How-To: LED umbrellas
Two LED umbrella tutorials caught my eye today. Try out the projects by sockmaster (pictured) and matth3w.
DIY Projects
How-To: Mini tablesaw from a rotary tool
Instructables user sdudley shares the plans for this neat little rotary tool table that acts as a mini table saw, router, sander, etc. Templates included, and he claims you can build one for about $20. He mainly uses his Dremel to build the thing, too.
How-To: Make a lo-fi spectrograph from trash
Over the weekend I participated in a group led by Jeff Warren of MIT’s Design Ecology group to build DIY spectrographs using recycled materials. It was a fun weekend citizen science project that’s perfect for families. The spectrographs we made weren’t as nice as what you can build for $20, but then again they were built using trash.
How-To: Remove a rear-view mirror button
Awhile back, I wrote about co-opting the awesome glue used to mount rear-view mirrors for hobby projects. An interested reader e-mailed me a couple weeks later asking if I knew how to remove a rear-view mirror button from a windshield, which I didn’t. Several people have reported that trying to forcibly remove the metal button from the glass can actually break a divot of glass out of the windshield. I was therefore not optimistic, but we talked a little about the idea of using an organic solvent combined with sharp lateral pressure parallel to the glass. She experimented a bit, and, what do you know, eventually succeeded! Here’s her report:
“Movable type” Rubik’s cube
Typophile Shaun Chung created this Rubik’s cube stamp featuring Chinese characters that combine to form verses from a traditional children’s poem. He laser-etched the characters from wood and affixed them to the cube. Shaun writes: Chinese has a long history with the printing. In 105 AD, Cai Lun invented the paper. In 200 AD, the […]
Make an appliance box fort
It’s no secret to kids that a big cardboard box is the best play fort you can have. Find a washing machine box on the curb, drag it home: instant fun. If you want some amenities, such as a drawbridge door or firing slits, you need to put a little extra work into it.
I’ve embellished ours in the past with everything from a Swiss Army knife to a box cutter. Turns out, a Dremel Multi-Max is a much easier, more controllable tool for this than anything I’ve tried. Add some good fasteners and there’s no limit to the size and complexity of the cardboard castles you can
construct.
Bowl made from melted little green army men
Dominic Wilcox wants £159 for his 2002 piece War Bowl, which may make some amount of sense since Wilcox is a fairly well-established “name” artist, and the piece itself has been exhibited in various fancy places. Still, you can make your own version by partially melting a bunch of army men in a glass or metal bowl in the oven, and it’ll cost you just a buck or two. [via Gizmodo]