Well....me....I guess above all I like creating and learning....which entails making random things during the weekend (vacuum forming machines, van de graaf generators, rocket fuel...) and reading books or getting into discussions about molecular science with my dad. Even more than that though, I like flying. My goal is to study at MIT and become an aerospace engineer, which is an apt career, as my time is usually filled with flight simulators, flying, and model planes :)
i'm not sure I'll have much time for projects in the future. First, there's the replica plane we're building. More prominently, there's the Triumph GT6 we're restoring. I'm not sure which one will take precedence, but i'm assuming the car. Anyway, i've started building a filming vehicle for when I go longboarding/cycling with edwin. he longboards; i cycle. anyway, we decided that its almost impossible for either of us to get any good video, so i'm making a small car that i can drive and video from.
"geoffreeey," i hear you whine. "you've made at least thirty-seven such promises of projects that never came about."
ah ha ha. well I've already started. and this should be fairly simple. here's a picture of the frame so far. I'm off to start fitting it together.
Three-day weekend! I'm really hoping to finish some projects up. I know, i know, I always say that, but i'm getting fed up with having all these half-finished things lying about. I have that PVC macedonian ballista I made, i need to get the throwing arms to the right length. Also hoping to work on that steam engine, but our lathe is dying- we need to add in a new belt. Plus there are, i think, four different model planes to work on. Today, i'm focusing on my electrolysis/electroplating/electrolytic etching rig. I made it ages ago, but despite my best efforts, it leaked.
So today i took it apart. with a hammer.
it was pretty fun. I'm making a new one, i might publish an instructable on it, promise i'll write something up here.
i'd also really like to make a hovercraft and a jet engine (the latter is already in autocad stages), but i have no functional knowledge of how to make jet engines-just the basic theory. Hopefully i'll be able to do that soon. one project at a time.
wow. I haven't updated in upwards of 6 months. Weird thought, really.. I have actually been working on making several things, such as this handy dandy mini-vacuum forming machine. Today's filled up with working on my science project, maybe with some model-plane making. If i get around to it, I might spend some time being somewhat of a pyro and burning different formulas for rocket fuel and such.
Oops. Forgot to seal the end. Heh.
Liftoff! (hard to tell, i know)
The fuel is made from potassium nitrate, sugar, corn syrup, and titanium powder. It's inside a paper tube with a pressed clay nozzle. Once I get better at this, I'll post instructions... i promise :)
blimey, it's been ages since I last posted! Anyway, I HAVE been working on a few things. First off, I built a mini-wind turbine sort of thing. It's really an experiment more than anything else, so I'm waiting to see what happens. Have a picture.
I am absolutely positive that there's something else I've been working on, but i'm kind of (really) tired, after staying up till 12 or so for like 2 weeks now....*yawn*
it might have been the gravity powered car, which is going OK. Anyway, more later, bye.
so yeah! My camera rocket is going well, but i'm reaaaaaalllly hesitant about modifying the tiny circuitry on that mini camera I bought. last time i tried it stopped working...but luckily i fixed that. *Phew*.
I worked a little on that gravity car thing, which I'm pretty much making up as I go. The plan right now is to use the forked frame from the lawn feeder bolted two to the fronts of two bicycle frames. I dont feel like making a pic....so i'll just try to describe it.
the bikes are cut apart at the vertical shaft where the seat is mounted...right in front of there.
I therefore have a set of forks and V-frames that extend from them. the plan is to bolt the lower (rear) ends of the frames together, and the upper (front) ends to the forked lawn feeder frame thing. the forks will hold bicycle wheels horizontally at the back, and at the front i'm planning a rod steering system using two smaller wheels.
Voila! the master plan....etc. etc.
etc.
also, if you're wondering why i'm posting at 1:56 in the morning..... don't.
A little update: I haven't gotten around to doing anything on that tree ramp thing, but rest assured, I WILL!!! I'll show you all...ahahahahahah!
right.
In the meantime, I've begun making a camera rocket. I plan to make an instructable on it when I am done. So far I've built the camera chamber, and I have pretty much everything I need.....except a camera.
To ebay, the world's only repository of totally crappy junk!!! Yeah...
although I might be able to get a camera tommorrow, at a friend's house, because his dad is awesome and had a similar plan.
Anyway, it's a very simple design, the only things I've used so far are two small soda bottles (12 oz? no idea), two spray-paint can lids, two toilet paper tubes (sensing a pattern?), half of a plastic easter egg, and some hot glue. I'd upload some pictures, but I have no idea where the camera cable went. So!!
Hopefully I'll get that done this week....we'll see!
I realise its been months since I"ve made a post about anything cool, so here is how I made a low cost tennis ball mortar.
What you'll need: Three or four pringles or equivalent cans (these should be the full-size ones, not the mini things) Duct tape (and lots of it) Something for cutting metal (dremel tool with cutoff wheel, tinsnips, etc.) A drill/punch Marker Scissors/cutting implement
Optional: File, Soda bottle
To operate the mortar, you will need lighter fuel, the kind used to refill lighters, which is available at Walgreens or similar stores (You might have to ask, because it is sometimes a regulated substance). Make sure it has Naptholene, or Naptha, in it. DO NOT try to use kerosene-based fuel. Trust me, it won't work. Also, you'll need matches or a lighter. Construction: First, eat the crisps. Mmmm, pringles. Wash out the cans with a little bit of water. Be careful though, because too much water will soak into the can. Just pour some water in and slosh it about.
Step one: Draw a circle that has a diameter half that of the can on the metal bottom. Do the same for one more can, and cut both circles out. If you want, use a file to smooth the edges of the openings.
Step two: Stack the two cans with the cut bottoms on top of each other, and duct tape them together. Now duct tape the last can underneath the assembly. Step three: Wrap duct tape around the entire assembly, starting from one end and spiralling it evenly to the other. Repeat until you have at least two layers of tape on the mortar.
Step four: Poke a hole about an inch from the bottom of the can. The hole should probably be about an eighth of an inch or so, perhaps a bit bigger.
Congratulations! you've build a tennis ball mortar
To fire, try squeezing some fuel into the cannon. Try to ensure that most of it reaches the bottom can. I make a funnel from the top of a soda bottle, place it in the barrel, then measure out the fluid in a spoon and dump it in. This way, almost all of the fluid reaches the bottom.
Now let the tennis ball roll down to the bottom of the first can, where it will rest against the baffle.
Let the mortar sit for 3-5 minutes so that the naptha will vaporise. If you wish, you can hold the tennis ball in place and shake it around, or heat it with a hairdryer, but I have managed quite well without.
Now angle the mortar in a position that supports it, and bring a match or lighter to the hole you drilled in the bottom can.
If all goes well, it will ignite and propel the ball into the sky with a really loud BANG and a spurt of fire.
If not, let the cannon air out without the ball and try again later.
For instructions on how I made a push-button trigger assembly, look right here.
Have fun!!!
heres a short clip of mine firing, with some commentary by my mum =p
