This week on Maker Update: building a prop that can withstand real lightning, a glowing pomodoro timer, a plywood air hose reel, tracking running goals with DIY electronics, a selfie stick that makes you frown, DIY x-rays, satisfying tool restorations, and making robots from everyday objects.

Guest host: Becky Stern
https://beckystern.com/

++Show Notes [Maker Update Ep. 247]++

-=Project of the Week=-

Electroplating Thor’s Hammer by Ian Charnas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n0Y-gynfqc

-=More Projects=-

Pomodoro Timer by alch_emist
https://www.instructables.com/Multicolored-Light-Up-Countdown-Timer-for-Studying/

Air Hose Reel from Plywood by Seb Tech DIY
https://www.instructables.com/Air-Hose-Reel-From-Plywood-360-Swivel/

Daily Running Tracker by smooth_jamie
https://www.instructables.com/Daily-Running-Tracker/

DIY Cardboard 90’s Boom Box by TechnoChic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prEz6npFjUs

Selfie stick audio prank by Marina Fujiwara
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUxFf2HoRK0

DIY X-Ray Machine by William Osman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiJAq53knwc

-=Tips & Tools=-

18 (ish) Mechanical Design Tips and Tricks by Jeremy Fielding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbWFRvMV3gw

Homemade Robots by Randy Sarafan
https://nostarch.com/homemaderobots

Bridgeport Milling Machine Restoration by Black Beard Projects
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCLLCnJw4oc

Antique Seized Adjustable Wrench Restoration by My Mechanics
https://youtu.be/xfApbO-Pza8

-=Digi-Key Spotlight=-

How to Make a Raspberry Pi CM4 Carrier Board – Part 3: Solder and Flash eMMC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GCe6gF_zoo

Transcript

This week on Maker Update: Building a prop that can withstand real lightning, a glowing pomodoro timer, a plywood air hose reel, tracking running goals with DIY electronics, a selfie stick that makes you frown, DIY x-rays, satisfying tool restorations, and making robots from everyday objects.

Hi, welcome to Maker Update! I’m Becky, back again to guest host. I hope you’ve been getting up to some fun projects lately, or at least learn about something in this video that gets you excited to make something.
Let’s start off with the project of the week.

Ian Charnas electroplated a 3D printed Thor’s hammer so he could perform with it and his Tesla coil band, arcing lightning bolts to it. Don’t be misled by the shiny Marvel vibe, the science in here is pure gold. Or pure nickel, as turned out to be the best electroplating material for his purposes. The experiments he did are hilarious and the kitchen chemistry method he used is fully documented on Instructables in case you want to give electroplating at home a go.

Ian’s video also delivers snappy tutelage on the National Fire Protection Association’s hazardous chemical identification system and the science of electroplating, while maintaining a high rate of JPM, or jokes per minute.

As with most of his builds, Ian is raffling off the finished plated hammer to benefit a relevant charity, this time it’s Reinvented Magazine, which helps inspire more young women to stay involved in science and engineering.

The latest issue of HackSpace Magazine is out, and in it I learned about this light-up pomodoro timer for studying by Alexandra Charland. With back to school in full effect, everyone wants to start their study habits off right, and the Pomodoro method of doing 25 minutes of focused work, punctuated by 5-minute breaks, tries to help do just that. The timer changes color to remind you to take a break, and shows you how much time is left in the current segment. This is a classic design school project that is really worth your time– build one for your desk and see how it changes your productivity.

On Instructables, Seb Tech DIY has a guide for building this swiveling air hose reel from plywood. What a massive upgrade this must be for a shop with pneumatic tools. The specialized bit is a swivel air hose connector, and the rest is fabricated from plywood with a few common power tools. He’s got a detailed video and step-by-step tutorial for building your own.

Also on Instructables, Smooth_jamie built a running tracker inspired by Simone Giertz’s Everyday Calendar. It’s a motivational device that tracks a week’s worth of running data, and lights up and plays celebratory sounds when the target is reached. It’s built with seven tiny OLED displays, an Arduino Mega, and the enclosure is 3D printed.

Natasha from TechnoChic designed a cardboard boombox that plays mp3s using micro:bit. The switches are made with strategically placed bits of conductive Maker Tape under the cardboard buttons. This thing looks great without any electronics in it too, so I’m thinking of grabbing Natasha’s boombox template if nothing else.

Over on YouTube, the ever-hilarious Marina Fujiwara created an anti-smile selfie stick that works by heckling you with a voice recording before taking the picture. She made it using a modified bluetooth phone camera remote, an Arduino, and mp3 player board. I think this idea is so funny, since you’re building a device to troll yourself, but also tapped into something deeper about capturing an authentic reaction.

Also on YouTube, William Osman made his own x-ray machine using parts he bought on eBay. If you never had that kind of friend who would invite you over to make napalm in the backyard, you should be thankful William makes that experience possible from the safety of your viewing device. He glosses over the technical details but shows off a repurposed dental x-ray tube and a high-voltage power-supply.

And now for some tools and tips. On his YouTube channel, Jeremy Fielding has 18 mechanical design tips for you, chock full of great insight to improve your CAD game, and so much more. From practical tips like consulting with experts at a meaningful time in the process, to conceptual frameworks for innovating, Jeremy’s got something to teach you.

A new book just came out called Homemade Robots by Randy Sarafan. It’s got ten fun-to-build bot guides using everyday household materials and modified servo motors, no microcontrollers involved. Full disclosure: I can vouch for the fun since I test-built the robots in the book. My favorite is the Wobbler, I just think it’s so cute.

If you’ve ever been as curious as I was about how a Bridgeport mill is put together, check out Black Beard Projects’ restoration video. Not only is it super informative to watch the thing come apart and back together again, but I’m really soothed by this particular style of restoration videos.

My favorite in the genre is My Mechanics, a Swiss YouTube channel full of these quiet, detailed records of an old tool coming back to life. The latest is a seized adjustable wrench, and it’s so satisfying to see the fixes that remove the rust, straighten out the bent parts, and ultimately make the tool usable once again.

This week’s Digi-Key spotlight is the latest in Shawn Hymel’s series about making a Raspberry Pi compute module carrier board, in which he assembles the first test board by silkscreening on some solder paste and toasting that baby in the reflow oven. He then details the software setup to get it up and running, ultimately showing off that “hello world” of electronics, the successfully blinking LED.

And that’s it for this week’s show. Be sure to like and subscribe, and please consider sharing this video with a friend. Sign up for the weekly Maker Update newsletter so you never miss a thing, and thanks for watching.