Make: Asks is a new weekly column where we ask you, our readers, for responses to maker-related questions. We hope the column will spark interesting conversation and that we’ll get to know more about each other.
This week’s question: What is your favorite building material, and why?
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Shape-memory alloy (SMA), metal that changes shape when heated to an activation temperature can be used in all sorts of projects.
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In celebration of Advanced Materials Month here on MAKE, I’m bringing you the most fabulous wearable electronics using innovative conductive materials like fibers and paints. This is the roundup to end all other roundups; it showcases 22 of my favorite projects. Above: Soft Circuit Musical Hats
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Last year we launched our Skill Builder series on the site, a monthly educational program exploring core maker skills (electronics, woodworking, metalworking, etc.). We think we got off to a good start and want to continue building on that content. But this year, we’re approaching the skill sets from a different angle: The materials that go into what you build.
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Aerogels are fascinating materials, with lots of interesting and, frankly, amazing properties, but they are not easy to make. These days, industrial manufacture with an eye towards commercial applications, primarily as thermal insulators, is bringing the price down some, at least for granules, but larger pieces still cost around $50 US per cubic inch. Ben Krasnow, impressively, has made his own…
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As I wrote about a month ago, one of the many unusual phenomena Ben Krasnow has produced in his garage is supercritical CO2. As you may recall, Ben machined a custom acrylic pressure vessel so he could get (and give) a good look at a state of matter that most of us have little experience of. Since then Ben has inadvertently had a chance to observe another extremely unusual effect: the carbonation of solid acrylic.
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UK educational supply center centre Mindsets online sells variously-sized 3mm thick sample sheets of Eastman’s Spectar copolyester at not-completely-outlandish prices. Spectar supposedly looks and handles much like acrylic, but with the surprising property that it can be cold-formed without breaking or whitening, and exhibits a memory effect, holding a cold bend until reheated.
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