Well, we noted that the non-clumping litter is generally only appearing in one of our litter boxes. Since cats are creatures of habit, and usually use the same litter box, that makes sense. So Debbie had the idea of setting up a webcam that recorded, and we could watch the video to see which cat it was.
Yesterday we did lots of running around for various chores, and I didn't get a whole lot done. I did, however, have a chance to start a conversation with an old Navy buddy of mine (Mike B.) over a project both of us would enjoy having: a programmable box joint jig. If you're a woodworker, this will make sense to you, otherwise you can skip the rest of this post. :) A box joint (also called a “finger joint”) is made by cutting "fingers" in the ends of two pieces of wood such that the fingers interleave perfectly with each other. There are lots of ways to do this, but in all cases the cutting must be done very precisely, or else the fingers won't fit together correctly. One way to do this (and perhaps the most common method) is to use a table saw, making repeated passes on the work piece to cut out the space between the fingers. You can buy “jigs” designed to make this easier, but it's still quite a bit of work – error-prone work! – to get them cut right.
As if that weren't enough challenge, things get even more interesting if you want to make something with more than four sides. For instance, if you want to make an octagonal serving tray with sides a few inches high, then those fingers have to be cut at an angle of 45° to the end (instead of the usual 90°). Even more challenging is if you want something that has slanted sides. For instance, suppose you want to make a hexagonal trash can, with 6" sides at the bottom, and 8" sides at the top. That's quite challenging, as you need a compound angle. Then there's the question of the finger width. Conventionally the fingers are all the same width, as that's the easiest way to do the work. But aesthetically it would be interesting to be able to vary the finger width.
Mike saw a programmable box joint jig online, and that inspired us to come up with a much more capable version. Mike and I have started a little collaboration for this gadget, which we're calling “BoxZilla”. It will be able to do the simple 90° joints, but also the more complex joints as well. It will be completely controlled by a Raspberry Pi computer, a little $35 wonder that's millions of times more powerful than the computers I started building in the '70s. Mike is going to do the mechanical and electronic design and construction, and I'm going to do the software. This will be a very fun project for both of us, and best of all both of us will hugely enjoy using the thing when we get done. Mike is considering selling them, too. We're just getting started on it now. I'll post about our progress from time-to-time...
