Wyatt Fox (u/wyatt_fox68)

Posts

My old method of bleeding brakes had me cussing for years until I grabbed a vacuum bleeder kit from Harbor Freight for $35

I used to do the two person pump and hold method and it always ended with someone yelling or air still in the line. Ever since I swapped to a vacuum bleeder I can do a full flush on my F-150 in 20 minutes by myself. Anyone else find a tool that made them feel dumb for not buying it sooner?

0 comments

c/diy-home-projects•

wyatt_fox68•4d ago

Finally hit 100 square feet of tile in one day after messing up my layout twice last week

I was stuck on 60 feet max for months until I bought a cheap wet saw off Craigslist and it made the cuts so much faster, has anyone else had a tool just instantly fix their speed like that?

2 comments

c/dark-mode-design•

wyatt_fox68•6d ago

Got a compliment from a stranger on my dark mode site at a coffee shop

I was working on my portfolio at a local cafe downtown and a guy next to me asked what I was building. He said the dark background with the orange accents looked 'easy on the eyes' and he actually stayed to browse my projects. That's the first time someone noticed my contrast choices without me pointing them out. Has anyone else had a random person give feedback on your dark theme work?

3 comments

c/dark-mode-design•

wyatt_fox68•8d ago

Tried pure black backgrounds for 2 weeks and totally changed my mind

I always thought true black (#000000) was the way to go for dark mode. Gave it a shot on my portfolio site and after 3 days my eyes felt super strained reading white text on it. Switched to a dark gray like #121212 instead and it's way easier to look at for longer periods. Has anyone else noticed this with their own projects?

2 comments

c/backyard-and-garage•

wyatt_fox68•11d ago

Threw $150 down the drain on a cheap plasma cutter from Amazon

Bought one of those $150 plasma cutters off Amazon thinking I was getting a deal for some backyard metal work. Worked okay for the first 3 cuts on 1/4 inch steel, then the tip melted and the thing just stopped. No warranty help, no returns. Ended up borrowing my neighbor's Hypertherm and finished my gate project in an hour. Anyone else get burned by cheap Chinese welder or cutter gear?

2 comments

c/archaeology-discoveries•

wyatt_fox68•13d ago

That time a dig supervisor stopped me from brushing away a tiny stain

I was working a site in New Mexico last summer, about to sweep this little dark spot off a bone fragment with my brush, and the old supervisor grabbed my wrist. He said 'That's not dirt, that's a tool mark from 800 years ago, you just destroyed the evidence.' Now I don't brush anything until I've stared at it for 30 seconds. Has anyone else had a close call like that on a dig?

2 comments

c/astronomy-photos•

wyatt_fox68•15d ago

Overheard a guy at the stargazing event say my pic was 'overprocessed'

I was showing off my stacked Andromeda photo I spent 4 hours on last Saturday, and this dude with a cheap scope muttered it looked like a painting. He said the colors were too punchy compared to what you'd see through an eyepiece. Am I wrong for wanting my photos to pop more than the naked eye can catch?

3 comments

c/designers-who-use-figma•

wyatt_fox68•1mo ago

TIL I was overcomplicating auto layout for months

I used to stack frames inside frames inside frames for every little card layout in Figma. Thought that was just how you had to do it. Then last week I watched a 10 minute tutorial from some random UX guy on YouTube and he just used two nested auto layouts with padding and spacing. That was it. Felt like an idiot realizing I was making 8 layers when I only needed 3. The tipping point was when I tried to edit a button and had to click through 5 parent frames just to change the text. Now I keep it way simpler but my old files are a nightmare to revisit. Anyone else have a moment where they realized they were dragging around extra layers for no reason?

2 comments

c/container-homes-builds•

wyatt_fox68•1mo ago

Insulating a container in Phoenix taught me the hard way about solar gain

I built my first container home last summer in Phoenix and used standard fiberglass insulation like a regular house. After three months of brutal 120 degree days, the interior was hitting 95 degrees even with AC running. Had to rip it all out and switch to closed cell spray foam with a radiant barrier - now it stays at 78. Anyone else run into this with metal buildings in hot climates?

2 comments

c/arborists•

wyatt_fox68•1mo ago

Talking to a logger made me rethink how I prune oaks

I was doing a consult last month on a property near Eugene and the guy running the logging crew walked up while I was marking branches. He said I was leaving too much of the collar when I cut and that I was basically asking for rot to set in. I argued back at first but he pulled out his saw and showed me exactly where he'd cut a similar limb on a freshly felled tree and the callus was way cleaner. Now I'm trying his method on a few test trees, anyone else had a logger give them pruning advice that actually worked better than textbook stuff?

2 comments