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2019 POTD Thread Archive
- Thread starter GoceKU
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2014
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- 2,607
POTD was finishing off a project for my wife of 28 years as of tomorrow. We had our house built in 1993 and have been slowly updating things room by room. Latest project was adding motion sensor LED lighting on the stairs going down to the lower level of the house. She picked these up off Amazon; pieced together a package with a couple of sensors, hooded LED lights and a transformer. I didn't take pictures of the LED installation, but it was pretty simple: Hole saw through the drywall, and pop them into place. They have spring clips on the sides for retention. They're wired in parallel to the motion sensors which in turn are powered by the transformer.
A look down the stairs with the LED's lighting the way
One of the hooded LED bulbs.
POTD involved dressing out the motion sensors at the top and bottom of the stairs. She bought a couple of blank switch plate covers and I took over from there. First the top of the stairs . . .
I chiseled out the drywall to clear the sensor so it'd set sub-flush to the wall. Plan was to mount the sensor to the cover plate and screw the cover plate to the wall. The sensors have adjustments for sensitivity and on time on the back side, it was easier to set them by attaching them directly to the plate to get to the back side of the sensor.
Chiseled out the drywall to get the sensor sub-flush of the wall.
Took a few measurements for the center of the sensor to fit through the plate and laid out the dims on the back of the plate. The sensor dome is 0.910" diameter, many ways to make that hole and figured a drill bit would be one that would not work. So, set up the plate on my Bridgeport and ran a CNC routine to make a 1/2" end mill cut a 0.910" hole. Really like the CNC for this type of thing, don't know if I'll ever use my boring head again. It's soo simple to enter V18 hole diameter (0.910"), V49 cutter diameter (0.500") and issue a G76 command and watch the mill do its thing.
Found the center of the 0.910" hole with a laser center finder
Quick CNC routine to cut the 0.910" clearance hole for the sensor dome. Milled away some of the back-side ribbing to allow the sensor to set flat on the back of the plate.
Then band sawed and sanded the plate to fit into the angled area of the trim on the stairs. Screwed the sensor to the plate, then screwed the plate to the wall.
Cut the plate to size and sanded the edge.
Plate and sensor in place. Will paint the screw heads with a paint marker.
My wife bought a different sensor for use at the bottom of the stairs. Don't know for sure, but guessing she picked this one up because it was cheaper than the one at the top of the stairs. Lot bigger footprint on this one. Mounting scheme was the same: Knock in a clearance hole for the sensor dome, mount the sensor to the plate and screw the plate to the wall.
Sensor at the bottom of the stairs.
Started on the BP by milling away some of the plate's back-side ribbing so the sensor could set flat on the plate. Then used an edge finder to locate the plate and moved the spindle to the center of the plate. Then ran the same CNC routine to knock in a 0.910" clearance hole for the sensor dome.
Milling away some of the plate's back-side ribbing
Edge-finder to locate the plate
CNC routine to knock in a 0.910" clearance hole
Sensor set in place
This sensor was quite a bit larger than the one at the top of the stairs. I ended up making Delrin bosses about 1.25" long to fill the gap between the sensor's mounting flanges and the mounting plate. The bosses were tapped with 6-32 threads on both ends.
Center drill, tap drill, tap and parted the bosses. Flipped them over to face and drill/tap the back sides.
Lower sensor screwed to the bosses which in turn are screwed to the mounting plate
Hooked the wiring back up to the sensor and screwed it to the wall. Works great, nice to have passive lighting on the stairs, especially if your hands are full and you're trying to bump the light switch on.
Final mount, will paint the screw heads with a paint marker.
Thanks for looking.
Bruce
A look down the stairs with the LED's lighting the way
One of the hooded LED bulbs.
POTD involved dressing out the motion sensors at the top and bottom of the stairs. She bought a couple of blank switch plate covers and I took over from there. First the top of the stairs . . .
I chiseled out the drywall to clear the sensor so it'd set sub-flush to the wall. Plan was to mount the sensor to the cover plate and screw the cover plate to the wall. The sensors have adjustments for sensitivity and on time on the back side, it was easier to set them by attaching them directly to the plate to get to the back side of the sensor.
Chiseled out the drywall to get the sensor sub-flush of the wall.
Took a few measurements for the center of the sensor to fit through the plate and laid out the dims on the back of the plate. The sensor dome is 0.910" diameter, many ways to make that hole and figured a drill bit would be one that would not work. So, set up the plate on my Bridgeport and ran a CNC routine to make a 1/2" end mill cut a 0.910" hole. Really like the CNC for this type of thing, don't know if I'll ever use my boring head again. It's soo simple to enter V18 hole diameter (0.910"), V49 cutter diameter (0.500") and issue a G76 command and watch the mill do its thing.
Found the center of the 0.910" hole with a laser center finder
Quick CNC routine to cut the 0.910" clearance hole for the sensor dome. Milled away some of the back-side ribbing to allow the sensor to set flat on the back of the plate.
Then band sawed and sanded the plate to fit into the angled area of the trim on the stairs. Screwed the sensor to the plate, then screwed the plate to the wall.
Cut the plate to size and sanded the edge.
Plate and sensor in place. Will paint the screw heads with a paint marker.
My wife bought a different sensor for use at the bottom of the stairs. Don't know for sure, but guessing she picked this one up because it was cheaper than the one at the top of the stairs. Lot bigger footprint on this one. Mounting scheme was the same: Knock in a clearance hole for the sensor dome, mount the sensor to the plate and screw the plate to the wall.
Sensor at the bottom of the stairs.
Started on the BP by milling away some of the plate's back-side ribbing so the sensor could set flat on the plate. Then used an edge finder to locate the plate and moved the spindle to the center of the plate. Then ran the same CNC routine to knock in a 0.910" clearance hole for the sensor dome.
Milling away some of the plate's back-side ribbing
Edge-finder to locate the plate
CNC routine to knock in a 0.910" clearance hole
Sensor set in place
This sensor was quite a bit larger than the one at the top of the stairs. I ended up making Delrin bosses about 1.25" long to fill the gap between the sensor's mounting flanges and the mounting plate. The bosses were tapped with 6-32 threads on both ends.
Center drill, tap drill, tap and parted the bosses. Flipped them over to face and drill/tap the back sides.
Lower sensor screwed to the bosses which in turn are screwed to the mounting plate
Hooked the wiring back up to the sensor and screwed it to the wall. Works great, nice to have passive lighting on the stairs, especially if your hands are full and you're trying to bump the light switch on.
Final mount, will paint the screw heads with a paint marker.
Thanks for looking.
Bruce
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2014
- Messages
- 3,174
Bruce,
I couldn't help but notice that the stair tread dimensions look not uniform. I hope that's an illusion due to the grain of the carpet (or ??).
Do the stair treads vary in depth?
Either way, they're well lit now?
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2014
- Messages
- 2,607
No worries, standard something like 12" run and a 7 1/2" rise. Only fallen down the stairs once; walked down them at night without turning on the lights. Stepped on a plate one of the kids left on the stairs, foot slipped and down I went. Had a lucky fall off our roof a couple of years ago, but that's another story.
Bruce
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2014
- Messages
- 2,607
Another quick POTD. My wife loves her raised garden about as much as I love puttering in my shop. Her beds are 3 cinder block courses high. She bought some cedar 1 x 8's for plank seating/covers on the top of the cider blocks. She was going to reinforce the miter joints with aluminum strap, but found a stack of 4" x 6" x ~3/16" stainless instead. Yeah, drilling and countersinking a bunch of stainless . . .
Did the work on the Bridgeport with a quick CNC routine to hit the 6 hole locations. Made good use of my Drill Doctor 750 for the clearance drills and a stone for touching the countersink. I tried countersinking with what I believe is called a no-flute Weldon style (has a diagonal hole through the end), a 6-flute and a 1-flute. The 1-flute worked best which was convenient as there was only one cutting edge to touch with a stone.
I learned a long time ago working with stainless; if the drill starts feeling a little hard to advance, shut off the motor and change the drill. I could get maybe 10 holes before changing drills even with mist coolant and Cobalt drill bits. Easier to pick out a welded on stainless chip at the onset than to smoke the drill bit and have to grind back a 1/4" because it has lost its temper. Same for the countersinks, had two of them to do the job and stoned them after each set of 6 holes.
Didn't take pictures of it, but sanded the edges with a little chamfer for a friendlier edge. Ran them down with 1" deck screws. We'll see how this goes, me being a bit anal (you think . . .) I'll probably end up routing the cedar so the reinforcements set flush.
Thanks for looking, Bruce
Easy program to hit 6 holes for the reinforcing plates.
I don't hate working with stainless this thick, but it really does a job on drill bits.
Ran the same CNC routine to countersink the drilled holes.
One of my wife's raised garden beds with the cedar topper board.
Another view of two of the raised beds.
Reinforcement in place. Jury is still out, I may route the cedar to inset the stainless for a flush surface.
Did the work on the Bridgeport with a quick CNC routine to hit the 6 hole locations. Made good use of my Drill Doctor 750 for the clearance drills and a stone for touching the countersink. I tried countersinking with what I believe is called a no-flute Weldon style (has a diagonal hole through the end), a 6-flute and a 1-flute. The 1-flute worked best which was convenient as there was only one cutting edge to touch with a stone.
I learned a long time ago working with stainless; if the drill starts feeling a little hard to advance, shut off the motor and change the drill. I could get maybe 10 holes before changing drills even with mist coolant and Cobalt drill bits. Easier to pick out a welded on stainless chip at the onset than to smoke the drill bit and have to grind back a 1/4" because it has lost its temper. Same for the countersinks, had two of them to do the job and stoned them after each set of 6 holes.
Didn't take pictures of it, but sanded the edges with a little chamfer for a friendlier edge. Ran them down with 1" deck screws. We'll see how this goes, me being a bit anal (you think . . .) I'll probably end up routing the cedar so the reinforcements set flush.
Thanks for looking, Bruce
Easy program to hit 6 holes for the reinforcing plates.
I don't hate working with stainless this thick, but it really does a job on drill bits.
Ran the same CNC routine to countersink the drilled holes.
One of my wife's raised garden beds with the cedar topper board.
Another view of two of the raised beds.
Reinforcement in place. Jury is still out, I may route the cedar to inset the stainless for a flush surface.
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- Dec 27, 2014
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- 4,056
Leave 'em the way they are, water will stand under them. Route them out and it will pool under them No win.
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Nice looking Beds Bruce.
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- Feb 27, 2014
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how about routing them in for appearance but drill a couple of drain holes that will be hidden under the plate?
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- Nov 23, 2014
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Thanks! All my wife's handiwork. She used 3/4" foundation grade plywood ripped to 16" wide. Dumped sand for a base and ran a compactor to pack it down. Leveled it off and laid the 3/4" ply in place. She screwed some wolmanized cleats on the inside/outside of the first course and mortared the blocks and subsequent courses in place. She used 6" wide block instead of the typical 8" for houses. Bottom course was filled with rock, second course is sand, top soil on the top course. She has zoned watering too running off from humidity sensors, so it waters itself as needed. Still working on an auto-weeding system!
Bruce