DIY Projects

A New Twist on Building with Watch Parts

A New Twist on Building with Watch Parts

Whenever there’s an available surplus of watch parts it seems that makers tend to gravitate toward constructing vehicular creations: motorcycles, mopeds, etc. We’ve covered these kinds of slick, brassy machines in the past, and Blogger user 2nde VIE (2nd Life) follows where other such makers left off, but then veers into creature territory. He uses the discarded parts to make clockwork owls, turtles, and other entities that have a whimsy that’s all their own. [via Recyclart]

New in the Maker Shed: PowerSwitch Tail II

New in the Maker Shed: PowerSwitch Tail II

The freshly updated PowerSwitch Tail II is now available in the Maker Shed. For those that are not familiar with it, the PowerSwitch Tail allows you to switch 120v AC loads on and off from a microcontroller, without worrying about the hazards of household current. The new version allows you to control up to 15 amps of current (50% more than the original) using a 3-12 vdc (3-30ma) control signal meaning you can control it as easy as you would an LED.

Make Sparks in Your Parlor

Make Sparks in Your Parlor

In the early 1880s, British inventor James Wimshurst created an electrostatic generator called the Wimshurst Influence Machine, influence machines being a class of generators that separate electric charges through electrostatic induction, or influence. Not only did the sparks created by the machine provide for great scientific demonstration, but experiments like the “electric kiss” were popular […]