Make:

Table of Contents

Welcome: ReMake America by Dale Dougherty in Welcome
Makers are the best hope for the future. Page 1

Reader Input in Reader Input
Tales of Senft Stirling engines, Einstein’s Riddle, and the joys of generalism. Page 12

Makers Market by Dan Woods in Maker's Corner
A new market for makers to sell their products. Page 15

Open Government by Cory Doctorow in Make Free
There's never a good reason for the government to keep its everyday workings a secret from the people who own it: the citizenry. Page 17

From Garbage to Gallery by Annie Buckley in Made on Earth
Artist David King's four-month residency at the San Francisco city dump. Page 18

On the Right Trac by Abe Connally in Made on Earth
Marcin Jakubowski and the team at Open Source Ecology (OSE) designed an open source tractor, called LifeTrac. Page 20

Big Balsa by Steven Shaw in Made on Earth
New Zealand artist Christian Nicolson's full-sized fighter plane based on the old balsa models. Page 21

Trailer (Re)Made by Laura Kiniry

 in Made on Earth
Paul Villinski's Emergency Response Studio, a FEMA-style trailer transformed into a fully functional, sustainably built mobile artist studio. Page 22

Wood-Grained Visions by Annie Buckley in Made on Earth
Artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor's familiar scenes rendered in unexpected ways using wood inlay. Page 23

¡Luchadora Libre! by Annie Buckley in Made on Earth
Artist Sophia Allison's imaginatively feminine wrestling attire. Page 24

Solar Asphalt Gondolier by Keith Hammond in Made on Earth
Reno Tondelli, Jr. built the world's first recumbent hybrid taxi. Page 25

Spending Carbon Wisely by Saul Griffith in Making Trouble
5,000 days? CO2 targets and how much fossil fuel we can burn. Page 26

Landscapes of Possibility by Bruce Sterling in Hands On
Making and using the futurescape. Page 28

Living the Good Life by Matthew Bachler in Maker
Helen and Scott Nearing left New York City in 1932 to create a "self-sufficient household economy" on a 65-acre farm in a Vermont village. Page 30

Plankton Evangelist by Charles Platt in Maker
Could a tanker full of iron dust solve climate change? The eccentric, seafaring saga of Russ George. Page 32

What’s in Your Garage? by Dale Dougherty in Maker
We see solutions to big problems coming from innovative makers working in their basements, garages, and workshops. Page 36

Tool Library by Dale Dougherty in Maker
Dustin Zuckerman is putting his tools into circulation. Page 38

Building a CNC Mill by Tom Owad in Personal Fab
Make things with a mill that you make. Page 40

Image Analysis by Forrest Mims III in Country Scientist
Easily analyze scientific images. Page 42

The Modern Homestead: A Bird's-Eye View
ReMaking America begins at home. Tame your energy bills, reduce your inputs, and turn your lawn into food. Page 46

Home Energy Dashboards by Bob Parks
New ways to see your power usage in real time. Page 48

Power Down with DMAIC by Tom Anderson
Reduce your electricity bill with the engineer's favorite problem-solving method. Page 52

Build a Heat Exchanger by Charles Platt
Fresh air without the energy loss. Page 56

Off-Grid Laundry Machine by Michael Perdriel
This think-small washer needs no electricity or running water. Page 60

Making the Energy Garden by Julian Darley, Celine Rich Darley
Food + biofuels: an 18-month experiment in self-sufficiency. Page 68

Kitchen Garden Quantitative Analysis by Esperanza Pallana
Take food independence to the max. Page 71

Drip Irrigation by Erik Knutzen
Grow healthy vegetables the automatic way, while using less water. Page 72

Vermicomposting: Make Your Own Worm Bin by Celine Rich Darley
Let hungry, squirmy wigglers take out the household trash. Page 78

Humanure for the City Dweller by Nance Klehm
Embrace your body as a soil-maker. Page 82

Solar-Heated Water by Dan Bassak
How one couple proved the skeptics wrong. Page 84

Sustainability Roundup
DIY energy, vehicle, home, and garden projects from previous volumes of MAKE. Page 87

The Garduino Garden Controller by Luke Iseman
Geeked-out gardening: use a microcontroller and simple sensors to give plants exactly the water and light they need. Page 90

LED Light Brick by Alden Hart
The Little Glowing Friend uses a single-chip microcontroller to drive 20 LEDs in a variety of patterns. Page 102

Tweet-a-Watt Power Monitor by Limor Fried, Phillip Torrone
Build a wireless electricity monitor for about $50, and twitter your kilowatts. Page 112

One-Ton Linear Servo by Windell Oskay in DIY: Workshop
Mod an electric jack to do your bidding. Page 123

$30 Micro Forge by Len Cullum in DIY: Workshop
Make your own nails and other small iron parts. Page 127

Barrel Water Collector by Chris Barnes, Michri Barnes in DIY: Outdoors
Make wine into water (sort of). Page 130

Rainwater Toilet Flush by Eric Muhs in DIY: Home
Save your tap water and let the rain in. Page 133

Solar Hybrid Hot Tub by Eric Muhs in DIY: Home
A free and easy thermal assist from the sun. Page 135

Bike Repair Stand by Shaun Wilson in DIY: Home
A cycle support from the plumbing aisle. Page 137

Hogwash by Tim King in DIY: Home
How to make bacon soap, from actual bacon! Page 139

The Two Person Shovel by Josie Moores in 123
Double up to get those big digging projects done without a single backache or blister. Page 141

Lay of the Land by Terrie Miller in Primer
Mapping your lot is the first step in designing a homestead. Page 142

Energy Independence by Nick Dragotta, Saul Griffith in Howtoons
Experimental biogas. Page 150

MakeShift: To the Bat Cave! by Lee D. Zlotoff in MakeShift
The creator of MacGyver challenges you: find your way out of a pitch-black bat cave using only your wits and what's on your back. Page 152

Maker Family Portrait by Tim Anderson in Heirloom Technology
A family of inventive blacksmiths in Indonesia supply the locals with just about everything they need. Page 154

Toolbox by Shawn Connally, Dale Dougherty, Mark Frauenfelder, Brian Jepson, Tim Lillis, Brookelynn Morris, Meara O'Reilly, Tom Owad, John Edgar Park, Paul Spinrad, Dave Stroud, Adam Zeloof in Toolbox
Wireless signal detector for the paranoid, a fire-powered soak, iPhone hacks, and tales of sustainability. Page 156

Reflections on an Illusion by Donald E. Simanek in Toys, Tricks, and Teasers
An illusion that never ceases to fascinate is the mirror-produced "real image" -- you'll reach out to grasp it, but your fingers close only on thin air. Page 164

Maker's Calendar by William Gurstelle in Maker's Calendar
Our favorite events from around the world. Page 168

Puzzle This by Michael H. Pryor in Aha!
Figure out what these abbreviated phrases mean. Page 169

Salt & Pepper Shakers by Tom Parker in Make Money
Sometimes it costs more to buy it than to make it from the money itself. Page 175

RSS Feed Synthesizer by Andrew Haarsager in Homebrew
The Bloog is a synthesizer that uses not oscillators, but RSS feeds, one that manipulates not sounds, but words. Page 176