Oaken Gearbox

Ever wondered how to add an auxiliary input to an old stereo/tape player using nothing but a soldering iron and some old headphones? Then stop reading right now and head over  here . Just want to learn a little more about how analog audio equipment works and doesn't work? Then read on to hear a little of what I've picked up over the years. Last week the cassette adapter I was using in my car to listen music from my phone gave out on the left channel. I was pretty sure it was just a break in the cable, since I was able to get sound back by holding the wire just right, so I decided to give repairing it a shot. I started by cutting the earbuds off an old set of airline headphones and stripping them back to bare wires on the ends. When I opened up the cassette, I was surprised to find not two, but three wires soldered to the tape head. Some quick research revealed that the third wire is a signal ground , which makes contact with a ground pin inside your iPod or...

Today's post has a guest author, my beautiful wife. Although she runs her own blog over at crimsoncinder.blogspot.com , this project was so cool I asked her if I could post on my blog too. Although this project was specifically for a Barnes and Noble Nook Simple Touch, you could just as easily make one for an Amazon Kindle, or any other tablet or e-reader. The Making of the Nook Book When contemplating what to get my brother-in-law for his birthday, I was stumped. I couldn’t think of anything to get a teenage boy who loved technology that would fit in my budget. I settled on trying to find a cover for the nook that he had received for Christmas. I looked for deals but still didn’t hit my price point. I thought I would end up sending a lame card with cash and didn’t feel that great about it. Then, it came to me! I could still get him a cover…but just make it! My normal go to in something like this is to crochet it, but I wanted to do something different. On the next few ...