[youtube:http://youtu.be/sd2PNHysj7A] Do you know how a hammer works? Yes, probably, you do — it hasn’t changed much in millennia, and even less in the last 70 years. So this video, a promotional effort by Disney and General Motors from 1945, feels at first like an occasionally delightful, occasionally cringe-worthy (the only character is “Primitive Pete”) […]
The creative folks at HGTV have just made a ton of crafty folks very, very happy. How? They’re launching an awesome new YouTube channel just for the DIY set: HGTV Handmade!
A quick look at the 10 beginner-friendly electronics projects we’ve built thus far over at Weekend Projects. Don’t forget to check out all our project videos, and subscribe to the Weekend Projects Newsletter!
This Nissin 3D bender is kind of like a PlayDoh Fun Factory, except it squirts out 1.25″ steel pipe instead of soft non-toxic-but-funny-tasting dough. Looks like much of the magic is in the bending-die head.
Very interesting vid from 16-year-old Hayden Parker, who impressed me greatly with his animated chemistry demonstrations at Maker Faire. Metallic aluminum can be dissolved in liquid gallium to create an aluminum-bearing alloy that is liquid at ambient conditions. Because it can flow in the alloy, the aluminum cannot form a stable passive oxide layer and will react violently with water, which nicely demonstrates the normally-hidden high natural reactivity of metallic aluminum.
A few years back, before I worked for MAKE, I had some business cards laser cut and blogged about it. Every so often, somebody runs across them and e-mails asking for helping making their own. I always refer them to Angus Hines, who’s a good friend, a Maker Faire regular, and the best (and least expensive) CNC contractor I know. Recently, Angus was hired by Frank Anselmo Eco to laser-cut some business cards from glow-in-the-dark sheet plastic, which is a pretty cool idea, IMHO. But the reason it’s on MAKE is the sweet lights-out video Angus shot of the laser-cutting action; check out how the phosphorescent plastic continues to glow for several seconds behind each cut. [Thanks, Angus!]
Most of our readers will know that one of the most common types of residential smoke detectors actually contains radioactive material—specifically, an isotope of americium—which is used to ionize air molecules in the detector itself. In this video, the always-engaging Bill Hammack, aka Engineer Guy, explains both the operation of the ionizing detector and, most interestingly for me, also the circuit in which it operates, and the MOSFET which is the other critical component in that circuit (and is, incidentally, the namesake of Phil Torrone’s cat). Characteristic Bill quote: “To me, this is engineering at its best: Simple, reliable, and inexpensive. And saving countless lives.” Thanks, Bill, as always!
