What was your last Aluminum based Project?

I know I'm late to the party, but here are pictures of my aluminium based project:

The basic idea was to "channel" the RF waves for this human movement detector so that it would detect only movement coming at it from the forward direction.

Worked well on the bench, now  I have to install it beneath the stairs.

The last time I used aluminum was to make an electrostatic detector.

I used an old soda bottle, a length of copper wire with a hook at the end with two aluminum strips at the end.

When the electric charge accumulated, the two strips would slowly push apart to indicate the electrostatic charge in the air.

I made a mount for a thermal imaging camera (formerly used by a drone) using wasted aluminium parts. The aim was to use the camera on a tripod to give it a second life.

I have no 3D printer. That's why I often use other material like aluminium or wood. The camera mount can be disassembled for space-saving transport.

yuneecpilots.com/.../

I have been working on a path lighting design for a while now.  I have recently completed the project and I have some pictures.  The path lights are based on Pittsburgh Corning Architectural Glass Blocks (modified with a rectangular opening on one side).  I needed to fabricate a plate that could hold the blocks (using the rectangular opening on the bottom face) and allow for a secure mounting to some 1/2" EMT conduit (5V power inlet).  I choose to use aluminum (with a small amount of steel) to build the base plates.

Here is one of the finished blocks:

The center mounted 1/2" Compression EMT Connector is mounted into a hex cutout in a plate that is attached to the base plate (preventing the EMT connector from spinning while tightening the compression nut).  Along either side of the connector are slots (and mounting screws) that are used to provide a pair of sliding bars that secure the glass block by sandwiching the glass between the steel bar and the aluminum base plate.

The sliding bars are held into position with a pair of aluminum channel pieces.  Between the steel bars and the base of the channel is a piece of UHDP to allow the bars to smoothly slide through the channel.

The steel bars have aluminum thread-serts (6/32 threads) allow the bars to be tightened down with sufficient force to trap the glass block to the base plate (once the bars are extended to overlap the edge of the glass block).  Weather stripping is used to produce a mostly watertight seal.

This design went through multiple interactions during the development process.  These images are taken from the from the first workable prototype and are very rough, but still serviceable parts.  I had originally planned to use 3D printed slider blocks (I even tried some machined parts out of UHDP), but these parts distorted under the pressure of tightening, hence the change to aluminum.

It was fun to shift from silicon to aluminum for a while (except for the splinters and dulling drill bits).

Here are a couple of projects that might qualify...

Thread Tapping Test

StirlingEngine