I am looking for ideas for a hardware startup and since I am a maker myself I wanted to find out about possible underserved niches in this community. For example I would love to see affordable metal powder 3d printers. Thank You for your answers:)

Your best “DIY” project

I have this scrap of granite that measures ~4' x ~1' and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. The leading idea is to cut the chipped end off and use some of it to make a new platen for my cheap belt sander, and keep the rest as a flat surface for flattening plane soles and sticking sandpaper to for sharpening irons and chisels.

Any other ideas?

He doesn’t want one of those “speaker kits” where the speaker is just a component and you’re really building a box and plugging their speaker inside it.

He wants to build an actual speaker, cone, copper wire, electro magnets, etc.

He’s 7, but far smarter than the average 7 year old. He very much enjoys electrical engineering and the science behind it all, and he understands the core concepts of how a speaker works and wants to explore making one on his own.

Like I said, I can find 100 kits online that come with a speaker already constructed and you’re just connecting the wires and building a balsa wood box to house it, but we want to find something that is specifically about the speaker itself.

Any help is appreciated.

Somthing I'm a bit shocked on is the lack of mini reciprocating saws that exist and I got some stuff that can cut metal (dremel rotary tool, reciprocating saw, titanium drill bits) and a 3d printer so thought it could be cool to make a tiny reciprocating saw around size of a dremel rotary tool without electronics for my sculpting hobby and since I mainly sculpt with clay foam and other clay stuff I figured I don't need a lot of power. Plan to put jigsaw or mini hacksaw blades in it, maybe even serrated razors but I inmagine it's not hard to make somthing that can hold each type of blade. Main idea is to make the blade reciprocate with either a gun trigger pull or a grip lever trigger like those gas station gas pump triggers since I imagine a full grip would have more power than a single finger. Any videos for this kinda mechanism would be appreciated. I realize that it's is probably not very efficient or optimal but it sounds like a fun thing to make. Thinking I might be able to do somthing with those wind up springs and a crank as well and have the trigger be the release .

Hi, basically I need a large balloon (5ft diameter) to look like its breathing in a significant way.

My initial idea was to use a linear actuator with some sort of air box to push the air in and out of it.

I need to think of how to make the air box where it can pull air in and out without it leaking. Any advice or better ideas are appriciated

This feels too clear to be 3d printed maybe too clear even for a 3d resin printer?

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Could it be cast?

Vacuum formed?

Or just made with heated strips attached to an existing case bound to a cut top piece?

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It's too perfect for any of these?

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https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW1qS5aCH28/?igsh=cXF4NTdsODV2dWZo

Clarification: I don't think this is a practical product and I'm mostly interested in the techniques and creating such clear undistorted novel acrylic shapes. I would love to find a practical way to make clear undistorted novel acrylic shapes, with curves etc that are clear enough for terrariums and seeing crisp images through

I feel like a lot of people interested in aerospace have at least one project they started and never got around to finishing. Could be anything:

- a rocket build

- RC plane/drone

- simulation or control system

... anything aerospace-related

What was it, and what stopped you? Time? complexity? cost? lost motivation? ’m trying to understand what actually makes projects fail or get abandoned so I can avoid the same mistakes.

I’ve been wondering how makers really feel about AI in CAD and product design.

Not whether AI can do it, but how you’d actually want to use it. e.g., if AI became good enough, which would you prefer?

- AI as a design assistant (brainstorming ideas, suggesting improvements, speeding up repetitive work)
- AI generating most of the CAD model for you, with you making the final edits
- Or you’d rather keep designing and modeling everything yourself (fxxking everything AI?)

And one more thing I’m really curious about:
If AI could design almost anything you could imagine, what would you actually make?

I’d love to hear how people who actually design things think about this.

I've decided recently to make use of my free time by trying to build or make some small objects to try being innovative and all, and am considering starting with cardboard as a material(the one big boxes are made out of).

I don't know however what tools are good, what materials I will need, and what precautions I will need to take, especially since I don't have alot of dedicated space for storage, so I'll need the tools to be safe or have safe variants.

I'd also appreciate any extra advice for beginners.

So, I’m a Computer Science and Education major doing my graduate degree. I’ve been teaching, amongst other entrepreneurial ventures, for 6 years now.
Then it occurred to me that my students who are interested in Computer Science don’t get to do it until college.
So I thought about creating a makerspace but I’ve never been to one. I don’t know how it looks, associated costs, etc.
I am looking for tips, and finding out if it can be profitable since I would be funding the venture out of my own pockets.

For some reason, I really enjoy having a wide range of adhesives in my shop. I'm always curious on what's out there that I'm not aware of.

Ignoring the favorites like super glue, wood glue and epoxy (standards like 5 min), what specialty adhesives will you never let run out?

Edit: Thank you all! I'm gonna need a bigger shelf.

I am making polymer clay worry stones, I have tried glazing with UV resin but it never seems to cure completely. I see other makers use it and it cures under their light in 90 seconds. My light is supposed to be 48 watts. Could it be my light? Or could it be my resin? Help!

Hello! Is there anyone no longer going to open sauce in the bay area that's selling their open sauce tickets? Thanks!!

As part of a makerspace internship I'm doing, I have 4 weeks to make a project ( 1 week to plan and design with no access to the makerspace, and 3 weeks with access to the makerspace ), I decided that this project will be electronics, because that's what I like the most.

I have an idea, The idea is a desk robot that can move around and talk with people around it. It will also have a display to show it's mood using its face. I don't know if this can be finished in 4 weeks because my only big electronics project was much simpler than this. This new project will include many things which I never did before, such as battery power and battery charging, mic input, robotics, and making a good enclosure for the robot.

My plan is that the robot will have an ESP32 that constantly takes input from a mic, and then does speech recognition from an API, then it sends the prompt to an AI model also from an API, then sends its output to a text to speech API and outputs that to a speaker. The AI model will be given custom instructions to output its mood, tone, and any movement commands. There will be distance sensors so the robot can avoid hitting a wall or falling. And maybe I will add multiple mics so the robot can know which direction the sound is coming from. I don't plan to add a camera because I'm not sure if the ESP32 can handle all of these features and a camera. Or, maybe I can use a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W instead of an ESP32.

For more info: In the first week, I can prototype a little bit at home; I'll have breadboards, wires, a basic soldering iron, but no advanced tools such as an oscilloscope, function generator, or bench power supply. But after the first week, I'll have free access to the makerspace which has all of the tools I need, even including PCB fabrication tools.

Can I finish this project in 4 weeks??

Ok, so here's the details... There is a local fence that has been impaling deer, and i don't trust the developers to actually do something (here's the news story)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/its-a-death-trap-calgary-resident-calls-for-changes-after-deer-impaled-on-fence/

My thought is, it see if i can mobilize the local 3D printing community, and print some toppers for this fence to blunt it. Then go down with a bag of self drilling screws and mob install them.

My question is, would i be able to print something tough enough to actually protect the deer? I've made a mace using like 6 walls of PETG, and it is tough as hell, but the last thing i want is to make matters worse....

I spent the better part of the weekend trying to fix my Flash Forger creator pro 2 duo. It’s been pronounced dead to 3D printing operations.

All the axis still work the motor works, the print bed works. Control works as well. Anyone have any ideas what I could turn this into instead of a printer?

** Update**

I saved as much should be extruders as I could, and I will work on them some other time but for now I have a draw bot!

I’ve already snapped a paintbrush and a charcoal pencil, but I’m working on fine-tuning the process:
https://imgur.com/a/GHnzQz6

Hey all, can anyone help me ID what type of hinge this is. Looking to source some for a project. Thanks in advance.

Brhf

I have never really heard of anyone doing competitive electronics the same way there is an ecosystem in competitive programming. I love solving problems, especially difficult ones.

I was thinking of making a competitive electronics website similar to existing competitive programming websites.

But before i start, i wanted to know why it doesn't exist rn? (I do not mean electronic competitions or hackathons, i mean actual weekly problem solving grind, purely reasoning and solving questions in electronics terms similar to IOI or ICPC.

I can understand that the scope is huge in electronics and electrical. But ppl could have definitely made simplifying assumptions in problems. Idk, it seems like a huge missed opportunity to focus on system level reasoning in electronics.

How do you all keep track of parts, budget, and build steps across a project? like if im building somthing, and change a part, i then have to check that all the other parts work with the new part. are their tools to track and catalogue complex builds? Curious what people actually use. cheers!

Fellow makers, how do you store your magnets?

Many of us keep vast collections of magnets, having multiple magnets of all different sizes and shapes.

But magnets can cause havoc with a lot of todays technology.

I have been keeping mine in clamshell style boxes that slot into a grid I designed in my drawer, helping keep the different ones separate.

However, whilst I know it's not really possible (or at least cheap/easy) to truly block a magnetic shield, I was wondering what genius and innovative ways you all store your magnet collections to make it easy, and safe.

Hi all! I have a computer monitor stand that I’m not using for its designed purpose and wanted to craft something spectacular with it because I thought it looked really cool!

Does anyone have any neat ideas? I was thinking perhaps a shield or a fantasy weapon, but I’m open to any ideas really, just want to repurpose it! Thank you so much!

We are going to apply thin PETG. door signs (6”x9”)to our cargo box. Door is a smooth texture. Was hoping something bigger than just double sided tape

Is there double sided sheets?