The printing technique we use at Digital Alloys requires that we maintain an inert atmosphere inside our printers to inhibit oxidation of the metals we print with. We use argon gas pumped into a large hermetically sealed glove box. Maintaining this environment is not easy given that we must pass hundreds of wires into the sealed chamber. Early versions of the printer had difficulty maintaining the environment because outside air made its way into the box traveling between the cable insulation and the wires within. This was solved by employing hermetically sealed pass-through connectors. The price for one such connector for a USB connection is $650. When a purchase request came to me for two of these, I could not believe the price. I denied the request and returned home this evening to build one myself. I cut the end off a USB extender cable, peeled away all the molded plastic and resoldered the connection leaving about a half-inch of bare, tinned wire. I then potted this end of the connector inside an empty pass-through housing with an inch of epoxy. The cross-section of the hermetic boundary is four tinned 24 gauge wires. I can guarantee this will work and the cost for the USB components and epoxy was under $8.
Jeanine taught a cooking class this evening at the Concord Carlisle Adult Learning Center. The class was called One Week’s Worth of Meals in an Hour. Apparently the new title attracted a much larger class than last year’s version entitled, Healthy Soups and Stews. As is usually the case, Jeanine fretted about not being prepared for the class only to report that the session went off without a hitch and was a great success.
I have started to scan old photos I recently retrieved from my mother’s home before I forward them to her in Minneapolis. Expect to see a number of them in the coming days. Pictured above is my mother (on the right) and her father and sister-in-law, Juanita. This is one of the few pictures I have of my grandfather (abuelito). From the stories I have heard, I have him to thank for much of my ingenuity and problem-solving instincts.
The finishing touches for our guest bathroom included the mirror frame I built last week and a new light fixture. I can now mark this room as done. In total, I replaced the showerhead, shower control valve, bathtub spout, vanity faucet, toilet paper holder, two towel holders, the shower sliding doors, all the cabinet knobs and the already mentioned items from this morning. Pictured below is what the bathroom looked like when we moved in.
Just down the street from our home resides a former soccer teammate and brother of Christopher Reeves of Superman fame. When I saw the top of a huge crane from our kitchen bay window, I immediately grabbed my drone for a closer look. It appears that they are removing a large tree that is threatening the structures. At first glance, it appears like the crane might be poised to pick up the house.
I am slowly replacing all the brass finished hardware in our master bathroom with brushed nickel. So far that includes the vanity faucet, Jacuzzi faucet, and tub spout, two towel racks, two robe hooks, all the cabinet knobs, and a toilet paper holder. Today I refinished items for which no replacements are available. This included the Jacuzzi tub hardware (two hand grabs, two aerator controls, the drain and drain control knob) and the shower door. Both required full disassembly so I could sand, prime and refinish each item without getting paint on everything else. It was an all-day project which produced a very satisfying outcome.
In addition to his teaching job at CCHS, Nicolai is also the assistant wrestling coach at Concord Academy. He invited Jeanine and I to attend a home match this evening where we got to see his team in action for the first time. They did well against one of the strongest teams in the league and it was fun to observe Nicolai in his coaching capacity.
Digital Alloys held its annual holiday party in the event room at Cafe Escadrille this evening. Jeanine and I had a wonderful evening getting to know my colleagues better and meeting two new ones who will start next week. I am not at all happy with the group photo I took. There was not much to be done about the extremely dim lighting, but there is no excuse for cropping one of our employees out of the photo. My camera was on a tripod on top of a table so I composed on the rear screen rather than through the viewfinder as is my preference. I need to brush up on my photoshop skills so I can attempt to rectify my mistake.
I attended my first Board of Directors meeting at Digital Alloys today. I was well prepared and in a position to share positive news on the development front which made for a very warm welcome. Although I worked directly for the CEO at my last three jobs, I was never invited to attend board meetings, something I enjoyed doing earlier in my career.
Having almost fully recovered from her wisdom teeth extraction, Maya is off to Boca Raton, FL to enjoy a week with her boyfriend and college classmates. Jeanine dropped her off at the Alewife station where she is seen above modeling the purse I gave her for Christmas. I also gave her a digital multi-meter, but I doubt that is among the things she is bringing with her. She arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare only to find her flight delayed and eventually canceled. Kyle offered to put her up for the night at his place in the Seaport District while she waited for the first flight out the next morning.
Digital Alloys is distinguished among other startups I have worked for by the fact that it invests in quality tools needed to support the work being done at the company. Today, we accepted delivery of a very nice Okuma CNC Lathe which was moved into our machine shop by the very beefy forklift pictured on the right. On the left, you can see one of our prototype printers. It is contained inside a glovebox which allows us to print in an inert atmosphere, needed to prevent oxidation during printing. Once the lathe is fully installed, I will share a photo of it as well.
I worked on a number of projects around the house today. Pictured above is a large frame that will be installed around the mirror in our guest bathroom. I made a similar frame for the mirror in our master bathroom several years ago which improved its appearance significantly.
The boys both came home today to help care for Maya as she recovers from the surgery to extract her wisdom teeth. They are seen here providing lateral support to ensure that she does not tip over while sitting on the couch.
This website is dedicated to sharing, with family and friends, the day-to-day adventures of the Calabria family.
