SheekGeek

The Rocketry of Central Carolina (ROCC) hosts rocket launches using their rocket pad for rockets from 1/4 A motor size all the way up to gigantic K size motors.   Adam and I have gone several times just to watch the launches, and a few times Adam has launched his own rockets.  I much prefer this to the times he used the car battery to launch a few homemade rockets at our home.  Watching rocket launches is free and a small donation is recommended if you use the ROCC launchpad.  See some of our ROCC adventures after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Now that some time has passed, I am able to reflect thoughtfully and professionally over the Maker Faire that was held in Durham on Sunday, April 25th.

From a teacher’s perspective, four makers in particular presented things I just “need” to have in my classroom.  This is my wish list:

• Classroom Visits for “Scrap” from the ScrapExchange
• Leatherbound Books
• ShopBot Tyro
• DIY Multi-Touch Screen

Find reasons and more information about each of my choices after the jump.

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This summer I had an AMAZING wedding that happened very much in part because of my dad – who also happens to be my source of inspiration for this post.  Of course I wanted to thank my dad in a special way, so I decided to create a personalized scrapbook, cataloging all of his visits and of course, my wedding.  This post will serve to overview my experience with viovio, from uploading my book, placing my order, to receiving my order and beyond… Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first part in a two part series about how to design, build, and finish a simple woodworking project.  This part focuses on the design and build of the project.

Jessica and I tend to collect a lot of books.   I mean a LOT of books.  When one of those cheap 7ft tall particle board bookcases we had finally bit the dust, and fell on me, I decided we would only get solid wood bookcases from now on.  I also decided that it was probably best that the bookcase we get to replace the broken one be rather short, something that would fit just under the window in our living room. With the cost of solid wood bookcases being pretty high and nothing available suiting our needs exactly, I decided we should design and build one ourselves. Rather than trying to fit a new bookcase into our living room, why not design one that already fits?

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Adam and I had been in search for a drawer system for use in our office, and then there it was, the Ikea Alex.  Everything was right.  It was the perfect height.  It had plenty of long thin drawers, perfect for tool organization.  It even had wheels.  We excitedly perused our color options;  white, white, or white.  Hmm….

Our office is mostly wood tones and black, so white was just not working for our color palette.  At first we tried to find another option, but we just kept coming back to the Alex.  It had the barebones of exactly what we needed.  That’s when we decided to buy the Alex and give it a facelift.  Our plan was to paint it black and customize the drawer fronts.  This is how we did it. Read the rest of this entry »