The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Handy Piece of Technology

When we take our trucks apart we try to document everything so when we put it back together we don't; 1. Have too many parts left over, and 2. Can't remember which way the frampus fit on the thrumbolt.

Most of us have digital cameras now. When my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday......(now, now, I thought it was a trick question too.) Any how, I told her I'd like one of those digital picture frames. It now lives in the "special tool" cabinet out in the shop and has come in handy a couple of times.

You can buy a 4GB card to fit your camera and take a gazilian pictures of your project. They all go on this piece of magic about the size of a postage stamp. 500 pics cost no more than 5. When you come across a problem, you put the card in the frame, scroll to the pic, bring it up, and you can even magnify it a couple of times. What I find intriguing is the amount of documentation you can archive this way. I've even taken pictures of manual pages that when magnified are readable. This would come in handy if you needed just a passage of a manual, but didn't want to buy the whole thing, or run the risk of loseing/damaging someone elses manual.

I guess I'd have to think about it if I bought it out of pocket, but I've spent more and gotten less in some of my tools. With this outfit you just lay it on the fender mat and see exactly how the parts were.

I anticipate one card titled "ideas", and another with a slue of shop/tool/house/truck pics for insurance purposes.

Cataloging like that is very clever and when you consider the cost of a digital picture frame, I'd have to say that this could very well be the suggestion of the month.

If you have a card reader, you can copy files to your flash cards just like any storage device so you could organize your shots on the computer and then build a library of Flash Cards for any project.

Sounds like a real good idea. I rely heavily on my digital photos but have a ream of paper printed out that I refer back to. It would be one more move in the direction of the "Paperless Office"
Ya dint mention money though, how much is an 8x10 frame???
Denny G

Denny,
I bought one at a drugstore for about 70 bucks. I live about 9 hours from my parents and last year we did a photo frame with my family,mostly grown, of parties, birthdays, vacations and family gatherings and gave to my parents for Christmas. It was something they really enjoyed.
Dan

They are cool Dan, might just look into it next time I'm out. Heck, I'm going through that much paper every couple of months and between my interst in radio, machine work and now old trucks my 10 file cabnets are about full.
Been a while since I bought a memory card I'm wondering if they have come down in price??
Tks Woody, not lazy I just haven't had time to go looking up prices yet. To get one the size I would want looks like we're talkin $150 to $200, still a little to high for an old retired dude like me. Guess I'll just have to stick with the paper and my old computer screen.
I have an old lap top that my wife upgraded from that would serve the same purpose. Funny how these discussions get you to thinkin' isn't it! CD's are really cheap storage also, .25c to .50c most anywhere and ya can store a lot of pics to pull up on the old laptop.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Yea. old laptops are a great bargain!

I just bought one with a missing "/" key for $75 that has wireless, so I bought an AC adaptor, pair of bookshelf speakers and can play my iTunes library or listen to Boot Liquor in the garage through my Wireless Router over 100 feet away. Beats listening to that carp they play over and over on commercial radio.

When I was photographing I used one to store photos when I was on the road.

Hey Woody, I didn't know those old laptops had a Kodachrome slot in them. Did you have to shove the whole roll in or just one negative at a time???? Tisk, tisk!!!


Denny G

Back in the "old days" I used analog storage devices called a film canisters.

I remember those days too. A 35mm with a couple of accessory bags, a light meter, and tripod was the sign of a professional or a tourist.

Another thing I like about the picture frame is before, if I needed some info I'd have to kick off my work boots, wash my hands, go inside, bring up the computer, and check out what I needed to know. "While I'm here I'll check my emails and that last thread I was reading." Then, half hour, 45 minutes later I'd go back out to the shop and maybe remember what I saw that prompted me to go in in the first place. With the frame, it's all right there, and I can compare on the spot without relying on my...........what was I talking about?

I have taken hundreds of pictures since I bought my digital about 4 years ago. Subject matter ranges from ideas for buildings, garages, storage solutions, trucks, trailers, to landscaping.

The only problem with the digital format, is I always needed a computer.

What a great idea a digital picture frame would be. It would also be an incentive to free up some hard drive space, as the SD media cards have really dropped in price.

John

Slomotion, you have hit on a great idea. I just finished putting new upholstery on my truck seat this afternoon. I had taken pictures of the track spring locations, hog rings and folds on the old. I had to run in the house and fire the computer up because sure enough I forgot where the springs hooked.

When I put the AC in the truck, I had taken dozens of pictures under the dash. There were many clearance issues and I couldn't get in there to see what I needed to do. I would put the camera up in the tight spaces, but then had to run to the computer. The same with the AC hoses. I could get the camera below the battery tray and behind a brace to help on where to drill through the radiator support. More trips to the computer.
Your frame idea would have saved me a lot of time and will in the future.

Thanks

I have a little GPS navigator that takes the same cards as my camera. It will also read photos, audio files, and video off the cards. It was about $150, and it also tells me where I am, am going, and how fast (or slow) I'm driving for speedometer verification.