In the twice-monthly Make: Online Toolbox, we focus mainly on tools that fly under the radar of more conventional tool coverage: in-depth tool-making projects, strange or specialty tools unique to a trade or craft that can be useful elsewhere, tools and techniques you may not know about, but once you do, and incorporate them into […]
Okay, mom, dad, so maybe you’re feeling a little of the ol’ economic pinch and the idea of stuffing the brood into the family cargo pod, filling its belly full of precious dinosaur squeezin’s, and setting off for Wally World just doesn’t sit comfortably on your bottom line this summer. You’ve decided to stay at […]
A look back on Episode 6 of Make: television. Individual segments after the jump. Enter the plugged-in world of Tim Kaiser, a maker who fashions experimental musical instruments from scavenged objects. In the Workshop John Park assembles a portable trebuchet from plastic plumbing pipe, and circuit bender Bianca Pettis demystifies the art of soldering. The […]
ThinkGeek is now selling “Wire Glue,” a conductive adhesive made with micro-carbons. They’re selling a .3 oz bottle for $4. I like what BotJunkie said about it: It looks like a neat product, and I’m sure it works well, but if you’re thinking of getting this rather than learning how to solder… You should just […]
I made this scorpion toy with a Twitchie Robot Kit. I’m really afraid of scorpions where I live in Arizona, so I thought a friendly toy would help me get used to them. I made his plush body from some fabric I had around, aiming to make him look like an Arizona bark scorpion, which are tan/yellowish/translucent. Twitchie is Arduino powered and comes pre-programmed, so it’s an excellent kit for beginners in robotics, because no programming is required! You can download and modify the code if you want, and it’s pretty light on the soldering, too. I’d recommend Twitchie for young makers (boys & girls, too!) interested in robotics or moving plush toys. You can buy the Twitchie Robot Kit in the Maker Shed:
http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKTET2
Music is “At the Crack of Noon” by Shuutobi, http://shuutobi.com
Photograph by Pat Molner Surface Mount Soldering Techniques for making modern circuits. By Scott Driscoll When cellphones were housed in briefcases, manufactured electronics had easy-to-solder leads. Now phones fit in pockets, and the smaller surface-mount devices (SMDs) inside are driving through-hole components into extinction. SMDs can cost less than their old-school equivalents, and many newer […]
Certainly there are lots of electronics and kits that have entered Makers’ lives lately. Some people already know how to solder, but many people are just getting started. Amy posted a comment voicing her frustration at learning the seemingly guild like skill of soldering. Below are my notes to Amy, which seemed like it would […]
