Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

311–320 of 694 posts

Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?

#311

Post by shimon »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #283
shimon wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting technique. Are there some similarities to the Venetian Plaster technique? (Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfGbryICt0A )

The primary difference is that "Venetian plaster" process is specifically intended to mimic the look of marble or stone and so the method doesn't really veer too far outside of that for materials or process. These kind of artists seem to only use quartz or other "smooth" acrylic plasters and pigments that don't have the same structure and are generally thin and temporary (less than 20 years expected age) - so not lim…

Thanks for elaborating - that sounds really cool.

Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?

#312

Post by kroltan »

Just a simple thing compared to the epic works of art and engineering seen elsewhere in this thread, but it pleases me and that is enough.

Don't even have a name for it, but I trapped a bunch of small bearing balls between a couple sheets of acrylic, so they are free to move but only in 2 dimensions.

It is so relaxing to handle, it's a hefty thing with around 4500 2mm balls in it. I like holding it on my lap and swishing around until I manage to form them into a single lattice. As the thousands of little balls roll, they make a sound that is the mix of raining, a stream, or a million Lego pieces being dug through.

There is a video of it here: https://twitter.com/kroltan/status/1385386058913832963

While building it with my dad, we weren't sure how to fix the acrylic plates together, so we used some double-sided tape. My dad raised the board before his eyes, but a terrifying crack was heard, and the smile that was on his face turned into a frown at the exact same rate the level of the balls dropped from the frame.

We spent the next 2 hours sweeping his workshop to retrieve all the balls, and then fixed it with double sided tape, glue, and an outer "framing" of a fabric tape which is really good under tension.

Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?

#313

Post by pseudosavant »

Recently, I've delved into creating and modifying electric guitars. Here are some of the enhancements and modifications I've made:

- Pickups: Upgraded to Fleor's pickups, which are both excellent and budget-friendly. - Blender Knob: Replaced the traditional pickup selector switch with a blender knob. Most blender knobs aren’t designed effectively. I've found using a dual potentiometer (stereo fader) with a center detent to be the only way that sounds really good. I’m currently exploring slider pots that can be seamlessly integrated into the pickup selector's position. - Configuration: Transitioned to SS or HS configurations on my Strats. The middle pickup tone falls short, but blending the neck/bridge results in a phenomenal sound. - Noise Reduction: Lined the electronic compartments with copper tape. This ensures the guitar remains silent, even when utilizing high-output pickups. - Tone Knob: Modified the typical frequency-adjustable low-pass filter to be a push-pull between low-pass and high-pass. This results in a crisp, punchy funk sound. - Bridge: Converted my Strat's tremolo system to a hardtail using wood epoxy and by repurposing the existing bridge components. - Luthier Skills: I've been enriching my knowledge via Stew Mac videos on YouTube, especially on *expertly* setting truss rods. This expertise has significantly enhanced the playability of my guitars, eliminating any fret buzz. - Design: Ventured into laser engraving on headstocks, pickguards, and bodies, which adds distinct details to the look of each guitar.

Regarding tone, the type of wood in an electric guitar plays an extremely minor role. The primary influencers are the electronics and components in contact with the strings (e.g., nut, frets, bridge). Currently, my go-to instrument is a $65 Monoprice Tele, spruced up with roughly $130 worth of parts and an old Seymour Duncan pickup. Some additional upgrades include a Fleor hotrail tele bridge pickup, engraved bridge with roller saddles, and locking tuners. It plays and sounds incredible. Basically, any electric guitar with a neck that plays well can be made to sound good with improved electronics.

Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?

#314

Post by irrational »

wpietri wrote: post #173
irrational wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gas? Yes. Electric? Eh, if you are smart enough to program a computer, you are smart enough to read and learn how to do electric properly.

I knew a very smart guy with an attitude like that. He decided to run the electric wiring for an artist's co-op he made out of surplus shipping containers. When the city inspectors eventually popped by for a surprise visit, it was so far from code compliant that they pulled his electric meter on the spot. Being very smart, he was sure he was in the right, so I hear he fought with the city for years over it, in the me…

Hopefully you are reading and learning from the same place licensed electricians are learning from. Sounds like this guy didn't go to the right sources.

Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?

#316

Post by throwaway-7282 »

bglazer wrote: post #226
throwaway-7282 wrote: post #221

I made a replica of the… device that a popular video game called Counter Strike uses in game[1] I designed and 3D printed everything myself including the circuit board, and overall it was a really fun project to work on. There were some areas I could have been more accurate to what the in game model looks like but maybe in a version 2. It’s a cool thing that sits on my desk and does not leave the house. [1]: https://…

Oh wow. Thats very well done and also an extremely alarming looking object

Thanks! Agreed, I think its more fun to make dangerous looking objects so long as you remember that others may not know it’s only a model

Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?

#317

Post by mutatio »

kmm wrote: post #77

A few years ago I made a "string art" portrait for my girlfriend at the time. It's made from a continuous† 2 km long black thread, woven around a loom made from a bicycle wheel rim. I'm still very proud of how it turned out. †OK fine, it broke at a few points and I had to knot the ends together, but it's the principle that counts. https://imgur.com/gallery/ljoJeal I really wanted to make something creative for her, b…

Wonderful expression of art and life, bravo.

Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?

#318

Post by codetrotter »

jaywalk wrote: post #305
hoofhearted wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. As I understand it, Amazon doesn’t actually own data centers; similar to how they don’t own warehouses. My understanding later on in my career shift to computer engineering was that Amazon is renting out the whole colo, and just owns their equipment. Amazon isn’t maintaining the datacenter infrastructure such as cooling and power, but instead it’s covered in their bill.

So then who owns the warehouses that have Amazon logos on them, exclusively used by Amazon with Amazon employees working inside them?

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/06/13/prologis-amazon-warehous...

Prologis controls roughly 1 billion square feet of warehouses and distribution centers used by companies including Amazon, Home Depot and FedEx.

Probably there are others as well that rent warehouses to Anazon.

Having a sign with the name of a business on a building does not mean that the business owns the building itself.

Many companies rent offices for example, and put their logo on the building where they are renting offices.

Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?

#319

Post by kmm »

jameswatling wrote: post #284
kmm wrote: post #77

A few years ago I made a "string art" portrait for my girlfriend at the time. It's made from a continuous† 2 km long black thread, woven around a loom made from a bicycle wheel rim. I'm still very proud of how it turned out. †OK fine, it broke at a few points and I had to knot the ends together, but it's the principle that counts. https://imgur.com/gallery/ljoJeal I really wanted to make something creative for her, b…

This is awesome, and am so tempted to try.... one question, how long did it take to physically complete this! Also I know you had to "repair" the string a few times, but is this a 2mi single thread?

I don't remember exactly, it's been 5 years, but I remember there were almost 4000 loops. The loom is a little less than a meter across, but most loop don't span the entire width of the loom, so half a meter per loop is a good estimate, which would yield 2 kilometers. I think that's only 20 euros worth of thread.

Similarly, assuming the average loop took me 10 seconds to do, that amounts to about 10 hours, and I do remember that the final step only took a day or 4, with a few hours of work every evening.

Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?

#320

Post by fragmede »

jszymborski wrote: post #238

I've made a bunch of cancer-causing virus as a grad student. After all the COVID lab leak stuff, it's become a story I need to preface with the fact that it was all zero-risk in terms of leaking out of the lab, and the only person at risk was myself. The virus was specifically missing the ability to replicate, but it did have the ability to infect cells in a dish. That means it was just BSL-2 stuff. Our lab studied c…

That's so cool! Bioengineering things like that blows my mind. We (humanity) can take bacteria edit their DNA and make them produce all sorts of useful things. Enzymes, insulin, flavorings, colored dye. Some of that's old technology, too, it's just that petroleum based processes are cheaper that we use them instead of using bacteria for things.
Post reply on HN