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Lionel Scout train sets: Entry level Lionel

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 11, 2020March 24, 2022

“It’s a Lionel Scout,” the auctioneer said breathlessly. I walked out the door without placing a bid. If you found a Lionel Scout train set and you think you found something valuable, I’m about to dash your hopes and dreams. That’s not to say Lionel Scouts aren’t interesting. But they were Lionel’s economy sets of the postwar era.

The Lionel Scout was a low-end train set Lionel introduced starting in 1948 to compete with Marx trains. When new, a Scout set sold for around $19, or a little over $200 in today’s dollars.

Commodore 1084 monitor

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 10, 2020January 6, 2026

The Commodore 1084 monitor was Commodore’s flagship monitor, a monitor that worked with everything they produced in the late 1980s, including the C-64, the C-128 in 40 and 80 column modes, the Amiga line, and Commodore’s CGA-equipped PC clones like the Commodore Colt. Its versatility makes it popular with retro computer enthusiasts today. Not only does it work with almost any Commodore computer, it also works with a lot of non-Commodore computers.

Do blackout curtains help with heat?

Dave Farquhar DIY, Saving money December 9, 2020December 5, 2020

Blackout curtains help to keep light out, making them useful if you have a lot of light pollution at night or need to sleep during the day. But do blackout curtains help with heat? Do blackout curtains save energy? And how much?

Blackout curtains can have an R value of up to 5, depending on how you use them. Considering most windows have an R value between 1 and 5, and your walls have an R value of at least 13, blackout curtains do help with heat, and can save you hundreds of dollars per year.

How long does oil based paint take to dry?

Dave Farquhar DIY December 8, 2020December 5, 2020

If you want a good paint job, you need to make sure the paint dries thoroughly and completely before disturbing it. So how long does oil based paint take to dry? And how long does it take oil based primer to dry?

It varies depending on the paint formula and the temperature, but it typically takes 8 hours for oil based paint to dry. The general time can range from 2-24 hours, so it’s best to check your instruction label for your paint’s specifics. Oil based primer can be ready for a topcoat within 1-2 hours, but that may or may not be what you mean by dry time.

Baking computer chips: Fixing chips in an oven

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing December 7, 2020May 21, 2024

Does baking computer chips fix them when they’re broken? Can you fix computer chips in an oven? The answer is sometimes. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to know when it will help, and when it does, we may not know why. But, when faced with a broken chip, we don’t exactly have anything to lose, either.

Baking computer chips does seem to fix them, at least sometimes. Whether it works depends entirely on why the chip failed in the first place, which isn’t always possible to know.

Mizuno East-West train set

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 3, 2020February 1, 2022

The Mizuno East-West battery operated train set has all the hallmarks of postwar Japanese trains. It’s made of tin. It runs on batteries. It was cheap. And it carries an aura of mystery. Fortunately time unraveled a number of those mysteries.

What are mineral spirits?

Dave Farquhar DIY December 2, 2020March 28, 2023

You could be reading some DIY instructions and see something that calls for mineral spirits, or white spirit if the instructions originated in the UK. But what are mineral spirits? Let’s dig in.

Mineral spirits are a solvent sold in hardware and paint stores. They are a petroleum distillate, useful as a paint thinner, and also for thinning or removing grease and oil. In the UK it’s called white spirit, and in Australia and New Zealand, it’s called mineral turpentine.
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Does a USB hub need power?

Dave Farquhar Hardware December 1, 2020November 21, 2020

In the early days of USB, the majority of hubs had power. Today, the market is flooded with cheap hubs that don’t have power. That raises a legitimate question. Does a USB hub need power? Why or why not?

Who makes Kobalt power tools for Lowe’s?

Dave Farquhar DIY November 30, 2020September 2, 2023

Kobalt is Lowe’s house brand for power tools and hand tools. As a house brand, they are less expensive than the big name brands. But are Kobalt power tools good? And who makes Kobalt power tools for Lowe’s? I did some digging to find out.

Kobalt power tools like drills and saws are made by Chervon, one of the 10 largest OEMs of power tools in the world. Kobalt outdoor tools like lawnmowers and chainsaws are made by Globe Tools Group.

How to cut Lionel tubular track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 26, 2020November 26, 2020

Sometimes you need to fill a space on your layout that no off-the-shelf length of track will fit. The advantage of tubular track is that you can cut custom lengths with little to no difficulty. Here’s how to cut Lionel tubular track.

Lionel tubular track, both O and O27 varieties, cuts relatively easily with a hacksaw. If you have a lot of track sections to cut, you can use a miniature chop saw as well.