tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78953502341857394462024-03-13T10:13:37.140-04:00Tool Using MonkeyReviews of interesting products and descriptions of DIY projectsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-58092533692185798552012-09-27T21:20:00.003-04:002014-10-03T17:42:06.294-04:00World Maker Faire 2012We're about to make the journey to World Maker Faire. As usual time has rushed by and grand plans of things to bring with us have distilled down to trying to complete one thing to bring. Fortunately this year's Faire will include the Nerdy Derby, giving us a clear objective to shoot for.
But what to build? There are some intimidating projects out there for the derby Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-21909593774332940502012-08-03T20:42:00.001-04:002012-08-03T20:42:25.635-04:00So, for some reason I am really excited about the Curiosity/Mars Lab landing on Monday morning. Remains to be seen if I will be excited enough to wake up at 1:30 a.m.
In the mean time, I've started re-reading Heinlen's "Stranger in a Strange Land". I really wanted to read Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles", but that does not seem to be available for Kindle.
I thought about Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-5978826121379498312012-08-01T19:53:00.001-04:002012-08-01T19:53:56.643-04:00Passport to the Solar System?So, just noticed the inside back cover of the U.S. passport. It looks like a picture of Voyager, Earth, and the moon.
Just thought that is kinda cool. The pages all have good images of American scenes, but this one makes it seem like we can keep going.
No Visa needed to visit Pluto anymore, they removed that requirement.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-75031175017837768302012-06-03T08:37:00.001-04:002012-06-03T08:37:18.994-04:00Electrolysis rust removalI took this hand plane from my Dad's garage. I think it belonged to my Grandfather, but I am not certain.
As you can see, it is a tad rusty, and the sole is covered in what looks like paint.
Once the plane is dismantled I see there are a bunch of parts that need some attention.
I've been reading various articles and wanting to try to use electrolysis to remove the rust. Today Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-40253643026041028252011-11-07T12:45:00.001-05:002011-11-07T12:45:29.865-05:00Jupiter GazingFor the past few weeks I've noticed Jupiter hanging in the Eastern sky in the evenings from the front yard. I keep telling myself that I'll get the old telescope out and see if it still works. So, last night I actually did (in spite of the birthday party going on inside, 12 kids in the house is a good reason to hide in the yard.) I have an old Meade Saturn reflector telescope, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-64707763079735070932011-10-29T12:23:00.002-04:002011-10-29T12:24:08.003-04:00Pumpkin WindowsA few years ago someone in the neighborhood had cool silhouette coverings for their windows - dead tree branches, a skeleton, maybe some other things. They looked neat; either they were store-bought or the people at that house were much more talented than me. We first did this a couple years ago, thought I'd post about it this year.
I thought that would be a funAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-56475979585090042782011-09-15T23:16:00.000-04:002011-10-03T21:29:50.627-04:00Floating Glow DisplayWe made an attempt at building the Floating Glow Display described on Make: Projects. This was a fun build; of course, I had to make it harder than it had to be. Our idea was to make "U.S.A." in red, white, and blue.
For some reason, a long time ago I had bought a sheet of acrylic/polycarbonate, so I used part of that for the sign. The Dremel Trio made carving into the plasticAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-2275955058262384092011-07-24T18:59:00.000-04:002011-07-24T18:59:34.588-04:00Settlers of CatanJust spent a lovely afternoon playing Settlers of Catan with the twins. The age on the box says 10 and up, but they (at 8) seemed to do OK. I think it helped dust off some simple math skills that have atrophied over the summer.
Probably the best part of the time for them was the bartering. They loved trying to trade resources. Also, the fact that their older sisters are Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-44767918605512442862011-06-30T23:59:00.002-04:002011-07-01T00:00:19.417-04:00DIY Lava LampsOil, water, food coloring, and alka seltzer: Lava Lamps - Summer Fun -
Looks like a great idea to add to the science birthday party list.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-13882245995497621152011-06-28T19:59:00.000-04:002011-06-28T19:59:21.329-04:00LDRB Party ReportTime flies, it has already been a week since the party. Seemed to be quite a success, I think the birthday girl and her friends enjoyed it. Water bottle rockets, Estes rockets, and a trebuchet throwing water balloons. Quite an eclectic collection of activities. It was a hot and humid day, so I think any water activities were well received.
Some assembly required prior Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-22262773026500211632011-06-18T08:50:00.000-04:002011-06-18T08:50:00.706-04:00Launch Day!Well, almost everything is done, and then some. It is time to load the car up with all of the stuff. I double-checked with the birthday girl last night, asking if she thinks I have gone overboard; fortunately she told me it was fine, then we started listening to some geek rock to make a playlist. Thinking of some Consortium of Genius, Kirby Krakle, and some select nerdcore. &Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-86079726715016042382011-06-14T22:58:00.000-04:002011-06-14T22:58:06.243-04:00This party needs to happen soon...So, the more time I have the more I add to this party. I may be able to get everything done by then.
The 10 launch pads are now cemented together. Had some interesting times getting the tire stem valves in place. Turns out the 2 inch long valves are actually narrower than the 1 inch valves. So I had to drill a bigger hole for the shorter valves, which turned out toAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-31115103730651772212011-06-07T21:10:00.000-04:002011-06-07T21:10:18.230-04:00Science Theme Birthday PartySo, I had another request today for details of the science experiment birthday party.
Some background: last year we put together a bunch of science experiments for kids to do for at my 10 year old daughter's party. I traversed a lot of Internet searches to find some fun stuff that would engage the kids, be fun to do, and not have a high chance of actually harming anyone. As usual Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-33946095487695947292011-05-30T14:45:00.000-04:002011-05-30T14:45:41.647-04:00Day 1 of assembleyWe began launch pad assembly today with a trip to the local hardware store. Our plan is to make 11 ground-level launch pads, and one overhead launch pad. We had quite an interesting cart load of PVC fittings, with 44 end caps, 22 t-connectors, etc. Unfortunately they did no have all of the female couplers, nor did they carry tire stem valves. No project is complete withoutAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-16087674220707100022011-05-29T11:02:00.000-04:002011-05-29T11:02:48.228-04:00LDRBs29 May 2011
This past Christmas one of the kids received this book: Soda Pop Rockets. After reading it and doing some experiments I found that the clothes hangar launcher method described in the book just did not work well, at least in the rock hard clay soil of our area. I was also able to get some used inner tubes from a local bike store (free!), but still had problems with Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895350234185739446.post-20538530968820995702009-10-25T00:17:00.001-04:002009-11-02T16:09:59.864-05:00Tool Using MonkeyI had an English teacher in High School who once said "the only difference between humans and other animals is that humans are the only ones who will pay for sex".
He was a great teacher.
However, for this forum, we'll go with the use of tools as the major difference. Sure, other species use tools to crack open a sea urchin, get termites out of a nest, or other food related projects. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163941998279462067noreply@blogger.com0