All those toys we love.
New York Times has a fantastic, interactive tribute to the brilliance of Steve Jobs and the 317 Apple patents he’s listed as one of the inventors of.
As sad as his loss is, we must also rejoice in the great ways he’s improved our lives, and strive for the same level of excellence that he maintained.
Circular motion can be converted into a four-sided square using the Reuleaux triangle. The process relies on the property of Reuleaux triangle’s diameter being consistent across all points, and when rolled and rotated simultaneously, tracing a square area with slightly rounded corners. By slightly altering the shape of the triangle to mimic a drill bit (for cutting and extracting material), a drill with a specialized rotating chuck can create perfect, four-sided holes. These drills were pioneered by Harry Watts, and can still be found today, albeit not at your typical home improvement store.
The following is a bit of literature that helps explain and illustrate the concepts behind the Reuleaux triangle. Please check out more of Prof. Smith’s work here.
I need one of these posters for my shop. From what I hear you can get yours at McMaster or MSC, although I haven’t found a full size one yet. But I did stumble across this book, and it looks good: Home Machinists Handbook
Here’s an online conversion table that can help in a pinch, too.
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This isn’t new, and I didn’t come up with it. And, some people say it doesn’t even work that well. But still, for a not-too-tight screw that you just can’t get some pliers around, give this a shot.
(via apartmenttherapy)
A couple months ago I posted about how to improve your video projects by using an iPhone to record improved audio. I described a system that mimics a lavalier (clip-on) mic, by putting the phone in your shirt pocket, or even on the desk next to you.
Jeremiah Warren (the guy who strapped a camera to some fireworks) took the same concept and expanded it a step further — using the iPhone as a handheld microphone in his latest video (about cooking food on the hot dashboard of your car). The interesting thing about this approach is that it creates the concept of a handheld microphone with a built-in-audio recorder, rather than the system where the mic wirelessly connects to a separate recorder. This creates the option of having as many channels of audio as you have microphones (I’m envisioning a full concert with all the instruments and individual drums recorded on a multitude of iPhones). Of course, the iPhone doesn’t have the ergonomics a handheld mic does, nor does it have the same microphone patterns that the variety of mics used for various instruments, sound levels, and recording environments require, but still something I might have to play with…
And get a kick out of the windscreen!
In February 2011, a group of Spanish engineers debuted a project they had been working on for over six years called Wavegarden — a wave pool concept that uses an active system for creating waves that have the shape and power that surfers normally travel thousands of miles to ride. The initial prototype showed videos of guys ripping on knee-to-waist-high, barreling waves and caused quite a murmur in the surf community: “How does it work? Where is it located? When will one be built near me?” Those questions unanswered, the Wavegarden team shortly afterward announced that they were busy at work on an oversized new prototype that would deliver shoulder-high waves–the height where surfing gets truly competitive.
I reached out to the Wavegarden folks that put this system together, and wrote a piece for Wired magazine about what it is and how it works. Check it out in the August 2011 issue (on newsstands right now), or read the online version (complete with video). And keep your eyes open for their new pool, which is forecasted to be finished around September.
The 2004 NASA astronaut selection. Seated, from left: Bobby Satcher, Chris Cassidy, Ricky Arnold and Shane Kimbrough. Standing, from left: Jose Hernandez, Tom Marshburn, Joe Acaba, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Jim Dutton and Shannon Walker. Not shown: Randy Bresnik.
I was just checking out the NASA brochure for astronaut jobs and hiring information (last updated March 2008). Although the information has to be made available, I didn’t realize they marketed it so publicly — I like to imagine most astronauts as Steve Rogers-style, genetically modified super-scientist outer space aviators. The type that are made, not born, with the sole intention of implementing extra-terrestrial projects of the highest level of classification.
All joking aside, there are some very interesting points in the job post.
And some detailed bios and interviews with the eleven astronauts from the 2004 selection (pictured above).
| Joe Acaba, MS-E | Science/math teacher | Bio | Interview | ||
| Ricky Arnold, MS-E | Science/math teacher | Bio | Interview | ||
| Randy Bresnik, pilot | Marine Corps major | Bio | Interview not available | ||
| Chris Cassidy, MS | Navy lieutenant commander | Bio | Interview | ||
| Jim Dutton, pilot | Air Force major | Bio | Interview | ||
| Jose Hernandez, MS | NASA/Johnson Space Center engineer | Bio | Interview | ||
| Shane Kimbrough, MS | Army major | Bio | Interview | ||
| Tom Marshburn, MS | NASA/Johnson Space Center flight surgeon | Bio | Interview | ||
| Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, MS-E | Science teacher | Bio | Interview | ||
| Bobby Satcher, MS | Orthopedic surgeon | Bio | Interview | ||
| Shannon Walker, MS | NASA/Johnson Space Center engineer | Bio | Interview | ||
Rally racing, awesome as it is, tends to be a European phenomenon. Hilly, public tracks, often off-road. Rallies have been around since the advent of the automobile (mimicking horse-and-buggy races), and nowadays are high-speed, handbrake-turning, hump-jumping affairs. Outside of the European races, a few prominent rallies exist, with the Baja 1000 and the Paris-Dakar being two of the largest.
With that history behind us, here’s a fun way to show of how cultured and European you are: papercraft rally cars you can print and make to adorn your work desk. I’m fond of Volkswagen Touaregs, but the Mitsubishi Lacer with those all-terrain tires looks pretty aggressive too.
I found these and many more on the Czech site car-models.webnode.cz, via one of my fave sites, Paperkraft.net. You’ll need .rar software to unzip the files. If you make any of them, send me pics and I’ll post with your info for all the world to see.
ŠKODA FABIA S2000
(Note–if you like this post and other cool DIY projects, make sure to add me on twitter and grab the DOIT feed)
In 2003, Canon posted a how-to on their website about making a Canon 1D mockup in balsa wood. The post sat on their site without much attention for five years, until October 2008, when it got “viral” and spread around the web on all the major sites.
About nine months later, for as-of-now unknown reasons, Canon’s writeup was removed from their site, including most of the associated image files. But thanks to the Wayback Machine, much of that original post is still salvageable. I’ve transposed as much of the information here to help keep it available.
You’ll have to fill in the blanks on the missing images for each of the steps (there were a lot of pics) but you can get a good idea from the ones that are still around.
A bounty of metal fasteners.
Saturday mornings, I love to peek at the local garage sale listings on Craigslist, usually to see what people are unloading in the way of tools. This weekend, I saw a “handyman special” nearby, and strolled over to it with an early morning coffee. As usual, the bigger goodies were all sold immediately, but I spotted a few bags of fasteners that seemed to have potential for yet-to-be-determined project work. Bolts, nuts, washers, a couple tie-rod ends, and a box of hydraulic pipe fittings. Not bad for a couple bucks — probably could find it cheaper (like, free), but if I’m going to make an impulse purchase, it’s nice to keep it in the five dollars or less category.
Anyone else find any treasures this weekend?
$19.99 each
