Indie makers RLT Industries of New Braunfels, TX, sell this lovely wooden model kit of the classic “south-pointing chariot” mechanism: Set the chariot down with the vane pointing in an arbitrary direction–south, north, whatever–and a geared differential connected to the wheels will keep it pointing the same direction regardless of which way the chariot turns. […]
I have often opined that truly creative problem solving comes from limiting one’s options, rather than expanding them. Which is why prisoner’s inventions fascinate me so much. (If you’ve not had a chance to browse Angelo’s Prisoners’ Inventions book, BTW, I highly recommend it–it’s not about shivs or improvised weapons, but about how prisoners make game pieces, heat water, control the climate in their cells, etc., etc. using only the odds and ends they are permitted by, or can slip past the attention of, the state.) Compare an object like this prop handgun, which was reportedly used by John Dillinger in his escape from the Crown Point, Indiana Jail in 1934, to, say, a modern-day toothbrush handle, or a Nike sneaker, designed by a professional working with a CAD-CAM system, industrial machine tooling, and a smorgasboard of rainbow-colored polymers and elastomers, most of which add no functional value at all, and are employed just to make a product stand out from competitors on the shelf. Granted, an escaping prisoner and a product designer have wildly different goals, but if asked “which is doing more creative, original problem-solving,” I know how I’d answer.
Jen Cotton writes: Want to know how to make a precise shape on the potter’s wheel? Well here’s one way I’ve used to make a specific form. It is sort of a mash up of techniques between a plaster wheel and a potters wheel.
Robot uprising jokes are getting a bit stale, I suppose, so I’ll pass on the obvious Terminator allusions this time. Plus this hulking tracked demolition machine from Sweden’s Husqvarna Construction Products is remote controlled, not autonomous, and so is really more a giant R/C car on steroids, with a massive jackhammer arm, than it is a true robot. Still, “awesome” comes to mind. [via BotJunkie]
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 […]
The Open Heart kit V2.0 is a matrix of individually addressable LEDs that allow you to create customizable animations when connected to your favorite micro controller. Attach it temporarily to fabrics with headers that you simply push through, or sew it into a project with conductive fabric for a more permanent setup. It’s “Charlieplexed” so you need only 6 wires to control the 27 LEDs
For this week’s Toolbox column, I want to cover “homely tools,” those “nothing special” items in your toolbox that you couldn’t live without — that awesome pair of scissors you got from your grandmother that you use all the time, the hammer who’s balance, weight, and grip you always appreciate whenever you wield it, the […]
