Sunday, December 1, 2013

Tea Light Chandelier

I like the double tea light chandelier from http://www.lightsfortents.co.uk/, but I didn't like the shipping charge they were asking. What's a maker to do? Well, make one obviously!

Materials:
21 Tea light holders (I'm using IKEA Sommarmys)
Plywood (I used 18mm thickness, because that's what I had lying around)
Chain link 3 meters.
6 screws with a large head.
6 pieces of felt for use under chair legs.
1 Carabiner

Tools:
Router (or jigsaw if you don't have one)
Drill press or hand drill
Circle cutting bit
Sander or sanding paper
Compass
Calipers
Rulers
Screw driver

If you have access to a laser cutter, that could be used instead of the router, drill press and circle cutting bit.

My plan is to take the chandelier with me when we're going camping and hang it in a bell tent. As it packs nice and flat it should be relatively easy to transport.


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how to transform your old electric oven into a modern digital thermostat controlled one (aka: the meringues solution!)

thermo01.jpgIf you ever tried to cook meringues you knot that it's almost impossible if your oven can't keep a constant temperature over the time. Modern electric ovens have a digital integrated thermostat so to achieve that goal with no efforts, but if you like meringues and you have an old oven you could probably feel in troubles.. old thermostats only have a graduated scale, and the only way to maintain the exact temperature is to put a thermometer into the oven, then set the knob consequentially.
A better solution is to buy a digital temperature controller with a thermocouple, and connect it so it will regulate the oven in place of you. thermo02.jpgYou need few tools for this project.
To avoid to cut the power cable of the oven you need to use a female socket, and connect it to the thermo controller with some wires. So you need a pair of screwdrivers and a wire stripper.

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Final Warning: How To Prepare for Monday's Google Reader Shutdown

Final Warning: How To Prepare for Monday's Google Reader Shutdown

Google Reader goes away forever on Monday, so this is your last weekend to prepare for the transition. We mentioned this earlier in the week, but it bears repeating one last time in case you've been procrastinating.

The first thing you'll want to do is back up your data as an OPML file through Google Takeout. You won't be able to access it ever again once the service shuts down, so this officially qualifies as crunch time. Luckily, it's really simple, and we've shown you how to do it in three easy steps. Once you're done, I'd also make sure you have several secure backups saved at home and on the cloud, just to be sure.

As soon as your data is safe and sound, it's time to go shopping for a new RSS home. Feedly is the most popular alternative at the moment, but there are tons of other options if it doesn't check all of your boxes. In case you missed it, we've rounded up some of the best to help make the transition a little easier. All of these services will import that all-important OPML file, but some can pull your Reader data directly off of Google's servers while it's still available, including starred and read items in many cases, so it's probably worth it to set up a new account over the weekend. In fact, if you haven't settled on one alternative yet, you might want to sign up for several to hedge your bets and preserve this valuable metadata.

It is a little bit of a pain to make this transition, but Google's departure from the market opens the door for other companies with great new ideas for what RSS reading should be. Most of them aren't totally ripe yet—Feedly, for example, doesn't yet support data export or search—but in time, we should all come out ahead.

Just in time for Monday's Google Reader shutdown, Digg Reader is now open to the public.

Just in time for Monday's Google Reader shutdown, Digg Reader is now open to the public. It's still far from feature-complete, but it's worth checking out this weekend if you haven't settled on another alternative. Learn more here.

Marbles & Wood Tic-Tac-Toe Set

021.jpgThis is a fun and easy project that can be finished in a day. It's pretty simple, requiring minimal tools and minimal experience with woodworking. Made from a solid block of wood with holes drilled out to store the marble play pieces when not in use. It's the perfect little game to set out on your coffee table for guest to play with or admire. I hope you enjoy making your own Tic-Tac-Toe game set as much as I did. 001.jpgYou will need for this project:

Materials: A block of wood 3" X 3" X 1" ( can be thicker if you'd like) Sliver of wood 3" X 1" X 1/8" for the door 8 Marbles A small screw Black paint and thin paint brush (if you use one color of marble you can paint X's and O's on them) Finish of your choice (stain, polyurethane, etc.) Tools: Drill 3/4" paddle bit 3/8" drill bit (optional) Dremel tool with engraving bit #191 small drill bit to match the size of your screw A Clamp Sand paper Ruler Pencil

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This Week's Top Downloads

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