Visual Glossary Of Screws, Nuts and Washers
(Makers and DIY’ers: Make sure to add me on twitter and subscribe to my feed.) BoltDepot has a great selection of charts used to identify and explain the wide variety of screws, bolts, nuts, washers and other pieces used for building just about every…
Palm-Sized Print and Cut Paper Trebuchet
Paper Trebuchet — a fun project for you projectile fans. Kill some time at work by printing the template, cutting it out, and folding it up. Then lay siege to your coworker’s sharpie collection. This isn’t a traditional trebuchet in that it doesn’t use…
Merlin-Style DIY Camera Stabilizer/Steadicam Build Tutorial
Steadicams are like handheld tripods that hold a videocamera on a swiveling base, so that almost any movement you make is isolated from the camera. The resulting shots are flowing, dreamy, and somewhat ethereal (sorta like this).The big wheel scene in The Shining is one…
Deal of the Day: Leatherman Skeletool on Amazon for $35 (start stuffing those stockings!)
Of all the Leatherman tools I’ve used, the Skeletool is my favorite. Ergonomic and light, with enough tool options to be useful for almost any situation. I paid a lot more than this and have no regrets about it whatsoever. With the holidays coming up,…
What is Vacuum Forming? Here’s a Quick Primer, and How to Make Your Own System
Vacuum forming is a technique used to shape plastic, that forces a thin sheet of heated plastic over (or into) a solid mold by means of a vacuum. It’s used to create a wide range of toys, models, car components, kitchen supplies, refrigerator interiors,…
Drilling Square Holes with a Reuleaux Triangle
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…
Using Your Bandsaw as a Sawmill to Cut Logs Into Boards
On my recent “Secret Surveilance Garden Birdhouse” project, I used some resawn lumber from a felled tree as an overlay for a rustic look. Making planks on a bandsaw isn’t too hard, but there are a few considerations to keep in mind when doing…
Get Gnarly On Your Own Homemade Gravity Bike
Take a bike with no pedals and a super low center of gravity, head to the top of the tallest hill you can find, and let gravity do the rest. Gravity biking, kissing cousins with downhill skateboarding, is a niche sport that attracts extreme…
Inch to Decimal to Millimeter Conversion Poster
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…
Rubberband Trick for Removing Stripped Screws
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)
Hi, I'm Mike. I’m the executive editor of Make: magazine, and host of Discovery channel’s Punkin' Chunkin' and Catch It Keep It, TV shows where I build and explain crazy machines that crush stuff, blow things up, shoot fire, all in the name of science.
I've previously worked at Wired and ReadyMade magazines, writing about how to utilize new technology in our everyday lives.
This site is where I keep a list of instructions for fun projects I've done, am working on, or draw inspiration from. I encourage everyone to get involved — get up and do something!