Weekly Wrap Up 2/26/21- Learning electronic soldering skills

 MarioFan keeps saying he wants to do something in electronics for a career.  For the past two years we have been working on learning python coding and building circuits using the program 42 Electronics.  I highly recommend this program if you are looking for something similar.   Their customer service is amazing!   MarioFan just finished the the fourth and last book in this program in Jan.

His completed robot that 

Final assignment was to get his robot to take video and speak.  
MarioFan learned quite a bit from this program and enjoyed it.  He loves the building of the robot but says the programing part is not really for him;). 

So for the next electronic skill he wanted to learn was soldering of electrical components.  We bought several different kits and soldering equipment and have begun.  Electric soldering is quite different from glass soldering but I am comfortable around a soldering iron.  We started with the European siren kit as it was the only one with written instructions that laid out a careful plan.  The other kits have on line instructions that I still need to down load. 

Some of the kits we have at home.

I bought a soldering mat and tool kit that had all the supplies needed for electrical work.  This is not the best quality soldering iron but it will do for a beginner.  We will invest in a better one if MarioFan really takes off in this area

First we practiced just getting use to the soldering iron and using the solder

we practice stripping coated wire and then soldering them  onto a board.  

Learning how to build solder bridges from one area to another using tinned wire

Using a solder wick to remove excess solder.   I have never used this method in my glass work as using more solder is usually a good thing but quite the opposite in electrical work.  this wasn't working as smoothly as it should for us.

We weren't too keen on this process as the solder wick gets very hot quickly. My husband (who has done a little bit of electrical soldering in his past) told us to order a desoldering vacuum pump and try that method to see if we liked it any better.  

Next MarioFan began to assemble the siren project using the soldering skills he had learned over the last few days.

MarioFan followed the schematic electrical drawings to place the components onto the board 

Then carefully soldered them in place.  He had to be careful because the holding the solder iron too long in one location could burn out some of the electrical components  

IT worked on the first try.  MarioFan was very proud of himself

The last part of this kit was to learn to remove parts and add in different electrical components which meant using copper wick to remove solder.  MarioFan really struggled at first with this process as the manual says the copper wick they supplied was coated in Flux but it was not really removing any of the solder and taking such a long time which meant the copper wick was getting hotter and hotter to touch!  After consulting a friend, who does electrical work,  I brought up my glass flux and put the copper wick in to soak up more flux.  

what a game changer adding more flux to the copper wick:) Much smoother and faster process.

The solder was much easier to remove but it does get a bit hot to touch so MarioFan decided to try the newly arrived solder pump!

He like this process so much better!  

After changing the components the siren work but now emitted a different sound.  MarioFan enjoyed the process and we will be working on a new project soon continuing to build his soldering skills!

Weekly Wrap up -- 2/19/21. College update and Stain Glass Drum lamps

 Firedrake is doing her second semester in college and seems to be happy.  She and her roommate are still doing well and enjoying each other's company.  Most of her classes are hybrid this semester except one. So half the class attends one day and the other half is on line and then the next class they reverse it.  

Recently they participated in a student union activity and did a painting class together just for fun!

Firedrake did drop her Math course as it was all on line and she just felt it would be too much self learning and since Math is her least favorite and hardest subject she decide (and we agreed) that it would be best just to drop it and hope that next year she can do an in person class!

Firedrake is really enjoying her film class and recently watched 12 angry men and LOVE it.  She also love the class discussion and analyzing of films.  This is her favorite class so far this semester.  

Firedrake calls every Sunday and we enjoy catching up with her and seeing how her week goes.  We also get several texts a week and she even occasionally answers a text back from us, lol  She will be home for spring break in just four short weeks.

Drum stain glass lamp projects

I recently manage to procure an old drum set and am working on turning them into lamps.  The only thing wrong with the drums were the skins which were cracked and worn out.  Since I didn't need that part of the drum I took them all home.  

There are four drum in total and I removed the drum skins from each drum
This also help me clean up the drums from all the dust and let me examine the entire piece to make sure they were sturdy and in good condition.  Luckily all four passed inspection!

 I started with the smallest drum and chose a simple pattern just to see how I could turn it into a lamp! luckily a few people in my glass groups have done this so they gave excellent advice. 

It was actually not hard, since I have already done two guitar as lamps, I more or less did it the same way.  With such a simple pattern it only took a weekend to complete.

I liked how it turned out and just trying to figure out how to hang it but I think it looks nice on the mantle:).

The second drum which was slightly larger I made a celtic trinity design.  It is just slightly off centered which is annoying but I can live with it.  For the next drums I will need to get some help during assembly to make sure things are centered as while soldering things slip around a bit.

For the largest Bass drum I plan on working on a Neil Pert design as that is my husband's favorite drummer.  I found someone who is helping me design a pattern!  I still have the snare drum to figure out a design for!

My husband was put all the 9 stain glass lamps on timers in the house so they all turn on and off at the same time.  The house is really looking pretty with all these fancy lights.  I have plans for two more drum lights and another Tiffany dogwood lamp:). 

Weekly Wrap UP 2/12/21-- 11th grade course work update

MarioFan is doing well with his school, working more and more on his own giving me more time to work on my stain glass hobby!   He is also doing three online class (same as last semester) and is managing class assignment from other teachers, learning to take notes while listening to a lecturer and taking tests from someone other than me!

For Literature we finished reading Silas Marner in January, We both enjoyed this story

For February we are reading two Shakespeare plays-- we had hoped to get together in person with a friend and her son to do these plays aloud but with the ongoing pandemic we are still doing online meetups through google hangouts, which just isn't the same, but it is the best we can do.  We miss being able to do classes together with friends

We literally finished this play today  

  

Next week we are working on Hamlet together

For online Chemistry class he is working on labs looking at compounds.  I don't usually stick around for these classes so I can't really explain what is going on as I pop in take a pic or two and then leave to do other things. All I know is when his Dad goes over the homework, MarioFan appears to know what is required and my husband is very happy with the instruction!  Chemistry is not my strongest area;) MarioFan loves all the experiments, so far only one experiment done at home has failed but since the teacher does the exact experiment on screen with the class, he was able to see the exact results 

Working with compounds and seeing different chemical reactions

US Government class online 

taking his class online and enjoying the teacher and the discussions:)

42 Electronics-- he has completed his roving robot and finished the fourth and final book in this program. We are now going to work on electronic soldering skills, which I will post about a bit later.  I have found lots of fun projects to work on 

One of the last activities was to get the camera working on his roving robot

Getting a video from the robot to show on his computer in real time. the robot is on the table across from MarioFan taking a video of him and displaying it on the computer.  

Algebra 2

MarioFan enjoys Teaching textbooks and is about halfway through the textbook.  He prefers to use the text book for the lesson rather than listening to the voice on the program as it goes too slow for his liking.  Since he averages mostly's A and B's I am not concerned that he is missing or not retaining information by doing it this way:). He is pretty much doing this independently as Math is also not my strongest area.  

I don't have any pictures for Sociology or Spanish classes but those are continuing smoothly as well.  

Weekly Wrap Up 2/5/21-- Dream big -- Exploring jobs opportunities

Our local Dream Big Organization is hosting monthly Zoom meeting for high school students in professions and corporations for them to consider as possible job opportunities.  During the panel the kids can ask questions or simply listen to the panel explain what their job entails and what qualifications they are looking for in new hires.  

The first ZOOM meeting was with several local Architects, in addition to the above, they explained  the process for considering local laws, landscape and clients wishes whenever designing a project, whether it was a building, house, parking lot or play ground.

Next the kids were given a project to build a nature's playscape which they would discuss at the next meeting.  MarioFan investigated local nature playscape and decided what he wanted to include in his project.  The kids were free to design what ever they wanted. 

 MarioFan used things he found in our art cabinets as well as a few items in the yard in order to create his project

His model included a rock climbing station, and tunnel, bridge, swing, balance stools and wood den

view from a different angle

the next meeting they discussed the builds and continue with more information on the career  of Architecture.  

Each month the students will be meeting with a different panel of experts in a certain field and exploring what they do.  The next three months have the following careers being explored.

February -- Lawyers (doesn't specify what kind)

March -- Zoo opportunities 

April -- Fabrick Cat company which is a local company dealing in big machinary and has many different career opportunities at its company

While MarioFan is pretty sure he wishes to go into electronics/computers for his career choice, I still think it is important to see what other opportunities are out there for him to explore.  The meetings are informative and fun.