Collaborate Disseminate
Compound bows (unlike recurve bows, their more mechanically-simple relatives) use a levering system with pulleys and spring tension to grant the user a mechanical advantage. We’re not exactly sure what to call [Zünder’s] bow design. He shared his unconventional take on a DIY bow that uses coiled springs as well …read more
Continue reading Slick DIY Compound Bow Uses Coiled Springs, Toothbrush Heads
Over the last century, very little of the basic design of firearm cartridges has changed, but the mechanics of firearms themselves have undergone many upgrades. The evolution of triggers, safeties, magazines, and operating mechanisms is a fascinating field of study. Hands-on experience with these devices is rare for most people, …read more
Continue reading Learn About Historic Firearm Design With A 3D Printer
When professional engineers giggling like kids, you know something interesting is about to happen. [Destin Sandlin] of [Smarter Every Day], [Jeremy Fielding], and a few other like-minded individuals have built what a very impressive air cannon, capable of launching baseballs at supersonic velocities.
The muzzleloading canon consists of a large …read more
To make up for some lacking athletic ability, [Shane Wighton] of [Stuff Made Here] created a custom baseball bat with an explosive sweet spot, that almost guarantees a home run. Inside a custom machined bat, he added a piston mechanism, powered by blank cartridges intended for powder actuated nailers, that …read more
Continue reading A Special Baseball Bat With Explosive Hitting Power
What has dual compressed-air cannons, 500 roll-on deodorant balls, and a machine-learning brain with a bad attitude? We didn’t know either, until [Leo Fernekes] dropped this video on his autonomous robot sentry gun and saw it in action for ourselves.
Now, we’ve seen tons of sentry guns on these pages …read more
Continue reading Autonomous Sentry Gun Packs a Punch and a Ton of Build Tips
Since 2010, the United States military has been operating a pair of small reusable spaceplanes that conduct secretive long-duration flights in low Earth orbit. Now officially operating under the auspices of the newly formed Space Force, the X-37Bs allow the military to conduct in-house research on new hardware and technology …read more
Continue reading X-37B Spaceplane To Test Power Beaming Technology
Air-to-air combat or “dogfighting” was once a very personal affair. Pilots of the First and Second World War had to get so close to land a hit with their guns that it wasn’t uncommon for altercations to end in a mid-air collision. But by the 1960s, guided missile technology had …read more
Continue reading Plasma “Ghosts” May Help Keep Future Aircraft Safe
I am a fan of the saying that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. After all, humans have been building things for a number of centuries and we should learn from the engineers of the past. While you can learn a lot studying successes, sometimes — …read more
Continue reading The Mark 14 Torpedo — When Just About Everything Goes Wrong, Even the Testing
[Dirk] shared a fascinating project of his that consists of several different parts coming together in a satisfying whole. It’s all about wanting to do target practice, indoors, using a simple red laser dot instead of any sort of projectile. While it’s possible to practice by flashing a red laser …read more
Continue reading Human-Powered Laser Gun Makes Battery-Free Target Practice
In these troubled times, when a trip to the grocery store could turn into a brawl over toilet paper, you might be inclined to build yourself a low-cost electroshock weapon. Or at least, that’s what [Alex Zidros] did. We don’t necessarily recommend you follow in his footsteps, and we’re certainly …read more
Continue reading A DIY Stun Gun You Probably Shouldn’t Build