A somewhat Antarctic story ahead...
Heater coil wire, at last. ^^
I broke 2 cutting discs like this, and they flew at inestimable velocities while I was cutting the part. I'm quite glad I bought 0 degree glasses despite my perfect eyesight - they came to use as safety goggles today. (I decided to put on some eye protection for once since the plastic bits caused much worry.)Well, I managed to find some unexpected things, and at the same time, I didn't manage to find most of the things I expected to find. On hindsight though, today was a huge learning experience for me. If I list the things, I earned.
Could not find:
1. Battery acid
2. Aluminium wire
3. Nitrile-based rubber gloves
Found:
4. Nichrome wire
5. 300 series dremel at darn cheap price
6. Sandpaper at a quarter of the price I used to pay for it
Learned:
7. Irresponsible people
8. The disadvantages of being young; and the likelihood of being scammed; and why I shouldn't do business
9. The difference between battery water and battery acid
10. The dangers of power tools in extreme; and the importance of safety goggles
11. How to cut a circle with a flat cutting disc (I bet you don't know either!)
12. How NOT to get my papers all dusty from grinding plastic bits
13. Liars
14. The wonders of eBay
1, 2, 3: Practically all of the things I set out for... it seems like my anodizing setup is going to have to wait. There's a tighter control on sulphuric acid in S'pore than I expected. I think I can find trisodium phosphate and/or ammonium nitrate though.
4, 5, 6: By chance, I found nichrome wire this time - though I couldn't find aluminium wire in return. I walked for 2 hours and couldn't find a dremel at all. Then just as I was about to give up and take my lunch (I skipped breakfast for this, too), I caught a glimpse of it behind a window on a normal looking store selling dustbins-whatnot! Very unexpected indeed. So I rushed in, asked for the price, and I was quoted $80. The problem is, I've heard that you could get it for $55 online. So, after some decision-making, I decided not to get it - nor to go for my lunch - I went for a second expedition. It's kind of the like how the early Antarctic explorers never gave up - they repeatedly tried to reach the South Pole.
And lo and behold, I found it. Funnily though, I used 'exhibitionist' as an umbrella term for a whole dormitory of people... and unfortunately enough, it was real hot today, and I ended up unbuttoning my top button - I wish I could unbutton more, too.
7: Well, after more than 1 month of trying, I decided there's no way I'm ever going to find the person whom I expected to help me out with some official documents. And I had a good opinion of him, that's why I expected him to help me out - and he had good things to say of me, as well.
On the other hand, the people who are helping me with the documents now are people whom I thought weren't on close terms with me.
I think friendliness and responsibility lie on different axes.
8: There's a sad thing about being very young relative to the other people, working professionals/construction workers who are visiting machining/supplies/hardware shops. I'm like, the prime target for scams. Or they'll look at me with strange eyes when I'm asking for something they don't have in their shop.
Now, I knew from a forum post that the dremel would cost $55... and when I got there, the guy was very, very nice! He beamed the most amicable, hospitable smile I've seen in the whole month, "You look like a student... I usually sell this for $65, but I'll let you have it for $60."
What?
I returned an awkward smile, "Mmm... my friend recommended me to your place; he said he got it from you for $55."
I just can't betray my moral principles to make money. I think he's not that bad of a person; he's just trying to make a living. But I can't do that, even if it's for business.
9: I didn't know "battery water" was deionized water. So confusing.
10: Cut at a 45 degree angle.
11: Re-use unwanted cardboard boxes.
12. I removed a LOT of material off my Ergopower levers while tuning - even exposing the metal structure underneath. Yet I only saved 8g from removing all that plastic. Volumetrically speaking, even if I had stripped away the plastic entirely, it's not possible to remove another 100g off it. It puzzles me how some people can have 180g Ergopower levers unless they had radically changed the parts of the shifting mechanism underneath.
13. I'm sick of walking around hoping to find something for a few dollars cheaper than it would cost shipped to my doorstep. More often than not, I can't find what I want, no matter how well I had ensured that the place has stock, and/or included a few backup suppliers in my planned trips.
Could not find:
1. Battery acid
2. Aluminium wire
3. Nitrile-based rubber gloves
Found:
4. Nichrome wire
5. 300 series dremel at darn cheap price
6. Sandpaper at a quarter of the price I used to pay for it
Learned:
7. Irresponsible people
8. The disadvantages of being young; and the likelihood of being scammed; and why I shouldn't do business
9. The difference between battery water and battery acid
10. The dangers of power tools in extreme; and the importance of safety goggles
11. How to cut a circle with a flat cutting disc (I bet you don't know either!)
12. How NOT to get my papers all dusty from grinding plastic bits
13. Liars
14. The wonders of eBay
1, 2, 3: Practically all of the things I set out for... it seems like my anodizing setup is going to have to wait. There's a tighter control on sulphuric acid in S'pore than I expected. I think I can find trisodium phosphate and/or ammonium nitrate though.
4, 5, 6: By chance, I found nichrome wire this time - though I couldn't find aluminium wire in return. I walked for 2 hours and couldn't find a dremel at all. Then just as I was about to give up and take my lunch (I skipped breakfast for this, too), I caught a glimpse of it behind a window on a normal looking store selling dustbins-whatnot! Very unexpected indeed. So I rushed in, asked for the price, and I was quoted $80. The problem is, I've heard that you could get it for $55 online. So, after some decision-making, I decided not to get it - nor to go for my lunch - I went for a second expedition. It's kind of the like how the early Antarctic explorers never gave up - they repeatedly tried to reach the South Pole.
And lo and behold, I found it. Funnily though, I used 'exhibitionist' as an umbrella term for a whole dormitory of people... and unfortunately enough, it was real hot today, and I ended up unbuttoning my top button - I wish I could unbutton more, too.
7: Well, after more than 1 month of trying, I decided there's no way I'm ever going to find the person whom I expected to help me out with some official documents. And I had a good opinion of him, that's why I expected him to help me out - and he had good things to say of me, as well.
On the other hand, the people who are helping me with the documents now are people whom I thought weren't on close terms with me.
I think friendliness and responsibility lie on different axes.
8: There's a sad thing about being very young relative to the other people, working professionals/construction workers who are visiting machining/supplies/hardware shops. I'm like, the prime target for scams. Or they'll look at me with strange eyes when I'm asking for something they don't have in their shop.
Now, I knew from a forum post that the dremel would cost $55... and when I got there, the guy was very, very nice! He beamed the most amicable, hospitable smile I've seen in the whole month, "You look like a student... I usually sell this for $65, but I'll let you have it for $60."
What?
I returned an awkward smile, "Mmm... my friend recommended me to your place; he said he got it from you for $55."
I just can't betray my moral principles to make money. I think he's not that bad of a person; he's just trying to make a living. But I can't do that, even if it's for business.
9: I didn't know "battery water" was deionized water. So confusing.
10: Cut at a 45 degree angle.
11: Re-use unwanted cardboard boxes.
12. I removed a LOT of material off my Ergopower levers while tuning - even exposing the metal structure underneath. Yet I only saved 8g from removing all that plastic. Volumetrically speaking, even if I had stripped away the plastic entirely, it's not possible to remove another 100g off it. It puzzles me how some people can have 180g Ergopower levers unless they had radically changed the parts of the shifting mechanism underneath.
13. I'm sick of walking around hoping to find something for a few dollars cheaper than it would cost shipped to my doorstep. More often than not, I can't find what I want, no matter how well I had ensured that the place has stock, and/or included a few backup suppliers in my planned trips.
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