(05-29-2016) PC Build, Brakes and a PC teardown...

I built a new PC out of old parts - except for the case and power supply.  It has lots of space for being a file server, but most of the hard drives I have for it are bad - oh well.

Then Flash brought down the Porsche 914 and we installed front brakes onto it.  No pics...

Then Goose water-cooled his PC by dumping a bottle of water into the case.  He pulled the plug as fast as he could - but it's toast.  The power supply is good, the RAM is good, but we don't know about the rest.  Hoping the vid card and CPU are still okay - maybe we'll get lucky and just have to buy a motherboard.

(05-28-2016) CNC Mill update

Here is a CNC mill that a buddy saved from the trash and brought to the shop.  I've had it for a few years and never had it really working - I did build a new interface box using an Arduino running grbl and some motor controller, as well as installed new motors - but it always seemed to have a few issues.

Saturday I decided that I was finally going to get it working and focus on making happen.  It took quite a while and lots and lots of testing but it now works!

(05-27-2016) New kart graphics

I think this one turned out fairly well.  It's good to get a shot of it completed before it's hits the track.

(05-26-2016) New arcade project is finished!

It took a week or so to build it, but the new "Back Alley Bowling" machine is ready to play.  I was able to salvage the marquee light and speaker from the original game.  The finishing touch was to add a second monitor on top so that spectators could easily see the game from a distance.

I will probably add more graphics later, but for now it's done.

(05-18-2016) Play testing and new shirts!

Flash and I went through the process of making sure the Ultra-Secret Project is now fully playable and made sure the second monitor and sound are all working.  Everything works - and it's down to cleaning and finishing the cabinet.

Then we created some new shirts.  We used to visit a bar when we were kids called the "Here's Tuit Tavern" that had shirts like this.  It took some time to alter the font to get it working, but it definitely gets the point across...

..normal...

...and the reveal...

(05-16-2016) Ultra-secret project - day 2

The Ultra-Secret Project took another step forward last night.  Jody came over and helped me get the monitor fitted into the machine as well as the trackball and buttons in the control panel.  Almost everything is mocked up, but I'm still waiting on hardware to finalize the control panel.

(05/15/2016) - Ultra-secret project and other things...

I have been contemplating an "ultra-secret" project for quite a while now and yesterday I finally got busy making it happen.

I first started by doing all of the wiring and testing out all of the controls to make sure it was all working.  This took quite a while, and several different searches on the 'net to find the correct schematics for this particular piece of hardware - but it now works and it's really cool to see it working.

The next step was pulling out an old arcade game from storage and gutting all of the existing hardware from it.  I was able to rip out the old JAMMA harness, CRT, game board (1942) and controls in just a few minutes and vacuumed out all of the old crud that was inside of it.

Next (no picture of this), I installed the new "ultra-secret" system and a couple of boards required to make this system work and started figuring out how to mount the new LCD monitor and what changes are needed for the control panel.

Flash came over and helped me work on Jonathan's car a little bit more.  The front suspension now seems great, and has about a 2 inch drop from factory as well.

*Flash also saw the "ultra-secret" project in action and thought it looks cool.

I need to install the rear springs so that his car will sit level, and install a new temperature sensor because it's leaking coolant.