Maker Project Lab
October 7, 2019 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: Interviews, News, Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Restoring Oakland’s 1956 Wonder-Go-Round

On this blog, I get the chance to explore my love of how people create and invent using new technology. In many ways, Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, California runs completely against the theme of this blog. It is one of the earliest theme parks in the United States, seemingly frozen in time for generations, and what little technology it has is about as analog as it gets.

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February 21, 2018 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Becky Stern Explains Her Social Stats Tracker Display

My talk with Becky Stern about her Social Stats Tracker Display project on Instructables, which keeps tabs on her followers on Instagram, Twitter, and Instructables. Also, check out Becky’s previous YouTube Tracker project that laid the foundation for this.

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September 15, 2017 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: Tips, Tools Tags: , , , , , , ,

How to Make Beautiful Solder Joints

[Editors’ note: This same tutorial was originally published as an Instructable. I’m publishing it here for posterity.]

The quality and design of project boards has become so good in recent years, that I almost feel bad putting them together. In this guide, I’m going to show you a simple soldering technique that can make the back of your boards look as nice as the front. You’ll learn how to make perfectly smooth, consistent solder joints that look impossibly tidy.

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