Hacksaw

Fetch-O-Matic: Automatic Ball Launcher

Fetch-O-Matic: Automatic Ball Launcher

Several years ago I watched a viral YouTube video that starred Jerry the Dachshund, whose engineer owner had built him his very own automated ball launcher. I had two dogs at the time, and was also unemployed with some time on my hands, so I decided to try my hand at building one. After a […]

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Capstan for Winding Kite Line

Capstan for Winding Kite Line

This hand-cranked capstan pulls down kites easily and quickly but is lightweight and portable. A power option can be added for even more ease of use. The line ends up on a removable halo spool, so spools of line with varying weights can be used on the same winder. The winder is built from standard […]

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Thumb Piano

Thumb Piano

The thumb piano, known as a kalimba, mbira, and by many other names, is a lamellaphone that uses prongs called tongues, keys, or tines that you pluck to generate acoustic vibrations. The length of the tine determines the pitch. Generally, the thumb piano uses some kind of mechanism as an anchor that puts a great […]

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Pinhole Panoramic Camera

Pinhole Panoramic Camera

I bought a new scanner recently, and soon found myself spelunking through drawers of old photos from my many misspent years in photography. Some of the most interesting shots were the pinhole camera experiments I had done as a teenager. With ghostly outlines from multi-minute exposures, and shapes warped into boomerangs by curved film, these […]

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