u/GuzziGuy

This is an LED blinkenlights type of thing, driven by 74HC14 Schmitt-trigger inverters driving the LEDs directly; and 74HC157 multiplexers to select different sequences.

It's my first time using such tiny components - the matrix area of the board needs to be clear of components but I needed to keep the rest of the board as small as possible while cramming in lots of capacitors and resistors.

I know some of you solder this stuff but I can't begin to imagine doing so so I left it to JLCPCB - OTOH I'm still an electronics novice so I'm impressed/amazed/astounded it worked!

Details in comments

Getting the hang of this - so far it's the best way I've found of making instrument panels etc. I'm using a plastic laminate material with a very thin metallic layer - it's designed for lasers but getting good results on the CNC. Sharing the process/progress if anyone is interested - (captions on each pic with details).

This is an alternative UI that I made (admittedly with Claude doing most of the code) for FluidNC. It completely replaces the stock UI, talking to the board via websockets. It is NOT a gcode sender - the board stores gcode files on an SD card and runs them itself; both the stock UI and this are interfaces to manage that.

Done some updates to this recently; mainly:

• Calculating the job area from the gcode - so I can refer to how physically big a file is
• Capturing the tool from the gcode file comments - again, so I don't forget what took to fit for the job
• Tiling/step-and-repeat - can run multiple copies of a job unattended. Saves needing to generate tiled gcode files

It's good fun to tweak this to work exactly to my preferred workflow. I haven't even needed to create a macros feature since it I've integrated all the things I would have otherwise needed macros for.

This is work in progress so not on github etc for now - but happy to share code/details with anyone interested...

Been using this stuff for a while. I think it's intended for decorators needing to stick dust sheets to walls/skirtings/etc. It's easy to apply/tear, and to remove the liner, and it removes cleanly.

It's not as strong as masking tape+superglue, which I still use when I don't want to risk something coming unstuck - but it's OK for some jobs and much quicker. So while not perfect and not the cheapest (around £5-6 on Amazon for 25m) it's the closest I've come so far to the mythical double-sided masking tape.

This damn thing continues to annoy me any time I need to do anything (eg my previous rant) - this time I needed to swap out the nvme on the back side of the board.

Which should in theory be easy, because my case allows easy access to the back. But this board has a shield on the reverse, which covers the nvme slot (technically heat sink but I'm unfussed) - necessitating removing the board from the case, and the shield from the board.

Figured I could just ditch the shield all together - but assembling without it revealed it has a strip of material to press against the VRMs for potential heatsink, and reducing coil whine. So instead I got busy with the Dremel and cut off the part of the shield covering the drive.

I will pay a LOT more attention to such practicalities next time I look for a MB...

Kept all the keys that came with furniture, equipment, etc over the years and threw them into a tub. Counted about 120 of them.

Clearing out the workshop, I decided I have nice sets and I would never sort through or use these - so off to recycling they go! (Along with the crappy spanners etc.)

Did similar a while ago with the 5kg tub of screws/fixings/etc - recommend it, it's very cathartic :)

So I made a MKII... with mixed feelings :P

Following the enthusiastic feedback from the lovely folks here on the original, I made a MKII. Compared to the first, it is:

• A significant upgrade, since it is technically now a computer, and has more features
• A significant downgrade, since it is technically now a computer, and has more features

The TL;DR is that the first one involved soldering approx one metric gazillion of LEDs; the MKII allows the PCBs to be pre-assembled - 4 PCBs per device = total 576 individual LEDs. Pure red and yellow, no RGBs!

Anyway, thought you all may be amused by the equally spurious sequel!