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Project Log: Soundboard Faders Replacement

Newly Published —

Over the last six months, I've gotten more involved with media team at church. Our goal is primarily to be invisible, to make the musicians and singers and pastor sound the best they can without anyone noticing we're there at all. We do this for everyone present in the sanctuary but also for our livestream to YouTube, which started during COVID when in-person gatherings were banned. Unfortunately, the setup we use has been cobbled together … (Continued)

Design Study: Claw Machine

The other day while I was waiting for some folks to arrive for dinner, I took a look at the claw machine the restaurant had set up in the entry way to extract a little more revenue from parents. For the most part it was unremarkable, but one feature did stand out to me. I noticed what appeared to be a completely redundant feature. I did my best to capture it with pictures, but it's difficult to see because the parts involved are transparent by nature. The area of the machine where the prizes a … (Continued)

Moving on from Growers

Wednesday the 23rd was my last day at Growers, the end of almost exactly six years there. I expect to write a longer form post reflecting on the job now that I have a little perspective on my period there, but for now a quick update and old project log. I start my new job Monday at Quantum Sky in the internal R&D team. The position is fully remote, with periodic visits to the HQ in Reston, Virginia. On Wednesday, I went into the office to collect the few things I had there at my desk. We' … (Continued)

Tinsmith at Colonial Williamsburg

While we were visiting the tin plate worker on this last trip, while answering our questions, she took her soldering iron out of the oven and affixed the band on the outside of a small cup. The light came straight through the window and mixed with the smoke to make this image.

Project Log: One-day Stereo Cabinet

Having recently wrapped up a long-running woodworking project to build a linen chest for the kids' room, I was looking for something new to work on that also wouldn't drag out for months the way that project had. One idea that had been kicking around for years is a replacement for the IKEA nightstand that we had been using as a cabinet for our stereo receiver, Roku, and DVD player. We bought it a few years ago, thinking the receiver would fit in the opening of the nightstand, which it didn't, … (Continued)

Parking Lot Smiley Face

I took my daughter with me on a quick hardware store run today to pick up a few pieces of lumber. I knew time was burning so I wasn't trying to dawdle. But as she does, she noticed something I didn't and asked the question: "Why did someone draw a smiley face on the pavement?" I glanced over quickly. "Thats not a smiley, someone just spilled paint..." "... Oh. I see what you mean. Looks like after they spilled the paint, they decided to draw a smiley face with it." Who … (Continued)

Measure two different ways

Working on a carpentry project today {Project log post to come later.} and the saying "measure twice, cut once" came to mind. I've always thought this means to just repeat making each measurement before making a cut, which in most cases will give the same result. But I think the real benefit comes when you find two different ways to make a measurement. One method might be with a ruler or a tape measure, but the other might be with a jig or a fixture. Or you might trace the distance to be cut u … (Continued)

Prototyping a vise jaw

I'm installing a woodworking front vise. {Also known as face vise, distinct from leg vise, shoulder vise, or tail vise; those woodworkers are creative with names.} What I bought was just the metal frame, which you attach to the underside of your existing workbench and craft the jaw that holds the workpiece out of wood. I bought a $25 piece of oak {Overpaying for a board of this size because of the convenience of getting it from Lowe's.} to be my jaw, but before I commit to cutting it up, I wan … (Continued)

Laughing at the closet

Tonight, while getting ready for bed, Evelyn opens the closet in the bedroom to put her dirty clothes in the hamper and starts laughing. I ask what's so funny and she tells me it reminds me of a comic from the Calvin and Hobbes book she is reading. She has always been attracted to the cartoon books on the shelf in my office and a week or two ago prevailed on me to read her some comics from a Calvin and Hobbes collection (that I got when I was not much older than her). She asked if she … (Continued)

New Tool: Starrett Micrometer (& unplanned project log)

Through a series of events, I ended up bidding on a three-item lot from an estate sale, one of which was a Starrett micrometer. I don't have a strict purpose for a tool like this; the woodworking and 3D printing I do these days do not require precision down to the thousandth of an inch. But I admit being intrigued by Adam Savage's descent into precision and "chasing zeros". I'd never used a micrometer like this, and when a good deal popped up on one, I couldn't resist. I& … (Continued)

Morning Above The Clouds

This was our view from the cabin this morning: the whole valley between us and the other ridgeline filled with clouds, shortly to be burned away by the sun.

Renewal

This blog, like the chair pictured, has been broken for a while. It's in the process of being renewed. More to come.

The Least of Us

This book by Sam Quinones is a sequel to Dreamland in the way that a history of Weimar Germany is a sequel to a history of The Great War. It was not intended, no plot threads were left intentionally dangling. But the perpetual nature of history ("Nothing ever ends," in the words of Dr. Manhattan) means the story continued anyway. However, this time, Quinones clearly has two purposes: to inform as well as to encourage. As he says, during his tour supporting the first book, he received many invit … (Continued)

Teddy

"We're 4 hours from home, and you want to adopt a cat?" The second half of 2019 was a bit of a blur. In July we'd gone to Washington, D.C. for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing. When we got back, Kassie had taken a turn for the worse, and we lost her on August 7th. In October, we helped host the NC state USPSA championship at the range near our house. In early November, we drove to Nationals in Florida, with stops in Huntsville and Chattanooga on the scenic route … (Continued)

Choosing contentment

The only way to be wholly content and happy doing something is if you have considered your alternatives and decided that doing this thing, right now is the highest possible use of your time. Skipping the consideration spoils it. Harboring resentment spoils it. Feeling forced to do it spoils it. Feeling guilty spoils it. Rushing to just get it over with spoils it. It does not have to be something other people would praise you for; it only matters than you know you made the right choice. It can … (Continued)