Skybound's Journal

[Skybound]

Gee Sky you are all in! I worked for GE 40 years ago on NC equipment. Repairing them in house for production aircraft parts. What controller do you have? I started with 8 hole tape for programming. Not me but engineering. We ran GE 1040's then century 2000, then ge/fenuc. Long ago

I was fortunate enough to have briefly worked in a prison machine shop around the turn of the century and got to see some very old machine shop equipment bought surplus from WWII ships, all the way up to maybe early 80s stuff when NC first started to boom. Also, the instructor in that shop also taught machining to inmates that were in taking the apprenticeship course, so the regular shop closed a few hours each week and us regualr workers had to open the machine books and do some learning. That is where I learned 'what' NC is, and how it became CNC at a later time. I assume you're talking about those old ass punch card NC machines? The CNC we have now adays, at least the junk one can cheaply build for doing light duty movements with not super heavy equipment and small steppers, we generally use the Atmega2560 chip which is commonly found on the Arduino Mega board. Well, the CNC circuits are now boards in themselves with that chip, or even Arduino shields that can link right up to an Arduino Mega. That's what my CNC machine has driving it, but when I bought my printer, it came with the motherboard that has the Atmega chip driving the whole board. FYI, the board is where you connect all of the peripherals, stepper motors, heaters, thermistors, and limit switches. It's sort'a like hooking up some stereo gear from back in the day, only the wires are a lot smaller, but generally, it's very plug and play, and if you're building your own machine, it gets only a little bit more involved.

So at this time, I have 4 controllers, 3 of them are the very basic 8 bit Mega2560 and the newest one is a 32 bit ARMCortex processor that "can" run a lot faster and cleaner than the Mega 8 bit chips. Ya see, when you increase the print speed, all of the various math problems need to be solved a lot faster and on the 8 bit boards, these calcs at that speed produce hiccups which results in missed steps. The 32 bit next generation boards is alleged to totally remedy that. Now is the transition time from older 8 bit to newer 32 bit between the circuit developers and the open source firmware known as Marlin. I've been fighting with the new 32 bit shit for the past 4 days, and the majority of my grief stems from my using a VERY old cheap laptop. I'm talking Windows 7 old, before Win8 even came out, lol. I look to a time when I can afford a new cheap $300 PC, unfortunately now is not yet then.

Sorry, for the long post, but I think I did alright bridging the gap between the 1970s NC to 2020 CNC.

 

[StoneOtter]

I was fortunate enough to have briefly worked in a prison machine shop around the turn of the century and got to see some very old machine shop equipment bought surplus from WWII ships, all the way up to maybe early 80s stuff when NC first started to boom. Also, the instructor in that shop also taught machining to inmates that were in taking the apprenticeship course, so the regular shop closed a few hours each week and us regualr workers had to open the machine books and do some learning. That is where I learned 'what' NC is, and how it became CNC at a later time. I assume you're talking about those old ass punch card NC machines? The CNC we have now adays, at least the junk one can cheaply build for doing light duty movements with not super heavy equipment and small steppers, we generally use the Atmega2560 chip which is commonly found on the Arduino Mega board. Well, the CNC circuits are now boards in themselves with that chip, or even Arduino shields that can link right up to an Arduino Mega. That's what my CNC machine has driving it, but when I bought my printer, it came with the motherboard that has the Atmega chip driving the whole board. FYI, the board is where you connect all of the peripherals, stepper motors, heaters, thermistors, and limit switches. It's sort'a like hooking up some stereo gear from back in the day, only the wires are a lot smaller, but generally, it's very plug and play, and if you're building your own machine, it gets only a little bit more involved.

So at this time, I have 4 controllers, 3 of them are the very basic 8 bit Mega2560 and the newest one is a 32 bit ARMCortex processor that "can" run a lot faster and cleaner than the Mega 8 bit chips. Ya see, when you increase the print speed, all of the various math problems need to be solved a lot faster and on the 8 bit boards, these calcs at that speed produce hiccups which results in missed steps. The 32 bit next generation boards is alleged to totally remedy that. Now is the transition time from older 8 bit to newer 32 bit between the circuit developers and the open source firmware known as Marlin. I've been fighting with the new 32 bit shit for the past 4 days, and the majority of my grief stems from my using a VERY old cheap laptop. I'm talking Windows 7 old, before Win8 even came out, lol. I look to a time when I can afford a new cheap $300 PC, unfortunately now is not yet then.

Sorry, for the long post, but I think I did alright bridging the gap between the 1970s NC to 2020 CNC.

Ya you did! you have more modern equipment than I worked on. This dinosaur is the one after the tube powered ones.

The tape goes in the middle door. That cabinet is 6 feet tall and filled 3/4 full with components. Make a nice little grow carved out.

 

[Skybound]

I potted up the PC in soil and clearly I got some learning to do because them are hydro roots which probably means I was feeding too often. Just my opinion of what I see. I gotta get clones from both this, and the other big PC and will be putting both into bloom together in about a week. I will top feed both leaving only the last Em Dog to wait for the next slot in bloom. 3 weeks after then I begin loading in a plant per week irregardless of how big each is and hopefully I can keep up the supply of one good plant to come out of veg every week.

 

[Skybound]

On the 12th day of 12/12, Megacrop gave to me, a happy little Em Dog tree.

 

[Dankman_420]

Dam that's a pretty Bush!

 

[PCaddict]

I potted up the PC in soil and clearly I got some learning to do because them are hydro roots which probably means I was feeding too often. Just my opinion of what I see. I gotta get clones from both this, and the other big PC and will be putting both into bloom together in about a week. I will top feed both leaving only the last Em Dog to wait for the next slot in bloom. 3 weeks after then I begin loading in a plant per week irregardless of how big each is and hopefully I can keep up the supply of one good plant to come out of veg every week.

Man Sky your plants and grow area are looking Great, I Love the watering thing you printer up. You need to sale a few of those I would buy one, it will be awhile before I can parches a 3D printer.

 

[ilikemsticky]

this is pretty sky nice work bud!

 

[Skybound]

Dam that's a pretty Bush!

Thanks man, she's about the best I got going right now. Better to come I hope!

Man Sky your plants and grow area are looking Great, I Love the watering thing you printer up. You need to sale a few of those I would buy one, it will be awhile before I can parches a 3D printer.

3D printing is only practical to produce things yourself, but not at all practical to sell things you produce because of how long it generally takes to print, plus the break factor of Chinese gear. That said, my machine works good enough to produce things I want for me, but if I needed to fill orders, I would need a much better machine to confidently commit to that. I want to be there very soon, but that's months away. If you don't want to wait, look for 3Dprinthubs online and find a local person selling prints, and you can just link him to my thingiverse and he can handle it from there.

this is pretty sky nice work bud!

Thanks Sticky. I feel the Megacrop/Calmag combo is doing well in the rockwool, much weller than I predicted. Sadly both Gorilla Glues look like total ass. I just want to get them gone, then get hydro gone and focus on dirt and what bugs may come or will I be able to continue that streak of luck? Lol.

I just potted up 2 of the clones in the rockwool. They were both unable to hold wet roots for more than 12 hours, so it was time, even though I don't yet have the room for them. As soon as I chop one of the glues, both of the big PC's are going into bloom and the veg area will be wide open and spacious.

 

[ilikemsticky]

im not sure yet but I think I like the mc my plants are doing very well and I think theres a slight edge in favor of it will see how they do during and after stretch im feeling pretty confident they are very healthy now to keep them that way as far as bugs go unless you have fungas gnats that can fly in the others are brought in by you or a pet an open window with no screen every time ive had bugs I brought them in or they were on some clones good luck buddy!

 

[StoneOtter]

Nice!

 

[Skybound]

There wasn't enough clearance between the tote and the ceiling, so I needed more space. Also peep the stupid little printed QB reflector, lol. In the last veg room, the light was angling right into my eyes, so I needed to booger something up right quick.

 

[ilikemsticky]

lol what do you have there little cages for your clones that's pretty cool the mad scientist!

 

[Skybound]

lol what do you have there little cages for your clones that's pretty cool the mad scientist!

Oh yeah, I forgot about those. They're like little half tomato cages with 3 spiked legs that pushed down into the cube/plug. Just a little something to keep them upright in the first 24 hours as some will wilt, but I suspect the wilting is related to WHEN the cuttings are taken relative to the lights on time. I still use the 2 I printed as a precaution, but think I'm over thinking it all.

Edit - I just added that to my Thingiverse page in case .....

 

[ilikemsticky]

Oh yeah, I forgot about those. They're like little half tomato cages with 3 spiked legs that pushed down into the cube/plug. Just a little something to keep them upright in the first 24 hours as some will wilt, but I suspect the wilting is related to WHEN the cuttings are taken relative to the lights on time. I still use the 2 I printed as a precaution, but think I'm over thinking it all.

Edit - I just added that to my Thingiverse page in case .....

I like to soak my clones in a glass of water with a little clonex in there for a couple hours before I dip them in the clonex and into the solo cup with 2/3 soil 1/3 coco seems to work but I like those little cages I would use those to!

 

[Skybound]

I like to soak my clones in a glass of water with a little clonex in there for a couple hours before I dip them in the clonex and into the solo cup with 2/3 soil 1/3 coco seems to work but I like those little cages I would use those to!

Like I said, I think I don't need them, but it's a lesson I don't want to learn the hard way, lol. If anything, I'd rather make the choice to cull a plant than have it grow sideways and I be stuck with it.

 

[Skybound]

I'll probably regret this in 2 months, but in the same breath it should make for a merry Christmas. Veg can finally spread out some. I still have an old ass Em Dog ready for bloom now, so in 3 weeks she'll really be ready, then beyond that, I hope to be at one a week frequency.

Pineapple Chunk x 2, one rockwool, the other soil. The soil plant looks like shit, she definitely didn't like the transplant into this dirt, but she'll survive and considering how small the room is, I kinda need her to drag ass and not get too big, because the other PC is LOVING the Megacrop formulation.

I just noticed, I need to lower that fan a LOT.

 

[ilikemsticky]

they look good sky I can see the soil plant isn't as happy but shell come around!

 

[Skybound]

Just touching base with a veg update. The clones are all demanding an up-pot into soil, the younger 3 soil plants didn't yet get damaged from the deficiencies.

The older 2 soil plants are a Gorilla Glue (bottom) and Em-Dog (top). The Glue traditionally being the most fucking finicky strain I've ever grown right away is screaming what she doesn't like about my soil. She's saying MORE N, MORE P, MORE MG. Em-Dog is saying she could use some more mag, but P and N would be nice too, lol. For the record I know that I am A) way over thinking this and B) stoned, but I need to get acquainted with the soil and I have to begin with what I see. Also, I just gave all 5 their first shot of nutes yesterday with a high N, high Ca, medium P feed, and just mixed up some Faux Transplant juice that is high in P and Mg, plus has molasses and fish guts, so it should be a good add. As I said months back, I wanted to flesh out the deficiencies in the soil and that Glue told me about most of what I think I need to know. That soil held up for about 2 weeks of just watering before the demand for feed began. From here onward, I plan to feed immediately, alternating between the N/Ca/P feed and the P/Mg/K feed. Both will have some humic/fulvic powder and amino acid mixed into each of those feeds. Oh, the 2nd one also has some molasses added due to the fish, but so far I used way less than what I use in the foliar spray because the emphasis in the soil is supposed to have the microbes feeding on exudates and the colloidal elements in the rock dust and SRP and stuff. I think these 2 soil drenches will do ok.

Here is the final hydro plant I'll grow. It's an Em Dog and man she grows super slow. She rooted on 6/24, so she's about 4 months old so far, and her canopy is barely 2' in diameter. Overall, her leaves look really good, but maybe her first 3 months was on my veg feed which I can clearly now see was far off from ideal. This past few weeks, she's been on the Megacrop emulation and she seems to have picked up pace a little bit. Also, the Glue still in bloom seems to be damaged less than the Glues that ate my regimens so I conclude that my targets for hydro are not as good as Megacrop, even though my regimen once consistently yielded a pound per plant. It's like when my yields fell off, I was never able to recover that great range. Even my most recent PC only gave me 11.5. That's great compared to the 6 zips I've been pretty much getting every other chop, but horrible compared to 16 zips. I've grown so tired of these bad yields and I cannot wait till I'm pulling one every week, so even if the weights stay low, I can still live and get shit done.

 

[ilikemsticky]

sky are these in your cooked soil?

 

[Skybound]

sky are these in your cooked soil?

Yes, though for my first batch I cooked, I didn't have the correct contents on hand, so I supplemented the elements with salts. But then more than a month later when I got all the good stuff, I back cut the already cooked with some new amendments. I expect problems from the first batch, and even though the 2nd batch just finished, I still want to use up the first batch first.