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Showing posts from April, 2020

Star cushion

Completion date: April 19, 2020 My son’s star shape cushion cotton stuffing was coming out.  I actually cut the star shape years ago but couldn’t sew because the sewing machines were broken. This is my first project on the Butterfly sewing machine, in fact, it is the first sewing project done on a sewing machine. 1. Cut the star shape face-to-face. 2. Sew along the edge and leave one corner. 3. Flip inside out, and Stuff the cotton inside the star. 4. Hand sew to close off the star seam.

Banbao Lego cable car: Gear investigation

Completion date: April 24, 2020 Observation: - the gear ratio is 8:24:24:40:40:40=24:24, meaning speed times is 1:3:3:5:5:5=3:3 - the action is slowed when going from small to big gears. - 2 identical gears on one axle.  It is to displace the gears so the motion can be passed on from the width of  motor to the width of the cable car station. However this could also be done if you have a thick gear. - 2 different gears on one axle (40=24).  At 40-teeth gear, the motion speed was 5 times slower, and this speed is passed on to a 24 teeth gear.  In this case, I think the speed wouldn’t change on the 24 teeth, it is still 5x slower.  However, it would become interesting if another 40-teeth is put next to this 24-teeth. It would become even slower, but what is the math there?  How much times slower?  Would it be 5*(40/24)=8.33x slower than the first 8-teeth gear? - two groups of gears (left and right) are now connected by one long axle. The motor turns both left and

Lego organiser DIY

Completion date: April 21, 2020 I have a small table in my room. 35x50cm.  The Banbao Lego I bought from Taobao come with a really nice Lego organiser, 13 compartments. However, it takes up half of my little table.  It’s hard to work with half the table. But the interesting thing is, I came to realize that space is not the constraint, but accessibility. 1. Imagine, if I have 2 of these organisers, what would happen?  I would have to get up or hover over to the trays take the parts that I need. This means that I have to “travel” in space, so it is a disadvantage. 2. The needs to Hover suggests that the viewing angle is not desirable. 3. I usually just need 3-4 parts max on an instruction page, the rest of the compartments sitting here are idle. This solution addresses above 3 problems and offers more flexibility: - features a container of containers - the internal containers are custom-made sizes to suit Lego lover needs - both internal and external containers are mo

Sweatpad II

Completion date: April 23, 2020 What is the problem with Sweatpad I?  It’s taking too long to install the tissue and from the pad.  I took  - 1 minute 1 second to free the tabs of sweatpads.  - 2 minutes 30 seconds to install tissue paper - 59 seconds to put sweatpads onto the fabric backing Materials - plastic (HK$15/ft, Family House) - 3M velcro (HK$26.5/4 pairs, 安基商場星輝) - 0.2mm double-sided tape (RMB$12.5 for 1cm x 50m, Taobao). From taobao it says this is imported from Germany, features: durable in high heat, strong, leaves no marks, transparent and water-resistant) - tissue paper (Tempo or Vinda) Redesigning the Sweatpad.  Set up a template first.  1. Cut a 22x8cm rectangle 2. Fold 4cm deep pockets from both ends.  3. Draw a 1cm margin from the sides.  4.  Draw a semi-circle, where the top of the circle is 2cm away from the top pocket crease.  5.  Mark a line 5mm away from the edge. Make sure you leave en

Fixing Nintendo Labo Toycon 1: Motorcycle

Completion Date: April 18, 2020  The Nintendo Toycon Motorcycle broke down after 2 days of playing. Here is the fixed Motorcycle  toycon. === Here is how it is broken === Overall view: The right handle 1. Broken cardboard 2. Crease on cardboard, the tension lines   The turning mechanism 1. Chaffed 2. Cardboard eroded away Inserts of Turning mechanism 1. Chaffed === FIXING === Materials - A4 paper - popsicle sticks - plastic folder Tools - glue gun  - Paper glue - scissors - snipers  - oil-based marker - sandpaper Fixing the right brake 1. Unfold the brake.  2. Cut two pieces of popsicle sticks. 3. Fit the popsicle sticks inside and wrap some tape around to secure the sticks inside. Fold the brake.  Fixing the Right handle 1. Trace the right handle shape.  Note the right side is external, and left side is internal hidden inside the main compartment.  So, now only need to get t