Last night I dreamed of a magical material that would be bendable like metal, as easy to shape as wood, and would never warp, split, or splinter. It would be washable, would never need painting, and would last almost forever. This morning, when I sat down at my desk, the stuff from my dream was […]
About 13 years ago I learned of some military research into a satellite- and missile-defense device that would propel projectiles using Lenz’s law, which governs the direction of electrical current induced by a changing magnetic field. I decided to make a little gadget based on the same principle for my kids, to get them interested […]
I have wanted to weave since I can remember, but I always thought it was impossible because of space constraints. Then I got my hands on a tapestry loom! With a tapestry loom you’re able to weave the full length of warp because it’s wrapped around the frame. You actually shift the warp bar, and […]
I love mixing technologies to create an amalgam that looks like one thing but is actually something different. A case in point is the old hard drive that I stuffed full of flash memory. It looks like an internal drive, but it’s actually a solid-state memory peripheral that plugs in via USB. This makes it […]
My lovely wife has been collecting vintage jewelry for most of her adult life. Some pieces she considers “too good to wear” and keeps stashed in jewelry boxes, waiting for those special occasions that never seem to come. Others she keeps in rotation, wearing favorites often, then switching them out for other favorites. One of […]
I love using old machine parts for my projects; often their workmanship surpasses that of anything new, and you can get them cheap or even free. Find a junkyard full of ancient, rusty industrial equipment, and you can build almost anything — or at least be inspired to, which is half the battle! But many […]
No matter how many fancy cat toys they have, there is nothing in this world that makes my cats happier than a good old fashioned cardboard box. So, taking a cue from them, I designed a cat tree that turns four regular cardboard boxes into a flashy two-story cat rocket, complete with carpet for scratching […]
