Lynxmotion.net forum member ohbowz of Los Angeles built these beauteous limbs by combing two different building sets. Sweet! I made this biped with the intention of building a full body. I merged MicroRax parts with the lynxmotion parts, a little bit of hacking and cheating was necessary to get everything to fit together nicely. At this point my goal is to shift weight to one leg and try to lift the other.
The Open Hardware Summit is now accepting submissions for proposed talks, breakout sessions and demos. The deadline is June 24th, 2011. Ayah writes: The Open Hardware Summit (OHS) invites submissions for the second annual summit, to be held on September 15, 2011 in New York City. The Open Hardware Summit is a venue to present, discuss, and learn about open hardware of all kinds. The summit examines open hardware and its relation to other issues, such as software, design, business, and law. We are seeking submissions for talks, breakout sessions, and demos from individuals and groups working with open hardware and related areas. Submissions are due by June 24, 2011. Notification of accepted proposals will happen by August 1st. Since the first Open Hardware Summit in 2010, we have seen the open hardware movement continue to flourish. The Open-Source Hardware Definition was announced, the OSHW logo was selected by a popular vote, an open source oil spill cleaning robot got more than $33,000 in crowd funding, Google adopted the open hardware movement’s biggest success story, Arduino, as its platform and our very own keynote speaker, Limor Fried, was featured on the front page of Wired Magazine – to name a few. Needless to say, open hardware is getting BIG. Topics of interest for the summit include, but are not limited to: - Lessons learned from past projects
- Legal and intellectual property implications of open-source hardware
- Means of supporting collaboration and community interaction
- Manufacturing
- Distributed development and its relationship to physical goods
- Digital fabrication (e.g. laser cutters and 3D printers)
- Software design tools (CAD / CAM)
- DIY technology
- Ways to share information about hardware that’s not captured in source files
- Business models
- Manufacturing on demand
- Competition and collaboration
- Sustainability of open hardware products (e.g. how to unmake things)
- Industrial design
- “open-washing” (green washing for open source)
- Open-hardware in the enterprise
- Specific product domains: e.g. science, agriculture, communications, medicine
And any other topic you think relates to openness and hardware. We want to hear all about it!
More details on the OHS blog. 
Father’s day is Sunday, June 19, 2011. Started by Sonora Dodd to honor her father who raised five children alone after the Civil War, President Coolidge supported the idea, Lyndon signed a proclamation, and in 1972 it was official. Dad deserves something special this year. After all, he made you! Here are some gift ideas to get the Father’s Day wheels turning. We’re giving away a one-year subscription to MAKE, just let us know why Dad deserves a subscription in the comments below. One winner will get a year’s subscription for his/her Dad, and comments close Wednesday June 8th at the stroke of midnight PT. Workshop essentials
Outfit Dad’s workbench with the best. Cooking gear 
I asked my dad the chef to tell me what’s hot in his kitchen lately, and his suggestions don’t disappoint: Ties, wallets, and cufflinks Get Dad the best handmade accessories that show off his (or your) appreciation for DIY. 
Circuit board tie Hit the jump for the rest of the guide!
Wrench cufflinks 
Recycled plaid shirt wallet Gifts for Dad from MAKE and Maker Shed! 
Get a gift subscription for Dad! When you order a gift subscription, we’ll send a notification to your recipient. But we want to give you the option of notifying them in style. Here’s a special PDF just for Dad that you can print out and give him in person. Be sure to let us know why your dad deserves a subscription to MAKE in the comments below, and you could win him a one year subscription! 
Tools: Who doesn’t love tools? Keep your dad making into the future with a fresh addition to his collection. 
Arduino: Processing power in the palm of your hand! We’ve got plenty of flavors and condiments to try.
 Books: Give your dad the inspiration to make new projects, and the instructions to get there! Here are some books for Dad. By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics 
The shape of a hanging chain is called a catenary curve. Each link settles in to an equilibrium angle relative to its neighbors, so if you turn everything over, those angles give a plan for blocks which can rest on each other to make an arch in equilibrium. This suggests a fun construction: making giant arches from separate cardboard blocks. 
Edward Ebert gives instructions here on how to hang a chain, measure it, and scale up the measurements to large cardboard blocks. If properly made, the blocks rest stably on each other without tape, glue, or clips to join them. 
How high a catenary arch can you make? More:
See all of George Hart’s Math Monday columns 
Very interesting vid from 18-year-old Hayden Parker, who impressed me greatly with his animated chemistry demonstrations at Maker Faire. Metallic aluminum can be dissolved in liquid gallium to create an aluminum-bearing alloy that is liquid at ambient conditions. Because it can flow in the alloy, the aluminum cannot form a stable passive oxide layer and will react violently with water, which nicely demonstrates the normally-hidden high natural reactivity of metallic aluminum. More: 
Learn all about analog photography and create stunning pictures with the Twin Lens Reflex Camera Kit from the Maker Shed. This kit offers the perfect balance between novelty, functionality and nostalgia. Two vertically arranged lenses, one for the viewfinder and one for the actual photograph, give this camera a unique appearance. To use, simply assemble the kit then hold the camera against your chest and look down from the top to set the viewfinder. The unique lens setup allows you to take fantastic vertical angle pictures. Uses standard 35mm film.
Nirav Patel printed working house keys on his RepRap. It occurred to me recently that I had printed almost nothing actually useful on my RepRap 3D printer, aside from parts to improve on or build more RepRaps. I am rectifying that with this project. The goal here is to generate working house keys by inputing the key code of the lock into a parametric OpenSCAD model. Instead of having to explain to my landlord how I ended up with a wedge of plastic jammed in my front door, I ordered a box of (well) used locks and latches from eBay to experiment on. Luckily, the lot includes both Kwikset KW1 and Schlage SC1 locks, which are the two most commonly found in the US.
[Thanks, Amanda] 
When we last checked in on Ben Krasnow’s homemade SEM, he had just achieved his first successful image with the device. As his latest video shows, the project has come a long way since then. It’s a long clip, by internet standards, at almost 10 minutes, but Ben does a great job of communicating what he’s doing and why, taking us through each step in the imaging process, from loading the sample, through pumping down the vacuum chamber and powering up the electronics, to fine-tuning the image itself. Which looks great, by the way–even after making the trip to Maker Faire and back. This is only the most recent in a series of truly outstanding projects from Ben. Check out the links below for some of our past coverage of his work, and Ben’s personal blog for new updates. More: 
Becky Stern @ CRAFT writes: The rising temperatures and humidity in the northeast have me craving a cold frosty brew, and what better way to drink it than in a wooden beer mug you made yourself. Drean on Instructables shows you how to form this design, although you should investigate to be sure the wood you use isn’t treated with toxic chemicals before attempting to drink from it.
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