German chemical giant BASF pioneered the technology to colorize the traditionally blah-colored world of manufactured wood products like medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Besides requiring no or little finishing, through-color MDF will not betray scrapes or scratches like painted material. It has been available in Europe for awhile now, but only relatively recently in the US through […]
The Zeer pot is an African cooling gadget which, for less than $2US in local materials and without electricity, can extend the storage lifetime of fresh produce by as much as 18 days. It is of staggeringly simple design: Two clay pots are nested with a relatively thin layer of sand between them. The sand […]
I love old-style manually-operated tools. They frequently feature in my survivalist fantasies: the zombies come, the power grid collapses, and I’m the only one left who can still build killdozers because all my tools are manually-operated. Then one day Alyson Hannigan runs screaming into my compound, in terrible distress and in dire need of my […]
Over at the mightyOhm, Jeff Keyzer has a guest blogger, his friend Tony. Tony’s first project posted is (part 1) of this awesome diamond-bladed precision chop saw he built with parts from hard drives. The motor, pivot bearing, and motor driver are all from old drives. The blade is a surplus wafer-dicing blade, 300µm thick! […]
When I first saw this, I didn’t think it seemed like such a bright idea — maybe because of how it apparently beats the crap out of the tin and because this guy carries a lot of keys. I only carry three and a flat LED keyfob flashlight. And I always carry a tiny-tin Altoids […]
One of my upcoming Toolbox columns is going to cover shop storage tech. So I was happy to see this positive review of Akro-Mils storage cases in today’s Cool Tools: Working in industrial design, I constantly acquire small sets of parts to use for multiple clients and projects. I’ve tried using a variety of translucent […]
Don’t forget, we’re giving away a $100 Maker Shed gift certificate to our favorite entry in the “Teach Your Family to Solder” MAKEcation challenge. We’re also giving away five additional prizes (your choice of The Best of MAKE or The Best of Instructables) and some Maker’s Notebooks, so be sure to upload your images and […]
