iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Acorn Electron. With a little encouragement it still runs.

Acorn Electron, opened up on a desk but running well enough to display the Basic prompt on a TV.

060

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I can remember almost nothing about it except that I watched it and it had a cute robot.

Battle of the planets characters against a backdrop saying "Battle of the planets"

020

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Just been reminded of the time I went to the Reading Festival for almost free thanks to dodgy deal with the barman at my student hall of residence that netted me 2 promotional tickets for a fiver. Lot of good music that weekend.

Line up for reading 1995, including Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Beck, The Foo Fighters and many others.

020

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

It really is incredible that Edinburgh can look like this in morning. I picked one of the best cities to live in.

St Anthony's Chapel ruins reflecting in St Margaret's Loch near Arthur's seat in Edinburgh.

041

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Found a bit of scrap oak and made a first stab at a wrist rest. It'd fairly comfortable, but I might have to trim some wood from the front of the keyboard. It looks nice, but the reach to the number keys is a little long.

Cherry wood keyboard with light oak wrist wrest.

010

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Finally got round to getting the half finished keyboard I've had by my desk for the past few months into a usable state. I think I like this one. It's a pretty standard layout, apart from the split space bar. Needs a narrower wrist wrest to go with it though.

keyboard with switches mounted directly into a piece of cherry wood.

190

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

You will be visited by three spirits.

000

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

I'm again reminded that my parents used to transport a mixture of children, sheep and goats around in a Citroen 2cv. Don't remember them moving a lot of 3ft pipes, but your average sheep is about 4ft long so I think they would have managed.

0102

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Back in the 80s my parents used to transport sheep and goats around in the back of a Citroen 2cv. It was a fetching yellow colour and we called it "Buttercup" Don't think the roads have become remarkably steeper and more rugged since then.

A yellow citroen 2cv - apparently a still from a bond movie.

1101

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Since record bluesky seems to be finding this post, here's the turntable, a Dual 1209 made somewhere between 1969 and 1972, before and after I did a bit of work on it.

Record turnable covered in dirt with head missing from tone arm.

Record turnable looking a bit cleaner than the first shot, mounted on a nice beech wood base, with a 3d printed head on the tone arm.

000

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

I'm meant to be doing structural edits, so of course I spent the evening making a knife out of a nail. It's surprisingly easy to do. I'm not very good at sharpening things, but have got it cutting slightly better than the exacto style knife it's designed to replace.

Small knife with wooden handle and cylindrical blade flattened at the end.

010

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Had a lovely father's day so far. Kids made me brunch and art, and I got the wood lathe out for the first time in ages and turned a handle for a fish tail gouge I randomly acquired. I'm very out of practice and left some nasty tool marks, but still feels good in my palm. #woodturning

Fish tail palm gouge with a hand turned wooden handle and copper ferule.

030

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

I will now not be making the thin parting tool I've been meaning to bodge together for some time now as I found one at the Meadows Festival for the bargain price of 50p. Just needs a bit of a sharpen and cleanup... and maybe a nicer handle. #woodturning

Chris Stott thin parting tool with a little rust and possibly some discolouration at the tip from overheating. Handle is a thin sheath of red plastic.

010

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Not finished wiring it yet, but my latest (somewhat experimental) keyboard build has turned out ok despite a whole string of mistakes. Switches (cream alps) and keycaps are recycled from a couple of broken apple ADB keyboards. Base is cherry on top of a piece of oak too cracked to use on its own.

Wooden keyboard with vintage apple keycaps. Keys split into two curved sections for the left and right hand.

250

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Bit of a long shot, but does anyone know where I can find another ring like this one?

Silver ring on a cork background. Ring looks like two hands clasping each other.

Ring opened out on a hinge to reveal it's formed by three smaller rings. A heart is now visible, previously hidden by the hands.

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

I seem to be making keyboards at the moment. Finished a build last night. Staggered columns combined with a more traditional layout in a piece of solid cherry wood. Not sure if I like typing on it yet.

76 key keyboard made out of light cherry wood.

020

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Mini keyboard now has a housing for the microcontroller made out of chunk of firewood (cherry, I think). I could probably have carved out space for it in the main board, but decided to take the coward's route and not risk messing up what I'd already done.

Small 42 key keyboard made out of oak with an additional square of cherry wood near the top.

020

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

WIP new keyboard built out of a scrap of solid oak and some old black alps switches. Might be a little too minimalist for my liking, but if the layout feels ok after a little use I might invest in a bigger chunk of wood and build a v2.

Keyboard built from a small piece of oaks with 42 keys laid out in staggered columns.

020

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Easter project with my youngest is progressing nicely. Just the small jobs wiring it and building a body left to do.

Wooden board with neatly cut holes containing alps key switches inserted without keycaps.

Wooden keyboard with nice vintage keycaps.

020

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

I think it may finally be time to update my profile picture. The current one is about 15 years old, but seems to have somehow aged a lot less than my actual face. The new one was taken by Rob MacDougall for the Scottish Book Trust. The ham-fisted cropping is all my own work.

me with an awkward smile, but somehow younger.

me, with a different awkward smile and more age.

2150

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Bad things are happening to our neighbour's roof.

Red tile roof above a dormer window with large patch of tiles removed by the wind.

020

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Age yourself with your first computer. Acorn Electron for me, on which I played and wrote a lot games. Found it in my parent's loft a couple of years ago. With a bit of encouragement, it still runs.

Messy desk with an Acorn Electron opened up on it to expose the circuit boards. The Acorn Electron basic prompt shows on a TV behind it.

160

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Every year around about Christmas I go looking for a book my partner remembers having read to her at school. This year I found it! It's Rebecca's World by Terry Nation - the first edition with illustrations by Larry Learmonth. I bet she's bought me socks.

Front cover of first edition of Rebecca's World by Terry Nation.

Inside sleeve of book showing a maze like map.

Illustration from book showing girl in a yellow dress running and something happening behind her that I frankly can't guess at.

030

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

With a bit of oil on the wood, the rust cleaned off, and a spanking new goat's skin its come out looking ok. Frets really need replacing and the action seems high, but hopefully playable. 3/3

Banjo mandolin looking a look cleaner with a new skin on.

010

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

It's about 100 years old - I picked it up for £10 on gumtree Didn't do much too it except replace the skin, clean off some rust and file down the frets at the edges as they'd become exposed as the neck shrank over the years. Nice to find the signature of the last person to skin it on the back 2/3

Signature on back of banjo skin. Reads something like "Harlley".

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Spent the evening restoring an old Banjo Mandolin (one of many instruments I cannot play). Picked this up a while ago for my eldest's birthday, which is now only weeks away. Forgot to take "before" photos when I took it apart months ago, except this. #restoration 1/3

Body of banjo mandolin with rips in the skin drum and rust on the screw heads.

120

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

This thing is almost there. Just some messing about to do with the countershaft and pulleys, then into the fiddly alignment stuff. 74/n

Lathe painted green all over with countershaft and flat belt set up. Tool post not yet attached.

110

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Spent lunchtime slapping primer onto the lathe stand with minimal surface prep. Also started on the tailstock. The top coat needs a full week between layers, but hopefully will have it cosmetically complete by the end of the month. 73/n

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

First (very poor) turn with a piece of mystery metal and a random (blunt) tool with the entirely wrong profile. It works though. Now taken apart again to start painting the stand. 72/n

Piece of metal rod held in three jaw chuck, turned down to a narrow diameter at the end with a very poor finish.

110

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

And with the back gear and lead screw engaged - the apron that rides on it is still awaiting a coat of paint. That loud recurring sound is a chip on one of the gears. Hopefully won't be a problem but I know nothing about these things. 71/n

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

The flat belt just arrived, so now I get to find out if it spins. It does. 70/n

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Took another step closer to a functioning lathe this lunchtime. Flat belt should arrive on Thursday, so might be able to start reassembling the thing this weekend. Still lots of bits that need a coat of paint though. 69/n

Lathe bed painted green with protective tape still covering the ways. Maker's details can now be read embossed on the side "James Spencer & co Hollingwood Manchester"

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Still a lot of painting to do, but I can now start to try and remember how the headstock fits together. Certainly looks a lot nicer and turns a lot smoother than when I got it. Will need to get a proper flat belt though. 68/n

"Before" shot of lathe headstock covered in grease, rust, dirt and flaking blue paint

Headstock with a spanking new green paint job. All exposed metal surfaces clean and shiny.

Alternate shot of restored headstock with an old timing belt temporarily in place around the flat belt pulley cone.

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Started to do some painting yesterday, now moved into the sunshine to see if it helps it cure. Looks alright from a distance. The paint was a pain to work with though, so ended up slapping it on as quickly as possible. 67/n

Lathe headstock a feet freshly painted in green, looking really quite nice.

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

The weather is starting to warm up, so started to do some prep for painting this beast. Down to stubborn red oxide primer on the bed, can read the maker's mark now. Tried a little experiment: eletrolysis on a rust patch without full immersion. It's definitely doing something. 66/n

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Finally got the lathe feet off. Tried all sort of things to get the bolts moving, from an impact driver to citric acid. Was going to give up and drill them out, but had one last try. In the end a big hammer and a cold chisel turned one bolt a little. Got easier from there. 64/n

Exposed underside of lathe bed covered in flaking paint and oil

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

So I have a countershaft to get me going. It protrudes way too far out at the back, so will need to come up with a new arrangement, but I ought to be able to try the lathe out for real sometime next week. 62/n

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Turned a hardwood inner core on the lathe, and mounted the two bits of plywood around that. Took quite a bit of truing up, but now spins acceptably. 61/n

Very large diameter stepped wooden pulley

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

For reasons I don't remember, I have a 1/2 HP motor lying about that spins at 2880 rpm. Way too fast for this lathe, so it needs gearing down. A lot. I also have an old plywood cupboard door in my scrap pile. The circular hole in at new. 60/n

Large piece of plywood with some circles cut out of it

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Result for today is this, which mirrors the steel pulley on the lathe. It's oversized and unsanded, the idea being to true it up once it's mounted on the shaft and guaranteed to be turning on its centre. Hoping those cracks don't turn out to be a problem. 58/n

Original metal stepped pulley on headstock

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Finding suitable wood was tricky. I mainly turn small firewood, and don't have hardwood boards hanging about. Managed to find a piece of oak that was just large enough for the largest pulley, a long enough that I can do all three pulleys from one piece. It has issues though 57/n

Piece of oak partially turned to reveal a large split.

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

So I'm giving a pin chuck mounted in a jacobs chuck a go. That's an 8mm steel rod (out of an old printer) with a groove filed out and half a nail in the gap. You drill an 8mm hole in the workpiece, then stick the rod in. When it rotates, the pin moves and jambs against the hole 55/n

End of a jacob chuck with a bit of metal bar mounted in it with a groove filed out. A piece of nail rests in the groove.

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

So, I'm now moderately certain that this lathe has a Jarno 4 taper. Not the classic way to check, but this Jarno 4 plug I 3D printed fits pretty snugly. 50/n

End of tailstock spindle with a bit of blue 3d printed plastic protruding from then end

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Bent several other bits of sturdy metal before this worked, and it was touch and go whether the screw driver or the face plate would give. Did some minor damage to the bull gear doing this, but doesn't look to bad. 46/n

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Finally got the faceplate off over lunch using this arragement - couple of m8 bolts through a piece of scrap wood to crate leverage + a beast of a screw driver wedged through the slot in the bull gear. 45/n

Piece of scrap wood bolted across lathe face plate

Screw driver wedged between piece of scrap wood attached to faceplate and the bull gear

100

Henry Coles @pitest.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Did a little more lathe clean up. The rust on the headstock wasn't too bad, bit gave it a dip in the tank anyway. Decided against knocking the bearings out. Little worried that the electrolysis would leach the zinc out of them, but looked to be ok. 44/n

Headstock covered in flaking blue paint with latex gloves stuffed into the bearings

Headstock with paint removed and just some red primer left in patches

100