Category: Maker

Sound Detector with Microview

jpindi
Image of Sound Detector from top and side

I built this because our new home has a number of pinging ducts and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. So I decided to build something that could ‘hear’ through walls and display the number on a screen. In theory, this should allow me to pinpoint exactly where sounds might be located. I had a few components at my fingertips, one of them being the Sparkfun Microview which I might have even obtained way back when they had their Kickstarter campaign. I had built a pretty sweet…

Monkey Tank

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Assembled tank with Monkey and Rabbit

The best projects are ones where you manage to find everything on-hand and no waiting for deliveries or going out to get extra material. Thus is the case with Monkey Tank. My nine-year old has a small stuffed monkey (named, you guessed it: “Monkey”) and wanted to build a little remote control car for it. Kids being kids, she does not have a lot of patience and also aren’t giant perfectionists, so I wanted something quick but fun. At home, I had a Rover S Robot Chassis that I thought…

3D Printing a Fan Case

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Completed solder fan in workshop

After a recent move to north Etobicoke, I thought I would check out the local Toronto Public Library near my home. To my delight they have a digital innovation hub, meaning green screen studios, computers with animation and design software and 3D printers. At the same time I was setting up my electronics workshop (we are trying to call it my “lab” but the name isn’t sticking) and needed a better way of dealing with solder fumes. Maker 101 exercises in popular how-to books show you how to build a…

Charlinarium 20 years later

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Charlinarium draft

I had a screen printing kit in our studio that was begging to be used, and coincidentally, I also needed to find some activity that competed with the kids tablets. Screenprinting was a good call because the kids had a great time at the Mini Maker Faire this year doing some seriography courtesy of Peach Beserk. So we spent the weekend learning about how to make prints, or in my case re-learning because it had been 20 years since I had done this. The kids made a Minecraft creeper shirt…

Gear box update

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Gear box workshop

I manage to get some projects done relatively quickly while others tend to be a bit of a slow burn. My printed gear box has definitely been one of the latter. To recap, awhile ago I designed a gear box and engaged 3D Co. to prototype one for me. It works great, and I am a much bigger fan of the “measure thrice, print once” way of doing things, since it is exactly right on the first try. I think that’s part of what’s amazing about 3d printing, is that…

3D Printing a Gear Box

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I don’t think it would come as a surprise to anyone that I have enough of an interest in 3D printing that I had to find some excuse to try it. That excuse finally came when, as part of a larger project, I needed to create a gear box. Besides the obvious (gears, duh) I wanted a pulley system to turn a potentiometer. For fear of jinxing my project I don’t want to get into to much detail, yet. In the meantime, here is the first part of how I…

3Doodler Troubleshooting

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I had the pleasure of backing a project on kickstarter called ‘3Doodler‘ by Wobbleworks. The 3Doodler allows you to ‘print’ in the air by extruding 3mm plastic (ABS or plastic) through the pen-like nozzle of the 3Doodler. So it is a great tool if you are creative and looking to bust out of the two-dimensional world of drawing. Also, it could be handy for certain kinds of repairs, or quick prototyping or 3D sketching of designs. If you search on the web for images of 3Doodler you’ll see lots of…

Maker Sale

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Besides being a very busy graphic designer and mother of two, my wife still manages to find time for a number of creative outlets: She crochets excellent hats, makes art prints and also accessories for your purse or bag (the first two are featured on her Etsy store). Unfortunately, she found there is a lot of ‘liking’ on Etsy of her store, but it is not translating into sales. She decided to take the bull by the horns and have some fun in the process by hosting an event at…

Metallic c-print photography

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In anticipation of the Maker Sale held at my house, I unearthed some metallic c-print photographs I had taken a few years ago before a family and ‘real’ life came along. The photographs are from interesting locations in and around Toronto, including the Distillery District (I had actually won an award at Pikto for ‘The Conversation’ at that time), the Don Valley Parkway trails, the Brickworks and finally my cottage (not in Toronto this time, but Six Mile Lake). Metallic c-print photography is a kind of printing on hyper-glossy photosensitive…

2013 Maker Faire in Toronto

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Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the 2013 Toronto Mini Maker Faire at Wynchwood Barns. This was a treat for me for a few different reasons, not least of which is this was my first visit to Wynchwood, after following its evolution over the years in the popular press. Of course there was the sheer DIY explosion of creativity at the Faire which I think is the main attraction for nearly everyone who attends. My eldest daughter immediately made a beeline for the 3-D printers and my youngest…