Skill Builders

Replacing a Busted Camera Screen

Replacing a Busted Camera Screen

Somehow the screen on my digital camera got busted. Since the ill-fated, and mysterious demise of the back display, I’ve been limited to using the viewfinder. Last week, I finally got fed up with not being able to take a picture without my eye jammed into the cup. Since I use my left eye to compose, and just about every camera on the planet is designed for right-eyed people, it has never been convenient to look through a viewfinder anyway. Add eyeglasses to the mix and external screens definitely work better.

Continue Reading Chris Connors18
It’s Robotics Month on MAKE

It’s Robotics Month on MAKE

In concert with the forthcoming robot issue of MAKE, Volume 27, we’ll be covering robots here on the site this month. As you can imagine, over the years, we’ve amassed quite a lot of robot-related material, here on the website, in the magazine, and in Make: Projects. We’ll be repackaging some of the best of that material over the next month and organizing some of it into our Skill Builder series.

Continue Reading Gareth Branwyn12
Collin’s Lab: Switches

Collin’s Lab: Switches

Easily overlooked, but elemental to electronics hardware, the manually operated switch is the simplest of electromechanical devices — and likely the most familiar. While the most basic switch is … well, quite basic — there’s a crazy-huge variety of switch types & sizes available to the electronics maker nowadays. Those new to the soldering & schematics scene will surely benefit from an introduction to some of the terms and formats relevant to various switch species.

Continue Reading Collin Cunningham
Cream-of-the-crop DIY Softbox Designs

Cream-of-the-crop DIY Softbox Designs

Thanks to Flickr user Matt Jones for hipping me to Udi Tirosh’s recent homemade softbox design contest over on DIYPhotography.net. For those, like myself, who are unsure, a “softbox” or “soft box” is simply a diffuse lighting source for taking photos, commonly with a reflective interior and one or more diffusing panels that scatter the light and help prevent it from casting harsh shadows. The contest had seventy submissions, reportedly, and here you can read about Udi’s top 24.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan4