Building Inexpensive CNC Machines
When I started thinking about CNC machines, I just wanted a computer-controlled machine that would be able to automatically drill all of the holes in the printed circuit boards that I made, for my Curve Tracer kits (see the link, above). But, the “good” commercially-available machines were priced higher than the amount that I could justify spending. So, I started thinking about what it would take to build one, myself. And, I didn’t want to build one that would cost almost as much as a commercial machine: Otherwise it might have been smarter to just BUY one, to begin with! So, I decided to add “low cost” as one of the design goals. I also expected to end up with one or more additional products to sell, as a result of this project, to (help) justify the time that I spent on it. Link.
This paper steam engine is based on Richard Ademek’s CAD drawing of a Riches and Watts nominal 2 ½ horsepower vertical A-frame double acting simple slide-valve steam engine circa 1870-75. The original engine was used to drive a water pump to irrigate the fields of Norfolk. If this model had a scale, it would be roughly 1:19. I had to double the size of the eccentric and strap in order to make it buildable. Everything else is close to scale, but changed in design and apprearance because, well, paper isn’t iron. [
Last night at a mini “MAKER” fair we experimented with a high powered green laser (161mw). We were able to pop a variety of balloons instantly, sizzle our way through some plastic cups and cook a tiny part of a potato chip. 
Hide this little guy behind a door or under a desk and then spy/roam the building after hours. See, hear, listen and control everything the RoboSapien does. Connect to the smart phone’s IP address from an Internet connected computer and then control it from anywhere in the world (the robot uses the cellular network = no wires or limits! 
We covered the Sony 
Here’s an overview of a clever email-to-RSS hack I was forwarded. If you subscribe to an email mailing list, you can set blogger.com posting to the email address you signed up with. So, each time you get an email, it’ll post that to a blog you have set up. Then blogger.com automatically has a feed you can subscribe to. (Make sure it’s not a private mailing list of course.)
It’s that time of year again…time to bust out the headlight for a midweek-after-work-night ride! But, in order to have a fun and safe nighttime mountain bike adventure you need one critical piece of equipment…a bright light to adorn your helmet and illuminate the trail ahead. The only dilemma is, a good light system can run between $200-$300 bucks. I don’t know about the rest of you, but that’s a little rich for my blood. That’s why last year I decided to take the MacGyver approach and build my own