Category Archives: Building things

Der Fingerpokenspieler

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Brian Lawler

This is a tale of making unruly film behave ruly so it can be digitized. It started last November when I built a camera stand for digitizing my archive of actual film. I have written seven posts (To read them, … Continue reading →

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Digitizing 70mm film

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Brian Lawler

I have now digitized over 2,000 photos from film, mostly 35mm color slides. It has been fun, and relatively easy. My system is holding up well. The archiving envelopes are working well enough, and the small corrugated boxes that I … Continue reading →

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76 yards…what do you get?

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Brian Lawler

Yesterday at sunrise a huge concrete pumping truck showed up at my shop construction site. It was about 6:30 in the morning. I had set up my time-lapse camera on a tripod overlooking the site, and the shutter was activated … Continue reading →

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It took 20 years to get all that in there…
and just a few days to get it all out for storage.

Posted on January 12, 2026 by Brian Lawler

14 months ago I announced with pride that I had received a building permit for a new shop to be built on my friends’ property here in San Luis Obispo County. It had taken about two years to get that … Continue reading →

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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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A grave assignment

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Brian Lawler

I am a lifelong friend and associate of Jim Eckford, who, with his wife Carlen, operate the Rancho Burro Donkey Sanctuary in Arroyo Grande, California. The sanctuary has been in business for over 20 years, and has been home to … Continue reading →

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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 →

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I’m holding a building permit in my hand!

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Brian Lawler

This is the latest in my posts about building a new show building. Click here to go to the beginning of the story. After straightening out the issue of the Scenic Highway and Railroad Code, I was required to sign … Continue reading →

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Rejection, again!

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Brian Lawler

Chapter 3 – To read from the beginning of this saga, please click here. The rejections came, and quickly! Both the grading and building permit applications were incomplete. The county planners asked for more complete soils engineering plans. I contacted … Continue reading →

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Outright rejection!

Posted on June 25, 2024 by Brian Lawler

In the first installment of this story, I introduced my new shop building, and introduced you to the County Planning Department. They looked at my initial set of plans and threw them back at me. Too big, they said. I … Continue reading →

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