DIY Blog

Arman Bohn sent me a couple of links to his projects - and I took forever to put them online. Sorry about that, been busy.

The first one, the Magical Toolbox, is a multi-effect generator built into a tool box. It has a stereo phase-cancelling reverb, fuzz box and ring modulator - All in stereo. It sounds really nice too.

Arman also built a Transmission Electron Microscope. It doesn’t quite work as intended, but it still looks cool, and the sountrack to the demo clip is pretty nice as well.

“The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed.”
- Lloyd Jones

Magical Toolbox [link]

Transmission Electron Microscope [link]

This is my first Instructable, and my entry for the Instructables pocket-sized contest. It’s a Pocket-Sized Watercolor Box in an Altoids tin. I’ve seen people make similar ones and I’ve decided to make my own, using what I had: Fimo clay.

For once, instead of just linking to an Instructable, I wrote one. About time!

Please vote for me!

Altoids Tin Pocket-Sized Watercolor Box [link]

I’ve never been a sys admin or a network technician, but I bet that when you need your punch down tool (a.k.a. Krone tool) the most is when it’s most likely gone missing. This clever hack is a useful one for anybody that does a lot of wire patching.

Don’t let the title fool you, I’m quite certain you can also do this with your Victorinox Cybertool or your trusty Wenger camping knife. Just make sure you measure carefully before cutting your tool.

Leatherman Punchdown Tool [link]

I swear, I didn’t see this until I posted yesterday’s post: it’s basically the same thing, but mono (so much for stereo separation anyways), and amplified! I’ll definitely build myself one of these. They’d also make great gifts for guitar playing friends. Refer to yesterday’s project for installing felt in the tin, as it probably helps with the overall sound quality.

Altoids Tin Amplified Mini Speaker [link]

I love just about every project that’s built around the Altoids tins. This one is no exception: mini speakers made of recycled headphones. You could also use those cheap mini-speakers that they sell at your local electronic parts store.

Altoids Tin Mini Speakers [link]

«In this day an age of lightweight backpacking, many hikers are turning to alcohol stoves because they are super-lightweight, inexpensive, simple to use, and alcohol can be shipped in bounce boxes along the the trail. Since most commercial backpacking stoves have an integral pot stand, someone who uses an alcohol stove needs to provide one. But the same criteria for choosing the alcohol stove in the first place must also apply to the pot stand-windscreen too.»

Pot Stand-Windscreen [link]

«So I’ve been doing a lot of story boarding recently and in an effort to sharpen up my drawing skills I’ve switched from using a pencil to a pen. The only problem has been it’s much harder to do even fills with a pen than a pencil, so I needed a fat marker, too. But I hate carrying around more junk than I need, and most of the art markers out there have two or more points (prismacolor, tria, copic) but none of them have a point fine enough to do real line work. What’s an art director to do? Hack a tria of course…»

Extra Fine Dual Point Tria Art Marker [link]

Thanks to Bold Lentil for this submission:

« You’ll never look at a screw the same way again. Starting with an
anecdote from a bar in Brazil, this post has a simple DIY to make
your own bottle opener. From there it’s simple to consider how
to fill your world with built in bottle openers and a decent example
of extreme re-use. »

Simple and elegant. There’s no excuse to go thirsty!

World’s simplest bottle opener [link]

A well done, straightforward Instructable that shows you how to sharpen your chisels. After all, well cared-for tools will perform better and last you a lifetime.

How to Sharpen a Chisel [link]

This is a great find. I love to drink water and hate having piles of crap everywhere (I really need to clean my office). This upcycling project reuses 2 gallon water jugs and turns them into a brilliant (and modular) storage system.

Modular Storage Bins made from Water Jugs [link]