MAKE » Tag: Metalworking

Shake Hands with Francis at the Maker Faire Bay Area

Karen Tanenbaum — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:37:46 +0000

Brian Matthews of Flapping Sprocket creates beautifully intricate machinery, wings, and other contraptions in his Los Angeles studio. For the second year running, he will be at the Maker Faire Bay Area as a mobile exhibit, roaming the Faire with his hand puppet Francis, a metal marvel finely articulated enough to shake your hand.

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Tool Tales: The Pump Drill

Sean Michael Ragan — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:00:36 +0000

A pump drill is an ancient tool traditionally been used to generate friction heat for starting fires, as well as for boring holes. The principle of a pump drill's operation is similar to the button spinner or whirligig, in which rotational momentum is built and maintained by repeated twisting and untwisting of a cord. After reading about them in a book about primitive technology, I got interested in the idea of a "modern" pump drill, operating on the same principle as the ancient tool but manufactured from industrial-age materials instead of wood, stone, and bone.

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Cast Iron Skillet Map of the U.S.

Laura Cochrane — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 18:00:34 +0000

Back in the old days, pioneers traveled with round cast iron skillets. You could make round pancakes, round eggs, and throw some rectangular strips of bacon on the side. But today, thanks to Alisa Toninato of FeLion Studios, you can cook a quiche in the shape of your home state.

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World Control Panel

Bill Olson — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:04:44 +0000

Global domination for the young evil genius.

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The Nellie Bly Smoker

Keith Hammond — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 07:04:43 +0000

Make a hot/cold food smoker from a 55-gallon steel drum.

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Pop-Pop Steamboat

makemagazineuser — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:02:35 +0000

When you picture a steam engine, you likely imagine a giant cast-iron contraption festooned with knobs, valves, gauges, linkages, and wheels. This steam-powered toy boat has no moving parts and needs only a flame and the surrounding water to zip around and make its distinctively happy sound. My interest in […]

Remove Anything from Metal

makemagazineuser — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:45:19 +0000

I love using old machine parts for my projects; often their workmanship surpasses that of anything new, and you can get them cheap or even free. Find a junkyard full of ancient, rusty industrial equipment, and you can build almost anything — or at least be inspired to, which is […]

PMC Buttons

makemagazineuser — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:45:13 +0000

From the moment I first touched precious metal clay (PMC), I never looked at the world in the same way. Instead of seeing fruits and vegetables in the grocery store, I saw amazing textures that could find their way onto my artistic creations. Ancient textile designs became jewelry designs. The […]

Magnetic Chip Shield

makemagazineuser — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:43:03 +0000

For too long I’ve been standing in the stream of chips flying off my milling machine. This small shield sticks to my milling vise magnetically, and takes less than an hour to make. It does a good job of helping keep chips contained, especially when using cutting fluid or fly […]

PMC Pendants

makemagazineuser — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:42:15 +0000

Precious metal clay (PMC), developed in the 1990s by the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, is actually powdered metal suspended in a clay-like binding medium. It is a very user-friendly material. You can mold it, stamp it, shape it, file it, carve it, glaze it, and texture it while it’s in its […]