Tools

iPhone Acoustic Ruler

iPhone Acoustic Ruler

Here’s a novel way to take measurements using sound waves with an iPhone. German developer Florian Student’s Acoustic Ruler Pro for iOS will measure distances up to 25 meters by clocking the time delay of emitted sound waves. You can use the app with either a pair of headphones or with another iPhone to measure the distance between the two handsets.

Circle Skirt Calculator

After sewing my Emmy dress, the mere thought of hemming a circle skirt—especially one made of satin—is enough to give me nightmares for a week. But, even though it’s a giant pain to evenly hem all of that fabric, there’s still no denying that circle skirts are incredibly flattering and incredibly versatile. So, if you’re […]

Make: Live Ultimate Kit Episode 11/9/11 (video)

Make: Live Ultimate Kit Episode 11/9/11 (video)

Make: Live‘s Ultimate Kit Episode celebrates the upcoming release of the Special Issue, The Ultimate Kit Guide. Ariel Churi from Sparkle Labs stepped in for Becky as guest co-host. MIT Research Fellow Michael Schrage talked about how kits drive innovation. The Make Labs interns checked in with their kit reviews, including a few siege and ballistics kits (above) and Ariel and Matt played with a few electronics kits in studio.

How-To:  Mini Metal Lathe

How-To: Mini Metal Lathe

Back in Plastics Month, we featured a simple shop-made plastics extruder built by Instructables user Random_Canadian. Now the arbitrary Canuck returns with this pint-sized metal lathe built with a 14″ piece of precision aluminum T-slot extrusion, and some characteristically resourceful salvage including an electric motor from a cordless weed trimmer, a variable speed switch from a cordless drill, and a tailstock center improvised from a countersink.