DIY Life

Interview with Bug Labs

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-07-31T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous, geek it yourself, electronics

We've reported on Bug Labs before. They make a sort of gadget LEGO system so you can easily build stuff like a GPS-enabled alarm clock. Not useful? Ask the guy who kept missing his train stop by falling asleep!

I spoke to Bug Labs founder Peter Semmelhack about what the company is up to, and how the future of DIY is shaping up.

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Easy bottle and bag dryer

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-06-20T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: household hacks, staying green

Lately we've been reusing some of our (BPA-free) water bottles. But drying a bottle is a drag, especially when you hand wash, as we do. So instead of paying $16 elsewhere, my wife put the chopsticks we rarely use into a toothbrush stand we were going to throw away.

Reusing water bottles and plastic sandwich bags not only saves money, but reduces waste, and might be better than recylcing. If you're concerned about BPA, check your water bottles' recycling number. A #2, #4 or #5 won't leach BPA, but a #1 and #7 will. You can use the #1 and #7 stuff as a vase for flowers.

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Maker Faire 2008

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-05-08T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: backyard science, miscellaneous, Crafts, geek it yourself, robotics

The annual Maker Faire in the Bay Area wrapped up this past weekend, and I thought it only appropriate to mention the explosion of DIY'ers and "makers" there are out there. According to the official site, there were over 500 makers and over 65,000 attendees-- both are records for the event. I heard a few people say there were backups on the highways because of the crush of geeky, crafty, clever builders from all over.

There certainly was an impressive showing of talent, no question. From giant flaming sculptures to tiny pipecleaner robots, Maker Faire appeals to a wide range of interests. Perhaps the best aspect of the event is that it is accessible to almost anyone with a project they have built themselves. Unlike stuffy old conferences (or even glitzy ones, like E3 used to be), Maker Faire is a very hands-on, festival atmosphere.

If you want to see more, there are the flickr pics tagged with "maker faire 2008" plus read Guy Kawasaki's post. He describes it well, I think, saying "Macworld Expo meets Burning Man meets MythBusters meets Woodstock." Who wouldn't like that? More coverage from Suicide Bots, Daily DIY and BoingBoing.

Next week I'll be interviewing Bug Labs, who attended Maker Faire. If you have any questions for Bug, leave them in the comments.

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Spring cleaning with essential oils pt. 3

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-04-01T10:00:00 00:00

Filed under: seasonal, staying green, cleaning, Scentual Life

Window and Glass Cleaner

I would bet that you want what I want -- streak-free cleaning for sparkling mirrors and clear-view windows. Your backyard -- and your reflection -- will never look so good!

1 c. water
1 TB vinegar
1 TB rubbing alcohol, or if you want to be super non-toxic, ethanol (grain alcohol)
3 drops lemon essential oil

Mix ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake well before using. Have you ever tried washing glass surfaces with old newspapers? I don't know why it works, but it helps with the streak-free.

Dish Soap

If you make cold-process soap, you can easily make a dish soap from coconut oil with a titch of castor oil for smaller, foamier bubbles. Use the lowest superfat you feel comfortable with, and for ease of use, mold soap into ceramic mini-loaf pans or flower pots and put one by your sink. Oh, scent with lavender and tea tree essential oils or citrus and herb essential oils. Decorative and functional, and a wonderful hostess gift, too.

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Starting your own blogging empire for peanuts

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-03-24T12:30:00 00:00

Filed under: computers and internet

I'm going to show you how to put together a very simple blogging empire for under $10. In today's market of web services, there's often little reason to actually pay for anything, especially if you want to try something out. So if you've ever hankered for a blog of your own, especially one where you can make money, stay tuned. Here are X steps to rolling your own blog (and possibly making a little money at it).

Step One: register a bona-fide domain name

I know it hurts to fork over cash, let alone on something so spurious as a name. And it certainly isn't fair that Yarn.com or Knitting.com or even Superknitting.com are all taken (as of this writing, martianknitting.com IS available). With domains going for peanuts, it isn't surprising that most of the good names are gone. So think about what brand you're trying to create, and come up with something catchy but usable. This, admittedly, is the hardest part of almost any creative endeavor. But there are tools to help!

To quickly find site names that are available, I use instantdomainsearch.com because it checks as you type. Plus, it refers you to several reputable domain sellers once you choose a name. While it won't help you come up with a name, it'll save you grief as you discover all the good names are taken.

If you need help in the creativity department, let's just say there's another blog post on that topic alone, but About.com has a serviceable piece on creating a name for your business. I find Oblique Strategies and the Creative Whack Pack good tools for brainstorming, but there are actually dozens of strategies for creative thought out there.

The point of having a genuine domain, instead of something like jimboknits.blogspot.com is that no one will remember your rather long website name! Buying a domain name simply puts your foot into cyberspace with a proper landing spot. Read on for where you get the blogging done, how you add video and pictures, and how to monetize your blog.
Step two: get blogging!

My personal choice for new bloggers is simply Blogger.com. It isn't the most versatile, but I think it is one of the easiest for new folks to understand. Also, while the templates are not many, the new tools allow you to easily add things like Google AdSense (maybe because Google owns Blogger?). You'll be putting Google ads on later.

To set things up, simply go to Blogger.com and set up an account. Now, you purchased a domain name, right? Well, you can point that domain name to your blogger account. So while you may have created joeisblogging.blogger.com as your blog, you can point fuzzykittiesftw.com to your blogger page. Each domain registrar has a way of doing this, so check the help files on their site to find out how to do it.

Blogger is just like a web-based word processor, and from there you can add links and customize your pages. Yes, there are lots of other choices out there like WordPress and TypePad, and various holy wars associated with each platform. But for drop-dead simplicity and decent help, I find it tough to beat Blogger.

Step three: add media

I use two services for photos and video. YouTube for video, simply because it is the most-trafficked video service out there (but by no means the best in terms of services). Photos go on Flickr, in part because you can tie your Flickr account to your Blogger account, which gives you a way to blog directly from Flickr.

If possible, try to make your Flickr and YouTube account names sync up with your domain (not always possible). So if you are MarysCrocheting.com, try to get MarysCrocheting as a user name for Blogger, Flickr and YouTube.

Step four: just add advertising

There are lots and lots of ways to monetize your blog. From Amazon and iTunes affiliate programs to contextual link advertising, there's pretty much no end to the money-making opportunities. Personally I would stick with those big names at first. Google's AdSense is #1 for a reason: it works. It can take a while at first, but if you keep blogging about what you love, eventually you may see those credits total up. If you're writing about stuff sold on Amazon, why not drop an affiliate link in there? No reason not to make money off recommendations (just be honest about them!). Blogger makes it easy to do this with the "embedded javascript" content box.

One last tip: how to keep track of site visitors? There are options like Sitemeter, but I use Statcounter. While the free version limits your stats a bit, it is good for trending and seeing where your audience is coming from.

Wrapping up

The key, in part, is to have a decent balance between high-performing ads or affiliate links and good, searchable content. Too many ads look crass. Too little content and why would someone visit?

Write about what you are passionate about-- it's what blogging is for! Do that with single-minded focus for long enough and you might even earn some money doing it.

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Simple no-sew messenger bag from an old pair of jeans

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-03-06T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous, organization and storage, geek it yourself

Who knew not sewing could be so fun? I'm heading to SXSW (the interactive festival, not the film or music parts) and needed a secondary bag for notebooks and pens. My carry-on laptop bag is too bulky for just bumming around Austin, and I don't have the budget for a newer, sleeker bag. But I did buy some new jeans, which meant the ones with holes had to go. And since I have a hard time throwing things away, I made a nifty messenger bag out of those jeans, some duct tape and a handy shoulder strap from an Eagle Creek carry-on bag.

The bag itself will hold together without tape (see the gallery). So this would work in an emergency. While the shoulder strap is a bit of a cheat, I'm sure any strap would work, including one made of rope. The key is to make sure the legs wrap over the back and then close up in front so their weight provides enough strength to hold whatever is in your bag. Just to be safe, I decided to tape mine up. This makes it sturdier, more comfortable and stylish.

Read on for the how-to (it really is easy) and check out the gallery for close-ups of each step.

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First you want to get an idea of how large your storage area will be. As I've done in the photos, before adding tape, experiment with flopping the legs over the front and see how long you can get them without sacrificing too much bag area. Note that the cuffs will be folded up a bit in the final assembly with tape.

Next, lay the jeans flat, front side down, and try to align the legs for taping together (you'll put tape on each leg to stick them to one another). My jeans were "relaxed fit" and the crotch bunched up terribly. You could cut things out a bit, but I wound up liking the little bit of padding that developed, just in case my bag makes a hard landing from my shoulder. The key here is to try not to let the leg fabric overlap, but make sure you stick them well. I used Gorilla tape, which I think is best suited to these no-sew projects.

I added some horizontal tape here and there for extra "stitching" and proceeded to fold the cuffs. You don't need to fold them much, maybe up 1 inch or so. Like folding a shirt, just take them and fold up (so the extra fabric will be inside the flap when closed) and use the tape to secure them. At this point I go nuts with the tape, making the large area you see at the end of the flap. Your hands will be hitting this a lot, opening and closing it, so you want it to be sturdy.

You're almost done! Now fold it over and get a sense of where it should be turning into a flap. This calls for more experimentation, but it is hard to completely mess up. I taped the butt area to the legs, both at the crotch area and at the top of the waistband, as this provides a little extra security to the whole thing. Once you get the flap positioned and tape whatever you like you're done. I could have really sealed this up, but I liked the extra large loop inside so I can put an umbrella in there.

My jeans had a hole in the knee, and if you're lucky, this becomes a water bottle pocket!

One big downside to this bag: no handle. Be careful picking it up, and cradle the bottom when you can. Since there's nothing but tape and friction keeping the flap from unrolling, when you lift it up, should things slip, you'll find stuff spills out. But if you're the tiniest bit careful you'll be fine.

Once I put the shoulder strap on, it works great! Now I'm going to road-test it for the next few days and report back on how it holds up under real use.

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Easy bathroom makeover: paint your tiles

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-03-05T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: home decor, household hacks, bathroom

The circle of life is evident when a young couple moves in to a home previously occupied by an older couple. Then it is literally out with the old (crocheted owl wall hangings and ornate door knockers) and in with the new (glossy black and white photos and doorbells). In our case, our main bathroom had tiles with yellow flowers on them. One big long line of tiles that wouldn't fit our beach theme-- so we painted them.

There are two things to learn from our experience. First, get yourself some good enamel paint, but don't expect to coat all your tiles this way (at that point it is easier to just rip them up and start over). Second, the easiest path is take one design element (our flowers) and turn it into something else (our fish). As you can see in the gallery, once we painted the flowers purple and added an eye we "remodeled" with a simple bottle of paint.

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Nike+iPod Sport Kit pocket made from rubber bands and duct tape

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-02-22T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: geek it yourself, health and wellness

Last week I ran down the list of various iPod+Nike Sport Kit hacks or mods that'll put your transmitter pod onto your shoe. As I said in that post, I don't care to carve up my shoes, so I decided a pocket was the only "safe" choice. The construction couldn't be simpler.

What you'll need:

Roll of duct tape (the shiny vinyl stuff)
Rubber bands (I get the variety pack at office stores)
A little patch of Velco hook/loop tape (used to close the flap)
Some sort of pocket (I used a disposable foil pocket from a lens cleaner)

You can craft a pocket from plastic, paper or whatever, but I find the little foil packs used to contain wet wipes or lens cleaners work quite well-- if they hold the Nike doohickey well enough. You take the packet and cut it cleanly across the top, leaving enough room in this "pocket" to hold the transmitter.

Next, use a little tape to "coat" the pocket. I made one long strip go from front, back, up and over itself just enough to make a flap that closes the pocket. But don't put the Velcro on yet! Now you have to take two more strips of tape to make the lower loop, which is critical for keeping the thing on your foot.

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To make that lower loop, make one strip of tape longer than the other, then stick that onto the bottom of the pocket. Be sure to put a rubber band or two into this loop, securely fastening it to the bottom of this pocket-- these bands will go into a groove on your shoe close to the toe.

The upper band goes up on the flap end, and is secured by putting the Velcro on the flap so it will stay closed as your foot flails about. I used 1/2-inch tape cut to about a quarter inch, and so far it works fine.

Be sure to put the rubber bands into deep grooves. Since I run on a treadmill, I'm not particularly worried about them getting cut, but you don't want to hurt your feet. On road conditions, and depending on the grooves of your shoes, you may have to experiment. I put the unit facing up, just like it would be in a Nike shoe, although some folks swear it works better flat-side down.

Still, it fixed my problem of a stable, non-destructive connection for my transmitter. I haven't noticed huge accuracy issues, but I haven't been using it too long (about a month).

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The definitive guide to DIY iPod+Nike shoe hacks

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-02-15T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: geek it yourself, health and wellness

Over the holidays I got a Nike+iPod Sport Kit so I could start tracking my treadmill work. Unfortunately, I didn't have a pair of Nike's to support the device, which requires specific shoes which have a little recessed well in the sole of the shoe to hold the pedometer/transmitter. Instead, also over the holidays, I got the shoes I prefer: a pair of New Balance 779's. What to do but DIY, right? I've compiled a list of "hacks" for the Nike+iPod, all of which will somehow attach the transmitter to your shoe. Unfortunately, all of them tend to damage the shoe in some way. Next week I'll show you how to make a simple, effective pocket for your transmitter that will not harm the shoe in any way.

Simple and cheap: The 99-cent DIY shoe mod takes a simple strip of adhesive Velcro (the hook side) and allows you to latch to your shoelaces, while also slipping the unit under your laces. My problem with this? The Velcro will ultimately chew up your laces (I treasure the laces on New Balance, so unlike the slippery junk Nike's come with) and the transmitter, while tiny, can hurt when pressed against the top of your foot in this way.

(more on the next page)

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Play pretend: Of course, the most logical thing to do is re-create the Nike experience, right? If you're cool with digging a hole in the comfy foam of your shoe, then check out this mod from The 8th Sign, who will tell you all about just how dense and unmanageable shoe foam really is (very rubbery, break out the pliers). Of course if your shoes are cheap, who cares, right? Here's an even more in-depth method on Instructables, also digging into the foamy guts.

Be a kangaroo: Well, you could just buy a pair of Kangaroos, I guess. But again I think you'd have the issue of a hard ball of plastic pressing on your foot. Next best thing? Make a pouch! Get crafty with this "athletic sock" that straps to your shoelaces. Here's a prettier one made from yarn. Get really cheap with this tongue-sleeve mod, but it requires you to cut open the tongue of the shoe and use a safety pin. Again, this will irreparably damage your shoes, and I'd say reduce their lifespan. And finally, there's the mod that inspired my own: make a sensor carrier you strap to your shoe. Similar to commercial offerings, this will allow freedom to use the shoe without damage, but I felt the pouch was overly complicated and stiff. The problem with all pouches will be one of accuracy, but that is debatable.

Quick fix, MacGyver style: About.com has a detailed method of using Velcro, but I did what the author did at first-- use packing tape. Not great, but if you happen to wander off somewhere without anything but tape, you're set. Lifehack has another mod where you make a pouch from a plastic bag and again use sticky tape to affix it.

Ultimately the problem with all these could be accuracy. The unit is designed to lay flat, inside the shoe, where it absorbs most of the initial impact from your foot while running. But with a little calibration, an alternative to the Nike website and some duct tape, you can still use your favorite shoes while using the Nike+iPod Sport Kit. You may not be spot-on, but it'll be close enough to monitor your overall progress.

If you've seen any other mods or hacks, please leave a note in the comments.

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Perpetual Remodeling Syndrome: Laying Ceramic Tile Floors Pt. 3

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-02-14T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: fix-it, home decor, Tools, flooring, remodeling, Mission Possible

Mix the Mortar and Lay the Tile

I used mortar on my floor but there are other adhesives out there as well. Your choice. Spread the mortar or adhesive with the trowel evenly and begin laying the tile using the spacers. I like to lay about two rows of four full tiles on one chalk line and then cut and lay the borders. Then I do the same for the other line. Seat each tile by lightly rapping it with a rubber mallet.

Remember to spread the mortar slightly beyond where the tile will lay so there's no void. Voids cause tiles to crack at some time in your future, drawing displeasure from your spousal unit and casting a shadow of doubt over your impressive DIY skills. Don't go there.

All done? Clean up your tools and have an adult beverage of your choice.

Time to Grout!

Grouting is the fun part. I let the mortar dry for twenty four hours first. Mix the grout using the ribbon mixer again. I know you can buy it premixed, but that's cost-prohibitive for all but the smallest of projects. Start grouting where you started laying the tile if that worked well for you. Arm yourself with the sponge in a bucket of water.

First scoop some grout onto the float and work it in between the tiles (removing the spacers as you go). Then grab your sponge, wring it out, and start wiping the grout off the tile surface with a light touch, and forming the concave shape typical to grout lines. As the tiles dry off, you'll see a glaze on them. Don't worry about that now; you'll wipe it off with cheesecloth later.

Finally, after a day or so after the grout's dry, come back and apply a high-quality grout sealer. Other than nailing up the baseboard, your work here is done. As before, clean up your tools and enjoy an adult beverage. You've earned it!

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Additional resources:
Laying a vinyl tile floor (This Old House)
Tile setting tools (The Tile Doctor)
Installing hardwood floor (Hometips)
Laying floor tile (Hammerzone)

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Perpetual Remodeling Syndrome: Laying Ceramic Tile Floors Pt. 2

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-02-14T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: fix-it, home decor, weekend projects, flooring, remodeling, Mission Possible

Tools for the Project

Wet saw
Scraper
Notched trowel
Tile spacers
Electric drill
Ribbon mixer
Utility knife
Claw hammer
Small pry bar
Knee pads (Trust me!)
Chalk line
Tape Measure
Rubber mallet
Grout float and sponge

Preparing the Sub-floor

We wanted ceramic tile in the living room but wanted to keep the carpet until the kid could navigate without falling down. I found that the easiest way to remove the carpet was to pull it off the tack strips, cut it into 5' wide strips, roll them up, and use plastic tape to secure them. Then, I did the same with the padding. Next, use the claw hammer and pry bar to take up the tack strip. If there are any drywall compound splatters on the slab from the initial construction, scrape them up.

Now, to get the slab clean, don't sweep; the dust that has sifted through the carpet is very fine and will go airborne. Use a shop-vac. Eyeball the slab carefully. Minor imperfections are alright but if you have major ones, skim them with thinset.

Do Your Tile Layout

Find the center of the room in both directions and snap chalk lines. Visualize this; the chalk lines will look like a big plus sign with the intersection being in the exact center of the room. These are your "control lines." Be sure that your control lines are perpendicular. Use the 3-4-5 method and adjust as needed.

Now it's simply a matter of measuring back to find your border tiles (taking the grout line spacing into consideration). Once you have the border tile size, snap chalk lines so you'll know where to start laying tile. The lines will be parallel to the control lines so the borders might vary in size a bit as you go down the wall. Don't do all four sides of the room; you only need two walls (intersecting in the corner you'll be starting out of). Leave an exit; don't be like the guy that painted himself into a corner!

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Speedball Ultimate Screen Printing Kit review

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2008-01-02T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Crafts

Speedball Ultimate Screen Printing Kit
Street Price: around $100-150

If you're looking to get into screen printing, this is actually a pretty good kit. There are, however, a few items missing and a couple of caveats. First, don't count on making fabric prints out of this box alone. The description says it is possible (which it is), but the inks included are NOT designed for fabric use, they are for printing on wood, cardboard, etc. Also, and I realize I'm being picky, but you'll want to invest in a storage container. There was a time when Speedball boxes were sturdy enough to hold everything, but the box is way too flimsy. That and you're gonna need to buy a few extra items before you get started.

What you do get is a complete introduction to the primary three methods for screen printing: stencil printing, resist printing and photo emulsion printing. The box comes with a DVD for instruction, although it is a mediocre dub from a VHS (complete with tracking issues at the start). Grab a notebook and come coffee while you take notes on the process. You won't be doing half the stuff you see in the video at first, but it is a great overview for what you can do in screen printing.

Now, onto the actual printing process and how I was able to make t-shirts with a little extra ink.

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The Stencil

Of course, the easiest way to make a print with a screen is using a simple stencil. For this, you'll need something called freezer paper. It's like a cross between wax paper and parchment, and was apparently quite popular back when we called our fridges "iceboxes." Seriously, when was the last time you put something in the freezer wrapped in freezer paper? You'll also need masking tape, not just for the stencil, but for the edges of your screen as well.

Anyway, I just used a craft knife to slice a very simple design into the paper, taped the paper over the screen (on the bottom of the screen), waxy side up (which means the ink will push against that side, and the waxy coating will resist it) and went to town. Don't worry too much about small slits in the corners of your stencil, however. I was a little sloppy and wound up with a nick here or there, but unless you apply way too much pressure (see below), the ink won't go through slits, just open areas.

The Ink

While the ink in the box says it isn't really made for fabrics, I did happen to buy some silver ink (Versatex #330 Silver Lace) that was intended for fabrics. The problem with raw silver ink is that the ink itself is a little hard to push through the screen, which I'm guessing is because of the silver particles making up the color. In my tests I had to squeeze harder and more often, which actually results in fuzzier edges.

So to help thin it out you can buy intermediary liquids (just as you can buy stuff to increase drying time for longer runs, or stuff to make the ink less opaque) or you can just add in some thinner ink. Since I was impatient and cheap I decided to add some of the non-fabric ink as a test. I mixed in a dollop of yellow, which turned my ink a nice light green-silver color. This gave me a perfect consistency for clean edges, but what about colorfastness on the shirt?

The shirt

I used a Hanes tagless cotton shirt for my printing, but you don't have to be picky. The key is making sure the fabric has been washed once (which we did), and if your ink has any requirements be sure to follow those. Again, since the ink with the kit wasn't supposed to be fabric-ready, I just mixed a little in with the Versatex fabric ink. One wrinkle in my plan is that I bought a bunch of forest-green shirts. Ordinarily fabric inks will lay on top of the shirt, so the fabric color isn't a huge issue. True, most folks are going to feel more comfortable with white shirts because you're likely designing around a white background. In my case, I wasn't-- instead, I was making some shirts for a sister blog, Download Squad. Be aware that inks not intended for fabric may change colors a bit when the "mix" with a color shirt. They aren't really mixing, but if you don't put enough ink down the two colors will certainly interact in your eyes.

Printing

Using the smaller screen with the stencil taped to the bottom (and taped according to instructions so ink doesn't get all in-between your screen and frame) I placed the screen on the shirt, centering the design as I wanted. When I dolloped a little ink on there, however, I put the line of ink at the top of the screen. Sadly, the squeegee is too wide to go top-to-bottom! So I quickly and sloppily moved the ink to the side, which resulted in a little more mixing than I wanted originally. My original intent was to have a section of silver, then yellow, with a little mix in the middle-- a common silk screen effect. But in moving the ink I wound up with more mix, which was OK as I learned a little bit more about the ink itself this way. The lesson? Your first few shirts are tests. Just accept it and move on.

With the shirt, screen and ink in place you're ready to push that ink through the screen. This is where a live human really helps, telling you how hard to push down, and how many times you can squeegee. It had been a long time since my last print (a decade or more), so I just went on instinct and the terse directions in the box. One pass across with moderate pressure, then back the other way, then once over and back again. In all, four swipes across. This did the trick, as my edges were clean and the ink didn't push through those sloppy corner slits I cut.

The real trick in squeegeeing seems to be applying the right pressure and the right number of passes. Too heavy and the print can bleed past the stencil edges, and too light will result in a very faded print. Compounding the stress is the fact that you won't really know what you've got until you lift up the screen. When you DO lift it up, and if you want to just peek and see how it went, try to pivot the screen up, acting as though there was a hinge at the top. Be sure to keep the fabric from pulling up with the screen, and you might have a shot at lowering the screen again and trying to push more ink through.

The box does come with a base and hinge setup for the larger screen, which enables you to lift the screen and reset it while keeping everything aligned. However, the kit suggests you can't do this for fabric, as the screen should be totally flat with the backboard with printing. Of course, being a DIY kinda guy, I have already figured out that you can still do fabrics, you just have to have a way of securing the shirt to the board while you remove the hinges. Ideally this allows for multiple ink passes, so alignment of the screen to the shirt becomes important. I'll cover this once I set it up (in another post). What the box includes, remember, is primarily designed for printing on flat stuff, like paper or cardboard.

Finishing up

Once the ink dries (I let it sit overnight, but you don't have to wait that long) you'll need to iron it to "set" the ink. Yes, you can use a heat-gun, but I didn't have one. Instead, I simply turned the shirt inside-out, set it on the board and mashed down with a medium-high temperature setting. Very unscientific, but the color appears to have stuck around after one wash. Is that too early to declare success?

The photo emulsion stuff

I did test the photo emulsion, which I'll write up soon. But I'll say it is pretty tolerant to mistakes, and works as advertised. You'll want to make sure you have pushpins (not just thumbtacks, there is a difference) or a dark, cool area to dry the treated screen, however. The screen has to dry with the surface down, which means the entire screen has to be elevated, and since it is light-sensitive, you're going to want to keep it in a dark place. Like, really dark. However, airflow will dry the screen faster. If you don't have a light-tight ventilated box, try making one from any box you got over the holidays!

The other thing you'll need is a way to print on transparencies, since that is the best way to set up a way to "burn in" the image to the screen. I just used a laser printer and transparencies, but permanent markers on transparency works.

All this just adds more steps to prepping your screen, and the rest of the process is the same. Oh, and you'll be keeping the leftover photo emulsion in your fridge. The chemicals are kept apart when shipping, which means you have to fill a tiny little container half-full with water (it has a trace amount of some very nasty chemical you don't want to get on your hands), and mix that into a larger bottle. That bottle (provided in the kit) will live in your fridge for up to 4 months, according to instructions.

Note that there is a product out there called PhotoEZ that is essentially a pre-coated, pre-packed set of emulsion screens. This means you can skip all the setup and drop a transparency onto the sheet, let it set up, rinse it off and start printing.

The resist stuff

I didn't use this, but I have in the past. Basically you paint what you want to print, then paint a mask and then wash out the first stuff. This leaves holes where you want the ink to go through.

The bottom line

This is indeed a complete kit for screen printing, once you realize there are a couple of easy-to-find items you'll need to add to the process. Be sure to check out the gallery for all the steps, and what the pieces look like. Also be aware that you will need fabric inks and possibly other chemicals for doing long runs, t-shirts, etc. But if you're looking for a reasonable introduction to serious screen printing, this is just what you need. If you're looking to just put a toe in the waters of screening, buy a smaller kit or try piecing one together yourself.

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Craft a foam Wiimote

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2007-12-21T16:00:00 00:00

Filed under: kids, Crafts

Some of my favorite projects are born of necessity. I just happened to need something to spruce up a gift for my brother, an avid gamer. So instead of a cheesy card or clumsy letter I created a "handmade" Wiimote from Crayola's Model Magic clay.

If you've ever used Model Magic you know it isn't so much a clay as soft foam. It hardens over a few hours, and is terribly resistant to detail like square edges. Our cat happens to love to eat the stuff too, which means all MM projects go into a box. Anyway, this craft couldn't be simpler, and shows what you can do with very simple materials. My bag of Model Magic was actually over 5 years old! But it was white and available. I also used a red fine-tip permanent marker, a fine-tip blue pen, a fine-tip black pen and a regular permanent (Sharpie) marker.

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Whatever lump you wish to start with will determine how large your remote will be. I started with a 2-inch Wiimote, but the next two I made were a little over 1 inch. Essentially you make a snake and, using a small flat object, press into an acceptable rectangular box shape.

You'll want to use a thumb and forefinger to squish flat about half the Wiimote, for the portion that makes up the B-button underside. Again take the small flat object (I used a coaster) to flatten and square the edges as best you can.

Once the body is done, take a smaller chunk and make a simple B button underneath, pressing to affix it. Take two small chunks, roll into teeny little snakes, then flatten and arrange into the plus sign for the 4-way controller on the top of the Wiimote. While you tend to wind up with pointy ends, you can pinch them with your nails to make the plus a little nicer. All you have left are the markings.

I use the red pen for the power button, the black fine-tip for marking the 4-way controller, and a permanent marker for the front IR panel and most other buttons. The four blue LED's at the bottom are done using a fine-tip blue marker, and quickly jabbing the surface. This creates depth while depositing some blue color.

A nunchuck is optional, but pretty easy to fashion with two small chunks of foam. Bonus points if you have some white thread to connect them, or to make a strap. I didn't bother, but those are just a zillion ways to make this better (personally I wish I had time to embed a real LED inside the thing).

This little rig is going inside a much bigger box-- one full of gaming books. I'm creating a false bottom so it looks like the only thing in the box is this silly "handmade" Wiimote. Of course, I had to make two more for the kids here at the house. All of this from an old sample pack of Model Magic.

Little touches like trees, bells and gingerbread men are easy with this stuff. Just be sure to make time for it to dry, and beware cats or dogs who like to chew!

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Holiday gift ideas for the DIY tech lover

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2007-11-27T18:00:00 00:00

Filed under: backyard science, geek it yourself, electronics

While a handyman has a veritable cornucopia of tools and materials to choose from for holiday gift ideas, what about the hobby hardware hacker? Once you've got a decent soldering iron, DMM and some reliable suppliers you've got everything you need, right? Of course not. While tools and parts are nice, don't overlook some of these crazy kits out there. We've got a short list of six for you:

Robots
Blubber Bots, to be precise. Essentially little autonomous floating robots. Fun at parties. Plus, the kits are reasonable and fun. Good for teenagers.

Handheld Computer
The DIY smartphone. It's no iPhone, but Compulab has a neat little kit that'll let you build your own handheld computer. Since you can purchase components like WiFi or GPS ala carte, you only get what you need in a PDA-- a refreshing change of pace, really.

Wood Keyboard
A DIY keyboard. Sure, a wooden keyboard you put together sounds strange. And for $300 the thing should at least come with some cool mouse... But instead it comes with a saw for carving out the keys. Perfect if your DIY gift recipient "has everything." Note that manufacturer Hacoa makes a habit of coating silicon in wood. Stainable USB drive anyone?
Speakers
JVC DIY speakers. Back in the day building your own speakers was quite the hobby. Nowadays you can buy entire surround systems for less than $50. So why bother? No one who builds speakers can explain-- it's just something we have to do.

Gadgets
DIY darn near any gizmo. OK, so you can't actually buy anything from Bug Labs yet-- but soon! Engadget reports that Bug Labs will actually launch before the end of the year (and prices "shortly"). Bug, if you recall, creates a sort of LEGO set for electronic gadgets. Imagine software and hardware as a platform for building whatever you wish out of the components. This may be the ultimate in DIY gadgetry, and may have prices to match. We shall see.

Computers
Lastly, there's no replacement for just buying everything you need to make your own computer. Shoot, DIY'ers have been building their own computers before you could even buy computers in a store! Perhaps one of the best resources is Tom's Hardware. Here's a link to their extensive how-to database.

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How to use DIY Life

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2007-09-13T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous

Wondering how to use the features on DIY Life's pages? Check out the video below. Be sure to also check out our Top Five Cool Features of DIY Life for some of the cooler things you can do around here.

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A handful of DIY gamer projects

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2007-09-12T11:00:00 00:00

Filed under: weekend projects, Crafts, geek it yourself, electronics, sewing

You may not have known, but DIY Life is the upstart sister to big siblings like Engadget and Autoblog. Better yet, we're kin to the Joystiq network, which hosts a bunch of fantabulous "fanboy" sites like PSP Fanboy, Nintendo DS Fanboy and well, pretty much every game system out there (oh, and a little-known game called "World of Warcraft"). What follows are some of the DIY projects you'll find around the Joystiq network. Everything from quilts to hardcore electronics hacking is just a click away...

DIY projects from Joystiq
Including a Q*bert quilt, a set of Tetris bookshelves, and Tetris ice cubes

DIY projects from Nintendo Wii Fanboy
Includes a papercraft Link in his wolf form and several Wii sensor bars

DIY projects from Xbox 360 Fanboy
Pretty much all DIY arcade sticks, one of which is wireless

DIY projects from PSP Fanboy
Ever wondered how to fix your PSP's joystick? Wonder no more!

DIY projects from DS Fanboy
Lots of craft stuff, less geeky stuff. A reflection of the user base?

Sadly there are no PS3 Fanboy posts tagged DIY, which is just as well. Who can afford that thing? Apparently you can install Linux on the PS3, but why? TuxRacer really doesn't need a cell processor.

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Bug Labs opens the doors, and we like what we see

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2007-08-31T18:00:00 00:00

Filed under: geek it yourself, electronics

We've mentioned Bug Labs before, and Engadget has regular updates, but this was too good and I had to share. Bug opened up their website to unveil a few of the hardware goodies you'll be able to plug together like the dreamiest LEGO set you ever imagined. The base of all this is an ARM processor with 128MB of RAM, wifi, USB, Ethernet and a tiny LCD with some buttons-- basically a nice little Linux computer. You can currently add a GPS, camera, touch-sensitive LCD or accelerometer to this base, but more items are coming soon, including a teleporter(?).

Of course, the hardware would be pretty useless without some software, but since it's Linux in the box, you can practically do as you wish. The hardware can be controlled via Java, but there are several other options, including an SDK code-named Dragonfly that'll provide a nifty interface for you codemonkeys out there.

The best part? They want beta testers willing to make this platform grow and flourish. Exciting times, as Bug has really opened the door to hardware that most hobbyists would have to spend a lot of time to get to talk to each other. I may need to dust off my anti-static wrist strap...

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How much stuff is inside of stuff?

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2007-08-31T16:30:00 00:00

Filed under: backyard science

No, that isn't a philosophical question! It isn't even a redundant one. While the cereal box may say X ounces, have you ever wondered how much ink is in a marker? Or, better still, what does X ounces of cereal LOOK like when put end-to-end? These deep questions have partially been answered by Cockeyed in a series called (rather appropriately) How Much is Inside? It's a humorous, if sometimes juvenile, look at how much stuff is in our stuff, and what it looks like in various arrangements.

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Remembering Heathkit

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2007-08-31T13:45:00 00:00

Filed under: audio and video, geek it yourself, robotics, electronics

Do you remember Heathkit? Hard to miss them if you happened upon a copy of Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, or any number of magazines in the 70's, including Rolling Stone. Heathkit once sold DIY kits of all stripes, designed to teach you electronics while you built consumer electronics. TV repair, HAM radio, ultimately even calculators and robotics were all packaged and promoted by the venerable supplier. Heathkit today is largely an educational supplier, and doesn't market to the average consumer like they used to. One could argue, with the ready supply of cheap electronics from all over the world, are people really interested in DIY electronics? Based on what I've seen from companies like Bug Lags and CrowdSpirit, I certainly hope not.

At any rate, I found a neat site that is an homage to an earlier time, when Heathkit's bread-and-butter was the DIY electronics gizmo-- the Heathkit Museum. Unfortunately I couldn't find any 70's era kits at this particular museum, the stuff I remember, and nothing on what may be the coolest Heathkit of all: the HERO robot. But there is a pretty good timeline of Heathkit's evolution here. Heathkit turned 60 this year, which is pretty outstanding, given the changing tastes of our electronic lifestyles.

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Attention Toolstravaganza entrants!

Victor Agreda, Jr. — 2007-08-30T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous

We've started notifying our Toolstravaganza winners-- and a big thank you to everyone who entered. Since our notification email contains words like "giveaway" and "prize" we urge you to check those junk mail folders. Many filtering systems are easily confused, and we'd hate for you to miss the prizewinner email.

Also, we require a bit of paperwork in the form of an Excel document. If you don't have a copy of Microsoft Excel, there are actually a few free alternatives that will allow you to open, edit, and re-save the .XLS format.

There is an entire office suite for your machine, be it Linux, Mac or Windows, called OpenOffice. This open-source project includes a word processor, spreadsheet app and presentation tool, just like MS Office. Did I mention it is free? Now if you'd rather not install something and you have a Gmail account, there's always Google Docs, an online suite of office apps (no presentation tool yet, but they have a private beta). Lastly, there's Zoho, which adds CRM, wikis and more to their office suite. Zoho is a commercial enterprise, but you can use the office apps, with some restrictions, for free.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned in the future for more great giveaways!

UPDATE: The email will be from weblogsinc, as Weblogs is an AOL company. Sorry about the Excel requirement, but you are free to refuse to participate and we'll pick someone else.

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