HN user
Got a donated 6x18 surface grinder with hydraulic x/y autofeed up and running at our Portland hacker space, but we have no floor space for it. I have lathe and mill hobby experience but going from knowing nothing about surface grinders to getting one operational and knowing how to use it was rewarding. There was alot of deep, ancient knowledge to excavate.
Scale model of the solar system! https://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/solar-system/activity/...
Have each kid 'adopt' a planet, give them the materials to construct the planet at the appropriate scale and they tell the group 5 fun facts about their planet when the group walks from Sun to Pluto. It is a WHOA experience for kids and adults about the emptiness of space. Scale for the stamina of your kid group, Pluto is way out there.
I would suggest finding a community college or hardware hacker space like The Crucible in Oakland, CA to take a class. Nothing like hands-on instruction and having the machines set up perfectly so you can concentrate on your skills and get immediate feedback.
A MIG welder is probably easiest to learn. I haven't watched YouTube videos but see there are many. Learn to Weld by Christena is a popular beginners book. Have fun!
I have run a Raspberry Pi Zero W with 5mp camera and MotionEye software outside for 3 Christmas seasons to control an animated display. I trigger on movement and capture still and video images to the SD card and automatically upload them over WiFi to my ftp server. I can monitor a live stream anytime too. MotionEye does everything.
This setup runs in a small waterproof enclosure and runs a bit warm (35-45C) that dissipates any condensation or rain on the fisheye lens. This might help you with snow accumulation.
This has been done in various forms! One interesting one is shown in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hv2zh_Z0Io Sergei Rachmaninoff recorded a 78 album simultaneously with a piano roll of several pieces - thus capturing the 'keystrokes' and the audio of intonation of the master's hand. The piano roll was converted to an automatic reproducing piano (super high end player piano, a Bosendorfer 290SE) and massaged by an expert to sound almost exactly like the 78. Then it was re-recorded in modern fidelity, playing back from the 290SE. It is exciting to see and hear a 290SE (re)play in person, but a little weird in a concert setting with no pianist to watch.
And the "USS Pandemonium" at Treasure Island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. A ship they built on land that they could apply radioactive contamination then teach sailors how to clean it up. Then dump it all out into the bay. Contaminated soil is still being discovered as recently as 2013 on Treasure Island where they have built housing. More here: https://www.businessinsider.com/radioactive-contamination-on...
I love the pacing note on the sheet music. "I Got It From Agnes" should be played "Infectiously".
The most jaw dropping but easily missed story I remember from that book:
"That was the case once, when we were all seated around the table in the middle of the lab, having lunch. I glanced up, and noticed that the contents of one flask was turning a little brown. "Who owns that one?" [...they hit the deck as it exploded]
Who eats lunch in a chemistry lab?
I just finished old reel-to-reel tape digitizing of family audio files going back to 1953. Luckily they were stored in a cool dry place. I had to cannibalize 2 players to get one working.