This is the second-to-last installment of my ongoing series on building the MakerGear Mosaic 3D printer. This part covers assembly of the heated build platform, including installation and adjustment of the leveling plate, mounting the heating element and build surface, and making the associated electrical connections.
By now you’ve probably heard of the Make: Ultimate Kit Guide. If you haven’t, it’s a special publication where we, the staff of MAKE, sought out over 175 of the top kits of all kinds and rated them on quality, instructions, community, and more.
I designed, pre-fabricated, hauled, and then re-assembled a treehouse I’ve dubbed “The Wolfe’s Den” (Wolfe being the last name of the woman I built it for), and luckily had Steven Sherrick of Modern Vintage Productions to help document the laborious process.
Designer Diana Eng shows us some samples from her Laser Lace collection. By using a laser etcher on fabric she creates intricate lace designs inspired by the cells of plants and flowers.
My colleagues over on CRAFT all have the work ethics and compulsive tendencies that of any crafter worth his/her stripes. When Rachel and Lish proposed an ornament swap this year, precariously close to Christmas, we all piled on. None of us can resist crafting on a deadline. I whipped up a whole bunch of these cardboard LED robot ornaments on Sunday morning. I used what I had at hand– some cardboard, spray paint, and a whole bunch of LEDs. Since I can’t resist the urge to document my crafts, enjoy this video and see the complete how-to on Make: Projects.
It’s amazing what a little disk can do … when it’s layered with piezoelectric crystals. Piezo disks are impressively sensitive to vibration and can easily be adapted to work as a contact microphones. The trick is the preamp – a basic circuit used to match the piezo’s signal to levels compatible with modern audio gear inputs. The resulting piezo/preamp combo can be used for electrifying an acoustic guitar or simply exploring the lesser-heard world of small sound around us.
