Carview!

CARVIEW

MOTORHOMES

Select Language

HTTP/2 302 server: nginx date: Sat, 02 Aug 2025 23:39:07 GMT content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 content-length: 0 x-archive-redirect-reason: found capture at 20100117082732 location: https://web.archive.org/web/20100117082732/https://blog.makezine.com/archive/reviews/ server-timing: captures_list;dur=0.834577, exclusion.robots;dur=0.038596, exclusion.robots.policy;dur=0.017574, esindex;dur=0.014879, cdx.remote;dur=9.530308, LoadShardBlock;dur=469.129819, PetaboxLoader3.datanode;dur=149.919316, PetaboxLoader3.resolve;dur=108.137636 x-app-server: wwwb-app221 x-ts: 302 x-tr: 516 server-timing: TR;dur=0,Tw;dur=0,Tc;dur=0 set-cookie: wb-p-SERVER=wwwb-app221; path=/ x-location: All x-rl: 0 x-na: 0 x-page-cache: MISS server-timing: MISS x-nid: DigitalOcean referrer-policy: no-referrer-when-downgrade permissions-policy: interest-cohort=() HTTP/2 200 server: nginx date: Sat, 02 Aug 2025 23:39:07 GMT content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8 x-archive-orig-date: Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:27:32 GMT x-archive-orig-server: Apache x-archive-orig-x-powered-by: PHP/4.4.8 x-archive-orig-connection: close x-archive-guessed-content-type: text/html x-archive-guessed-charset: utf-8 memento-datetime: Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:27:32 GMT link: ; rel="original", ; rel="timemap"; type="application/link-format", ; rel="timegate", ; rel="first memento"; datetime="Sat, 01 Dec 2007 05:52:09 GMT", ; rel="prev memento"; datetime="Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:15:04 GMT", ; rel="memento"; datetime="Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:27:32 GMT", ; rel="next memento"; datetime="Sat, 30 Jan 2010 05:43:49 GMT", ; rel="last memento"; datetime="Wed, 05 May 2021 19:57:14 GMT" content-security-policy: default-src 'self' 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline' data: blob: archive.org web.archive.org web-static.archive.org wayback-api.archive.org athena.archive.org analytics.archive.org pragma.archivelab.org wwwb-events.archive.org x-archive-src: TLA-20100117082326-00519-ia360907-c/TLA-20100117082326-00519-ia360907.us.archive.org.warc.gz server-timing: captures_list;dur=0.464458, exclusion.robots;dur=0.015903, exclusion.robots.policy;dur=0.007806, esindex;dur=0.011636, cdx.remote;dur=46.534965, LoadShardBlock;dur=141.218888, PetaboxLoader3.datanode;dur=117.585212, PetaboxLoader3.resolve;dur=192.981580, load_resource;dur=195.732875 x-app-server: wwwb-app221 x-ts: 200 x-tr: 517 server-timing: TR;dur=0,Tw;dur=0,Tc;dur=1 x-location: All x-rl: 0 x-na: 0 x-page-cache: MISS server-timing: MISS x-nid: DigitalOcean referrer-policy: no-referrer-when-downgrade permissions-policy: interest-cohort=() content-encoding: gzip Make: Online: Reviews Archives

Reviews Archive: Reviews

Reviews Home | Next >

January 8, 2010

Review: Cory Doctorow's Makers

Those of us immersed in the maker scene can't help but wonder how it will all play out. Will we, at some point, return to the bad ol' days of the last few decades when the word 'crafting' was associated with grandmas, 'making' with middle-aged shop teachers, and the closest thing to DIY was figuring out how to program your VCR? Throw out instead of fix, borrow money to buy cheaply-made consumer junk? It was a dark time.

Most would agree that we're not likely going back to that mindset, but the question remains: just where is the DIY movement headed? Cory Doctorow's latest book, Makers, takes those musings and plays them out decades into the future. In his story, the traditional economy has cratered, and who steps up? That's right, hardware hackers, DIYers, makers.

At the beginning of the story, corporate executive Landon Kettlewell holds a press conference plugging Kodacell, his quixotic merger of Kodak and Duracell. What possible reason could there be to combine two failed, bankrupt corporations? Kettlewell's dream is to create a maker company that specializes in monetizing DIYer projects with loans and know-how. Say two people in a garage need fifty grand to turn an idea into a business. Kodacell supplies the capital and a business manager, in exchange for a cut of the profits.

At first, Kettlewell's revolution -- dubbed New Work in the book -- seems destined for success and Kodacell even suffers the tribulations of an up-and-coming corporation: employee poaching, ripoff companies, that sort of thing. We're introduced to Kettlewell's star makers, Perry and Lester, eccentric tinkerers with a million ideas. Kettlewell convinces tech blogger Suzanne Church to travel to Florida to cover the duo and provides a business manager to monetize their ideas. The five of them form the bulk of the heroes in the book.

The New Work revolutionaries find themselves facing seemingly insuperable challenges like cowardly investors, trigger-happy cops, and the makers' own lack of business savvy. They gamble on new projects, some of which pay off, while others tank. In one important plot element, Doctorow explores how open source technology plays out in the business sector.

I loved the main characters, particularly Perry, Lester, and Suzanne. I didn't always agree with what they were doing or saying, and sometimes, I didn't even like them all that much, but in many ways, that made for more compelling heroes than mere stereotypes.

There were villains, of course, foils for the noble hackers and bloggers populating the story. For instance: Freddy, a vindictive blogger, and Sammy, the hard-hustling Disney exec. Ultimately, the central conflict seems to be an internal one amongst the nerds: being driven to monetize their ideas by greedy suits and struggling to keep their self esteem, sense of ethics, and dignity intact as their efforts pay off.

Will the magic leave the maker movement? Will we see it co-opted by suits? Time and time again, we see Perry and Lester battling to keep their ethos from being perverted -- they don't care if they ever get rich, they just want to keep on making. In that sense, Makers is as much a cautionary tale as a speculation on what the future will bring.

If you want an imaginative and enjoyable exploration of the future of making, Makers is definitely worth the read.

Makers by Cory Doctorow
Publisher: Tor Books
ISBN: 978-0765312792

Note: True to his pro-Community Commons beliefs, Doctorow has made Makers available for free download on his site.

Alt.CES: Google Nexus One an iPhone Killer?

Take a look inside Google's brand new unlocked mobile phone, Nexus One, and see how it matches up to the Apple iPhone 3GS. More details at Google Phone

December 18, 2009

Make: Projects - Simple 3D models with OpenSCAD

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the excitement surrounding Clifford Wolf's new freeware OpenSCAD program. OpenSCAD uses a cool keep-it-super-simple approach to 3D modeling, eliminating the resource-hungry what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editing environment favored by most 3D modeling packages, and replacing it with a text-based scripting environment in which models are programmed, instead of sculpted. Basically, you write a script describing your model's shape and then compile it to produce the actual model, which is then rendered onscreen and can be exported to STL format for 3D printing or other purposes.

OpenSCAD has two powerful features to facilitate this programming processes. The first is support for so-called "constructive solid geometry" (CSG) modeling, in which complex forms are built up as intersections, unions, and differences of simple primary shapes like boxes, cylinders, cones, and ellipsoids. If you've ever used the ray-tracing program POV-Ray before, this idea will be familiar to you.

The second, less-well-publicized (but perhaps equally powerful) feature of OpenSCAD is "DXF extrusion," in which OpenSCAD will import a 2D drawing in AutoCAD's popular drawing exchange format (DXF) and "extrude" it into the third dimension. OpenSCAD has support for linear extrusion, in which the resulting part has straight vertical sides, and also rotating extrusion, which results in a part with helical sides. Since a large number of models for rapid prototyping are simple extruded profiles, I expect this feature to see a lot of use.

In this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to use OpenSCAD to produce a simple 3D model by extruding a part profile produced in normal drawing software. I use Adobe Illustrator CS3 because I have access to it and am familiar with its interface, but the popular freeware drawing program InkScape will read and write DXF files natively, and there's no reason why it couldn't serve just as well if you prefer it. There are a number of other free and low-cost programs that will export DXF files. OpenSCAD's developer mentions QCAD, which is available from its developer RibbonSoft for €24.

Slocum-Bottermans Puzzles p40 Sabu Oguro U-Plan Animal Solid Pentominoes and My Version.png

The part I'm making is one of 12 solid pentomino puzzle pieces based on the animals of the Chinese zodiac--in this case, the rabbit or "Z" pentomino. The designs are based on those of Japanese schoolteacher Sabu Oguro as published on p. 40 of Jerry Slocum and Jack Botermans' 1986 book Puzzles Old & New: How to Make and Solve Them, an image of which is reproduced at the top of this article. My original DXF files and the extruded 3D STL files are freely available for download at Thingiverse. This morning at 10 AM PST, Becky Stern will be streaming live video of her MakerBot CupCake CNC machine printing parts from this set, and she and I will be on-hand to chat about the printing process and the models themselves. Becky printed and photographed all the real-world models shown in this article.

Read full story

December 1, 2009

Make: Holiday Gift Guide 2009: MAKE's Toolbox Gift Guide

All of us here at Make: Online have banded together to produce this guide. Each of us has submitted at least one review of a favorite tool, which hopefully, will help to inspire many of you who are still looking for gifts for the makers on your list. The tools are arranged in order, from the least to the most expensive, so you can scroll as low as your budget allows! Happy Holidays from all of us at MAKE!

Tri-Wing Screwdriver ($4 from Play-Asia)

If using this to get into my Wii remote and Wii Nunchuck controller (I used one for the Make: Television Roller Coaster Flight Recorder project) wasn't already reason enough to love this little security driver, how about this: I used it again today to open and fix a corroded contact in a battery-operated Thomas the Tank Engine train! They're also good for getting into GBA cartridges, the Nintendo DS, Zune HD, and a few other products. -- John Park

Swiss+Tech UKCSB-1 Utili-Key 6-in-1 Key Ring Tool ($8 from Amazon)

With the Utili-Key on my keychain, I'm perfectly content dealing with most situations where I'd usually opt for a pocketknife. It's so small, you'll forget you have it with you. I've often forgot about mine until I've already passed through airport security. And at under $10, it's easy to replace. The key unfolds to a very serviceable combination flat and serrated blade. It also comes with a bottle opener and various screwdrivers, including a Phillips head. -- Adam Flaherty

Olfa Heavy Duty Cutter/Ratchet Wheel ($8 from Amazon)

I got turned on to this utility knife when it came in my starter art school kit, and I haven't let it out of my sight since. The blade adjusts easily with the satisfying clicks of the ratcheting wheel. The blade sheath holds the sharp snap-off blade securely, providing optimal control over your slicing action through model-making foam board and heat shrink tubing alike. In writing this review, I examined the condition of my Olfa knife after seven years of continual use. Its handle bears only light surface scratches.The letters of my Sharpie-scrawled name now fade from the dense yellow plastic, once deflecting tool-thieving studiomates. I'll very readily share any of my tools with friends, but I think twice before lending this knife. -- Becky Stern

Scotch Transparent High Performance Duct Tape ($8 from Amazon)

Oh gentle duct tape, boon to the tinkerers, the dabblers, the fixers of things since days of yore. But forget the classic silver or black, this duct tape rocks it colorless! And when it comes to wrapping gifts, cast aside the boring old Scotch tape, for now, you can wrap gifts with the real deal. Let songs of joy ring out throughout Nerdonia! -- John Baichtal

Microplane Cutting Tools ($9 and up from Microplane)

Known as "the woodworking tools that crossed over to the kitchen," Microplane has a wide offering of sturdy kitchen and workshop cutting tools, each made up of tiny, incredibly sharp planes. I have their classic grater, which works magic on everything from nutmeg to lemon zest to parmesan, transforming that hard lump into the fluffiest cheese shavings you've ever seen. They now, of course, offer zesters, spice graters, a rotary Parmesan grater, and even a sea salt shaver -- I get giddy just looking at all the options! Whichever you get, it will surely have a myriad of uses. -- Arwen O'Reilly Griffith

Zibra Open It! Package Tool ($12 from Zibra)

Only twice in my adult life has design innovation brought me close to tears -- the extra legroom and a footrest I encountered on a TransPacific flight was the first. And using the Open It! tool to get through the clamshell packaging of a calculator, then opening a new CD with the same tool (and the same ease), was the second. Seriously.

Opening packages, whether its a new gadget for yourself, or something you've got to set up in your role as Santa's helper, is a bear. Am I right? The plastic is tough and sharp! Those little wire tie-wraps are twisted into a mess and are always in those hard-to-reach places. Until now. Two women (naturally!) have come up with the Open It! tool, and suddenly, my holiday season is looking better already. The Open It! is actually five tools in one. These smart women even thought to include a little screwdriver to get into the battery bay of your toy/gadget/begging-to-be-hacked object. The clippers cut through nasty plastic with ease, and the bend in the clippers makes it easy to get to those wire wraps. There's a retractable blade that easily takes care of DVDs and CDs, and if these features haven't convinced you yet, there's even a bottle opener. Cheers! -- Shawn Connally

DuraScoop Original Cat Litter Scoop ($14 from Amazon)

Our two huge cats share a litter box, and we switched from pine (lightweight) to clay (heavy) litter when we realized that it spread around less (we have two young ones and our apartment is a perpetual mess, but that's another story). Our local pet store carries several litter scoops, and I've tried and broken all of them. Plastic just can't handle the strain; it was a constant source of frustration. So, I searched online and found the DuraScoop, which is sturdy metal, scoops a lot, and doesn't bend and flick back. This product has made my life easier. -- Paul Spinrad

Antex C/3U Miniature Soldering Iron - 15 Watt ($29 from Minute Man Electronics)

I'm amazed I haven't found someone else who's heard of these before. They're great for intricate work, heat up in about 30 seconds, and they're as nimble as a ballpoint pen (resist urge to do 700˚ spin/flip-tricks). The slip-on tip installation left me doubting the iron's durability, but after a few months of use, everything still stays put nicely. And hey, it's yellow! -- Collin Cunningham

SK 73676 21 Piece Stubby Ratcheting Screwdriver Set ($30 from Amazon)

SK, formerly known as SuperKrome, makes a heck of a tool. They mainly focus on immortal socket sets, but they also make a mean ratcheting screwdriver. This small-profile driver (known as a stubby) ratchets like a Swiss clock, fits all standard attachments, and comes with a bunch of bits, as well as extenders to help you get at hard-to-reach screws. -- John Baichtal

686 Original Tool Belt ($40 from REI)

I really like tools I don't have to carry. If I have to lug something around, it had better be useful. Lately, I have just enough patience for my wallet, keys, and phone. Needless to say, I was rather stoked when I came across this belt from 686. 100% full grain waterproof leather, double prong buckle with bottle opener, #2 Phillips and flat head, 8MM, 10MM, 11MM wrench loop, and a brushed nickel finish. -- Adam Flaherty

X-Mini iHome Capsule Speaker ($25/mono, $50/stereo from ThinkGeek)

When my son gave me one of these capsule speakers last year, I thought it was cute, but didn't expect that it'd become an indispensable part of my mobile gear. He gave it to me because it had become an indispensable part of his mobile life, and he wanted to pass the tech goodness on. Now I do the same. I use the X-Mini in hotel rooms with my iPhone, when I want to hear music "in the air," in bed, with my BlackBook when I'm watching TV, and other situations where I don't care to have earbuds in. Here's the best situ, which just happened to me recently: you're hanging out with a few people, at a little impromptu party, and somebody says: "I wish we had music." You whip this little black ball out of your pocket, expand it, plug it into your phone or MP3 player, and fire up the tunes. Party joy ensues. ThinkGeek claims the sound is "shockingly huge." That's a bit of an overstatement. It certainly is impressive for the size of the unit, but it's not going to win any fidelity or power awards. They now have a MAX Stereo version with two capsule speakers. "Oh son... guess what the old man wants THIS year?" -- Gareth Branwyn

Read full story

November 13, 2009

Transparent solderless breadboard

Recently I've been helping a friend's 11-year-old daughter get started in electronics. The use of a solderless breadboard was counterintuitive to her until I gave her one of these clear-cased versions, available through Solarbotics. As she puts it, "you can see where the metal is."

November 2, 2009

A Halloween souvenir

Last Friday night, this piece of "blood"-soaked "meat" (which is, I think, actually some kind of dyed latex product) was smeared roundly about my face and neck by a large man, who may or may not be named "Thor," dressed as a butcher, at the 2009 annual Scare for a Cure haunted house, held ~~each~~ this year at the palatial Austin estate of video-game entrepreneur Richard Garriott, aka Lord British. I paid a couple of extra bucks for the special glowing red chemiluminescent necklace that identified me as amenable to the "extreme," full-contact version of the experience, and I'm so glad that I did.

My friend, Christie, got about a bucket of "blood" "vomited" onto her head by a ceiling-mounted ghoul, and came out looking like Carrie on prom night. I saw it happen, and the moment is frozen for me like a scene from a Dario Argento movie: Christie's blond locks, suffused by a pale, flickering, blue-green backlight, her mouth slightly open as she looks up, laughing, into the torrent of black, sticky ichor that tumbles, in exaggerated slow motion, onto her face. In my mind's eye, I can still see my own gaping mouth reflected in a small, spherical droplet of that blood as it spatters across space and time. I think that droplet will be falling, in my memory, for many years to come.

Thanks to all the volunteers who worked so hard to make this such an incredible event. If you missed it this year, go mark your calendars now.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

There's still time left to enter the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Deadline is 11:59 PM PDT, November 3rd. Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

September 30, 2009

"How Round Is Your Circle?"

Britons John Bryant and Chris Sangwin have written a book called How Round is Your Circle? that looks incredible. I haven't read it (yet), but the promotional website by itself has me sold already. Highlights include Reuleaux tetrahedra, square-hole drilling, and self-righting polyhedra.

September 21, 2009

Book giveaway + project excerpt: Photojojo! by Amit Gupta with Kelly Jensen

Photojojo Bookcover
Photojojo! Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas by Amit Gupta with Kelly Jensen
Book Site: Photojojo.com/book

The best email newsletter hands down for photography crafts is Photojojo. Thanks to Amit's review one year, I found my Nikon D40 and have been in love with taking photos ever since. Now Amit and Kelly wow us again with their new book, Photojojo! Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas filled with 50 projects so you can do more with all the cool photos you take. It's not just about printing them out and making a photo album. This book shows you how to use your photos to make cool things such as a lampshade or messenger bag (pictured below).The second half of the book is like taking a photography class. You'll learn techniques for taking better photos as well as fun ways you can experiment with different photo techniques. I love the tips on how to do digital color correcting after you've taken your photos. If you love taking photos and want to learn how to do more with them, this book is for you!

Photojojo Projects
Book Giveaway Time!
We are giving away 3 copies of the Photojojo! book.Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you need this book. Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (won't be published). All comments will be closed by Noon PST on Wednesday, September 23rd. The lucky winners will be announced next week on the site. Good luck!

Photojojo Photomosaic
Project: Ginormous Photo Mosaics
Even if you are living in an apartment and can't put holes in your walls, you can still get some great art up. Download the project PDF to make this stunning photo mosaic where you'll be able to see the wonderful memories you have of your friend and family.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Sep 21, 2009 11:00 AM
Crafts, Photography, Reviews | Permalink | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

September 19, 2009

Art deco Cthulhu idol

If you're a Lovecraft fan and have not yet seen the HPLHS's 2005 silent-film adaptation of Call of Cthulhu, well, there may be nothing, anywhere, that's more important than that you go do so immediately. So. Very. Good. The look they achieve on a low budget is amazing, and a lot of that is due to the outstanding props, including several awesome Cthulhu idols, many of which are available in reproduction. But the art deco "LeGrasse" idol shown here is my favorite.

September 16, 2009

Source for low-melt casting alloys

If you've ever wanted to experiment with low-melting-point metal alloys, for casting toy soldiers or other purposes, Rotometals, Inc is a great online resource. Their Low-Melting-Point Bismuth Based Ingot 158-190-ALLOY, for instance, can be melted in a pot of boiling water. If you're concerned about lead or cadmium toxicity, their slightly-higher-melting 281-ALLOY contains only bismuth and tin. The also carry pure bismuth, indium, magnesium, and other metals and casting supplies in convenient quantities for small users.

August 20, 2009

Wooden flashlight

I really like this wooden flashlight sold by the Museum of Modern Art. It's pricey, but if you have a wood lathe sitting around and are looking for something more original to make with it than a bowl, a pen, or a salt shaker, this could be a great project.

August 7, 2009

Illustrated mechanical explanation book

Cool Tools has a review up for The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay and Neil Ardley, which has just been added to my wish list. The striking and explanatory illustrations show you how even very complicated things work in a simple and fun way.

The Manga Guide to Electricity

Mg Electricity Big
Remember the "The Manga Guide to Statistics" ? Hack a Day reviews The Manga Guide to Electricity... fun!

“The Manga Guide to Electricity”, part of “The Manga Guide” series by No Starch Press, is a novel approach to the old problem of getting over the initial mental block when trying to learn electronics.
We decided to compare this book to another introductory text: “Getting Started in Electronics” by [Forrest M. Mims]. [Mims]‘ book is a handwritten masterpiece of electronic literature. The writing style is friendly and concise, the examples are simple, and the drawings are excellent. It also makes sure to keep the learning process as application based as possible. Unlike other books, it doesn’t bog the reader down with math and theory that is only useful to advanced students. Since its original printing in 1983, [Mims]‘ has become the de facto standard for beginner electronic literature.

“The Manga Guide” attempts to walk the beginner through the very basics of electronics using the interactions between [Rereko], a resident of planet Electopia; [Yonosuke], a transdimensional robot cell phone; and [Hikaru Yano Sensei], an electrical engineering researcher at a Japanese university. [Rereko] is apparently very bad at electricity, and is sent to learn the basics from Hikaru over the summer by her professor.

“The Manga Guide” is a lot of fun to read. The interactions between the characters are lighthearted, and the whole setting has a sort of quirkiness about it that makes you keep reading just for the joy of it. It covers most of the basics thoroughly and with excellent examples. The art is a very well drawn, playful style of manga.

On a related note, MAKE now has Forrest Mims as a columnist!

July 26, 2009

Soldering Dale Wheat's creations

At this year's Maker Faire, I met Dale Wheat. He was at a counter in the Maker Shed demonstrating his kits. I was impressed at how clever they were, and how inexpensive. We talked for a few minutes, and then I went off to explore. Before the weekend was over, I dropped a few of Dale's kits into my shopping bag. They seemed like they'd be fun to work with. This week, I finally got around to assembling the three kits I got.

The Wee Blinky is the simplest and easiest of the kits. With two transistors, two LEDs, two capacitors, and four resistors, it makes for a very quick build. Since the parts for stuffing the board are labeled on the silkscreen mask, you don't even need documentation. He does have some docs for the build, and they are worth reading through. They're written in a conversational tone with some of his personal perspective on choices you might make.

Lux Spectralis is a little more complex, but again, the mask on the board tells you where to put everything, and the online documentation steps you through it perfectly. This kit has two clever part features: a preprogrammed Atmel AVR ATtiny13, and a red-green-blue tricolor LED. The chip comes with a bunch of color combinations loaded which show some uses for each of the colors on the LED. If you pick up a programming cord and want to get into learning to program with it (or already know about programming AVRs), then have at it. Otherwise, the program on the chip should keep you happy. The RGB LED is a neat thing in itself. With the three colors, you can make it glow or blink in each of them, or it can cycle through the colors.

Tiny Cylon is the third kit I tried. It sports a row of five red LEDs that are controlled by an ATtiny chip. Already on the chip are a cycle of blink and glow patterns that make it useful as soon as you're done with a quick solder. HAL, KITT, and Cylons are a few of the cultural references in the lighting patterns.

These kits are great for beginnings. Why? Because they're inexpensive, have instructions embedded onto their physical surfaces (and easily located online), and because once you see how they work, you can customize them to suit your own purposes. The programmed ones use momentary buttons for selecting the settings. The button could be mounted off of the board to help fit it into another project. If you want to make a plushy doll with blinky eyes, you could add wires to the Wee Blinky's LED pads and move the illumination further away from the board. If you want to make a model car into KITT from Knight Rider, you could Dremel out the hood of a remote control car and pop the LEDs into the hole.

Once you start to see that you can solder a kit, and that it's fun to build and use, you'll want to see what else you can do with soldering and kits. Once you see how easy it is to make one, you'll feel confident in making chances on the next one. These kits have a low cost of entry and a high probability of success for the beginner. Once built, they can lead you into customizing your own circuits and programming for light and sensor control.

You can check out Dale's site for more information, downloads, build instructions and more.

In the Maker Shed:

The MAKEcation learn to solder bundle is a fun collection of all things blinky. All the kits are easy to solder and each one makes a fun little blinky piece of hardware. The bundle also includes our Maker's Notebook and MAKE Volume 01, which features a great learn to solder tutorial. Have fun this summer, learn to solder, and blink some LEDs!

Features:
MAKE Volume 01 $14.99 value
tinyCylon $10 value
Wee Blinky $8 value
Lux Spectralis $10 value
Maker's Notebook $19.99 value

More about The MAKEcation learn to solder bundle

June 30, 2009

Book Review: Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop

I've wanted to get into knifemaking since I was a teenager, but for years had been deterred by the belief that I first needed to buy a bunch of expensive equipment, like a 3-wheel belt grinder and an annealing oven. Then I found Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop, which is a compilation of material originally prepared for Goddard's eponymous column in BLADE magazine. It kind of does for knifemaking what Dave Gingery's books did for foundrywork, going back to the historical fundamentals of the technology to get at what you really need to do good work. Goodies include homemade forges and anvils, homemade disc and belt grinders, scavenging steel for blades (including forging wire rope to make Damascus steel), finishing techniques, backyard heat treating, and a whole chapter on "tribal knifemaking," which is the modern art of making knives without using electricity. Fascinating stuff.

June 21, 2009

All hail Dave Gingery

If you hang around makers long enough, especially older ones, sooner or later somebody will mention Dave Gingery. And then everybody within earshot will either A) genuflect or B) look around in confusion at all the people who are genuflecting. For those in the latter category, here's an explanation I wrote for Supernaturale awhile back:

Some people are better with tools than others. Like most human attributes, there's a normal distribution of this talent, with a few exceptionally handy-capped people, a few übermechaniker, and most of the rest of us somewhere in between. The late, great Dave Gingery definitely belongs in the "über" category. His classic 6-book series, available for decades now through Lindsay Technical Books, begins with instruction about how to build a home blast furnace and sand table so you can melt scrap metal and cast your own metal parts from wooden patterns. The remaining six books go on to describe how to use these castings to make your own lathe, metal shaper, milling machine, drill press, and indexing head. The order is important, because each tool requires the use of the previous machines in its construction. While the project seems a bit ambitious for me given my available time, I keep a set of the books around on the off-chance I'll be solely responsible for rebuilding industrial society in some sort of post-apocalyptic scenario.

Dave, sadly, left us in 2004. Personally, I think there should be a formal day of remembrance among makers. Meanwhile, Dave's son Vince is carrying the torch and has published a healthy oeuvre of DIY books himself. The works of both father and son are available through Lindsay Technical Books.

From the pages of MAKE:

Dale Dougherty reviewed Lindsay's Technical Books way back in MAKE 04. The review includes some classic Gingery quotes.

More:

June 17, 2009

Book Review: Caveman Chemistry by Kevin Dunn

My recent post on glassknapping mentioned Kevin Dunn's 2003 book Caveman Chemistry, and I've received many requests for a dedicated review. So here goes!

Caveman Chemistry came to my attention a few years ago through the Lindsay Technical Books catalog. I'm a chemist by profession and a hacker by calling, with a long-standing interest in garage science, so the book's title was basically irresistible to me. I plunked down my nickel and twiddled my thumbs for a week while the snails carried it to my doorstep.

Read full story

June 12, 2009

The IT Crowd on DVD in the States

In early April of this year, a fairly significant event happened for my family. Geeky as it may sound, my husband, sons, and I were ecstatic to learn that the first season of The IT Crowd was available on DVD in a format that we could use here in the United States. My husband Bruce posted the news to GeekDad, and we all gathered round ye old plasma TV to enjoy the laughs. But it was over all too quickly. Were we doomed to Land of the Lost reruns on Hulu?

Thankfully, we're now looking forward to the end of this month, when The IT Crowd, The Complete Season 2 comes out on US format DVD on June 30th. Sure, you can watch it online or on the IFC channel, but we'll be happy to have the whole series on DVD, both for the funny 1337 extras and the subtitles, which my son uses (he wears hearing aids).

Word on the internets is that the 4th season of The IT Crowd will begin in July in the UK, and a Season 3 DVD may hit the States this fall. Bring on the IT Brits!

April 30, 2009

Glue anything to anything

Ever get confused about what sort of glue to use on a project? I'm twice degreed in Chemistry, and I certainly do. A great resource is This to That,, a comprehensive "glue advice" database run by a theatrical prop-builder and some buddies. They say:

We aren't a front for any manufacturer or some National Glue Association (if such a thing even exists.) Our recommendations are totally impartial. We have advertisers but they don't influence our selections at all. And they never will. We promise.

The folks at This to That were kind enough to give MAKE permission to reprint their main glue chart in The Maker's Notebook, so it's available in the notebook's reference section in the back.

In the Maker Shed:

Pick up The Maker's Notebook ($19.99) for all your big ideas, diagrams, patterns, etc. Exclusive to the Maker Shed: Sticker sheets and a band closure to customize your book.

February 8, 2009

Maker Shed weekly wrap-up

It was a busy week in the Maker Shed. We announced 2 new kits, the Deluxe learn to solder kit and the Arduino controlled servo robot. We had a lot of great builds and reviews too!

We started the week with my How-to Tuesday: Arduino 101 blink an LED, which seemed to be very popular with all the people getting into programming these amazing little micro-controllers.

Collin had a great how-to video about making games with Meggy Jr. I really like his unique sun-catching game that he programmed. I have to pick up a Meggy Jr. and try my hands at programming my own game.

Later in the week I made a post about building my new favorite kit by Gakken, the Stirling Engine Kit. It's an amazing kit, full of high quality parts. I really enjoyed learning about how these engines work. I have a few plans on hacking this kit, but more on that in a later post.

Gareth finished up the week with 2 great posts from the Maker Shed. His first post was a review of the SERB Robot kit. He was really impressed by the quality and completeness of the kit. I plan on doing more posts about programming this cool kit in the near future.

Gareth also posted a great excerpt from the book Eccentric Cubicle. I don't own this book, but after reading this excerpt it's a must-have for my book collection. What a great read about finding hidden gems in the scrap yard.

Reviews Home | Next >

Void your warranty, violate a user agreement, fry a circuit, blow a fuse, poke an eye out. Make: The risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things... Welcome to Make: Online!

Check out more videos from MAKE.

Connect with MAKE

	MAKE on Facebook Visit our Facebook page and become a fan of MAKE!
	MAKE on Twitter Follow our MAKE tweets!
	MAKE on Flickr Join our MAKE Flickr Pool!

make_tips on Twitter

Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!

Click here to advertise on MAKE!

Make: Online editors and authors!

Gareth Branwyn
Editor-in-Chief

Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
| AIM | Twitter

Becky Stern
Associate Editor
| AIM | Twitter

Marc de Vinck
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter

John Park
Contributing Writer
| Twitter

Sean Ragan
Contributing Writer
| Twitter

Matt Mets
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter

Dale Dougherty
Editor & Publisher
| Twitter

Shawn Connally
Managing Editor
| Twitter

Goli Mohammadi
Associate Managing Editor

Kip Kay Kip Kay
Weekend Projects
| AIM | Twitter

Collin Cunningham
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter

Adam Flaherty
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter

John Baichtal
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter

More contributors: Mark Frauenfelder (Editor-in-Chief, MAKE magazine), Kipp Bradford (Technical Consultant/Writer), Chris Connors (Education), Diana Eng (Guest Author), Peter Horvath (Intern), Brian Jepson (O'Reilly Media), Robert Bruce Thompson (Science Room)

Suggest a Site!

Current Podcast

Weekend Project: Personal Portable Heater Keep warm this winter with an easy to make portable heater you can stick in your pocket, under your hat or anywhere for some extra heat. To download The Portable Heater video click here and subscribe in iTunes. Subscribe... More...