Rebuilding an Ebike Battery

ebike-batteryA few of our members and visitors use Ebikes. We were presented with an Ebike battery which had a dead cell. The plan was to replace the cell with a new one. This is not ideal, since you end up with a mix of old and new cells, but the balance circuit should make it usable. On further investigation we found that there were a number of dead cells. So we set about rebuilding the whole battery with new 10Ah cells.

The cells are 10Ah LiFePO4 type…. 12 of them in all. The new ones are a little bigger than the old ones, so we will have to modify the case a bit, but that won’t be a show stopper. Drop in during our fortnightly electronics night to see the build in action.

One Year in Blackpitts

tog-locationThis October bank holiday weekend brings an important milestone for us.  It will be one year since we did the big move from Chancery Lane to Blackpitts. Over the bank holiday of 2015, we cleared out our old space and moved the lot to 22 Blackpitts, just a short distance away.

In the year since then, we’ve done incredible work.  TOG continues to grow. All of our old favourite theme evenings are up and running. We’ve built a fine common room, set up our kitchen, built classroom, electronics/laser cutter room and a general workshop. We’ve welcomed new members, each of whom bring their own unique skills and interests.

November will also be an important month for us as it will mark one year since we set up of our new organisation Tog Hackerspace Designated Activity Company.

 

 

 

Coder Girl Hack Day

shadow-boxesWe had a great time at Coder Girl Hack Day on Saturday. The girls assembled shadow boxes from laser cut plywood. They got to decorate them and install some LED lights that they soldered together with 9v battery and resistor. The boxes worked great and the girls got to take them home too.

October Open Social

social-duckWe’re at it again. It’s our regular Open Social evening. If you’ve never been to our Social, you’ll find it a great alternative Saturday evening in town. Come in and look around. If you’ve never been in before, we’ll give you the grand tour of the space. Talk to members and visitors about projects or things you’d like to do. Ask about our regular craft evening, which has just restarted. If you like what you see, ask about joining as a full member. Either way, we’re always interested to know what has drawn you to our door.

Hopefully there’ll be, caint, ceol agus craic as usual. The space stays open until the last member is left……usually the small hours of Sunday morning. The evening is free to attend for members and visitors alike. No need to book…. just turn up. You can drop in for 10 minutes, or stay the whole night. We have parking available. Bring beer, food, gadgets! Our doors are open from 7PM. Hope to see you there.
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Forge Maintenance

forgeA few years ago, we built a forge based on Larry Zoeller’s designs. We’ve used it a few times and now it’s time that the forge itself gets a bit of maintenance. This is nothing more than recoating the inside with a refractory coating to help keep the insulation in good shape. We did a quick test fire after letting it dry for a week and all was well.

Machining Brass

brassThe cooker door wouldn’t snap closed properly. A quick disassembly of the hinges showed that a brass disc had a flat spot from years of wear and tear. Replacements were no longer available. Time to make some new ones on the lathe.

Took some measurements and started with a length of brass stock. Turned it down to the required diameter, then drilled a 4mm centre hole. Next cut a groove and parted off the new disc from the bar.

Brass is interesting to work with. It kinda crumbles off in fine particles, unlike steel. Drop in sometime and have a look at the lathe.