This week on Maker Update: a new spin on an old label maker, making skateboards from recycled plastic, a tapeless tape deck, and an eyepatch-controlled prosthetic tail.

++Show Notes [Maker Update Ep.289]++

-=Project of the Week=-

E-TKT: anachronic label maker by Andrei Speridião
https://hackaday.io/project/185912-e-tkt-anachronic-label-maker

-=More Projects=-

Recycled Plastic Skateboard Deck by Jason Knight
https://hackaday.io/project/185588-rpsd-recycled-plastic-skateboard-deck

DIY Retro Audio Player by Max.K
https://hackaday.io/project/185994-diy-retro-audio-player

Cyber Tail By pengfeizhang
https://www.instructables.com/Cyber-Tail/

-=Tips & Tools=-

Print-in-place ratchet knob with 1/4inch hex socket by Shinsaku Hiura
https://www.printables.com/model/230516-print-in-place-ratchet-knob-with-14-hex-socket

How to Cover Plywood Edges – for Beginners! by Anika’s DIY Life
https://youtu.be/_JOYJCGfT_g

LED corner for addressable LED by TechnoBumble
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5352615

DIY FYI: Making A Cassette Loop by Blitz City DIY
https://youtu.be/zEFLEi5I564

Arduino Masterclass Series by Programming Electronics Academy
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYutciIGBqC3wBleqH41YCMCqx9V1jLII

-=Digi-Key Spotlight=-

How to Use an Adapter for Surface Mount Components
https://youtu.be/y–YYKxRR9g

-=Transcript=-

This week on Maker Update: a new spin on an old label maker, making skateboards from recycled plastic, a tapeless tape deck, and an eyepatch-controlled prosthetic tail.

Hey everyone, I’m Donald Bell, and welcome back to another Maker Update, the show where we update you on cool stuff your fellow makers have made. It’s good to be back, I hope you’re well. Let’s get started with the project of the week.

Not sure how many of you are familiar with old-school, manual, embossing label makers. They’re painstaking to use compared to modern options, but there is something endearing about the look and texture of these things.

Andrei Speridião thought so too, and bought himself a new, inexpensive model which promptly broke.

But instead of chucking it into the past where it belongs, he took it apart and grafted it to the future. The result is an automatic embossing label maker that takes its input from a smartphone.

Inside, Andrei has the original embossing wheel spinning on a stepper motor, providing some awareness of where the letters are. A servo provides the leverage to emboss each letter and cut the tape when it’s finished.

Running the show is an ESP32 based nodeMCU board, along with some breakout drivers for the motors.

Not only does the code handle the mechanical instructions, but it also hosts a custom web app. By navigating to the web app on any locally connected smartphone you can enter the test you want printed and hit go.

This project checks a lot of boxes for me. It’s both retro and futuristic. But in some ways it’s also a product repair story gone wild.

It’s also one of those projects where the end result is something I’ve never seen before – a product too weird and risky for a company to manufacture – that makes it unique. But because it’s handmade with this level of detail and craft, it crosses over into the rarefied world of bespoke design.

It’s a great, weird, but oddly practical project, and you can find the 3D design files, bill of materials, and code all on the project page listed in the description.

More projects. On Hackaday, Jason Knight shows how he made this skateboard deck from 100% recycled plastic.

That’s the simple way to put it, but what he’s really done here is actually more amazing. He shows you – part for part – how to make your own injection molded machine for manufacturing these skateboards.

As a champion of the DIY plastic recycling movement, he’s not here to inspire you to do another one-and-done project. He wants to give you a business, making skateboards from plastics diverted from the landfill.

The hour-long video he made showing how to create your own mold is not your typical, flashy, DIY viral video. It’s a literal nuts and bolts walkthrough of every step needed to create your own, manufacturing grade injection molding rig. It’s inspiring.

Another project with the same retro-futuristic, nostalgic flair as the label maker is this portable MP3 player by Max.K.

Made to emulate the look and simplicity of a 1980s portable tape deck, this thing features a 3D printed case, mechanical transport keys, a volume knob, headphone jack, and a screen where the cassette would normally go.

It can run for 20 hours off 4 AA batteries. Media is stored on a MicroSD card that you load in on the side.

The circuit board is custom, but the GitHub repo includes everything you’d need to recreate the project, including the code, PCB layout, and 3D design files for the enclosure.

For something completely different, check out this animatronic tail designed by peng fei zhang.

This one is just wonderfully weird. It also includes some beautiful documentation, since it was made as part of a masters program at the University of Stuttgart.

I can’t explain everything going on here. There’s an eye patch that tracks your blinks. There’s an accelerometer attached to your hand. Somehow it all gets translated through an Arduino to generate tail movement using servos and pulleys.

All I’m saying is, if you’re planning some kind of halloween costume or cosplay with a tail, there may be some elements here worth integrating.

Now for some tips and tools. On Printables, Shinsaku Hiura shares this design for a 3D printed ratcheting driver knob.

It’s a print in place design, and handy enough to justify printing out. But I think it could also be something cool to adapt to other designs. I mean, there’s just something so satisfying about that ratcheting feedback, you kinda want it everywhere.

On YouTube, Anika’s DIY Life demonstrates different methods for covering up the edges of plywood projects, including iron-on edge banding and this adorable little iron. I personally love a nice, bare plywood edge, but I’ll give edge banding a try just to have an excuse to get this little iron.

On Thingiverse, TechnoBumble offers up this 3D printed guide for creating tight corners out of 3-wire LED strip. It’s based off an older 4-wire design by MarvinLu. Seems like a handy thing to have bookmarked.

Liz at Blitz City DIY has a great video on creating your own tape loops from standard cassette tapes. I always wondered about this, and after seeing Love Hulten’s synth from last week’s show, I’m interested in exploring the mechanics of tape delay.

Finally, I realize a lot of you may be masters of Arduino, but for those of you just getting started, or for people like me who are resilient idiots who just need to learn something a million times before it sticks – check out the free Arduino Masterclass series by Programming Electronics Academy.

There’s just something about the way it’s presented that hits a sweet spot for me. The guy sounds like a real human being. For me, it feels more like a friend is explaining something over my shoulder than a teacher giving a presentation. I’m curious to know what you think.

For this week’s Digi-Key spotlight, check out their latest video on adapting surface mount components for prototyping.

I wasn’t aware of this, but apparently there are all kinds of bare boards made for adapting common surface mount components for breadboard hole spacing.

These days, with part supplies being what they are, it’s useful to know that you can use adapters like these to make the most of what you already have.

Check out the video, or head directly to digikey.com/adapterboard to look through some of the thousands of options available.

And that does it for this week’s show. Be sure to subscribe, leave a thumbs up, or leave a comment. A big thanks to Digi-Key electronics for making the whole thing possible. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you soon.