make projects

How-To: Car Battery Welding

Welding! Welding is a glorious, mystery-infused, thoroughly bad-ass way to stick things together. Welders move in their own cloud of mythos and danger- they are dirtier, tougher, and sexier than any other kind of maker, and the things they build are big and strong and hold our world together. This positive stereotype permeates at all levels of pop culture: if a character is introduced while welding, you immediately know that they will be some kind of blue-collar superhero, or some kind of cliched contradiction- the welder quoting Hegel after winning the bar fight, or the classic trope of seeing a welder at work, and then they flip off the helmet and OMG IT IS A GIRL! A GIRL WELDING!

Continue Reading September 1st, 2011August 31st, 2015 Hackett28

Top 10: Knifemaking

Knives are a major “gateway drug” for many a young maker. They were for me, certainly. One of the first things I ever remember being proud of making was a cocobolo replacement handle (mounted with homemade “mosaic” pins) to repair my mother’s favorite paring knife. (Coincidentally, both skills are covered in this round-up.)

Continue Reading August 29th, 2011 Sean Michael Ragan7

Weekend Projects: The Electronic Whack-a-Mole Game

It might not look like it, but this electronic Whack-a-Mole game is our most involved Weekend Project yet. This build has over 100 individual components and also includes instructions on how to etch your own Printed Circuit Board (PCB), making this our first real Weekend Project, one that will take most makers the weekend to complete.

Continue Reading August 25th, 2011April 17th, 2015 Nick Normal8

Basic Bending Diagram from “Add Volume, Jack” (Weekend Projects)

For me, one of the pleasant side-effects to circuit bending with mono-speaker toys is the ability to leave the original speaker embedded in the device, while still having the option to amplify the device when you’re ready to rock out on stage or for an art installation. This means I can always hear the toy when I want to, without needing a full PA or powered speaker setup.

Continue Reading August 19th, 2011April 20th, 2015 Nick Normal

Arduino Cookbook Excerpt: Large Tables of Data in Program Memory

In the Spring of 2011, I worked on a project with artists Steve Hanson and Elliot Clapp that was part of Apexart’s “Let it end like this” group show, curated by Todd Zuniga. Steve created a generative questionnaire that polled gallery-goers and presented them with their Last Words.

Continue Reading August 18th, 2011 Shawn Wallace14

Weekend Projects: Add Volume, Jack (for Circuit Bending Fun)

You had to know it wouldn’t be long before we dove into the wonderful world of circuit bending for our Weekend Projects series, brought to you by Radio Shack. For our third project, Add Volume, Jack, we’ll learn how to install an audio output jack and a volume knob onto any mono speaker toy circuit.

Continue Reading August 16th, 2011April 20th, 2015 Nick Normal

The Robotics Section of Make: Projects

What some of you may not know about Make: Projects is that it’s a full wiki platform, able to handle long-form articles and tutorials, not just step-by-step projects. In celebration of the robot theme here on the site, and the new robot issue of the mag (MAKE Volume 27), we’ve built out the Robotics section of the Make: Projects platform.

Continue Reading August 15th, 2011August 31st, 2015 Gareth Branwyn2