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HOW TO – Building a better Tall Bike

HOW TO – Building a better Tall Bike

E2Efcf7Ad8Ee10D760A002D9.ThumbGreat bike hack on Instructables from Maxwell – “How to Build a Tall Bike, one that you can stop safely, and could be construed as street legal in most places. With this method, you’ll be able to stand over the bike, allowing you to hop down easily, have two brakes, a full complement of gears, And have a better riding position than two bikes stacked on top of eachother. You’ll only destroy one bike, The top portion is bolted to the bottom bike, so if it breaks, or you get tired of it, the bottom bike can be reverted to normal. All in all I think this makes for a suprisingly sane tall bike. Not that you’ll look any less the madman riding it through traffic.” Link.

Cheaper veggie diesel…

Cheaper veggie diesel…

051114 BiodieselIn MAKE 03 we showed you how to make your own biodiesel, and now there appears to be a big breakthrough lowering the costs to get the esters “Japanese scientists may have found a cheaper and more efficient way to produce “biodiesel.” The renewable, vegetable oil-based fuel can be used in conventional diesel engines, which are found in about 2 percent of cars currently sold in the U.S. and in about 40 percent in Europe.” [via] Link. Also – listen to our interview with a biodiesel Maker.

Making Red Lights for Astronomical Observing

Making Red Lights for Astronomical Observing

523 ThumbMike writes “While LED circuits are pretty simple by Make standards, they are essential to amateur astronomers. This is because red light affects the human eye less than other colors, allowing astronomers to see their gear without destroying their night vision. This article shows how easy it is to create red LED light sources and give some examples of how to use them, including map readers, flash lights and interior lights for an eyepiece case.” Link.

The Solar Powered Coffee Roaster

The Solar Powered Coffee Roaster

SolarbeanSaul sent this along from David Hartkop, a Solar coffee roaster inventor – “My brother Mike is a ‘classically trained’ coffee roaster, and I invented a solar-powered coffee roaster for him. We’ve been selling coffee online for a year at solarroast.com and I’m designing a bigger machine to build in the garage in Oregon for this summer. It concentrates 4.5 KW of solar thermal energy on a fully sunny day, and is manually trackable 360 degrees azimuth and 90 degrees zenith. The motors of the roaster are powered by photovoltaics, and he can crank out around 7 lb of coffee an hour. (in 2 lb batches).” Check out this awesome photo of the solar roaster!

Using an Oscilloscope

Using an Oscilloscope

Osc1Ever wonder what an Oscilloscope is? Or how to use one? Here’s a good guide on getting starting “An oscilloscope is easily the most useful instrument available for testing circuits because it allows you to see the signals at different points in the circuit. The best way of investigating an electronic system is to monitor signals at the input and output of each system block, checking that each block is operating as expected and is correctly linked to the next. With a little practice, you will be able to find and correct faults quickly and accurately.” Link.

Make a “book wall hanging”

Make a “book wall hanging”

WallGreat Instructable on making your own book wall hanging. I saw this in person a couple weeks ago, and I’m making a few as gifts for the holidays! – “Take one of the many beautiful books available at project Gutenberg and convert it into a wall sized readable book. Makes great gifts for the literary types in your life. This is the complete text of Flatlands, and how to generate and print it, at 60 x 42 inches. That’s huge! Take a look at the PDF.” Link.

Building a marble shooting airgun

Building a marble shooting airgun

Barrel EndInteresting page documenting a homemade air rifle (also check out the potato cannon) – “Air guns are normally small air powered rifles that shoot relatively small projectiles, primarily used for target practice. Usually, they are pumped up with an internal cylinder, activated by hinging the barrel towards the stock. My home made air guns experiments however take their lineage more from potato gun technology than target practice rifles.” [via] Link.