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Solar Powered Rainwater Project – to Grid-Tie, or not to Grid-Tie. (that is the question)

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on March 22, 2017 by JimJuly 14, 2017

Previously, we discussed the amount of power needed, and how that determines the size of the solar array. We also mentioned Days of Autonomy and how that informs battery storage. Now for Charge Controllers and Inverters — the brains that tie everything together. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Texas, Gardening, maker, Projects, Rainwater, solar | Tagged amateur, build, charge, controller, deep cycle, DIY, equipment, Grid-assist, grid-tie, ham radio, how to, howto, Interstate, inverter, kill-a-watt, kilowatt, kilowatt-hours, kWh, marine, maximum power point transfer, mppt, off-grid, panel, pulse width modulation, pwm, rainwater, renogy, solar, storage, Sun Gold Power, teardrop, trailer, wb0mmc

Solar Powered Rainwater Project – Panels, Batteries and Inverters — Oh My!

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on March 21, 2017 by JimJuly 14, 2017
photo of Well House and Garden Shed

In a previous Project post, we determined our power needs – 1300 watt-hours per day to pump water. Now we can calculate the battery bank capacity,  solar panel wattage, and inverter capacity needed for our installation. Let’s start with the panel … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Texas, Gardening, maker, Projects, Rainwater, solar | Tagged amateur, ampere-hours, battery bank capacity, build, charge, controller, deep cycle, DIY, equipment, Grid-assist, grid-tie, ham radio, how to, howto, Interstate, inverter, kill-a-watt, kilowatt, kilowatt-hours, kWh, marine, mppt, off-grid, panel, panel wattage, pwm, rainwater, renogy, solar, solar panel wattage, storage, teardrop, trailer, wb0mmc

Weber Piano Project – Keyframe Cleanup

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on March 5, 2017 by JimAugust 27, 2017

With key bushings installed, it was back to the piano shop. In order to test the work, we would need to try a few keys in the keyframe and see they fit. First though, a little cleanup was in order. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Texas, maker, Music, piano, Projects, repairs, Woodworking | Tagged action rebuild, animal hide glue, back rail cloth, Bernerd, blanco, blanco texas, DIY, felt bushing, flitz polish, hill country, how to, key pins, keyframe, Mollberg, piano, piano punching lifter, punchings, restoration, scotchblue, Texas, texas hill country, weber, weber grand piano, windex, wippens, woodworking

Weber Piano Project – New Bushings!

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on March 5, 2017 by JimAugust 20, 2017

So far, we’ve removed the action from the piano, disassembled, and cleaned it. There’s a surprising amount of effort involved in just those steps, and it was great to finally make progress in the rebuild. Make no mistake, the disassembly and … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Texas, maker, Music, piano, Projects, repairs, Woodworking | Tagged action rebuild, animal hide glue, balance rail, Bernerd, blanco, blanco texas, brush, build, bushing felt, DIY, felt bushing, front rail, hill country, how to, Mollberg, pallet knife, piano action, razor blade, restoration, Texas, texas hill country, watercolor, weber, weber grand piano, whiting, woodworking

Solar Powered Rainwater Project

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on March 1, 2017 by JimJuly 14, 2017
photo of the Greenhouse and Rainwater System

If you’ve been following along, you’ve noticed several solar-powered projects here at Roy Creek Ranch. From a simple system to “top-up” the storage battery in the Teardrop trailer and upgrading it to make an off-grid camper, to powering my amateur radio … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Texas, Gardening, maker, Projects, Rainwater, solar | Tagged amateur, build, charge, controller, deep cycle, DIY, equipment, Grid-assist, grid-tie, ham radio, how to, howto, Interstate, inverter, kill-a-watt, kilowatt, kilowatt-hours, kWh, marine, mppt, off-grid, panel, pwm, rainwater, renogy, solar, storage, teardrop, trailer, wb0mmc

Weber Action Rebuild – Key Cleaning Update

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on February 22, 2017 by JimAugust 27, 2017

In my last post, I listed the various tasks to finish key restoration. During the week, I was able to get the remaining tools to install bushings. These include a brush to apply hide glue, a small painting knife to … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Texas, maker, Music, piano, Projects, repairs, Woodworking | Tagged action rebuild, animal hide glue, antique, back check, Bernerd, blanco, blanco texas, capstan, Danish oil, felt bushing, hammer and shank, Mollberg, punchings, restoration, rocker capstan, Scotch-brite, Texas, texas hill country, weber grand piano, whiting, wippens, woodworking

Weber Action Rebuild – Removing Bushings and Cleaning

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on February 17, 2017 by JimAugust 27, 2017

After bringing the piano keys home from Bernard’s shop last week, I was hoping to remove the key bushings and clean the wooden, ebony and ivory parts. To remove the bushings, I rigged up an old travel-sized clothes steamer and … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Texas, maker, Music, piano, Projects, repairs, Woodworking | Tagged action rebuild, animal hide glue, antique, back check, Bernerd, blanco, blanco texas, capstan, Danish oil, felt bushing, hammer and shank, Mollberg, punchings, restoration, rocker capstan, Scotch-brite, Texas, texas hill country, weber grand piano, whiting, wippens, woodworking

Weber Grand Piano Action – Teardown

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on February 8, 2017 by JimAugust 27, 2017
photo of Bernard's shop

After months of discussion and planning, we were ready to rebuild the action in the Weber grand piano. I had moved the action to Bernard Mollberg’s shop near Blanco, Texas the previous week, and was looking forward to starting. Arriving at the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Texas, maker, Music, piano, Projects, repairs, Woodworking | Tagged action rebuild, animal hide glue, antique, back check, Bernerd, blanco, blanco texas, capstan, felt bushing, hammer and shank, Mollberg, punchings, restoration, rocker capstan, Texas, texas hill country, weber grand piano, wippens, woodworking

Rebuilding another Piano – an 1893 Weber Grand

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on February 8, 2017 by JimAugust 20, 2017
photo of The Weber grand today

In an earlier post about Rebuilding A Piano, I mentioned an older piano — A Weber 6-foot, 2-inch grand. I bought it from the University of Nebraska at Omaha after winning the James B. Peterson Concerto Competition. As part of … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Texas, maker, Music, piano, Projects, repairs, Woodworking | Tagged chicago, columbian exposition, edison and tesla, edison and westinghouse, eugenie whitmore, eugenie whitmore charitable trust, gershwin concerto in f, illinois, james b petersen concerto competition, joslyn museum, omaha symphony, paderewski minuet, queen anne case, restoration, tesla, the hatchet, the white city, trans-mississippi international exposition, university of nebraska at omaha, weber piano company

International Harvester 254 – Ignition Switch

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on May 8, 2016 by JimJuly 14, 2017
photo of the back of the old switch

I purchased a used tractor in 2003 after moving a truckload — literally 14 cubic yards — of gravel with a wheelbarrow, and deciding I didn’t want to do that again. It’s an International Harvestor model 254, a three-cylinder diesel … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Texas, machinery, Projects, repairs | Tagged 254, Case/IH, diesel, harvester, homesteading, ignition, international, repair, switch, tractor

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