A Make reader sent in a cheap way to make pods of his favorite coffees instead of being stuck with “proprietary” coffee – “Do you really like your pod coffee maker, but wish you could use your favorite brand of coffee instead of paying a premium price for a mediocre blend — just because it is shaped like a pod? Why not make your own? Most of what you’ll need is probably already in your kitchen.” Link.
Raph writes “While reading the make magazine blog, I visited a webpage explaining how someone built a fume extractor: Ultra cheap fume extractor. I immediately decided to build one too. I built mine a little differently. I did not want to have the fan right in front of me. Too noisy. Instead, I installed the fan in a closet and use a long vinly duct that goes to my desk. Now the risk of inhaling the fumes directly is greatly reduced.” Link.
Chris writes “After reading this article about how to make a DIY Retro Cellphone Handset, I just had to post an article about how I made my Bluetooth Handset…surprisingly there is no how-to to do this (AFAIK). Although it’s very simple. Here is what you need: An old telephone or just the handset. I used an old telephone form former East Germany (GDR/DDR) called “Apart 2001″, produced in the VEB Fernmeldewerk Nordhausen/RFT in the year 1990.” Link.
Greg writes “Here is a line following robot that will follow a line, and at the end will stop for three seconds. After pausing for three seconds it will retrace its steps and drive in reverse. It is made with a sensing circuit, and H-bridge motorcontroller, and a microcontroller.” Link.
“This procedure will help you construct a simple vacuforming device. With it, you’ll be able to fabricate plastic parts or make copies of of objects in plastic. Vacuum forming is a popular industrial process for manufacturing hollow, thin walled, plastic parts. In industrial units, a sheet of plastic is heated, usually by infrared lamps. This homemade vacuformer is made by using a piece of perforated circuit board as the platform, and a project box as the vacuum chamber. A heat gun is enough to melt most thing plastics, and a shop vac provides plenty of ‘suck’.” Thanks Jason! Link.
Here’s a great tutorial from Ashley Martineau on how to reuse the yarn from old sweaters you don’t want anymore. The tutorial is complete with photos and lots of tips on how you can reuse the yarn, like doubling up the fibers for stronger support. Link.
“The basic idea for the single use digital camera is to take your “27 pictures” or so, send the camera in and they send you a CD with your photo’s. Kind of lame, but unique. However, you bought the camera – keep it! There are three different methods to making this camera “last forever”. You do not need to do all three of them, choose the method that will be cheapest/best. You may have a few of the items at your disposal already, so take a look at the required parts for each section, then choose which rout to take.” Thanks Star! Link.
