Your Comments

And we’re back with our twenty-third installment of Your Comments. Here are our favorites from the past week, from Make: Online, our Facebook page, and Twitter.

RedLeg answered Becky’s call for help in finding a way to make discarded crutches into furniture:

Found this a while ago, and it seems pretty close to what you’re looking for…. It’s quite popular with my harley ridin’ brethren, who also seem to all collect crutches……. Red

Inspired by Diana Eng’s Yagi Antenna Project, MadRat took the plunge and got a Technician license (Congratulations, MadRat!!):

Because of this article I studied for my Technician license and passed it last night. Thank you, Diana Eng.

Annie wrote in to share the tale of her Uncle, whom she reports as being the inventor of the Unpowered mechanical gate opener:

So, glad to see the Gandy gate online and on u-tube. My Uncle Alvin was very proud of his gate. He sold the patient to Sears and they sold them in their farm and ranch book. My dad’s family came from a long line of farmers, and they always told my Uncle Alvin he would do anything to keep from being the guy who had to always get out and open the gate. Then all of them would laugh and said wish dad had seen this thing. My grandfather came to TX when he was nine right at the clos of the civil war with his mother and four brothers. Grandpa married and together they had 13 children and took in 3 other children that need a home. So you can see alot of going and coming in and out of a gate. Uncle Alvin got picked alot to open those gates including the one there in Eden which was one of the famlies farms. Long story but the gate always worked and for years was a lot of them around all over TX and some in NM don’t know about other states. Thanks again for showing Uncle Alvin’s gate. All the family is gone now but know as they look down they are smiling at this.

migpics enjoyed Deek’s Fold-down fort:

I really like this but having two little one’s who would go crazy for this I would add a few of improvements. 1. The horizontal board is probably at eye level for some kids so I’d go for adding some padding on the corners (yes I know Make advocates poking an eye out but I’ll wait till my kids are a bit older.) 2. My kids tend to hang on things, so I don’t know if that eye screw on top would hold a screaming 20lb 2 year old when they’re hanging on the end of it. Maybe beef up the eye screw or add two ropes to the corners like the original little yellow house drawing. 3. The little yellow house uses this fort like a table which gives access to the shelf on the wall. With kids, it may be a little difficult to reach up to the wall to get those. Keep a stool handy so they can reach the stuff and again reinforce the table somehow because with a stool, you know they’re going to be standing on it. Great concept and looking forward to giving it a shot! PS I agree with Campbell, looking forward to seeing Deek on more make videos.

On Facebook, Mark David Martin has a good suggestion about the size of print magazine:

Personally I’d like to have seen the magazine kept in the current size but on an 8.5 x 11 page so you can make notes in the margins :-)

Also on Facebook, Stacie Suedkamp really likes John Edgar Park’s iPad stand:

Where’s the “covet” button when you need it?

Like these comments? Be sure to sound off in the comments! You could be in next week’s column.