Author Archive

Jake’s Hollywood Adventure and Etching an iPod

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OK, I was reckless. I went ahead and etched my iPod without doing extensive tests on electrolytic etching of stainless steel. But you see, I had a deadline – a flight to Los Angeles to be on television and I wanted the iPod done for the show. I began

Steampunk Flat-Panel LCD Mod

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The Steampunk Keyboard looked terribly anachronistic sitting in front of my Dell 1907FP flat panel monitor and while I hesitated to tear open a $300 monitor that was still under warrantee, art must be served.   Inside I found that the whole thing was encased in steel sheet.  I

Gas Mask Sawdust Respirator

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Update: Sometimes when I'm working in the shop I just need to wear a respirator for a short period. For instance if I just need to walk into the paint area to shoot a second coat on a small part or make a quick cut on the table saw

How to Make a Large Flash Diffuser

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Making nice photographs when all you have for lighting is a bunch of tungsten shop lamps can be a real challenge.  It is particularly hard to photograph polished brass under these conditions.  So this weekend I set out to build a flash diffuser to improve the quality of the photography

Telegraph Clacks out RSS Feeds

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When I was a boy my father brought home from work a telegraph sounder replica kit.  He was the director of the library for a local college and the sounder kit was one of several museum quality reproductions of 19th Century technology the library had acquired.  The lovely brass

Gallery of Found Objects

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On Saturday when I go to the dump I carry with me a long steel hook which allows me to fish interesting things out of the metal re-cycling dumpster.  I’ll also stop and look through intersting piles left curbside for collection on trash day. Some find this practice unseemly, but

Philatelic Keyboards – More Model M Goodness

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Andy sent me a couple of shots of his beautiful stamp decorated keyboards.  He write that he's made about 10 of these beauties. Each of his keyboards are made with the stamps of a single nation and often commemorate a royal coronation or celebrate a particular sport. Andy's friends

How to Make a Cheap Lightbox

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For many of my recent projects I have found myself in need of a lightbox so I took a couple of hours from working on my latest project to put together this one.  I used a piece of glass from the old Xerox machine that I bought for ten dollars

Thoughts on a DIY Electro-Chemical CNC Machine Tool

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There is a class of machine tool know as CNC, or Computer Numerically Controlled.  These are computer controlled tools capable of cutting complex shapes with a high degree of accuracy and repeatability.  They generally cost tens of thousand of dollars and weigh over a ton.  They’re often available used

Thoughts on Building a Steam Car

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  December 1, 2006 I want to build a steam car or perhaps a steam motorcycle.  Why?  you ask.  Oh, just for fun, I reply. The first step in a big project is research.  I ordered the Essential Steam Power Library from  International Correspondence Schools, circa 1906.  Lindsay Books