Makers

Maker of the day – Kerry McLean, 225-horsepower gasoline-powered monowheel

Today’s Maker from our new book Makers – Kerry McLean, Wall Lake, Michigan. 225-horsepower gasoline-powered monowheel. “You may be hauling ass, but you feel like you’re floating,” says McLean. The metal fabricator and machinist built his first monowheel in 1970 and has been obsessively perfecting the design ever since. “I don’t feel like anyone has seen it through,” he says. “You hear words like ‘trial and error.’ That’s just some hillbilly stuff. Broomsticks and baling wire. I’m doing R&D.” Makers: page 20. View photo! See previous Makers of the day here. View sample PDF. Click here to get Makers the book before the holidays!

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Maker of the day – Matty Sallin, Bacon-cooking alarm clock

Today’s Maker from our new book Makers – Matty Sallin, New York, New York. Bacon-cooking alarm clock. When Sallin first woke up to his Wake n’ Bacon alarm clock — constructed from a gutted Wal-Mart alarm clock, a PIC microcontroller, and two 100-watt halogen lamps — everything came back to him again. “My first thought was ‘Mom’s in the kitchen,’ soon followed by “The apartment’s on fire.” Makers: page 48. View photo! See previous Makers of the day here. View sample PDF. Click here to get Makers the book before the holidays!

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Maker of the day – Bathsheba Grossman, 3D sculptures digitally printed in metal

Today’s Maker from our new book Makers – Bathsheba Grossman, Santa Cruz, California. 3D sculptures digitally printed in metal. Instant fabrication equipment printed out the artist’s 2004 sculpture Lazy Eight directly in bronze. To help with the arduous task of generating intricate surfaces on the metal, she’ll write her own computer scripts in Perl. With the advent of affordable 3D printing, she says, “advanced prototyping went from something that was completely in-house at Boeing to something you walk in off the street and order. I can’t tell you how cool it is to have your own small hunk of metal.” Makers: page 28. View photo! See previous Makers of the day here. View sample PDF. Click here to get Makers the book before the holidays!

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Maker of the day – Richard Hull, Homemade nuclear fusor

Today’s Maker from our new book Makers – Richard Hull, Richmond, Virginia. Homemade nuclear fusor. “Oh, fusing atoms is easy,” claims Hull with a slight Virginia twang. Well, OK, not that easy. First you have to find a way to generate over 20,000 volts of electricity. Fusor enthusiasts live for the brilliant purple light that emanates from the reaction — an indication that the hydrogen gas has passed into a plasma state and that neutron radiation is on its way. “With this project, you can be killed in so, so many ways!” Makers: page 94. View photo! See previous Makers of the day here. View sample PDF. Click here to get Makers the book before the holidays!

Continue Reading February 29th, 2008 Phillip Torrone

Maker of the day – Kelly Dobson, Voice-activated blenders

Today’s Maker from our new book Makers – Kelly Dobson, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Voice-activated blenders. Getting the blenders to know when you’re talking to them is no mean feat. Dobson programmed algorithms in C++ into 1GHz VIA Epia microprocessors mounted inside each blender, and to get them to work, she imitates the blenders with low, guttural motor sounds. “You have to make sure you have the roughness of a blender, so you might get him started with a rrrrrRRRRRRR,” says Dobson. When she raises the tone, they speed up. Friends have given her the nickname Monster. Makers: page 66. View photo! See previous Makers of the day here. View sample PDF. Click here to get Makers the book before the holidays!

Continue Reading February 29th, 2008 Phillip Torrone

Maker of the day – Mikey Sklar, shirt with 38 working fans

Each day until 2006 we’re bringing you a Maker from our new book Makers. Mikey Sklar, Brooklyn, New York. Shirt with 38 working fans. The fan shirt does not exactly qualify as business casual at Sklar’s job as vice president of a tony investment bank. “I sort of doubt there are many DIY people on Wall Street,” he says. A spool of wire he found in a dumpster connected all the 12-volt fans in parallel. “When I wear the shirt I’m often asked, ‘Do the fans spin?’ Well, of course they do! Who would walk around wearing a bunch of computer fans that don’t spin?” Makers: page 80. Link to photo. Sample PDF. Click here to get Makers the book before the holidays!

Continue Reading February 29th, 2008 Phillip Torrone

Maker of the day – David Forbes, Nixie-display clocks and wristwatch

Today’s Maker from our new book Makers – David Forbes, Tucson, Arizona. Nixie-display clocks and wristwatch. Forbes has an old HP frequency counter and other vintage instruments in his workspace, and of course, everything has old-style Nixie displays. He just likes they way they look. When the vacuum tubes are charged with 170 volts, they shine numbers and letter with a solid, mellow orange hue. “They’re exotic and big and hopelessly impractical by modern standards.” Makers: page 102. View photo! See previous Makers of the day here. View sample PDF. Click here to get Makers the book before the holidays!