I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/03/steampunk_professor_xavier_wheelcha.html
INCREDIBLE PROJECT! SMEEON writes...
Finally got around to adding together some video clips I took. I had a lot of people asking about what it does and how, so here is a little walk through.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!
March 8 2010, 10:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/03/diy_cleanroom_on_a_budget.html
When Bill Morris from I Heart Robotics decided he wanted a cleanroom, he did what any self-respecting maker would do -- he built one from scratch. I asked him what you could use it for and he said:
...it would definitely make opening hard drives much safer. It could also be really useful for the diybio crowd. I need to use if for opening up laser scanners and cameras and avoid
contaminating the optics. I am also planning on using it for applying touch screen protectors without getting motes of dust caught between them and the screen.
First, he put together a budget lab bench/enclosure from heavy-duty MDF shelving.
March 8 2010, 3:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/02/pwm_line-voltage_interface_brighten.html
Latest GadgetFreak is up over at Design News...
Several of William Grill's designs have included pulse-width modulator (PWM) circuits that control LEDs. But what about the control of line-powered lamps and fixtures? You can find several commercial PWM controllers, but build one yourself, save money and learn how to implement a microcontroller-based design. This circuit is no flash in the pan.Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!
February 25 2010, 10:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/02/how-to_basic_work_table.html
Randy Sarafan made this work table geared towards making DIY projects and documenting them:
I set out to make a simple work table for my home studio so that I could have a surface upon which to work and document projects. I tried to keep the design as simple as possible as I only have a limited arsenal of power tools, a small vehicle for transporting materials and little patience for woodworking.More:
This design proved to be successful in accounting for all of these requirements.
February 25 2010, 10:13am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/02/diy_yurt_made_out_of_trash.html
Niki Raapana designed a DIY shelter called a Gertee.
Gertees are round houses made of sticks and poles tied together with zipties and covered with cloth or other materials. Each one is as unique as the owner who builds it.
All ger/yurts can be tailor made to fit any kind of budget. Many builders world-wide offer varieties of the yurt at prices ranging from 2 to 25K. My variations, based on the original Mongolian Ger design, expand the concept to include more people who don't have the 2K.
American made, high end yurts are so well constructed and modern they are getting HUD approval. In English towns residents are overturning municipal codes prohibiting odd looking tent homes. Yurts are a growing option for camping in National Parks and Wilderness areas. They also have an emerging fan base in the sustainable development-green community.
These may be perfect for creative people who want to try something new or they may be an optional shelter for homeless disaster victims in areas full of scrap lumber and salvageable materials. People from all backgrounds and income brackets can build these very comfortable little round home for themselves, and even the lowest end ones are very cute and sturdy.
Read the instructable to learn how to make your own. [via Beyond the Beyond]
More:
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!February 19 2010, 3:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/02/pen-shaking_centerfuge.html
Matthias Wandel made this rather tongue-in-cheek invention to help him shake pens.
Using my gear template generator program, I was able to establish that a three-tooth lantern against a mating cycloid shaped gear should just barely work smoothly. I wanted a high gear ratio for my pen centrifuge, so this was a good place to a gear with such a small number of teeth.
I wasn't completely sure how well it would work, so I made a test gear. Not wanting to waste too much plywood, I only made a segment of a larger gear. The little gear has three "pins", which are actually small 3/8" (10 mm) ball bearings. There's no rubbing on this gear!
Thanks, Gabriel!
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!February 13 2010, 7:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/02/chumbychimp_and_po.html
Back when I got my Chumby Guts kit a few months ago, I imagined that it would be pretty funny to set up it up Teletubby style with the screen in the belly of a plushie. At the time, I didn't have a suitable doll to sacrifice at the alter of maker fun, but like Kent Barnes, I did have the box it came in. I like the alarm clock features, and enjoy being chirped awake. Eventually, though, the box kind of wore out, and my Chumby Guts lay loose on the night table.
Sunsue heard my call for a sacrificial Teletubby and found me a Po doll. When I saw it, I realized that this one would not work, since it is smaller than the ones my daughter used to have. It does have an interesting voice box, so that will come in handy some other day. A bit later, I fell upon a Build A Bear monkey at the Duxbury Mall. In his first invasive surgery, I found the heart, bar code and a monkey voice box with a dead battery. After swapping out the dead battery, I hid the voice box in my daughter's school bag, where it occasionally went off (ooh ooh aaah aah) as she bumped the bag. It now sits atop her social studies teacher's desk as a warning signal for those about to get a detention.
The monkey looked like he was on a starvation diet for a couple of weeks, as his stuffing sat in a bag in the cave as waited for the right moment to do the next operation. Eventually I got tired of loose ChumGutz on the night table and got together with my neighbor, Robin. She's pretty crafty and I figured would have some good techniques for the project. We went over and got to it. A few snips in the belly and monkey boy had gastric bypass of a kind. We hot melt glued the screen in place. Then I removed the speakers from the plastic holder and fit the circuit board inside the body behind the screen. I thought that I would have the switch loose, but left it attached over the power input and usb connectors. We re-stuffed him and he became ChumbyChimp. He is pretty happy to hang out with Po, and even gets to spend a little time with Creepy Baby.
This is the third iteration for my Chumby Guts, and I suppose that it will be a somewhat transitional situation. It would be useful to sew an old PDA stylus into his hand. That way it will always be easy to make accurate selections on the screen. I would like to put in some iMac ball speakers left over from the 50 iMacs project into the body instead of the nice little box speakers it came with. It would also be neat to add a switch to the hand with either a tactile switch or some conductive thread. I would definitely like to explore battery power, if only to add a bit of portability between locations in the house. The kitchen counter is a decent location, and with the right widgets ChumbyChimp really adds to the room.
More
February 6 2010, 3:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/01/custom_pcb_prototyping_using_a_lase.html
I am going to walk you through the process of prototyping a Printed Circuit Board using a laser cutter and supplies from your local Radioshack and hardware store. This is a process I have perfected after several prototypes...Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!
January 31 2010, 5:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/01/automatic_chicken_coop_door_opener.html
Australian maker Mark Stead recently got some chickens and found out the hard way that they're early risers. In order to accommodate his new avian friends sleeping habits (and reduce the impact to his) he decided to build an automatic door opener using an inexpensive battery operated alarm clock. [Thanks, Frank!]
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!January 20 2010, 6:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/01/glow-in-the-dark_sketch_wall_and_le.html
There is serious fun to be had with this project from Paulbo of FangleTronics. He shows how he created an awesome glow-in-the-dark wall on which kids (and adults, of course) can write and draw with LED pens. [via Filth Wizardry]
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!January 16 2010, 7:35pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/01/altces_more_repair-friendly_gadgets.html
The remote control for one of our ceiling fans just started acting up. It turned out that some of the switches had gone bad. I was thrilled to see a nice assortment of through-hole parts when I took it apart. In fact, just a couple weeks ago, SparkFun listed those push buttons as their top-selling item. 
Thanks to simple, easy-to-find components, this was a quick fix vs. a throwaway + replacement. (The pareidolia is a nice bonus!)
Found any gadgets that were refreshingly easy to repair? Post your pictures in the Make Flickr Pool!
Repair-friendly celing fan remote on flickr
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!January 10 2010, 3:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/01/mpg_boosting_tail_cone.html
Darin is doing some amazing work to upgrade and test the aerodynamic improvements to his Pontiac Firefly, which was sold in the US as the Geo Metro. These cars were often sneered at for rolling off the assembly line with a tiny 3 cylinder engine. They didn't sport much power, but they also went an incredibly long distance on a gallon of gas. Excellent data and documentation of the mods is available at MetroMPG, and on EcoModder.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!January 1 2010, 3:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/12/what_was_your_favorite_make_online.html
We started doing weekly Make: Projects this year, full-blown how-tos, a la the feature projects in every issue of MAKE magazine. Most of these online projects were done by Sean Ragan and we think he did an amazing job. It's cool to look over the list and see all the ground we covered.
Please vote for your faves, and tell us in comments if you did any of the projects and how that worked out. And feel free to suggest ideas for next year.
You can always see all of the projects under the Projects tab above, or by clicking here.
What was your favorite online Make: Project 2009?(polls)
More:
Favorite MAKE video series for 2009
Best projects of 2009, MAKE magazine
December 31 2009, 4:30pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/12/how-to_using_an_accelerometer_with.html
Evil Mad Scientist Labs posted a thorough update to their accelerometer tutorial using ADXL335 breakout board, ATMega168 chip, and LEDs as indicators -
The big idea is that when there is no acceleration in (say) the X-axis direction, both X-axis LEDs are off. When it detects acceleration one way, the red LED lights up (and brighter, the higher the acceleration is) and it lights up blue for acceleration in the opposite direction. (Naturally, the other two axes work the same way.)The full step-by-step + source code can be found on EMSL's site.
Related:
Using an ADXL330 accelerometer with an AVR microcontroller
Arduino & XBee wireless accelerometer
December 30 2009, 9:15am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/12/laser-cut_connect_four_game_looks_m.html
From the MAKE Flickr pool
Mark Demers shows off the latest from Spikenzie Labs, Four in a line - a laser-cut Connect Four style game which looks a heckuva lot slicker than its retail counterpart.
I've always been a last minute Christmas shopper and it has usually worked out. This year I had a request to get a Connect Four game, but I couldn't find it in stock anywhere. So I decided to make my own version of it.The project's design files can be found over at Thingiverse
After working like one of Santa's Elfs for a few hours (minus the green tights) I had beautiful Connect Four style game.
December 30 2009, 8:30am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/12/hand-held_bat_signal.html
Spotted in the MAKE Flickr Pool, this hand-held bat signal based, in part, on the Alien Projector from MAKE Volume 16. From Flickr user Oceaneer99.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!December 19 2009, 2:42pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/12/how-to_mount_a_video_camera_in_a_mo.html
James Yawn's site Recrystallized Rocketry has lots of great information about DIY rocketry, including this great tutorial about mounting a video camera. This hot pink rocket is called the "sugar rush," because it is powered by Yawn's homemade potassium nitrate/sugar rocket fuel. [Thanks, Kenneth!]
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!December 6 2009, 9:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/working_handcuff_made_with_makerbot.html
From the MAKE Flickr pool
Flickr member Giant Eye created a handcuff mechanism with his Makerbot Cupcake CNC -
3d printers are incredibly boss, cool, fantastic, and other words that mean they make me tingle. I designed these handcuffs (okay I've only printed one out at the moment) using only fdm printable parts.Nice work! Check out the project plans on Thingiverse.
Related:
Working printed handcuff key
&
CupCake CNC build, part 1, part 2, part 3, & part 4
November 24 2009, 9:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/diy_accelerometer_controlled_usb_ga.html
Check out this homebrew accelerometer controlled USB gamepad using a PIC18F2550 from Starlino. You'll find code and schematics on their site.
The code for the firmware was written in PicBasic Pro and it implements a HID USB device with 2 axes and 4 buttons (only 2 buttons connected in the prototype). The device is detected by Windows XP/Vista as a standard USB gamepad and can be used with many games and applications.I am using a 2 Axes Buffered ±2g Accelerometer from DIMENSION ENGINEERING, it has a built in voltage regulator that allows powering the accelerometer directly from the USB bus (5V)
November 20 2009, 6:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/pdfs_of_make_magazine_projects_and.html
Did you know that we offer PDFs of some of the popular projects and primers that have appeared in MAKE magazine? You can always subscribe to the Digital Edition of MAKE or buy a single back issue with the project you're interested in, or you can just download the specific PDF you're looking for. Each download is $1.99.
Here's a list of all the PDFs we currently offer:
The Night Lighter 36 Spud Gun: (Volume 03, page 108)
The Brain Machine: (Volume 10, page 88)
Cigar Box Guitar: (Volume 04, page 77)
Compressed Air Rocket: (Volume 15, page 102)
Wind Power Generator: (Volume 05, page 90)
Kitchen Floor Vacuum Former: (Volume 11, page 106)
Primer: Working With Carbon Fiber: (Volume 09, page 164)
Primer: Printed Circuit Boards: (Volume 02, page 164)
Primer: Welding (Volume 03, page 158)
Primer: Moldmaking (Volume 08, page 160)
November 16 2009, 8:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/chumby_in_a_box.html
Kent was impatient at having his Chumby Guts laying loose on the table, so he took to the box that it came in. This is a good way to see what the casing process entails and considering what it will ultimately need before committing to a proper case. Think of it as a Chumby case sketch model. Some of the other possibilities we've heard are cigar box Chumby and Teletubby embedding (called either TeleChumby or ChumbyTubby). MAKE Flickr pool member Pauric posted a set of photos showing how he gutted his first gen Chumby and installed it in a nice wooden case.
How are your Chumby Guts doing? Post up some Chumby photos in the MAKE Flickr pool, and send us some tips in the comments.
More:
In the Maker Shed:
November 14 2009, 1:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/diy_water_purifier.html
Mark @ BoingBoing points us to this homemade water purifier build by a retired Russian engineer.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!November 13 2009, 6:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/the_eyewriter.html
I'm thrilled to share the EyeWriter with you all:
Behold the latest ocular assault weapon from the Graffiti Research Lab, openFrameworks, The Fat Lab and The Ebeling Group: The EyeWriter. It is a low-cost eye-tracking apparatus + custom software that allows graffiti writers and artists with paralysis resulting from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to draw using only their eyes.
The goal of the hardware component of the EyeWriter project is to make the most simple and inexpensive eye-tracking head-set possible to use with the "EyeWriter" software suite. Obviously, there are numerous ways to make eye-tracking hardware. Many of these designs, especially those produced for academic research projects (Open Eyes ), have already been published openly on the internet.
Our functional design specifications are as follows:
1. The EyeWriter should be as inexpensive as possible
2. The fabrication and assembly of the system should require only common hand tools
3. Whenever possible components and parts should be available for purchase locally versus online
4. The camera should produce 640 x 480 NTSC video
5. The camera should be sensitive to near-field IR light
6. The camera should not auto-iris (or auto-iris should be disabled in the camera's driver).
7. IR LEDs should be used to illuminate the pupilBeyond that its up to you... this instruction set details a solderless variation of the EyeWriter that uses a hacked PS3 Eye and a pair of stunnas we bought on Venice Beach and suggests other possible EyeWriter configurations.
Yes, that's right, watch TemptOne tag buildings (with light) even though he can only move his eyes. We live in the future, and this project makes me feel so warm inside. The whole project is open source.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!November 13 2009, 1:06pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/childrens_toy_inspires_a_cheap_easy.html
A children’s toy inspires a cheap, easy production method for high-tech diagnostic chips (Michelle Khine tR35 winner)... Microfluidic chips cost more than $100,000 -
Racking her brain for a quick-and-dirty way to make microfluidic devices, Khine remembered her favorite childhood toy: Shrinky Dinks, large sheets of thin plastic that can be colored with paint or ink and then shrunk in a hot oven. "I thought if I could print out the [designs] at a certain resolution and then make them shrink, I could make channels the right size for microÂfluidics," she says.Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!
To test her idea, she whipped up a channel design in AutoCAD, printed it out on Shrinky Dink material using a laser printer, and stuck the result in a toaster oven. As the plastic shrank, the ink particles on its surface clumped together, forming tiny ridges. That was exactly the effect Khine wanted. When she poured a flexible polymer known as PDMS onto the surface of the cooled Shrinky Dink, the ink ridges created tiny channels in the surface of the polymer as it hardened. She pulled the PDMS away from the Shrinky Dink mold, and voilà : a finished microfluidic device that cost less than a fast-food meal.
Khine began using the chips in her experiments, but she didn't view her toaster-oven hack as a breakthrough right away. "I thought it would be something to hold me over until we got the proper equipment in place," she says. But when she published a short paper about her technique, she was floored by the response she got from scientists all over the world. "I had no idea people were going to be so interested," Khine says.
November 12 2009, 10:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/charcoal_foundry_build_at_chicago_h.html
Tim Saylor recently wrote in to me about the Gingery-style charcoal foundry he built for Chicago's hackerspace Pumping Station: One. There's a write-up here and a good Flickr set showing construction and use of the furnace to melt aluminum here, including some really pretty shots of the fire and sparks at night. [Thanks, Tim!]
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!November 11 2009, 10:47am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/the_chumby_has_landed.html
Yesterday afternoon I arrived home to see a box on the doorstep. The return address was from the Maker Shed. That could only mean one thing: The Chumby has landed!
My daughter had to draw first blood on the package. We cracked the box and checked out the stuff inside. After going to the hypnotist show to benefit the school drama department and doing strange things on stage, I felt refreshed and motivated to assemble and play with Chumby guts until long past my bedtime.
I didn't take any photos, in large part because of the very helpful images already taken and posted to the MAKE Flickr Pool.
Build instructions are on one double sided sheet of paper. I missed it the first few times I looked through the box because I thought I would find a booklet. There is a link to the instructions pdf on the Chumby guts page in the Maker Shed. The directions are pretty good, but leave a bit to be desired. I found the photos by MAKE Flickr Pool members MTBFO and ewee to be essential. Early in the build, I was wondering which of two sets of small screws to use, and found that the silver ones were likely the ones by checking a photo. I also found the notes on many of ewee's pictures to be really useful.
So now there is a new tooltoy in the arsenal. This should be fun, and already the big question is "How do you case this thing?" Kent Barnes has extended the chumbilical cord that connects the mother and daughter boards and seems ready to move things around. John Park has a nifty laser-cut case. The box that it came in is sized about right for a first enclosure. The next case will probably be a cigar box, which is very alluring lately. You can clothe your naked Chumby guts by following these instructions.
As soon as it was plugged in, the disembodied Chumby woke up, started talking and showed a tour of the basic functions. Within a few minutes, it had upgraded the firmware and brought me to the website to register it. Finding the household wireless was a snap. Over on the Chumby wiki, you can find resources on hardware, software, and more.
In all, this has already been a fun project with few pitfalls. The next steps of customizing the case and configuring the software are exciting prospects at this point. Now that she's awake, my daughter is curious about how each of the widgets work. This will be a fun thing to have.
Have you got a some Chumby guts waiting to be animated? If you've already built yours, please weigh in with your tips and tricks by adding a comment or two. If you have a glamour shot to share or process set of pics, post them over to the MAKE Flickr pool.
In the Maker Shed:
November 7 2009, 8:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/play_kitchen_made_from_shelving_par.html
I really like this homemade play kitchen build from dollar store shelving parts. It cost less than $20 and breaks down for storage. The felt fried eggs look delicious.
[Thanks, Luckymomma!]
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!October 27 2009, 8:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/diy_midi_footpedal_and_more.html
MAKE subscriber thom writes in to tell us about Marc Fischer's ambitious project to do something creative every day, for a year, and document it. One of his latest projects is a DIY MIDI footpedal, made from a pocket-sized MIDI keyboard and some blocks of wood. I would not have considered doing this, but it looks like it came out really nice. He doesn't mention it in his write-up, but an interesting side effect of re-purposing the keyboard in this manner is that the foot pedals will be velocity sensitive, opening up some new possibilities for control.
This is just one of his excellent projects, he has also made drone boxes, a music box, a felt monome case, a light speaker, and lots of wonderful photographs.
Back in 2008, I participated in the Thing-A-Day project, which is a similar idea but only lasts for a single month. I nearly drove myself crazy trying to make an electronics/physical computing project every day, but it was definitely a great way to force myself to actually work on things. I would recommend a project like this to anyone who just needs that extra bit of motivation to actually start getting things done. Good luck on finishing the year strong, Marc!
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!October 24 2009, 4:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/big_orange_boombox_from_surplus_sal.html
Sam built a distinctly funky street stereo with a construction sign front panel and speakers rescued from the trash - nice aesthetic! The box makes use of a basic car stereo at the core - apparently even cheap ones come with USB and line-in nowadays. (finally!)
Related:
Turbo II, Junkyard Boogaloo - amazing boombox!
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!October 15 2009, 6:30am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/how-to_diy_ladderball.html
I recently had the pleasure of playing a family game of ladderball (aka bolo toss, ladder golf) using some basic homebrew hardware, and can say firsthand - it's fun! For those unfamiliar with the backyard sport: players throw golfball/nylon-rope bolos in attempt to hang them on a simple PVC ladder structure. It's a surprisingly enjoyable "Ooh! So close!" type game in the vein of horsehoes/etc, and looks to be a straightforward build. Check out the related instructable for steps on making your own.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!October 13 2009, 6:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/tool_smackdown_pocket_multimeters.html
Nice round up from Mikey @ Popular Science. He writes...
On any given day you can find a miniature multimeter in my pocket. These devices are the equivalent of a Leatherman for electronic enthusiasts. (The Leatherman would be in my other pocket.) Most of the time, I want to check the voltage of a deep-cycle battery in my electric-vehicle or troubleshoot a problem with a solar photovoltaic system. But multimeters do things like current measuring, resistance and continuity, which make them handy for solving problems ranging from home wiring to electronics repair. (For more on what do do with one, check out Ladyada's multimeter tutorial on adafruit.com). I've used a number of "portable" units over the years, and while many are anything but, one jumps out as my solid favorite. Here's my take on a few popular units.Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!
October 8 2009, 11:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/led_dog_collar_with_keyboard_keys.html
With the days getting darker earlier, I've been on the search for collar visibility options for my canine companion. Instructables user sheepishlion posted a clever DIY for making an LED dog collar with the extra bling of old keyboard keys. They used the keys to spell out the dog's name, along with the "return" and "help" keys, and they also suggest using your phone number as an alternate safety feature. An Altoids tin and 9V battery were used for the power supply, which could be a bit big for a little dog, though my 65-pound Samoyed mix should be fine with it (and I'm certain she'll appreciate the geek cred as much as I do).
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!October 8 2009, 9:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/how-to_build_a_temporary_wood-fired.html
Most wood-fired pizza ovens I've seen are built to last. The folks over at Machine Project built this temporary oven for a recent event and self proclaimed pizza fanatic Mike Senese of Catch It Keep It fame was kind enough to document its construction. [Thanks, Max!]
I attended a fantastic pizza making event at Machine Project (instructor: Michael O'Malley) that included the construction and firing of a DIY temporary brick pizza oven - the ultimate in pizza cooking. Hugely educational and inspiring, even for a committed pizza fanatic such as myself. The oven, built, fired up, and torn down over the course of an afternoon, worked amazingly well - I cooked the best pizza I've ever made, by far.
More:
October 8 2009, 7:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/how_to_make_a_slip_ring_connection.html
I'm working on a new project and I need an electrical connection that can rotate 360 degrees. I could purchase a slip ring, rotating electrical connector, or better yet a rotary transformer. Then again, I could just try to make one from a DC motor. Do you have any suggestions for making, or *gasp* buying, a slip ring connectors? If so leave them in the comments. Thanks!
In the Maker Shed:
MiniPOV kit
October 7 2009, 5:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/simple_outboard_motor_powered_by_a.html
This video from instructables shows a really simple way to make an outboard motor from a cordless drill. The drive shaft is a 10 mm wire rod that is attached to a right angle drill-head with a 3-blade propeller. You can extend the run time of this DIY outboard by adding an external battery. It would be really cool to add a solar panel on the dock that charges the battery when not in use.
In the Maker Shed:
Makers is a beautiful hardbound book celebrating DIY inspiration and the people behind the projects. Makers introduces you to a brigade of citizen engineers making their own cameras, clocks, airplanes, submarines, musical instruments, weapons, medical equipment, energy- saving devices, robots, and houses. They create their own tools to explore the outer atmosphere, the deep sea, and the behavior of tiny flies in their backyard.
October 6 2009, 4:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/chutney_jar_pcb_etch.html
I had two circuit boards nagging me to be etched this morning. Without a photo developing tray, it seemed some modifications in technique were in order. Into the recycling bin I went looking for a smallish, wide mouthed glass jar. Yesterday's sandwich polished off a tasty mango chutney, and the jar was just about right. A little bit of cleaning, and it was ready for business.
The leftover etchant from yesterday's vinyl pcb resist adventure was in a plastic bottle and still had some potency left to it. The tea water was hot on the stove, so it was ready to provide some double boiler action. I poured some hot water into a steel pan, put the ferric chloride into the jar in the pan and dropped in the first board.
With a jar, you can tighten the lid and do more vigorous agitation than in a tray. Between the shaking and the heat, the process is quite a bit faster than when using a room temp bath and a pan. I forgot to check the time, but it was definitely quicker than yesterday. After the first of today's boards was cleared, I dropped in the second at 10 minutes to 11. This one I agitated even more than the first one, and it was easily done by 11. When it was clear, I rinsed off the boards and headed to the soldering iron.
After wiping down the boards with acetone to remove the adhesive from the vinyl sticker, I tinned the traces to get them ready for the chip, which will be soldered onto the PCB smd style.
This technique would be a lot simpler and safer to use with students in your maker classroom than agitating in open trays. Since the chemicals are sealed away inside the jar, there will be much less of a chance of spillage or splashing. Check out the PCB etching article in MAKE, Volume 02 for more ideas and techniques.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!October 3 2009, 7:00pm | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/vinyl_cut_pcb_resist.html
Recently, we are working in class on a variation of the Rock and Roll Speakers from Fashioning Technology. Rather than using perfboard for the circuit, we'll be burning our own circuit board. The chips are through-hole LM386's, but I don't think it is realistic to have the students drill 8 aligned holes on the circuit board at this point in the course. Jockeying for time on the drill press would create a logjam in the project. There is an excellent primer on printed circuit board etching in MAKE, Volume 02. After thinking this through a bit, I came up with an idea to turn the through-hole component into a smd component. The technique is a bit like the design of the Broadcast Your Podcast FM transmitter circuit, which just has you solder the components together in pools of solder on chips of board. However, in the BYP project, there is no custom board, the blank copper clad board is cut with a utility knife to create the various connecting points.
When the chips finally arrived from Electronic Goldmine, I looked up the datasheet for the LM386 to get the measurements. In Open Office Draw, I drew out a design that would match up with the pins. With the help of Pat, who is doing an independent study on CNC tools this year, I sent the file to the machine with the vinyl cutter. He cut the file, then we weeded it to see if it matched the chip. The file matched the pin locations of the chip, so we made a few more iterations to get the process down and the layout right. When we got it right, we cut three copies of the file for boardmaking.
October 3 2009, 11:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/build_an_experimental_echo_pedal.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
The heart of this circuit is the PT2399 echo IC. View the data sheet here. They can be found pretty cheaply from various distributors.
The fun starts when you push the IC beyond it's intended parameters. Drastically lowering the pitch uncovers digital noise and strange blipping effects. I've also included a fun audio feedback feature which can be used to create intense distortion as well as interesting octave and pitch tracking effects.
More:
Collin's Lab: Guitar pedal modding with Arduino
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!October 1 2009, 8:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/bokode_at_home.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
Fascinated by MIT's Bokode data tag system, maker Matthew Borgatti decided to recreate the effect at home using easy to find materials.
Bokode is a method MIT developed for tucking information (such as barcodes, images, etc. in microprint) into a tiny but easily visible package. It leverages the bokeh effect to show off the information on the microprint to anyone pointing a camera at the Bokode unit and defocussing. If you've ever taken a photo with a distant city in the background and noticed the city lights turning into little circular blobs when out of focus you've seen the bokeh effect.
If you'd like to follow along at home, Matthew's site has the diagrams, laser cutter templates, sample patterns, and practical advice you'll need to get started experimenting with your very own Bokode-like system.
[gracias, Matthew!]
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!October 1 2009, 7:00am | More »
I posted to blog.makezine.com
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/09/diy_simple_logic_probe.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
They aren't a lot of bells & whistles on this DIY logic probe, but it's still useful. It looks like you could make this simple probe for just a couple of bucks. You might even have all the components hiding in a parts bin somewhere.
In the Maker Shed:
DIY Design Electronics Kit
September 29 2009, 4:00am | More »
