Ring
making: Kind of a side shoot off of instrument
repair, I took up ring making (also heavy influence from
LOTR). This was a simple process, cut a brass pipe, mount it on
the dremmel tool, get it spinning, cut it with a file (lath style),
grind it smooth, sand paper it with fine sandpaper, and finally buff it
with the dremmel and some rouges. Electroplate
if desired. Although it doesn't look like it in
this picture, this ring has silver plating, I will have better pictures
eventually. The hand on the right belongs to my good friend Jamie.
Go-cart modification: My cousin Jason and I have 2 go carts (only one of which ever works at a time, because they break down so often). We have spent countless hours trying to tweak out as much performance as possible, and have consequently caused it to go from about 18 mph to 43 mph. Not to shabby for a bunch of rednecks. I will have pictures soon.
Bomb building: I am not sure if I should mention this or not but my cousin and I also make bombs. We have tried various formulas including urea, fertilizer, gas and Styrofoam, and good old black power. Jason Blew up a giant teddy bear once using black powder and butane lighters. My Friend Nathan and I attempted to make a napalm grenade, which did not work as well as we had hoped, it did not explode but the sticky cotton balls would burn for about five minutes each. I now have access to the chem lab here at school for my research project, so I may get some new ideas from working there. I will have pictures later.
Tarantula keeping: Although some consider it to be quite creepy, I thoroughly enjoy keeping tarantulas as pets, I had two but now only have one (one tragicly died recently due to unknown causes, probably cold or perhaps not enough food, although this is doubtful.) The deceased one was identified to be a Avicularia-Metallica a member of the Avicularia or pink-toe family. This particular species is called the white toe to distinguish it from its relatives, although it's toes are orange, not white, and it fairly unmistakable as it is black with iridescent blue hair all over it's body. It was a juvenile when I purchased it, having red patterns on it's abdomin, which faded each time it shed its skin. The second tarantula I purchased was a Phrixotrechis Rosea (I believe), or rose hair tarantula, it unlike its predecessor, was a burrowing species, and instead of making web retreats all over, it dug tunnels everywhere. As a general rule, these pets are immensely boring, because you hardly ever actually see them, and they rarely come out to eat, but when they do, it is quite thrilling. They require minimal care, warmth and a bug or two a week, and a full water bowl (my avicularia could swim, which I made him do on the rare occasion I got him out of his silk retreat, but they have specially designed pads on their toes that enable them to float!). I will have pictures soon.
Venus fly trap growing: You mean to tell me you didn't see this coming? If yours died, it is probably because you did not care for it properly, I have gone through 6 of them, but now I have it down. Give them lots of light, I have visited the native south carolina bogs, they get full sun all day, that is what they like. Keep their soil most at all times, put the pot in a deep container, and fill it with distilled water about a third of the way up, and maintain that level (I fill it higher and let it dry). Bring it in and set it whre it will get light but be cold all winter, like a sunny window, this will throw it into dormancy, whcih it must do.
Van De
Graff Generator: I had
to make one, anyone who dapples with high voltage does. it worked
but not very well. Anyway, here is a picture.
Jacobs
Ladder: I mentiond this in my TC pages, but I
thought it deserved
its own little spot here. A jacobs ladder is simply two
conductive rods, that are narrow at the base, and wider at the
top. A high voltage arc is established between them, and it rises
from the narrow spot (where it starts, the path of least resistance) to
the top from heat. It breaks when the current from the supply
gets to low too sustain it (if the rods are narrow enough, it will not
break, but will sit at the top like an upside down "V"). As cool
as the concept is, please do not cook your food in one of these, that
is all I am going to say about that. you can change the color and
appearance of the arc, by changing the material composing the rods, and
altering the current level of the arc. I do not have a picture,
but I have a movie, so here it is. I will get a picture
soon. You will notice in the video that one size rises faster
than the other, this is because one of my transformes had a half short
which I discoverd later, so it was not putting out any voltage, meaning
it would stay slightly cooler. Also note, I no longer use this
multiple switch system, as unless all of the transformers are
energized, energy is bled into the inactive windings. A better
system is a variac on the primary, anyway enjoy!
