Progress update for the modular guitar amplifier. I’ve finished the power supply. It rectifies a center tap transformer and feeds that into +5, +9, +15, -9, and -15 voltage regulators. Each backplane connector is wired with all five supplies. I’ve only wired up the switching connector and three module slots - I need to get more connectors. Next step is wiring up the signal lines. I set up the front panel with a master output level and input jack. There are two power switches - a master switch for the main module supply, and a secondary power supply switch for the planned power amplifier section slaved into the master.

5.1 surround sound routing box. Supports five sources, with individual volume control for each channel, as well as a stereo fallback mode which mirrors the front and rear speakers.

Hard cider bottled.

Platter made from aromatic cedar. This time I experimented with crossing the segments. I had originally planned another layer, but the lather has limited room for the larger diameter bowls, and I ran out of room. Approx 12 inches in diameter.

Brewing cider and making applesauce.

I built a cider press to process the apples we picked from our trees. One five gallon bucket of apples fully processed yields about 1.5 gallons of cider. The plunger is douglas fir, turned on the lathe. The frame is just 2x4s bolted together with threaded rod. The bucket has a bunch of 1/8 inch holes drilled all over the sides to drain the juice. The holes were sufficient to filter out the pulp. Initially holes were only drilled in the bottom two inches of the bucket, but the first pressing I discovered that juice was as likely to press out around the plunger and up. Drilling additional holes further up the side of the bucket dealt with this and made the pressing much faster. I did a second batch with two buckets of apples, pastuerized and bottled. The yield was 34 12oz bottles, which is a bit over 3 gallons. The apple yield is somewhat variable between buckets, but the bug damage has been pretty minimal.

First panel for our flamenco floor. 4 feet square. I used oak flooring from the ReStore… as actual flooring.

More bowl turning. The elm logs I’m using are really hard to work with. The bug infestation makes really interesting grain, but it’s full of holes.