Yes it has, during the run up to Christmas things get a bit crazy in the Hobley household. That’s not to say I’ve not been very busy on the CNC router, but mainly producing presents and other festive stuff.

I have been working on a tip-top secret project featuring the Ebow-clone I put together in the last post – but this is quite a way off just yet.

I was invited by my buddies at Make to put together a Christmas gift guide, and so rather than go for glitz and glamo[u]r I decided to go for the 10 most practical Maker tools I’ve used in 2011…

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Pitch To MIDI Tracker MIDI Camera
Post image for …infringing patents (probably)

I’ve been meaning to build one of these for ages.
Can anyone guess what it is?

It’s not a Taser, or one of those shocking buzzer things – the clue is that the coils are well “potted” and have very different gauges of wire.

Mystery device Mystery Item, back view

Answers on a postcard please, or in the comments…

UPDATE : Correctly identified as a “guitar sustainerizer” otherwise known as an Ebow.

The circuit is a simple audio amplifier based on the LM386 (or in my case the NTE823) IC.

The two coils are taken from old telephone pickups – one (input) has a small rare earth magnet on the back, the other (output) was unwound and rewound with about 300 turns of #32 wire – this coil now has a resistance of just under 8 ohms. I tried a 4 ohm output coil, but the IC got too hot so I doubled the turns.

Note – I recently found a better candidate to make the coils with – tiny PC speakers.

The input coil has a resistance of 250 ohms – this is probably too high – I read somewhere that 50 ohms is probably better – so I may remove some of the turns on the coil.

Tomorrow I’ll publish the circuit and the etch mask, along with a video of the device in action.

…and here’s the patent :-)

UPDATE2 : Here’s the schematic, placement and etch mask – click to enlarge

Guitar Sustain Schematic Guitar Sustain Components Guitar Sustain Etch Mask

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…Treasure Finder for MAKE:Projects

November 19, 2011
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This was my favo[u]rite of all the MAKE projects I’ve been working on. This project uses 2 oscillators in a configuration very much like a Theremin to create a beat frequency (BFO) metal detector. Range is a few inches for the smaller detection coil, but the detection range can be increased by adding a larger [...]

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…Fritz Lang’s Theremin Stand

November 6, 2011
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(Sounds like something you’d find in Warehouse 13) For many weeks I’ve been trying to come up with a cabinet design for the vacuüm tube Theremin I built a while ago. I decided that the electronics were far too marvelous to hide away in the classic RCA “drinks cabinet” – and that something more radical [...]

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Fry’s – now dealin ‘duinos…

November 6, 2011

Wow, didn’t expect that. I was lurkin’ in my local Fry’s and found a section full of Arduino clones… They seem to have a range (from Megas to Nanos) of them – prices are pretty good too.

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Air Guitar? …meet Air Piano

November 5, 2011
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My buddy John Claeys sent me a link to this video of the AirPiano device being demonstrated by Jo Hamilton. I’ve not been able to find out too much about the design or origins of the instrument. It seems to use optical proximity sensing to detect the player’s hands. A neat idea, and a slick [...]

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Jarre demo’s “Mini” laser harp at Hamburg concert

November 4, 2011
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Ricardo Melo just sent me a link to footage of Jarre’s recent gig in Hamburg. Looks like he’s added a mini laser harp to his rig. Looks like it uses a straight “interruption” trigger built into the frame. This kind is way easier to keep under control on stage.

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DIY CO2 Laser Cutter – more test cuts…

October 11, 2011
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I re-aligned the bounce mirrors, added an air-assist, and did some test cuts on acrylic, plywood and hardwood. Slowing the feedrate seems more effective than increasing the power. Need to spend some time with different materials, figuring out the cut parameters for each one. Oooh shiny!

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…555 timer “Ball Whacker”

October 10, 2011
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As another Radio Shack “Great Create” challenge I put together this fun project. A 555 timer and simple optical feedback loop creates a simple cybernetic control system. The photocell in the tip of the arm responds to the light pattern falling across it – this in turn controls the position of the arm. Resulting in [...]

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…making some initial cuts with the CO2 Laser

October 4, 2011
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Yes! Finally, after several iterations we have the installed, aligned and focused CO2 laser wreaking some serious havoc on a piece of MDO. There are still many tests to run and various safety mechanisms to install, but the system works, and is aligned over a 24″ x 24″ area (at least). I can think of [...]

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