Mermaid LED Hair

I’ve wanted to make a mermaid hair accessory since Dianna Cowern and I met in 2018. This is her idea, but she’s incapacitated by long COVID.

So I’m making this project with my hair and makeup artist, Hinano Leung, and sending our love to Dianna in spirit.

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6 Easy DIY 3D Printing Projects

It’s roundup time! If you’re a longtime fan, you might remember some of these 3D printing projects from my channel. If you’re new, consider this a guided tour of some of my best.

1. Dust Port Adapter

Let’s start with a project that will come in handy if you have power tools with a different brand dust collector: a dust port adapter! These are great for keeping all that excess sawdust from getting everywhere. It’s extremely useful, prints super fast, and hardly uses any filament.

You can check out my full video on that project here.

2. LED Mason Jar Lanterns

These LED mason jars are kinda magical. When lit up, these little jars transform into warm and inviting orbs. The 3D print holds the circuit in place and you can customize them in a bunch of different ways.

Watch the video for more information.

3. DIY Candle Mold

Now, let’s try something totally different. This next project is a candle mold that you can 3D print. It’s perfect for making candles in any shape you want. This method works surprisingly well, and custom candles make great gifts.

Here‘s the full video!

4. Filament Dry Box

Once you’ve been 3D printing for a while, you will inevitably acquire a stash of filament, and you may want to start looking into filament storage solutions. Well, take this as a sign to build your own 3D printer filament dry box. This customized storage bin will keep your filament from getting damp and ruining your prints. The off-the-shelf components work with some 3D-printed parts to bring this project together quickly.

Watch the full video here.

5. Glowing LED Flower

Next, make this glowing LED flower. The stem shape holds a battery and the 10mm LED supports the flower’s petals. You can optionally use needle felting to change up the texture as well as diffuse the LED.

Check out the video.

6. Light-Up Kaleidoscope

And last but not least, here’s an awesome LED kaleidoscope made from 3D printed parts. To get started, download the files my friend Debra designed and watch our video to learn how to put it all together using wireless LEDs.

So there you have it – my top six easy DIY 3D printing projects. I hope you have as much fun making these projects as I did. Thanks for watching and happy 3D printing!

Ray-Bans Stories Teardown

Today I’m taking a look inside the Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses. They’ve got cameras, speakers, microphones, and a whole lot more crammed into these frames.

These glasses are particularly interesting because of how small and oddly shaped the electronics must be to fit entirely in the otherwise pretty normal-looking frames. Before I took them apart, I sent them off to be CT scanned by my friends at Lumafield.

Taking apart these glasses was not an easy or elegant task. The only screws I was able to remove successfully were the ones holding the arms onto the front of the frames. And even still, there were flex PCBs routed through these hinges that I broke when I tore the arms off.

This teardown is sponsored by Digi-Key, where you can pick up supplies and tools for your own electronics projects. Check out this project on their maker.io site. Thanks to David Cranor for lending his EE expertise and to Lumafield for the 3D scan.

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3D Printed Light-Up Kaleidoscope

Today we’re building an LED kaleidoscope. This 3D-printed project comes together with no glue or fasteners and contains wireless LEDs to create fun patterns. The inductive power coil lives in the base.

I didn’t design this kaleidoscope– My friend Debra Ansell from Geek Mom Projects did. You can check out her tutorial to see more information about this project, access the files to make your own, or browse Debra’s other projects. You can also follow her on social media @geekmomprojects.

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Dyeing Shoes + *airegan Giveaway

Today we’re dyeing shoes. I customized some Air Force Ones, Crocs, and *airegans using a few different methods: stovetop dip dye, hydro dipping with water-marbled spray paint, and hydro dipping with purpose-built printed film.

This video is sponsored by *airegan, a limited-release sneaker designed using machine learning.

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My Cargo Van Build

Today I’m sharing my cargo van build, optimized for my needs in and around New York City. I got my 2006 Ford E350 in 2020. Since then I’ve been customizing it to comfortably carry everything I might need on the road, two motorcycles, and a dog or two.

I’ll take you through all the upgrades I’ve made, including installing a rear bench seat, fixing the rusty floor, making my own custom storage solution, and what I pack inside. I’ll also share more info about the supplies I used in my van build.

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Remember the Whee-Lo? Makers Secret Santa 2022

This year I pulled This Old Tony‘s name for Makers Secret Santa. I was inspired by Tony’s love of benders and bending, and built him a toy from my childhood in the shape of a letter T. It’s got a magnetic spinning device that rides along the wire, and these little bends provide a turnaround point so you can, with practice, get the spinner to move continuously along the track.

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