Make: Online: Crafts Archives

Crafts Archive: Crafts

July 3, 2009

Hardware chess sets

The tradition of improvising a chess set from whatever's on hand is probably as venerable as chess itself. Chess culture is chock-full of sets put together from odds and ends of every description, but here I'm only focusing on sets built from mechanical and electrical bits--mostly nuts, bolts, and washers of various flavors. If you've got a good one I missed, please do link it in the comments.

If you're interested in making your own and want some guidance, Mother Earth News has a nice tutorial.

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July 1, 2009

Circuit board latch hook rug

Rachel @ CRAFT points us to this rad circuit board latch hook rug by Red Tarts. I think I just realized Ineed a new bath mat.

Breathtaking papercraft castle

By way of fellow papercraft enthusiast Cory Doctorow comes images of this incredible castle, posted on Tokyobling. Tokyobling explains:

I had the immense opportunity to see this wonderful paper craft art installation by a genius of the name of Wataru Itou, a young student of a major art university here in Tokyo. The installation is hand made over four years of hard work, complete with electrical lights and a moving train, all made of paper! Clearly, this man must have created one of the most stunning examples of Paper Craft in the world? At the exhibition you will also have the chance to see a video showing Mr. Itou at work in his studio, cutting and folding piece by piece. The exhibition is called Umi no Ue no Oshiro (A Castle On the Ocean ), 海の上のお城. It is exhibited at Uminohotaru, a place which in itself is a major attraction: a service area in the middle of the ocean, right between Tokyo City and Chiba Prefecture.

A Paper Craft Castle On the Ocean [via Boing Boing]

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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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 :)

June 30, 2009

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

June 29, 2009

Trash menagerie

~~Unfortunately, the artist behind these cool component-sculptures goes unnamed. Anybody know who it is?~~

These cool component-sculptures are the work of Ann P. Smith of Providence, RI. Thanks to Lithium Rain for providing us with her name and homepage.

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Make: Projects - Sew a cute Morse code key leg strap

Diana Eng (best known from her season on Project Runway and her book Fashion Geek: Clothes Accessories Tech) is our current guest contributor, covering ham radio for Make: Online. In this Make: Project, Diana adds a little fashion frill to a standard piece of ham radio gear, the Morse code key. - Gareth Branwyn

I am just starting to learn Morse code and got a brand new key from American Morse Equipment. Most keys need to be mounted to hold them in place while the operator is dah-dit-ing. Keys are mounted on a heavy platform, or fastened to a radio. And some keys are worn on a leg strap. As a lady operator, and fashion designer, I wanted something cuter to keep my key on my leg, so here it is -- how to turn a standard leg strap into a cute Morse code key leg strap.

Materials:
* 1 yd 2" wide satin ribbon
* 1 yd 3/8" wide patterned ribbon
* 1 yd 3" wide lace
* 2 spools of thread (to match patterned ribbon and lace)
* scissors
* a small amount of tulle (an 8" x 8" square will work just fine)
* a small amount of organza
* pins
* screw driver
* measuring tape

* key
* leg strap

1. Using the measuring tape, measure around your leg where you'd like to wear the strap. Subtract ½" from this measurement and cut the lace and patterned ribbon to this length.

2. Using a sewing machine, straight stitch the edge of the ribbon 1 1/8" in from the edge of the lace.

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June 28, 2009

CRAFT weekly recap

This week on CRAFT we saw:

Pool Toss Game

Surveillance Camera Cross Stitch

Making Your Own Play Dough is Fun

June 27, 2009

iPod birthday cake

Looking for the perfect birthday cake for an Applephile? You couldn't go too far wrong with a cake like this cake from April Julian. No screen polishing needed here.

June 26, 2009

Artomatic 500

Looking to build and race your own kinetic sculpture in the DC area? Don't mIss the Artomatic 500 on Saturday, June 27:

Racers and crew are invited to create a cardboard "vehicle" which could be two dimensional, three dimensional -- even four dimensional if you can make it happen -- as long as it it entirely powered by a walking or running human and is decorated by the driver and his or her team. No engine or propulsion system of any sort is allowed. Wheels are optional. In fact, they are discouraged.

Word is that you should bring your own refrigerator box if you're so inclined.

The Artomatic site has lots of info, and check out their Flickr pool.

June 24, 2009

Blue wood exists!

OK, so it's not like smurf-blue, but still: Blue hardwood! It comes from Talipariti elatum, the so-called "Blue Mahoe" tree, which is native to the Caribbean and is, apparently, the national tree of Jamaica. Turns out it also grows very quickly and shows some promise for sustainable forestry. Lumber is available through Tropic Ventures.

June 23, 2009

How-To: Fuzzy fuzz pedal

Randy Sarafan writes:

Standard fuzz pedals were just not fuzzy enough for me. Only the fuzziest fuzz pedal was going to be suitable for my musical endeavors. I searched high and low for the fuzziest fuzz pedal in the land, but I couldn't find it. Finally, I resolved that if I wanted a fuzzy fuzz pedal, I was going to have make my own. After much careful analysis and planing, I can confidently say that I have made the fuzziest guitar fuzz pedal ever to grace this planet Earth. If that's not enough to wet your whistle, it's squishy too.

Antique bottle collecting

Antique bottles have always fascinated me. Here's an amazing site with pretty much everything you need to know about identifying and dating "historic bottles." The site is maintained by the Bureau of Land Management.

Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website

More:

More sea glass hunting
The sea glass of summer
HOW TO - Make a Sea Glass Necklace (Craft: Blog)
Beach glass

June 22, 2009

Super skull roundupalooza

Skulls! Who doesn't love 'em?

Well, me, for one, and probably a bunch of other folks who don't care to be constantly reminded of mortality. We seem to be in the minority, however, with most deriving some kind of weird existential thrill, or deep Buddhist-y zen calm, from staring deep into the empty, black sockets of eternally grinning Death. Whee!

So, in honor of you deranged necrophiles, (especially you, Noah Scalin) I've rounded up three years worth of skullaphenalia from MAKE and CRAFT. Whether your taste runs to soft-and-cuddly pink death or cold-and-creepy-with-tentacles death, you're sure to find something among these links that quenches your malevolent bloodthirst. You make me sick! Also: Enjoy!

Livejournaler vomitsaw's bracelet is made from an etched PCB, with solder pads for eyes and mating RCA connectors as a clasp.

Cute death:

Shawn Bowman's sugar-skull tutorial will have you smacking your lips on sweet death in no time.

Tasty death:

Mark Kilner's "Numbskull" is a plastic skull covered in painkillers.

Arty death:

Wayne Martin Belger's cenobite-esque "Third Eye" is a century-old skull fitted with a pinhole camera.

Downright creepy death:

My own "Deathblinger" clock is a rhinestone de-gentrification of a high-falutin' designer diamond watch.

Miscellaneous death:

Guitar-shaped birthday cake

Denise Nicole Francis, who's usually making jewelry, wanted a guitar birthday cake. So her friend Kristen Fowler and her sister Shalisa Francis helped her create this beauty!

She writes:

As you all know I love and play guitar. Naturally I wanted the most creative birthday cake, so I decided to make a guitar cake! I have to admit it took forever to make and there was A LOT of leftover cake, but all in all it was an awesome experience.

You can see the entire step-by-step process in the Community section of Denise's website, Cre8tive Soul.

Papercraft Mini Moog won't break the bank

Should you find yourself in want of a classic Moog Synthesizer but a little short on funds, consider anait's paper version - much more portable than the original!

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Precisely rendered paper synth