Comments (0) Wired 14.06: START- Prepare for Liftoff
Brian Walker plans to shoot himself nearly 20 miles into the air aboard a homemade rocket launched from what could be the world’s largest crossbow.
—
I think he’s just a “bit” nuts but looks like it could be fun too. 😉
It may be safer but I can cut LOTS bigger stuff with my 18″ chain saw and still only use one hand to do so. Just gotta remember when it cuts through to guide it’s fall to the side and not the middle… 😉
Yamaha’s Crotch Air Bag – Gizmodo
And just WHO would test this thing? I understand that it might be better than the handlebars but the concept is still bothering me for some reason. Or it MAY be the expression on the female model…
OhGizmo! » Gryphon Single Man Flying Wing
Cool! Batman needed one of these things! I can also see James Bond using one in a coming film.
Boing Boing: Anti-mosquito device kills 1200 bugs/night
This $200-400 mosquito trap or the cheap DIY one in the previous post? I’m gonna hafta go with the one that uses an old 2 liter soda bottle…
Cool site with annoying popup/under windows.
Review: Ion USB Turntable | The Register
Interesting product. Not sure of the quality but interesting non the less.
Damn if I know. Looks interesting but not practical.
LiveSide – Microsoft expands HD lineup with LifeCams
Looks interesting. Especially the VX-6000. Wonder if there will ever be Linux drivers?
Tim, Chris and Mike came over and we played with air toys all afternoon. Got pix of some of the toys at http://www.technoprimitive.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=3
Tim and Houstin came by on Thursday and after playing with the cannon for a bit Tim asked me to see if I could make a compressed air vortex bb machine gun. Tim found a link to one at http://www.burntlatke.com/bb.html that I thought I could modify and make easier to build.
Note the following takes place in fits and starts over the last 2 days and some things are out of sequence of the way it actually went but I think the basic facts are here.
Took a piece of 3/4 inch diameter pvc pipe and cut a 1 inch piece. Chucked it up in the lathe and trued the ends and cut it down to about 3/4 inches long. Changed tools and cut a groove down the center. Ruining the first one by getting it off center. After cutting and truing another piece I got the groove cut.
Found a piece of tv antenna that was 1/4 inch inside diameter and cut it to length for the barrel. Side crack to be duct taped later in the build. Also got a piece of 1/8 id copper tube to use as the air inlet. This was a mistake and I corected it later with a piece of plastic tubing.
Drilled the appropriate holes for air and barrel and super glued the pieces into the proper positions after putting the vortex into a 1 inch pvc Tee.
Cut a valley the width of the vortex into the end of a 3/4 inch end cap that was glued on to a 4 inch piece of 3/4 inch pvc and cut it down so it fit into the bottom end of the Tee.
Drilled a hole in the end cap for the air inlet to go through and then used epoxie kneedable putty to hold the vortex in place in the grove of the end cap with the barrel sticking out the center of the Tee.
Cut a round piece of plastic, from a piece out of the inside of a refrigerator, to go around the barrel keep the the bb’s in the Tee and put it in the middle hole of the Tee.
Cut a piece of aluminum and made a cap to block the bb’s from filling the vortex and put it in place down the top hole of the Tee.
Cut another circle of plastic and then cut a hole in it for a 1/2 inch iron pipe closed nipple, and put it into a 1 inch coupling.
Cut the coupling off just on the other side of the center stop.
Machined the cut end flat and after drilling a hole for the 1/2 ip closed nipple in the top of a gator aid bottle I used two nuts to put the bottle top and coupling together. With the bottle in place this is the bb reservor and feed.
Cut a 1 inch piece of schedule 20 pvc and put the coupling/cap piece on the top of the Tee.
Cut another circle of plastic and drilled a hole the size of the barrel and with a piece of 1 inch pvc and another coupling made a cover for the barrel.
Replaced the copper pipe with a piece of hard plastic tubing from an ice maker.
With a valved air source hooked to it and the gater aid bottle filled with plastic bb’s this little sucker will spray a steady stream from 40 psi up.
Painted it last night. Still got to put a handle and valve on it but should have it done and working later today. And no I didn’t take pix. Will build another one soon and take pix then.
**Update – Took some pix of bits and pieces for those interested.
Food powered rockets. Cool!
Solar-Powered LED Water Bottle – Gizmodo
I think this is an interesting product. Not sure that I want my water illuminated or in close contact with batteries, solder and/or other contaminents.
Sony ICF-B01 Hand-Cranked Radio – Gizmodo
Interesting looking device. Too bad Sony just now came out with one as there are several on the market (and have been for years) that do more (short wave anyone?) and cost about the same.
Strange how AM works 20 minutes longer than FM on a charge. Wonder why?
The pix that I took of the workings of the cannon I built today are at 
Cannon Pix.
Decided to just install a gallery since I keep doing stuff like this.
Could not believe it when the T-Ball bat went through the table top. Was AWESOME! Then the bamboo! Sucker really packs a punch!
Panorama Theme by 
Themocracy
