Category Archives: Gadgets

More on the camera stand project

Posted on November 18, 2025 by Brian Lawler

In yesterday’s post I described how I built a camera stand to re-photograph (“digitize”) my film. In order to be more helpful, I thought I would share here my working drawings and my engineering drawings so that others might make … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Color Management, Gadgets, Photography, Photoshop techniques, Printing and Printing Processes, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Building a camera stand on the CNC machine

Posted on November 17, 2025 by Brian Lawler

I have thousands – tens of thousands – of photos on film. These include 35mm negatives and slides, 120 film from my two Hasselblad cameras, and a boat load (a small boat) of 70mm sprocketed Ektachrome film. The 70mm era … Continue reading →

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The Smyth Model 12 Manual

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Brian Lawler

Greetings to those who are interested in Smyth book sewing machines! UPDATED November 2, 2025! I had been dawdling on the scanning of the Smyth Model 12 instruction and parts manual. I am sorry. Scanning is pretty easy, but retouching … Continue reading →

Posted in Bookbinding, Gadgets, History, Printing and Printing Processes, Restoring antique printing machines | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Smyth book sewing machine is an extraordinary device

Posted on March 4, 2025 by Brian Lawler

For over five years I have been working to restore a 1935 Smyth book sewing machine. You can read several posts on that topic here, mostly related to the mechanics of getting the machine running after a long dormancy, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Bookbinding, Building things, Gadgets, Printing and Printing Processes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Linotype and Intertype catalogs

Posted on July 11, 2024 by Brian Lawler

In the previous post I described how I published these out-of-print booklets. These are links to the PDF versions of those publications. Please feel free to download them. Addendum November 1, 2025: I discovered a wonderful online database of all … Continue reading →

Posted in Gadgets, History, Printing and Printing Processes, Restoring antique printing machines, Technology, Typography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rack one up to success!

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Brian Lawler

This is the third of a three-part post. To read the first part, please click here. To read the second part, please click here. I finished the bike rack clamps yesterday. I drilled and tapped the holes that needed threading, … Continue reading →

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A small, but fatal error in part positioning

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Brian Lawler

In my last post I discussed making parts to hold a rack on the back of my Superstrata carbon-fiber bicycle. To read Part 3 of these posts, click here. I have been machining those parts, and it has been a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bicycling, Building things, Gadgets, Mistakes you can avoid | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Turning my new lathe into a really nice lathe

Posted on November 9, 2023 by Brian Lawler

My plan was to write about some graphic arts subjects. I attended two terrific events related to printing recently, and I will write about my experiences – soon. But instead, I want to write about my new lathe. I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures, Building things, Gadgets, Technology, Woodworking | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A tale of trailer wiring

Posted on August 13, 2023 by Brian Lawler

This is Part 3 of a multi-part story about making a trailer for carrying a generator to Burning Man. To read the previous episode, please click here. The trailer is ready for licensing, so I have gathered the necessary paperwork, … Continue reading →

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Trailering the generator

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Brian Lawler

I left my detailed plans for the generator trailer with my friend Hank Van Gaale, who is the best welder in the universe. Then I flew to France, and went on to Switzerland and Germany for four weeks. While I … Continue reading →

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