Materials I'd Search Results

DIY Blacksmithing: Forge Your Own Steel at Home!

Metal is a great material to work with. It's rigid, tough, malleable and conductive, but sometimes the part we need doesn't exist in any store. In order to create custom pieces, you need to either melt the metal and cast it in a mold, or heat it until it's soft enough to shape with your hammer. Properly melting metals can be a bit dangerous in our home shop, but we can make a coffee can forge for all of our home blacksmithing needs.

How To: Play Spleef in Minecraft

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server. Sometimes it's easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer scale or complexity of a build or group project on your favorite server. Too much stress from any creative endeavour can lead to mistakes, discouragement, or fighting among a community. What better way to relieve stress and entertain the troops than some old fashioned competition?

News: Birds as the Ultimate DIY Architects

The widely used expression "free as a bird" intimates an enviable existence: delicate, yet mighty wings transporting to destinations no human could so breezily venture. But despite their fanciful, superhero ability, in truth, the avian race leads one of the most difficult existences in the animal kingdom. Yes, birds have existed for eons—they likely evolved from small dinosaurs of the Jurassic period—but for these creatures, life can be ruthless.

How To: Pop Delicious Popcorn on the Stove

Remember the oh so delicious buttery popcorn you could only get at the movie theater? You can actually make popcorn that tastes this good right in your own home. All you need are the right ingredients and a little practice. Once you try this delectable snack, you will never eat microwave popcorn again.

How To: Restore and Sharpen Rusted Scissors

Leaving scissors wet or forgetting them outside can cause them to rust. Rusty scissors, if you can even open them, will leave brown marks on everything you attempt to cut through. Attempt is the truth—rust dulls the blades of the scissors making it virtually impossible to cut through any type of material, ranging from paper to fabric. But don't toss the scissors in the trash just yet. You can restore rusted scissors to a usable condition provided they are not completely covered and have rust ...

How To: Perform a ring escape magic trick

Have you ever wanted to have the power to make things disappear? Ryan Oakes is going to show you how to obtain that power with this trick. You will need a cloth handkerchief, a shoelace, and three to four key rings. Sometimes we use materials that require adult supervision... like scissors so make sure you have friends and family around whenever you do magic tricks.

How To: Perform the magic paper tree trick

Take out your wand and get ready to give it a whirl…'cause conjurer Ryan Oakes is going to show you how to make an awesome magic paper tree! All you need is a newspaper, scotch tape and scissors! Sometimes we use materials that require adult supervision... like scissors so make sure you have friends and family around whenever you do magic tricks.

How To: Perform the even/uneven ropes magic trick

We see into the future…and you're in front of an audience wowing them with this cool trick! Get ready to learn the Even/Uneven Ropes! All you need is a rope and pair of scissors. You will need 60” of clothesline rope and a pair of scissors. Sometimes we use materials that require adult supervision... like scissors so make sure you have friends and family around whenever you do magic tricks.

How To: Perform a card trick using mental powers

Join Magician Ryan Oakes as he reveals step by step a really cool card trick! Grab and audience a deck of cards and get ready to have a magic show of your own! So cool! You will need one deck of playing cards. Sometimes we use materials that require adult supervision... like scissors so make sure you have friends and family around whenever you do magic tricks.

How To: Perform a ribbon restore magic trick

Get ready to learn a cool trick where a ribbon is cut in half and then magically fused back together! You will need some ribbon, an envelope, and some scissors. Sometimes we use materials that require adult supervision... like scissors, so make sure you have friends and family around whenever you do magic tricks. 1. Preparation: Cut the ends off of both sides of the envelope.

Master the Power: How to Shock People with Your Fingertips

In this article, I'll be showing you how to make a simple yet effective static electricity generator. Basically, this device allows you to carry a constant static charge on your body and discharge it on anything grounded or of opposite polarity. The electricity generated is around 8-10 kV, at a very low current. The shock is enough to startle your friends, just like a static shock from a trampoline or carpeted room. You'll need a little experience in soldering and circuit design to build the ...

How To: Make a Simple Touch-Triggered Transistor Relay

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 example, if you're looking into creating a 120V light that turns on when touched, you'd need two powerful transistors and an isolation relay. However, a simple flashlight that turns on when touched would only take a couple of ...

How to Make a Jacob's Ladder: Chained Lightning

In this article, I'll show you how to create a simple yet accurate demonstration of the "rising ionized gas" principle. In other words, a transformer, two metal prongs and lots of evil laughter. Remember those large "towers" in the background of Frankenstein movies with a "lightning bolt" rising upwards every few seconds? That's called a Jacob's Ladder; one of the coolest awe-inspiring demonstrations of high voltage. Here's a video of the final product: Materials and Tools

How To: Make Fractal Cupcakes

Last post, we looked at fractal cookies based off of the recipe by Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. In this post, we'll follow their recipe for fractal cupcakes based off of the Koch Snowflake, which we used previously to decorate pumpkins for Halloween.