Miscellaneous babble – Page 11

April 8, 2018

Fry’s Electronics in Houston

There are three Fry’s Electronics stores in the Houston area. I’m so jealous. I have to go all the way to Atlanta for the one closest to me.

We visited two of them last weekend. A lot of Fry’s Electronics stores are themed, and the two we went to were suitably Houston-themed.

On the north side of Houston, we saw an oil themed Fry’s driving in from the airport and made an impromptu stop to check it out. Oil derrick structures flank the main entrance, and inside are oil pumps and more oil derricks.

Fry's Electronics in Houston — Fry’s Electronics in Houston

On the southeast-ish side of Houston in Webster, not far from Space Center Houston, is another Fry’s. This one naturally is space themed and has a replica of the ISS inside.

Fry's Electronics in Webster, TX — Fry’s Electronics in Webster, TX

Space ship in Fry's — Space ship in Fry’s

Fry's cafe module — Fry’s cafe disguised as an ESA module

March 17, 2018

Drill pressing

One of the things I’ve been wanting for the workbench for a while now is a bench top drill press so that I can put holes into things with a little more precision than I can with a hand drill.

At my local Habitat For Humanity Restore today, I came across one that looked in pretty decent condition and just the size that I was looking for. Price was pretty reasonable ($50), so I bought it.

It’s an older model Delta 11-950 8″ drill press with 1/4 hp motor and 5 cm travel range. There are 5 available speeds, and changing speeds is done by opening up the top cover and moving the drive belt up or down to different levels on the drive pulleys.

The drill press is a lot quieter than I expected, and works really well. The drive belt seems to be in pretty good shape without any obvious cracks or flaws in it. The work platform is smallish, but should be adequate for the projects that I have in mind. The 1/2″ chuck is plenty large enough to handle the bits that I have.

Quite pleased with this acquisition for the workbench. Now I’ll be able to up my building game a bit.