Stuff Andy Makes – DIY, make, tinker, play

Desktop Warp Core – The Early Years

Jul 21

AndyMiscellaneous 12V, avr, desk toy, electronics, fiberglass, lathe, LEDs, microcontroller, MOSFETs, Next Generation, Star Trek, transistors, warp core, woodworking No Comments

Well, we’ve moved into a new and larger space at the office and we sit at these massive wood and steel desks as teams. Our team decided we needed more “flare” at our desk, so, of course, a big-ass warp core was the first thing that popped into our heads. How hard could that be?

The rings of the warp core will be clear-ish fiberglass. The original master, over which we’ll make a fiberglass mold for all eight rings, is made of a giant laminated wood block we need to turn on a big lathe.

Laminating 2x6 pieces of pine for the ring master mold

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12VAC Power Supply from Ikea Wall Wart Light Power Supply

Dec 06

AndyElectronics, Projects, Woodworking/Shop 12V, hack, lighting, power, salvage 1 Comment

I recently rebuilt the lighting in my office because the crappy 12-volt strung lighting from Ikea that the previous owner installed was insufficient for working comfortably in my Man Cave™. Here’s the NEW lighting above the sound-proffed barn door window shade things:

New Man Cave™ Lighting

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DIY Workshop Stereo Boombox Kinda Thing

Apr 29

AndyElectronics, Projects, Woodworking/Shop 12V, car, diy, garage, pc power, speakers, stereo, woodworking No Comments

Workshop car stereo boombox

I had a couple of car stereo speakers sitting in the cabinet in the garage and some other miscellaneous parts relating to those. All I ever used for music in the garage was an old AM/FM radio that worked well, but it didn’t allow for using my little portable XM satellite receiver or my iPod or iPhone. So, I ran out and bought a low-end Pioneer 2200 car stereo and a 600-watt computer power supply and BOOM! Semi-instant garage stereo system with XM and iPod capabilities.

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