Do It Yourself

circularfish Mod , in Parts Washer: What solvent are you using?
@circularfish@beehaw.org avatar

I use mineral spirits, and have not had issues. Some folks recommend this stuff, But I have not tried it: tractorsupply.com/…/crown-psc-1000-parts-cleaner-…

darkesthour111 , in Parts Washer: What solvent are you using?

I use Zep purple degreaser. It’s worked fantastic for all my machines. Anything you get you should avoid the fumes anyways.

You will want to pay attention to material safety data sheets. Zep in particular does not require protective equipment except for gloves( which I recommend anyways!). Also has a low rating on flammability (1)

But uh don’t inhale anything if you can help it.

TheBaldness OP ,

I was looking at that one. They recommend diluting one part Zep with four parts water. So, yeah I figure it’s not flammable.

renard_roux ,

I figure it’s not flammable.

Unless you live near a fracking site, I guess 🤔

Guenther_Amanita , in Parts Washer: What solvent are you using?

I have no idea what a part washer is, but maybe consider using an ultrasonic cleaner.

You can then either load it with surfactants (e.g. SLS) in a water phase or with apolar solvents like cineol, terpentine or limonene, which have similar solving capabilities as diesel, but are bio based and not as flammable.

Using surfactants alone without ultrasound won’t work, but using solvents alone won’t keep the particles in phase, as they would just sink to the bottom.

If you tell me exactly how this washer looks like/ works and what exactly you wanna clean, I can help you more.

TheBaldness OP ,

It’s one of these:

www.amazon.com/…/B09VJLSFWM/

Guenther_Amanita ,

Great that you looked into the compatibility first. Many solvents can dissolve, or at least swell, parts of the machine.

The good thing is, solvent isn’t solvent. There are different kinds (polarities, etc.), and maybe something like alcohol might work.
Problem is, grease is hard to dissolve with those.

In the industry, you have special “laundry washing machines” (sort of) that work with hot solvent, e.g. benzyl alcohol, since you need movement and heat preferably to clean everything decently.
Even with a good solvent, degreasing with your washer alone won’t work as great.


I personally would go for an ultrasound bath. They tend to work more mechanically (phsically) instead of chemically, and with them, you can dissolve the dirt with soapy water pretty easily, without any volatile solvents or risks. You can get a decent one for 50 bucks starting price, or 100 if you want a bit better one.

TheBaldness OP ,

I just checked the pump spec, and it’s only rated for water-based cleaners. So that limits my options.

beezkneez , in My friend carved Fox McCloud in a piece of wood (and I think it's cool)

That’s pretty cool! I just started playing Star Fox Adventures today, so funny coincidence that this popped up in my feed today.

Thavron , in In-house fiber network
@Thavron@lemmy.ca avatar

I don’t necessarily have a solution, but it might be useful to know why you need such a big connection to the room, if you’re willing to share. Might lead to some different solutions.

stephaaaaan ,

I think OPs issue is a combination of available space and regulations. Little space + no copper data connections next to power cables leave little choice but fibre.

I‘m kind of in the same boat, as I would like to connect the garage and an annex building. However, the garage needs power to, prepared for EV - so, large power cable as well. Same for the annex one, in which I just want to have bandwidth available :)

Radiant_sir_radiant OP ,

Little space + no copper data connections next to power cables leave little choice but fibre.

That’s the thing. If I add anything else the house won’t pass the periodic electrical inspections.

For an EV we’re probably talking 11 or 22kW, so a rather thick cable. But you’re probably going to have it installed by a certified electrician anyway, or can you do that yourself in Germany?

stephaaaaan ,

You can pull the wiring yourself, but an electrician needs to do the connections and insulation tests :)

Radiant_sir_radiant OP ,

Hmm, Lemmy or Jerboa appears to have eaten my lengthy reply, so here we go again:

My aim is to have my router/firewall, mail server and VM host in the shelter, as it’s the most protected room in the house. That means I need at least two lines - one from the modem to the router/firewall, and one connecting everything to the internal LAN.

The internet connection is rated 400Mbit synchronous with the option of upgrading to up to 25Gbit, though at present I can’t imagine us ever needing that much and it’s probably more of a marketing gimmick anyway, so that line isn’t as critical, throughput-wise.

The rest of the house is currently a copper Gigabit affair, though the cabling is Cat7 and capable of more, so I wouldn’t want the fiber to be the bottleneck when we upgrade to 10Gbit a few years down the road. Hence multimode looks like a good idea. The question is whether (and how) there’s a way to cut, install and connect it myself. POF would be easier but comes with a number of question marks concerning 10GbE.

eveninghere ,

This might be a stupid suggestion, but Wifi 7 is to arrive on this Dec. It’s going to allow tens of Gbit/sec. Depending on your conditions, you might just buy a Wifi router.

Radiant_sir_radiant OP ,

Wi-Fi 7 looks promising, but I doubt I’ll get two independent reliable Gigabit+ connections through 35cm of reinforced concrete.

StrangeAttractor , in In-house fiber network

If you’re going to run fibre, run at least a 12 core bundle, it’s probably not going to be much more expensive to run 24 as well, though, I found 12 is overkill for my house -> shed connection. If you can manage it given the space issues, pre-terminated MTP fibres are relatively inexpensive, then get yourself some MTP -> LC or SC pigtails or casettes on both ends, I found some MTP -> LC cassettes on eBay for under AUD$50, also old mellanox SFP+ PCIe cards for < AUD $40 and new SFP+ modules for 10gb fibre were $20. stick OpenWRT or OPNSense on an old computer with these cards and you’ve got yourself a 10Gb router :)

I did spend up on the ubiquiti 10Gb SFP+ aggregation switch though, which made things a bit easier!

Aussiemandeus , in A couple questions about clean up on some projects
@Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone avatar

Man i wish i could help, i know my wife who’s an electrician won’t reuse wires if it is a new wire job.

However if you change a fan you don’t replace the whole wiring too so i think it’s more to do with cost to customers.

I’m not sure about the breaker question, i work on large machines that have 24v and 400v and 230v circuits and we leave unused breakers in place.

But I’m a mechanic not an electrician

Uprise42 OP ,

I honestly don’t see a reason why it would hurt if there’s nothing wired to the breaker. And it feels safer than leaving the contacts exposed since the metal cover is open on those slots. But I’m not sure if that’s the proper way.

As for the wire, I think it’s more so quality control. If it’s new and you bought it then you know it’s high quality and if it doesn’t work you can warranty your own work, but you can’t warranty old equipment. But this is another one where I can’t see the harm in using it if I am replacing a short strand of wire and it is the right length. Like I said, it’s type NM cable so it seems to be equivalent to modern romex wire, just a different brand.

iamnotme , in In-house fiber network

Can you not rent fibre splicing kit where you are. That’s what I’ve done in the UK when I’ve needed fibre installed on my jobs.

I don’t do enough to justify buying all the kit, so this works out better for me.

LallyLuckFarm , in Finished the cat paths!
@LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org avatar

Awesome stuff, and the door is a special touch! And…is that a lapphund I see doing the maths to figure out how they can get a shelf of their own?

Vodulas OP ,

He is a Pomeranian/husky mix. We just adopted him and his sister about a month ago, and our least confident, but largest cat needed a confidence boost. We gave it to him in the form of putting holes in the walls

https://beehaw.org/pictrs/image/6e51e5f2-4437-4954-90a5-7711ceedb1d6.webp

LallyLuckFarm ,
@LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org avatar

You sound like an awesome human!

Please give all parties my scritches, and tell that pup I love his eyebrows!

Vodulas OP ,

Will do for sure!

jarfil ,
@jarfil@beehaw.org avatar

Just a heads up: cats get a confidence boost from how stuff smells.

Even when neutered at an early age, they have a highly sensitive nose, plus a vomeronasal organ, they keep rubbing their smell and saliva onto everything, and are highly territorial regarding anything smelling “not right”.

If you plan on having more than one cat, also plan on sticking to a strict cleaning policy to reduce odors and keep the ones left as uniform as possible, before the cats “fix” it for you.

Personally, I’d be wary of a carpeted floor, any carpet-like surfaces, or letting cats get into high places that can turn into waterfalls or allow them to piss on the ceiling… and I seriously wish that was hyperbole.

(Source: lived with dozens of cats, the remaining 5, both males and females, can still get into a pissing and puking contest when some chunk of floor, furniture, clothes, or whatever, “smells wrong”)

rhythmisaprancer ,
@rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social avatar

vomeronasal

Unrelated, but this term sounds like something I experience when I barf...

jarfil , (edited )
@jarfil@beehaw.org avatar

Surprisingly, somewhat related in a circuitous way…

Vomero is a neighborhood in Naples, on top of a hill and directed to upper-middle and higher class. The etymology mix is interesting: its name comes from a villa on there, which has a relation to agriculture, which uses plowshares, aka “vōmer” in Latin… which also was an informal word for penis (then again, what wasn’t in Latin)… but it stuck to the nasal bone with a shape similar to a plow.

“Vomerò” is also the first person singular of the future indicative for the Italian vomere, or “I will vomit” (…not to be confused with the Latin “vomitorium”, although that one’s etymology also comes from vomit)… and arguably, a plowshare is the part that “vomits” earth while plowing.

So you weren’t all that far away: if you vomit, chances are your vomeronasal organ, named after the bone shaped like the tool that vomits while plowing, will get a whiff of whatever goes through.

rhythmisaprancer ,
@rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social avatar

Thank you for indulging my inner etymological nerd! That was great. And unexpected. I wonder what the townfolk feel about that?

jarfil ,
@jarfil@beehaw.org avatar

I only lived in Naples for a short time many decades ago, but there was the occasional joke of going to vomit after partying at the pubs/clubs/discos up there. It didn’t feel like they took the relationship too seriously; after all, the words are accented differently, and one is a noun while the other is a verb conjugation.

rhythmisaprancer , in Finished the cat paths!
@rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social avatar

Yo, thanks for the followup! Looks like a lot of fun for them, and for you to build. Thanks for sharing. It makes so much h sense now 😺

Vodulas OP ,
rhythmisaprancer ,
@rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social avatar

Haha idk what to say, I grew up around cats. They know what's up! You looking at me? Great shot!

Vodulas OP ,

She jumped up there immediately after we finished cleaning up. I was walking up the stairs and she just looked at me like, “Why are you interrupting my nap?”

johnjamesautobahn , in Need beam for a 22-foot span. It's a carport. What to use?

Any reason the high side of the shed roof can’t intercept the existing garage roof further up the pitch? Then you could use open web trusses which although deeper are lighter and potentially cheaper than a wide flange. Attaching them higher also gives you more clear height with a longer span.

TheBaldness OP ,

That was the original plan. I was going to just extend the existing roof outward, but it would shed rain directly where you have to walk to get to the cars. You’d basically have to walk through a waterfall.

johnjamesautobahn ,

It would shed rain off the low end? Can you use a gutter and downspout?

Overzeetop , (edited ) in Need beam for a 22-foot span. It's a carport. What to use?

The advantage of LVLs are that

  1. you can put them up 1 ply at a time
  2. they hold nails/cut easily
  3. the lumber yard will likely size them for you if you ask

The disadvantage is that the depth will be about 1/16th of the span when using 2-3 plies.

The advantage of steel is that an I beam (W shape is what you want, for “Wide Flange Beam”) will be about 2/3 the depth of an LVL. The disadvantages are

  1. An engineer will likely charge you about $600-800 to size this beam, but will also tell you how to top connect it
  2. It will be one piece (fwiw it will weigh about the same as the LVL)
  3. You will have to buy a 40’ piece, or pay a premium to have it cut down from a 40’ piece. (stock lengths of steel are 20’/40’)

Note that nobody can properly answer your question from the data given (edit - just notice you mentioned 16’ rafters below). You would need to include the span of the rafters and (at least) your location to determine the snow loads and wind loads (edit: and seismic, though it’s unlikely to control for this design) for sizing the connections.

Disclaimer: I’m a structural engineer, but I’m not your structural engineer. For a long span like this I recommend contacting someone licensed in your jurisdiction to help you out.

Original ,

Not their structural engineer yet!

apis ,

They’re our structural engineer now, Dave.

Overzeetop ,

One option would be to make the beam a flush condition. To get a 16’ span with rafters you’re going to be using at least 2x8s. That’s 7.25" deep. If you were set the top of the beam at the top of the rafters and hang them from the beam (simpson or USP hangers) that buys you some space. Now an 11.88" LVL would only stick down 5-5/8" below the bottom of the rafters. (okay, 5-3/4"-6" with the additional slope over the 5.25" of beam) I’m not saying that a 3 ply 11x88 LVL with a 2.1E, bearing in a BC6 cap on 6x6s would work for your application, but the height tolerance would seem to add up in your favor.

oo1 , in Need beam for a 22-foot span. It's a carport. What to use?

22 ft unsupported seems like a very long span to me, what's that nearly 7 metres?
Sounds like it's getting into the realm of structural enginneering not diy for me.

If you want to save costs you might think aout a "flitch beam", that's 2 wood beams with a steel plate sandwiched in between - the three components are bolted together every few feet. Easier to join to the timbers then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWUNd559UQY

I still think you might be more like 10"x2 or even 12"x2 timbers to cover that span if totally unsupported. But might still come in a little cheaper than the i-beam.
Maybe the roof will be very lightweight and no snow weight is expected - but I'm no structural engineer so don't take my word for it.

Other features like corner bracing or canti-leverage, or some other support structure or other feature (like is it the bottom side of a framed gable triangle) might also help.

LVLmight not be suitable, but i think you can get treated "glulam" beams suitable for exterior (covered) use.
https://en.k2-builders.com/what-type-of-glulam-can-be-used-for-exterior/

TheBaldness OP ,

A flitch beam sounds interesting. The problem with 2-by timbers, like 10x2 or 12x2, is their thickness. A 12x2 would drop down 12 inches, and the highest point of my carport is only 8-feet high. In its 16-foot run, it has to drop at least 4 inches in order for water to run off. I can’t be using material as thick as 12x2. That’s why I was considering doubling or tripling some engineered wood. But at that point it seems like steel would be the same cost and better performing. I dunno. Like you said, I may have to talk to an engineer.

oo1 ,

yeah, glulam is probably a non-starter too if there's no height available.
I think you can do triple flitch.

So like : [w]|[w]|[w]
maybe that'd work with 3 2x6s , 2 steels, all boted together.

apis , in Need beam for a 22-foot span. It's a carport. What to use?

To attach wood to an I-beam, you could drill holes in the flanges of the beam, then use bolts. There are also fittings that you can slide posts & beams into, with various ways of securing them to the material they hold. If you’re not using T-shaped fittings, you could bolt fittings together.

TheBaldness OP ,

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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  • apis ,

    Try an image search for “beam connectors” and you should get an idea of the types of things that are available, but a trip to your local builders’ merchant & a chat with the people there may be more fruitful.

    Iamdanno , in Need beam for a 22-foot span. It's a carport. What to use?

    Easiest thing to do is talk to a metal building company. They do carports all the time. Even if you don’t have them do it, you could get detailed info on materials.

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