Craig Smith (South Milwaukee, WI) writes: With all of the junk I accumulated, I thought it would be neat to make a crystal radio as a low impact project in the evenings. I unwound the coated wire from a small useless 115V brushless motor that I almost tossed out several times, and wound it about […]
This beautiful mash-up prop is reportedly by Jon Wollack of Almost Dark Productions. You can take your pick between the obligatory Empire quote with a 300 reference and the obligatory 300 quote with an Empire reference. Off the top of my head, I’d go with “I want them alive: No decapitations!” and “Tonight we dine in Cloud City!”, respectively. Think you can do better? Let me know, below!
The 555 contest was conceived by Jeri Ellsworth and Chris Gammell in a conversation on Twitter, and now it’s going to happen. This contest came about in mid-January 2011 on Twitter. Jeri began talking about 555 timers and excitement built up enough to start doing something about it! The organizers of the contest have no […]
This week in the CRAFT Flickr pool we saw: Optimism by Avital Pinnick, 008 by erin kate, “The Giver” by made by moxie, and Jetpack with Blue Skies by WooWork.
In the summer of 2002, Heineken introduced its 24 oz. “mini keg” can in the US. Besides having twice the volume of a normal aluminum beverage can, the “mini keg’s” unusual design includes a number of ridges and rings that make it much more rigid. Sometime around 2004, so far as I can tell, ultralight backpacking enthusiasts began experimenting with using the new can design as a cooking pot.
The community has evolved the design of these cooking pots to a remarkable extent, and although there seem to be as many variations as there are builders, a few common features seem to be emerging:
1. The top of the can is removed with a side-cutting can opener and preserved for use as a lid. The tab may be bent up to provide a handle, or a small knob may be attached.
2. The side of the can is wound with 1/16″ fiberglass wick to provide an insulated gripping surface
3. An elastic silicone wristband is stretched around the rim of the can for drinking comfort.
I’m sure to screw it up if I try to give any particular person “credit” for any of these ideas, but the embedded video overview from Minibulldesign Cult gives the best general overview of the idea I can find. And Rick of Wilderness Survival Forums has produced a good phototutorial describing the fiberglass winding process.
Wheel aficionados, there are still a couple of days left to enter the MAKE Karts and Wheels contest. Got any projects that have wheels and can carry a person? Enter for your chance to get your project polished and published in MAKE Volume 26, the Karts and Wheels issue. The rules are simple: 1. Come […]
If you’re looking for a way to fill up some of your after school time in the next few months, check out Google Science Fair. Gather up a friend or two and set out to explore science and making while creating an online record of your project and process. You’ll be competing against teens worldwide, but hey, the prizes look worthwhile.
Aged out of the competition? You can help out a team of youth as a teacher or mentor.
