Workshop

The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for the industrial arts from metal and woodworking to CNC machining and 3D printing.

Make a spooky jack-o’-lantern, quick

Make a spooky jack-o’-lantern, quick

Halloween’s almost upon us, and it’s time to carve up some jack-o’-lanterns. I have great respect for people who take hours to lavishly carve pumpkin masterpieces. I also have very little time to make my own pumpkins. My kids and I just want to get them carved, set a candle inside, and move on to roasting the seeds as quickly as possible. So I decided to forgo the knife and use a cordless Dremel Multi-Max oscillating tool to make quick work of Mr. O’Lantern. Follow the steps below and you too can crank out an army of chilling, thrilling Halloween pumpkins in no time.

How-To:  Make cheap castable silicone from caulk

How-To: Make cheap castable silicone from caulk

Turns out, though, that mixing in some cornstarch accelerates the drying process; just how much depends on how much starch you add. The author recommends starting with a 1:1 mix. I’m not sure about his explanation that the process works because the hygroscopic starch carries moisture into the internal volume of the silicone, but in any case there are probably other additives that will accelerate the process as well as or better than cornstarch. You might even find one that’s not opaque and allows for translucent castings.

Polly the housetruck

Polly the housetruck

Pollymecca the housetruck pulled up in front of MAKE headquarters earlier this week, and she was lovely. Inspired by gypsy caravans and British “living wagons,” maker John Labovitz set out to create a house on wheels complete with a workspace for his projects in photography, programming, and research. His website lays out all the technical […]