Kaitrees’ Kevin makes a tree
If you haven’t seen the work of Makers Market seller kaitrees before, well…this photo sums it up way better than I ever could in words: His work is amazing, and the way he does it is amazing, too.
Biology
Bicycle wrench that looks like a fish skeleton
I designed this multi-wrench years ago but just now finally managed to get a prototype water-jet-cut in stainless steel by my pal, Makers Market seller Dustin Wallace. The design features 21 distinct wrenches for metric and SAE nuts, 3 flat screwdrivers, a serrated cutting edge, a can opener, a wire breaker, a centerfinding tool, and a lanyard loop hole. It’s a long way from perfect–the can opener tooth, the serrated edge, and a couple of the tail-fins that are supposed to serve as flat-blade screwdrivers still need to have their edges ground, and the surface of the tool needs to be polished up quite a bit, but I was so stoked to get it in the mail I just had to share. The DXF file is available for download on Thingiverse.
Lego fish tank
I’m not crazy about the particular models here, but I really like this idea, from user littlerob904 of Aquarium Advice, of using Lego MOCs to decorate your fishtank. I have visions of a detailed layout that covers most or all of the tank bottom featuring an Atlantis or a R’lyeh theme, with fish chosen to match.
Building an open source home DNA copy machine
Tito Jankowski and Josh Perfetto were at Maker Faire, showing off their prototype for an OpenPCR machine. A wha? PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction. It is a method that can be used for replicating DNA. It can take a small amount of DNA (even a single molecule), and amplify (copy) a specific region exponentially, […]
Algae-powered lamp
I’m guessing the electrical potential used to charge the battery during the day is generated between the top and bottom of the algal layer and is ultimately due to a gravity-induced concentration gradient of some kind of metabolite in the broth.
Junk art ouroboros
From junk-genius Jud Turner.
Ceramic seed grenade
At almost $15 US apiece, plus shipping from the UK, you won’t catch me smashing too many of these seed-laden ceramic pineapples in the near future. Give me a half-dozen at that price, packed in hay inside a roughly-stenciled wooden crate (“HAND GRENADE, FLOWER SEED, 6CT, NOT FOR EXPORT”), and we’ll talk. Still, pretty appealing concept–you got the flower power, the military cool factor, and the visceral appeal of smashing a ceramic pot all rolled into one.