Marine’s Field-Improvised Chess Set From Afghanistan
A Marine’s battlefield chess set made from shells, rounds, and bottle caps.
CNC & Machining
The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for the manufacture of metal, wood, plastic, ceramic and composites. We talk about machining, using a lathe to machine metals like steel, brass, and aluminium. We make chips fly!
Meet the Makers: Satya Kraus
Learn how Satya Kraus felt when he saw a motorcycle for the first time in his life. Since that moment, he has been obsessed, and turned that obsession into Kraus Motor Co. He hand-builds the most incredible machines from scratch in his workshop under the redwoods.
Experience Satya’s remarkable bikes at Maker Faire Bay Area, May 21 & 22, 2011.
Giant Machete-Shooting Slingshot
I love Cory Doctorow’s droll description of this creation almost as much as I love the thing itself:
This handy gentleman has built an (arguably ill-conceived, but nevertheless impressive) rifle-cum-slingshot that fires machetes, should you find yourself with the need to fire machetes.
The handy gentleman in question is YouTuber Jörg Sprave, slingshot enthusiast par excellence. He blogs about it here. [via Boing Boing]
Drilling Square and Hexagonal Holes
Turns out it’s also possible to drill hexagonal hole using a very similar tool based on the Reuleaux pentagon. The video immediately above, again from jacquesmaurel, shows a tool he describes as a “Vika attachment,” mounted in a lathe, boring an hexagonal hole in a piece of stock. The video below, part of the Wolfram Demonstrations Project, illustrates the process.
Working Handheld Homemade Pulse Laser Weapon
The claim of penetrating a razor-blade impresses me, although I note the only metal penetration in the video is thin aluminum, which has been painted, possibly so that it will absorb more light energy. There’s also some cool shots capturing the pulsed-laser’s plasma ball in midair.
Post-Apocalyptic Pan Pipes
Bullet casing, shell casing, cartridge case, pan pipes, flute.
Homemade Revolving Shotgun
From Home Gunsmith Forum user rhmc24: Using chambers cut off 12 ga. scrap barrels and a new $10 bbl for an Italian auto shotgun, the only other gun part is a scrapped hammer from a 1857 Remington perc revolver. Loads like a SAA Colt but underlever rotates and cocks it. Blow-by is negligible, hardly noticeable […]
