How To Wash Raw Denim
So you’ve been wearing your raw denim for the last 6 to 12 months and they’re starting to smell kind of rank. Rank to the point where fabreeze won’t even cut it and people are starting to notice. Washing your raw denim for the first time can be a stressful time. Will I lose all the color? Will they shrink a size? What will happen to the sheen?
The first wash is actually kind of exciting, it’s were you get to really see the fruits of your labor. All the creases and wear patterns really pop after the first wash. Yes you will lose some dye, yes the dye will set, yes the jeans will not fade as fast. But at some point you’ve just got to wash them and move on. Another benefit of washing is that it actually increases the lifespan of your jeans. Seriously, the dirt that gets worked into your jeans through daily use actually functions like an abrasive, wearing down the fibers in the denim and weakening them. Go long enough without a wash and you’re asking for pocket holes and a blown out crotch.
I’ve heard of some pretty strange washing method on the interwebs, including wearing your jeans into the ocean, buying special japanese laundry detergent, and soaking them in a tub with shampoo. Given that some people pay upwards of $500 on a pair of raw denim jeans, I guess I can understand where all the insanity comes from. The below method does not require a beach or japanese soaps, just a laundry machine and a store bought laundry detergent.
First a before shot:
Nikon D40 plastic LCD window cover repair (also D40x, D60, and others)
Most, if not all, digital cameras have some sort of plastic cover on top of the LCD. The plastic cover protects and seals the LCD from damage. If the LCD cover gets hit hard enough it cracks. If your LCD underneath looks like someone spilled ink on it, then you’re out of luck, the LCD will need to be replaced as well.
AppleSac by ColcaSac MacBook Pro Sleeve Review
I’ve been using Incase neoprene laptop sleeves for the past 3 or 4 years.
I’m not sure why.
I wanted a sleeve that would enable me to recognize it amongst a pile of laptop cases. Just about every sleeve follows the same formula as Incase: form-fitting neoprene and a zipper. One of the few manufacturers making something different is ColcaSac (formerly AppleSac). What they make is basically the opposite of the Incase sleeve: natural materials, velco flap, and not formfitting.
DIY Mold-A-Rama: How it Works
One of the first steps in reverse engineering a product is understanding how it works. Ideally I would have access to the actual mold-a-rama (MAR), however they are rare and expensive. I could find an operating installation, but the closest operating MAR is at a zoo several hours away. I also have been unable to find pictures or video of the mechanics below the cabinet. The only parts visible from the images I’ve seen are the molds, mold rams, and ejector. All the complicated bits are hidden from view in the cabinet. The last avenue is products documentation in the form of manuals and patents. Fortunately I am an awesome google-er and have found both. The operation and repair manual can be found here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/37301298?secret_password=1ehb8rphnat7ykzt6zu3
DIY Mold-A-Rama: An Introduction
About an hour ago I discovered an awesome machine from the 60′s called a Mold-A-Rama (MAR):
More info here: http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article1015315.ece
Video of its operation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_sJxxeB5Lo
Canon Rebel 300D Sub-Mirror Pin Repair aka My Pictures Are All Half Black
Are the pictures from your Canon Rebel DSLR coming out with the lower half of the frame black? When you take off the lens and push the main mirror up, does the small mirror below the main mirror not lift up completely? If so, your sub-mirror pin is broken and causing the darkness. There is a pin that functions as a hinge for the sub-mirror. When it breaks the mirror does not fully fold up into the main mirror and thus blocks some light to the CCD sensor. You can manually fold the sub-mirror into the main mirror, which will fix the problem at the cost of your autofocus functionality.
In a move of remarkable engineering Canon decided to make a critical high-stress pin out of plastic. Who would have guessed that a tiny plastic pin would break after being flexed 20,000 times? The only way to really fix the issue is to install a new metal pin, which Canon eventually did.
Cross section of Rebel mirror box
Chrome + WordPress = Fail
I spent almost 2 hour composing a post on how to replace the CF pin module on Canon digital Rebels, but the post disappeared when I saved it. So here’s a picture of my work bench instead. I’ll probably stop being mad at wordpress next week, and will be able to finish the post then.
Canon EF 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Autofocus Repair
The Canon EF 20-35mm is a highly rated wide-angle lens that suffers from a common AF malfunction. Many users find the focus control stops working in both auto and manual mode. An excellent article by Piers Hendrie illustrates very clearly how to take apart the lens, and one possible fix for the issue.
The cause of this problem is that the USM ring motor (#4 below) is not applying enough pressure to the focus ring (5). Pressure is applied to the focus ring via a spacer (1), wave washer (2), and a felt ring(3). When you have this issue you can still hear the USM motor moving, but the focus ring does not move.
Photo credit: Piers Hendrie
Bike Light Parts Arrive
All the parts for my mega P7 bike light have arrived. The driver from Kai Domain came relatively quickly, but the P7 LED emitter from Deal Extreme took forever to arrive. Of course the driver came without any sort of labels or instructions so I’m going to have to search the candlepower forums to figure out how to hook it up. Now that I have all the parts I am going to draw them in solidworks and start designing the housing around them. The reflector ended up being much larger than I had thought so I may not use it.
