The Halfass Craftsman Blog

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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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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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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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C-Band : Harvesting a BUD (Big Ugly Dish)

C-Band : Harvesting a BUD (Big Ugly Dish)

C-Band satellite dishes used to be the thing to have.  In the late 90's, the advent of small DBS (pizza pan) dishes killed them off as they were large, heavy, some say ugly, and required a lot of maintenance. In these next couple posts I will be documenting my first try at setting up a C-band dish or BUD for feed hunting. Quick back story, I was...

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