From a January, 2010 piece on DesignBoom: Hook and loop fasteners have become commonplace features of both industry and households. However, they have one snag: they are too weak for many applications. Hook and loop fasteners made of spring steel have now been developed at the Institute of Metal Forming and Casting of the Technische […]
In the 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 your […]
We’ve talked internally before about the fact that many of us are mesmerized by tutorial videos, even when we know nothing about the subject being demonstrated. I don’t know from woodworking, but I had a great time watching this five-part series on turning a hollow spiral candlestick on a router mill. Okay, so I might […]
Jan Lategahn (Germany) has put together a series of articles and links describing simple ways to calibrate amateur electronic instruments with a fair degree of accuracy without having to spend a bundle on a professional calibration lab. Methods and devices include DC and AC voltages, resistance, current, RF level, and frequency. Above are Jan’s homemade […]
Blow-molding (Wikipedia) is an thermoplastic forming process in which a hot polymer pre-form is injected with gas to press it against the inside of a hollow mold. It’s how most plastic bottles are made. Designer George Fereday got annoyed that the primarily-industrial process was so inaccessible and decided to build his own DIY version, which extrudes pre-melted polymorph plastic through a custom die attached to a normal caulking gun to create the hollow pre-form. There’s more detail over at Core77.
A kiridashi is a kind of all-purpose Japanese utility knife, of minimalist styling, commonly without a separate handle. Hand-forged for $45 from bladesmith Scott A. Roush of Washburn, Wisconsin. Includes leather sheath, tassel, and naturally-shed horn bead.
Ever come out of a long kit build with a splitting headache from the solder fumes? Me too. A benchtop solder fume extractor’s been on my shopping list for some time, but to be honest, I wasn’t very excited about another piece of expensive safety equipment. I recently had the chance to try out an […]
