Building A Chainsaw Mill To Make Planks

March 6, 2014 by James Hobson 20 Comments

Here’s a chainsaw hack that makes a lot more sense than the last one we shared… It’s a setup you can build to help cut down logs into usable planks for your own projects!

Our guide on this tool hack is [BongoDrummer], who is the co-founder of a group in Wales called the Flowering Elbow, dedicated to imagining and making better futures by helping inspire people with inventions, encouraging project collaborations, and contributing to the community. We think he’s just a wee bit more knowledgeable than our previous grinder-chainsaw inventor…

[BongoDrummer] starts out with a proper note on safety, explaining accident statistics and offering up a refresher guide on proper chainsaw use. From there he gets right into the design and build of the mill. He’s chosen to use aluminum extrusion because it’s strong, light, and easy to work with—not to mention easy to assemble! Videos and more info after the jump.

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Make A Plastic Bender Using Stuff You Already Have

March 6, 2014 by James Hobson 18 Comments

bendingStation

The team over at [2PrintBeta] found they needed some unique plastic profiles for their 3D printer the Printupy. Unable to find a supplier with what they needed, they decided to try building their own inexpensive bending station, using stuff they already had.

Not too concerned with the longevity of the system (or perhaps the flammability?) they’ve taken a wooden board and routed a straight groove through the center of it. Using a power supply and some Nichrome wire — it’s done.

They admit it’s really not the most durable and that it requires constant supervision in case of flames — but it cost next to nothing to make, and actually works quite well! What we like about the following video is they also show us the design process, the laser cutting, and bending to create the final product.

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From Wireless Soundbar To Portable Boombox

March 5, 2014 by James Hobson 5 Comments

toshiba-mini-soundbar-online

[Frank] had wanted a portable Bluetooth boombox for a while, but when he did some price comparisons he found that they are pretty expensive. He decided to take matters into his own hands and modify two products he already had — into what he wanted.

The guts of his Frankenstein-boombox come from a Toshiba 3D Soundbar — a great product, but not as durable or portable as he needed. He then took an old mini guitar amp and started hacking the two together.

The soundbar features 4 speakers and a sub woofer — plus the amp and wireless capabilities of course — so [Frank] opted to just use the case of the guitar amp with the soundbar’s innards. He took some measurements and then built up a wooden support for the speakers inside the amp. He’s also sealed off the tweeters sound cavity from the main SUB to keep the sound nice and clear. Continue reading “From Wireless Soundbar To Portable Boombox” →

Make Your Electronics Lab In A Box

March 5, 2014 by James Hobson 27 Comments

Unless your lucky enough to have a big personal workshop where you can have dedicated stations for all kinds of different tools, you’re probably like most of us here at Hack a Day — lots of projects, but never enough space.

[McLovinGyver] lives in a small flat, and finds setup and cleanup time often take longer than the project itself — so he’s come up with this handy dandy Electronics-Lab-in-a-Box (trademark pending).

The guide is really more of a series of pictures of his process of building the portable lab, but he shows off some great ideas of things you might want to include in your own personal version of it. The first step is deciding what tools you need in the lab. In general, your power supply unit, soldering iron, hot air re-flow and fume exhaustion are going to dictate the general size and shape of your lab — from there, it’s just a matter of filling in the gaps with the rest of your small tools.

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Monster 100W LED Flashlight For Under $10!

March 5, 2014 by James Hobson 63 Comments

What would you do if you came across a 100W, 7500 lumen LED diode for under $10? Probably something like this.

It’s actually quite amazing how cheap LEDs are getting. [Julian Ilett] found this 2″ x 2″ LED on eBay for only £4.79 (<$10 USD). It’s rated for 32-34V with a current draw of 3000mA, which works out to about 100W. Its brightness? 7500 lumens. That’s brighter than most home theater setups.

At that price, [Julian] had to try playing with one. The problem with these higher power LEDs is that they typically need a rather expensive LED driver, due to the less common voltages they operate at — and of course, the concern of over-driving them and burning them out. Not interested in finding a suitable driver, [Julian] decided to try something a bit less conventional — wiring a pair of 18V drill batteries in series.

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Russian Man Builds A Chainsaw Out Of A Grinder

March 4, 2014 by James Hobson 67 Comments

Ready for another ill-advised tool hack we definitely do not recommend you try at home? Why not take a gander at this man’s home-made chainsaw… made out of a grinder! (translated)

What this (Russian?) man has done is modified his large electric grinder — into a chainsaw. He’s added a weld plate, some mounting locations, and now it can accept either grinding wheels, or after a few minutes of assembly, a full length chainsaw blade attachment. He’s probably pretty proud of himself, but we really hope he doesn’t end up losing a finger… or worse.

Anyway, we’re not even going to point out the lack of safety guarding in this video, because it is such an obvious bad idea in general. That being said, it actually works in the demonstration!

Stick around — don’t sweat too much though, no one gets hurt. There is one thing that can be said about this project though… It’s most definitely a hack.

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Coolant Hose Grippers Keep Your Components In Place

March 3, 2014 by James Hobson 26 Comments

squidhand_2

Whether you have shaky hands when working on tiny components, or just need more control and flexibility, we think this “third hand” gripper using coolant hose is an ingenious solution compared to the little metal ones you can buy.

Not surprisingly this isn’t an original idea. In fact, Sparkfun actually sells it as a kit. That being said… it’s rather expensive — especially when you can build [Frank Zhao’s] version for less than $15.

He’s using a cutting board, three machinery style coolant hoses, and a handful of fasteners from the hardware store. You can use the accessories from a regular metal third hand, but [Frank] also shows us how to recreate them using a few washers, some steel strapping, and a wing nut and bolt.

[Mr. Zhao] is no stranger to Hack a Day either — we’d almost call him an inadvertent contributor we’ve shared so many of his hacks! Just take a look at his tiny USB business card, his awesome LED pocket watch, a detailed reflow oven build, or even his IR based augmented reality setup.

[Thanks Keith!]