Brewing

Transferred GF Beer 1 to a Secondary today, has a nice amber color. Tasted ok so far, will bottle in another week.

Cider 1:
4 Gallon Cider
Champagne Yeast (2 Packets started in a 8oz cider with 3 tablespoons of honey)
1 Cup dried cranberries
3/4 Cup dried cherries
1/4 Cup dried apricots
2 Cups Honey
2 Cups Brown Sugar
1 Cup White Sugar
1 Tea Spoon Cinnamon

Started the yeast ~4 Hours before it was pitched - very active.
Mixed 1/2 Gallon Cider with the dried fruit, Honey, Sugar, and cinnamon. Brought to a boil, then pitched with the rest of the cider (straining fruit out.)

Pitched yeast when cider at 72F, SG:1.072.

GF Brewing, Attempt #1.

Gluten Free Beer Brewing. Remember, "Free of all natural allergens," means free of all natural flavor, the same motto extends to Gluten Free Beers.

Bought glass carboy, and GF Brewing kit today. Slight deviation, since original plan was to make cider as first home brewing attempt.

GF Brew kit consisted of:
Yeast, Sorghum Extract, Liberty Hops, Corn Flake, and Irish Moss.

I added two cups of GF Rolled Oats to the Corn Flake for mash... we will see what happens with this. I spilled about 1/2 cup of the Sorghum Syrup, so I added some honey (about 1/4 cup) in it's stead.

After the first fermentation, I'll buy a 5 gallon carboy for racking, and start brewing cider.


Probably going to construct a make shift cider press in the coming weeks; goal is to purchase as little as possible to get this rolling.

UPDATE:
Pitched yeast at around 86F @ Midnight. Yeast is active - vapor lock working!!

Summer Project > Fall Project

The project for this summer was gardening and canning/pickling.

• Pickled Green Beans per Gabe's grandmothers recipe. They came out real good, still very crisp.
• Pickled Cucumbers per USDA Home Pickling Quick Pickling Guide. Did not add anything to make the pickles firm (i.e. Alum) so they tasted fine but the texture = no good. Gonna try to stomach them anyway.
• Lot's of green tomatoes in the garden, and we are rolling into October, so it may be time to make Picklelilly relish.

With regard to the garden. We got a good number of vegetables, but our methods/timing needed improvement. Except the peppers, everything almost got killed at one point or another, or was not given enough room to grow.

For next Year:

• Pay attention to when to start seeds.
• Start fewer seeds.
• Don't put plant's out too soon.
• Do something different with the lettuce.
• Fewer tomato plants/more space to grow/plant.
• Strings for tomato plants to grow up.
  

3D Printer Advancements

A lot more work on the 3D printer.

• Learned a lot more about the firmware making the thing run. Attempted to get the Arduino Mega + Pololu Stepper Motors work with the Makerbot Extruder Controller, but they are just different enough to be beyond my current firmware capability. In the interest of getting this done in a timely manner, I've decided to adopt the complete Arduino Mega/Pololu Rep-Rap, schema.
• Waiting for AD595 Thermocouple Amp to arrive.
  
• Decided to abandon Makerbot Extruder Controller Board, gear motor. Different enough to be a pain to configure.
  
• Continuing using Arduino Mega, Pololu/Easydriver Stepper Motor Drivers, AD595. Thermocouple.
  
• Procured Parts: 12" Linear Stage, 1" Pitch Ball Screw, shipping.
  
• Using existing limit switches for endstops, instead of opto endstop.
• Procured X-stage Bearings, Rod, Shaft Supports, shipping.
• Need to design/buy floating Y stage.
• Need to spec pulleys/timing belts.
• Need to Design print head adaptor.
  

Summer Happened

Not much advancement on the Arduino since the fall. Moving->Summer=Not A lot of time spent inside twiddling with electronics.

• Spliting CNC Endeavors. I have accumulated a mini lathe, so I am looking to retrofit it for EMC2 CNC Controls, using Xylotex System. If that ever dies, I will probably go with and Arudino Based System, new advancements on GRBL.
  
• Spent a lot of time trying to get my Makerbot Extruder/Controller, to work with Xylotex CNC Driver/EMC2. Abandoned because difficulty/not enough know-how to make work with Linux/Time.
• Adopted Arduino Mega/Pololu Stepper Driver Method - better documentation,
  
• Currently attempting to edit Motherboard/Extruder Controller to work with each other.

Current Challenges:

• Connecting Makerbot Extruder to Arduino Mega - Have to alter the Firmware for both extruder and motherboard/pololu to make work. It seems I have just the right number of motors to make the lathe CNC, and the 3D Printer. Let's just hope they are strong enough to provide the right power.
  
• No other Arduino Mega + Makerbot Extruder (DC Gear Motor vs. Stepper Motor) + Pololu Stepper Drivers, existing. More anxious to get the thing printing than ambitious to get into the firmware, so I am going to forgo for now.
  
• Need Opto-EndStops.
• Need to build physical machine - have held off on the machine, until I get the extruder working - but the extruder is getting close.

Arduino and such

• Been playing with the arduino a bunch lately. Mostly to read temperatures (MCP 9700), and control LED's and other devices with digital signals. Really simple stuff.

• Bought a Velleman Relay control board, that can handle 110VAC 15A to control AC devices (stuff that plugs into your wall.) Picked up a wall socket, and scavenged a plug from an old fan. Connected one side of the plug to the wall socket; connected the other side of the plug to the relay board (NC), and then to the wall socket. Took a digital output from the Arduino, ran it to a NPN Transistor (though I think this was backward) to provide 9V to the relay board. Able to turn a light on and off.
• Later added a Temperature sensor to the setup, to turn a light on when the temperature reached a certain value.

• Bought an Easy Driver Board from sparkfun - though not exactly what I expected - need to determine way to count, and keep track of steps to determine displacement.
• Really easy to setup - though I connected the motor wrong the first go round.
  

• Been trying to build a BJT H-Bridge, unsuccessfully. I think the tranisistors I used needed more current than the Arduino could provide. Then Radio Shack screwed me.
  
• Got some MOSFETS - built it backwards first go round - motor would pulse but not turn. Got to work, able to turn motor and alternate directions. Wouldn't turn as fast backwards as forwards.