The Halfass Craftsman Blog

We do a damn good job!
Vintage Pensacola 90s Cartoon Business Map

Vintage Pensacola 90s Cartoon Business Map

If you lived in Pensacola in the 90s I have a treat for you.  You may recall seeing these "Pensacola Fun Maps" around town in area businesses and homes.  It was a cleaver marketing gimmick where a business would contact the artist and give them the details about their business.  Then the artist made a caricature of the business's faced and added it to this...

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Repair Leaking Toro Pressure Vacuum Breaker (PVB)

Repair Leaking Toro Pressure Vacuum Breaker (PVB)

Our sprinkler system is nearly 20 years old.  When working on the yard lately I noticed the area near these pipes was wet on the ground and then within a couple of weeks it was leaking tremendously like you see in the beginning of the embedded video.   I began by searching for the numbers on the top cap of the part that was leaking.  I found out that this...

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Quadra 950 Restoration Part 1

Quadra 950 Restoration Part 1

So it's a normal day at work and I'm browsing.  A post from r/VintageApple comes up in my feed like it does on any other day.  But today, I end up getting something I've wanted since '94.  The post is titled, "I bought a van load of vintage Apple system".  I read and look at the photos.  He's got CRT monitors, display and portrait!  He's got Mac IIs, LC...

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Five Mile Swamp Fire in Photo

Five Mile Swamp Fire in Photo

Drought + Wind = Fire Recently during a drought and week of high winds a fire broke out in Milton, FL dubbed the Five Mile Swamp fire. I drove through to photograph the area after crew had restored utilities and residents had returned to their homes.  A majority of the homes remained but several were burned completely to the ground.

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Retro Arcade Control Panel Build & Wiring

Retro Arcade Control Panel Build & Wiring

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbEVWmu995Q Step By Step Guide About a year ago I started a retro style arcade cabinet in the garage. The part that needs the most thought is definitely the control panel. Your arcade control panel build options of configurations and layout are virtually unlimited. Each item or button requires placement with room to accurate...

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My Grail has been Achieved!  Macintosh Quadra 950

My Grail has been Achieved! Macintosh Quadra 950

A child and his Quadra I finally got what I've wanted since 1994. Nineteen Ninety Four was my first year in middle school. I went to a technology focused middle school that was specially funded to have a computer for every student in every class. So in every room we had enough computers for every kid and these were LC II or IIIs. Each classroom also had a...

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Half Ass Retro Arcade Machine Build

Half Ass Retro Arcade Machine Build

Making a RetroArch-based cabinet : A Pictorial Journey Modern gaming is rather... boring. I just don't like them, the graphics are great but it leaves a lot to be desired. But thats a topic for another post. I finally got off my ass and put together a retro-style cabinet to mimic the cabinets of the 80s and 90s. Now just to be clear this isnt a flawless...

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Restoring a King Kooker propane cooker

Restoring a King Kooker propane cooker

Propane cooker sees new life A friend was going to throw out this propane cooker a couple years ago. I asked for it with the intention of repairing and restoring. Three years later... here we are. I couldn't look at it anymore so earlier this week I finally dove in to the internet looking for replacement parts online. I ended up finding Metal Fusion's King...

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My battle with ethernet on Mac OS Classic

My battle with ethernet on Mac OS Classic

My classic Macs seem to not pull a DHCP IP address... solved. As a major Apple fanboy through the nineties it's no surprise that I am have some vintage Macs around that I tinker with as a hobby. The most annoying part of it all is moving files between modern Macs and the retro ones. Until I solved this problem I had been burning CDs with files I needed but...

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1974 Dodge Charger Barn Find

1974 Dodge Charger Barn Find

A barn find just like on Pickers! Everyone has seen or at least heard of the Pickers and other shows like it where these guys tend to find the coolest things in rural areas seemingly by happen chance. In every episode some treasure is discovered covered in dust in and old barn over yonder. Well we all know real life isn't that lucky. I watched this show...

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Rare Epcot Center Spaceman Light Switch Cover

Rare Epcot Center Spaceman Light Switch Cover

A drawing of the light switch by reddit user u/tasadek. Its no secret I am deeply connected to the original Epcot Center. To this day I still remember still frames from my first trip at two years old in 1985. I remember being held under Spaceship Earth looking up. The dinosaurs on The Universe Of Energy. Looking down behind the ride vehicle on Spaceship...

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Spicy Baked Shrimp

Spicy Baked Shrimp

I guarantee spicy! So this kinda came up by mistake. Some friends were in town and had me over for dinner. Since we were at their vacation condo they were trying to fix something easy and quick. The Mrs. had this recipe from a magazine for this shrimp dish. The first time we made it she goofed the crushed red pepper amount and it was super hot but that's...

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Wilson Wilson was not real.

Wilson Wilson was not real.

On a blog about home improvements we need to talk about the sitcom Home Improvement. One of my favorite shows, we watched from the pilot to the series finale, never missed an episode and have rewatched it countless times since the end in 1998. Everyone loves the brainy neighbor Wilson but I have a perspective on Wilson that many have not considered. Let...

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Installing Active LASER Countermeasures in 2014-2020 GM Full-size Trucks

Installing Active LASER Countermeasures in 2014-2020 GM Full-size Trucks

How to install any Laser Jammer in any Full-size GM Truck Just wanted to drop a embed for my old video where I installed my Laser Interceptor into my 2016 Sierra. That truck turned out to be faulty with the "chevy shake." Here is a video playlist of the symptoms of the shake in my truck... any who back to the install. I switch trucks often so its important...

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Dish 500 linear mod for 103°W ku

Dish 500 linear mod for 103°W ku

Yes, old Dish 500 can receive (some) FTA sats I had an old Dish 500 dish on the side of the house from back in the day. As a FTA satellite hobbyist I loved the look of it hanging there but hated that it wasn't doing anything. So a quick mod got it pulling in a couple channels. The mod is simple enough to be done by anyone with a little handy work. My...

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DIY Solar Pool Heater Black Hose

DIY Solar Pool Heater Black Hose

Let's talk about DIY Solar Pool Heater Black Hose.  Its that time of year again.  The weather is warming up and the kids are ready to jump in the pool but it's still cold!  Here I'm going to tell you about my experience building a DIY Solar Pool Heater Black Hose. First things first, gather all the materials for your DIY Solar...

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