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How-to

A collection of 11 posts

DIY Telescope Project

This post is about a project I have planned for the next several months (or longer), to try to build my own telescope. I'll try to write a follow-up post to share how it turns out. My goal is not to build a high-quality telescope, but rather one

3D Printing as a Service

I've been waiting to receive a parcel so I could write this post, and I just got it today. In a previous post [https://danbscott.ghost.io/3d-printed-cactus-pot-2/], I mentioned that I wanted to try an online 3D-Printing service. The part that I wanted to print was relatively

3D-Printed Cactus Pot

This post is about one of my recent 3D-printing projects. Cactus I like having plants in my apartment, but anything that requires frequent attention would have a difficult time surviving under my care. I thought cactus would be a nice fit, due to their ability to withstand periods of water

7 Excel Functions and Features to Know

In this post, I thought I'd share some tools and features in Microsoft Excel that I've come across over the years. This post is not intended as a comprehensive tutorial on any of these features; rather, it can be a starting point for learning more about

New Bookshelf

I recently made a new bookshelf for my room and wanted to share the design. I came up with the design myself. It is built around a single vertical post (a cedar 4x4, 4 feet long) instead of the more common structure where side walls bear the load. Here is

Calibrating a homemade probe

This post is a continuation of the previous one [https://danbscott.ghost.io/a-home-made-probe-for-dissolved-solids-in-water/] on making a homemade probe for dissolved solids in water. Here I explain how I calibrated it after I got it working. After printing off a new probe tip [http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:440005], I

A home-made probe for dissolved solids in water

Conductivity is a commonly-measured parameter in water. For example, I measured it in my thesis [https://danbscott.ghost.io/my-masters-thesis/] and it is being measured in the Disappearing Rio Grande Expedition [https://danbscott.ghost.io/up-the-creek-with-a-paddle/]. This post is about my first attempt at making a home-made probe to measure

Getting Started with Bitcoin (in Canada)

If you've been paying attention to the news recently, you've probably been hearing more and more about Bitcoin. I wrote this post for people who want to gain some first-hand experience and give this cryptographic currency a try. The examples and discussion are focussed on Canadian

Making a Mould with a 3D Printer

This post is about using a 3D printer to produce an intermediate component—specifically a mould (or mold, if you prefer)—rather than directly printing the final product. I wanted to try doing this because it combines some of the advantages of 3D printing (customizability, accuracy) with some of the

A 3D-Printing Workflow: From Idea to Finished Product

This post is an example of the complete process of making a 3D-Printed object, starting with the initial idea and design, through to actually having the finished product. It's based on making a replacement knob for the oven in my apartment—a useful application for a 3D printer.

Writing an .stl file from scratch

The .stl file format [http://www.ennex.com/~fabbers/StL.asp] (see also [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STL_%28file_format%29]) is used for 3D printing and similar fabrication technologies. The files are normally created as output from design software, but I wanted to try writing one by hand