Monthly Archives: June 2012

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World: A Bunker Full of Imposibilities

Posted by on June 28, 2012 No comments

Last weekend I saw the movie: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World here’s my review sort of (spoilers to follow):

Titanium cylinder

On the other hand, with his titanium slammer, Speck would have been Pogs champion and thus ruler of their new society

Forgetting everything else and jumping ahead to roughly where the movie turns from hilarious to depressing: Keira Knightley or “Penny” decides to see an ex-boyfriend, “Spec” who happens to have a well-equipped bunker and some tiny cars.  Besides the obvious question about the wisdom of owning a “fleet” of tiny cars for the apocalypse with minimal off-road capabilities, he makes the claim that his bunker is lined with 12 inches of titanium.

Titanium is of course an incredible metal having a very good strength-to-weight ratio.  The only problem with it is that is is very hard to work with and expensive.  Generally it is used for things that need to be light but strong such as high-end bicycle or airplane parts.  It is also quite expensive at around $10/pound not factoring in the expense of working with such an exotic metal.

So to be conservative, Read more »

Repair a Broken Pivot on Shooting Earmuffs

Posted by on June 27, 2012 1 comment

bolt pivot shooting earmuffsA few years ago I was given a nice pair of earmuffs meant for shooting.  They have a microphone on the outside, so that if someone talks to you or there is some lower volume noise.  Rifle fire or other loud noise is cut off using some internal circuitry.

At some point I broke one of the pivots off where the earpiece attaches to the headband.  After contemplating throwing the ‘muffs out, I decided that it could be fixed with a simple 1/4 inch screw.  I had bought this assortment from Amazon a while ago, so I was glad to have these available.  For this fix, you’ll need the following: Read more »

Some Ideas for a Great Maker Faire Display

Posted by on June 24, 2012 No comments

jcopro-table-on-displayAs previously mentioned, I recently went to the Raleigh Maker Faire or as I should have Called it, The North Carolina Maker Faire. The event was great, and I got to meet a lot of really cool people.  I’d never been to one of these events before, but it was a lot of fun, and the variety of stuff available to check out was quite impressive.  After being on “the other side” of the table, here’s a few things that I would say were essential to having a good booth (In no particular order).

Stuff to bring:

  • Tablecloth – The tables provided are fine, but this will really make things look good.  I used a canvas painting dropcloth which worked well.
  • Extension cord - This almost got me, but you really don’t know what the outlet situation will be until you get there.  Be prepared.
  • Basic tool kit – Like an extension cord, best to be prepared.  Pliers, duct tape, Mig welder.  You know, the basics.
  • Extra Read more »

Super Easy 2×4 Business Card Holder

Posted by on June 21, 2012 No comments

card-holder-completeI recently went to the NC Maker Faire in Raleigh, which meant a lot of preparation in order to make my table look presentable.  Along with some other stuff (like a jcopro.net spray-paint stencil), a business card holder seemed like a good idea since I’d had a bunch of them printed out.

I originally tried to make one with my CNC router out of plywood, but after a few tries of apparently too-aggressive cutting, I decided to instead use my manual mill and a 2×4 to crank one out.  After a coat of stain and lacquer, this actually looked really good!  If I was a bit more ambitious, I would have engraved it with my router.

As for how I actually made this business card holder, Read more »

Raleigh Maker Faire 2012 Pictures

Posted by on June 19, 2012 2 comments

jcopro-table-setup-maker-faire-raleigh-2012I’ll be doing several posts on Hackaday about the Faire, but I thought I would put up some pictures that may or may not end up on [HAD].  As mentioned before, the Raleigh Maker Faire 2012 was an extremely cool event, and I enjoyed meeting everyone that I talked to there!  Kevin Gunn was a great host, as were the Raleigh fairgrounds.

I put quite a few pictures after the “read more”, so be sure to check them out. Read more »