Year: 2011

Laser Ball Is Life of the Party, Makes Regular Tennis Balls Feel Inferior

LeoneLabs on Instructables posted this fantastic how-to on adding 14 lasers to a regular tennis ball to make a Laser Ball. Why? He says that it’s fun to build, it can be done in an afternoon, and “lasers are cool.” The lasers are driven by a Teensy USB Development Board, which is stuffed inside the ball and controlled from outside with an infrared remote control. The Instructable shows you how to make your own in painstaking detail, but you can also follow the build step-by-step in this fun video.

Continue Reading November 13th, 2011 Matt Richardson2

Stirling Engine

This beautiful engine teaches you the basics of thermodynamics as its power comes from an external heat source, which can be anything from fuel to solar to geothermal energy. The instructions are in Japanese, but the Maker Shed page has an English translation. MAKE is proud to be the exclusive distributor in North America for […]

Continue Reading November 13th, 2011 Maker Shed

Launch Pro Multi-Stage Starter Kit and Ultimate Water Rocket Experimenter’s Kit

People my age remember red plastic toy rockets from childhood that you filled with water, pumped with air, and watched as they leaped dozens of feet into the air. Well, things have gotten far more serious in the world of water-powered model rocketry, and hobbyists are reaching heights upwards of 800′ using plastic soda bottles, thin […]

Continue Reading November 13th, 2011 Gareth Branwyn

F.A.T. 3000 Guillotine Trebuchet

I’ve built my share of catapults (see MAKE Volume 28, “Gravity Catapult”), and this floating-arm kit has thoroughly impressed me. The parts come pre-cut in solid ash, and you clip off tabs to remove them, just like the plastic models I built as a kid. A file will help clean up the tabs. It’s put […]

Continue Reading November 13th, 2011 Jake Spurlock

Rainbow Cube

The Rainbow Cube is a nerdy but gorgeous accent light consisting of a 4×4×4 cube of red-green-blue LEDs. Depending on how it’s programmed, colors appear to move, pulse, or wash through the cube in all directions, which is fascinating to watch. The LEDs connect to the PCB base via an ingenious structure consisting of thin […]

Continue Reading November 13th, 2011 Jake Spurlock4

MAKE Flickr Pool Weekly Roundup

Owwwww, my head. I am still recovering from what will almost certainly be the best Elevensday celebration of my life. Unless I make it to 11/11/2111, that is. Fingers crossed. Anyway, to commemorate the event, and because Gronk think rainbows pretty, our featured image this week is johngineer’s 11.11.11. But it was a hard choice, because…

Continue Reading November 13th, 2011 Sean Michael Ragan

Whiskey Aging Kit

Just because you don’t own a distillery doesn’t mean you can’t have a hand in making your own whiskey. Whiskey starts its life as a clear, nearly flavorless spirit; it’s the aging process that provides the beautiful brown color and most of the smooth, smoky flavor. The Age Your Own Whiskey Kit provides all you […]

Continue Reading November 13th, 2011 John Edgar Park2

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