Electronics Parts Scavenging

I like to build things fix them restore them and give them new purpose in life. Most of the time I don't have the money to fund these ventures, So I have become vary good at Scavenging  for what I need. Anything electronic comes across bench that can't be fixed is getting striped for parts. 

First things first you need a good stash of parts to fill your junk box.

First rule take all broken electronics from anyone.

                              

Next thing you will need is some tools. This is de-soldering pump
  pump it is an essential tool to the process!

Next tool you will need is a soldering iron another essential tool to the process!

A good vice to hold the parts it's not necessary buts it helps allot.

Solder fum extractor will keep you healthy too. See my other other blog post for this.

Old cutting board so you don't mess up your table.

Now you have you have every thing you need to get started!

The best part of Electronics Scavenging is you find out how to take stuff apart.

So what do you end up with a lot of future projects! That won't cost you more in shipping then the parts cost!

Soldering fume extractor project

I've been doing allot of small electronics projects lately that require a fair amount of soldering. So I figured that it was about time I got a fume extractor until i saw the price. They ran any where from $36 to $400 bucks. So once again I'm going down the build it your self road. I started by looking through the junk box and I found a few parts i could use.

I needed a fan since that was basically what the project was all about, I found an old brush less ATX computer fan 12V Dc, and a old early 90's styled bag cell phone hand set car Mount to mount the fan on. I also found a computer power switch with led power on indicator lights I figured I could replace the led's with bright white led's for lights to see what I'm working on and use the switch to turn on the fan.

To mount the fan I needed to design a bracket to attach the fan to the cell phone bracket. I had a friend who is a sheet metal guy make it he soldered small tab on the bottom not sure why he didn't make it from one peace?

A little sheet metal and a few brass crews and we have a mounting bracket!

Next I mounted the power switch and the led lights on the bracket I still need to get another white led.

Now with the fan controls and lights mounted its time to work on the base and power supply.

So stay toon for the next installment of the Soldering fume extractor project!!!

Arduino-compatible Bare Bones Board

Well i'm diving in to the world of Arduino! I ordered my Arduino-compatible Bare Bones Board from http://www.moderndevice.com/ I receved it pretty fast. This is what came in the mail

Whats Arduino you ask? Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.
Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. The microcontroller on the board is programmed using the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring) and the Arduino development environment (based on Processing). Arduino projects can be stand-alone or they can communicate with software on running on a computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP).

Going well so far it's taking shape!

It's alive! Hello world!