Scope Photography Rig
Quality cameras for microscope and telescope photography can run $500. But you can also use your family digital camera, attaching it to the eyepiece with a simple mount made from PVC pipe.
Drill
Worm Bin: Make Your Own Indoor Composter
For three years I lived in a house with an outdoor composter. Then my family moved to an apartment in San Francisco where there was neither composter nor green box pickup! What was I going to do with all my kitchen scraps? I didn’t have the heart to put them in the landfill garbage or […]
The Chinese Windlass
In the summer of 1860, the Second Opium War was reaching its climax. Three years earlier, Britain and France had invaded Canton, China, in order to expand their trade in such unsavory commodities as opium and indentured servants. Chinese Emperor Xianfeng had resisted the outsiders, and a low-intensity war continued in fits and starts. The […]
Vintage Book Stash
Recycle castoff books and turn them into this sneaky, decorative book safe.
Custom LED Spiral Staircase Lighting
I needed a lighting solution for my spiral staircase. After looking at various options (such as direct lighting from above or below) I decided to create my own lighting using some cheap components and a bit of time. I’ll show how I designed and built my lighting rig. Hopefully I can help other people avoid […]
Rok-Bak Chair
Make a chair that’s comfortable, looks good, reclines, disassembles for compactness and portability, and can be made from just a single sheet of plywood.
Chladni Plate
Use a broken speaker, bits of wire, and tape to prepare a coneless voice coil driver, then use it to generate standing waves on a sheet of metal, making sound visible. Magic! My knowledgeable friend Robin once said that you don’t need to worry about having too big an audio amplifier, because speakers are usually […]