Blondihacks

Stickers & Thanks!

Hey Patrons!

It's that time again, and I'm very excited to add all the new Rockstar Patrons to the credits list in the videos and on my blog. Stickers are going out this week to everyone who joined the Rockstar level in November, so watch for those! As always, the envelopes are hand-lettered with a vintage fountain pen because I'm a sucker for aesthetic, but I have now upgraded to real sticker mailers. Sorry, no more hand-made Cheerios-box envelopes. Those were thrifty, but took forever...

Tailstock Die Holder Models and Plans

Hey everyone!

Here are the 3D models and the drawings for this morning's Tailstock Die Holder project. These have also been added to the shared drive, as always. Enjoy!

Plans and Models for November

Hey Patrons! Here is the latest link for the shared drive where you'll find all the plans and models for the next month. For all the new folks, I post a new link here every month, and it expires every 30 days.

Enjoy!

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjEukTfa9GrpauR9ENcKu5q7Bhk?e=ktrXY6

Stickers & Thanks!

Hey Patrons! It's that time again! Stickers are going in the mail for all the new Rockstar Patrons in October, and I'll be getting the video/blog credits updated shortly as well.

Something that really strikes me as I'm writing out all these envelopes for the stickers is how diverse the viewers of my channel are. There are folks from all different countries, all walks of life, and undoubtedly all belief systems. We come together in this little corner of the internet for our shared love o...

Drawing and Models

Hey Patrons! Here's this month's link for the shared drive that holds all my project plans and 3D models. For those of you who are new, everyone at the Distinguished level and above gets access to this drive. The links expire every month, so I post a new one here. Here you go:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjEukTfa9GrpauR9ENcKu5q7Bhk?e=7F9UH9

Stickairrrrres

Hey Patrons! Stickers are in the mail for all new Rockstars that joined in September. You all are the best! I've also done a last-second re-render of tomorrow morning's video to include the updated credits. That's how much I lurve you all. Sometimes the month aligns awkwardly with my production schedule, but I managed to make it happen this time.

I also feel the need to say that the US Postal Service is a huge mess right now, so there's a real chance some of you won't get your stickers....

Carriage Stop Drawings and Models

Hey Patrons! Here are the drawings and 3D models for this week's project, my little carriage stop. These are also available on the shared Patron drive, along with all the other files. Cheers!

Plans And Models For September

Here's the link for the shared drive where all the plans and models live. If you're a new Patron, I post a new link here once a month that will work for 30 days. Enjoy!

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjEukTfa9GrpauR9ENcKu5q7Bhk?e=8xao4u

Stickers and Tanks! 🎽🎽

Hey Patrons! All the sticker packs for new Rockstars in August are packed up and off to the post office. The credits will be a bit delayed in getting updated because once again Patreon has broken the tool I need to export the list of Rockstars to update everything. Thanks for your patience with this! The thank-you list is my favorite part of every video, so it's a bummer when I can't update it. It's coming soon, though!

Thanks also to all of you who asked great questions for the upcomin...

Anniversary Q&A, Part Deux!

Hey Patrons! September marks the second anniversary of Blondihacks on YouTube, and to mark the occasion, I'd like to do a Q&A like we did last year. As Patrons, you get to ask the questions, and I will do my best to answer as many as I can!

Anything you'd like to know, or would like me to talk about, comment below! I probably won't re-cover ground that I did in the first Q&A, but ask anything on your mind anyway and maybe there's more to say. The more questions I get, the better...

Metric Tap Follower

Hey Patrons! I had a request for a metric version of the Tap Follower drawing. I've never tried converting my designs to metric in Fusion 360, but I thought I'd give it a shot. This is just a straight "click the mm button" conversion. I haven't gone through and made everything nice round numbers (which is hard to do without risk of messing up tolerances, which means I need to build it again from that new drawing to make sure it's okay).

In any case, the drawing is attached here and it i...

Vise Stop - Models & Drawings

Hey Patrons! Attached here are the models and drawings for the vise stop I made in this week's video. These have also been added to the shared Patron drive where all the models and drawings live:

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AjEukTfa9GrpauR9ENcKu5q7Bhk

As always, remember that the link to the Patron drive changes every month, so don't bother bookmarking it. I put a new link here each month.

More currency options!

Hey everyone! Patreon has let us know that more of you can now pledge in your home currency. It doesn't change the pledge amount, but Patreon will convert the equivalent amount for you, and the charge is in your home currency so that you won't pay fees on your credit card or such for the conversion. I know that I have a lot of fans in the UK and Europe (based on the time of day when people write 😀) so this is good news for you. British Pounds and Euros are the two new options. No option ye...

Plans & Models

Hey Patrons! Here's the link to all the plans and models for August. This link will only work for 30 days, so don't bother bookmarking it. I post a new link here each month. Feel free to grab and plans and models that you like, any time.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjEukTfa9GrpauR9ENcKu5q7Bhk?e=em7KML

Stickers and Thanks and Stuff and Things

Hey Patrons! It's that time again. Stickers are in the mail for all new Rockstars who joined in July! As always, thank you all so very much for being awesome. I'm constantly amazed that people will share their hard-earned loonies with me in order to make videos about machine shop stuff on YouTube. You all inspire me to keep trying to make the content better. 

Normally this is also where I mention that credits are updated in the videos and blog. However Patreon is in the midst of so...

Machinist Hammer Plans and Models

Hey Patrons! Here are the plans and 3D models for the Machinist Hammer in this morning's video. These files will also be added to the Patron Shared Drive, for download any time you like. If you're a new patron, the link to the shared drive is currently:

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AjEukTfa9GrpauR9ENcKu5q7Bhk

 A new link is posted each month, so don't bother bookmarking it, because the links will e...

Shared Drive For July

Well that was fast! Here's this month's link for the shared drive (which Microsoft has fixed):

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjEukTfa9GrpauR9ENcKu5q7Bhk?e=ndLFhi

All my project plans and 3D models are there, along with instructions for use. Enjoy, Patrons!

Shared Drive for Project Plans

Hey Patrons! Normally I would post this month's password for the shared drive where all the project plans are stored. However, there has been some sort of problem with my account and Microsoft has locked me out. I'm working through it with them, but until then the shared drive will be unavailable. I'll let you know when it is back up!

Stickers and Credits and Cheerios, Oh My!

Hey Patrons! It's that time again. Stickers are in the mail for all Rockstars who joined (or upgraded) in June. As always, thanks to every single Patron. You all are making this crazy effort work. Every Rockstar gets a sticker pack in a hand-crafted artisan shipping envelope that was definitely probably maybe not made from a Cheerios box, but don't look too closely. Look, I eat a lot of Cheerios, okay? Each pack is hand-addressed with a vintage Esterbrook fountain pen, both because fountain p...

Toolmaker's Clamps - Models & Drawings

Hey Patrons! Here are the models and drawings for the toolmakers clamps that I showed in the video. The "type 2" are the ones I made, and the "type 1" are also included here if you want to make those. These files will also go on the shared Patron drive with the monthly password. I hope you like it!

Video Notifications

Hey Patrons! Would you like to be notified here when a new video comes out? Some creators do that, and I am considering it. However I don't want to spam you either. We all get enough email as it is! If it would be helpful for you, let me know in the poll below. For what it's worth, I've been keeping to a regular schedule of 10am Saturdays (PST) for new video posts, but if being notified via Patreon would be helpful, let me know!

Stickers and Credits!

Hey Patrons! All you new Rockstars who joined in May, your stickers are officially in the mail. You will also see the credits updated in the next video. The credits on the blog are updated now. As always, thanks everyone who can manage any level of support. I know I say this a lot, but it's true- it really does mean the world to me to have you all here, willing to vote with your wallets for content that you want.

Please let me know if you don't get your stickers after some reasonable am...

All Blondihacks Drawings In One Place!

Hey Patrons!

Something that has become a growing problem here is having a centralized way to access the drawings and models for all my projects. You fine Patrons are paying for those files, but at the moment the only way to see them is to dig through the feed here. For a while now I've been trying to figure out a secure and convenient way to centralize this, and I've settled on what I think is a decent solution.

The files are now all hosted on OneDrive (a Microsoft service) and y...

Johnny Mnemonic CPU Board Repair

Hey Patrons! Since a lot of you are new, you may not be following the RSS feed on my blog, and thus might miss my new post. Here it is, just in case:

https://blondihacks.com/johnny-cpu-board-repair/

You would not be remiss for thinking the blog was abandoned, based on the most recent post dates, but it is still active. It has taken a back seat to growing the YouTube channel, but I s...

Sales Tax on Patreon

Hey Patrons!  Starting July 1st, Patreon is being required by some jurisdictions to collect sales tax on some aspects of the service. None of you should be affected, as your donations to Blondihacks all count as "general support" and I'm not offering any recurring physical goods or similar to you. My merchandise store is already sales-taxed as needed depending on where you live.

If, on July 1st, you notice Patreon charging you sales tax on your donation, let me know and ...

Side Clamps - Drawings & Models

Hey Patrons! Today's video is about a design that I came up with for a low-profile side clamp for the milling table. Here are the drawings and Fusion 360 models for this clamp, in case you want to make some yourself! I can say they seem to work really well. I have done aggressive cuts in steel since this video was shot, and they held up perfectly. One change I would make is to make them a bit deeper. They barely span the T-slot, and would benefit from more meat at the back. I hope you enjoy t...

Stickers & Thanks!

Hey Patrons! I hope everyone enjoys this morning's video. It coincides with the start of the month, which means it's stickers and credits time. All the new Rockstar Patrons in April have stickers in the mail to them and credits are up to date in this morning's video.

I wanted to say an extra thank-you to everyone who has stuck with me through this pandemic. I know that people are losing work, money is tight, and a weird niche YouTube channel is not very high on the list of household cos...

Steady Rest Models and Plans

Hey Patrons! Here are the drawings for the Steady Rest project. I've posted these before, but since I just put up the final video in that series, I thought people might like to see them again. Feel free to ask any questions about it. Obviously if you want to make this yourself, it would likely need to be tailored to the size of casting you have (or want to make) but maybe it'll be a helpful guideline. At the very least, this is a design that I can confirm works very well, if you're looking fo...

Machinist Jack Drawings & Models (repost)

Hey Patrons! I had a request for the machinist jack drawings, because it seems that some of the older plans are no longer working for newer Patrons. If this has happened to you, let me know. If this message is unlocked for you, then so should be all plans and models that I post here.

Here's the video on the machinist jacks, in case you missed it:

https://youtu.be/c0xcyI0hZOI

The files are attached below. It...

DRO installation on small mills

Hey Patrons! One of you messaged me and asked about how the DRO is installed on my mill. This mill came with the DRO installed from the factory, but I can show pictures of how they did it, in case it helps those of you with similar mills. Here are some photos. The only part that might be controversial is where the X axis installed. By putting it on the back of the table, you do lose some Y-travel, and this is annoying sometimes. I can't access the very front of my table with the spindle. Howe...