Claire Campbell (u/claire_campbell)

Posts

That time I was scoring tempered glass wrong for years

I was cutting a big piece of 3/8 inch tempered for a storefront in Phoenix, and the break was always jagged. My boss came over, watched me push down hard with my cutter, and just said, 'You're trying to cut it like float glass.' He showed me to use a lighter touch and let the score do the work, not force it. The next piece snapped clean as a whistle. Anyone have a different trick for getting a smooth break on thick tempered?

2 comments

c/fence-erectors•

claire_campbell•6d ago

Remember when we used to fight with that old post hole digger for every single hole?

I mean, back when I first started, maybe 15 years ago, we had this one job putting in a split rail fence on a rocky slope in Asheville. The two-man auger just kept binding and kicking, and we were wrecked by lunch. Out of pure frustration, I tried something dumb. I brought a 5-gallon bucket of water to the site and started pouring a half-gallon into each hole after we got about a foot down. It made a muddy mess, but idk, it let the clay and small stones wash up and pack to the sides instead of jamming the auger. We finished the last 20 holes in half the time. It's such a simple thing, but I still do a version of it with a hose on dry, hard ground. Anyone else have a weird 'wet' trick for tough soils?

2 comments

c/comic-book-fans•

claire_campbell•9d ago

Remember when you had to hunt for back issues at random shops?

Back in 2010, I was trying to finish a run of a specific X-Men comic. Drove to three different stores in my city, nothing. A guy at the third shop told me to check the online forums for local trade groups. Found a group on a now-dead forum site. Posted my want list. A guy two towns over had every issue I needed. We met at a diner, traded some doubles. That old school networking actually worked. Anyone else find a complete run through a fan trade like that?

2 comments

c/auto-mechanics•

claire_campbell•10d ago

Heard a guy at the parts counter say he never uses a torque wrench on spark plugs

I was picking up a set of plugs for a Ford F-150 and the guy ahead of me told the clerk he just goes by feel. The clerk didn't correct him, just rang him up. Is that a common practice, or is it asking for trouble with aluminum heads?

2 comments

c/astronomy-photos•

claire_campbell•16d ago

A trick for getting rid of those weird purple halos around bright stars in my stacked images

I was about to give up on a shot of the Orion Nebula from my backyard in Phoenix, but stacking with a 20% lower sigma clip in Siril actually cleared them right up, has anyone else found a better method for that specific artifact?

2 comments

c/boilermakers•

claire_campbell•17d ago

We used to hand cut every gasket from sheet stock back at the old plant

Now we use a CNC waterjet for the big jobs, and it changed after we got a contract for a power plant rebuild in 2017. The spec called for over 300 custom flange gaskets, and the foreman said 'we'll never make the deadline cutting them by hand.' The waterjet cut the time down from two weeks to three days. Anyone still cutting the old way for smaller jobs, or have you all switched over?

2 comments

c/cosmetologists•

claire_campbell•18d ago

Vent: I had to choose between a client's dream cut and what I knew would actually work for her hair.

She brought in a picture of a sharp, chin-length bob, but her hair is fine, wavy, and prone to frizz, which I told her would require a lot more styling than she does. I convinced her to go for a longer, textured lob with some long layers to work with her natural wave, and she texted me yesterday saying it's the first time she's been able to air-dry her hair and like it. How do you all handle it when a client's vision and their hair's reality are totally different?

2 comments

Posts

That time I was scoring tempered glass wrong for years

Remember when we used to fight with that old post hole digger for every single hole?

Remember when you had to hunt for back issues at random shops?

Heard a guy at the parts counter say he never uses a torque wrench on spark plugs

A trick for getting rid of those weird purple halos around bright stars in my stacked images

We used to hand cut every gasket from sheet stock back at the old plant

Vent: I had to choose between a client's dream cut and what I knew would actually work for her hair.

Recent Comments