Maker Rich Gibson is welding up a neat looking chopper bike – on the MAKE flickr photo pool he writes “Chopper bike ‘complete.’ I am going to lower the seat some more. It is still basically unrideable by mere mortal. I’m going to make a new front fork that is shorter. Keep the original one for ‘special’ occaisions.” Link. In MAKE 03 we have a good welding primer from Mr. Jalopy if you’re looking to pimp your bike too.
Rick from howwhatwhy writes “Robert Q. Riley produced many plans for Popular Mechanics before he went at it alone. Although he wants to sell his plans there is a LOT of inspiration here for the makers.” The site includes plans for building cars, vans, three-wheelers, hovercraft, EVs, hybrids, boats, subs and more. Link.
Here’s a blog devoted to making Railguns (Railguns utilize an electromagnetic force called the Lorentz force to propel an electrically conductive projectile that is initially part of the current path) – the site has tons of pictures, videos, and links. Link. In MAKE 01, we have a little less electrifying version, the Gauss Rifle.
A Maker writes “A Dutch, (although in English), site dedicated to making kites. Plans for many different kinds available.” The plans section is loaded – single lined, dual line, triple line, quad line, buggy, tail, parafauna and other plans for kite making. Link.
Colin sent in this great ski building HOW TO site “Always wanted your own pro model ski, but can’t ski like a pro? Why don’t you just build it yourself? It sounds crazy, but building a pair of skis (or a snowboard) is not out of reach for the average garage tinkerer. All that is required is some time, a little effort, and some patience to build the equipment and prepare the materials for making skis. In the end your hard work pays off, and there is no better feeling than skiing on a pair of skis that you designed and built yourself.” Link.
Rick writes “Always wanted to build a fast comfortable bike? This is the place. Human Powered Vehicles (HPVs) or Recumbent bikes are a delight to ride, fast and stable – Different goes without saying – not for the shy.” Link.
Here’s a great site that shows you how to upgrade Apple’s eMac. Overclock to 1.3Ghz, add a new hard drive, run dual screens and cut down on fan noise. These eMacs are usually pretty cheap on eBay too, so it might be worth grabbing one and sup’ing it up. [