ShopTalk Sunday: Summer Safety Issue – Papa’s Day!

9:45 AM Update – Father’s Day New panels are in place – done before breakfast as implied: They should make 240W each – which means the only action points (into hour-long blocks) will be removing the old wiring, measure and premake the extensions, mount junction boxes, complete wiring, taping. Memo to DIY home solar builders: … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Electronics Workbench

All three tube-type oscilloscopes are gone.  So’s a signal tracer, two full-sized vacuum tube voltmeters (VTVM’s). And an early Heathkit Signal generator. Poof.  In a cloud of fury powered by Mrs. Olson. Headed to eBaying in future weeks. (Email me if interested.) I’ve decided that for the balance of my seventies, I’m going to focus … Read More

Celebration Day & ShopTalk Tuesday

Celebrate while you can. Financial markets are closed today in faux Americana. But they’ll be along tomorrow. In the meantime, the Big Predicament has not changed. Let’s begin with the Labor and Income ledger.  Raise your hand if you are making more – on a real purchasing power parity basis – than you were a year ago.  Or, … Read More

France Plays Babal? More ATS-25 Answers

According to reports out of France early today, the widespread rioting has calmed down.  Only 157-arrests overnight, according to this report: French police arrests fall sharply to 157 during sixth night of unrest (france24.com). Still, the French experience raises some troubling questions for us about how modern communications channels allow for “social contagious” – like … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Survival Radio – ATS-25 School

Today, we’re going to turn you into a competent basic radio operator.  It may be a much longer report than usual, but it’s a four-day weekend for many, so what the hell, right? Much of this morning’s discussion will apply to radios other than the ATS-25 (and its many variants) that may be purchased on … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Ben Dover’s Shop Economics, Tour d’ Works

Money first.  Then a ton of interesting projects that keep us busy.  We’ll do a “photo-stroll” around the shop (as of Tuesday morning) so you can get more of a feel for what Making and Doing are like outside the confines of cubicles and 300 square-foot living spaces.  And why retired is usual just tired. Hosed … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Our Free CNC Build Notebook

Yeah, well…since we do call this the ShopTalk column, every once in a so-often, we like to actually build something.  Big, important, flexible, resilience oriented toward local manufacturing and sustainability builds. What we’re doing today is a whole “soup to nuts” build of a Sainsmart 3018 Pro CNC that I’ve had sitting in the project queue … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Projects and Keto

With the return of G2 to family lands this past week, we’ll start with the father-son diet challenge part. Because I’ve watched my son’s approach to dieting and it’s really interesting.  Almost Goggins-like hard core… When left (gun-banning) Washington State, he was about 200 pounds.  A week later he was at 184.  The secrets he used … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Prepping the Shop? Woo Notes

We may come to a time of “impact risk this week” and, along with it the possibility of supply chain disruptions looms large. I speak, of course, about the May Day celebration of International Workers Day and – at least in China – Youth Day on May 4th.  Millions in China will turn this into … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Brightwork – Joy or Curse?

Since I lived full-time on my 40-foot offshore capable sailboat for nearly a dozen years up and down the West Coast, I should begin with a sailing story. When I bought the boat (following a legendary expensive divorce), it was a dandy cross between Peter Pan’s adventures and living in Superman’s “Fortress of Solitude.” Just like … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Time-Expanded Wiring & a Media Rant

Although I got the major PITA project I’ve been putting off partly done Saturday, the real satisfaction came from wiring up the BBQ outlet this week. However, it was a fine study in how “little projects” can turn into Big ones on the clock. The idea sounded simple enough.  We had run an extension cord from … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: The DIY Battery Charger

Prepping note: The battery on the old Kubota is on its last legs. It’s a 51-R series, and they ain’t cheap.  So, I was trying to get the maximum possible service life out of it.  Put it on an 8-amp charger and then got into some pulse charging on top of that… Even after 2 … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: 3D Printer Blunder, Spring Workout

Ah, the Country Life.  Yessir, if you live in the Big City, it’s a dream.  Why, just imagine! Eating fresh food out of your own garden.  Pure country air.  No traffic noises. Low stress.  Ultimately relaxing and rewarding…. Well, no.  Not exactly. During our ShopTalk Sunday adventures will tell you the upside – and the downsides … Read More