A Fusion Reactor for the Rest of Us
Charles Platt | Make Vol. 03 - 2005 | Pdf | 11 pgs | 3 mb
Friday, October 16, 2009
A Fusion Reactor for the Rest of Us
A Fusion Reactor for the Rest of Us
Charles Platt | Make Vol. 03 - 2005 | Pdf | 11 pgs | 3 mb
Making Biodiesel
Making Biodiesel
Rob Elam | Make Vol. 03 - 2005 | Pdf | 9 pgs | 2 mb
It's easy to make a small batch of biodiesel that will work in any diesel engine. You don't need any special equipment - an old juice bottle wilI serve as the "reactor" vessel - and on such a small scale you can quickly refine your technique and perform further experiments. After a few liters' worth of experience, you'll know if you've been bitten by the biodiesel bug.
The principle behind biodieseling is to take vegetable oil (either new or used), and process it into a fuel that's thin enough to spray from a regular diesel engine's fuel-injection system. This is done chemically, by converting the oil into two types of compounds: biodiesel, which shares the original oil's combustibility, and glycerin, which retains the oil's thick, viscous properties. Drain away the glycerin, and you're left with a fuel that you can pour into any diesel vehicle with no further modification.
Once you get to the far side of the learning curve, making biodiesel is very much like cooking. In fact, a commercial biodiesel production plant shares more in common with a large-scale bakery than a petroleum refinery. There's organic chemistry involved in baking a cake, but most bakers wouIdn't consider themselves organic chemists.
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Download | Mirror
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Spirits Guy
Spirits Guy
How Lance Winters went from basement moonshiner to celebrity vodka distiller
Benjamin Tice Smith | Make Vol. 11- 2007 | Pdf | 6 pgs | 2 mb
When most of us want some tequila, we run to the liquor
store on the way home from work. Lance Winters prefers
heading to Mexico to find the best agave cactus and
bringing it back to his laboratory in a 65,000-square-foot
aircraft hangar on a dormant naval base on the edge
of San Francisco Bay. Winters is a craft distiller at St.
George Spirits, whose vast workspace has three large
stills, numerous tanks, a bottling line, and many cases of
high-octane, high-priced hooch, including the top-selling
Hangar One Vodka.
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Purely Platonic
Purely Platonic
A dodecahedron table lamp
Charles Platt | Make Vol. 11- 2007 | Pdf | pgs | mb
People appear symmetrical, but even the mostDownload | Mirror
perfect human face shows irregularities if we
compare the left side with the right. Perhaps this
is why the absolute, rigid symmetry of crystals
seems beautiful yet alien to us. Unlike DNA's
soft spiral, a crystal's molecular bonds align
themselves to form regular three-dimensional
structures.,which the Greeks considered math-
ematically pure. The most fundamental of these
shapes are known as the five Platonic solids.
If you assemble equal-sided triangles -- all the
same size, with the same angles to each other --
you can create three possible solids: a tetrahedron
(with 4 faces), an octahedron (8 faces), and an
icosahedron (20 faces). If you use squares instead
of triangles, you can create only a hexahedron,
commonly known as a cube. Pentagons create a
dodecahedron (12 faces), and that's as far as we
can go. No other solid objects can be built with all-
identical. equal-sided, equal-angled polygons.
The Platonic solids have always fascinated me.
My favorite is the dodecahedron. which is why
I used it in this project as the basis for a table lamp.
By extending its edges to form points, we make
something that looks not only mathematically
perfect, but perhaps a little magical.
DIY ECGs
DIY ECGs
Dr. Shawn | Make Vol. 11- 2007 | Pdf | 3 pgs | 1 mb
THE HEART'S PUMPING ACTION IS DRIVEN
by powerful waves of electrical activity that
cause weak currents to flow in the body,
changing the electric potential between different
points on the skin by about one thousandth of a
volt (one millivolt,1mV). Hidden within that activity
is an enormous amount of information about what
the heart is doing, and anyone who can detect it
can peer into the workings of this incredible organ.
Fortunately, you don't have to be a cardiologist
with expensive equipment to pick up and decipher
that signal. Anyone can do it with this homemade
electrocardiogram (ECG) device. an analog-to-digital
converter (ADC) to digitize the signal and send it to
a computer, and a remarkable book that I'll tell you
about later.
You can assemble the circuit itself in an after-
noon for about $40. The ADC will cost a bit more.
between $50 and $300. But these devices open a
universe of opportunities to the home-based experi-
menter, and so every citizen scientist should invest
in one. (I've negotiated a great deal on one of these
devices especially for MAKE readers. Read on.)
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The Maker State
The Maker State
William Gurstelle | Make Vol. 11- 2007 | Pdf | 2 pgs | 1 mb
...
In a "nanny state:' somebody else - governments,
insurance companies, education administrators
- decides which projects makers may attempt and
which they may not. In the nanny state. experi-
menters and builders find themselves deprived
of the materials. tools, and information they need
to carry on their interests.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the "night
watchman state." Here, authorities try to keep thugs
off the street, keep the electricity on, and that's
about it. You're pretty much on your own.
Most of us prefer to live. work, and play some-
where in the middle. Let's call it the "Maker State."
In the Maker State, everyone takes reasonable
precautions and wears protective equipment. Safe
working practices, if thoughtfully incorporated into
the act of making things, can become a performance-
improving feature, just as athletes wear better
equipment to enhance their performance.
The Maker State provides freedom to attempt
projects on the edge. Still, laws of chance and sta-
tistics ensure that sometimes stuff just happens.
There are two fundamental realities of working in
the Maker State: risks can be reduced but not
eliminated, and not everything is somebody's fault.
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Wall Eye
Wall Eye:
Build your own opaque projector
Steve Lodefink | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 5 pgs | 2 mb
What's an opaque projector? You know, one of those contraptions that takes flat, reflective subjects such as printed pages, leaves, or coins, and projects them onto a screen or wall. Opaque projectors were common classroom presentation tools during most of the 20th century.
Although made largely obsolete by the use of video cameras coupled to video displays, opaque projectors are still being made and sold. Marketed today mainly to art students and hobbyists for use as drawing enlargers, entry-level models tend to be dim little plastic toys that can only accommodate puny 3" or 4" originals, and have to be used in a totally darkened room due to their small apertures and weak light sources. If you're lucky enough to find one of the majestic 1,000-watt giants from yesteryear at a swap meet, then consider yourself charmed. I was not so lucky.
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Scanner Camera:
Scanner Camera:
Mod a flatbed scanner to take photos
that deconstruct time and motion
Mike Golembewski | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 9 pgs | 3 mb
Several years ago, I built my first scanner camera. The idea was simple: I would use an ordinary flatbed scanner with a homemade large-format camera. The camera would focus the image onto the scanner bed in place of photo paper or film. I expected this to be a quick little art project made with a cardboard box, the cheapest flatbed scanner I could find, and lots of duct tape.
But when I got it all to work, the results were wonderful. Stationary objects photographed normally, but moving objects appeared twisted and distorted into fascinating shapes. At first I thought there was something wrong with my contraption, but then I realized that the movement of the scan head was meshing with the movement in the recorded scene. The distortion is similar to the effect created by moving an original on a photocopier mid-copy, but extended into the real world.
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Recycled Kaleidoscope
Recycled Kaleidoscope
Make a classic optics toy from an old CD case
Carolyn Bennet | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 4 pgs | 2 mb
The kaleidoscope was invented in 1816 by a Scottish physicist named Sir David Brewster, and it has intrigued people of all ages ever since. Through the years, kaleidoscopes have been made of nearly every possible material. Now it's time to take the kaleidoscope green. Here's a simple one you can create from recycled materials and common household items. For the mirror elements, we'll use pieces of an old "jewel box" CD case backed with black paper or neoprene.
Print-and Fold Ames Room
Print-and Fold Ames Room
This classic illusion makes objects -- and hobbits -- seem to change size
Ranjit B. | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 5 pgs | 2 mb
An Ames room is a distorted box that creates an illusion, from one vantage point, of varying depth, distance, and size. Invented by American ophthalmologist Adelbert Ames Jr. in 1934, setups like this were used to make the hobbits look small next to Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies.
Here's how I constructed a miniature Ames room out of paper and cardboard. I'll start by explaining how I derived the template that I used, which you can download at makezine.com/14/amesroom. You can make your own template using this explanation or just use my template to make your own room.
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Lensless Microscope
Lensless Microscope:
A webcam's image chip is an ultrafine shadow-imaging stage
Tom Zimmerman | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 7 pgs | 3 mb
Behind the lens of a webcam is an imager chip with thousands of tiny light sensors, each about 1/10 the diameter of a human hair. If you replace the lens with an LED light source, and place tiny objects on the imager chip, shadows will project onto the sensor, creating a lensless microscopic image. You can use the webcam's regular software to save pictures and video, or stream live images to the internet. Or use the imager chip from a security camera to see a colony of live plankton on TV.
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Homebrew Digital 3D Movies
Homebrew Digital 3D Movies:
Build your own stereo vidcam and 3D viewer
Eric Kurland | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 8 pgs | 3 mb
I have two eyes. And because of that simple fact, I also have stereopsis, the ability to perceive depth. When I was about 7 years old, I gazed into a View-Master toy and saw an amazing three-dimensional picture, and I was hooked.
Today, I create 3D videos, using various homebrew camera rigs and displays. I'll introduce you to a few of my devices, but first, a quick history lesson.
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Cosmic Night Light
Cosmic Night Light
Kris DeGrave | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 9 pgs | 3 mb
I wanted to make a night light with LEDs encased in resin that required no soldering - I can solder but I don't really Iike to. The project turned out to be one of my favorites, and beyond being a little tweaky getting all of the LEDs set, it's simple. The power comes from 2 coin batteries, so there's no risk of shock. And the finished product is a glossy, atmospheric light with a soft glow that looks great between my Martian lunch box and little plastic dudes landing on the moon.
Wireless Motion Sensing Made Easy
Wireless Motion Sensing Made Easy
Tom Igoe | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 4 pgs | 2 mb
I was never much of a sports fan until my friend
Mattie introduced me to the Gotham Girls Roller
Derby (gothamgirlsrollerderby.com). Once you've
seen a good blocker send the opposing team's jam-
mer sailing into the sidelines with a solid hip check,
you're hooked. Add all the bad puns in the players'
nicknames, and you've got a sport I just can't resist.
Soon, I had to find a way to hack it. If the skaters
wore motion sensors, I figured, you could make
things react to the action. Sound effects on every
hit! A synchronized soundtrack! Flames shooting up
every time a player gets knocked out of bounds! The
possibilities are endless.
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WII Will Rock You
WII Will Rock You
Bill Byrne | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 4 pgs | 2 mb
I grew up in the 80s with a Commodore 64, Game
Boy, and Nintendo Entertainment System, and
I feel more comfortable with an NES game pad
than a TV remote.
Many years later, the NES game pad has evolved
into a monster: the Wii Remote wireless game
controller, affectionately known as the Wiimote.
My wife, Suzanne, and I also perform and record
electronic music in a band called the Painful Leg
Injuries. I've played with numerous MIDI controllers,
but despite my years of childhood piano lessons,
nothing feels as natural to me as the Wiimote.
Blame it on all those hours with Tetris and Mario.
Here, I've written up 4 of the setups I'm using
to control music with this thereminesque, ether-
bending joystick.
Covert Spy Sunglasses
Covert Spy Sunglasses
Kip Kedersha | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 3 pgs | 1 mb
Ever since I was a kid I've loved spy gadgets. From
Wild Wild West to Get Smart and Mission Impossible,
they have always fascinated me. I can remember
sitting in front of the tube watching the hidden
camera pranks of Candid Camera. Well, now I have
my own pair of sneaky sunglasses that are cheap
and easy to make.
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Safety Spectrometer
Safety Spectrometer
Eric Rosenthal | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 2 pgs | 1 mb
After air travel security banned bottled water and
baby formula, I began wondering why they didn't
use a device to determine the contents of liquids. If a
liquid was detected to be safe, security could allow it
on the plane. Spectrometers can identify the chemi-
cal makeup of a material by shining light on it and
analyzing the precise mix of colors that bounce back.
These devices are usually very expensive, but
I've designed a simple and inexpensive one that can
identify liquids. You can also adapt it to determine
the color of a swatch of paper or cloth or to identify
a gem or semiprecious stone.
I spent less than $100 on this project and it took
just a few days to design, fabricate, and test the hard-
ware, plus another two days to write and debug the
source code. Collecting the liquids and building the
database took one evening, and it was fun!
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Monday, October 12, 2009
Parabolic Microphone
Parabolic Microphone
Jim Lee | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 2 pgs | 1 mb
This is a ridiculously easy way to build a parabolic
microphone using dollar store items. You'll attract
lots of attention walking around in public with this
rig. I usually welcome the inquiries, and let people
listen to what I'm doing. Kids especially love it.
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Molecular Gastronomy
Molecular Gastronomy
Michael Zbyszynski | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 4 pgs | 2 mb
There is a movement in the cooking world called
Molecular Gastronomy. The term was coined by
Nicholas Kurti and Herve This, and it has become
associated with chefs like Ferran Adria at El Bulli
in Spain, Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck in
England, Wylie Dufresne at wd~50 in New York,
and Homaru Cantu at Moto in Chicago.
Essentially, it involves applying scientific techniques
to the cooking process. One of the more interest-
ing techniques is the use of common substances to
control the texture of foods, often in surprising ways.
You don't need a chemistry lab to pull off such
effects. With a few inexpensive tools and chemi-
cals. it's possible to use spherification to make
all kinds of "caviar" (and other shapes) in your
own kitchen.
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Sunday, October 11, 2009
Mini Bike Light
Mini Bike Light
Trevor Shannon | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 2 pgs | 1 mb
I wanted to build a small, bright, and durable LED
light for my bike, and I read online that plumbing
parts work well as housings. So I made a 3-LED
headlamp that's enclosed by a 3/a" hose faucet
adapter and powered by an outboard battery pack.
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The Machinist's Phonograph
The Machinist's Phonograph
Royston Maybery | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 4 pgs | 2 mb
When Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, he
envisioned it as a business dictation machine.
But it soon became a popular medium for music,
recorded onto durable cylinders that are still avail-
able and playable today. Cylinders came in a wide
variety of formats - 21/4", 31/2", or 5" in diameter,
4" or 6" long, 120rpm-160rpm,100 or 200 grooves
per inch --- most of which required different types
of phonographs to play.
Today there's one specialty machine, the
Archeophone, that can handle all formats of cylinder
recordings, but it costs more than $16.000. So
I decided to build my own, and being a licensed
machinist, I call it the Machinist's Phonograph.
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The Gomicycle
The Gomicycle
Marque Cornblatt | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 3 pgs | 2 mb
While most civilians wait patiently for electric
vehicles (EVs) to arrive at their local showroom,
we makers take matters into our own hands. We've
created a dizzying array of street-legal electric
cars, scooters, and motorcycles, and there's even
a National Electric Drag Racing Association.
I wanted to go electric for my own day-to-day
transportation, but I didn't want to reinvent the
wheel. So I researched the existing art, and pur-
chased plans for the "El Chopper ET", a Honda Rebel
250 project that was developed by motorcycle EV
conversion guru John Bidwell.
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Evasive Beeping Thing
Evasive Beeping Thing
Brad Graham & kathy McGowan | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 3 pgs | 1 mb
The Evasive Beeping Thing is appropriately named,
since it dutifully does exactly what its name implies:
it sends out a 5-second, high-pitched beep every
few minutes. The source is extremely difficult to
locate because of the way that high frequencies
can penetrate objects and trick our ears.
You've probably encountered something similar in
the real world, such as a failing appliance or a beep-
ing wristwatch buried deep in a couch. As you know,
high-pitched sounds seem like they are coming from
all directions, which makes tracking them to the
source a real chore. Add the fact that the sound only
happens once every several minutes, and it may drive
a person loopy as they spend all day looking for the
source of the sound. Well, that's our goal, anyhow!
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The Pixelmusic 3000
The Pixelmusic 3000
Tarikh Korula | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 10 pgs | 4 mb
TV PARTY TONIGHT
Re-create a mid-1970s video trip by
plugging this box into any TV and audio
source. Beneath the fake wood paneling,
a Propeller microcontroller simulates
Atari's classic music visualizer.
In 1976, Atari introduced Atari Video Music, a plugged-in
music visualizer designed by Pong creator Bob Brown that
bridged the yawning gap between consumers' stereos and
their TV sets. The quirky, psychedelic pixelation device never
caught on, but watching it in action today (search YouTube),
one is taken back to another time, long before iTunes and
Winamp visualizers. It was a time when vinyl, denim, Foghat,
mood rings, limited color palettes, and RadioShack's
business model all somehow made sense.
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Taffy Pulling Machine
Taffy Pulling Machine
William Gurstelle | Make Vol. 14- 2008 | Pdf | 8 pgs | 3 mb
TWISTED, TUGGED, AND TASTY
Make a simple mechanism that pulls
delicious candy while it stretches the
limits of multidimensional math.
Sometimes the simplest things have richer histories and
more complex scientific connections than you ever
imagined. Such is the case for the taffy pulling machine.
Taffy pullers manipulate long strands of semisolid, sugary
dough into the delicious, chewy confection called salt water
taffy. After viewing myriad taffy machines in tourist traps
and internet videos, I sought to build one for myself.
Why? Well, when in operation, these devices display
a periodic, repetitive motion so mesmerizing that, when
placed in the front window of a candy shop. they invariably
attract large audiences and pull in customers.
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