iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

There are a couple more super huge ones I want to track down, but the reduced shank/Silver-Deming drill bit collection is now complete up to 1". To celebrate, I finally installed the drawers in amongst all the other cabinets on the old workbench.

$And old grey metal set of small drawers, open to reveal a set of reduced shank/Silver Deming drill bits. These are sitting in slots in 3D printed organizers with the size in fractional and decimal printed into the top surface in a contrasting color. All the slots are filled in the lower 3 drawers, but in the top there are 2 empty slots visible.$ A wider view of the drawers, showing them surrounded by filing card cabinets and Huot drill/tap cabinets on a very cluttered old folding table.

A wider view of the drawers, showing them surrounded by filing card cabinets and Huot drill/tap cabinets on a very cluttered old folding table.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

Help, I'm becoming a weird coffee person... but I think I've dialed in the grind setting acceptably.

A kitchen counter with 4 mugs of coffee in a row, the results of a series of experiments in grind settings. Behind them are various bits of pour over equipment.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

With the help of a janky homemade spanner, I've managed to get all the individual drill spindles removed from the Burgmaster head. This means I can replace their cracked oil seals and the broken sight glass on the front. ...how exactly I'm going to do this has […] [Original post on clacks.link]

A worn, squat blue cylinder with "BURGMASTER" cast into its face, surrounded by the numerals 1-6 around the circumference. It is sitting on some 2x4 sections, on which 6 spindles are also sitting. Some of these still have small Jacobs chucks attached, all have bearings and worm gears.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

There is still a lot of work to be done, but the adjustable glasses -- the idea that got me playing with custom, homemade glasses in the first place -- are actually vaguely functional. All distance, all close up, or classic progressives in between, all at the turn of a knob.

Fish wearing a frankly ridiculous eyeglass frame. The across the top is a rod with small pinion gears on it. Over the left eye only, as this is still a prototype, there is a blue plastic lens holder that has rack gears on its front so it can be adjusted up and down. There is a slightly awkward concavity in the holder and lens on its lower, inboard corner, a cut out to make room for the nose when it is lowered.

Same, but down it has been lowered to distance-only mode. The need for the nose cutout is very clear here, and in fact could probably stand to be another millimeter or so deeper.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

I finally got the Burgmaster base properly mounted on the stand. This was all half way through modifications to put the turret drill on a small X-Y mill table when I bought the parts, so it's a weird mishmash. I had to add some adapter plates between the table […] [Original post on clacks.link]

An old grey-green X-Y table mounted on an old grey-green (but a different grey-green) steel cabinet. On top of the table a fairly massive but obviously homemade block of aluminum is bolted on, with two precision ground shafts projecting up from it. In the background, shop clutter.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

I took part in this study last month, and it was a nice, chill conversation. The researcher is looking for more input from the AI-skeptic side of the maker community, so I offered to pass the link along. Most of the people reading this will lean in that direction, I'm pretty sure! […]

clacks.link

Original post on clacks.link

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Reposted by Matthew Dockrey

highly praised and little read @hannah.posts.rat.pictures.ap.brid.gy · 13/09/2026

Snagged a book printed in bernard shaw’s weird little phonetic alphabet

The shaw alphabet version of androcles and the lion with included key card

The first page with both traditional latin alphabet and shaw’s goofy one

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 13/09/2026

Tonight I got back to working on the Burgmaster turret drill restoration, cutting the teeth on what will become the replacement gear for moving the quill up and down. One of those evenings where 90% of the time is spent dialing in a setup, but it seems to have […] [Original post on clacks.link]

A dividing head set up horizontally on the table of a vertical mill. A long length of 1.5" stainless is held in its chuck, supported at the far end by a cheap little tail stock. In the quill of the mill is an arbor with a gear cutter mounted.

Close up on the end of the rod, which is being held by a blurry hand. 34 gear teeth have been cut around its perimeter, stretching back about an inch and a half.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026

RE: techhub.social/@rayckeith/117243760… Finally, something from a cyberpunk novel I'm excited to see in real life! ...not that I can remember where I saw the idea. Random library book from 1993 or so, possibly YA. There each frame was signed with the private keys of news […]

clacks.link

Original post on clacks.link

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 03/09/2026

There have been more than a couple technical difficulties, but the bike RV is rolling, at least a little bit. #biketooter

A small, boxy structure made from silver foam insulation panels is strapped down on top of a very large cargo trike. It is rear heavy enough to lift up the front of the bike when no one is in the saddle, but there is a pair of adjustable trailer jack casters on the back to help with this. There is a solar panel strapped to the roof. It is very dusty, sitting in front of a row of very dusty portapotties.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 30/08/2026

Final prep has been even more frantic than expected, after the chain broke in two(!) places when I put my weight on it. Not a welcome development, but I'm glad it happened before I'd left! I've managed to replace it with the last of my spool of #40 industrial […] [Original post on clacks.link]

A very large cargo trike, with a bed that is a full 4' x 8' sheet of plywood. The bed sticks out far beyond the rear wheels, and has trailer jacks in the back as adjustable casters. Equipment can be seen mounted in the frame under the deck. It is obviously quite tail heavy, as the front wheel is currently lifted clear of the ground, and the whole thing tips backwards.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 29/08/2026

It's only tacked together, but the hexayurt is complete. Still to do: Fully tape up the seams, except joining the roof, as it probably won't fit in the uhaul with that attached. Connect the walls to the deck, add the tape loops to the roof for the straps which […] [Original post on clacks.link]

A boxy structure 4' wide and 8' long made out of shiny silver insulation panels, on a platform on the back of a very long cargo trike. It has a slightly pitched (30 degree) roof. The forward side has bevelled edges, a design flourish I definitely didn't come to regret.

The rear view of the hexayurt, which isn't bevelled but flat. There is a large door set in the rear panel, and the roof jets out over it to form the vague gesture of a portico.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 28/08/2026

I think I'm going to be here for a while.

A 6" round of aluminum being cut on a horizontal bandsaw that looks to only be just barely large enough for the task.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026

Newton could predict mountaintop observatories, but not adaptive optics.

Cropped picture of text on a Page of a book, where many of the Nouns are randomly capitalized in an early modern English fashion:

"Long Telescopes may cause Objects to appear brighter and larger than short ones can do, but they cannot be so formed as to take away that confusion of the Rays which arises from the Tremors of the Atmosphere. The only Remedy is a most serene and quiet Air, such as may perhaps be found on the tops of the highest Mountains above the grosser Clouds."

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026

Still not quite as far along as I was hoping, but the frame is painted, the fridge tray, rear trailer jacks and deck all permanently mounted (that is, with lock nuts or loctite), and the chain cleaned and cut down to a better length for the tiny front sprocket I […] [Original post on clacks.link]

A very long cargo trike in an unfinished, cluttered work space. The rear platform has been raised to clear the tires, and consists of almost an entire 4' x 8' sheet of plywood.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 25/08/2026

The new drawer slides arrived much later in the day than I was hoping, but now I've got the fridge tray sliding. I wish I had another month for fun little features like this, building a perfect little living space is really fun! But from here on out it's going to […] [Original post on clacks.link]

A raw steel frame with a small 12V fridge nestled inside.

The fridge has now been pulled out clear of the frame so there is access to its hatch. It is strapped down to a simple wood tray with a camlock cargo strap, and the tray is connected to the frame by way of a pair of fairly heavy duty drawer slides. (These are mounted horizontally, in violation of the instructions, but I've found it works fine if you're careful with it.)

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2026

Today I got the solar power bank mounted in the bike RV. I also got the tray made for the 12V fridge, but then I realized the 2 spare drawer slides I had were of different sizes, so I can't actually mount that until a matched set arrives tomorrow. Yesterday I got […] [Original post on clacks.link]

A Jackery solar power bank strapped to some roughly welded plates and angle iron inside a very large cargo trike frame.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 23/08/2026

I did finally finish printing the trays for all the silver-deming/reduced shank drill bits, and they've been installed in the set of metal drawers I found for them up at the shop. Still some gaps to fill in, plus plenty of extra room for even bigger ones >> 1" if […] [Original post on clacks.link]

$An old metal cabinet with 4 drawers. The bottom two are opened to reveal dark blue printed trays, 2 in each drawer. These are mostly filled with drill bits, starting with 33/64 and going up to 13/16. The slots are labeled in white with the fractional and decimal size of that drill. The whole thing is sitting on a very sturdy and cluttered steel workbench.$ The top drawer of the cabinet, showing 2 trays with very large slots, only the first two of which are filled by a 1-5/16 and a 1-3/8 bit. To the right of the trays is a single narrow compartment as long as the two trays put together. It has 3 very long, but not particularly wide drill bits in it.

The top drawer of the cabinet, showing 2 trays with very large slots, only the first two of which are filled by a 1-5/16 and a 1-3/8 bit. To the right of the trays is a single narrow compartment as long as the two trays put together. It has 3 very long, but not particularly wide drill bits in it.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 23/08/2026

Of all tools, a "bone folder" has to have one of the greatest scary-sounding to actually-innocuos ratios.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026

Just got back from the Angine de Poitrine show in Portland. Amazing performance, some of the best crowd energy I've experienced at a show in a very long time, and it was all so delightfully weird and silly. I even liked the opening act (Population II)!

A small-ish theater with a two person rock group performing. They are both dressed in black and white polka dots, with masks fully covering their faces. The guitarist is wielding a microtonal double guitar/bass, and holding up his hands in a triangle gesture that is being copied by most of the audience.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 20/08/2026

New trick I just discovered, trying to dry some paint faster: it can stay balanced like this as long as the fan is running.

A very large shop floor fan, sitting outside in the grass. It is tipped forward about 20 degrees off the vertical and looks distinctly unbalanced.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2026

Doing some filming at work with a totally normal tripod that is definitely not ridiculous overkill.

A smartphone held in a cheap gimbal that has been mounted on an incredibly overbuilt tripod with a micrometer slide adjustment. The screen of the phone has been crudely censored with a pen tool.

Closeup on the name badge on the tripod:
10743A LASER TRIPOD
HEWLETT-PACKARD

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026

I've got the bed extended for the bike RV project. Really not sure I'll be able to finish it in time, though, given how delayed the steel was in arriving.

A large cargo trike with a 4' bed extension freshly welded on. There is a series of risers also welded on at intervals, including on the original frame, to allow a full 4' x 8' sheet of plywood to be bolted on top and clear the wheels.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 16/08/2026

WARNING: Only to be operated by Lain's dad

Warning label on a piece of industrial equipment, with the first icon being the outline of a face with filled-in, opaque-looking glasses (to indicate that safety glasses should be worn during use)

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Reposted by Matthew Dockrey

sky @scroeser.kolektiva.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/08/2026

I think a lot about bell hooks writing that the first act of violence society demands of men is to cut out their own softness: "The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not violence toward women. Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of psychic […]

kolektiva.social

Original post on kolektiva.social

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 13/08/2026

A recent auction greatly filled out my silver-deming/reduced shank drill bit collection, whose organization I was already unsatisfied with. So I've been figuring out basic multi-color prints to solve the problem.

A dark blue printed tray, with 8 grooves in the top face for large drill bits. They are each labeled in inset white text, ranging from 33/64" on the left to 5/8" on the right. 3 example drill bits are inserted, each about 6"/150mm long. There is a step on each, as the drill itself is larger than the 0.5"/12.7mm shanks for this style of drill bit. In the background, electronics workbench clutter.

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Reposted by Matthew Dockrey

mx alex tax1a - 2020 (6) @atax1a.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy · 09/08/2026

reading the adobe multiple masters font spec and they have a goddamn font tesseract all up in

A four-dimensional hypercube with a weight axis ranging from light to bold, a width axis ranging from condensed to expanded, an optical size axis ranging from small to large, and a serif axis ranging from sans serif to serif. The cube is depicted once as a 3D object without the serif axis, and then separately as a tesseract.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 09/08/2026

Online Metals, you motherfucker, don't send me a "We Miss You!" spam when 1) I ordered from you just 10 days ago, and 2) YOU SOMEHOW HAVEN'T EVEN FULFILLED THE ORDER YET.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 07/08/2026

Just now as I started a 3D print just now, someone else in the house happened to fire off a big job to the (2D) printer in the living room. After it had got through about a dozen pages, I realized I was feeling the anxiety I sometimes get that maybe I had accidentally printed an entire document […]

clacks.link

Original post on clacks.link

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Reposted by Matthew Dockrey

myrmepropagandist @futurebird.sauropods.win.ap.brid.gy · 07/08/2026

Here me out. Let's have a few new manhole cover designs taken from nature to honor this wonderful spider. www.inaturalist.org/taxa/98834-Cycl…

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Reposted by Matthew Dockrey

Jen @jenk3.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Washington state folks: Tues Aug 4 is the primary election. If you are a US citizen living in Washington, you can vote. Every county has at least one voting center where you can register and vote tomorrow.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026

I started getting the Burgmaster mounted on the collection of base parts that came with it tonight. The previous owner's dad had been in the process of retrofitting it onto a X-Y table, so it's all a bit weird. But that's fine. What's less fine is that I […] [Original post on clacks.link]

The Burgmaster OB body mounted on its two shafts, which are mounted in the base of a small tabletop mill.

A shaft with bearings sitting next to a keyed gear missing 2/3 of its teeth.

The other side of the shaft with bearings, showing a short section of coiled spring attached to it. Next to it is the can holding the rest of the spring coil.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026

One of the things I learned about demoing the 9 prototype Life Cells at Open Sauce was that the alignment from just the magnets wasn't good enough. The pogo pins could still bridge across the pads if you didn't get it just right. Ideally, you should be able to […] [Original post on clacks.link]

A pair of short stacks of square, blue, 3D printed boards. They have matching indents and bumps on each side, as well as 3x5mm magnets held in little 3D printed housings, blue and red according to their polarity.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 01/08/2026

Goddamn, I really need to switch to FreeCAD if only just to stop Solidworks from making me log in again multiple times a day.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 01/08/2026

Reading Hannah Arendt in 2026 is brutal:

Cropped picture of a page of a book, with the text:

What has often been suggested has now been established: so long as the press is free and not corrupt, it has an enormously important function to fulfill and can rightly be called the fourth branch of government. Whether the First Amendment will suffice to protect this most essential political freedom, the right to unmanipulated factual information without which all freedom of opinion becomes a cruel hoax, is another question.

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Reposted by Matthew Dockrey

Jon Hancock @bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy · 15/07/2026

An occasional reminder that symbol.wtf is possibly the single most useful page on the Web.

symbol.wtf

‽

A dumb website for copying symbols.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

I finally dug out the box of almost-complete-except-the-most-important-assembly Burgmaster turret drill parts, and it looks like that head I picked up on the way to Open Sauce will work! Next I need to figure out if the motor still works. And do a deep clean on everything.

A greyish green drill press head, with a very mid-20th-century look, sitting on a small welding table. Where the chuck should be is another complicated casting, with a drive shaft leading into the back of it. On the front of it is a stout cylinder that is in blue and seems to come from another machine. Around its perimeter are 6 small chucks, sticking out radially.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

Huh, I could have sworn the prescription lens blanks were 60mm. Sorry, everyone I misled!

A circular transparent plastic disk being held in calipers that are plainly reading 69.71mm.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 28/07/2026

Sometimes you can't sleep until you've gotten a very silly idea out of your head.

A classic Super Mario Bros. warp zone, except the pipes run horizontally into the wall, and it says "WELCOME TO WEFT ZONE!"

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 26/07/2026

So, another problem arrived today. Not as wildly, unbelievably great of a deal as the taps and dies, and the size distribution is lumpier than I was hoping. (25 of the 1-1/2"/38mm, 43 of the 2-1/8"/54mm, 1-6 of everything else.) But still a very good deal, even if I'll have to give half of it away.

A cluttered wood workshop table covered in sorted columns of red hole saws. Two of the columns are much, much deeper than the others.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2026

So, Open Sauce. I'm back in Seattle, and can almost declare that I didn't back any unwanted crown-looking viruses. As always, I got caught up talking to people and completely forgot to get any pictures beyond the initial booth setup. And, again as always, I didn't get around much to look at the […]

clacks.link

Original post on clacks.link

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 21/07/2026

I don't suppose anyone has a lead on the 17 minute film William Gosper made about Conway's Life at MIT back in the early 1970s? It's mentioned in Lifeline volume 9 and a Martin Gardner book, but I can't find anything more concrete than that.

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Reposted by Matthew Dockrey

Rachel Brindle @younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/07/2026

I'm a bit late in this, but there's still time I've been helping @attoparsec out at Open Sauce this weekend! This has been very tiring, but so fun. Absolutely worth it. There's still one more day! Come check us out tomorrow if you're in the area and have time (and want to spend ~$120 for the […]

hachyderm.io

Original post on hachyderm.io

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 19/07/2026

My small pizza came with more red pepper packets than pizza.

A very full fistful of red pepper flake packets held in front of a very small pizza.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 18/07/2026

I forgot to post: we're at booths F.166 and F.167 in the Fiesta Hall at Open Sauce, come find us!

Two tables filled with Attoparsec projects in a large convention hall.

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Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 17/07/2026

I have made it to San Mateo, all ready for setting up at Open Sauce tomorrow morning. Bonus: while passing through Vacaville, I managed to buy the only Burgmaster turret drill turret I've ever seen listed for sale on its own. So maybe that incomplete box of […] [Original post on clacks.link]

A worn blue metal disk with "Burgmaster" cast into its face. 5 drill chucks and 1 stub where a 6th could be mounted stick out radially from its circumference.

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Reposted by Matthew Dockrey

Matthew Dockrey @attoparsec.clacks.link.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2026

This is what happened when I decided to do something about overgrown greenery in bike lanes thwapping me in the face. youtu.be/g6iRBKOiye8

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