Funny: DIY Car Jack

[via There I Fixed It]

A bunch Halloween Projects

HauntProject.com many projects you can build. Some easy. Some hard. Directions vary from easy to follow to pretty obscure but all of it pretty interesting and inspiring. Site is essentially a link dump to many other project sites.

Never knew you could use a wiper motor to create so many cool things. Including this ghoulish groundbreaker corpse found at the Garage of Evil.

I had a ton of Halloween fun looking at all the projects.





[via Make]

Snorricam: Body Camera Mount

Here is a Instructables project for an armature that keeps your camera pointed at you. I had never heard of a Snorricam until I saw this post, but had been playing around with tripods to get a similar effect. (See related posts below). This takes that concept one step further.

Who needs a camera man when you have a Snorricam?

This shot of a professional Snorricam rig is the setup they used in Requiem for a Dream.
Below is a short video made with the DIY Snorricam showcased in the tutorial. They get several interesting camera angles here. After watching the video, I thought, "Oh yeah....I could use one of these." I really love the shots they get of the actor running. Also the shot of the actor getting up from the ground is very different from the shot you'd get using a static camera.



I found another video (not by the builders featured here) showing some examples of Snorricam shots. This piece has a person on a swing, a back view and another shot of someone running. Once you see an example, these shots are easier to pick out from feature films. Take a look at this Wikipedia article to get some references to movies where this technique was used prominently.



Finally, here is a video showing the details of the construction. I am wondering if this rig could be lightened by using pvc pipe? Looked online to see if anybody had tried this, but no luck. I also ran across a couple of references to the look being effected by where the camera is mounted on your body. It makes a difference if the support rod is attached to your waist versus your chest. On the professional models, it looks like you can adjust this aspect?

Now if I only had an enterprising young student who would build one for some extra credit?



Related Posts:

• One Man, One Camera, One Long Arm
• Camera Mount on the Cheap
• Camera Extender

[Image of DIY Snorricam captured from the Instructables Post: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Snorricam/] [Image of professional Snorricam was captured at William Wilkinson: http://blog.williamwilkinson.com/post/67740783/snorricam-setup-in-requiem-for-a-dream]

EarthTaniner: Self watering tomato planter

My wife and I are planning a small kitchen in our yard where we can grow a few tomatoes and other vegetables next year. We wanted to build in some self-watering pots so we wouldn't have to worry about the vegetables if we went on a short trip. She found the plans to this planter through TomatoFest and after looking over the diagrams and watching the video's I was impressed. Ray Newstead, the inventor of the system, put a lot of thought into the construction, including that every part is easily available to the average person. You can get everything you need at Lowes. (Buckminster Fuller would be proud!)

The plans are freely available for download. Ray only asks that you make a donation to Feed The Children organization. It's a little late in the season to be planting tomatoes here in Colorado and I don't quite have the area ready for the planter but I want to get a head start on next year. If I get one built, I'll post the results.

Banjo Craziness

John Calkin used to build guitars and in recent years started playing around with banjo construction. He is experimenting with wood varieties and different designs to create a clawhammer banjo with the tonal qualities he wants. His website has lots of pictures and explanation. Successes. Failures. I was hooked as soon as I clicked it open, but I admit, I have a fondness for banjos, construction, and design.

He has other pages on tools he uses, guitar building, and instruments he has built over the years. I killed an hour I should have used to clean the garage. Fun site.

The rim pieces in the picture are from his banjo project. The last post on this project was in 2008 but he promises more information as he goes along. I'll be watching for updates.

[Via Tangier Sound]
[Image: Captured from Banjo Craziness: http://tangiersound.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/wooden-head-banjos/]

Washboard Instrument

While watching the YouTube video of "Stand by Me" from Playing for Change, I noticed the instrument that Washboard Chaz was playing. The picture is a screen capture from the video so the clarity isn't great. Looks like he has two cans wired into the sides and a wooden sound block at the bottom. You can also see a desk clerk's bell over on the far right of the setup. If you head over to his website, you can hear some more examples. Listen close and you can hear that bell ring out occasionally.



I messed around with using a washboard as an rhythm instrument a few years back but felt like it was too loud. It overpowered everyone else.

I may dig it out of the basement and add a few extra bangles to the thing to see what sounds I can come up with.

Update: I did a little more digging on washboard playing and found a DVD by David Holt called Folk Rhythms. I had two ah-ha moments while watching the DVD. You are tapping on the washboard more than you are sliding across the ripples which was what I was doing all the time. By tapping and using short drags occasionally, it softens the sound. My second realization is that by adding the extra goodies at the bottom you essentially have a hand drum with three distinct sounds. Which means, I think, you could apply some of the same principals of playing a frame drum to playing a washboard.











[Image: Captured from video "Stand by Me": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM]
[Image: Captured from http://www.washboardchaz.com/links.html]

5-Minute Foam Factory

Here is a great video tutorial on building a hot-wire foam cutter from Make.

I remember using my train transformer as a kid to heat up wires to make them glow. This works on the same concept....except your mom won't be yelling at you to quit trying to burn down the house.





[Image: Captured from Make: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiitiKyu_Iw&eurl=http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/03/weekend_project_5minute_foam_factor.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890]

Afrogadget

Don't remember where I saw Afrogadet mentioned but I've been following it for a while now and thoroughly enjoy the articles. It is a "website dedicated to showcasing African ingenuity" and boy have I been impressed by some of the things they've shown.

My uncle is a beekeeper, so I was particularly interested in this post on the blending of a modern beehive with a traditional one made from a hollow log. I'd love to know what my Uncle Ray would think of this?

If you teach Geography, I think you'd find a variety of posts here demonstrating various aspects of African culture. Not to mention some interesting design and technology concepts. Add this one to your RSS reader. I think you will enjoy it.


Let me close with this quote about the gathering of honey from the hives naked:

"The honey is collected at night by naked men (yes totally naked …) they say that this prevents one from getting bees stuck in your clothing… I asked about the possibility of getting stung in sensitive places, they said the bees were far too civilized for that…but yes, people had fallen from the trees and been found comatose and butt naked at the tree base…"

[Image: Captured from http://www.afrigadget.com/2009/03/03/the-beesness-of-honey/]

Sound Effects

I often tell my video production students about a documentary I saw that had a short segment describing how they got the sound effects for Star Wars. Essentially some guys went out and recorded various sounds in the world and then used them as the basis for the effects in the film. The one I always remember is a man with headphones and a recorder hitting the guy wire for a structure. That sound eventually became the laser blast sound you hear in the movie. I encourage them to be creative in their projects and not just use the same canned sounds that everyone else uses.

My enthusiasm falls on deaf ears. If I'm not going to grade them on it, assign it or twist their little adolescent arms and walk them on their tiptoes over to the sound equipment, it's not going to happen. The other video teacher and I have been talking a lot lately about how our students are doing great with the visual aspect of their projects but tend to ignore the sound. So, I've been thinking about ways I can get them to start listening. Paying attention to the sound levels. Maybe build an assignment around creating sound effects as the first step towards building an audio awareness of their work.

So, I was pleased to see this Guide to Sound Effects. It will be a part of my new improved lessons on sound next year.

[Update: Found this site about the man who did those star wars effects, Ben Burtt]

[via Make]

[Image: "Headphones, glasses, smile": Flickr: Uploaded on June 10, 2007 by allaboutgeorge: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allaboutgeorge/540043362/: Creative Commons]

Inside the Pop-Up Studio

If for nothing else, watch this video to see how Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart create an animation effect using a pop up.

High on my list of things I want to do when I have more time or retire or am trapped in a paper warehouse with a pair of scissors and a bottle of glue is to explore pop ups.

Engineering. Mechanics. Design.

What more could you want?


Inside the Pop-Up Studio from paul b on Vimeo.

[via Make]

Camera Mount on the Cheap

Here is the latest find in my quest to find inexpensive ways to build a functioning, complete studio for our video students. It's a simple idea. Create a camera mount that would allow you to use a mic stand. They won't give you the same flexibility as a tripod, but I'm thinking in some cases a camera mounted on a sturdy, single pole might come in handy.

It has also got me to thinking about other things I might attach to a mic stand. Lights? Reflectors? Wind guards? Might have to brave the cold in my garage to see what I can create.
[via Make]
[Image captured from Make: Mic Stand Camera Mount: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/diy_mic_stand_camera_mount.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890]

DIY Juggling Clubs

When I was in college I got it into my head to learn to juggle clubs. The only jugglers I had seen were on TV and I thought they were using wooden clubs. I found some old bowling pins and set about teaching myself to juggle. What I taught myself was how much it hurt for solid wooden clubs to slap into your hand after a fast spin.

It was years later after I actually was able to touch a jugglers club that I discovered they were lighter and not solid wood. Many years after that I bought some clubs along with an instructional book off the internet. Every summer I pull them out and mess around. Still, they were expensive (I am basically a cheapskate!) and if you are just looking for a cheap alternative, how about making them yourself. If I had seen this tutorial 6 years ago, I would have made my own.

If you are looking into juggling with a bunch of kids, this is a reasonable alternative. Could be a fun project.

[Image captured from Juggler.org: How to make your own juggling clubs: http://www.juggler.org/diy/clubs.shtml]

Tape Measure Basics

Did you ever have one of those "dotty" relatives who talked to themselves while they worked?

We'd giggle about how Uncle Sam would be talking to his tools and describing to the tool what he was going to do before doing it. Now that I've taught for a few years I realize that this was a great teaching technique. I use it all the time now and will often think out loud so my students can hear my thought process. It makes me sound a little dotty and I'm sure my kids giggle behind my back too. I started doing this when I was a Social Studies teacher and would talk to the text book's author and ask him questions as though he were there in the room. I'd admonish my students to develop a two-way relationship with their textbook. "There is a person behind those words, learn to talk to him. Ask her questions!"(I'd like to take credit for coming up with this idea but I heard it in a workshop.)

I use this often with my kids as I talk myself through the steps it takes me to accomplish something. I find when I don't do this, what I've done looks like magic. Like it just happens. I had a friend once in frustration say to me after I solved a technical problem she was having, "How did you do that? Do you want to keep me stupid?" I realized that I had done all my thinking in my head and it just looked like magic. I'm trying to do think outloud more with the adults around me but for some reason I feel more self-conscious with my peers. Maybe I don't want them to think I'm dotty?

I wish my dad had talked to himself more while I was around. I think maybe I would have learned more as I followed him around the construction sites where he worked. I think we would all do better with a few more dotty adults hanging around. But, if you are short on dotty relatives take a look at this site, Remodeling for Geeks. I read the posts regularly to pick up a few of those tidbits of wisdom I missed while growing up. He has a couple of posts that explain tape measures. I thought when I saw this, "I know how to measure." Well guess I had a few things to learn.......if Dad had only talked to his tape measure!

[Image captured from Remodling for Geeks: http://theheadlemur.typepad.com]/remodeling_for_geeks/]

Pop rivet ice tires for your bike

I wrote last week about trying to figure out a way to put spikes into my bicycle tire in an effort to make it more snow worthy when I was a kid. As it turns out, someone else had this idea and put up a set of instructions as to how it might be done.

I was born 40 years too early or the internet came along 40 years too late. Not sure which it is yet?

Read the comments after the instructions and there is one person who gives a link to a place where you can buy studded tires for your bike. Another gives a picture of tank like treads.






[Image captured from http://www.instructables.com/id/Pop_Rivet_Ice_Tires_for_Your_Road_Bike/]

Whole Earth Catalog

Back in the early seventies when I was barely making ends meet while attending college, I would hang out at the school's book store reading the Whole Earth Catalog. I couldn't afford to buy it but with daily visits to the store everyday between classes, I was able to read most of it.

I bought every iteration of it after that and when they started a magazine, first Co-Evolution Quarterly and then The Whole Earth Review, I was a faithful subscriber. They had the best recommendations for books and tools. I found the book that enabled me to fix my Volkswagon on the side of the road when it broke down. I believe, it was there that I had my first glimpse into computers and how I could better access them and the capabilities they promised. What I lacked in advice from a savvy father or handy uncle, I got from those publications.

I have often thought the web is like a big Whole Earth Catalogue, but not as well edited. Turns out that Kevin Kelly, editor and chief of the WEC, has also had thoughts along this line.

"The opportunity of the catalog's 400 pages of how-to-do it information attracted not only millions of readers but thousands of Makers of the world, the proto-alpha geeks, the true fans, the nerds, the DIYers, the avid know-it-alls, and the tens of thousands wannabe bloggers who had no where else to inform the world of their passions and knowledge. So they wrote Whole Earth in that intense conversational style, looking the reader right in the eye and holding nothing back: "Here's the straight dope, kid."

I wonder if this is why the Whole Earth Review finally folded? The web was able to do what the magazine could do, only faster. Kelly says the web "does it better" but I sure do miss hauling my magazines and books around, dreaming of the tools or books I wanted to own.

(via boing boing or read the whole article on Kelly's site)
[Image: "Whole Earth Catalogue"; Captured from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Catalog]

Building a Shed

I've been thinking about building a shed. I live in a suburban neighborhood and I don't want the shed to be taller than my fence as my neighbors already have to look at me in my summer cut-offs and sexy, stained TIE conference t-shirt during the summer. They don't need to have a shed in their line of sight too.

I looked at a few pre-built buildings and they are either too tall or too small for what I want. What I want is a place I can keep my mower and various tools. My garage isn't big enough for all the garden stuff, my power tools and two vehicles. Part of the reason this project has been on the back burner for so long is that the part of my yard where I want it is slanted and covered in rock. I hate moving rock!

Seeing this article on Make about a man who built his own shed has got me motivated to at least come up with a design. He has several features that I may adapt to my own situation. He uses four strong corner posts. I think I could do something like that and it might save me lots of time trying to level an area of ground and moving all that rock. He also has a lattice system for the floor that he then fills with gravel. I could do something similar and once again save some time in regards to leveling the area where I want to build.

Now I just have to figure out how to make something that isn't tall but is still functional. I am currently playing with the idea of a roof that can be lifted up. I guess rather than a shed, it would be more like a big storage box with a door on one side where I could roll in the mower.

If I actually do get any further than thinking about it, I will post some pictures.

[Image captured from http://www.yourmissus.com/shed/pages/DSCN0417.html]

Fix your own bike

Saw a link for building your own recumbent bike posted on Make and since my brother-in-law keeps telling me I should get one of these, I checked it out.

The site is called How to Fix Bikes and the article on building a recumbent bike was interesting. The whole site is a nice little find. Lots of how to articles for working on your own bike. Now, I am not an avid biker and while I do own a bike I have to say I am not an expert on bikes or their maintenance and repair. Saying that, I found the articles I looked at to be clear and easy to follow. You can click on many of the photos to enlarge them. There are some video segments as well.

Check it out. You may not build a recumbent but you may be inspired to replace that rusty chain.

[Image captured from http://howtofixbikes.blogspot.com/]