Volume 11: Alt Vehicles

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MAKE 11: Alt Vehicles

Our special "DIY Wheels" section brings you plans for making a mobile drive-in movie theater, a cool chopper out of an old bicycle, and a pedal-powered iPod charger. We'll also show you how to make a remote control bird feeder to take amazing photos of birds, a vintage-style remote control race car out of sheet metal, and a vacuum former that lets you create molded 3D parts out of plastic. These articles are just the tip of the iceberg in this project-packed volume of MAKE.

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Made on Earth

» Global Bus by Megan Mansell Williams

Sphere artist Lars Fisk rolls his own Volkswagen bus. Page 16

» Super Stick by Annie Buckley

Jason Torchinsky builds a 5-foot-tall retro Atari joystick that works. Page 18

» Fire-Cooled Brew by Keith Hammond

New Zealander Simon Jansen (of Star Wars ASCIImation fame) fires up an absurd, jet engine-powered beer cooler. Page 19

» The Old-Fashioned Future by Megan Mansell Williams

Stephane Halleux's sculptures mix advanced technology with antiquated mechanisms. Page 20

» Games That Games Play by David Pescovitz

New York artist Paul Johnson networks custom video games that play each other. Page 21

» Grand Master Video by Steve Nalepa

Gardner Post's Baby Grand Master is the "king of video instruments." Page 22

» Hungry Bots Must Eat by Megan Mansell Williams

Ohio professor Ken Rinaldo's robots sense hunger, find and feed on electrical power, then tell the others where to find it. Page 23

1+2+3

» Ten-Second Stomp Rocket by Emma Wagstaff

Make a juice-bag-powered rocket in less time than it takes to drink it. Page 46

» Easy Motor by Cy Tymony

Make a spinning motor with a minimum of parts. Page 126

Maker

» Spirits Guy by Benjamin Tice Smith

How Lance Winters went from basement moonshiner to celebrity vodka distiller. Page 86

Welcome

» Maker Faire Is Too Much by Gareth Branwyn

Author Gareth Branwyn welcomes you to MAKE Volume 11: Alternative Vehicles. Page 10

Make Free

» Attack, Defend by Cory Doctorow

Nearly ten years after the invention of Napster, there's more file sharing than ever. Page 15

Hands On

» Router Aesthetics by Bruce Sterling

Now that "digital carpentry" has come to exist, how do you make it authentic? Page 24

» Hammer Time by Kirsten Anderson

Making the antiques of the future at Black Dog Forge. Page 26

» Big Blowhards by William Gurstelle

Who will be the first to make a machine that propels a pumpkin more than a mile? Page 30

» The Maker State by William Gurstelle

Safe working practices give you the freedom to attempt projects on the edge. Page 34

» Drawbot Love by Bre Pettis

How a bunch of us made our own drawing robot. Page 36

Heirloom Technology

» Cooking With Trash by Tim Anderson

The Chinese make fuel briquettes from coal dust, farm waste, scrap wood, and a bit of local red dirt. Page 38

Proto

» Power Tripping by David Pescovitz

High-voltage engineer Greg Leyh builds the largest Tesla coils in the world. Page 40 Download Sample PDF of this article .

Making Trouble

» Long Live the Bicycle by Saul Griffith

Everything I know I learned from two wheels and a frame. Page 44

» Mister Jalopy's Urban Guerrilla Movie House by Mister Jalopy

Your own DIY drive-in. Page 48

» The Little Cart That Couldn't by Charles Platt

Wind-powered vehicle claims look like hot air. Page 58

» Swiveling Balcony Hoist by Matthew Russell

Take the sting out of a walk-up apartment by installing your own lifter. Page 64

» Rolling Solar by Ben Shedd

Turning a junker into a sun-charged electric vehicle. Page 67

» Granny's Nightmare Chopper Bike by Brad Graham

Chop an old ladies' bicycle into something evil. Page 68

» Swing and Wrong-Way Bikes by Paul Spinrad

Trick cycles from Cyclecide. Page 73 Download Sample PDF of this article .

» U-G-L-Y Your Bike by Rick Polito

To deter thieves, camouflage your bicycle as a piece of crap while keeping it a first-class ride. Page 74

» Rock the Bike by Paul Spinrad

Social biking with Fossil Fool and the Juice Pedaler. Page 77

» Bicycle iPod Charger by Mark Hoekstra

A sidewall dynamo powers both lights and tuneage. Page 80

» Stokemonkey Makes It Easier by Rick Polito

An electric motor linked to existing bicycle gears turns any bike into a sell-your-car-already vehicle. Page 82

» The Year People Learned to Fly by Ben Shedd

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the flight of Paul MacCready's Gossamer Condor. Page 84

Personal Fab

» Personal Fab by Tom Owad

A CNC milling machine for less than a grand. Page 92

» Retro R/C Racer by Frank E. Yost

Using scrap sheet metal and pop rivets, you can construct a model 1930s British Midget racer with modern radio control capabilities. Page 94

» Kitchen Floor Vacuum Former by Bob Knetzger

Mold light, durable, and cool-looking 3D parts in your kitchen. Page 106 Download Sample PDF of this article (excerpt) .

» Spin The Birdie by Larry Cotton

Get awesome avian photos by moving your camera closer to the birds -- and rotating them for the perfect pose. Page 116

DIY: Circuits

» Breadboard Rack by Tom Zimmerman

A simple way to interconnect protoboards. Page 127

» Big Kid Night Light by Dan Weiss

Dollar-store hack makes a color-changing mood light. Page 131

» Net Data Meter by Tom Igoe

Antique voltmeter displays current air quality from the web. Page 133

DIY: Science

» Fetch the Weather with the MAKE Controller by Brian Jepson

This easy starter project displays your local forecast. Page 138 Download Sample PDF of this article .

DIY: Home

» Ball of Sound by Michael F. Zbyszynski

Construct a low-cost spherical speaker array. Page 141

» Free VoIP by Dave Mathews

Got broadband? Add phone service for $0/month. Page 145

» Plush Irradiated Sirloin by Becky Stern

Microcontroller night light illuminates meaty issues. Page 149

DIY: Workshop

» On Batteries by Limor Fried

How to decide which batteries will run your project best. Page 151

DIY: Outdoors

» Electronic Crickets by Michael F. Zbyszynski

Create a nighttime chorus by modifying solar yard lamps. Page 154

Citizen Science

» DIY ECGs by Dr. Shawn Carlson

Track your ticker with a homemade electrocardiogram machine. Page 157

Howtoons

» Wheel of Life by Nick Dragotta, Joost Bonsen, Saul Griffith

Make a Wheel of Life. Page 160

MakeShift

» Hot Electrical Problem by Lee D. Zlotoff

The creator of MacGyver challenges you to stop an electrical fire from raging. Page 162

Skill Builder

» Purely Platonic by Charles Platt

Have fun with classic Platonic geometry while building your own dodecahedron table lamp. Page 164

Toys, Tricks, and Teasers

» Toys, Tricks, and Teasers by Donald E. Simanek

Friction. There's the rub. Page 169

Blast from the Past

» Blast from the Past by Mister Jalopy

Mr. Jalopy's adaptation of the Orange Crate Racer project from the 1949 classic Make It and Ride It. Page 172

Toolbox

» Toolbox

The best tools, software, publications, and websites. Plus: Favorite Things as chosen by the bike-crazed editors of Momentum magazine. Page 174

Aha!

» MAKE's favorite puzzles. by Michael H. Pryor

MAKE's favorite puzzles. Page 181

Retrospect

» Retrospect by George Dyson

The 1977 Gulf of Alaska baidarka expedition. Page 182

» Tips and Tricks by Arwen O'Reilly Griffith

Bare necessities: steam-scrambled eggs, cheapo light tent, rent freedom, and six-pack security. Page 185

Maker's Calendar

» Maker's Calendar by William Gurstelle

Our favorite events from around the world, August - November. Page 190

Homebrew

» Homebrew by Greg McCarroll

Greg McCarroll's web-networked, train-schedule alarm clock. Page 192

Reader Input

» Reader Input

Letters from our readers offering praise, brickbats, and swell ideas. We Make Amends here, too. Page 195