The winter is playing hard to let go, seems my progress (and therefore worthwhile update) is mired as well. So it's time for more scenery.


This thing was salvaged from a decommissioned heap at a local facility. I don't know if it's the ink marker or the metal work that screams home-brew louder, probably the ink labelling. That said, the empty slot cut in the panel is a serious weak point, and I've taken to handling this gingerly as it does exhibit flex.


Flexible framework and iron do not make for an ideal pairing.

Here the sense of home-brew punctuates many nuances of this build; take the size of that fuse and the gauge of wire connected as example. This piece is almost inspiration for one of those find 10 things wrong with this picture puzzles, but to really do that right I'd want to stick Waldo in there somewhere and I'm sure there's some IP protocol prohibiting such behaviour. Such is the world as has been built.


This was the puzzler for me. I spent a few days just glancing at it in passing, subconsciously chewing on it (maybe, the subconscious continues to forge its own itinerary thank you very much). Until this morning when I grabbed it for photographic purpose and noticed the inlet on the underside.


Why, I do believe this a vacuum operated switch. A rather sensitive one from the size of it.. While it would appear that changing out or adjusting the spring tension will manipulate response curves I wonder if this will reliably cover the range of operation I would want to deploy in a vacuum table.

Since I HIGHLY doubt I will redeploy this unit to do whatever it was designed to, I'll probably pull that plunger assembly and find out, when I get to that phase in the CNC project.