The Best of Instructables, Volume I: DIY Projects from the World’s Biggest Show & Tell

576 Pages·2013·14.71 MB·English

The Best of Instructables
by the editors of MAKE magazine and Instructables Copyright © 2009 Maker Media, Inc. All rights
reserved.
Printed in U.S.A.
Published by Maker Media,
1005 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, CA 95472
Maker Media books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For more
information, contact O'Reilly Media's corporate/institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or
[email protected].
Print History: October 2008: First Edition October 2013: Second Printing
Publisher: Dale Dougherty Associate Publisher: Dan Woods Executive Editor: Brian Jepson Creative
Director: Daniel Carter Lead Editor: Gareth Branwyn Assistant Editors: Patti Schiendelman, Eric J.
Wilhelm (for Instructables) Designers: Sutton Long and Gretchen J. Bay Production Manager: Terry
Bronson Indexer: Patti Schiendelman The Make logo and Maker Media logo are registered trademarks of
Maker Media, Inc. The Best of Instructables, and related trade dress are trademarks of Maker Media, Inc.
The trademarks of third parties used in this work are the property of their respective owners.
Important Message to Our Readers: Your safety is your own responsibility, including proper use of
equipment and safety gear, and determining whether you have adequate skill and experience. Chemicals,
electricity, and other resources used for these projects are dangerous unless used properly and with adequate
precautions, including safety gear. Some illustrative photos do not depict safety precautions or equipment,
in order to show the project steps more clearly. These projects are not intended for use by children.
Use of the instructions and suggestions in The Best of Instructables is at your own risk. Maker Media, Inc.
and the authors disclaim all responsibility for any resulting damage, injury, or expense. It is your
responsibility to make sure that your activities comply with applicable laws, including copyright.
ISBN-13: 978-0-596-51952-0
Contents
Preface
Welcome
Chapter 1: Home & Garden
IKEA Hacks
Magnetic Refrigerator Lights
Mad Scientist’s Light
Ten-Green Modular Shelving
Invisible Bookshelf
Geometric Cut Paper Table Lamp
Plank Chair
Stool Made from Bike Parts and Crutches
Wireless Home Router with Analog Utilization Meter
Universal Lamp Shade Polygon Building Kit
Pipe Dream Bed
Beanbag Sofa/Bed
Concrete Light Bulb Wall Hook
Chapter 2: Food
Crafting a Bento
“1UP Mushroom” Mushroom Burger!
How to Make Carbonated Fruit
How to Build a Pit Oven
Hobo Stove from Tin Can
How to Eat a Banana Like a Monkey
Food Hacks
Chapter 3: Photography
String Tripod
Super Simple Light Tent
LED Light Drawing Pens
Chapter 4: Science
Light Bulb Greenhouse
Grow Your Own Bioluminescent Algae
3D Magnetic Field Viewer
Measure the Speed of Light with Chocolate!
Chapter 5: Computers
Nintendo NES PC
Lego USB Stick
Milkscanner
30-Minute USB Microscope
Easy, Cheap, Animated Cartoon in 10 Minutes
3D Laser Scanner
Chapter 6: Electronics
LED Throwies
Programmable LED
Ghetto AVR Programmer
Arduino Charlieplexed Heart
Ultra TV-B-Gone
Dance Messenger
Chapter 7: Robotics
How to Build Your First Robot
How to Make an OAWR (Obstacle Avoiding Walking Robot)
Balancing Robot
Give the Gift of Robot Invasion
Mousebot Revisited
Chapter 8: Ride
Turn Signal Biking Jacket
Visor-Cleaning Wiper Glove
Atomic Zombie’s ChopWork Orange Chopper Bicycle
Drainage Luge
Solar-Powered Trike
How to Get a Free Yacht
Chapter 9: Craft
Altoids Tin Projects
The Blow Brush
Electric Umbrella
Etching Brass Plates
Screen Printing: Cheap, Dirty, and at Home
Controlled Bleaching with Discharge Paste
Paracord Bracelet with a Side-Release Buckle
A Dozen Red Origami Roses
Blank Books from Office Paper
How to Make Your Own Plastic Vacuum Former
Computer Keyboard Wallet
Duct Tape Rose
Chapter 10: Entertainment
Stuffed-Animal Headphones
Earbud Cord Wrapper
Make an iPod Speaker from a Hallmark Music Card
Munny Speakers
Start a Guerrilla Drive-in (aka MobMov)
Chapter 11: Fun & Games
The Marshmallow Shooter
Realistic Werewolf Costume
Guitar Hero Hack: Key Molding
The Office Supplies Trebuchet
Fix the Red Ring of Death! (without towels!)
Make Your Own Star Wars-Style Sword
Blinkybug, Maker Faire Version
Build a Water Mortar
An Iron Man-Style Arc Reactor
Make an Awesome Magic Wand
Post Office Drawings
Jar of Fireflies
Chapter 12: Tools
Third Hand++
Guide to Field Soldering
Flashlight Business Card
Dot Matrix Business Card
Notebook Mods
Top Tool Tips
Easy to Build Desktop 3-Axis CNC Milling Machine
Tim’s Tool Tricks
Community Contest Winners
Contributors
Index
Preface
When we decided to collaborate with Eric Wilhelm and the folks at
Instructables on a best-of book, we knew it was going to be fun and
challenging, we had no idea just how fun and how challenging. We also had
no idea how deeply interwoven we’d all become with the Instructables
community itself.
The book you’re holding represents the enthused effort of hundreds of
people. As the staffs at MAKE and Instructables were busy choosing our
favorite projects, Instructables ran a contest so members could choose their
favorites. Thousands of votes were cast. The top 75 can be seen starting on
page 304. Projects chosen by both the editors and the community have a
special “Contest Winner!” icon throughout the book.
Translating web content to a book is challenging, especially when you’re
dealing with so many contributors. These are not professional writers or
photographers. These are people who are passionate about the things they
create and about sharing the results of their effort with others. We tried not to
tinker too much with their voice, letting different styles and personalities
shine through (glare and all) as much as possible. The authors couldn’t have
been more generous, taking new pics when possible, correcting errors,
proofing layouts, and offering us constant support and encouragement. To all
of them we give a resounding Thank you!
A book can only capture some of what the Web has to offer. For each of
these projects, a web address is listed at the bottom. Before building a
project, go to the Instructable page, check out the additional images and
videos, read the comments, and look for updates and corrections.
While this book may represent some of the best projects on Instructables,
through this process, we discovered that the best of Instructables is really the
community it engenders. The best of Instructables is the willingness of those
involved to roll up their sleeves and help out (when you spend your time
hanging out on a “how to” site, “can do” is the pervading ethos). And
ultimately, the best of Instructables is the itchy excitement one feels while
browsing these projects. It’s no exaggeration to tell you that it was all we
could do, as we edited these pages, to resist the urge to abandon our desktops
for our workbenches and start making stuff.
for our workbenches and start making stuff.
From all of us, editors Gareth Branwyn, Brian Jepson, and Patti
Schiendelman; project manager Terry Bronson; designers Sutton Long and
Gretchen Bay; art director Daniel Carter; Eric J. Wilhelm and the team at
Instructables; and the wonderful worldwide community of Instructable
authors, we hope you have as much fun making the projects in The Best of
Instructables as we did in making the book.
—The Editors