more incremental progress

Nothing exciting to announce, but:

MSLS:
I've worked out most of the details of what the top-of-the-cabinet lamp features will look like.  I have most of the parts, and will have to fabricate a few more.  Am trying to find a cheap source of lamp socket adapters.  The adapters are cheap - a few bucks, but most places want $5 to $8 shipping, EACH.

Anyway, the lamp/fake-vacuum-tube/mystery devices should look relatively bad-ass, some day.  I'm unlikely to  finish those pretty things until after I get the unit hooked up.  The reason it isn't connected to the lights yet is that I have to run a new circuit to the area from the garage's sub-panel, and THAT involves ripping out the ceiling in the other part of the garage.  It's something I'd planned to do anyway, I just wasn't ready now.  Maybe this weekend, we'll see.

VACUUM SYSTEM:

Work is moving ahead, but slowly.  I keep finding old damage (mostly in the wiring) that needs repair, or having minor but annoying things break on me, requiring repair. I'm fixing those now, instead of working on the actual vacuum plumbing.

I identified another probable leak site, and am working to seal it - the adapter plate I made to blank off the top of the stack with two gauges.  The gauge mounting assembly is sealed to the adapter plate with a flat gasket, not an o-ring.  The gasket stuck out from under the gauge assembly over the adapter plate, all the way around.  I trimmed that back and then added leak sealant over the edge of the gasket, joining adapter to gauge assembly all the way around.  I also put sealant on two solder joints in the gauge assembly.  I'm reasonably confident that it's leak-tight now.

I'm gonna need a new motor.  The one that's on there now is not the right motor type despite having the correct horsepower, and as a result, it has inadequate starting torque for the monster mechanical pump it's trying to crank. I can't afford to buy a new motor, so I'll keep looking for one used, at garage sales, flea markets, eBay, and Craig's List.