I've always had a hobby of one kind or
another. At school I made model planes and boats and used to
fly and sail them in local parks.
I also developed and printed my own photographs.
Another hobby was building simple
radios. The only one to survive to this day is a
kit radio
from Tandy. I also made this
Pneumatic Rifle.
When I left school I tinkered with old motor bikes and
cars. When I got married it was DIY and making children's toys
that filled my spar time, including this jeep
Now I've a bit more time, so I
made my cabin, and can pursue what
ever hobby I please, which includes
Stirling,,
Steam and
Air Engine also
woodwork,
and
electric motors
This is a kit radio that I got from a Tandy store when I was
at school. They are an American company and no longer trade in
the UK, which is a pity, as they had all manner of electrical
bit and pieces. However we do have
Maplin
which is a similar sort of store.
To make the radio it was simply a mater of following the
planes and soldering the components onto the circuit board.
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I made this pneumatic rifle when I was a school, although the
barrel is smooth, so I suppose it can not be called a rifle.
It is made from scrap wood, old pipes, a small valve, a spring
and an air pump.
To operate it, you push a 22 air gun pellet down the barrel
with the piece of car aerial, then close the valve before
pumping some air into the air reservoir. When the trigger is
pulled the spring opens the valve and the trapped compressed
air forces the pellet out of the barrel - knocking the tin can
flying! I also made the
shooting gallery.
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Posted 17th April 2008
I've recently found this jeep, that I made
for my son, around thirty years a go! It was hidden
away at my mothers - I thought it had long since gone.
The chasse was made from wood and the
running gear bolted on, (fig 1), (fig 1a) and (fig 1b).
The steering was made from parts taken
from a tape cassette player, an old weighing scale and
some nylon gear wheels. A small motor could be spun clock
wise or ant clock wise which would turn the front wheel
left or right, (fig 2) and (fig 2a).
The rear wheels where driven with an
electric motor using gear wheels taken from a clock, (fig 3), (fig 3a) and (fig 3b).
To make the body, I obtained fruit boxes
from local shops. These boxes where made from thin
plywood. The plywood was cut and glued together to make
the jeeps body, (fig 4), (fig 4a), (fig 4b), (fig 4c) and (fig 4d).
The body was painted and then screwed on
to the chasse, (fig 5), (fig 5a), (fig 5b) and (fig 5c).
In (fig 3) and (fig 5b) you can see a socket that was taken from the
same tape cassette player that the parts for the
steering where take from. A plug with wires running from
it went into a control box, which held the batteries for
the power and steering. Two buttons controlled left and
right steering, there was a switch for forward and
reverse and a throttle to control the speed which I
think came from a car racing set - the control box as
been lost so can't say for sure.
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