Week of 9/2 - 9/5

This was the first week back in the shop, so I spent a lot of time getting back into things and remembering where I left off, but I still got a lot done. We have tasks in the shop, so one of the first things I did was clean out my box and design a new nameplate. The nameplate I had been using before didn't actually fit, but I remeasured the dimensions and made a new one that fit perfectly. I taped it in, and now my box looks a lot better. I also tested all the extra keyboards and disposed of the ones that didn't work; fortunately, most of them were functional.

Another task I did was to hang this plotter temporarily to make room for other things in the space where it had been. This was just a temporary fix, and later on, a more permanent solution will be found. We tied it kinda weird because it kept rotating, and this was the only way to stop it. I also took a look at my project from last year, which I still had a few steps left to finish. I had taped all the parts into place and only needed to solder them all together.

I realized I was missing some pieces, though, and they had been in my box, so I found them again and put them on. I then soldered them on which wasn't the best soldering job since the tip I was using was kinda terrible, but it worked out in the end. I then had everything soldered on except for the electromagnet itself. I also wanted to use something else for the power, but I was going to test it first before I used the battery, which could have exploded.

I then soldered on the electromagnet, and I thought it worked now, so I tested it, and it didn't. I thought maybe something was wrong with my solder, so I examined them all, and when I looked, I didn't see anything wrong. I then used a multimeter to see if I could find anywhere where there wasn't any power, and I finally found what the issue was.

The thread that was connected to the power was destroyed somehow, and so nothing was working correctly. I contemplated just soldering this gap, but then I found another messed-up trace and so I decided to just make a new one instead. I will probably cut another one this Friday since I didn't have time today, but luckily, it should be easier this time since I already have all the parts and know where they need to go.