Month: November 2011

Kombucha Starter Kit

What’s kombucha? It’s a refreshing, lightly sweetened, sparkling tea drink that is naturally fermented (yet non-alcoholic). The Oregon Kombucha kit comes with everything you need to make your own kombucha at home. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. Boil a gallon of water, brew the tea satchel, dissolve the sugar, let it cool, […]

My First Epic Hack: The Lawnmower of Theseus

My First Epic Hack: The Lawnmower of Theseus

Much to my mother’s chagrin, my Dad always held the philosophy of “Use it until you wear it out.” It made some of our stuff look shabby, but it stretched dollars and made for good learning experiences. One day the engine on our trusty Snapper lawnmower seized up. At this point I was around 12 years old, and past the point of just handing tools to Dad while he worked on something (though being the tool gopher is an important mill to be pulled through in and of itself), but now diving into the heady space of troubleshooting. Minor problems consisted of re-sewing the grass bag’s opening so its elastic cuff would fit snugly over the chute, or having to coax the engine back to life come springtime.

How-To: Bunting Cosmetic Bag

Colorful bunting always makes me smile, and this cute bunting cosmetic bag tutorial from Suzanne at Just Another Hang Up is the perfect project for using up some of your cutest fabric scraps. I’m an especially big fan of her simple flag bunting appliqué method—it’s incredibly easy to sew, but it looks fantastic! [Via How […]

Hardware Hackathon in Providence, RI on January 28-29

Hardware Hackathon in Providence, RI on January 28-29

Digital Meets Physical will bring makers, software hackers, and DIY geeks together for two days of outrageous fun, using the Netduino platform and other fun toys to build our brains out. We’ll be hacking at the AS220 Labs, a hackerspace where tools, technology and inspiration abound. With no less than 10 top quality watering holes within spitting distance, power breaks and refueling will be top notch.

Three- vs. Four-Jaw Lathe Chucks

Three- vs. Four-Jaw Lathe Chucks

Three-jaw chucks, of the same general type used to hold bits in most power drills, are also common equipment on metalworking lathes. Though it is not necessarily so, three-jaw chucks are so commonly of the self-centering variety, in which the jaws are not independently adjustable, that “self-centering” is generally assumed from the term “three-jaw chuck.” But…