Make a Tuning Fork – ReMaking History
To complement his ReMaking History column in MAKE Volume 29, Bill Gurstelle shows you how to make a tuning fork with some simple tools and a strip of aluminum.
To complement his ReMaking History column in MAKE Volume 29, Bill Gurstelle shows you how to make a tuning fork with some simple tools and a strip of aluminum.
We have the technology (to quote The Six Million Dollar Man), but commercial tools for exploring, assisting, and augmenting our bodies really can approach a price tag of $6 million. Medical and assistive tech manufacturers must pay not just for R&D, but for expensive clinical trials, regulatory compliance, and liability — and doesn’t help with low pricing that these devices are typically paid for through insurance, rather than purchased directly. But many gadgets that restore people’s abilities or enable new “superpowers” are surprisingly easy to make, and for tiny fractions of the costs of off-the-shelf equivalents. MAKE 29, the “DIY Superhuman” issue, explains how.
In this episode of Becky’s Workshop, learn to make a headband that glows with your heart beat. First construct a stretchy headband from brocade and grosgrain ribbon, then embed the circuit boards and clip the sensor to your ear.
If you subscribe to MAKE and you’ve received MAKE:Volume 28 in the mail, you may have noticed a little something extra that came with it. What you are looking at is the first ever Maker Shed print catalog! We spent many hours putting our great products into a flippable format for your viewing pleasure. The Maker Shed catalog is packed with 45 pages of microcontrollers, kits, and gift ideas, as well as a soldering tutorial, maker profiles, and more!
At MAKE, we’re crazy for kits. That’s why we just produced a special issue that’s all about kits, our Ultimate Kit Guide 2012, and are also launching a new website dedicated to kit reviews, at kits.makezine.com. Available at newsstands nationwide, the Ultimate Kit Guide includes nearly 200 reviews of top kits ranging from beginner’s crafts to wooden kayaks to advanced robotics to alcoholic beverages and everything in between.
MAKE Volume 28 hits makers’ passion for play head-on with a 28-page special section devoted to Toys and Games, including a toy “pop-pop” steamboat made from a mint tin, an R/C helicopter eye-in-the-sky, and a classic video game console. You’ll also build a gravity-powered catapult, a plush toy that interacts with objects around it, and a machine that blows giant soap bubbles. Play time is a hallmark of more intelligent species– so go have some fun!
Avatar’s special effects innovator Glenn Derry hacks together blockbuster filmmaking tools. Learn more about his workshop and homebrew virtual camera in MAKE v27.