8.25.2008

How To Build a Cheap and Effective Mixer for the end of a Drill

You could spend anywhere from $10.00- $20.00 on a mixer for the end of you electrical drill or, you could just do what I do. All that you need are three grilling skewers. Then, just put them at the end of the drill, point them in different directions, and then mix. This can be really useful for the, "How to Make a Mold from a Halloween Mask" project.

The 10 Things That EVERY DIYer Must Have

  1. LED's by the dozen
  2. Wires and electrical tape
  3. Many types of batteries and lots of them
  4. A couple of 2x4's and pieces of plywood
  5. Power Tools; Saws (band saw, power saw, power hand saw, and table milter saws), power drills, and belt sanders
  6. Various motors
  7. Soldering iron and solder
  8. Electrical switches and buttons
  9. A good work desk
  10. Project boxes

How To Make A Screwdriver for Your Needs

I have many torx screwdrivers that I will never need and have decided to put them to good use. There is a screw in the Wiimote that requires a triangular screwdriver so I'm just simply going to grind down the edges to make it triangular. I have also needed certain size flat head screwdrivers in the past and have grinded down the torx screwdrivers to make them.

8.24.2008

LED Throwie

This is an idea from Graffiti Research Lab and is pretty clever. All it involves is a battery, an LED, some tape, and a small powerful magnet. All that you need to do is connect the battery to the LED with the tape then connect the magnet to the battery with some more tape. Then you just, well, uh, throw. The wide range of places that these could be put is endless; on cars, refrigerators, bridges, street lights, buildings, ect.

Cheap Motors, LED's, Wires, and Gears







Here are a couple of things that I got out of my old printer.

8.20.2008

James Bond Style Exploding Pen


I just bought a shocking pen, like those novelty ones that you use to shock people, and had a great thought go through my head. I saw that when you click the button that shocks you it makes a constant spark inside of the pen. That spark would probably be hot enough to light the fuse of a firecracker. So I would cover the metalic part at the end with a peice of rubber so that you won't get shocked when you press it, then place the fuse near the area of the spark, then empty the powder from the firecracker and pour it into the pen and put enough in so that the fuse could reach it. Obviously, i wouldn't give this pen to anyone but, it would be cool to be able to say that I made it. I would test it by placing it on the ground and by pressing the button with a long stick. I will post a link to the final result once I finish it!

8.03.2008

A Simple Way to Make Things Motorized

One fast and simple way to transmit power from a motor to a wheel or object is to move is to simply wrap duct tape (or even better, find a round peice of rubber that will fit around the end of the motor) around the moving part of the motor then attatch the motor to something near to the object that will be turned (such as a wheel) so that the moving end of the motor applies some pressure against the wheel (but don't make it apply to much pressure). Once your ready just turn on the motor and it should be working. This isn't nearly as effective as gears however, it provides a quick and cheap alternative.

Simple Diet Coke and Mentos Nozzle


This is an idea that I haven't found anywhere on the internet so I thought that it would be a good idea to share. All that it involves is simply drilling a hole in the middle of the cap of a diet coke bottle and screwing the cap on directly after the mentos are deposited into the coke.

POTATO Cannon!

This is a cool thing that I saw my neighbors use one. It is AMAZING and can be built for less than $25.00 (It's way worth the money). There are also some videos on Youtube that will help you understand how to build this if this isn't sufficient enough.

Assembly:
Get all your parts ready for assembly.
Cut all your pipes to the correct length using a saw.
Glue the end cap holder onto the end combustion chamber pipe (Fatter, shorter one) Make sure you don't get glue into the threads.
Take the 3" to 1.5" reducer and glue the 3" end to the other side of the combustion chamber.
Glue the barrel to the other end of the reducer.
Put two 3-inch nails into the 3" section on either side so there about 1 cm apart.
Put small alligator clips on the leads to your BBQ sparker.
Let it dry for a day, then you're ready to fire.

Loading:
Ensure a tight seal around the projectile. This prevents the combustion gasses from escaping around the projectile instead of pushing it forward and will result in inefficient shots.
Cut each potato in half and put it on a board or hard ground. Use the barrel as a cookie-cutter to force a perfect circle of potato into the muzzle and force it down with a ramrod.

Firing:
Open the end cap.
Spray propellant (almost all hairspray will do) inside the chamber and close end cap tightly. Seven seconds of spraying is plenty.
Connect the alligator clips to the nails in the chamber.
Aim away from all people and click the sparker (it may take a few sparks so don't be discouraged if it doesn't work).

Instructions Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Potato-Launcher