All the awl you’ll need, a kit to build your own yo-yo, wireless SD memory cards, and the maker before MacGyver.
TOOLBOX
Indiana Jones and the Solar Bag of Doom
Flexible solar cells were all the rage in ’07 and likely will become even more ubiquitous in ’08. Leading the charge is the awesome line of bags (I lied about the “doom” part) from Noon Solar. The Logan is a very handsome bag that’d look right at home over the shoulder of our favorite archaeologist or any cosplaying steampunk. The materials are first-rate: Bavarian vegetable-tanned cowhide, shibori-dyed hemp/cotton with natural pigments. The 9½"×8¾" solar panel, which takes up one side of the bag, is a wonder. In person, it looks like just another piece of the fabric. It connects to a Li-ion “Power Bank” inside, which connects to your phone, iPod, or other handies (not your laptop, though). You can also plug the bag into AC power for rapid juice-ups. My only criticisms are that the carrying strap is unpadded and the collar-stud closures smack of form over function. That said, this is a bag that’ll have geeks and fashionistas alike green with envy.
—Gareth Branwyn
ANALOG + DIGITAL
Who says analog can’t play with digital?
Analog » PicoPad
In a world full of photo-taking, MP3-playing, text-messaging digital gizmos, sometimes what you really need is a pen and paper.
The PicoPad is a slim, credit card-sized notebook that combines tacky notes with a surprisingly compact and extremely functional pen.
The secret sauce behind the PicoPad is the Flexigrip (the finger tabs that resemble wings), which allows you to grip and write with the pico-sized pen. The pages are refillable too, so unleash the creative maker in you and scribble notes and project ideas to your heart’s content.
—Mike Lin
Digital » Eye-Fi
I don’t know about you, but I am notorious for taking pictures and letting them fester in my camera for months on end before digging out my USB cable, downloading the images to my computer, logging in to Picasa, and then finally sharing my photos with family and friends.
The Eye-Fi wireless SD memory card is nothing short of pure magic. Right out of the box, I was amazed by how easy it was to install and set up. Stick it in your camera, take a picture, and it automatically transfers your photo via wi-fi to your computer, a web-based photo sharing site, or both!
The Eye-Fi is perfect for makers and Instructables enthusiasts to capture their projects in images and set them free on the world!
—Mike Lin
MAKE LOOKS AT KITS
Editors Phillip Torrone and Arwen O’Reilly talk about kits from makezine.com/blog.
Solar Power House Kit
This kit focuses on both heat and light energy from the sun, plus wind, electrochemical, and plant energy as well. A great starter kit for learning about alternative energy.
Alarm Clock Countdown Kit
Looking for a countdown timer and/or an alarm clock — maybe even one with stopwatch functionality? All in a “memorable” package? The Denkimono alarm clock/timer kit was tons of fun to build, and when friends come over it always gets a reaction. I don’t watch TV, but I’m told this belongs in 24. It’s a nice kit because you end up with a practical object, plus it’s a great base for lots of projects. Now I’ll have this clock for life!
—PT
Feel the Pulse
Take the magnetic pulse of the solar system and compare your results to NASA’s. Citizen scientist Dr. Shawn is at it again.
Linear Acceleration
This definitely looks interesting: a linear stepper motor controller kit, open source, for CNC machines!
Wooden Clock Kits
Clock kits abound, but these surreal wooden shapes make Dali’s imagination reality. Your clock will be a work of art.
Yo-Yo Kit
Shoot the moon with your homemade yo-yo, built using this basic kit. More components, like chrome ball bearings, exotic wood blanks, and even a blank cutter, are available online.
Electric Plane Launcher Kit
Spinning motors and plastic discs launch paper airplanes at up to 31mph! Build a launcher with this kit and get instant feedback on your paper airplane designs.
Rock steady with guitar effect cheat cards.
Have a hard time remembering all the guitar effects pedal settings for different songs? Use this trick and you’ll be on the fast track to stardom at some bar.
Use thin plastic, and make cards the size of the control knob area of the pedal. Make holes for each knob and the LED. Mark the cards with the song name and the corresponding settings.
If you have many cards, you can arrange them according to your set list and attach them to a key ring for ease of use.
Stomp that pedal with the confidence that only your intended sounds will rock forth from your amp!
Have a trick of the trade? Send it to [email protected].
MAKE LOOKS AT BOOKS
The Total Trickster
Dunninger’s Complete Encyclopedia of Magic by Joseph Dunninger
In the old days, magicians had to make their own magical apparatus. This aspect of magic — as a handicraft — is wonderfully demonstrated in the out-of-print, but not hard-to-find, book titled Dunninger’s Complete Encyclopedia of Magic.
This book is a compilation of short 1920s magazine articles about stage illusions, party tricks, puppet construction, pocket tricks, tricks employing electricity, and kitchen table science. The pages cover hundreds of illusions, from the very simple to the extremely complex. One trick requires only a deck of cards, a sharp knife, and a few minutes of practice. The illusion on the very next page requires a theater stage, a windlass, stagehands, and an armored knight on horseback!
The author assumes the reader is a capable maker: essential secrets are revealed and diagrammed, but step-by-step instructions are rarely given. The 288 pages are profusely illustrated with vintage black-and-white line drawings. The type is blotchy or small in a few spots, but always legible. The somewhat overly formal writing is delightfully old-fashioned.
Published several times over the last four decades, Dunninger’s can be found in red paperback or black hardcover (shown).
—Dug North
Tales of the First Build
A Place of My Own by Michael Pollan
Being somewhat more accustomed to the tools of pen and The Chicago Manual of Style than to hammer and nail at the start of his project, Michael Pollan was somewhat apprehensive about his sudden compulsion to build himself a treehouse library in the woods up the hill from his home. We can see what the studio did for his work: The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, two of his more well-known works, were written after its construction.
He soon realizes that this notion of his is a bit romantic, especially as he doesn’t quite know how to hold a level, but like most of us who have made anything, he perseveres, with the chisel, the saw, and the sander. He learns that the joy of building is somewhere between plumb and clumsy thumbs, and the compromise between the ideal and the actuality of craftsmanship may mean your tree-house is out of square, but that’s OK.
As Winston Churchill said, “First we shape our buildings, and thereafter our buildings shape us.” There is much to be said for the amount of deliberation required for building a structure; would that our own makings take on the same weightiness.
—Andrea Dunlap
Some of the many adventures of Modesty Blaise.
Before MacGyver
Modesty Blaise by Peter O’Donnell
MacGyver was resourceful on television, while “Q” provided hightech gadgets for James Bond to destroy onscreen. But before all of them there was Willie Garvin, the ingenious, inventive, and highly resourceful sidekick and partner of Modesty Blaise.
The fictional duo are successful international criminals who retire to England after they become rich. Despite their luxurious lifestyles, retirement soon palls. They snap at the opportunity to get back in action by working for the Special Intelligence Section of the British Foreign Office. We’re introduced to Garvin’s skills in the first novel, Modesty Blaise (O’Donnell wrote 10 more between 1965 and 1985). There he demonstrates some tricky devices designed to give Blaise a sneaky edge over the bad guys, like lipsticks that also give off a blast of tear gas, to gain a few vital seconds of advantage. His inventiveness is not limited to the bench — he is equally adept at improvising in the field.
As criminals Garvin and Blaise had stayed alive by being smarter and better prepared than their competitors. This talent remains, and readers are treated to escapades and escapes made possible by the ingenious use of whatever is at hand. I won’t give you details, since it’s more fun to revel in the creativeness of the moment.
—Kes Donahue
Makers of Necessity
Home-Made by Vladimir Arkhipov
“In the depths of those stagnant times, when there were shortages of everything ...” begins a typical description in this incredible collection. Shortages of everything, that is, save ingenuity. Shovels made of street signs, television aerials made of forks, a colander patched in four different places, and a bubble wand for children made out of a spoon — each page has a description of how an object came to be. Many were made to entertain cranky babies, mollify grumpy husbands, or help elderly aunts navigate their uncomfortable outhouses in the wintertime.
Vladmir Arkhipov began assembling his collection of eccentric and beloved objects 13 years ago — “things that were never meant to be for sale.” It’s really the portrait of an era, the era of perestroika, when “everything had just disappeared” from the shops. There was no money, nor was there anything to buy. But always, life continued to be lived, and tools were needed: hair clips, kettles, playing cards, toilet seats, and a contraption to keep your boots dry.
—Caterina Fake
FAVORITE THINGS
As chosen by John Lovick of Magic magazine
Holonzki Wall Lamp by Ingo Maurer
This is really cool. I first saw it in the home of David Copperfield’s executive producer, Chris Kenner. Here’s how it works: there’s an empty socket with a pull chain. You pull the chain, and a 3D holographic image of a light bulb appears and it illuminates — the hologram light bulb generates light just like a real light bulb. Well, not really, but that’s the illusion that’s created. There’s sometimes a very fine line between science and magic.
SkyRoll Garment Bags
Any good magician knows that when you step onstage you gotta look your best. The hassles of travel have never been worse, and anything that can help you avoid having to check your bags is a godsend. This unusual carry-on garment bag can hold a couple of suits, some shirts, several ties, a pair of shoes, a shaving kit, and more.
Creative Whack Pack
Magicians of necessity must look at things (objects as well as people) in unusual ways. This illustrated deck of 64 creative-thinking strategies is based on the book A Whack on the Side of the Head: How to Be More Creative, by Roger von Oech. The strategies are designed to whack you out of habitual thought patterns and enable you to look at life in a fresh way. With this pack, you can practice your sleight of hand and stimulate your creativity at the same time.
Peanut Butter in Plastic Squeeze Tubes
Why did it take 100 years to put peanut butter in a squeeze tube? Let’s not be bitter about it, just be glad they finally did.
“The Ex” Voodoo Knife Holder
Teller (of Penn & Teller fame), one of magic’s creative geniuses and a man who delights in all things macabre, has one of these in his kitchen. Do you need to know any more than that?
The Expert at the Card Table by S.W. Erdnase
Dai Vernon (the Stanislavski of close-up magic) described this book, first published in 1902, as the “bible” of card handling, both for magicians and for cheaters. Bill Kalush and the Conjuring Arts Research Center have produced this handy new pocket-sized edition of the book that — purely coincidentally — looks like a small New Testament. You can buy them individually or in 12-packs. Let us now open our hymnals to “the diagonal palm-shift.”
John Lovick is the author of two critically acclaimed books on the performance of sleight of hand, and an associate editor at Magic magazine, the world’s premier periodical for magicians. Handsome Jack, his secret alter ego, is a regular performer at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood.
One Rule to Rule Them All
Sometimes the most useful tools are also the most low-tech. Growing up, I always remember my dad (a dental school professor) having one of these and using it to save his eyesight when digging through reference books with tiny fonts. As an editor, I found myself squinting to figure out whether that quotation mark is a “straight quote” or a “curly quote” and straining to determine whether there’s an extra space in the text or if it’s just my eyes playing tricks on me. I was so excited to rediscover this magnifying ruler. With its bold blue lines surrounding the magnified strip, my squinting days are over. We love it so much that we ordered one for each of our editors. Truly the best 2 bucks I’ve spent in a long time!
—Goli Mohammadi
For Eyes
Terribly nearsighted from childhood, I’ve always dreaded the trip to the optometrist’s shop. It’s clear that the markup on eyeglasses has been out of control; to be happy, you have to buy into a fantasy that there’s an optician carefully hand-crafting your lenses. Well, you don’t have to pay for that fantasy any longer.
Ordering glasses online has been around for a while, but I’d never heard of it until I was pointed to the Glassy Eyes weblog, which has links to everything you need to know about ordering glasses online. Since I’d just gotten my eyes checked and had a prescription in hand, I called my ophthalmologist and got my pupil distance.
I got the works — bendable titanium frames, highest high-index lens material, anti-reflective coating — for a total of $71. They arrived yesterday, and I’m wearing them as I write this. They’re great, and the price is a far cry from the $350 I would have paid at a local optometrist. Had I opted for a basic frame and regular lens material, my total would have been a paltry $17! That means I’ll be getting spares — maybe a little something in a leopard print or rhinestones. Rawr.
—Terrie Miller
Awl Good
The “Awl for All” may not be the prettiest awl around, but after having used one for years, I can safely assert that it is by far the best awl ever made. What makes this superior to all other awls is that, where a normal awl just punctures thick fabrics, leather, and vinyl, this awl simultaneously punctures and stitches these materials. Ever since it was bestowed upon me by another true believer, I’ve used it to reupholster chairs, perform emergency tent repair, patch clothing, and add a nifty little nylon hoop to my climbing harness. And because a fine needle comes conveniently stored in the screw-off handle, I am fairly certain that should the need ever arise, I can use this amazing awl to stitch closed any gaping flesh wound with ease.
—Randy Sarafan
Have you used something worth keeping in your toolbox? Let us know at [email protected].
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