This is the second installment of my series on building Rick and Karen Pollack’s MakerGear Mosaic 3D printer. This part covers assembly of the robot’s first of three Cartesian axes. One of the nice features of the Mosaic kit is that several of the more complex subassemblies are supplied pre-built, greatly simplifying construction. This stage of the build consists essentially of…
For this year’s MAKE Secret Santa gift exchange, I was happy to have pulled Sean Michael Ragan out of the virtual Santa hat. In an effort to help Sean become the most dangerous man alive, I’m giving him something that will help round out his already diverse knowledge base. I know he has expressed interest in glass working in the past, so I’m gifting him a beginner’s 3-hour glass blowing experience at Glass Blowing Austin.
We’re giving away amazing kits from our new Make: Ultimate Kit Guide EVERY DAY — thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, including MakerBots!
I always assumed that the process of making a hologram was so complex that it was limited to only those with access to expensive lasers and other fancy optical equipment. But when I heard that the Maker Shed started carrying Litiholo’s Hologram Kit, I was surprised that such a thing existed and I was eager to give it a try. After carefully following the directions, my first hologram was visible, but just barely. This was better than I expected, actually. The manual stresses that controlling vibration is the most important factor in creating a good hologram, but I live in a busy Brooklyn apartment building that often feels the low rumble of the subway trains rolling by. I tried to make another, but this time I increased the exposure time from five minutes to fifteen as the instructions suggested. The result was a surprisingly sharp hologram of a toy car.
My recent favorite PAP title is Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information (Manuel Lima). I can’t get enough of this book and immediately thought of Becky when I drew her name from the Secret Santa hat. I’ve been wanting to turn everybody onto this title. While this book is wonderful and a worthy gift all by itself, I thought I’d sweeten the pot by including another cool, more hands-on PAP title, Pinhole Cameras: DIY Guide (Chris Keeny).
Steam. Fire. High RPM flywheel. Steel wire treads. This is not your kid brother’s vibrabot. For my Gift Singularity project, I decided to build a bristlebot like no other. I wanted to make one on a larger, more dangerous scale. And so, I present to you the Steam-Powered BoilerBot! The basic principle here is the […]
There’s nothing that I like better than a good kit. Knowing that I have everything I need to complete a project—all in one neat package—makes my heart sing and my fingers itch to get started! Here are some of my favorites: Twig Terrariums Terrarium Kits Perfect for your favorite cubicle or dorm room dweller. They’re […]
