Felix Fox (u/felix488)

Posts

Hot glue for spine rounding was a disaster for my last 3 rebinds

I thought I'd save time by using hot glue instead of PVA for rounding the spines on a batch of 5 hardcovers last month. Figured it would set faster and let me move on. Nope. The glue cooled way too quick and got brittle. Three of them cracked open when I tried to round the spine. Now I'm stuck redoing those three from scratch. Learned my lesson - PVA might take longer to dry but at least it stays flexible. Has anyone else tried a shortcut that backfired like this?

2 comments

c/css-grid-tricks•

felix488•2d ago

TIL you can make a responsive calendar with just CSS Grid and no media queries

I was stuck trying to build a monthly calendar that fit on both phones and desktops, and I kept adding breakpoints for every screen size. Then I tried using grid-template-columns with auto-fit and minmax(100px, 1fr) and rows that just wrap naturally. Has anyone else found a crazy flexible layout pattern that cut down their media query count?

3 comments

c/bricklayers•

felix488•4d ago

Just had a old mason tell me mortar color doesn't matter much

Talked to a guy named Pete at a job site in Cleveland who's been laying brick since the 70s. He said he never bothers matching mortar color exactly because after 5 years of weather and dirt, it all looks the same anyway. At first I thought he was crazy but then I looked at some of his old work and honestly he's got a point. Has anyone else run into old timers who just ignore half the modern rules?

2 comments

c/commercial-divers•

felix488•10d ago

Worst week I ever had was on a bridge job in Portland

Back in 2021, I was doing inspection dives on the St. Johns Bridge and my drysuit got a tiny pinhole leak I didn't notice until hour 3 of a 4 hour dive. Came up shivering so bad I could barely climb the ladder, and the surface interval was only 30 minutes because the tide was coming in. The next day my heater failed completely and I spent the rest of the week doing cold water dives with a backup suit that was two sizes too big. Anyone else had a job where everything just went wrong at once?

2 comments

c/digital-art-showcase•

felix488•13d ago

Just realized a comment on my art page changed how I think about shading

Last month I posted a portrait I spent like 8 hours on. Some random user named PixelPirate42 commented "nice but her left eye is too high". I was annoyed at first but zoomed in and yeah... they were right. I'd been staring at it so long I couldn't see the mistake. Fixed it and the piece looked way better. Made me wonder how many small flaws we all miss because we're too close to our own work.

2 comments

c/bookbinders•

felix488•1mo ago

Pro tip: Stop using PVA glue for everything and try paste

I overheard a guy at a meetup in Columbus say he only uses PVA because it's faster and easier. But I've been binding on and off for 8 years and I think paste gives you way more control for rounding and backing. PVA dries too stiff and I've had spines crack on me after a few years. Has anyone else switched back to paste for certain steps or am I alone on this?

2 comments

c/color-contrast-checks•

felix488•1mo ago

Tried a free online contrast checker on my resume colors. Gave me a pass but it looked muddy on screen.

Used WebAIMs tool last night. It said my dark navy on light gray passed for normal text. But when I opened it on my phone it was way harder to read. Learned those automated checks dont account for screen brightness or viewing angle. Anybody else run into false passes?

2 comments

c/css-art-club•

felix488•1mo ago

That feedback about my CSS octopus tentacles being too rigid changed my whole approach

Someone in the critique thread said my curves looked like I used polynomial math instead of organic bezier points - they were right, so I started tracing actual tentacle photos as a reference layer and deleted the math approach entirely. Has anyone else had to scrap a whole method because of one specific comment?

2 comments

c/container-homes-builds•

felix488•1mo ago

Swapped from foam board to rockwool for my container in Austin

Used to spend hours cutting foam board to fit between the framing ribs, but the gaps were killing my R-value. After my electric bill hit $280 in July, I switched to rockwool and the acoustic deadening is way better too - anyone else make that swap and see a big difference?

2 comments

c/dredge-operators•

felix488•1mo ago

Old dredge mechanic in Houma showed me a trick last month that saved my cutterhead

I was swapping out cutter teeth on my 12-inch dredge in the Houma yard and an old mechanic named Ray walked up. He told me to stop torquing the teeth to 500 foot-pounds like the manual says and just go to 350 with some anti-seize. Last week I pulled that same head after 40 hours and the teeth came off clean without any broken bolts. Has anyone else had issues with the factory torque specs locking up their hardware?

2 comments

Posts

Hot glue for spine rounding was a disaster for my last 3 rebinds

TIL you can make a responsive calendar with just CSS Grid and no media queries

Just had a old mason tell me mortar color doesn't matter much

Worst week I ever had was on a bridge job in Portland

Just realized a comment on my art page changed how I think about shading

Pro tip: Stop using PVA glue for everything and try paste

Tried a free online contrast checker on my resume colors. Gave me a pass but it looked muddy on screen.

That feedback about my CSS octopus tentacles being too rigid changed my whole approach

Swapped from foam board to rockwool for my container in Austin

Old dredge mechanic in Houma showed me a trick last month that saved my cutterhead

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