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Tool Cheap alternatives to expensive tools thread

Tool
TorontoBuilder

TorontoBuilder

Sapientia et Doctrina Stabilitas
I haven't seen a thread that has all the cheap solutions to expensive tools and machines so I decided to start this one. Feel free to add to it or not.

The first post comes courtesy of @Everett and his youtube channel which I found courtesy of @Proxule

Use a cheap overhead projector as an optical comparator or as Everett calls it "Using a "Budget Optical Comparator"


I've been using a cell phone camera in macro mode photographed against a printed dxf file of the part or a 1mm grind I got from printaruler, and while it works well enough I like the projector alternative because it can project a very large sharp image. PeterT and whydontyou posted their macro camera lens adapter results and you can see they're pretty impressive as is.



However, with either work around there is the potential for parallax error when trying to measure parts that do not sit flat against printed scale. So while comparing angles on flat cutting tools should work fine, measuring dimensions of cylinders that do not sit flat against the scale paper or film will not be precise.

 
My APEX iPhone magnifier clip on lens has come in handy in the shop. Good value IMO. I think parallax & distortion is always going to be an issue just due to the lens. But maybe if you had background grid paper with squared dimensions in both X & Y, that in combination with a cheapo photo distortion tool could correct or dimension to some degree. The bigger issue is the reference grid will typically be in a plane displaced behind the object & that's a different animal to correct. Actually I've done something similar in my CAD program. Import the image as a background jpeg & reference off a known measurement. Then I stand a better chance of replicating the part or measuring other features. Not perfect but does in a pinch.

LunaPic.com Photo Editor Perspective tool

Free and Easy to use online image effects. Try the Perspective effect.
www6.lunapic.com
 
PeterT said:
My APEX iPhone magnifier clip on lens has come in handy in the shop. Good value IMO. I think parallax & distortion is always going to be an issue just due to the lens. But maybe if you had background grid paper with squared dimensions in both X & Y, that in combination with a cheapo photo distortion tool could correct or dimension to some degree. The bigger issue is the reference grid will typically be in a plane displaced behind the object & that's a different animal to correct. Actually I've done something similar in my CAD program. Import the image as a background jpeg & reference off a known measurement. Then I stand a better chance of replicating the part or measuring other features. Not perfect but does in a pinch.

LunaPic.com Photo Editor Perspective tool

Free and Easy to use online image effects. Try the Perspective effect.
www6.lunapic.com
Click to expand...
I reverse engineered a 100' radial stacker (conveyor for making large piles) for a company years ago using this exact technique. They had access to one and wanted to build one just like it but measuring the original would have meant to much down time. So i did some quick measurements of key places and took a ton photos as square to the machine as possible and loaded the pics into auto cad. It was a lot of work but was able to get all the dimensions for all the individual components.
 
TorontoBuilder said:
Yeah I use scaled background images in fusion often to trace objects.

Very handy for modeling ship hulls when you have ships lines but not a table of offsets. Slow but it works
Click to expand...

This is a trick I'd like to see sometime!
 
Susquatch said:
This is a trick I'd like to see sometime!
Click to expand...

One day let's sit down and I'll figure out a software to use to give you online fusion lessons and specifically this lesson and any other specific things you want to know.

But until then this should suffice

 
Chawbeef said:
You folks are amazing. I once measured my property with 100 ft. reel tape. I think the tolerance was + or - bout 2 inches.
Click to expand...
I used to use a vintage steel tape. Until I bought a disto laser in the late 1990s. Back then I used to measure buildings to create as built plans
 
Chawbeef said:
You folks are amazing. I once measured my property with 100 ft. reel tape. I think the tolerance was + or - bout 2 inches.
Click to expand...

I built a GPS system for Farming. It is based on inexpensive GPS receivers. I setup a base station in the backyard. I told it exactly where it is. It receives a GPS coordinate that is only roughly correct - a few meters out and drifting fairly rapidly. Then it compares its known position to the GPS position to calculate a correction. The correction is radioed to an identical Rover in my tractor which then corrects its own GPS Position by the same amount to calculate an exact position within a centimeter over 2 or 3 km. I can also use an internet connection via my phone to do this over much longer distances. Works great and a fraction of the cost of subscription services.
 
Chawbeef said:
You folks are amazing. I once measured my property with 100 ft. reel tape. I think the tolerance was + or - bout 2 inches.
Click to expand...
Surveyor did my property in town to +-1mm. And then the neighbor balked at the line. He had a drawing from 1977 at +-1'. And every line was drawn to the +1' margin. I'm glad he was an engineer and understood what had happened when I showed him the tolerance panels on both drawings.
 
Mortgage I got in the early 80’s required a survey (which I wanted anyway). After the flags were planted the neighbor moved a planting bed before I even saw where the line was.
 
Susquatch said:
I built a GPS system for Farming. It is based on inexpensive GPS receivers. I setup a base station in the backyard. I told it exactly where it is. It receives a GPS coordinate that is only roughly correct - a few meters out and drifting fairly rapidly. Then it compares its known position to the GPS position to calculate a correction. The correction is radioed to an identical Rover in my tractor which then corrects its own GPS Position by the same amount to calculate an exact position within a centimeter over 2 or 3 km. I can also use an internet connection via my phone to do this over much longer distances. Works great and a fraction of the cost of subscription services.
Click to expand...
Just making me feel like more of a cave man. I should of stayed in school.
 
Chawbeef said:
Just making me feel like more of a cave man. I should of stayed in school.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I'd guess much less than 1% of what I know was learned in school. School opens doors and teaches us how to learn from books. That's a good thing for sure. But it is my opinion that experience is much more important. Experience is also the toughest form of schooling because the teacher gives the test first and then the lesson.
 
Susquatch said:
FWIW, I'd guess much less than 1% of what I know was learned in school. School opens doors and teaches us how to learn from books. That's a good thing for sure. But it is my opinion that experience is much more important. Experience is also the toughest form of schooling because the teacher gives the test first and then the lesson.
Click to expand...
Never let your schooling get in the way of your education. -Mark Twain
 
Susquatch said:
FWIW, I'd guess much less than 1% of what I know was learned in school. School opens doors and teaches us how to learn from books. That's a good thing for sure. But it is my opinion that experience is much more important. Experience is also the toughest form of schooling because the teacher gives the test first and then the lesson.
Click to expand...
Some years ago I was explaining to an old friend (who had not done well and dropped out of HS), that it wasn't about learning the answers, it was about learning how to figure out the answers. She exclaimed "I wish someone had told me that back then!"

mbond said:
I have done more teaching in school than learning in school.
Click to expand...
You never learn something so well as when you try to teach it to someone else.
 
My friend was an expert in his field -
When he was asked by a lawyer (who was at the time comparing him to another witness during a trial) "Why are you considered an expert?" his response was "Because I've made more mistakes than the other guy".
He also said (about the value of learning and learning from our mistakes) "I don't know how smart I can afford to get"
Most people come to a job interview and hope that they will get an opportunity to talk about something great that they have accomplished. But he would ask an employee candidate "Tell me about your worst project."
 
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