Table of Contents
Welcome: ReMake America by Dale Dougherty
in Welcome
Makers are the best hope for the future. Page 1
Reader Input
in Reader Input
Tales of Senft Stirling engines, Einstein’s Riddle, and the joys of generalism. Page 12
Makers Market by Dan Woods
in Maker's Corner
A new market for makers to sell their products. Page 15
Open Government by Cory Doctorow
in Make Free
There's never a good reason for the government to keep its everyday
workings a secret from the people who own it: the citizenry. Page 17
From Garbage to Gallery by Annie Buckley
in Made on Earth
Artist David King's four-month residency at the San Francisco city dump. Page 18
On the Right Trac by Abe Connally
in Made on Earth
Marcin Jakubowski and the team at Open Source Ecology (OSE) designed an open source tractor, called LifeTrac. Page 20
Big Balsa by Steven Shaw
in Made on Earth
New Zealand artist Christian Nicolson's full-sized fighter plane based on the old balsa models. Page 21
Trailer (Re)Made by Laura Kiniry
in Made on Earth
Paul Villinski's Emergency Response Studio, a FEMA-style trailer
transformed into a fully functional, sustainably built mobile artist
studio. Page 22
Wood-Grained Visions by Annie Buckley
in Made on Earth
Artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor's familiar scenes rendered in unexpected ways using wood inlay. Page 23
¡Luchadora Libre! by Annie Buckley
in Made on Earth
Artist Sophia Allison's imaginatively feminine wrestling
attire. Page 24
Solar Asphalt Gondolier by Keith Hammond
in Made on Earth
Reno Tondelli, Jr. built the world's first recumbent hybrid taxi. Page 25
Spending Carbon Wisely by Saul Griffith
in Making Trouble
5,000 days? CO2 targets and how much fossil fuel we can burn. Page 26
Landscapes of Possibility by Bruce Sterling
in Hands On
Making and using the futurescape. Page 28
Living the Good Life by Matthew Bachler
in Maker
Helen and Scott Nearing left New York City in 1932 to create
a "self-sufficient household economy" on a 65-acre farm in a Vermont village. Page 30
Plankton Evangelist by Charles Platt
in Maker
Could a tanker full of iron dust solve climate change? The
eccentric, seafaring saga of Russ George. Page 32
What’s in Your Garage? by Dale Dougherty
in Maker
We see solutions to big problems coming from innovative makers working in their basements, garages, and workshops. Page 36
Tool Library by Dale Dougherty
in Maker
Dustin Zuckerman is putting his tools into circulation. Page 38
Building a CNC Mill by Tom Owad
in Personal Fab
Make things with a mill that you make. Page 40
Image Analysis by Forrest Mims III
in Country Scientist
Easily analyze scientific images. Page 42
The Modern Homestead: A Bird's-Eye View
ReMaking America begins at home. Tame your energy bills, reduce your inputs, and turn your lawn into food. Page 46
Home Energy Dashboards by Bob Parks
New ways to see your power usage in real time. Page 48
Power Down with DMAIC by Tom Anderson
Reduce your electricity bill with the engineer's favorite problem-solving method. Page 52
Build a Heat Exchanger by Charles Platt
Fresh air without the energy loss. Page 56
Off-Grid Laundry Machine by Michael Perdriel
This think-small washer needs no electricity or running water. Page 60
Making the Energy Garden by Julian Darley, Celine Rich Darley
Food + biofuels: an 18-month experiment in self-sufficiency. Page 68
Kitchen Garden Quantitative Analysis by Esperanza Pallana
Take food independence to the max. Page 71
Drip Irrigation by Erik Knutzen
Grow healthy vegetables the automatic way, while using less water. Page 72
Vermicomposting: Make Your Own Worm Bin by Celine Rich Darley
Let hungry, squirmy wigglers take out the household trash. Page 78
Humanure for the City Dweller by Nance Klehm
Embrace your body as a soil-maker. Page 82
Solar-Heated Water by Dan Bassak
How one couple proved the skeptics wrong. Page 84
Sustainability Roundup
DIY energy, vehicle, home, and garden projects from previous volumes of MAKE. Page 87
The Garduino Garden Controller by Luke Iseman
Geeked-out gardening: use a microcontroller and simple sensors to give plants exactly the water and light they need. Page 90
LED Light Brick by Alden Hart
The Little Glowing Friend uses a single-chip microcontroller to drive 20 LEDs in a variety of patterns. Page 102
Tweet-a-Watt Power Monitor by Limor Fried, Phillip Torrone
Build a wireless electricity monitor for about $50, and twitter your kilowatts. Page 112
One-Ton Linear Servo by Windell Oskay
in DIY: Workshop
Mod an electric jack to do your bidding. Page 123
$30 Micro Forge by Len Cullum
in DIY: Workshop
Make your own nails and other small iron parts. Page 127
Barrel Water Collector by Chris Barnes, Michri Barnes
in DIY: Outdoors
Make wine into water (sort of). Page 130
Rainwater Toilet Flush by Eric Muhs
in DIY: Home
Save your tap water and let the rain in. Page 133
Solar Hybrid Hot Tub by Eric Muhs
in DIY: Home
A free and easy thermal assist from the sun. Page 135
Bike Repair Stand by Shaun Wilson
in DIY: Home
A cycle support from the plumbing aisle. Page 137
Hogwash by Tim King
in DIY: Home
How to make bacon soap, from actual bacon! Page 139
The Two Person Shovel by Josie Moores
in 123
Double up to get those big digging projects done without a single backache or blister. Page 141
Lay of the Land by Terrie Schweitzer
in Primer
Mapping your lot is the first step in designing a homestead. Page 142
Energy Independence by Nick Dragotta, Saul Griffith
in Howtoons
Experimental biogas. Page 150
To the Bat Cave! by Lee D. Zlotoff
in MakeShift
The creator of MacGyver challenges you: find your way out of a
pitch-black bat cave using only your wits and what's on your back. Page 152
Maker Family Portrait by Tim Anderson
in Heirloom Technology
A family of inventive blacksmiths in Indonesia supply the locals with just about everything they need. Page 154
Toolbox by Shawn Connally, Dale Dougherty, Mark Frauenfelder, Brian Jepson, Tim Lillis, Brookelynn Morris, Meara O'Reilly, Tom Owad, John Edgar Park, Paul Spinrad, Dave Stroud, Adam Zeloof
in Toolbox
Wireless signal detector for the paranoid, a fire-powered soak, iPhone hacks, and tales of sustainability. Page 156
Reflections on an Illusion by Donald E. Simanek
in Toys, Tricks, and Teasers
An illusion that never ceases to fascinate is the mirror-produced "real
image" -- you'll reach out to grasp it, but your fingers close only on
thin air. Page 164
Maker's Calendar by William Gurstelle
in Maker's Calendar
Our favorite events from around the world. Page 168
Figure out what these abbreviated phrases mean. by Michael H. Pryor
in Aha!
Figure out what these abbreviated phrases mean. Page 169
Salt & Pepper Shakers by Tom Parker
in Make Money
Sometimes it costs more to buy it than to make it from the money itself. Page 175
RSS Feed Synthesizer by Andrew Haarsager
in Homebrew
The Bloog is a synthesizer that uses not oscillators, but RSS feeds, one that manipulates not sounds, but words.
Page 176
