Compressed air train - AIR PUNK!
Will steam power give way to compressed air for driving locomotives and hauling fast passenger trains? That is the vision of William E. Boyette, of Atlanta, Ga., whose amazing challenge to the iron horse—a monster truck-shaped locomotive propelled by compressed air—was about to undergo a trial run between Atlanta and Jacksonville, Fla., at this writing. The forty-foot locomotive, illustrated above, is designed to attain a maximum speed of 125 miles an hour. Its power is obtained from air compressed to a pressure of 400 pounds to the square inch and carried in tanks behind the cab. Should the pressure in the tanks drop below 360 pounds, a pump operated by electric storage batteries automatically replenishes them. Besides high speed, Boyette claims the advantage of exceptional economy in operation.
Popular Science Feb, 1934
Blow your friends away as you send this 25-cent rocket hundreds of feet in the air. Thanks go to Rock Schertle for the original article in MAKE, Volume 15. To download The Compressed Air Rocket video click here and subscribe in iTunes. Check out the complete Compressed Air Rocket article in MAKE Volume 15 and you can see that in our Digital Edition.
MAKE subscriber sliptonic previously sent his enhanced pinewood derby car: Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » | Read more articles in Retro | Digg this! 
Swiss artist Zimoun creates stunning sound sculptures using simple, basic components, like DC motors and wire, amplified in effect by their numbers. One sculpture employs 30,000 plastic bags and 18 fans to create audio eerily like rain. Ever wonder what 400 vibrating motors sounds like? Check out this compilation video of a number of Zimoun's works, annotated by the materials used. 
If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, on Saturday, January 22, swissnex San Francisco and Gray Area Foundation for the Arts team up to present Zimoun's first solo exhibition in the Bay. And on January 19, Zimoun performs live with fellow sound artist Jim Hayes. Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » | Read more articles in Arts | Digg this! 
In Volume 23, we featured Ross Hershberger's Squelette, a see-through amplifier ("squelette" means skeleton in French). There has been some lively discussion happening on the Squelette article page, and among those contributing to the conversation is Brian J. Andonian, a design engineer at Ford. He built his own version of Squelette out of cherry and walnut wood and brass sheet stock and posted a link to images of his amp. He says, "The amp sounds clean. No humm, noise, buzz, etc. The headphone jack is a must - this sounds really good!" If you missed Volume 23, our gadgets issue, you can buy it in the Maker Shed. It's also available as a PDF. Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » | Read more articles in Music | Digg this! 
Super Awesome Sylvia is back with another Mini Maker Show, this time it's all about casting! Subscribe to the MAKE Podcast in iTunes, download the m4v video directly, or watch it on YouTube and Vimeo. Did you ever want another of your favorite action figures? Or maybe you want to try something crazy with a toy but didn't want to ruin it? Well today we'll show you one super awesome way to clone your own toys with simple Molding and Casting for Toy Duplication! Lets Go! For this build we'll be using:
- Some toys to be copied (we explain how to pick one below)
- Pliable Molding material (We're using ComposiMold, because it's easy and reusable.)
- Disposable cups or mixing containers, big enough to fit your toys
- Casting Material (we'll be using polyester resin for fiber-glassing from the hardware store)
- A small spray bottle with a mild solution of white PVA glue and water (to prevent bubbles)
- and finally some mold release (We're using non-stick cooking spray)
Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » | Read more articles in MAKE Video | Digg this!
Rob Faludi, NYU Professor, SVA professor, and all-around XBee hacker, has written a new book on creating wireless sensor networks with Arduino, Processing, and Digi's XBee Series 2 radios: Create distributed sensor systems and intelligent interactive devices using the ZigBee wireless networking protocol and XBee radios. By the time you're halfway through this fast-paced, hands-on guide, you'll have built a series of useful projects, including a complete ZigBee wireless network that delivers remotely sensed data. This resource- and reference-packed book is ideal for inventors, hackers, crafters, students, hobbyists, and scientists. Available in print, DRM-free ebook, and also on Safari Books Online: Building Wireless Sensor Networks
with ZigBee, XBee, Arduino, and Processing Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » | Read more articles in Announcements | Digg this! 
Last year, SparkFun held a free day where they gave away $100,000 in merch to anyone who could refresh their browser fast enough. This time they're upping the ante with $150K in swag: On January 13th, 2011, Boulder-based SparkFun Electronics will give away $150,000 worth of products in the second annual iteration of the aptly-named event "Free Day." The event is open to anyone with the magic powers of the internet. Free Day is designed to celebrate current SparkFun customers while giving those unfamiliar with SparkFun an easy foray into the wonderful world of DIY electronics. To learn more about or participate in Free Day please visit www.sparkfun.com.
"Free Day is our way of giving back to our loyal customer base of innovative and passionate electronics enthusiasts, and to offer first-time folks an opportunity to get started designing and building fun electronic gadgets," said SparkFun Founder and CEO Nathan Seidle. "We love helping people turn designs ideas into reality and we look forward to seeing what our community members come up with as a result of this event."
In its seventh year of business, SparkFun hosted its first Free Day event, successfully giving away $100k worth of goods on a first-come, first-served basis. In the second Free Day, the stakes are raised with $150k (a max of $100 per person) up for grabs as users are rewarded either based on the number of years they have been SparkFun customers or their answers to an electronics-themed quiz. In addition to the prize funds, SparkFun will donate $2 for each correctly answered question (up to a total of $30,000) to a collection of three charities: The Gathering Place, The Hunger Project, and X Prize Foundation. Good luck! Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » | Read more articles in Electronics | Digg this! 
My hat comes off for Instructables user calischs. You may have seen stacking metal lunchboxes like this before. They're apparently called "Tiffin boxes" and have been around since the 19th century. What's remarkable about this project is not so much the object itself as the awesome improvised tool calischs came up with to make it, a video of which is embedded above: The can rolling jig consists of two old door hinge pins and a hose clamp. The heads of the hinge pins nest with each other. By applying pressure with the clamp and rolling the can, we can raise a lip on the can's side. Pretty impressive results from pick-up material. Looking forward to trying this one myself. More: Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » | Read more articles in Instructables | Digg this! More Recent Articles | |
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