Thomas Harrell's Imagination


The internet equivalent of my shoebox, where I can store photos and thoughts about my projects, family, friends and activities. Enjoy.

Projects!

Cute Pictures of My Son

The best thing I've ever created. Just goes to show how much more amazing a project can be when the wife gets involved.

Photos-Daniel 

 

New Shop Space

I am just finishing up with my garage area remodel, providing more room for hacking on things and building models.

My Workshop

 

Model- Republic Star Destroyer

In progress (stalled while looking for weight for a base).

Republic Star Destroyer 

 

Model- Jango Fett's Slave 1

In progress- buildup of FineMolds' 1/72 Slave 1 Model with lighting and custom display base from Episode 2

Slave 1 Buildup 

 

Daniel's Remote Box

I built the boy something to keep him from mangling our TV remote. It's just some LED's, a buzzer and a pager motor in a clear plexiglass case. He enjoys it and I think it looks cool. 

Remote Toy 

 

2001 Honda Shadow ACE

Due to lack of extra money, this one's a long, long, long term project.

Shadow ACE 

 

Slate Tile

I despised the old 70's era tile. It was cracked. It had to go.

Photos Soon... 

  Welcome to my Imagination! There are countless projects banging around in my head.  Many never see the light of day.  Others tend to be more smoke and noise and no substance.  Some actually get created.  Some are masterpieces.  Some start out really well, but fall by the wayside as hundreds more ideas keep piling up and spilling out of my head.  It is my intent to share a few of these projects with everybody.  I hope all who visit find something to spark their own imagination, or find tips to help them along the way to completing their own project.

  I am a manager of the drafting department for a small civil engineering firm in Morgan Hill, California.  It's not the most interesting job on the planet, but it gets the bills paid most of the time.  I work with a fantastic group of people.  With the extra short commute, it makes for the near-dream job experience.  Work and raising a family can be stressful so I usually get myself lost in some activity out in my garage when I get home.

  My Dad was always out in the garage "puttering".  Usually he never got anything done, just visited with the neighbors and hacked on things, drank beer and (at the time) smoked a lot.  Sometimes as a kid he included me in some of the bigger projects.  Those were the best times I ever had with him, and I learned a lot from him about how to do things that has stuck with me until now.  I can do work for myself.  I don't have to hire handymen every time something drips, wiggles or squeaks.  I intend to have my son doing the very same.  "Puttering" around in the garage with Dad.  Not worrying about accomplishing anything important, but having a good time, spending time together.

 

My hobbies: (man, I wear far too many hats...)

  Model Building, Geocaching, Electronics, Custom Computer System building and modification, World of Warcraft, Architectural Design, and I work as a leader in Royal Rangers.  Oh, and I finally managed to get a motorcycle.

 

My shop:

  Well, California is an expensive place to live, so my space is rather limited.  I used to have the computer and office indoors until the baby arrived.  Now, I'm crammed in a single car attached garage.  Yes, it stinks in the summer when it's 117 outside.  And the winter is sorta crap, but the big computer belches out enough heat to keep me happy.  The garage also contains all my power tools, and my model workshop.  Yes, everything... itty bitty workspace.  Sometimes I wonder how I ever get anything done.  I was remarking to my lovely wife how cramped it is out here, as she dragged another pile of my stuff back to the garage.  I usually have to move a pile of junk I won't throw out (yes, I'm a hopeless packrat) to another flat surface to get anything done.  Then, when I need the other surface, I spend hours relocating other piles of junk to other locations.  Redistribution of junk is what occupies most of my time.  Wish I had more flat surfaces to pile junk on.  Then I could really get stuff done.

  Since space is very limited, I've had to limit the tools I can have in the shop as well.  Currently I make do with a small table saw (which a buddy of mine gave me for Christmas), an old benchtop drill press, old and very creaky belt/disc sander and a scroll saw.  With these few items, I've been able to do just about any fabrication I need, from cutting aluminum, creating circuit boards, cutting wood and plexiglass for projects. 

  I'd really love to add to my workshop capabilities (and put on many more hats and gain more hobbies) as time progresses.  I'd love to get into metal fabrication.  I want to learn how to weld.  If I ever have more space, I'd like to learn how to do stained glass.  If I had more money, the ideal shop tools to add would be a laser cutter, a small CNC machine and a rapid prototyping machine.  Man, the time I could waste dreaming up projects to use those tools for!!


  For now, projects continue unabated.  Sometimes the hobby is fun.  Sometimes procrastinating about the hobby is fun.  It's always a worthwhile experience. Hope you enjoyed checking it out.



Contact Me!

 Contact Info

 

Hobbies!

Geocaching

Geocaching is a GPS based treasure hunt, the most fun you can have with $100 Billion in government owned satellites

My Geocaching 


 Scale Models

I occasionally finish a scale model. Currently I seem to be on a Star Wars kick. Here's some links:

D&J Hobby - My favorite hobby store. There is no other! I buy all my gear here

Starship Modeler- Online magazine of all things sci-fi

 

Custom Computers

I've built a few. Currently working on my own non-beige box system. Core 2 Duo e6600, 4GB Ram, 1 TB Raid 5, (2) Nvidia GeForce 8800GTS and a 30" Dell Flat Panel! Smokin!!!

 

World of Warcraft

I am a casual player of the game. It's enjoyable and usually keeps me from spending a lot of money on more expensive hobbies.

My WoW Page 

Official Site 

 

Electronics

I occasionally create some basic electronics. I'm not a big pro, but I can do some cool things. Mostly gimmicky toys for my baby to mess with (to save wear and tear on the TV remotes). Will post some photos of stuff in projects soon.