Invendiscovry

While digging through a bin of calculators and spell check thingies at a thrift store, I came across what looked like (At first) an old handheld calculator that made use of a VFD (Vacuum Florescent Display) . It turns out I was wrong, it's a "Invicta Electronic Mastermind", whatever that means. When I looked it up on the web, it seems like it's an electronic version of Mastermind, the code breaking game. I've never played it, but it looks like it might be fun... I was mainly interested in it for the VFD, and since it was missing the battery cover and was 25% off to boot, I though maybe I'd get it for cheap. So, since I had time to spare (My mom wasn't ready to leave quite yet), I went and dug through the TV remote bin looking for 2 AA batteries. Once found, I tested the "Mastermind". It didn't work as supposed to, just displayed random characters on the screen. Oh well, I did say I only wanted the VFD... The VDF showing some 8s. It...

Sometime last week, while looking through the Instructables email that had arrived in my inbox, my eyes fell apon this instructable about making mini weapons out of nails and scrap metal. A few day later, I had an empty Saturday afternoon, so I gathered tools and set to work making a sword. I didn't have everything mentioned in the instructable, but I did have files, a torch, hammer, some old nails (Cut square nails from our house, actually), and a section of old rail to use as my anvil. After a few hours worth of work, and much heating, hammering, grinding, filing, and sanding, (Plus a bit of thread wrapping), here's the finished result: The minisword! All earwigs and earthworms beware! As you might be able to see, it's a but rough, and the hilt is somewhat crooked from the blade, but for only a few hours of work, I'm quite pleased with the result. I didn't originally intend for it to be curved either, but thanks to my low blacksmithing skills, it turn...

I just finished a project I began as a side project to a bigger one. I was making a present to a friend, and part of the present involved a letter that I wanted to look old. I made it with thin typing paper that we'd got from our Great Grandparents, and printed it using a custom font I'd made, but it was still missing something. Anyways, I decided to make a wax seal for it. I ended up going to the local thrift store, buying 2 red candles and a green candle, plus some rubber stamps, for just under 2$. The candles supplied the wax, and the rubber stamps were the seals. However, after I'd made the letter and sealed it, I decided to make a custom stamp for fun. My sister had some air-dry clay that she let me use, so I made a rough circle and went to work. Using a colored pencil (Because it had a blunt tip, about 1.5mm across), I poked a simple design for a weeping willow. The lines ended up being slightly purple, because that was the color of the pencil I used. ...

 Since this is my first post on this blog, I think I'll start by telling a bit about myself, and saying what I'll be posting on here.  I'm a 16 (17 now) year old in The Dalles, OR. I'm homeschooled/Unschooled (interest led learning), and so I've got lots of time on my hands. What do I do with that time? I don't play video games, well, not all the time. I do play Minecraft, on a server I own for me and my friends. On other days, I do lots of things. I construct and program arduino projects, research obsolete tech on the web, fix computers, phones, tablets, and general electronics, take things apart, read books, and make things I think are cool. I love thinking about making robots, and wish I had the capital to actually build a decent one. I'm in an FTC robotics team. I like almost anything that's old, especially if it's some sort of technology. My ideal first car would be a VW Bug (The old ones, not the new 'beetles'). I've got...