Make: Online: Modern Mechanix Archives

Archive: Modern Mechanix

October 4, 2009

Grow your own Pumpkinhead

This trick actually came in really handy the last time reckless teenagers accidentally killed a member of my family. It takes several months for the pumpkin to grow into the shape of the victim's face, but, that's actually sort of useful because it gives you time to cool down and figure out if you really want to go through with the whole vengeance-from-beyond-the-grave thing or not. If you decide against it, you can always use your hellpumpkin as the world's creepiest Jack-o'-lantern, which is what I ended up doing. It worked out great, at least until those same reckless teenagers kicked it into a pile of goo on my front porch. That's irony for you! So now I'm growing another one...

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

October 3, 2009

Unpowered mechanical gate opener, the video

Okay, MichaelLubke is officially my favorite reader ever. In response to my recent post speculating about mechanical gate openers, not only did he run out and snap some photos of a working "Gandy Slide-A-Way" near his ranch, but in response to appreciative comments from our readers he went back and got this video of it in operation. Awesome! Look at it go! Thanks so much Michael!

September 10, 2009

Prototype airless vehicle tires

As we have reported before, the idea of an airless tire (or "tweel") is at least as old as the 1930s. Still, these photos of prototype non-pneumatic tires under development for the US military by Resilient Technologies, LLC, are pretty sick. Gimme!

July 22, 2009

Hi Sibley DIY archives

When writer and maker Hi Sibley died in 1971, the editors of Popular Mechanics dubbed him the dean of do-it-yourself. Hi wrote hundreds of articles over the years for Popular Science and Popular Mechanics, many of which are now available online through Google Books. Howard Fink has created a Hi Sibley blog and bibliography that links to many of these articles. The blog also has other news, background, and ephemera related to Hi. Good stuff.

Hi Sibley Blog [Thanks, Howard!]

June 29, 2009

Scottish rotary boat lift - The Falkirk Wheel

This amazing machine transfers boats between the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals of central Scotland, which are some 80 feet apart vertically. It was opened in 2002. Gareth wrote last year about artist Andy Scott's proposal to install a pair of titanic mythical sea-horse heads as part of the lock mechanism below the wheel. Via Neatorama.

February 25, 2009

The Story of the Match ~ a Great World Industry

Make Pt1788
The Story of the Match ~ a Great World Industry - Modern Mechanix 1930.

Modern methods and modern machinery have trans formed the making of matches from a dangerous, disease-producing business into one of the world’s great industries. Here we have the story of how science has made the present-day match possible. HOW many matches have you used today? You should, according to America’s premier match making company, have struck seven, if you got the daily share allotted to every man, woman and child in the United States. In other words it takes 840,000,000 matches a day to supply the fire making needs of a nation of 120,000,000 people. That’s at the rate of 306 billion, 600 million for normal years of 365 days.

February 6, 2009

Get your fun on with these FREAK cameras (and freaking cameras!)

Make Pt1738
Here's a fun giggle-modded camera from 1932 - Party Fun With This FREAK Camera

IF YOU are looking for something different in party entertainment, perhaps a freak camera similar to that shown here will help. This camera started life as a store box. A little paint and a trimming of lantern-slide tape transformed it into something resembling a camera. From that point the construction consisted of attaching accessories that have no connection with photography. One of these devices is a pair of bells arranged so that coins dropped into slots will ring them one at a time. It was desired to photograph a “hot” subject, so the camera was equipped with an electric cigar-lighter unit mounted inside a small tin can, and covered with a piece of wire screen. Slightly moistened sawdust placed on the screen produced an abundance of smoke. To extinguish the fire, water, retained in a length of garden hose, and drawn from a faucet on the side of the camera, was used. To produce a crash when the “shutter” was operated, a swinging hammer, operated by a strong coil spring, demolished an old photoflash bulb held in a socket.

January 27, 2009

Interactive radio... 1937

Make Pt1679
Listeners Applaud Program Modern Mechanix, 1937 -

BY PRESSING an electric switch, radio listeners may express approval of a current radio program. Holding down a small switch attached to the base of a small lamp placed near the radio, the increased current drain is shown at the local power plant or substation.

Now being used in France, the idea was first tried out by an American power company working with an eastern broadcasting chain.

January 19, 2009

Headwork in the garden

Make Pt1641
Headwork in the Garden, Science And Mechanics - 1957...

THE chic hat Paul Johnson of Jacksonville, Fla., wears while gardening may not keep off the iun, but it will bring in all local radio stations. The one-tube radio headset operates on two dry cells to enable him to keep up with his favorite programs while doing outdoor chores.

January 18, 2009

Stainless steel teeth

Two-for today - stainless steel teeth from yesterday's tomorrow...

Lrg Stainless Choppers
Stainless choppers, Mechanix Illustrated - Apr, 1957.

Lrg Man Makes Fake Teeth
Makes own false teeth of out stainless steel, Popular Science - Oct, 1937

HOW TO - Bronzing baby’s shoes

Make Pt1603
HOW TO - Bronzing baby’s shoes Mechanix Illustrated, 1949 -

IT is said that the electroplating of baby shoes was conceived when a Scotchman saw a suit of armor during a visit to his ancestral home. Nowadays the “metalizing” of baby’s first shoes is reaching an astonishing popularity, based mostly on the permanence given such articles when they are protected against time with a coating of metal. Copper is the metal most commonly used, and it is enduring enough in itself, but for further protection and attractiveness the encasement of copper may be plated over with gold, silver or nickel. The electroplated shoes are stiff and rigid and may be displayed mounted or unmounted as permanent keepsakes.

Almost all kinds of baby shoes may be plated, including those with soft soles, creepers, and even knitted “shoes.”

Does any maker out there still do this?

January 6, 2009

Ice mask, reading machine and build a glider-copter

Hangover Heaven
Good project for remake... maybe. Mechanix Illustrated - 1947

Hangover Heaven is the apt name of the unusual bonnet at right. Originally developed by makeup man Max Factor for the benefit of actresses who wish to refresh their faces on hot studio sets without spoiling their makeup, the facial ice pack was quickly diverted to another purpose by festive Hollywoodians. The headpiece, adorned with water-filled plastic cubes, is kept in the refrigerator while the water freezes.

Make Pt1574
Blind Can Read Books
Blind Can Now Read Printed BOOKS... Modern Mechanix, 1932.

ORDINARY printed books can now be read by the blind, thanks to the genius of M. Thomas, a French inventor, whose remarkable device is illustrated on this page, photo-electric cells, which, as is well-known, are sensitive to light, hold the secret of the machine’s operation.
The book to be read is placed on a moving carriage beneath a lens, and the page is illuminated by a powerful lamp. Suppose that the word being read contains the letter “R,” which is used as an example in the accompanying drawings.

Glider Copter 0
Build A Glider-Copter, Mechanix Illustrated, 1954

AN 86-lb. helicopter glider, believed to be the smallest aircraft in the world today, has been developed and flown by Bensen Aircraft Corporation of Raleigh, N. C, for use in engineering tests of lighter-than-man helicopters. Like soaring gliders and sailplanes, the helicopter glider has no engine; it is towed by a car until it becomes airborne and will stay in the air as long as it is towed or as long as there is sufficient wind to keep its rotor blades turning.

December 16, 2008

Will these vehicles run? A puzzle from the past

Make Pt1471
Will These Vehicles Run? Modern Mechanix, 1932.

HERE’S a real brain tickler for puzzle fans—study the drawings above, figure out whether the lead balls and the water motor will move the vehicles or not (and why), send in your less than 300 word letter giving your reasons, and you may be rewarded with a check for $10. Somebody’s bound to win that $10 check; it might just as well be you. There are no hidden tricks in these drawings. All you need is an understanding of natural laws. In addition to the $10 award for the best tetter, all other letters published will be paid for at regular space rates. Keep your letter under 300 words, and be sure to mail it before May 15, 1932. Address letters to the Freak Vehicle Editor, Modern Mechanics and Inventions, 529 S. Seventh St., Minneapolis, Minn. Don’t fail to tell why the vehicles will or will not run. Here is the problem: A vehicle carries a number of heavy lead balls, on its roof, which fall off the end of a trough and strike a second trough, mounted at a 45 degree angle at the rear of the car. Will the falling of the balls make the vehicle move? The second vehicle is similar to the first, except that water is used instead of lead balls. The water is pumped against the trough by a motor, is retrieved in a funnel after it has passed down the trough, and is used over again. Will the water power move this vehicle?

Ok makers, post up your comments and solutions - since Modern Mechanix won't be sending you a check for $10, I'll send you a Maker's Notebook for the best answer.

December 7, 2008

Car with propeller

Lrg Prop Car
Dear Big 3, there is good news and bad news - the good news is, you're getting a bail out - the bad news you can only make propellor cars from now on...

December 5, 2008

Electric RazEr

Charles has been messing about with scooters. This is his second crack at it with the more modestly named RazEr. At least some of the work has been done at Miters in Cambridge.

The business end. The relevant power transmission implement - there is only 1 - is housed completely in the rear wheel. It is a 80mm diameter custom-built 3-phase brushless DC motor, conveniently hidden within the confines of a 125mm scooter wheel. Maximum power on it is probably about 1000 watts. I have yet to properly meter it.
Even with no torque advantage (as a direct drive motor), the acceleration is pretty absurd. It's not quite the neck-snapping and rider-launching takeoff of Snuffles 1, but I do need to hang on pretty hard. It is, however, a controllable launch, and will be even more so when a proper spring-loaded thumb throttle is installed (you know, so I don't have to hang on with one hand and one leg while twiddling a knob on a stick with the other hand)

Obviously, the project is not at a completed phase, but shows promise as a working prototype and proof of concept.

Have you got an old scooter hanging around your shed/garage/basement/bedroom? Do you have electric motors, speed controllers and or batteries that could be combined in some clever way? What could you do if you had the time, inclination and a few tools? Have you tried a project like this? What troubles did you encounter? Do you have photos, videos or descriptions of your adventures with two, three or four wheeled electrified transport? Add your comments below or park your photos and video in the Make Flickr pool!

Retro family bike

Make Pt1411
What was new in 1955... a modded bike for taking the family around town.

November 20, 2008

Switch closes window, turns on heat for early riser

Make Pt1264
Switch closes window, turns on heat for early riser - Modern Mechanix, 1932.

THERE would be fewer people late for work these winter mornings if the room were warm enough to permit arising in comfort, but a warm room is impossible if we keep the windows up to scare the T. B. bugs away. That is, it was impossible until the inventive genius of G. A. Brewer, a sophomore at Western Reserve Academy, came to the rescue of himself at least. The alarm clock wakes Mr. Brewer, even as you and I. But does Mr. Brewer throw the clock out the window and pull the covers over his head? He does not! He merely reaches over and throws a switch, which closes the window and turns on the radiator. Give us the combination, Mr. Brewer.

November 12, 2008

Traveling woodworking shop tours schools

Woodworking Tours
Let's bring back the traveling woodworking shop tour, Popular Mechanics - 1938.

November 11, 2008

Mono-Scooter is speedy

Make Pt1220
Mono-Scooter Is Speedy - Popular Mechanics, 1936-

With a little practice, you can get more speed out of this mono-scooter than out of a pair of roller skates. It is made from two roller-skate wheels and a hardwood block as wide as the shoe and about 5 in, longer. Round the ends of the block and slot them to take the wheels. Steel rods serve as axles, and washers are placed on either side of each wheel to keep it true. These should be lubricated. Triangular blocks serve as heel and toe plates, and a single toe strap keeps the scooter on the shoe. Tilting the foot to one side brings the block into contact with the sidewalk to get efficient braking

November 7, 2008

Spike the potato

Lrg Unique Game
Unique Game for Party Amusement Modern Mechanix, 1933 - surely to be a Wii game soon....

“SPIKE the Potato” is a highly entertaining game for any party. All that is needed is a single large potato, a number of paper cones and some needles. The paper cones are about 7 in. long and 1-1/2″ in diameter at the large end. When you roll them into shape, slip a needle or pin into the small end and daub it with glue. This, when dry, will hold it in place. At the same time, glue the edge of the paper fast. Then pull a small tuft of cotton into a fluffy ball and after rubbing some glue on the inside of the open cone end, push the cotton in.

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