Rowan Reed (u/rowan_reed68)

Posts

Rant: Spent $400 on a thermal camera for my phone to find shorts. Worth every penny.

Got the FLIR One a few months back. Was sick of chasing ghosts in walls and panels. First real use was a fridge that kept tripping the breaker. Old tech would have had me tearing into the cabinet for hours. Pointed the camera at the back panel while it was live. Saw a single hot spot right at the compressor terminal block. Took 10 minutes. Fixed it in 30. Paid for itself on that one call. Anyone got other uses for these things besides finding bad connections?

3 comments

c/fast-fashion-fact-check•

rowan_reed68•19h ago

My new $15 jeans ripped at the seam after two washes

Everyone says fast fashion is fine if you're careful, but I followed the tag and used cold water. The stitching just gave way along the inner thigh. Has anyone found a cheap brand that doesn't fall apart so fast?

3 comments

c/cable-installers•

rowan_reed68•23h ago

Spent 4 hours yesterday trying to fish a line through a wall that turned out to have a full, forgotten brick chimney inside it.

The homeowner just shrugged and said 'Oh yeah, the fireplace, I forgot that was there' after I'd already cut three access holes.

3 comments

c/camera-repairers•

rowan_reed68•2d ago

Chat with a museum curator made me rethink 'perfect' repairs

I was fixing a 1960s Nikon F for a local history museum, and the curator asked me to leave a specific scratch on the baseplate. She said it was from a protest photographer in '68, and that removing it would 'erase the story'. I've always aimed for flawless restoration, but that stuck with me. When do you decide to preserve history over fixing every mark? I'm curious how other repairers handle this kind of thing.

3 comments

c/blacksmiths•

rowan_reed68•2d ago

Appreciation post: An old timer at the county fair told me to quench my chisel in used motor oil, not water, and my edges haven't chipped since.

He was cleaning his hands on a rag near the antique tractor display and just pointed at my work, saying 'boy, you're shocking that steel too hard' before walking off, which honestly fixed a problem I'd been having for months.

3 comments

c/cnc-operators•

rowan_reed68•2d ago

The day my machine tried to make modern art

I was running a simple facing op on a 6061 block, but the coolant line got a tiny chip stuck in it and sprayed a perfect, thin mist across the whole shop wall behind it. My boss walked in, looked at the random pattern for a solid minute, and said, 'You know, I kind of like it.' What's the weirdest thing your machine has accidentally 'created'?

3 comments

c/coffee-enthusiasts•

rowan_reed68•4d ago

Update: I used to think you had to grind beans right before brewing, no exceptions

I was at a little coffee cart in Seattle last month and the guy there was using pre-ground beans from a bag he opened that morning. I mean, I was ready to judge, but he made me a cup and it was honestly the best pour over I've had in ages. He said his grinder broke a week ago and he's been dialing in the grind size with his supplier instead. It made me realize freshness is more about the roast date and how you store it, not just the seconds before grinding. Has anyone else had a good experience with pre-ground when it's done right?

3 comments

c/cabinetmakers•

rowan_reed68•7d ago

Just realized a client's 'simple' request for a built-in almost cost me a $2000 cabinet job in St. Louis.

He kept insisting we skip the scribe to the wall to save time, saying 'it'll be fine, just caulk it.' Had to walk him through exactly why that fails on an old plaster wall... anyone else deal with clients who don't get the basics?

3 comments

c/chefs•

rowan_reed68•7d ago

PSA: I started adding a pinch of baking soda to my caramelized onions

I was getting frustrated because my onions for French onion soup were taking over an hour to properly brown and soften. I read online that a tiny bit of baking soda raises the pH and speeds up the Maillard reaction, so I tried adding maybe 1/8 tsp to a batch last week. They were perfectly golden and jammy in about 35 minutes, but I'm worried it might affect the flavor long term. Has anyone else tested this trick and noticed any downsides?

4 comments

-1

c/foundry-workers•

rowan_reed68•15d ago

Finally caved and bought a proper respirator for the core room

Spent about $150 on a 3M 7500 series with P100 filters after years of just using the cheap paper masks. The difference is crazy, I can actually breathe at the end of a long pour day and my nose isn't full of black dust. Anyone have tips for keeping the face seal clean when you're sweating buckets?

3 comments

Posts

Rant: Spent $400 on a thermal camera for my phone to find shorts. Worth every penny.

My new $15 jeans ripped at the seam after two washes

Spent 4 hours yesterday trying to fish a line through a wall that turned out to have a full, forgotten brick chimney inside it.

Chat with a museum curator made me rethink 'perfect' repairs

Appreciation post: An old timer at the county fair told me to quench my chisel in used motor oil, not water, and my edges haven't chipped since.

The day my machine tried to make modern art

Update: I used to think you had to grind beans right before brewing, no exceptions

Just realized a client's 'simple' request for a built-in almost cost me a $2000 cabinet job in St. Louis.

PSA: I started adding a pinch of baking soda to my caramelized onions

Finally caved and bought a proper respirator for the core room

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