Category Archives: Teaching and Learning

Make a can of soda implode

Posted on January 18, 2016 by robertwilkie

An empty can. Interesting setup, basically heat up the can, then turn it upside down into a bath of ice water. http://www.wired.com/2016/01/make-your-own-tanker-implosion-with-a-soda-can/

Posted in Misc-Life, Teaching and Learning | Comments Off

Make a cheap 3D printer

Posted on January 12, 2016 by robertwilkie

OK its going to be a “small” 3D printer and not the most accurate. But its cheap, and I am pretty sure you can get it cheaper too (author is down to $55, I think I could get it down … Continue reading →

Posted in Cheap, CNC/3D-printing, Teaching and Learning | Comments Off

Sundial on my list to print out

Posted on January 4, 2016 by robertwilkie

I think it might be a bit too tall for my printer, but this is a cool printout to do. http://www.3ders.org/articles/20151231-diy-3d-printed-sundial-displays-time-like-a-digital-clock.html

Posted in CNC/3D-printing, Misc-Life, Teaching and Learning | Comments Off

Demo vertical wind power with a pringles wind turbine

Posted on January 2, 2016 by robertwilkie

Still on the wind power kick. This is a nice simple (and cheap) build, if you don’t count the magnet wire, to demo to kids wind power using a vertical based windmill http://www.instructables.com/id/Pringles-Wind-Turbine-Pleech—Version-One/

Posted in Cheap, Teaching and Learning, Wind | Comments Off

Robot Controlled ball

Posted on December 30, 2015 by robertwilkie

The author takes the hamster ball, and puts RC controls in it and puts a b-ball shell around it. For a remote controlled basketball. Nice build. My 2 cents, maybe I could re-use an existing R/C car…. http://www.instructables.com/id/Remote-Controlled-Basket-Ball-Robot/?ALLSTEPS

Posted in robots, Teaching and Learning | Comments Off

Use a drill motor motor for a generator for wind turbine

Posted on December 29, 2015 by robertwilkie

OK I know the write-up is for the entire setup, but what got me interested in this build is the use of the drill motor (old cordless drill). This is nice since its geared, the author reverses the chuck so … Continue reading →

Posted in Cheap, Misc-Life, Teaching and Learning, Wind | Comments Off

Simple to build windpower

Posted on December 27, 2015 by robertwilkie

The author uses a bicycle bottle dynamo, a car radiator fan, and a funnel to make a simple, and effective wind power generator. Oh an a bike axle can be used to help the thing move around. This can be … Continue reading →

Posted in Cheap, Misc-Life, Teaching and Learning, Wind | Comments Off

kidwind, good kid building windpower

Posted on December 26, 2015 by robertwilkie

KidWind, which also sells a kit, has a nice write-up on building a PVC stand wind turbine. The nice bit with this build is they use gears to increase the power from the turbine. http://learn.kidwind.org/learn http://learn.kidwind.org/files/manuals/GEAREDTURBINE_MANUAL.pdf

Posted in Teaching and Learning, Wind | Comments Off

Simple wind turbine for kids

Posted on December 24, 2015 by robertwilkie

In-case you haven’t noticed, I am on a wind kick again. This write-up the author intended to build a wind turbine for camping. My 2 cents, better build for kids. I like this build (got more like this coming up), … Continue reading →

Posted in Cheap, Teaching and Learning, Wind | Comments Off

Create you own custom 3D printed stamps

Posted on December 18, 2015 by robertwilkie

My list just keeps growing with projects. This one is a nice write-up on how to create your own custom stamp. http://makezine.com/projects/3d-print-custom-stamps-using-inkscape-and-openscad/