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July 1, 2009

How-To: Weave a rope mat

I've seen this thing referred to as an "Ocean Mat," a "Prolong Knot," a "Ladder Mat," and a "Sailor's True Love Mat." Whatever you want to call it, it's a noble expression of the manly art of knot-tying, and this tutorial at the UK's Scullion Enterprises will show you how it's done.

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Posted by Sean Michael Ragan | Jul 1, 2009 09:00 AM
Crafts, DIY Projects, Transportation | Permalink | Comments (3) | Suggest a Site

Make: Projects - More on making Light Bricks

By Alden Hart

The "LED Light Brick" project in MAKE, Volume 18 has generated lots of good feedback for us, so we went back and asked Alden to explore a few variations on the theme of the brick casting itself, how you might be creative with it. This article is the result. Be sure to check out the original piece in MAKE, Volume 18, and also the on-line supplement containing specific casting instructions. --SMR

From the pages of MAKE

Some Experiments in Mold Making

A lot of the fun of the Light Brick is trying out different molds. Some very different effects can be achieved depending on the mold you make. This post explores some mold making options and experiments.

Read full story

TGIMBOEJ upgrades

The Great Internet Migratory Box Of Electronics Junk (Tig-Ihm-Boh-Edge) project is gettting a bit of a facelift. From Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, this "pay-it-forward style hardware sharing program for electronics" system has had its successes and pitfalls this year, and some adjustments to the system come now after learning what works and what doesn't. New standardized documents to be included in the boxes means everyone who gets one will know what to do with it, and recipients are encouraged to track their boxes even after they send them off to the next lucky hackers. EMSL is also launching new boxes this week, so check out the new and improved project wiki if you're interested in participating.

FedEx wine rack

From the MAKE Flickr pool

The Arkansasridgerunner pioneers the world of shipping chic with this sensible wine rack built from FedEx tubes. I do believe this would go quite nicely with my packing-peanut chaise lounge!

Candy PCB most likely ROHS-compliant

From the MAKE Flickr pool

James' sweetie fabbed a nice piece of edible circuitry for him -

My girlfriend Sarah made this candy circuit board birthday cake topper. Originally she wanted to make a gingerbread MakerBot, but didn't have the time or space.

Instead she was inspired by the iPhone motherboard and went from there. The base is dark chocolate covered with green frosting. The resistors are Tic Tacs!

That rainbow (sour straw?) ribbon cable is a nice touch as well :)

Handmade instrument exhibition in LA

Los Angeles art gallery SolwayJones is currently showing a collection of unique acoustic and electronic musical instruments by Reed Ghazala, Nam June Paik and others. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area - press release + photos on the gallery's site. [via GetLoFi]

Some recent FMCG vids

Our pal Jeri Ellsworth and her crew of restless USTREAM-ing hackers are at it again, exploring light polarization, sparking ions, and reversing time.

The Fat Man and Circuit Girl

DIY Copy stand for iPhone 3GS

Taking advantage of the increased resolution and new autofocus capabilities of the iPhone 3GS to shoot close-up stills has just gotten a little easier thanks to Derrick Story's DIY Copy Stand for the iPhone 3GS. Utilizing a commodity storage container from the local mercantile and repurposing the iPhone's packaging Derrick has created an easy to assemble positioning apparatus that doubles as a light diffuser.

If you've ever tried close-up work with the iPhone, you know you have two challenges. The first is holding the camera steady enough to avoid camera shake. The second is getting the plane of the camera parallel to the plane of the subject to avoid distortion. This little device helps with both, plus diffuses the light for a more flattering rendering.

[via thedigitalstory]

The first ethernet cable

Lisa Katayama writes on Boing Boing Gadgets:

Behind an ordinary door in a nondescript room hosting several printers and copiers at PARC is the world's first Ethernet cable. In 1973, Bob Metcalfe sent an internal memo to his colleagues at Xerox proposing a local system of interacting workstations, files, and printers. The devices would all be linked by one coaxial cable, he said, and would run within a local area network. He called the system an Ether Network, or Ethernet. By 1976, there were over 100 devices linked into Metcalfe's local network, and it was even used to test out the world's first laser printer, which was being developed concurrently in another research facility within Xerox. Metcalfe and his assistant David Boggs published their findings in the Association for Computing Machinery later that year. The rest is history.

Photo and original diagram of the world's first ethernet cable

New in the Maker Shed: ArduPilot

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The ArduPilot from the Maker Shed is a full-featured autopilot based on the Arduino open-source hardware platform. It uses infrared (thermopile) sensors for stabilization and GPS for navigation. Requires a GPS module and an infrared XY sensor (not included). The autopilot handles both stabilization and navigation, eliminating the need for a separate stabilization system. It also supports a "fly-by-wire" mode that can stabilize an aircraft when flying manually under RC control, making it easier and safer to fly. The hardware and software are all open source. The board comes with all the surface-mount parts already soldered, but requires the user to solder on connectors. Firmware is already loaded, but the autopilot software must be downloaded and loaded onto the board by the user.

More about the ArduPilot

In the Maker Shed: Arduino Projects Pack

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Bridging the gap between the "real world" and your computer, the Arduino Projects Pack takes you further into the world of physical computing. We've included all sorts of cool electronic parts this time that help you delve deeper into the true capacity of the Arduino. You'll experience what the tens of thousands of engineers, designers, artists and hobbyists already know about this awesome and educational prototyping platform.

More about the Arduino Projects Pack

How-To: Droning machine

Randy Sarafan's band has got to be set up by now, he built his own droning machine from the movie Eli Eli Lema Sabachthani.

Introducing the Fiat 500 Bulldozer

Ironsmith Kogoro Kurata took the body of a Fiat 500 and put it on an old set of Cat tracks. Tortoise-timed trips to the store, and hilarity, ensued.

Monkey Farm [via Pink Tentacle]

Keeping their cool

Over on GeekDad, Dana Bostic came up with this simple backyard cool-the-kids "hack" -- a hose sprayer set to "shower," zip-tied to a tall step ladder pouring down onto a trampoline -- so the kids can work up a sweat and cool off at the same time!

Keeping the Kids Cool This Summer [Thanks, Shawn!]

Motors and microcontrollers 101

Continuing with their fine series of tutorial videos, Humberto from NerdKits shows a number of basic experiments you can do with a DC motor, how EMF, resistance, and inductance influence the design of a motor control circuit, and finally, how to use toggled digital output and pulse-width modulation in driving the motor via a microcontroller.

NerdKits video tutorials [via Hack a Day]

How-To: Make pyrophoric iron

A former chemistry teacher of mine provided a great definition of "pyrophoric:"

[It] means that if you playfully squirt some at your lab mates, they will burst into flame.

In other (less amusing) words, a "pyrophoric" substance is one that ignites spontaneously on exposure to air.
Pyrophoric iron, however, isn't as dangerous as that makes it sound, especially in small quantities.

Basically, the oxidation of iron is so vigorous that it can cause very finely divided iron metal to become incandescent. Amazing Rust has a great tutorial on how to prepare finely divided iron by thermolyzing iron oxalate, a yellow powder that can, in turn, be prepared by a simple reaction between two common chemicals.

Book Review: Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop

I've wanted to get into knifemaking since I was a teenager, but for years had been deterred by the belief that I first needed to buy a bunch of expensive equipment, like a 3-wheel belt grinder and an annealing oven. Then I found Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop, which is a compilation of material originally prepared for Goddard's eponymous column in BLADE magazine. It kind of does for knifemaking what Dave Gingery's books did for foundrywork, going back to the historical fundamentals of the technology to get at what you really need to do good work. Goodies include homemade forges and anvils, homemade disc and belt grinders, scavenging steel for blades (including forging wire rope to make Damascus steel), finishing techniques, backyard heat treating, and a whole chapter on "tribal knifemaking," which is the modern art of making knives without using electricity. Fascinating stuff.

Solar hand fan

Elena Corchero designed this solar vintage-looking hand fan that functions as a portable light at night. Are we seeing a new niche in luxury goods emerging here? In her newly launched online boutique she also sells electronic toy construction kits and reflective lace (for safely biking in your fancy socks). Via Fashioning Technology.

Lithophane-making with the Micro CNC

MAKE contributor Steve Lodefink posted results from his Lumenlab Micro CNC's maiden voyage -

Lithophanes were a popular way to hide girlie pictures in the bottom a of gentleman's tea cup around the end of the 19th century. An image would be molded into the porcelain in the cup so that only when held up to a light would the picture be visible.
[...]
I "lithophaned" an image of a skull into a piece of corian. When viewed under normal front lighting, it sort of looks like a distorted C-3P0 face, but when held up to a light source, it is transformed into a skull.

Check out video of the 'skullithophanery' in process over @ Finkbuilt.

QR Code ruglette

Nikolaus Gradwohl, an Austrian MAKE subscriber, created a QR code of his mother's name that she can weave into the rugs she makes. Our very own Becky Stern was showing off her knitted QR code scarf at the Mini Maker Square at the Google I/O conference last month. She hadn't had much luck with getting phonecams to successfully scan the code before, but a number of people at the conference were able to read it.

QR-Code Carpet