The Art of Manliness
One of the funnest events in cub scouting is the pinewood derby. Below are free plans to pinewood derby cars I have found to be very successful. My personal recommendation is the Flying Wedge. It is not the prettiest car, but I think it has the best chance of winning (which, of course, is...
“A challenge usually left to NASA eggheads or PhD students was conquered by two Toronto teenagers earlier this month when Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad sent a Lego-manned flight capsule into space.”
We have been using some “program your own video game” software lately, such as Kodu, Alice and Greenfoot. These are cool programs, but we just found Scratch (from the MIT Media Lab). For a brand new beginner, Scratch is hands down the best. Scratch installs quickly and easily, and uses simple puzzle-piece shapes to...
From TyingItAllTogether: The Celtic Heart Knot is the woven realization of a design I saw etched into a friend’s ring. Stunningly simple, yet at the same time perfectly evocative of a heart, the knot looks amazing as a center piece to a necklace or bracelet.
Reggie’s Outdoor has a great video about how to build a snare trap. This is a simple trap that can be easily built in survival situations.
This type of campfire is super neat and clean burning. Thanks to Reggie’s Bushcraft for uploading!
Hunteddown848 posted a great design for making an improved deadfall trap. These traps are simple and effective when properly constructed. Only use these in a survival situation, though (don’t just kill squirrels).
The Thomas family backyard coaster looks like a blast. It really helps to have a yard that slopes down to make a coaster feasible and somewhat safe. Their version uses PVC and treated lumber. These guys are gonna have some great memories. Nice build, guys!
Here is an awesome project by “kidilini.” This 1/4 scale tank is completely drivable, and has a functioning turret. Here test pilot Nick drives the tank off of the ramp after a paint job. There are more videos on his YouTube Channel, and build notes on runs-on-tracks.be. Nice work, guys!
Amazingly, it looks pretty much the same. I had heard you could do this with Twinkies (they have a half life instead of a shelf life), but you might think that “meat” would eventually decompose, draw flies, maggots, mold…something. Back in 1996, Karen Hanaran bought a McDonald’s hamburger and let it decompose — only...
Here is another great weekend or cub-scout meeting project. It uses two safety pins (I used wire soldered to the battery with a loop on the end), a D-cell battery, about 24 inches of light gauge wire, and some shellac or nail polish. You want to scrape the nail polish off of the same...
This is a great weekend project, especially if you have an old 3.7 volt wall adapter. I have a box of these in my shop, but I never now what to make with them. Be sure to check the output rating (is is usually printed on the wall adapter).
Warren Seely tore apart his first tractor engine when he was six. When he was about 12, he started making farm equipment out of LEGOs. Warren’s LEGO equipment works just like the real thing — only smaller.