This box contained one thing, and although I am happy it was delivered, what waste of resources.  Clearly I am not the brightest bulb, but this made me think about the waste that comes with buying some things from Amazon.  There is really no reason for me to buy TP, paper towels or other bulky items online (though I have).  In my experience at least, things like these are often double boxed too, which may keep the TP un-squeezed, but seems very unnecessary.  I spent 10minutes earlier this week breaking down and taking several large boxes out to the recycling bin, for things I could have just bought at the grocery store less than a mile away.  I think that no matter how good the deal is, I won't be doing that again.

This project took waaaay too much time, but I learned a few things about designing enclosures (at least I think I did).  Anyway, enjoy the pics.

I decided to make another module for a DSO112A which is a small touchscreen 1 channel DSO.  It is not as bad as it sounds, but it is also pretty rough.  I already had one though and this is a good place for it.  There is also a small compartment to hold the leads.  Still working out the problems with this and made some fixes to the one in the picture (forgot to add a hole for the USB port (doh!). 

* Sort'a

I finally finished the breadboard kit, which was probably printed at least 2.5 times over with failed parts due to some problem or fitment issue.  I need to get better at this and am learning a few tricks which help, but (for me) designing FDM printed parts that need to fit together can be a bit trial and error'ish.  Allowances for parts that just need to fit should be simpler than parts that need to slide or move against each other, and the smallest difference can mean the difference between a button sticking or moving freely.  Of course sanding helps, but I would like to avoid that if possible.

This version though, is just about right (there is one minor change I made since but it should not cause any problems).  I am gonna print another one to test the STL files which I plan to post up on Thingiverse (or maybe Instructables), then it will be really finished.  Hopefully there will be some other folks that will make compatible modules for it since I would like to add some more, but can't think of anything right now.

Mila is a kid that was born with a disease called Batten Disease for which there was no real treatment when she was diagnosed.  Her family (and her Mom) however are just as amazing as she is, and they did not let the lack of treatments stop them trying to do something to help her.  They launched a GoFundMe campaign and found amazing doctors and partners to develop a new treatment, which she is now receiving.  The treatment is tailored to her disease, but hopefully the information gained could provide a path to treat others.  Mila is still being treated so it's too early to know if it will bring her and her family the relief they need, but there area lot of people hoping it does.

Every time I think I am done with this thing, something comes up.  The damn 2.1mm DC jacks I used are total crap and so tight I cannot get a standard male plug to make a good connection.  Practically need a hammer to get them to seat more than a couple mm.  Strangely these are probably the most common cheap DC jacks of this type.  Fortunately I have some others in my box-o-crap that will work but are a bit larger, so I will need to print a new top part for the large module with all the gizmos.  However I also was thinking that the assembly of the large module is way too hard, but due to the way the components are built it will be difficult to get everything to mount on one side of the shell.  So although I have a working model, it is really back to the drawing board to get the large module correct.  For now, behold the breadboard kit in all it's prototype glory...

Now I just need to print the potentiometer module and a couple more parts to make sure it all fits together.

I have been missing comments from the CNC page, just found them yesterday.  To avoid that going forward I manually moved all the stuff from the old CNC page to the new CNC page, which remarkably looks just like the old one.  The only difference is that the old page did not allow comments and the new page is a "blog" page, so weebly allow comments there.  Hope that helps.

The breadboard kit is coming along, got the base for the breadboards finalized and printed, and the modules are locking in place pretty well, and the screw holes are lining up.  So far I've only wasted a few meters of PLA on parts I cannot use due to design problems (which were then fixed).  That however is the beauty of 3D printing, if I was prototyping on my CNC mill, it would be exponentially more difficult and frustrating, even using plastic due to the setup time.  

Everything goes together pretty tight with the current design, but in a good way since there is just enough clearance built in to allow that.  I was concerned due to the number of parts that it would feel like a solid piece but that looks like it won't be a problem.  The parts actually inter connect a bit which helps with that.  The base which holds the breadboards includes some  round bumps which lock into the holes on the Stanley organizer.  That feature should help keep it all in place when it is being transported.  I still need to work out a few odds and ends but the design is around 95% done. 

Just a bit more progress on the modular breadboard.  It is about 90% complete design wise (maybe more depending on how things fit).  The first module is completed and works well, it is pictured above.  That module will house two 2 wire volt meters which can measure between 2.5v and 30v, and is reverse polarity protected.  I am picking up some more of these since they work well enough for what I need them for.  The other module for the pots is yet to be printed.  Will hopefully have something ready to upload to thingiverse in the next week or two (assuming I don't get bored with waiting for prints to pop out).