Author Archives: Jim

Remote Halloween Candy Delivery System

Thanks to COVID, Halloween is weird this year.  A ‘touchless’ remote candy delivery system was in order.  Due to some misunderstandings about whether the system would be appreciated, it became a very 11th hour project.  I started around 1PM Halloween … Continue reading

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Thank you heart

(This is a quick overview.  Proper build details will follow soon.) I wanted to put something nice in the window to say “Thanks!” to all the health care and other essential service workers who are keeping people safe and helping … Continue reading

Posted in LED window heart | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Nomorobo First Ring Blocker

We use Nomorobo for our VOIP home phone, and I’m very happy with the service.  (NMR: Your phone provider’s simultaneous ring service routes calls to both your phone and NMR.  If NMR decides it’s bad, they pick up, and you … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Bondo parts tray

You always need some small container on the bench to hold the screws you just took out.  Mine are often plastic jar caps, but they’re light, slide around, and let screws escape (often to the floor). The first serious fix … Continue reading

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Butane torch repair

I bought a cheap butane torch on Ebay to keep at the space (yeah, in violation of the “no pressurized gasses” rule, but stashed away in my box).  Worked fine, rarely used. When I wanted to bend some laser cut … Continue reading

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Red Nos Day

I made this bad pun prototype at the space for Red Nose Day 5/23/19. The front was one coat of cheap black spray paint (two would have been better) on some 2mm clear acrylic, with the letters laser raster etched … Continue reading

Posted in Laser Cutter, Workshop 88 Stuff | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Shiny thing Fail, or Jim: RTFM!

I ran across running Neopixels with just 2 wires here.  Looked neat. Unfortunately, despite many much more pressing tasks, that was too shiny to pass up, so I decided to try it.  Won’t take too long, right?  Following a pic … Continue reading

Posted in RGB LED stuff | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Baling wire stuff

Redneck jokes aside, baling wire is a great way to hold broken stuff together when function is more important than form.  Sometimes the driver is cheap, but sometimes replacement parts aren’t available and you just need to get running again.  … Continue reading

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Latest leaf vac repairs and bag plans!

Here are the latest repairs of my dear old Craftsman leaf vacuum.  (Original notes here.)  But more importantly, here are also the details of what I learned reverse engineering the no-longer-available bag!  I tried to include enough info for someone … Continue reading

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Replacing a driver in the Chi-town Yak

One driver in one of the Chi-town Yaks had its magnet break off presumably after a fall at AACE 2018.  Blanche (Len Christiansen) asked if I could take a look if he provided the driver.  I said of course. First … Continue reading

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