Category Archives: Tinkering

Spaces win over Tabs

Posted on September 1, 2016 by robertwilkie

Some bored programmer in Google wrote a program(s) to see if tabs or spaces where more common in code.  Turns out the winner is spaces. http://gizmodo.com/google-coder-analyzes-a-billion-files-to-find-a-winner-1786016648

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The new x-carve looks pretty interesting

Posted on September 1, 2016 by robertwilkie

Running around $1500 by time you are done shipping.  It looks pretty impressive for a small CNC.  Seems to run better than my homebuilt one.  Faster too. http://makezine.com/2016/08/31/new-x-carve-cnc-router/

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Build a RPi Carputer

Posted on August 31, 2016 by robertwilkie

Nice build for a computer in your car.  I have been thinking of something similar since I don’t have bluetooth in my car and the android based car radios are way out of my price range. https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/the-carputer/    

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Cheap way to add pan and tilt to a webcam

Posted on August 31, 2016 by robertwilkie

Well if you have a spare 2 servos, a RPi, and an arduino that is.  Me….hum…$60 gets me one already setup…. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/diy-pan-and-tilt-network-security-cam-raspberry-pi/

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Make your own car top holders

Posted on August 31, 2016 by robertwilkie

If you have a roof rack, here is a cool idea for building your own brackets to hold stuff on it.  If you buy these things yourself it gets pretty pricey (well over $100).  When I first saw this write-up … Continue reading →

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Pretty cool and small Hydrogen generator

Posted on August 29, 2016 by robertwilkie

This is a nice simple build for water to hydrogen converter.  With the exception of using razor blades, would be a good kid project.   Only which the author did steps written out instead of a video. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Hydrogen-Generator/    

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Cool plywood hot wire foam cutter with CNC

Posted on August 29, 2016 by robertwilkie

Pretty much the Instructable includes the files you need to print the frame out with your CNC.  Its a nice looking build and worth doing. http://www.instructables.com/id/Plywood-Hot-Wire-Foam-Cutter/

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Simple way to get an ESP8266 on a breadboard

Posted on August 26, 2016 by robertwilkie

Almost fell over on this one.  The author basically takes a pair of IDE 2.5 to 3.5 adapters and puts a row of headers on the top to “mount” the board to. http://www.instructables.com/id/ESP8266-Solderless-Breadboard-Adapter/

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Possible upgrading Homebrewed CNC

Posted on August 26, 2016 by robertwilkie

So I have been thinking of making some changes to my CNC.  Right now its controlled thru a parallel port board via an Ubuntu 10 box with LinuxCNC on it (have to use 10 due to realtime issues in newer … Continue reading →

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Build a coil gun

Posted on August 25, 2016 by robertwilkie

This is a simple (and not going to kill you) build for getting the concepts of a coil gun down.  Could be fun to build with kids. Coil Gun for Newbies: Learning Electromagnetic Propulsion

Posted in Arduino, Cheap, Misc-Life, Teaching and Learning, weapons | Comments Off on Build a coil gun