Cardboard Periscope — Sylvia’s Mini Maker Show
Today we’re diving deep for an easy build you can do in an afternoon: your very own cardboard periscope. Let’s go!
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Homemade Alarm Made From Two Audio Jacks
A homemade alarm system made from two “normally closed” audio jacks is the focus of our most recent Weekend Project, the Alarm Bag. The alarm system, built into an enclosure (above), can be installed into any bag (in our project, a messenger bag is used) or even modified to act as a door or window alarm. The 2-jack design means the alarm will activate whenever the second audio jack (the trigger) is removed.
Continue ReadingBeeswax Tree Ornaments
Growing up, we had beeswax ornaments on our Christmas tree every year. When I saw this set of ornaments from Pamela of Pretty Dreamer, I thought of all sorts of great holiday memories.
Continue ReadingOpen Source Scanning Tunneling Microscope
This microscope is a project by Sacha De’Angeli of ChemHacker. STM system is a non-optical, high-resolution, microscopy technique that is often used to obtain images of a conductive surface at the atomic scale. A sharp metal tip is placed only a few nano-meters from surface, a current is applied between the two (Tunneling Current). The […]
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Tape Up a Coffee Filter to Catch Drill Dust
Clever idea I first saw in a recent issue of The Family Handyman. The flat-folding “cone” style filters will be easier to handle. It’s similar to the Post-It note trick, but less likely to leak out the sides. See also, e.g., the coffee cup trick for catching debris while drilling overhead.
Continue ReadingProject: Candy Tote from a Carton of Oats
Here’s a great Halloween trick to try this year – transform an empty cardboard container into a handy jack-o-lantern tote. Check your kitchen for containers that are just about empty. We found a salt container, oatmeal cylinder, and ice cream carton and reused them all!
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How Open Source Hardware is Kick-Starting Kickstarter!
Imagine waking up and seeing your design for a circuit being used in a product by someone who never contacted you to ask if it was okay. You will not get any payment for their usage of your design, they’ve raised over $31,000 dollars, and they’re selling something you worked really hard on. You have no control over what someone does with something you made. Is this a nightmare? Perhaps for some, but this is actually a dream come true for others. And it’s what this week’s Soapbox is about: Open-source hardware kick-starting Kickstarters!
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