DIY Router Base For Your Dremel

February 21, 2014 by Rich Bremer 12 Comments

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Dremel rotary tools are handy. Some of the attachments are convenient. [vreinkymov] felt the convenience wasn’t worth the cost, so he decided to make a Router Base for his Dremel. These types of attachments are used to hold the Dremel perpendicular to the work surface.

Underneath the little nut/cover near the spindle of the Dremel, there is a 3/4″-12 threaded feature used to attach accessories. A quick trip down the hardware store’s plumbing aisle resulted in finding a PVC reducer with the correct female thread to fit the Dremel. Once on the rotary tool, the reducer threads into a PVC nipple that is glued to a piece of acrylic. The acrylic acts as the base of the router attachment.

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This Party Jukebox Is Bigger On The Inside

February 21, 2014 by James Hobson 7 Comments

In honor of the recent 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, [David Prouty] decided to build a 1/3rd scale replica of the Tardis. He also decided to give it a few extra features on the inside… Introducing the Recycled Tardis Jukebox!

It was constructed primarily out of recycled cardboard boxes (pizza, FedEx, UHaul, etc) and [David] has done an amazing job painting and detailing it!

Since it’s so big, [David] wanted it to be functional too, so he’s added Bluetooth speakers, sound activated lights, disco balls, and even a fog machine on the inside. It’s all controlled wirelessly by remote, and it’s sure to be a hit at any party he decides to throw.

Stick around for the videos showing it in action — and of course, making our favorite sound VWORRRRRP VWRORRRP VWORRRP!

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Open Bitcoin ATM

February 20, 2014 by Marsh 30 Comments

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If there’s one thing Bitcoins can benefit from, it’s easier accessibility for first-time users. The process can be a bit daunting if you’re new to cryptocurrency, but [mayosmith] is developing an open Bitcoin ATM to help get coins in the hands of the masses. There are already some Bitcoin dispensers out there. The Lamassu is around 5k a pop, and then there’s always the option of low-tech Condom Vending Machine conversions.

[mayosmith’s] build is still in the proof-of-concept phase, but has some powerful functionality underway. The box is made from acrylic with a front plate of 12″x12″ aluminum sheet metal, held on by 2 aluminum angles and some bolts. Slots were carved out of the aluminum sheet for the thermal printer and for bill acceptor—the comments identify it as an Apex 7000. Inside is an Arduino with an SD Shield attached. Dollars inserted into the acceptor trigger the Arduino to spit out a previously-generated QR code for some coins via the thermal printer, though all values are pre-determined at the time of creation and stored sequentially on the SD card. Stick around for a quick video below, and check out the official page for more information: http://openbitcoinatm.org

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Scrappy Lil’ Circular Saw

February 20, 2014 by Kristina Panos 22 Comments

Like a lot of us, [Andrea] has a habit of disassembling everything he runs into. He recently came across a fairly substantial motor he’d salvaged and envisioned its new life as a small circular saw.

[Andrea] bought new cutting discs, but the rest is salvage and scrap. He had already mounted the motor, pivot, belt, and gear to a wood block, so he added two more wood scraps for a base and a cutting surface. He screwed a metal L beam to one side of the surface block to keep the disc adjacent to the edge. A couple of washers keep the disc rotating freely. [Andrea] used a piece of hydraulic pipe and a cylindrical nut to attach the disc to the pivot. This assembly can be easily tightened by hand, so changing discs is a quick operation.

He kept the electrical as-is and mounted the box to the saw body. This 30W motor runs at ~600-1000RPM which isn’t fast enough to cut wood. Undeterred, [Andrea] plans to use it to cut steel bolts, copper circuit boards, and metal plates. If you need to cut through anything and everything, try this 700W DIY table saw.

Eye Of The Tiger — As Played By A Dot Matrix Printer

February 20, 2014 by James Hobson 39 Comments

Do you have a big hackathon coming up? Need to start a training montage like Rocky? We don’t think you can get any more awesome than this Dot Matrix Printer that can play music!

The hack makes use of an old 24-pin dot matrix printer, which is now a MIDI compatible sound generator. It uses an Atmega8 and an FPGA connected to different parts of the original printer’s circuit board. The Atmega8 takes the incoming MIDI data and communicates it to the FPGA while driving the stepper motors for both the paper feed and print head. The FPGA on the other hand is responsible for the PWM to drive the individual printer pins. This means the printer can play up to 21 notes simultaneously, and it’s capable of taking in up to 16 MIDI channels, all with individual volume, pitch, and key velocity!

[MIDIDesaster] has several other musical examples of their printer in action, including the Duke Nukem theme, Hysteria by Muse (one of our favorites), and even the Wallace and Gromit theme!

It’s a similar project to this printer synth we shared almost 9 years ago! Stick around to get pumped up with Eye of the Tiger! But if you’re wearing headphones… turn the volume down.

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Real Life Flappy Bird In A Box

February 20, 2014 by James Hobson 14 Comments

Flappy bird this, flappy bird that, we’re really not too sure how a clone of the original helicopter game became so darn popular. Anyway, [Fawn Qiu] — founder of MakeAnything — decided to hop on the bandwagon and made this awesome physical version of Flappy Bird!

She threw it together at the Tribeca Hacks Hackathon, and it uses an Arduino, two servo motors, a reed switch and some magnets. She was inspired by the original Mario in a Box game and this is a great example of her project MakeAnything, which is a technology project community which helps foster the new culture of STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) for kids and adults alike, in the United States. They believe that “with the right tool and instructions, we can all make anything and everything!”.

Stick around for the following video where [Fawn] takes it to the streets to let random strangers try their hand at the now iconic game!

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Hackaday 68k: A New Hackaday Project

February 20, 2014 by Brian Benchoff 151 Comments

It’s no secret Hackaday loves retrocomputers, classic hardware, and vintage tech. Now that we have a great way to present long-form projects, it only makes sense that we combine our loves with a new build. Over the next few months, I’ll be developing a homebrew computer based on the Motorola 68000 CPU, documenting everything along the way, and building a very capable piece of hardware that will end up hosting a few Hackaday webpages. I already have a solid start on the project and will be posting on our front page to discuss the major parts already in progress, and those yet to come.

There are a few reasons we’re taking on this project. With few exceptions, most of the homebrew projects we see are based around 8-bit micros – specifically the 6502 and Z80. 16 and 32-bit CPUs really aren’t that much more difficult to work with, and if we can spearhead a renaissance of the 68k, 65816, or even a 386 (!), we’re all for that. Also, it’s been suggested that we host the Hackaday Retro site on retro hardware, and what better way to do that by documenting a build on our new project hosting site?

That’s a very brief introduction to this project. Let’s take a closer look at what hardware we’ll be using, what software we’ll get running, and what you can do to help.

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