Aug 24th, 2009
Blogsnapper at 09:08 am 
Effect: The spectator chooses a card then puts it back anywhere in the deck. The deck is placed in the case then closed shut. Impossibly, one single card is pulled out through the cardboard case…It’s obviously their card.
By: luke674
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Aug 24th, 2009
Blogsnapper at 09:08 am 
I love this elaborate cardboard dragon posted by Creativeman on Instructables. In fact, upon further inspection you’ll see that he’s got about 11 cardboard projects uploaded to the DIY site. Fun stuff!
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Aug 24th, 2009
Blogsnapper at 09:08 am
MAKE subscriber Dave Vondle wrote us about his LED Glass Block LED Wall Display. Check out the link for a lot more information about the build, including the schematics and source code. Thanks Dave!
I created an interactive LED pixel display out of the glass block wall in the front of my building over the past year or so. The system turns each glass brick into a pixel and uses Flash, Arduino, and BlinkM modules. I happen to work at IDEO so I put it on the IDEO labs blog. I documented it pretty heavily and opened all of the code up as well. Unfortunately I recently had to take the array down, and am hoping someone who reads about it wants to give it a new home!
In the Maker Shed:
LED Light Brick Electronics Kit
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Aug 24th, 2009
Blogsnapper at 09:08 am 
Knit up these colorful log cabin washcloths with the pattern by Whit of The Purl Bee.
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Aug 24th, 2009
Blogsnapper at 09:08 am 
Even if you’re not a Lego enthusiast, you have to give it up for Will Chapman’s BrickArms business as a brilliant little bit of entrepreneurship. Although there have been notable recent policy changes, the Lego company has traditionally refused to produce guns for the mini-figures packaged with its playsets. Personally I think that’s a laudable policy, but my opinion does nothing to diminish the very real demand for realistic mini-fig firearms among Lego enthusiasts, particularly in the US, and particularly among adults. Chapman recognized that demand, and went into the injection molding business himself to produce “Lego-esque” guns, grenades, and other weapons that are carefully dimensioned to be compatible with authentic Lego products. Because the parts he produces are very small, the tooling cost is relatively low, and because they’re just bits of plastic, the per-unit production and shipping costs are very, very low. His catalog now includes more than 40 items, each of which sells for at least $1 per unit. He also sells custom, armed-to-the-teeth mini-figs that are avidly sought after by collectors.
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Aug 24th, 2009
Blogsnapper at 08:08 am 
This project was whipped together just before my son’s fifth birthday party. My wife had purchased a package of a dozen or so cheap squirt guns, and I figured the kids could just fill them in a bucket. About an hour before the party I tried doing just that and found that it didn’t work worth a dar…
By: gabebillings
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Aug 24th, 2009
Blogsnapper at 08:08 am 
Teach your family to solder! Take a few pictures tagged as “MAKEcation” and put them in the MAKE Flickr pool by September 9th to enter to win a $100 Maker Shed gift certifiate!
If you are looking to introduce soldering to your classes this school year, you should consider having students use a soldering vise or other holder to secure the circuit board. Keeping the components in place will help students get the hang of soldering quicker than if the board and parts are loose on the table or held by hand. I’ve been messing with this idea more since using the PanaVise my brother employed to solder the boards for his HeathKit amateur radio back in the day. While super nice to use, a well-made vise like this is too expensive and too easily broken for classroom use. This design can be easily made from readily available supplies from the supply cabinet and a few pieces from either maintenance or home.
My first iteration of the design was pretty simple, a scrap of 1″x3″ strapping placed onto a scrap of 3/4″ plywood. On the strapping, I screwed down a binder clip with a washer to help the sheet rock screw hold down the handle of the clip. I had some ideas of using water bottles from the recycling bin to hold parts, but plastic near hot iron is a bad combination. There were a few problems with the design, so I made another run at it. The idea behind this project is to create a functional tool, which should be something that kids could make themselves for use at home, or a teacher could bang out a bunch of them pretty quickly and inexpensively to set up several soldering stations.
Skills in this project (you can pick which ones you want to focus on):
Materials you will need:
Tools:
Process
Start with a scrap of plywood. 6 inches by 9 inches should be plenty, but you can make it bigger.
Measure for your cuts and mark them on the wood in pencil.
Cut the 2″x4″ to fit the short dimension of the plywood.
Align the 2″x4″ so that it is about 2 1/2″ from one end and mark the plywood. This will allow you to attach a holder such as a mint tin for solder and other supplies later.
Flip the plywood over, ideally, put the 2″x4″ in a vise to keep it secure and screw the plywood to the 2″x4″ with three screws.
Flip it over and place the two binder clips on the 2″x4″ so that they are evenly spaced.
Place the washers on the screws and secure the binder clips in place.
Your soldering stand is ready for action!
Extensions
Storage
You may want to screw a mint tin or two on the board. This will allow you to hold things like short lengths of desoldering braid, solder, LEDs, switches, resistors etc. You will need screws that are at least 1/8″ shorter than the thickness of the wood you are screwing into.
Soldering iron holder
You could make an iron holder with a 3/4″ screw eye on the side of the upright. Making sure the heat from the business end of the iron is shielded should be part of your design, this could probably be done with a soda can, which can be cut with scissors and held with a short screw or two.
Soldering iron cleaner
Brass or copper pot scrubbers make good tip cleaners. Use a short screw with a wide fender washer (small hole, wide disk) to secure it to the plywood. Steel wool should not be used for a couple of reasons, apparently it scratches up the tip of the iron, and sooner or later, kids will discover that it is flammable, which could invite a visit from the local fire department or its’ representatives.
Computer Aided Design
You can introduce students to the powerful ideas around CAD by having them make a virtual model of the stand either before or after building.
For well under $5, you can have a soldering station for your students to hold their work. If they use this as a way to also learn about manufacturing and computer aided design, you can wake up some other useful interests as they get ready to explore electronics.
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Aug 24th, 2009
Blogsnapper at 08:08 am 
When I sat down to read through frequent MAKE contributor Cy Tymony’s newest book, Sneaky Green Uses for Everyday Things, I was most struck by what a great resource for teachers this book is. In school, the science lessons that were accompanied by memorable, digestible demonstrations are the ones I remember to this day. Tymony’s book is filled with a whole array of simple ways to demonstrate energy concepts. Not surprising that the book is officially recommended by the the National Science Teacher’s Association.
The “Sneaky Energy Projects and Simulations” section offers over 40 pages of energy demo ideas and illustrations. The writing is simple and clear, and the illustrations helpful. Here’s the one that accompanies the explanation of how hydroelectric power plants work. Love the simplicity:
You get to learn the basics of how electrical generators work and then build your very own using paper clips, electrical tape, and a toy car motor.
Part 2 is filled with sneaky product reuse projects for the ultra resourceful, like using an old tissue dispenser and some cardboard tubes to make a desktop sorter and how to canibalize ketchup packets and coffee creamer lids for aluminum. And the last section covers sneaky recycling projects like how to make a solar cooker with some aluminum foil and cardboard.
Get your sneaky learnin on.
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Aug 24th, 2009
Blogsnapper at 08:08 am 
Instructables user sineSurfer brings us this straightforward process for etching aluminum using the same tools required for PCB etching, but with a milder etchant consisting of hydrochloric acid and peroxide to replace ferric chloride.
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Aug 24th, 2009
Blogsnapper at 08:08 am 
Steve Humble of HiddenPassageway.com wants to build your secret lair. For the right price. But even if the United Nations hasn’t paid you that ransom yet, it’s still fun to browse around his site. Yes, they will build you a rotating fireplace. What you do behind it is your own business. Props to Cara for the link.
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