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Magnitude: 6.0
Location: Near the east coast of Honshu, Japan

Time: Fri, Apr 13, 2012 10:10:02 PM GMT+12:00
GMT: Fri, Apr 13, 2012 10:10:02 GMT

Latitude: 36° 59' 52" N  (36.9980°)
Longitude: 141° 19' 29" E  (141.3250°)
Depth: 13.6 km

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=M%206.0%20-%20Near%20the%20east%20coast%20of%20Honshu%2C%20Japan@36.998001,141.324997&z=6 

More Information (while available): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc00092jv.php 

Data provided by US Geological Survey.

One end of the bent conduit has a 3/8″ hold drilled only in one side.  The pan bolt was replaced with a longer one.  Then insert the conduit into the clamp, and tighten the pan bolt so it goes through the hole and through to pinch the other side of the conduit to the side of the clamp.

My thanks to Jeremy D. for the suggestion and commentary on how to make them, and to Dave I. for physical construction.

Even if you don’t work with actors, you will thoroughly enjoy this video.  Trust me!

Thanks Maria!!

Super Candle

Making your own candles can be more fun than you might think.  Here is one with 6 wicks.  Pretty hot.

Tools Explained

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching
flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the
chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted
project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere
under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints
and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you
to say, ‘Oh sh–!’

SKIL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation
of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor
touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board
principle… It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable
motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more
dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt
heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer
intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various
flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the
grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing
race.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood
projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground
after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack
handle firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to
cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into
the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the
outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength
of everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under
lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil
on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out
Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to
convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering
your palms.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or
bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is
used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts
adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

UTILITY KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of
cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly
well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic
bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic
parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in
use.

SON-OF-A-BITCH TOOL: (A personal favorite!) Any handy tool that
you grab and throw across the garage while yelling ‘Son of a BITCH!’ at
the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

Hope you found this informative.

For years I’ve wanted side lights for the musicals and plays that I light in the local community.  But most of my shows involve 30 – 40 student actors, many of whom don’t have much theatre experience.  So using traditional boom stands isn’t practical.  Even if the actors could successfully avoid the boom stands, the tech crew would not be able to roll scenery pieces on/off.  Broadway solves this with lighting ladders hanging on the sides.  I took as simpler approach to hang down tail lighting supports using some pipe, cheesboros, and my LED crossbars that normally go on tripods.

Using a fixed 90deg cheesboro, a 10′ pipe is clamped vertically near the end of a batten pipe with about 8′ hanging down.  A 4′ pipe is clamped on a diagonal with swivel cheesboros to provide stability.  As noted, my LED’s are typically arranged in groups of 4 on standard Ultimate Support crossbars with hardware for tripod attachment.  I’ve also drilled and installed a pair of C-clamps on the top of the bar for fast hanging from truss in clubs.  In this case, I used those same C-clamps to clamp the lightweight crossbar with pre-wired LEDs vertically onto the downtail.

For safety, the vertical pipe has a bolt installed across the diameter at each end.  If for some reason the pipe were to slide down in the cheesboro, the bolt would provide a stop. Likewise, if the pre-wired LED crossbar were to slide on it’s C-clamps, it would again stop at the cross bolt on the end of the pipe.  Actually, it would also be stopped by the angle support.  And finally, each light is captivated in a safety cable reaching from the batten.

All on the production crew were delighted with the additon of side lighting, and the depth and dimension this added to the show.  It was well worth the effort and modest expense in cheesboros and pipe.  My thanks to Jeremy, Eric, Dave, Doug, and Keith for their work to help build and install these.  What a great crew!!

MR Case has been a very long time supporter of WindWorks Design, working as our shipping manager, collaborator, and source of inspiration.  So it’s only fitting that we return the favors and help her sell some books.  I’ve personally read all 4 books in the MacMaster Chronicles series.  They are terrific action adventure books, affordably priced, and available from most major retailers.  Check them out.  They make terrific holiday gifts.

Here’s the press release:

“The Case Of The Persian Plague”, Book 4 of The MacMaster Chronicles, by Jason Lord Case is officially released and available.

Yippee (imagine horns tooting, people clapping and yelling with glee)!!
Getting a book ready to publish is a tremendous amount of work, but we are very pleased with the result.

And so, on that note, here’s my marketing and sales plug:
Get your copy of “The Case Of The Persian Plague” today.
It’s available both in Paperback, and in digital E-book.

Amazon.com for both paperback and Kindle e-book
Smashwords for ebooks in all formats
CreateSpace for paperback
And of course at Red Petal Press where you can order an author-signed copy, or a DRM-free e-copy in all popular formats. (We also have the lowest price on paperback, at least for right now.)

Perhaps you had a chance to read the Red Petal Press blog that hopefully answered your questions about e-readers and e-books. Our ebooks are less than $5. Check one out today.  (Don’t forget that a portion of e-book sales goes to help Animal Services, Red Petal Press’s goodwill for 2011.)

Please forward this email on to your friends who are readers. Our tiny company can use all of the good exposure possible.