Breaking Taps
@breakingtaps.com
Material science, microfab, microscopy, machining. Mostly :)
I made a video about this! Laser deposition of aluminum, silver, copper, titanium, invar 36, niobium ITO and (sorta) zirconium.
Pretty nifty little technique. Not perfect, has some major disadvantages... but easy and reasonably robust!
youtu.be/J0NNO91WyXM
Pretty nifty little technique. Not perfect, has some major disadvantages... but easy and reasonably robust!
youtu.be/J0NNO91WyXM
May 25, 2025 at 7:48 PM
I made a video about this! Laser deposition of aluminum, silver, copper, titanium, invar 36, niobium ITO and (sorta) zirconium.
Pretty nifty little technique. Not perfect, has some major disadvantages... but easy and reasonably robust!
youtu.be/J0NNO91WyXM
Pretty nifty little technique. Not perfect, has some major disadvantages... but easy and reasonably robust!
youtu.be/J0NNO91WyXM
Am I west coasting correctly?
May 19, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Am I west coasting correctly?
This thing is pretty impressive in person 😯
May 18, 2025 at 5:42 PM
This thing is pretty impressive in person 😯
Had a long flight and finally got around to fully reading @benjaminreinhardt.com 's essay on DARPA, why it works, where it struggles, and how it might be replicated: blog.benjaminreinhardt.com/wddw
Very thought provoking read. Been on my todo for ages, should have read sooner!
Very thought provoking read. Been on my todo for ages, should have read sooner!
Ben Reinhardt
benjaminreinhardt.com
May 4, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Had a long flight and finally got around to fully reading @benjaminreinhardt.com 's essay on DARPA, why it works, where it struggles, and how it might be replicated: blog.benjaminreinhardt.com/wddw
Very thought provoking read. Been on my todo for ages, should have read sooner!
Very thought provoking read. Been on my todo for ages, should have read sooner!
RIP NASA science missions 😢
May 3, 2025 at 11:00 AM
RIP NASA science missions 😢
The optimization field has the best names
-Artificial Gorilla Troops Optimizer (GTO)
-Remora Optimization Algo (ROA)
-Polar Bear Optimization (PBO)
-Red Fox Optimization (RFO)
-Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO)
-Marine Predator Algo (MPA)
-African Vulture Optimization Algo (AVOA)
-Artificial Gorilla Troops Optimizer (GTO)
-Remora Optimization Algo (ROA)
-Polar Bear Optimization (PBO)
-Red Fox Optimization (RFO)
-Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO)
-Marine Predator Algo (MPA)
-African Vulture Optimization Algo (AVOA)
May 2, 2025 at 12:32 PM
The optimization field has the best names
-Artificial Gorilla Troops Optimizer (GTO)
-Remora Optimization Algo (ROA)
-Polar Bear Optimization (PBO)
-Red Fox Optimization (RFO)
-Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO)
-Marine Predator Algo (MPA)
-African Vulture Optimization Algo (AVOA)
-Artificial Gorilla Troops Optimizer (GTO)
-Remora Optimization Algo (ROA)
-Polar Bear Optimization (PBO)
-Red Fox Optimization (RFO)
-Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO)
-Marine Predator Algo (MPA)
-African Vulture Optimization Algo (AVOA)
Oh hai there, look what I found in the bin of childhood stuff my parents dropped off 👀
April 27, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Oh hai there, look what I found in the bin of childhood stuff my parents dropped off 👀
Probably the two best things I've ever purchased
April 22, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Probably the two best things I've ever purchased
Shoutout to bad decisions that past BreakingTaps let future BreakingTaps sort out 😑
April 14, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Shoutout to bad decisions that past BreakingTaps let future BreakingTaps sort out 😑
brb starting a new channel called Breaking Bones
April 10, 2025 at 8:48 PM
brb starting a new channel called Breaking Bones
Getting ready for my $5.50/hr reindustrialization sewing job at the textile factory. 👊🇺🇸🔥
April 6, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Getting ready for my $5.50/hr reindustrialization sewing job at the textile factory. 👊🇺🇸🔥
Lol futures for S&P, NASDAQ, Dow etc are like a vertical cliff.
So much winning! jfc
So much winning! jfc
April 2, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Lol futures for S&P, NASDAQ, Dow etc are like a vertical cliff.
So much winning! jfc
So much winning! jfc
The annual urge to build a modern letterpress has sidled into my brain yet again. 🙃
Hand-fed platen press, ballscrew/linear rails/servos to actuate press and inking rollers. Resin print the plate. Load cells to automatically tune the printing pressure, etc etc.
Hand-fed platen press, ballscrew/linear rails/servos to actuate press and inking rollers. Resin print the plate. Load cells to automatically tune the printing pressure, etc etc.
March 28, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The annual urge to build a modern letterpress has sidled into my brain yet again. 🙃
Hand-fed platen press, ballscrew/linear rails/servos to actuate press and inking rollers. Resin print the plate. Load cells to automatically tune the printing pressure, etc etc.
Hand-fed platen press, ballscrew/linear rails/servos to actuate press and inking rollers. Resin print the plate. Load cells to automatically tune the printing pressure, etc etc.
Large area deposition ends up being quite easy, but does require a spacer between metal and glass which limits ability to pattern.
Ag is great, Cu is tricky (oxidizes easily). Ti, Nb and Invar 36 seem good. Can make TiO2 easily too.
Zr seems to oxidize immediately
Ag is great, Cu is tricky (oxidizes easily). Ti, Nb and Invar 36 seem good. Can make TiO2 easily too.
Zr seems to oxidize immediately
March 27, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Large area deposition ends up being quite easy, but does require a spacer between metal and glass which limits ability to pattern.
Ag is great, Cu is tricky (oxidizes easily). Ti, Nb and Invar 36 seem good. Can make TiO2 easily too.
Zr seems to oxidize immediately
Ag is great, Cu is tricky (oxidizes easily). Ti, Nb and Invar 36 seem good. Can make TiO2 easily too.
Zr seems to oxidize immediately
Playing around with a laser thing today and accidentally found a good set of parameters for transferring aluminum onto glass.
Neat!
Neat!
March 26, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Playing around with a laser thing today and accidentally found a good set of parameters for transferring aluminum onto glass.
Neat!
Neat!
Shameless shilling: I'm selling some esoteric equipment!
Want a 200 femtosecond IR laser, or a 532nm picosecond laser? How about a linear motor stage with 10nm resolution? Or an XYZ wafer stage with 250nm steps?
I gotchu: www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_...
Want a 200 femtosecond IR laser, or a 532nm picosecond laser? How about a linear motor stage with 10nm resolution? Or an XYZ wafer stage with 250nm steps?
I gotchu: www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_...
March 6, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Shameless shilling: I'm selling some esoteric equipment!
Want a 200 femtosecond IR laser, or a 532nm picosecond laser? How about a linear motor stage with 10nm resolution? Or an XYZ wafer stage with 250nm steps?
I gotchu: www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_...
Want a 200 femtosecond IR laser, or a 532nm picosecond laser? How about a linear motor stage with 10nm resolution? Or an XYZ wafer stage with 250nm steps?
I gotchu: www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_...
I own a lot of tripods apparently 😅
March 6, 2025 at 4:46 PM
I own a lot of tripods apparently 😅
Reposted by Breaking Taps
February 28, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Designing hardware for space is, unsurprisingly, hard!
Join me for 35 minutes of discussion about all the considerations that go into designing and manufacturing a tiny little hinge.
Join me for 35 minutes of discussion about all the considerations that go into designing and manufacturing a tiny little hinge.
Designing Space Hardware is Hard
What does it take to design a hinge for space applications? Let's find out by designing and manufacturing a few!Watch this ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula....
youtu.be
February 28, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Designing hardware for space is, unsurprisingly, hard!
Join me for 35 minutes of discussion about all the considerations that go into designing and manufacturing a tiny little hinge.
Join me for 35 minutes of discussion about all the considerations that go into designing and manufacturing a tiny little hinge.
Have some external deadlines popping up in my life so need to stop messing around and finish a video or two.
First up: space hinges!
Yell at me if you see me on social media before a video is posted plz k thx 🙏
First up: space hinges!
Yell at me if you see me on social media before a video is posted plz k thx 🙏
February 26, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Have some external deadlines popping up in my life so need to stop messing around and finish a video or two.
First up: space hinges!
Yell at me if you see me on social media before a video is posted plz k thx 🙏
First up: space hinges!
Yell at me if you see me on social media before a video is posted plz k thx 🙏
Academic paper pet peeves:
- "Facile" 🤬
- "Wearable" or "Flexible" as justification for importance
- "Green process" because it uses a slightly less-bad solvent
- "Facile" 🤬
- "Wearable" or "Flexible" as justification for importance
- "Green process" because it uses a slightly less-bad solvent
February 23, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Academic paper pet peeves:
- "Facile" 🤬
- "Wearable" or "Flexible" as justification for importance
- "Green process" because it uses a slightly less-bad solvent
- "Facile" 🤬
- "Wearable" or "Flexible" as justification for importance
- "Green process" because it uses a slightly less-bad solvent
Saturday optical alignment vibes
February 22, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Saturday optical alignment vibes
SIGH. Aligning optical assembly today and huh weird, red beam isn't passing the UV dichroic beamsplitter.
Oh right that's because it's actually a UV bandpass filter 🤦
Oh right that's because it's actually a UV bandpass filter 🤦
February 21, 2025 at 9:03 PM
SIGH. Aligning optical assembly today and huh weird, red beam isn't passing the UV dichroic beamsplitter.
Oh right that's because it's actually a UV bandpass filter 🤦
Oh right that's because it's actually a UV bandpass filter 🤦