Table of Contents
Maker Faire Is Too Much by Gareth Branwyn
in Welcome
Author Gareth Branwyn welcomes you to MAKE Volume 11: Alternative Vehicles. Page 10
Attack, Defend by Cory Doctorow
in Make Free
Nearly ten years after the invention of Napster, there's more file sharing than ever. Page 15
Global Bus by Megan Mansell Williams
in Made on Earth
Sphere artist Lars Fisk rolls his own Volkswagen bus. Page 16
Super Stick by Annie Buckley
in Made on Earth
Jason Torchinsky builds a 5-foot-tall retro Atari joystick that works. Page 18
Fire-Cooled Brew by Keith Hammond
in Made on Earth
New Zealander Simon Jansen (of Star Wars ASCIImation fame) fires up an absurd, jet engine-powered beer cooler. Page 19
The Old-Fashioned Future by Megan Mansell Williams
in Made on Earth
Stephane Halleux's sculptures mix advanced technology with antiquated mechanisms. Page 20
Games That Games Play by David Pescovitz
in Made on Earth
New York artist Paul Johnson networks custom video games that play each other. Page 21
Grand Master Video by Steve Nalepa
in Made on Earth
Gardner Post's Baby Grand Master is the "king of video instruments." Page 22
Hungry Bots Must Eat by Megan Mansell Williams
in Made on Earth
Ohio professor Ken Rinaldo's robots sense hunger, find and feed on electrical power, then tell the others where to find it. Page 23
Router Aesthetics by Bruce Sterling
in Hands On
Now that "digital carpentry" has come to exist, how do you make it authentic? Page 24
Hammer Time by Kirsten Anderson
Making the antiques of the future at Black Dog Forge. Page 26
Big Blowhards by William Gurstelle
Who will be the first to make a machine that propels a pumpkin more than a mile? Page 30
The Maker State by William Gurstelle
Safe working practices give you the freedom to attempt projects on the edge. Page 34
Drawbot Love by Bre Pettis
How a bunch of us made our own drawing robot. Page 36
Cooking With Trash by Tim Anderson
in Heirloom Technology
The Chinese make fuel briquettes from coal dust, farm waste, scrap wood, and a bit of local red dirt. Page 38
Power Tripping by David Pescovitz
in Proto
High-voltage engineer Greg Leyh builds the largest Tesla coils in the world. Page 40
Long Live the Bicycle by Saul Griffith
in Making Trouble
Everything I know I learned from two wheels and a frame. Page 44
Ten-Second Stomp Rocket by Emma Wagstaff
in 123
Make a juice-bag-powered rocket in less time than it takes to drink it. Page 46
Mister Jalopy's Urban Guerrilla Movie House by Mister Jalopy
Your own DIY drive-in. Page 48
The Little Cart That Couldn't by Charles Platt
Wind-powered vehicle claims look like hot air. Page 58
Swiveling Balcony Hoist by Matthew Russell
Take the sting out of a walk-up apartment by installing your own lifter. Page 64
Rolling Solar by Ben Shedd
Turning a junker into a sun-charged electric vehicle. Page 67
Granny's Nightmare Chopper Bike by Brad Graham
Chop an old ladies' bicycle into something evil. Page 68
Swing and Wrong-Way Bikes by Paul Spinrad
Trick cycles from Cyclecide. Page 73
U-G-L-Y Your Bike by Rick Polito
To deter thieves, camouflage your bicycle as a piece of crap while keeping it a first-class ride. Page 74
Rock the Bike by Paul Spinrad
Social biking with Fossil Fool and the Juice Pedaler. Page 77
Bicycle iPod Charger by Mark Hoekstra
A sidewall dynamo powers both lights and tuneage. Page 80
Stokemonkey Makes It Easier by Rick Polito
An electric motor linked to existing bicycle gears turns any bike into a sell-your-car-already vehicle. Page 82
The Year People Learned to Fly by Ben Shedd
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the flight of Paul MacCready's Gossamer Condor. Page 84
Spirits Guy by Benjamin Tice Smith
in Maker
How Lance Winters went from basement moonshiner to celebrity vodka distiller. Page 86
Personal Fab by Tom Owad
in Personal Fab
A CNC milling machine for less than a grand. Page 92
Retro R/C Racer by Frank E. Yost
Using scrap sheet metal and pop rivets, you can construct a model 1930s
British Midget racer with modern radio control capabilities. Page 94
Kitchen Floor Vacuum Former by Bob Knetzger
Mold light, durable, and cool-looking 3D parts in your kitchen. Page 106
Spin The Birdie by Larry Cotton
Get awesome avian photos by moving your camera closer to the birds -- and rotating them for the perfect pose. Page 116
Easy Motor by Cy Tymony
in 123
Make a spinning motor with a minimum of parts. Page 126
Breadboard Rack by Tom Zimmerman
in DIY: Circuits
A simple way to interconnect protoboards. Page 127
Big Kid Night Light by Dan Weiss
in DIY: Circuits
Dollar-store hack makes a color-changing mood light. Page 131
Net Data Meter by Tom Igoe
in DIY: Circuits
Antique voltmeter displays current air quality from the web. Page 133
Fetch the Weather with the MAKE Controller by Brian Jepson
in DIY: Science
This easy starter project displays your local forecast. Page 138
Ball of Sound by Michael F. Zbyszynski
in DIY: Home
Construct a low-cost spherical speaker array. Page 141
Free VoIP by Dave Mathews
in DIY: Home
Got broadband? Add phone service for $0/month. Page 145
Plush Irradiated Sirloin by Becky Stern
in DIY: Home
Microcontroller night light illuminates meaty issues. Page 149
On Batteries by Limor Fried
in DIY: Workshop
How to decide which batteries will run your project best. Page 151
Electronic Crickets by Michael F. Zbyszynski
in DIY: Outdoors
Create a nighttime chorus by modifying solar yard lamps. Page 154
DIY ECGs by Dr. Shawn Carlson
in Citizen Science
Track your ticker with a homemade electrocardiogram machine. Page 157
Wheel of Life by Joost Bonsen, Nick Dragotta, Saul Griffith
in Howtoons
Make a Wheel of Life. Page 160
Hot Electrical Problem by Lee D. Zlotoff
in MakeShift
The creator of MacGyver challenges you to stop an electrical fire from raging. Page 162
Purely Platonic by Charles Platt
in Primer
Have fun with classic Platonic geometry while building your own dodecahedron table lamp. Page 164
Toys, Tricks, and Teasers by Donald E. Simanek
in Toys, Tricks, and Teasers
Friction. There's the rub. Page 169
Blast from the Past by Mister Jalopy
in Blast from the Past
Mr. Jalopy's adaptation of the Orange Crate Racer project from the 1949 classic Make It and Ride It. Page 172
Toolbox by Tim Anderson, Andrea Dunlap, Lenore Edman, Saul Griffith, Walter Kalwies, Meara O'Reilly, Arwen O'Reilly Griffith, Ross Orr, John Edgar Park, Donald E. Simanek, Darel Snodgrass, Phillip Torrone
in Toolbox
The best tools, software, publications, and websites. Plus: Favorite Things as chosen by the bike-crazed editors of Momentum magazine. Page 174
MAKE's favorite puzzles. by Michael H. Pryor
in Aha!
MAKE's favorite puzzles. Page 181
Retrospect by George Dyson
in Retrospect
The 1977 Gulf of Alaska baidarka expedition. Page 182
Tips and Tricks by Arwen O'Reilly Griffith
Bare necessities: steam-scrambled eggs, cheapo light tent, rent freedom, and six-pack security. Page 185
Maker's Calendar by William Gurstelle
in Maker's Calendar
Our favorite events from around the world, August - November. Page 190
Homebrew by Greg McCarroll
in Homebrew
Greg McCarroll's web-networked, train-schedule alarm clock. Page 192
Reader Input
in Reader Input
Letters from our readers offering praise, brickbats, and swell ideas. We Make Amends here, too. Page 195
