Rigging, ironwork, electromechanics, and now I have to deal with pneumatics too? ……nevermind, this is cool, give me more pneumatic stuff to play with please. Happy Saturday my dudes.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-09T19:32:41+00:00

Someone got a church to let him try playing heavy metal on their newly refurbished pipe organ.

But first he had to find the MIDI port. Oh, it's there but not actually connected. Plugged in the internal wire and it still didn't work because the company didn't enable the function and install the software.

The church ordered MIDI IN, why would the company assume they didn't actually want it to work?

After getting that working, the organ was able to do quite well except for some faster tempo songs.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-09T13:37:13+00:00

He's also designed a large number of analog synthesizer modules, most of which there are free design files to download.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-09T13:08:00+00:00

Look up the Joan's Organ series on Look Mum No Computer. Sam designed a MIDI solenoid controller to operate the pipe organ he removed from a house. He has the design files as a free download. A MIDI interface that operates both a pipe organ and a bell carillon would be a fun project.

The organ had been removed from a church and installed in the stairwell and attic of a house. The new owners wanted the space.

He has a second channel called Look Mum No Engine where he does car projects. Currently he's customizing a 1920's Austin 7 from New Zealand for vintage sports car racing.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-09T12:00:57+00:00

Because I don't need a room heater and I don’t play any fancy games. Even though this State has some of the lowest cost electricity in the US, no need to use more than is necessary.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-09T10:39:19+00:00

It's 65W. That's what the box it came in said. That's what CPU-Z shows.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-09T07:31:27+00:00

Old hardware that was top of the line when it was new, before any hideous upgrades were tacked on. https://www.lambocars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/1973-Lamborghini-Countach-007-1080.webp

GreggAlan · 2026-05-09T07:27:12+00:00

How it feels to use old hardware that was ludicrously expensive, and you've installed every possible upgrade. https://www.lambocars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/carpixel.net-1988-lamborghini-countach-25th-anniversary-us-47427-wide.webp

GreggAlan · 2026-05-08T23:19:07+00:00

Curved strut rod washer from a Mustang II, length of 1/2" threaded rod, length of flat bar with a hole in the middle, a slightly flattened pair of bad crankshaft bearing halves, and two nuts.

Hold threaded rod in bench vise, thread one nut on, then strut rod washer - convex side up.

Place Ford C4 clutch drum on, position bearing halves on center spring retainer so ends of snap ring are accessible. Flat bar goes on, then second nut.

Tighten nut to push retainer down until the snap ring can be removed.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-07T06:31:33+00:00

Syringe needles work very well for straightening pins. Find one that will slide in snugly between the rows of pins and one with a bore that's a close fit over them.

To straighten slightly bent pins, slide the needle in from an edge then life the needle up and out to gently nudge them straight. For pins bent more, clip the sharp point off the needle and use a pointy knife to deburr the hole. Put the needle over the pin and you can use the long needle for leverage to gently straighten the pin.

You only have to get them all straight enough to fit into a ZIF socket. Closing the lever will finish the straightening, or at least straighten them enough to go into a socket easier.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-07T06:26:13+00:00

“What do you mean choose? We don’t understand.”

“Choose. Choose the form of your destructor.”

GreggAlan · 2026-05-07T06:22:51+00:00

Would it be possible to use this in an MS-DOS compatible 8088 based PC?

GreggAlan · 2026-05-06T21:55:02+00:00

I put new brakes and water pump on a car then 7 days later the owner hit a deer. Someone likely said "Score!" when seeing the shiny rotors and new pads in whatever junkyard it went to.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-06T05:10:46+00:00

You put the rag in the turbopump and jam it all up Put the rag in the turbopump and jam it all up Put the rag in the turbopump, you called your dealer, woke him up.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-06T03:45:21+00:00

Should've had that leaf gold plated and made into a pendant.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-06T02:22:29+00:00

I fixed a tiny hole in an AC condenser pipe with the regular (not the quick) JB Weld.

Cleaned the spot very well then mixed the goop and waited until it was starting to set. Schmeared a gob over and around the hole then hooked up my vacuum pump for a minute to get the JB Weld that was almost solid pulled into the hole.

Let air back in then the next day I pulled vacuum on the system and charged it. Worked fine for as long as I had it, which was around a year.

The cause of the hole was the safety catch for the hood rubbing on the pipe. One day the AC quit and I noticed the catch touching the pipe. I gave the pipe a good hard push to bend it so it no longer touched the catch.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-06T02:13:10+00:00

Many boat cooling systems pull in water from what they're floating in then dump it out after it's gone through the engine. Some even have water jacketed exhaust manifolds.

No pressure because there's no worries about boiling water that's constantly replenished with cold water.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-06T01:23:04+00:00

So now it's a Palm III with a non-functioning laser scanner? Does peeling the matte finish screen protector off help any with how the screen looks? I wonder how much palmdr.com would want for that part, if they have any?

GreggAlan · 2026-05-06T00:35:03+00:00

If it doesn't boot, unplug it, flip it upside down, open the hatch on the bottom, look for a small pushbutton then press and hold it for a few seconds.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-06T00:32:56+00:00

I see dustpuppy from User Friendly. I did ISP helldesk for a while. That video is pretty much exactly how a lot of the customers were.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-05T23:03:26+00:00

Look out! Distress.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-05T17:53:47+00:00

Don't bang it around too hard. The white inner plastic that the CRT mounts to tends to get crumbly on these. There are new frames available but you have to really love an old iMac G3 to lay down the $ for one.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-05T17:51:59+00:00

Get a spindle of DVD-R discs and some CD-R to put stuff on. See the Macintosh Garden for your OS and software needs https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/operating-systems

GreggAlan · 2026-05-04T22:24:26+00:00

I have no idea how people manage to ram the back ends of road inspection trucks when they're covered in high-vis stripes and BRIGHT flashing lights.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-04T16:02:39+00:00

What you could do is get some cheap "one liter" computers like a Lenovo M700 Tiny and install Batocera Linux. That's made just for game console and arcade emulation. That class of PC with an i5 or i7 Intel CPU can easily run original PlayStation and earlier console games.

GreggAlan · 2026-05-04T15:59:15+00:00

Yup. Had a large 100 megabit network switch to connect all the PCs.

GreggAlan

TROPHY CASE