After an annealing process to relieve stress and soften the metal, we have done a first pass at machining the part my team at Digital Alloys printed last week. This is what we call a rough cut and does not include any of the final part details. Next, we will harden and temper the part to our customer’s specification and then do the final machining. Expect another update next week. This is a very exciting time at work as this part represents the first one we have ever printed for a paying customer.

This year, COVID safety concerns precluded Formlabs from enjoying Family Camp weekend normally held at Camp Taconic in the Berkshires. Instead, employees received Camp Quarantine care packages containing various goodies based on their interests. Just published in a company newsletter is the photo above in which a small group including Maya, enjoyed a local hiking outing as part of the modified camp weekend.

Shortly after moving into our current home some 17 years ago, I converted half the unfinished basement into a home theater and recreation room. During that project, we added a hydronic heating system to warm the new areas plus my shop during the winter. With all of the insulation we added, it turns out that the new boiler has rarely been called into service. When it stopped operating several years ago, there was little impetus to fix it. Now that we are preparing to move, it is important that everything in the house is working properly. While investigating the problem, I discovered that the controller board for the impeller motor had a blown chip on it (likely due to extreme overheating). What remains to be seen, is if I can order just the controller board, or if it will come with a $300 motor attached.

This year Kicks for Cancer has gone virtual due to COVID-19. Pictured above is a screengrab from a video of Nico making an appeal for the campaign. Kicks for Cancer is held in memory of Concord resident Lois Wells, who passed away in 2007 after a courageous battle with cancer. Lois was the mother of Steve Wells, the team’s assistant coach and 1999 graduate of Concord-Carlisle High School. Since its inception 13 years ago the event has raised close to a half-million dollars for cancer research.

Now that we are getting closer to putting our home on the market, we are selling off everything that will not be joining us in our new house. I picked up this elliptical machine on the side of the road a few weeks ago in the hopes I would use it in lieu of my gym membership which I canceled when COVID hit. Since then, I have used it exactly once so on to Craig’s List it went. It sold in four hours for $300. Earlier in the day, I got a proper workout when my soccer team took to the field against a Russian team from Newton. The match was scoreless until the 80th minute when we picked up our first goal. We added a second with a few minutes left in the game. A very nice win against a very strong opponent.

I decided to sub out the floor repair for our walk-in closet project since we are also going to have the carpeting in the master bedroom and a second bedroom removed, the hardwood floors sanded, and refinished. The company we hired arrived with a crew of 4 and worked from 8am to 6pm at a feverish pace. They left having completed all but the second coat of finish which they will be back to do on Monday. We are very pleased with the work and are looking forward to moving back into our bedroom once the fumes have dissipated. Pictured above is the pattern of flooring removed to blend in the new floor.

My team realized a major milestone at work today, printing for the first time, a part that will be sold to a paying customer. Our printing process is near net shape which means that we have to machine away a few millimeters from each side to reveal the part within. We will do that next week and it is a safe bet I will be posting an image of it when we do. The nickel in the photo was included for a sense of scale.

I was surprised to discover this tiny rose starting to bloom in our garden. I have always assumed that flowers only bloom in the spring. Clearly, I was mistaken. Either that or this bud is not going to open. I will report back if that is the case.

The farmer who harvested the corn crop behind our house seemingly captured every single stalk. Upon further investigation, I found one left standing and it had one remaining ear of corn. When I shucked the cobb, I discovered why the farmer had left this one behind. Most of it had been eaten by this little corn worm who had established residence within.

Starting last Friday, I began passing a kidney stone. The journey from the kidney to the bladder is the really painful part that ended late Saturday. After my soccer match on Sunday, I passed the stone, at the 9am position in the photo above, and all the smaller stones (really more like really big grains of sand with a few smallish stones) backed up behind it. In case you are wondering, these are captured with a device similar to a tea strainer. The primary stone measured 3.8mm L x 2.5mm D and was very pointy on both ends. I apologize if this is TMI, but since this is the journal of my life, I feel it is appropriate to document the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Hints of fall are in the air as are falling pine cones everywhere.

I don’t believe I have ever taken the time to really study a pine cone. They are really quite beautiful. This is a female cone. I am guessing most readers will be as surprised as I to learn that pine cones have gender. The entire subject of conifer cones is quite fascinating and I refer you to Wikipedia for further information.

Having lived in Concord for some 17 years now, there are two things I could have predicted with great certainty. First, that nothing would stand in the way of our Annual Town Meeting and second, that it would be conducted in strict compliance with COVID 19 safety regulations. What I could not have predicted is that they would use my soccer team’s home field on the day of our first league match of the season. Fortunately, we were able to gain access to an adjacent field by moving our start time up to 8 AM. Despite a lot of sleepy-looking players, we managed a nice start to the season with a 5-1 win over Hopkinton. I played for 2/3 of the match before tweaking a muscle. Nothing serious, but I thought it better to stop right away before incurring further injury.

Where’s Waldo Bonus: See if you can find me in the photo? This is far easier than the count the number of turkeys in the photo that caused so much controversy on a post last spring.

The corn crop that has been growing behind our house since the spring was harvested today. It was a three-person operation. One to drive the combine, and one each for the two trucks that make alternating runs back to the farm. If I had to guess, I would say that the farmer netted at least 20 truck fulls of corn feed. The degree of coordination between the combine and truck drivers was incredible. The entire operation was completed in less than four hours

At Digital Alloys, we print 3D metal objects from 0.89mm wire. Sometimes that wire is dirty or has developed an oxide coating rendering it difficult to use. We have a machine at work that was designed to clean wire but it is not very effective when it comes to oxides. This evening I built a quick prototype of a device that I am very confident will do the job. The wire is sandwiched between the sides of two grinding wheels (with inside labels removed). The shaft that holds the wheels has a hole in the center through which the wire passes and has a pair of lock washers that serve as springs to keep the wheels pressed against the wire (which can be seen poking out the end). Now for the fun part. The grinding wheels do not rotate. Instead, the entire assembly rotates around the wire as it is being drawn through it. On Monday, I plan to connect this creation to the flange on a hollow shaft motor we have at work to see how it functions. Total cost of parts: $28. Time to fabricate: <1 hour.