Miscellaneous Projects Page A place for all my geeky projects, hacks and pastimes that aren't easily categorized
Assembling and testing the Z80-MBC2 retro-computer kit
I've been getting into retro-computing big time lately. I've really been itching to have a Z80-based computer like I played around with back in the 1980s. I have a
couple of different retro-computing projects going, but this is the first I've finished and got up and running. It is a modern take on a classic computer. It uses
an 8 MHz Z80 chip and has 128 K of memory, but it only uses five IC chips, and one of them is optional! Amazing. An ATMEGA32 does most of the heavy lifting in this
design, replacing dozens of other chips, and also stands in for the ROM chips. It uses a micro SD card for storage, emulating a dozen floppy drives. The computer
runs CP/M 2.2 and CP/M 3.0, as well as several other vintage operating systems. It is just loaded with vintage application, development and gaming software. It is
a real bast from the past. It was fun to build and I am having a ball playing around with it. I am also hoping it will help me get some of my other retro-computing
projects off the ground. Check out the video.
How I make home-made seed cylinders for feeding birds.
Pre-made seed cylinders or logs are very expensive, but bird seed is dirt cheap. So I figured out how to make my own home-made seed logs using bird seed and inexpensive materials and ingredients. It's so easy.
Once you know the secret you'll never pay for seed logs again. Click here to see the project.
My new CNC router project has been completed!
I decided I needed a better and more accurate CNC router than my old "Woodpile CNC" machine. I planned on making it (almost) entirely from metal, and mostly using 80/20 components.
80/20 is billed as the industrial "Erector Set", because you can build almost anything from the standardized parts just by bolting them together. It made the build a lot easier.
This video shows most of the steps in the construction of the machine. It is about 47 minutes long. I have a companion web page for this project that goes into more detail
about the construction that didn't make it into the video. It also clarifies things that may not have obvious or easily understandable in the video.
An air abrasive blast cabinet
My stepson Joe needed an air abrasive blast cabinet. He preps fossils, mainly fossil fish from the Green River Formation of Wyoming. He uses fine air abrasive tools to remove the matrix and
expose the fossils. It's kind of like sand-blasting, but not as aggressive. However, it is every bit as messy as sand-blasting, and as rough on the lungs. Joe was tired of having to do it
outside while wearing a respirator. He wanted a proper blast cabinet that he could work in inside his workshop. It's a project we have been talking about for a while. We finally all had the
time to come together and build it. Check it out.
Click to learn how
to meet them
A walking desk for exercising while working
Here is a fun and easy project I put together quickly and inexpensively. It is the Walking Desk. Standing desks are all the rage these days. They supposedly have a lot of health
benefits vs sitting on our butts at a traditional desk. My problem is that my feet get sore and tired when I stand in one place for too long, but if I am moving, I can stay
on my feet pretty much all day. So I decided to make myself a walking desk out of an old thrift store treadmill and some pre-finished shelving. I spend a lot of time each
day on the computer. Now I can do it while walking. It gets me out of my desk chair, helps my circulation, keeps me active, and the extra exercise might even help me lose some more weight.
Walking slowly on a flat surface is good for most activities. It takes a little practice to get good at typing and mousing while walking. For less interactive things like
watching Youtube videos or just reading, I can walk faster, or even increase the incline of the treadmill to increase the effort. Check out the video. You might even want to
make a walking desk yourself.
Building a heavy-duty workbench
This is a very popular project I built a few years back. Everyone needs a good workbench. I built mine using inexpensive and easy to find materials. It is seriously strong
too. You could park a truck on it if you wanted to. I made a video as I built it to show the materials needed and how it all went together. Don't feel that you need to
follow my plans exactly. You could make it shorter or taller, or put the shelf at a different height, or omit it completely. Another popular option that some people
copying this bench go with is adding heavy-duty locking casters to it to make it easier to move around. anyway, if you are in need of a sturdy workbench, check out
the video.
A home-built swamp cooler for my remote Arizona cabin
I finally got around to posting a write-up on how I built a home-made swamp cooler for my remote, off-grid cabin in Arizona. It was a quick, easy and
inexpensive build, using easy to find parts, and it works great to keep the temperature inside the cabin comfy on hot days.
Check it out.
Click the photo to see the project.
My home-built vacuum forming set-up.
I needed to make a whole lot of identical parts. I had been making them one at a time. Eventually I realized I was doing it the hard way, and came up with
something better. Vacuum Forming! It allows me to make duplicates of parts quickly, easily, and cheaply.
I built this vacuum forming rig in an afternoon and was up and running very quickly. Check out how I did it.
Here is a neat project I just completed.
It is a Raspberry Pie based all in one computer.
It was easy and fun to build.
It neatens up my Raspberry Pi computer, and makes experimenting with it a lot easier. It looks quite sleek and professional too, if I do say
so myself. Check it out.
My Home-Built Biomass Gasifier.
A biomass gasifier is a chemical reactor that converts wood, or other biomass substances,
into a combustible gas that can be burned for heating, cooking, or for running an internal combustion engine.
My Home-Built Ballmill.
A super simple home-built ballmill for thoroughly grinding, crushing and mixing materials and chemicals. It could also be used
as an ore crusher or a rock tumbler. It was easy and cheap to build.
My Home-Built Ramp/Soak Kiln Controller.
An 8-segment ramp/soak kiln controller I use to control my kilns for
casting my own telescope mirrors. Glass working requires fare more precise and critical control of the kiln temperature than firing ceramics. So I designed and built
a very precise kiln controller.
My Improvised Generator.
An improvised DC generator
built from an old lawn edger and a permanent magnet DC motor. The inspiration behind this generator was to have a cheap way to charge up my battery
banks on days when the weather is cloudy and calm, and my solar panels and
wind turbine aren't providing much energy.
A New and Improved Charge Controller Design.
This is a project I have been working on for a while. I wanted to re-design
The charge controller I use with my wind turbine and
solar panels because of the huge volume of emails I get from people who
are having problems trying to build a copy of the controller. I wanted to simplify the charge controller circuit, lower the part count, and use
easier to find parts. I think I succeeded on all counts. Check it out.
Repairing the temperature and compass display in my Toyota Tacoma.
Failure of this display unit seems to be a fairly
common problem. Repair or replacement costs can be astronomical. Doing it yourself can save you a bundle. If you have this problem,
check out the fix.
My Quick and Easy Car Laptop Tray.
How I built an inexpensive laptop / notebook computer tray
for my Toyota Tacoma Pickup. It was easy. You can do it too. This project ought to be adaptable to any vehicle with a center console
cup holder.
Cutting Circles out of Glass. I needed to learn how to cut circles out of glass to make
my laminated telescope mirror blanks.
I actually had to learn how to do it twice, because the technique is different for thin and thick glass. Once I figured it out,
I made some videos to show others how to do it. They can be found a short way down the blank making page.
My Home-Built Pen Plotter. I built this pen plotter using slides and motors from old, junked printers. My plan was to add a third
axis to it and make it a 3D printer, but I never got that far. It is still sitting on a corner of my workbench, gathering dust. Someday I may complete
the third axes and build a plastic extruder for it. Other projects and priorities keep intervening though.
