The biggest struggle with flashing DVD drives on Xbox 360s has been the price tag of the probe to extract keys on some drives. The probe and kit is required to extract the DVD key, which is needed to perform a drive repair, flash, or backup of any kind. Who wants to pay big bu ...more
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to install an automatic shut off valve for a water heater. Steps: 1 Turn off the water to the water heater. 2 Drain the water heater using an electric pump and garden hose. 3 Shut off the gas, then disconnect the gas line from ...more
What Is Ferrofluid? Ferrofluid is a black, solvent-based liquid, that, in the presence of a magnetic field, becomes strongly magnetized. The fluid is made up of nanomagnetic particles coated with an "anti-stick" or surfactant compound, suspended in a "carrier", commonly an or ...more
In this tutorial, we learn how to solder for cheap. Start out by forming the wire to get it ready to solder. The trick here is to create some tension between the two ends, do this by going back and forth hitting the wires. Now, grab a torch and start to flex the wire while hol ...more
Around the world, X-People (yes... there are X-Women, too) are under attack from an intolerant sapiencentric ruling class. Integration without equality is a farce. Autonomy is denied outright. Human prejudice cannot abide a mutant state. Human fear, born to hate, imposes itsel ...more
Science-fiction writer Jules Verne predicted many scientific breakthroughs, including the moon landing, tasers, and nuclear submarines. In his 1874 book The Mysterious Island, Verne writes: I believe that water will one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which ...more
This is a great project, especially for older or preteen children. You will need flatnose pliers, needlenose pliers, wire cutters, gold bugle beads, seed beads, a large bead for the body and 24 gauge jewelry wire in bronze or copper.
In this article, I'll show you how to make a glowing orb. The orb is a fun, round flashlight useful for lighting your path in a magical way. Consisting simply of LEDs, a tennis ball, a battery and a switch, it's a great simple project for beginners with electronics. Here's a v ...more
In this video, Mark Donovan teaches us how to wire a light with a 3 way switch. Before starting, make sure the power is turned off from the main circuit panel first, and you test to make sure it's off. You will have two switches for the same light fixture. For a 15 amp circuit ...more
This is the third part of my electromagnetic pulse series (see Part One and Part Two). By now, I've covered the hardware and general concept of electromagnetic pulse generators, but how exactly do they disable electronics? How can an invisible field of energy have such a catas ...more
Keyloggers are a must-have tool in your arsenal. Hardware keyloggers have the advantage of being undetectable through anti-virus or other protection programs. They also capture keystrokes before the OS even boots up, so they are pretty handy tools. The only issue with these t ...more
In this series, I'll be exploring electromagnetic weapons, how to build them, their function and application to the future, and the amazing possibilities electromagnetism has to offer. First, the electromagnetic pulse generator, or EMP. You've probably heard of these before, a ...more
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to install a towel warmer. Steps: 1. Drain hot-water heating system; turn off water supply to the old radiator. 2. Use reciprocating saw to cut hot-water supply and return lines from old radiator; remove radiator. 3. Cut open ...more
Karen Bratt demonstrates how to make jump rings for jewelry and key chains. To prepare jump rings the things required are a coil of silver plated wire, a pair of round pliers and a pair of cutting pliers. Take the coil of silver plated wire and place it at the wider end of the ...more
Steps: 1. Turn off water and power to water heater. 2. Use garden hose to drain water from heater's tank. 3. Cut copper pipe just above the corroded connection using a tubing cutter. 4. Use two pipe wrenches to loosen the old union. 5. Remove the old union from the steel pipe ...more
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to install a frost proof faucet. Steps: 1. Turn off the water and drain the old hose faucet, also called the sillcock. 2. Use emery cloth to clean the copper water pipe leading to the hose faucet. 3. Cut the pipe using a tubin ...more
In this article, I'll show you how to make a simple touch-triggered switch. This is very useful for various electronic projects, from a simple bedside light to a flat panel touch keyboard. The circuit can vary in switching power depending on the transistors you use. For exampl ...more
Welcome to Math Craft World! This community is dedicated to the exploration of mathematically inspired art and architecture through projects, community submissions, and inspirational posts related to the topic at hand. Every week, there will be approximately four posts accordi ...more
If you have ever found yourself working on a car project at your home and ran out of fuses, this tutorial is for you. Instead of going out and paying around $30 to $40, make your very own. It's wasy and saves you time and money. If you need instructions on how to do this they ...more
Learn how to sweat copper pipe properly with this handy video. Connect two pieces of pipes with solder.
With portable devices being a necessity in modern everyday life, they may be subject to overuse, improper charging, or normal wear and tear. For those people who carry around their smartphone or iPod with them all of the time, how many times have you been out and about just to ...more
Building a DIY Alarm System: The Concept So, you want to protect your property, or maybe a room, car, or even your backyard. The concept of an alarm system is to notify the "alarm administrator" that there is an intruder entering the previously designated boundaries. The trig ...more
Learn how to solder wires with this video. Clean the area to be soldered, scraping the wire down to bare metal and then wiping it clean with alcohol or acetone. Use rosin-core solder for electronic applications. This solder normally comes in coils. Tin (coat with solder) the s ...more
Turn a 'toy' radar gun into the real thing! Cops don't even have one like this! While this is a completely new and different design, the inspiration for this video is from an article by Ken Delahoussaye in MAKE Magazine. Just watch this video tutorial on how to hack a toy rada ...more
Gary Clark shows you what it takes to hang a beautiful new chandelier in your home, and believe it or not, the installation is simple! No matter what kind of hanging light fixture you're installing in your ceiling, the process is generally the same, where you first need to cut ...more
Computer viruses are terrifying. They are undetectable, dangerous, and operate constantly right under your nose. For the average computer user, there are only a few repair options. You could buy expensive antivirus software that causes more problems than it fixes, you can wipe ...more
Taking a letter die set (which you can find at hardware stores), stamp in words and phrases which are important to you onto copper washers. Thenk link the washers together with small loops of jewelry wire, attach a clasp, and you have your own mantra bracelet to help keep you ...more
Making your own circuit boards can be a daunting challenge. You have to design a schematic, test it on a breadboard, design the board layout, and then after all of that, you still have to print and etch a board! Luckily, we have Fritzing. Fritzing is a free open-source PCB d ...more
Homemade circuits are amazing. You can build any kind of circuit on a simple perfboard, as we have seen in previous projects. However, some projects require very tiny circuit boards. We could special order some boards from a printed circuit board (PCB) factory, but that will m ...more
In this tutorial, we learn how to wire a three-way electrical switch. First, you will need to know the difference between the wires that you are using. Once you familiarize yourself with these different wires, you can start to wire your electrical switch. Now, go to your elect ...more
Cathedral earrings are so dazzling on the ear and so much fun to make. You will need for this project: 1 pair antique copper plated hammered ear wires 2 pieces of 3mm cobalt Czech fire polish round beads 2 pieces of 4 mm cobalt Czech fire polish round beads 2 pieces of C ...more
As some of you Mad Science readers will remember, we recently covered the separation of water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrolysis. Passing a current through water can rend it apart, but we can also recombine that oxygen and hydrogen to make electricity! This is the pri ...more
This how-to video shows, close-up, the steps to soldering an XLR connector onto an Audio cable. You will need a knife, wire strippers, a soldering iron, in addition to whatever is being soldered. Watch this video circuitry tutorial and learn how to solder an XLR connector to a ...more
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to fix a sweating toilet. Steps: 1. Turn off water and drain the pipes. 2. Cut a tee-fitting into a nearby hot-water water pipe. 3. Dry-assemble the various copper pipes and fittings to the anti-sweat valve. 4. Solder together ...more
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to install an air valve for a hot-water heating system. Steps: 1. Turn off water leading to the boiler. 2. Mark the pipe for cutting, which allows the installation of the air valve. 3. Use reciprocating saw to cut out section ...more
In this tutorial, we learn how to repair the Vivitar 285's Flash Foot. First, remove the flash foot using a soldering iron. Melt the solder just enough, don't ruin the wires or the backing. Now, set the iron down and then short the wires out, you will see the flash go off when ...more
Fans of Doctor Who know that the sonic screwdriver is the ultimate tool. It can unlock doors, turn on lights, detect life forms, solder wires, and sabotage weapons. Presumably, the sonic screwdriver creates sonic vibrations to achieve whatever the doctor wants by vibrating th ...more
In this video, we learn how to build a portable personal heater. This is a great weekend project that is easy to make and will keep you warm during a freezing winter. You will need: two double a batteries, charger, twin double a battery charger, winding wire, and balsa wood. F ...more
A CNC router machine is probably the most useful tool a hobbyist can own, but the price for a CNC machine on the market is way more than the average hobbyist is willing to spend. You can build your own CNC with very basic tools, little knowledge of machinery, mechanics, or ele ...more
In this article, I'll show you how to build a simplistic circuit to generate negative ions. Negative ions have been known to contribute to fresher air, happier mood, and general health benefits. However, they also look amazing in the dark (check out the photos below, purple pl ...more
You like all things Xbox so instead of just playing with it try making your own stuff. You can make a your own Lite-on probe for your Xbox with items you can pick up at RadioShack or a comparable electronic store. Things you will need - DB9 serial connector - Female (pic abov ...more
Learn how to make the the simplest homopolar motor there is with just a regular battery, a small watch battery, and a formed copper wire. This is really as simple as a homopolar motor gets. Two batteries and some wire... that's it!
Motors. The word screams of complexity. They're everywhere and in everything, from car engines to airplanes to toys and electric wristwatches. But sometimes the most complex things can be really simple, as in the case of the homopolar motor, where the main point is a magnetic ...more
In this video tutorial, viewers will learn how to sweat pipes. The materials required for sauntering the sweat pipes are: M-APP gas, gauge, solder, solder paste, pipe cutter, brillow and copper pipes. Begin by cutting the copper pipe to a desired size. Then brush some plumber ...more
Watch this video to learn how to melt drops of solder onto stained glass, a soldering copper foil technique.
The video describes the procedure of fixing the wiring harness on a Ninja 250R motorcycle. The person who owns the bike presents this video. He says that he got his bike back after getting the wire harness newly fitted. His signal blinker lights were not working. The next morn ...more
One of the basics of electronics is knowing how an electrical current works. For this video, you will need a 1.2V battery, a lightbulb, and 2 copper wires. First, take the wires and attach one end of each wire to opposite sides of the battery. Have a friend hold the wires ther ...more
This video teaches how to solder two wires using a lighter in simple steps. First strip together two ends of a wire by removing their outer cover. Now take a lighter and start heating the wire ends. Heat the wires till it starts melting. When its starting to melt use another t ...more
The trick in the video is that the magnets are made of a conducting material and they connect the battery terminals to the copper wire, so the battery, magnets and copper wire make a circuit that generates a magnet field just in the vicinity of the battery. The geometry means ...more
In this video, I will show you how to make copper glow red hot with the catalytic oxidation of acetone. For this science experiment, we'll just need some acetone, copper wire, and a flame source to initially heat the copper coil we'll make. Video: . Materials Needed Pure acet ...more
A typical resistance spot welder can range in price from about $200-$800, but with a little resourcefulness and a bit of free time, you can make one like this for about $10 or less. Before starting on this project, there are a couple of videos you should check out, because yo ...more
Duct tape is the king of all household items. You can use duct tape for practically anything, like this sweet wallet. But duct tape isn't the only crafty tape out there; masking tape holds its own, too. You may already know that you can make homemade speakers using an inflate ...more
This is a new line of work I've started - inspired by string art of Archimedean Lines, these are 3-dimensional sculptures made using Electro-Luminescent Wire weaved around a clear acrylic frame. They hang on the wall, but each has a sense of depth so their look alters from dif ...more
You've probably seen the classic fruit battery science experiment a thousand times, but I doubt you've ever seen it turned into an art project! Photographer Caleb Charland uses everyday objects like apples, coins and vinegar to create makeshift batteries, then takes these gorg ...more
Fingers are very useful for many things in life—but fingers get dirty. With most smartphone and tablets using touchscreen technology, our fingers have become our greatest technological asset. But if you want to keep your phone or tablet from looking like this: Then you can try ...more
For this project, you will need a magnet, two AA batteries, two keys, a metal plate, and a copper wire coil. Video: .
F for FAKE. This video has been labeled a "Faux-To". Commonly contested as bogus science, we believe this video to be a hoax. What's your opinion? Comment below. Using a dowel, candle, plastic toy boat and copper wire you can create a steam powered boat that runs off of water.
In our first part on software-defined radio and signals intelligence, we learned how to set up a radio listening station to find and decode hidden radio signals — just like the hackers who triggered the emergency siren system in Dallas, Texas, probably did. Now that we can hea ...more
At one point in time, Tesla coils were actually used for things like wireless telegraphy and electrotherapy, but as technology advanced, they shifted to a slightly more enjoyable purpose—entertainment. What's even more entertaining than using a Tesla coil? Building your own. O ...more
Got a screw loose? Don't worry. We all do. This handy tutorial will keep any screw secured to any screwdriver. This method of magnetization uses a copper wire and a car battery. This is much more effective than simply rubbing a screwdriver with a magnet. It also holds the ma ...more