
Dangerous Prototypes
Whilst Dee and Jules play videogames downstairs, I sit in a beanbag in my makerspace and contemplate the various hardware projects that I would like to complete over the next couple of years.
Ever since I was a child I have associated “manliness” with the glorious ordered chaos of a well appointed SHED, with shelves full of arcane and oily secrets in dinted metal biscuit tins and scuffed plastic milk-crates; toolchests, toolboxes and tool_walls_ glittering under actinic strip-lighting; and tiny drawers full of tiny wonders, sorted in a way that could only make sense to the owner. In short, my dad’s shed1.
So for the longest time, I have tried to establish my own shed, but it’s not something that has ever worked out for me so far, as we’ve never really had the appropriate space: it’s either cramped with vehicles, not waterproof, insecure or just too far away from the house to actually be practical. Even in our current place (which I love) the garage isn’t exactly spacious, and although I have managed to squeeze a toolchest and shelves in there, I rarely go and do stuff …
… but luckily there’s a solution. This house is definitely larger than we need, but includes a “secret room” which I’ve been able to turn into my makerspace. There’s a large desk (courtesy of the owners) and I’ve added a chair, soldering station, component drawers, shelves and plenty of project boxes. There’s also a beanbag, thanks Jules, and a camp stretcher if I really want to get into something. It may be my favourite space in the house!
But the point of this post was to think about the projects I’d like to complete in here over the next couple of years. There’s already a category of repairs that need to be done – headphones, laptops, light fixtures – but some of the other projects I’ve started or have planned include:
There are also some more Ï€-in-the-sky projects that I’d like to get started on:
Chuck in a 1925 Buick in partial (dis)repair, tins of paint that haven’t been opened in 30 years, several valve-radios (working) and a few key pieces of “big and dangerous” equipment salvaged from one friend or another – a metal lathe, drill-press, bandsaw. ↩︎
Whilst Dee and Jules play videogames downstairs, I sit in a beanbag in my makerspace and contemplate the various hardware projects that I would like to complete over the next couple of years.
I guess I should update the ‘blog?1 Not an easy thing to do these days, since even finding the time to do something as self-indulgent as public journaling probably just means there’s something else I could be doing instead, but maybe it’s an experiment I would like to continue?
It’s 8am on the first day of the month, and despite the usual late night, I’ve been up for hours. Jules has been an early riser for years now, and it has had the effect of training me to wake up at 6am each morning — for no good reason, since he’s pretty independent in the morning these days — and so here I am.