HOW TO – Make steam engines
Rick writes “A great ‘how to’ making steam engines, (although most are run on compressed air). All you need to know from simple single cylinder models to V twins and more. A neat project in time for the holiday season – What a great present.” Link.
Giles writes “Step by step, do it yourself, super 8 telecine – How to make Super 8 movies into digital files for the cost of an old projector, a big lens and some bits from the local electronics store!”

“…construction of a very simple low-cost compound microscope. As shown in Figure 1, the microscope we describe is one that just about anyone can build and will produce a magnification of about 75 times. Microscopes may be thought of as very intricate and mysterious instruments but in reality, they are not as complicated as one may think. Building this simple instrument is not only a fun project, it will help you understand how microscopes work.” Thanks Rick!
This site has tons of how-tos and information on making water rockets (up to 6 feet tall!) Materials required tends to be limited to one or two pop bottles, some putty or Blu-Tack, a bicycle pump and an adaptor and making use of a sharp knife. Parachutes can be as simple as a bin-liner and still work well despite their low cost. Thanks Rick!
This site has a ton of free stencils to down, exacto out and use as you please. There are stencils for just about anything out there – Animals to Vegand & Vegetarian. [
These tumblers are made from old beer bottles – I think it’s a really neat idea, but the price is a little steep ($25). What you could do is collect old / weird bottles and use a glass cutter to make your own tumblers, cups and classes for super cheap.