A flame gulper is an old fashioned type of engine also known as a vacuum engine. According to the Wikipedia page, “A mixture of gas and air was drawn into the cylinder and ignited; the mixture expanded and part of it escaped through the exhaust valve; the valve then closed, the mixture cooled and contracted, […]
Designed by San Diego artist Christopher Schaie and milled on his ShopBot CNC robot to be installed, with a glass dome on one side, to serve as the peephole in a nautical-themed door he is creating for his studio. Details, including DXF files, in this thread on the ShopBot forum.
David “daqq” Gustafik from Bratislava, Slovakia wrote in with this excellent robot. It uses mostly harvested parts, including old motors pulled from an East German printer. But the centerpiece of the design is a tiny monochrome CRT. The CRT tube itself is a Tungsram DG7-123. It’s an old CRT, meant primarily for scopes. It’s got […]
Silverspaceship coded up a simple 3D maze app for his monome 256. Nothin’ like a $1400 premium music controller for retro gaming ;) [via monome: news]
For those who aren’t up on their tradecraft, a “dead drop” is a place where spies or other clandestine-y folks drop off items for later retrieval by other agents. A “dead drop spike” is a particularly ingenious little container devised for the purpose. Basically, it’s a hollow metal spike, with a threaded watertight closure at the top. You put your top-secret microfilm or whatever inside the spike, take it to your dead drop, and stomp it into the ground with your foot. Then you cover it up with a rock or a piece of trash or whatever. The lid has a pull-loop built into it, so that when your contact comes by later to clear the drop, he or she can grab the spike by the loop and yank it out of the ground again.
Found in the MAKE Flickr pool: Mario Caicedo Langer of Bogotá, Colombia, built this excellent prop weapon called the Pistol WTF 2000 that packs light and sound effects. (Click on the image for a bigger pic.) MATERIALS: My old heat gun (RIP), pieces of video camera, industrial plastic rollers, toilet tank tree, blender glass funds. […]
The Incredible San Fancisco Artists’ Soapbox Derby, 1975 via Kottke. Stumbled across and purchased an actual print of this film back in SF while working on a project for the SF MOMA. Amanda Pope did a great job capturing the spirit of creativity and the event itself. I wonder where all of these cars are […]
