makers

When we recently encountered an awe-inspiring stuffed and amplified beast/musical instrument called the Badgermin in the various display cases of the blogosphere, we knew we'd stumbled on the work of a mad crackpot scientist inventor with an enthusiasm for electronic music and, perhaps, taxidermy. Fine specimens of such eccentrics becoming increasingly rare, we grabbed our butterfly net and set out after our prey.

Where could we find this strange fellow who thought to install the storied electronic instrument known as the theremin inside of a dead (preinstallation, we hoped) badger? And what other curiosities might he have brought into being?… Read more

If you were ever a Boy Scout, you may recall earning an archery or camping badge. Girl Scouts offer athlete, naturalist, and many others. But what if you're a kid with serious 3D printing or laser cutting chops? Is there a badge for you?

There is now, thanks to the folks at Adafruit Industries, a New York-based open source hardware and maker products emporium. Starting in the next few days--timed to the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts on March 12--Adafruit will begin offering a broad set of skill badges that reward kids--and presumably others--for completing any of a … Read more

Ask people to think of a chain-link fence, and the pleasure center in their brain isn't exactly going to light up.

Unless, of course, they're thinking of Dutch designer Joep Verhoeven's creations.

Verhoeven's company, Lace Fence, takes the stuff of penitentiaries, abandoned lots, and grim school yards and turns it into something that could almost sneak its way into a painting by Rembrandt or Vermeer.

"I was on my bicycle passing a fence," Verhoeven told Crave in an e-mail, "and someone had fixed an opening in the fence with some wire. That was my 'Eureka' moment: why not guide the wire by hand into shapes or patterns and integrate it into the industrial fence?"… Read more

Bringing Schrodinger's cat thought experiment to real life would get you put on PETA's naughty list. Avoid that complication with the Schrodinger's Cat Executive Decision Maker.

No actual cats were harmed in the creation of ThinkGeek's $30 decision maker. What you do get is a plastic device with a sliding door. Ask a yes-or-no question, open the door, and watch as the cat goes into flux. A dead cat means "no." A live cat means "yes." … Read more

I haven't left my office once today without bringing our octopus to show someone.

This thing is fascinating, both in terms of how it came to be, and also for how good it looks. It still has a few wisps of plastic hanging off it. Each eye socket also has a small loop of plastic drooping down from where it meets the head. For those few lines, gravity apparently overcame the adhesion properties of the melted filament.

But I still can't stop marveling at the contours of the design. From the shape of its bulbous head, to the … Read more

This step took longer than I anticipated.

My goal, as stated at the end of our Day Two post, was to leave the office with our final print in progress. We actually got close, but we didn't quite make it.

Matt and I found the hardware side of building our Mosaic 3D printer about as hard as building a DIY desktop. The software side was a little more confusing.

MakerGear offers a walk-through (PDF) pointing you to the various firmware updates, driver software, and necessary applications to connect the printer to your PC, and print an object from an … Read more

Today was surprisingly easy, at least I think.

We started with four steps remaining in terms of hardware assembly. We still have to work out the software and then confirm the thing actually works, but in all we didn't encounter anything more difficult than what you might encounter while building your own PC.

I say I think because I have that familiar nagging doubt that comes with any DIY electronics project. Did we put that jumper in the right spot? Will the software work? How hard will it be to troubleshoot? All of those things will be revealed once … Read more

I hope to review the coming batch of preassembled 3D printers, but first I need to build one.

That's the idea, anyway. Thanks to MakerGear, an expansive online 3D-printing resource, I have a DIY kit for a Mosaic 3D printer. I also have the help of Matt Fitzgerald, an editor on CNET's digital-imaging reviews team. Not only can Matt take a decent picture, I also intend to lean on his mechanical expertise that comes from his hobby restoring motorcycles.

It can't hurt, but you don't need that experience to build a 3D printer. Still, I've never done it. I hope once we get through the building process, I'll have a better idea of what to look for when it comes time to review a premade printer like those announced at CES this year. The goal with this series of posts is to share what we find out.… Read more

How far can you get with a 3D printer and a dream?

CNET photographer Sarah Tew and I took a tour of Quirky's new Manhattan offices this morning. As depicted in her frankly great shots in the slideshow below, we got a firsthand look at the inner workings of a serious, professional product development company.

Normally I don't go in for facility tours. The articles that tend to result from such things too often take the appearance of marketing material. It was the promise of the chance to see how a real design company uses a 3D printer that drew me to accept Quirky's invite.… Read more