I admit it: I'm a total geek. I love electronics, programming, 3D printing, 3D art, and vintage Apple hardware. I'm always juggling half a dozen projects. I also enjoy documenting it all: my successes, my failures, my experiences... and everything geeky along the way.

Restoration | Kevin Rye.net - Main

Kevin Rye

Geek Extraordinaire. Yeh, I said it.

Restoration

Vintage Ideal Industries Stripmaster K-1853 Wire Stripper Restoration


blogEntryTopper
My Dad gave me his vintage Stripmaster a few years back. It's pretty filthy. It's been sitting in my tool box for a while but I rarely ever use it since I always feel like I have to wash my hands after using it. I decided to finally take this thing apart and give it a good cleaning. Read More...

Photo Restoration Project, Part II


blogEntryTopper
Seven months ago, I started a photo restoration project commissioned by my mother-in-law. Part 1 of the project consisted of scanning in and digitally restoring 166 vintage photos. The photos varied in size from 2x3s to 8x10s. Part 2 of the project was to then create a book in iPhoto to showcase them all. My mother-in-law was so impressed with the collection of books that I’ve made over the years for my wife, that she wanted one to. Read More...

Digitizing Medium Format Negatives

blogEntryTopper
I’ve decided to scan our entire family photo library. I got my parents to mail me all the negatives for all our family photos. The 35mm negatives aren’t a problem, it’s the large “medium format” negatives that need a good solid hack. Time to build a lightbox! Read More...

Photo Restoration Project, Part I

blogEntryTopper
I’ve been commissioned by my mother-in-law to put together a book of old family photos. She was impressed with my work on the last one I did for my wife. Can you blame her? That thing looks AMAZING! Unfortunately, a lot of them aren’t in any condition to be showcased in a book of “favorites”. They will all, for the most part, need some sort of photo retouching. Read More...

Darth Vader Clock

blogEntryTopper
They replaced all the clocks at work with cheap plastic ones from Staples. All the old-school ones made of metal and glass were headed for the garbage. Luckily, they decided to put them in a box and threw them in the cafeteria with a “FREE CLOCKS” sign.

I have an old Star Wars 12” LP from 1977 that I have always wanted to use as the face for a clock, but never got around to it. Immediately I saw the opportunity for a nice weekend project.

Read More...

MacBook Stand Restoration

blogEntryTopper
This is a really old monitor stand that my Dad used to use with his ’84 Mac. Despite being over 20 years old, it’s in pretty good shape. Recently it’s been used to sport my 17” MacBook Pro. However, the vintage beige finish didn’t sit right with my theme. A little restoration was in order…maybe something a little more “Apple”. Read More...