Electro-Chemical Metal Marking & Etching

Material

• Brother P-Touch that works for TZe tapes
  These printers work fine with the TSe tapes too - at least my experiece with the TP-P750W and the PT-2430PC.
• Brother stencil tape STe-141 (18 mm), STe-151 (34 mm) or TSe-161 (36 mm)
• highlighter
• Marking Head (AliExpresss ~12 CHF)
• Electrolyte (NaCl in water ;-)
• Oil to prevent rusting, when etching iron or regular steel.
• Power Supply 

Process

Print the stencil with Brothers P-Touch software.
Use the highlighter on the glossy side of the stencil to make to improve visibility.
Apply the stencil to the metal you want to mark/etch.
Use insulation tape to keep the stencil in place and protect the area around the stencil from being etched.
Attach the red (+) pol to the metal you want to mark/etch.
Attach the black (+) pol to the marking head.
Moist the marking head with the NaCl-sollution.
Turn the power supply on.
Swab the stencil with the marking head. You may check the current indicator to become an idea of the etching work done ;-)
Turn the power supply off.
Remove the power cords, stencil from the etched metal.
Clean the metal. 
When etching iron or "regular" steel apply oil to prevent rusting.

Result

I used for this stainless steel (1.4301) 9 V DC (constant voltage) ~10 seconds.
Etching/marking parameters vary from metal to metal.

Details

Published: 2022-08-01

Last Updated: 2022-08-01

Project - Honey Extractor

Plan

Have a honey extractor for «Schweizer Kasten» frames

Requirements

• Stainless steel (e.g. ANSI 304)
• at least 9 Swiss honey frames 
• radial cage (tangential add-on for breed frame is OK) 
• gap free welded 
• advanced floor geometry to support honey drain
• electric motor
• motor on top (removable easily)
• 230 V (Kaltgerätestecker C14) prefered
• speed regulator
• Diameter of the vat: ~520 mm (or ~625 mm)
• Diameter of the cage: ~502 mm (or ~600 mm)
• rubber feet covers
• brushless motor
• ...

Candidates

• Lega - Motorized Extractor TOP JOLLY Tangential and Radial Universal Stainless Steel Cage (~1400 EUR) via Imme
• Logar - 9-Waben-Radialschleuder für 6 Schweizer Honigrahmen und 3 Schweizer Brutrahmen, Kessel 52 cm, 110W Motor (~1300 EUR) via via honigschleudern.ch/ 
• Logar - 12-Waben-Radialschleuder für Schweizer Honigrahmen, Kessel 63 cm, 110W Motor (~1600 EUR) via www.honigschleudern.ch/
• Carl Fritz - CFM-Radialschleuder Ø 63cm, 12-Waben CH mit Flüsterhexe (~1800 EUR) via (?)

Decision

• Carl Fritz - CFM-Radialschleuder Ø 63cm, 12-Waben CH mit Flüsterhexe Item 5263012-CH  (1748 EUR incl. 19 % VAT)  ship to LAS Burg (free of charge & export papers ready to stamp by DE customs)
  includes «5203812-CH Radialkorb für 12 Schweizer Rähmchen»
  + 6300059 Gummifüße,
  + 6000074 Fett für Bodenlager,
  + 6000070 Kugel für Bodenlager (spare part)
  + 23045007 Dichtstopfen für Bodenlager (spare part)

Concerns

• Size of shipment vs. size of my car :-/

Reference

• G-Force calculation (not verified)

 

 

Details

Published: 2022-02-26

Last Updated: 2022-03-08

Hive Scale - Project (Stockwaage)

Plan

Have weight readings of multiple bee hives transmitted via LoRa.
Power supplied by battery and solar module to keep the sensor and transmitter self-sufficient. 

Hardware 

• LILYGO® TTGO T-Weigh Lora T-Micro32 Weighing 4-Way HX711 SX1262 ESP32 IOT High Sensitivity (~30 EUR)
• LILYGO® TTGO T-U2T USB To TTL Automatic Downloader CH9102 Programmer Adapter Serial Development Board Open Source Module (~5 EUR)
• Bosche H40A Single point load cell OR H30A Single point load cell (~50 EUR) 
• LANGLITZ Metalle GmbH (stainless steel & aluminum) 

Resources

https://github.com/Xinyuan-LilyGO/T-Weigh

Details

Published: 2022-02-26

Last Updated: 2022-03-08