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FYI, this is basically a standard etching method, it’s just that they transferr the layout to the copper using “toner transfer”–i.e., a laser-jet printed copy of the circuit layout and a hot iron–instead of mucking around with photo-emulsion or tracing or what have you. Nifty!
Make Your Own Printed Circuit Boards on a Laserjet! – YouTube

*thank trek!*

. . . and get the ebooks (in PDF, mobi, and ePub formats) for *FREE*!

Order Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred directly from the publisher, use the coupon code SHRED, and save 35% (i.e., pay one fat quarter *less* than you would ordering from Amazon). And Amazon would nick you another $10 for the Kindle version, where-as No Starch tosses it in for free (along with a really slick PDF–pretty as hell on an iPad, if you’re an iPad person).
Buy a paper copy of my book for your cousin and keep the PDF for yourself–or, Hell, buy a dead-tree version for your cousin, give him the digital bundle on a thumb drive, and *keep a copy of the ebooks for yourself, just like Jake Sparrow would.* It’s fine by us! See if Amazon will give you *that* deal.
It’s about *sharing* the love is what we’re saying, and ’tis the season for that.

If you have a decently stocked tool room, then this is a great intro-level woodworking project with gift-quality results. FYI, even if you don’t own a Dremel or drill press (I don’t, the charger for mine died this past weekend), you can totally get by with just a hand-held power drill for this project, you’ll just need to be a little more attentive (and will likely get a slightly soarer arm–a drill is a lot heavier than a Dremel).
Project: Wooden Salt Cellar @Craftzine.com blog
Oh, and one safety tip: This project describes using some fallen wood from a fruit tree. If that’s not an option for you and you’re instead going to buy lumber, make sure and tell the salesperson what you’re up to: construction wood is very often sprayed with chemicals in order to prevent pests from chewing it up (arsenic used to be common, although I think that’s been outlawed in many States). A lumber yard will *always* be able to steer you toward food-safe wood.

I met a scads of great folks at Maker Faire Detroit this year, including William Wardrop, who crafts *fantastically* rad cardboard model steampunk vehicles from legal-pad backing boards (!!!)
Aircraft – Steam Noir

The steam ornithopter has been re-invented throughout history. Its origins predate the Atlantean culture which used it quite extensively in their world travels. When Leonardo Da Vinci later discovered the blueprints for one in the vaults of the Vatican he tried to create his own version; at which point the Atlanteans stepped in, kidnapped Da Vinci and replaced him with a less intelligent clone. Da Vinci in turn handed his plans for the ornithopter to the Aztecs who dismissed them as useless since they could already fly through telekinesis. By the time Jules Vern discovered that he was actually one of Da Vinci’s less intelligent clones he had already created a fleet of ornithopters which he would fly to Mars on a regular basis. The Wright brothers had no connection to the ornithopter and probably didn’t know how to spell it either.

*Lots* of great models at his site; very worth poking around.

The 8 Most Wildly Irresponsible Vintage Toys | Cracked.com
I’m kind of divided here. On the one hand, in the clear light of 21st C day, these toys are totally *insane.* On the other, I was born in the mid-1970s and grew up in the suburbs outside Detroit, and I *remember* kids just a little older than me casting their own lead soldiers, for example. As middle schoolers we’d buy calcium carbide (used to power the Austin Magic Pistol in the embedded video) from the hardware store and make acetylene lamps from baby food jars and fire-balls with party balloons and soda bottles (I haven’t the foggiest what the approved use of calcium carbide was in the 1980s; it isn’t like I grew up in coal country).

The final bit of nostalgia: The Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory.

Did I own one of these? Sweet Monkey Jesus *NO*! But I *did* take to rock collecting in early elementary, which lead to my mom giving me her old rock collections–mostly bought as little pre-boxed souvenir sets while on family vacations (she grew up in the West). Right in the middle of these was a little off-white chunk of stone; it could have been an especially pale chip of concrete, except for it’s red, all-caps label: URANIUM
No lie. Welcome to the Atomic Age in America.
I haven’t the foggiest where that rock set wound up. Part of my *really* wants to know, but the rest just hopes it isn’t kicking around my basement office where I sit typing most days.

We’ve entered the season of class projects, Science Fairs, cooped-up weekends, and dreary afternoons. Folks seem to think Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred can help with that (check out the Amazon reviews!), and I’m inclined to agree.
Amazon clearly has their every-day deal (usually 30-something percent off; it actually changes from day to day, and I have no idea why), and also sells the Kindle version for a flat $9.99. Here’s the New Deal: Order Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred directly from the publisher using coupon code SHRED and they’ll knock 35% off the cover price of either the print edition or the ebook pack (which includes DRM-free PDF, ePub, and Kindle-compatible versions). *Added Bonus*: When you buy the print edition, No Starch includes the ebook bundle for *free.* I’m not a *huge* ebook fan for something as picture intensive as a DIY book, but these ebooks are really slick: The PDF version is basically the source-file used to print the paper copies, and reads *excellently* on an iPad. The .mobi and .epub ebooks look sharp on Kindles (and their ilk), and have all of the cross-references formatted as links: Every place I say something like “As you’ll recall from Project #22,” or whatever, you can click on the “Project #22” and go straight to that section without fumbling or undue distraction. It might not seem like much, but it’s *really* handy when you’re midway through soldering and forget which leg of an LED is negative, or how the lugs on a pot are labelled.
That No Starch Press has the wisdom and far-sightedness to go DRM-free *and* bundle free ebooks with their print editions is one of my favorite things about working with them; it’s really a wonderful, common-sense Good Deal for everyone.

I met Conan while doing Maker Faire Detroit stuff; he has *a lot* of great things to say about play and exploration and iteration, and how these all fit into innovation and progress. His lil brushbots are a great literalization of all that: They’re an easy jumping-off point for kids and adults new to electricity, and their design flexibility encourages the sort of adaptation that makes for great toys. The store-bought Hexbugs that are all the rage in some quarters are a really lame shadow of brushbots, and not nearly as much fun (at, what, 6 times the price? Ugh!)
Here’s just one riff on his design:
Brushbot, meet Papercraft – curiosity tech | curiosity tech

Just got back from the Maker Faire Detroit load-in/meet-n-greet. There are some *crazy rad* displays this year, many featuring fire and Mad Max locomotion: Giant Crazy Truck-crushing Mousetrap is back, and there is also an angry, fire-breathing bear-dragon mobile, and that water swing, and mobile cupcake launchers, and something–I dunno what–that involves six propane tanks and a *very sturdy barrier*.
I’ll be there showing folks how to jam out on homemade electric instruments, and build cardboard boomerangs and Quick-n-Easy Water Rockets (forecast calls for 90+ degrees and sunny; perfect water rocket weather). I’m also speaking on the MAKE: Live stage at 2:30 about building cheap toys, innovation, and neuroplasticity. So, if you’re at Maker Faire, come say “Hey!” Tweet me @SquiDaveo if you want to rendezvous. Hope to see you there!

‪Flower Pot Fridge!‬‏ – YouTube

Zeer pots are pretty rad, but be aware that your mileage may vary: These were developed in Egypt (albeit several millennia past) and rely on evaporation for cooling–just like you and me. Here in Michigan, we’ve had a straight 10 days or so with upper 90s temps and upper 90s humidity (FYI, although those temps are a lil higher than the traditional norm–say “Hey!” to total climate collapse!–the humidity is totally, totally the norm). Subsequently, this kind of “swamp cooler” tech has never caught on here in the pleasant penninsula. Our old-skool simple tech equivalent is the trash- can root cellar.
(props to Mojo for the vid link)

The Fox Is Black — MÖBIUS SHIP by Tim Hawkinson
(thanks to everyone who’s pointed me to this in the last week or two!)