Hey! Guess what? I have a blog! I totally forgot...

So, last time I posted on this thing was over six months ago.  I have excellent procrastination skills.

Don't worry... I'll be back soon.  There is a post in the works as we speak!

Custom Zippy Retractable Cables Keep Bench Tidy!

Necessity is the Mother of invention.

I can't speak for you, but I know that I have a hard time finding, keeping, storing, and using cables connected to the myriad of outputs and supplies on my bench.  It's not that I don't have a good storage system, it's just that I'm a bit of a blindsided fart and when I'm into a project I forget some of my good housekeeping skills.  So, after a while I end up with a spaghetti mess of wadded-up cables from continuously pushing the ends back out of my workspace when I no longer need them, only having to fish them out again in a short while.  It's a pain, and causes mishaps and occasionally blue smoke when I use the wrong ones.  So, enter the Zippy Cable!

Salvaged Florescent Lamp from Scanner

While salvaging parts from an old flatbed scanner, I found a nice thin florescent tube, and a matching inverter.  It seemed a shame to destroy an already working circuit by parting it out, so I made a desk lamp.

Since this was an "On-the-fly" sort of project, I didn't put a lot of effort into it, or much money.  Fortunately I came in slightly under my budget of $0 by using stuff from the trash and end-bits bin.

Scanner Salvage! Pt. II

Continuing from Scanner Salvage Pt. I

I finished my Twix break and moved my new goodies over to the de-soldering work station.

This sounds better than it is.  My de-soldering work station is the same as my soldering work station, and my work bench, and my writing desk, and tool storage area, and components storage area, and the place where I eat a lot of my meals, too.    Along with that are my de-soldering tools, which are the same as my soldering tools with the addition of a roll of solder wick and a lousy spring-piston pump.  I NEED a Hakko 808.

Anyhow, time for more work. 

Tools?  Check.

Parts?  Check.

Cold coffee?  Check.

Helpful lab partner?

Check.

Scanner salvage!

I picked up this functional scanner (and a bunch of other stuff) from my friendly neighborhood computer independent for just a couple bucks. What goodies await us inside?