Author Archives: robertwilkie

Turning a sewing machine into a scroll saw

Posted on December 21, 2022 by robertwilkie

The author calls it a jig saw, but its more like a scroll saw to me. Nice build if you don’t want to buy a scroll saw and have an old sewing machine around (seen enough of these at the … Continue reading →

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Cool segmented “nanoleaf” like build

Posted on December 20, 2022 by robertwilkie

This is a neat build, basically its like a nanoleaf, but the “leaf” part is more like the segment you would use in a digital display, so you can combine those to make digits, or other shapes. https://www.hackster.io/news/these-nanoleaf-inspired-modular-lights-can-team-up-to-create-a-wall-mounted-four-digit-display-7a985c77ce68

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Make a beer can steam engine

Posted on December 19, 2022 by robertwilkie

Nice build, not so sure how the author gets water into the can, but its a clever (and cheap) way to show steam power https://hackaday.com/2022/10/27/a-steam-engine-for-empty-beer-cans/

Posted in Cheap, Teaching and Learning, water | Comments Off on Make a beer can steam engine

A clip for swiss army knifes

Posted on December 16, 2022 by robertwilkie

This is neat, its a clip you can attach to a standard size swiss army knife to attach to your belt or pocket. I would not mind on of these…just not at $20 (plus shipping). Have to keep an eye … Continue reading →

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Giant rope shooter

Posted on December 15, 2022 by robertwilkie

Pretty cool build with some bike wheels, rope, and a washing machine motor. The author has a loop that is constantly shooting the rope out at a high speed. https://hackaday.com/2022/01/01/attack-of-the-eighty-foot-string-shooter/

Posted in Teaching and Learning, Tinkering | Comments Off on Giant rope shooter

Two Servo drawbot

Posted on December 14, 2022 by robertwilkie

This is a bit of a ghetto build, and instead of using steppers, the author uses servos to drive the x/y. https://www.instructables.com/Two-Servo-and-Drawer-Rail-Pen-Plotter/

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making ice candle holders

Posted on December 13, 2022 by robertwilkie

Interesting build (for outdoors). looks pretty but Ithink I would only do this for special winter outdoor occations https://www.instructables.com/Ice-Luminaries/

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Interesting tool to reverse engineer electronic paper displays

Posted on December 13, 2022 by robertwilkie

The author made a sniffer like hardware to help reverse engineer small epaper displays used in stores for re-use. Nice idea since an epaper panel is expensive (new) and you can pick these up for pretty cheap https://www.hackster.io/news/aaron-christophel-s-e-paper-sniffer-breaks-pins-out-to-make-electronic-tag-recycling-easier-3d81b9d436a4

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Some power saving projects

Posted on December 12, 2022 by robertwilkie

A couple times of the year I look at power projects to generate my own electricity. Hasn’t happened yet, I do like this one with arduino to control charge and windpower ( https://www.hackster.io/news/the-best-diy-renewable-energy-projects-on-hackster-e70d36bc05af

Posted in My Projects, solar, Wind | Comments Off on Some power saving projects

How to use Google docs to create barcodes

Posted on December 9, 2022 by robertwilkie

Nice write up on how to do it. Barcodes can be useful to have information that can be transferred to computers easily. https://www.makeuseof.com/create-barcodes-google-sheets/

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