Tools

175 free woodworking ebooks

The Woodworks Library has a bunch of PDFs of woodworking books, mostly public domain materials from the late 1800s or early 1900s. However, some of them are more modern, like this US Army Corps of Engineers carpentry manual from 1995. [via open materials] Update to Previous Warning: We posted a warning about possible PDF-based malware […]

Small-space workbench

Make: Online reader Conor wrote in with a pic of his small, small workshop — on top of an old traveler’s trunk, underneath his loft bed in a 8×8′ room! Kind of reminds me of Adam Wolf’s closet workshop except with more Mexican candles. And what’s that he’s working on? An electric guitar slash bullhorn? […]

Custom DIY MIDI controller boards

Livid’s Builder series consists of a central USB-MIDI “Brain” board plus several input boards, each size-customizable for use with LED pushbuttons, rotary potentiometers, or faders. The system could definitely speed-up construction of that controller-of-your-dreams project – just be sure you won’t end up wanting a few more buttons after you’ve drilled/cut the enclosure (guessing I […]

Toolbox: First aid

Toolbox: First aid

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 […]