I'm fucking depressed. I'm unemployed (not broke) and have way too much time on my hands with not enough ideas or motivation. How do I find my DIY-muse? I feel the need to create something, at this point I don't care if I can make money or entertain anyone but myself. However, eventual income would be really cool.
Background: I'm a shitty "mechanical" engineer with extensive experience in project management, automation, and 3D CAD. I'm cursed by being a "jack of all trades," as in, I'm not very good at anything except researching and learning new skills JUST well enough to complete a task.
Shitty "skills" and stuff I have:
>programming and databases: VB.net, Python, AutoIT, SQL, VBA
>microcontrollers/PLC: Arduino, Allen Bradley, Opto22, Velocio
>CAD: Inventor, SolidWorks, AutoCAD
>tools: most basic hand tools and power tools. TIG welder access
>photography/videography equipment: Canon 70d with a variety of lenses. Canon EOS M. 2x action cameras
>audio recording equipment
>electronics: tons of passives and crap to go with my handful of Arduinos, multimeter, soldering station
>have an LLC and a few domain names
I'm really thinking about getting a 3D printer, for $250, it seems like a bargain. I have a good amount of experience using a Makerbot Replicator 2x, so I'm not learning from scratch.
Other random interests include: motorcycling (I have 4 of them), cars (own a WRX), guns, hiking, random bullshit...
Every time I think of something, I find a better version online. If I think of something that doesn't exist (possible product idea) I start researching, developing, and prototyping to find out it doesn't fucking work or is just overall shitty.
If anyone is in or around Denver and want to collaborate on something, I'll post my email address.
Anyway, I need ideas or inspiration! So, I guess this is an inspiration thread.
well, I'm trying to come up with a better polishing pad for removing scratches from a DVD >>976430
so far I made one with a small sponge mounted with cardboard onto a dremel mandrel, and another with just two felt pads glued together (on a mandrel)
the problem I'm having is that I can't put enough pressure on the pads to make a different without the screw mandrel coming loose from the felt
I want to keep it to around that same size and it would need to fit into a dremel or drill chuck....I'm thinking maybe a dowel covered with cloth; the main problems being getting the mandrel/hole perfectly centered and the disk level enough
>>978204
>I'm a shitty "mechanical" engineer
explain?
do you have a degree in that in particular? why are you unemployed?
>>978252
>I'm trying to come up with a better polishing pad for removing scratches from a DVD
Why, DVDs are obsolete
>>978252
Using a dremel sounds like a recipe for overheating the plastic. I would super glue the felt to a small piece of metal with a tiny hole drilled in it. I'd probably try an aluminum can.
Luckily all the data is on the label side, so the read surface is pretty robust. One nick in the top and you're fucked.
I've used those commercial hand-cranked CD polishers. They cost less than $20: amazon PN B0015ACUKC They work fine. I've also done it with toothpaste and a tissue.
If you want something more aggressive, I would try sticking sand paper to a flat surface. McMaster has a ton of options. I would try 2000 grit: 4184A66
>>978255
My degree is Mechanical Engineering Technology. It's a 4-year (5 with mandatory co-op experience, it's also ABET accredited) degree which disqualifies me from some calculus-intensive fields. Pic related.
Basically, I barely qualify the mechanical engineering jobs. I'm not very interested in straight design work, so it isn't the end of the world. I'm better suited to managing stuff (projects) and more hands on activities in manufacturing or R&D.
I'm unemployed because I quit my job to move across the country with my girlfriend because we were sick of where we lived and our old jobs. I haven't found work, I believe it's because I don't have a specialty. Recruiters I talk to seem to agree. I've been doing the occasional automation-related stuff on a contract basis with my old employer and a few other customers, but it isn't enough to sustain me or keep me busy. I have no idea how to grow my "business" since my previous experience is in a tiny niche and I don't have any ideas.
The girlfriend has a nice, new engineering job, but I'm still unemployed. We've been here for 9 months. Luckily, I had just under $20,000 in billings last year. Unfortunately most of that contracting work has dried up.
I'm slowly reverting back into a NEET and it's horrible.
>>978262
Fuck, I'm going into me myself. Your post made me nervous for a minute.
is it just abet that disqualifies you?
is mechanical engineering technology different than bs in me?
sorry to hear about your situation, best of luck to you.
>>978259
Hardly
Even with "HD quality" streaming movies, they can be compressed so much it's pathetic. If they can't even bother to have a 4GB online copy, forget trying to stream a 40+GB bluray; and what happens with 4K?
I already mentioned libraries in the thread. While some do have subs to online movie programs, not all of them do, and even then the selection is very limited. They can't always afford to constantly re-purchase movies either, if they can even find a copy, just because some idiot fubared the disc.
>>978262
Yeah, I thought that might be an issue after I tested the idea on a scrap disc and it slightly messed up the surface. I opted for a drill.
As far as I can tell, any damage was just to the bottom. I was able to rip an additional file from before I started, so it seems to be going in the right direction.
I actually started out with 1000 grit and went to 3000. Those are likely the scratches I'm still trying to get out.
I think I might try another buffing dowel with a bolt for a shank...and probably some Meguiar's PlastX to see if that will get the light stuff out. I really don't want to go spending another $20+ just to get a drill attachment but if nothing else works, it's going to bug me till I get that stupid disc to rip.
>>978286
>mechanical engineer technology
>cant do any engineering because I dont know any math
his is like a trade tier qualification applied science. he knows how to put things together and how they fit but he can't actually design anything because he cant into even the most basic differentials. most of engineering is just picking a part for an application and designing your solution around common production parts. a standard bearing for example. unfortunately the moment something tricky comes up where he needs to work out something complicated like say dynamic load handling, he is up shit creek without a paddle. he could probably design something like a sybian and massively over engineer it. but if say he wanted to build a performance engine he wouldnt be able to into volumetric efficiency.
it is like engineering in that he learnt a lot more of the trade relevant stuff which should have prepared him better for the workplace however this was at the expense of the vitally important hard maths that he really needed to learn.
>>978286
Any engineering degree with technology behind it is essentially an easier version.
When I got my ME BS, the MET version required the same number of math credits, but much much easier. Core classes were a lot simpler and had professors more willing to pass you, and physics 2 had been completely replaced with a humanity.
>I just hired a ET graduate that was making more than what I am now in the oil industry with years less experience.
>Now he's making about 30% of what he was, so pay is still industry based.
>>978290
A dowel sounds like a decent idea, You can drive a screw with a washer into the end of it to retain the felt.
>>978286
My degree is a BS and it's from an ABET accredited program. Both good things. The degree itself is just stupid.
I don't apply to complex design jobs. Just project and manufacturing jobs. I don't know what DISQUALIFIES me because employers never tell you why they didn't call or interview you. I think it would be much easier if I had a specific job function as my experience instead of 9001 half-assed "skills".
>>978300
You are both right and wrong in several ways. I won't argue it, because if this post makes one person go into ME instead of MET, it will be worth it.
Most ET courses are associates.
>>978318
The difference is the calculus. A BS in MET only requires up to differential equations and the other classes (physics and major-specific classes) are not calculus based.
I'm not sure that guy has a degree from an accredited school. I took Physics II.
I went to RIT, which was a miserable sausage fest, if anyone was wondering.
>>978379
>RIT
>Rochester Institute of Technology
>National Technical Institute for the Deaf
what, no qt deaf girls?
>>978399
The problem with deaf people is that when presented with other deaf people, they fuck them. Since they have their own microcosm of deafness, they don't even try to communicate with the hearing.
This isn't true for all of them, but most of them are this way.
>>978302
still no bingo, you're meant to get a bingo
>>978546
Thanks for the bump, but you aren't supposed to reply to troll posts.
>>978300
>most of engineering is just picking a part for an application and designing your solution around common production parts.
sounds easy enough. Should I think of
>most engineering
like legos for someone with an inflated ego?
not imply that is op, I just mean a typical engineer.
>>978302
youre making half of that up. you cant into bingoing.
>>978318
>Any engineering degree with technology behind it is essentially an easier version.
noted.
>physics 2 had been completely replaced with a humanity.
all of my what
>>978379
>I think it would be much easier if I had a specific job function as my experience instead of 9001 half-assed "skills".
also noted that I should get good in a few things and have only 8000 half assed "skills".
Thanks for the input.
Make a fumehood a mechanical stirrer hotplate and have some fun with chemistry nothing wrong playing with some crazy shit. Nitro esters would stop the boredom pretty quick.
>>978677
>making half that up
>>978204
Wish I could be stuck for something to do, instead of stuck for money
Take up a freestyle sport. Freestyle sports have a steep learning curve so they keep you busy for a long time, and they're also very personal to you so they help express yourself. You can learn anything with enough commitment and effort.
>>978204
go to jaimie mantzel's island
>>980659
I have sufficient funds for up to 2 years, assuming I do nothing but exist. My primary motivation is not making money.
>>980662
I've never been good at that stuff. I mountain biked a bit when I was in upstate New York , but sucked and managed to fall off a shit ton. I used to longboard, but was also abysmal at it.
I'm slightly scared of heights, so rock climbing is also a no-go.
>>980794
I like Colorado.
>>980800
Pick up electronics, start from scratch, and learn how to work with an FPGA. There is a thread somewhere in the /diy/ archives about FGPAs.
Make a radio communication system that has traditionally hardware-only components as being reprogrammable.
Tada, you'll learn all the math you need to climb back up Mechanical Engineering, and it will probably be less soul-destroying and rather fun, though it might take a year.
Are you familiar with Linux or the BSDs? If, for example, you understand everything from the analog radio stage through to the hardware interface, next through the Linux kernel module functioning as a driver, through to parsing the data and using it in some program, then you should generally be able to figure many more things out that you currently can.
For workstation and incidentals, it shouldn't run more than $500.
>>981217
*hardware data interface
not
hardware interface
sorry
>>978204
See of there's an FRC (FIRST robotics competition) team at your local high school. They could definitely use your skills. And, mentoring a high school ten looks great on a résumé.
>>978204
If you have $500 and an afternoon you could swap out your car's engine with a corvette engine.
>>978204
Have you considered learning math? It's not hard as long as you master the previous material before going on to more material. Most students fail calculus because they didn't bother to learn algebra properly or other prerequisite material. If you do this part on your own time, you could get an ME BS and/or EE BS easily since the math parts of the other courses will be a joke. For algebra, I recommend Paul R. Rider's College Algebra if your algebra skills are rusty.
>>981217
>FPGA
I'll have to look into this.
I find electronics a lot of fun, but I get lost very quickly on actual circuit design and complex subjects.
>>981681
That would look good on a resume. But I hate children...
>>981697
You make it sound like I wasn't taught Algebra and Calculus. I was. Calculus isn't used very widely in many engineering occupations. I have no desire to do the sort of design work that requires high level math.
Git gud at TIG welding.
It's great.
>>978262
i wish people would stop moving to Colorado. traffic is getting so bad. rent is ridiculous. it's turning this state into california
i'd recommend you go to a hackerspace. you might be able to pick up some inspiration there.
>>981706
you're lazy.
>>981801
Because I find manufacturing more interesting than CAD and FEA all day?
