Wire cutter/stripper Archives

Solar Spinners for Your Windowsill!

This is an easy-to-build simple solar engine, also known as a Trimmet. We will construct a direct-drive type (as opposed to a voltage-triggered) spinner that will really go nowhere fast in direct sunlight. Perfect for windowsills and desktops that get a lot of old Sol’s rays. Many different styles are possible, but this is a […]

Green Lantern Lantern and Ring

One of my friends is a fan of the Green Lantern, and he thought it would be cool to have a glowing ring that charges when put inside a lamp. I realized that I already had something similar in my Upgraded Indestructible LED Lantern project, so I decided to build it.

Covert Listening Book

Connect a shirt pocket “amplified listener” hearing aid with an in-car FM transmitter, and you’ve got a wireless bug. Tuck them inside a hollowed-out book with the mic concealed by the dust cover, and you’ve got a covert listening device that you can leave lying around or on a shelf near a surveillance target. Then […]

Lumia Lunchbox Laser

Back in the 1970s, my friend Wayne Gillis and I used to do light shows at science fiction conventions. We had the usual panoply of overhead, slide, and custom-made projectors, and a single, very expensive, helium-neon laser from Edmund Scientific. Calling ourselves Light Opera, and later, Illuminatus, we performed at ConFusion conventions in Ann Arbor, […]