DIY Projects
Big Blue Saw turns CAD files, DXF (12) PNG and now GIF files into real parts using state of the art robotic tools. If you design things and want to bring to your creations to the physical world these folks can turn it into steel, aluminum and acrylic. [
DIY PVC multiple guitar stand
Poulw has a good guitar stand how-to on Instructables – “A simple and cheap stand for one or more guitars. Takes maybe two hours to build. The Mod is based on imarunner2’s pvc bike rack. This is a 4 guitar version. I bought two 10 foot 3/4 inch pvc pipes and had them cut in half at the store. 11 3/4 “T” connectors 6 elbows 5 caps 2 sections of self adhesive insulating pipe foam. Total cost was less than 30 dollars. Similiarly manufactered items go for $50 to $100 in music shops.” Link.
Building an AudioNote PQ Signature Kit
Mostlyaudio’s article about building the AudioNote Kit1 PQ Signature Edition SET amplifier. “This kit will build a very high quality Single-Ended, Class A, directly heated triode amplifier. The amplifier will support a single line source (unless a pre-amp is used that will support more sources) as it incorporates a volume control. It has a class A output of 8watts per channel. Don’t be put off by this seemingly low wattage as it is every bit as loud, position for position, as my my old 40W Linn solid state amplifier was through the same speakers. It also has an input impedance of around 100K which is more than ample for a huge range of source components.” Link.
DIY over the web camera control…
Lavere writes “Logitech is selling a great webcam with pan and tilt functions (called “Orbit”, about $120). However, they really dropped the ball with the software: you can’t pan and tilt the cam via the Internet. Enter LogiSphere. Third party developer Stefan Seiz out of Switzerland has written a great program that is a full-blown web server that will pan and tilt the Orbit through a web interface, deliver web-configurable video streams, write full log files, password-protect access and more. It’s a really slick, sweet app. Great for DIY security or your web-accessible robot (screenshots). I used this to keep an eye on my cats while I was on vacation. I could make sure their feeders were working and pan over to seem them sleeping. The cats would perk up when they heard the motors moving the camera and I could see them looking at the camera.” Link.
iPod walkman case
Ted writes “Oh yes.. yet another spinoff of the Retropod, inspired by the brilliant John Young… this walkman outfit, boost two new additions.. first, a working dual-out headphone jack, originally part of the walkman, as well as a dummy cassette tape, mounted to the door of walkman, providing even more stealth for the ipod.” Link. We’ve seen so many people make these, I think Sony might want to consider licensing out a case design.
Interview with the Sonic Fabrics creator…
MAKE pal Jean just interviewed New Yorker Alyce Santoro, who weaves ‘Sonic Fabric‘ out of old cassette tapes, and runs tape heads over her clothes to make them audible! “Here’s how she does it – It’s quite simple, actually. Just take an old tape walkman, unscrew the head and remount it on the outside of the plastic housing using silicone. Plug in the headphones, turn the volume all the way up, and press PLAY. Now run the head over the fabric. Works best if you drag it along in the same direction as the tape (as opposed to running it along the warp, which is cotton or polyester). Try it at various speeds and see what happens.” Link.
Modding a NES to run Unisystem VS arcade games
Raphael writes “In order to practise at the arcade version of Super Mario Bros, I modified a NES to be able to run arcade ROMs. The result: A dedicated Super Mario Bros VS. console with switches on the front panel to tweak some aspects of the game (A user friendly version of dip switches found on the arcade motherboard).” Link.