Posts in "Photos"

After gutting my broken tube radio, I couldn’t bear to toss the tubes, so I made a little display for kicks. I was going to add utility (e.g., a pen holder or something), but decided to leave it and display it as “old tech art.”

Four vacuum tubes are displayed on a wooden block resting on a workbench.

I finally got around to gutting and cleaning up this old, broken German radio. Now it has a HomePod inside. I use the iMac next to it to hold an iPad, so now I have a fun setup in the shop for streaming music. The tube radio parts I removed are fascinating.

an old German tube radio on a shelf next to an old iMac with wood panel instead of a screen; above is a wall hanging with four license plates from places we have lived the inside parts of an old German tube radio

My wife shot this image of a golden eagle this morning using her iPhone while we were out near Gathland State Park in Maryland. I think it’s an impressive image given the equipment. The most impressive part was the proximity of the eagle, who couldn’t care less that we were so close.

Golden eagle in leafless trees.

North Point State Park, near Baltimore, yesterday morning. If you look closely, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is in the far distance. Interesting place with remains of an amusement park from the early 1900s.

North point state park walkway with Chesapeake Bay Bridge in far distance

We noticed this bee on some woodland sage in our yard. It hadn’t moved in over a day, so we poked at it. Nothing. So we assumed it died and brought it inside for a flower display of sorts. The next day, we discovered … not dead. It began to move in slow motion. So we gave it some sugar water and put it back outside. I suppose you could say we’re easily entertained?

woodland sage in a small vase with a bee on the end of one stalk, sitting on a shelf

Final wood box with removable bottom drawer. Mistakes were made, but made it work. I planned to dovetail the sides, but grain directions were wrong. So I went with mortise/tenons, but they were shallow so I worried about strength. So I did something I rarely do: use hardware. I reinforced the corners with screws. Not my best work, but it will do the job! I’m happy with the curved corners, mostly (made with bow saw and my prized Auriou rasps from France).

Cherry wood box with curved sides on back porch

I decided to add a pullout bottom to the firewood box so it’s easy to clean. When it’s closed up, you don’t notice it’s there (unless you’re looking closely). It’s pretty much done, except for the hours of card scraping and finishing.

Cherry firewood box still under construction with clamps on it; with pullout box on the bottom to easily remove debris

The firewood box is starting to come together. I thought this project was going to be quick and easy but you know how that goes…

A cherry wood firewood box is being assembled with clamps in a workshop.

Started working on a small cherry firewood box for the home. Almost ready to start with the joinery after completing the prep of the panels. I’m going to go with mortises and tenons for this one. I thought about through tenons, but think I’ll just go with hidden joints here. This will have curved sides, which will be fun to make.

the cherry wood parts of a new firewood box layed out on the floor