homemade tools

FirstLight: The Story of a Telescope

FirstLight: The Story of a Telescope

Oakland resident Douglas Smith is an architect by training, working as a BIM / CAD manager at the San Francisco offices of internationally-renowned skyscraper architects Skidmore Owings & Merrill. In 2006, co-worker and amateur astronomer David Frey persuaded him to take an amateur telescope-making class at The Randall Museum, taught by famous amateur astronomer John Dobson. It changed his life.

How-To: Trashcan Raku Kiln

How-To: Trashcan Raku Kiln

Without risking oversimplifying the matter, I think I can safely say that one of the many appealing aspects of raku pottery is its accessibility, especially in terms of equipment. A raku firing need only achieve 1000°C, which is at the low end of the potter’s temperature scale, and easily achieved in a homemade kiln fueled, for instance, by a propane bottle. The raku kiln pictured here…

The Leach Treadle Wheel

The Leach Treadle Wheel

Though electrically-powered wheels are of course common, today, many potters still prefer to throw on a human-powered wheel. Whether chosen for aesthetic purposes, out of a sense of traditionalism, or simply for exercise, these human-powered designs usually incorporate a heavy flywheel which is brought up to speed, and kept there, by the operator’s leg muscles. .A step up from the simple “kickwheel” design is the “treadle” wheel, which adds a crank and reciprocating pedal for greater mechanical advantage and smoother operation. And among designs for treadle wheels, the “Leach” type stands out as a popular favorite.

Matthias Wandel’s Carving Machine

Matthias Wandel’s Carving Machine

Matthias Wandel’s Woodgears.ca may be my favorite personal maker website. It’s clean, well organized, packed with resources, and every click brings new inspiration. I can get stuck there for hours, so be careful when you click through. This time it’s Matthias’s homemade 3D pantograph carving machine / pattern duplicator that I’m fixated on.