The results of my foray into painting that I mentioned above:
Surreptitious, this board will not be 
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I’ve been looking for a lube station where the stems are oriented this way, instead of upside down. Do you recall where you purchased this station?
This gave me a moment of “Wait, am I an idiot?” (I already know the answer but still) and I went downstairs to double-check. The holes are almost all too small to fit stem first but will sit (albeit loosely) when placed pole first. They’re 3D printed so I suspect that’s why. They’re not perfect - the blue one holds bases a little too loosely sometimes while the black one is a bit tight. That said, they do exactly what I need and you can edit the files as needed if you want to adjust sizing.
You can grab the file from Thingiverse - it was made by Holtenc from PrimeKB. I used r/3dprintmything to get them printed quite cheaply.
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Well, not only today as it has been a few weekends I worked on that.
Worked on preparing the raw bottom pieces of the Manta75.
The first one in copper and the second one in aluminium.
For both, the sides have been mirror polished up to 5000 grit sandpaper.
Started from 280 grit, then 500, 800, 1000, 2000 and finally 5000 grit.
Still can see minor scratches that could have gone away with a 3000 grit sand paper between the 2000 and the 5000 grit ones but alas I didn’t find any …
Still, it ok for a first try.
The flat surface have been brushed finished with 500 grit sand paper.
Not see in the photos but I also played a bit with patina on the copper piece.
All interior have been buffed with a microfiber cloth inpregnated with vinegar, this gave a nice matte brown/greenish color (matte because the piece has been beadblasted before).
As a final touch all have received anti-tarnish protection using Renaissance Wax.
I’ll see how long it will last on the copper piece.
Here are some (very crappy as usual) photos below.
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hahah I appreciate the details and thanks for the link and printer recommendation!
Southpaw fullsized built with creams. Just on the bench for a quick clean up
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Any mods to the creams?
Just lube, I am but a simple man
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My other favorite little expensive pieces of plastic!
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I was thinking Titanic or the D11 bulldozer, but I’ve scrapped all those plans in favor of the new Home Alone house. 
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I had my son build my wife the bouquet of flowers and the bonsai tree for me for both of our birthdays. He’s currently working on the Birds of Paradise plant for my mom for her birthday.
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Swapping out the stock Halo springs with 62g TX springs. The Unholy U4s are now much lighter to type with, interestingly with a reduced tactility as well. Overall it seems to make for a more comfortable typing experience
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Not a keyboard, but the pump died in my espresso machine a couple weeks ago (not super unexpected after ten years of daily use from what I can tell). The nice thing about the Rancilio machine is replacement parts are available for more or less every single piece, I decalcified the boiler, and replaced: the pump, the water hoses, some of the electrical connectors, the shower screen, the portafilter gasket, and the thing that goes around the portafilter that was all beat up, and gave everything a good clean. It’s humming along now and making great shots again.
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miss silvia is back up and running! i might’ve asked you about espresso a while back and i decided to get the Silvia Pro. it’s quite ruined going out for coffee for my family!
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Oh nice, I bet that’s a great machine, the updates look really nice. Sounds like you’re happy with it 
I almost did a PID mod to this one while I had it open but it didn’t seem quite worth it to me, and I was already a bit nervous about completely disassembling it. The nice thing about such a popular machine is there’s lots of YouTube videos though haha
I thought there was a coffee thread a while back but I did a search and didn’t find it, maybe we should start one 
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Better late than never. All the usual, but wanted to go with a clicky for the Caps and a bit more flex. I have a whole new appreciation for high-end plastics.
KBD67 Lite R2
L+F H1’s (62g DL)
Zeal Stabs (Nyogel)
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Where’d you get that tasty looking plate? :3
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