
Fortunately I had a father who, when presented with the idea of his twelve-year-old heating aluminum to a liquid state, not only encouraged me, but helped me gather all the necessary equipment. He also kept an eye on me, ensuring I didn’t end up in the ER’s burn unit or on an episode of “World’s Most Bizarre Backyard Accidents.”
The Actual furnace was made from a large popcorn can lined with a sand/fire clay mix, and heated with charcoal. We used a blower motor from a discarded dishwasher to raise the furnace temperature high enough to melt aluminum. My dad came up with the clever idea of using a stainless steel camping mug as a crucible. The end result was pretty similar to what you see below.
As a general rule, I repair all my own out-of-warranty electronics. So when I bought, at a significant discount, a lens that had a broken plastic outer cover on it I performed the repair myself. This particular lens was made by Tamron, who happens to sell repair parts to the public.
Here’s the damaged part.
Things I'm Doing 