Make: Kit Reviews

What to do when you want to machine precise custom parts but don’t have room or funds for a professional CNC? Invest in a manual mill that can convert into a CNC. Considered a great tool for the price, the X2 Mini Mill is the kit builder’s top choice, and Probotix offers complete conversion kits (see […]

Tools & Workshop: CNC, Tools, Workshop

Tired of all those TVs everywhere? Want a break from advertisements while you’re trying to eat? Want to zap screens from across the street? The TV-B-Gone kit is what you need. The new v1.2 works worldwide, turning off virtually any TV by running 230 TV power codes for Asian/North American and European IR remote standards. […]

Electronics and Controllers: electronics, pranks

While not exactly a “kit,” Cultures for Health has everything you need for making sourdough bread: 15 starters from all over the world, clear instructions, and a great selection of useful bread-making tools, like cookbooks, dough scrapers, bread bags, and baker’s blades for scoring that classic ridge down the middle of your loaf. I experimented […]

Food: baking, bread, bread-making, food, sourdough

A friend and I tried to build a pottery kick wheel ourselves, but the concrete flywheel we poured cracked immediately, rendering the wheel a bit wobbly. Fortunately I later discovered these two kits, which include everything you need to make a solid kick wheel, including the wheel head, ball bearings, and all the pre-cut wood. And […]

Craft: crafts, pottery

If you’ve never needle felted before, you’ll start this kit a beginner, and complete it an expert. With enough wool to make two large friends, or a handful of tiny octopi, these creatures will take shape before your eyes, and as you work, you’ll refine your skills. Follow the clear and funny directions to needle […]

Craft: animals, crafts, felt, needle-felting, octopus

I’ve built several boat kits from Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC). I’d recommend the Wood Duck kayak with the okoume deck to start out with, but all of the kits have been very complete (just add sandpaper, paint, and varnish) and have gone together just as the straightforward, illustrated manuals say they should. In addition, there […]

Outdoor & Sport: boats, kayak, outdoors, sports

This straightforward kit provides the parts to convert your snowboard into a backcountry splitboard capable of skinning deep into the wintry wonderland. All the heavy-duty hardware to mount the components to the board is included. You supply marine epoxy and the gumption to saw your trustworthy deck in half. The process is simple but time-consuming, […]

Outdoor & Sport: outdoors, skiing, snow, snowboarding, splitboard, sports

Peggy 2LE provides a quick, easy, powerful, and efficient way to drive a lot of big, bright LEDs — up to 625 — in a matrix. With it, you can make an LED sign for your window, a geeky valentine for your sweetie, one badass birthday card, the next generation of low-pixel-count video games, or […]

LEDs: electronics, LEDs

The Voice Shield is an analog audio shield for Arduino and compatible boards that allows you to play audio files saved in WAV format, whether short sound bites or entire operas. It lets you easily add audio to your next micro-controller project, thanks to a unique and very user-friendly way to access different sound clips. […]

Electronics and Controllers Microcontrollers: Arduino, auidio, electronics, microcontrollers, WAV

The Mintronics Bundle from the Maker Shed is a great way to get started with Arduino and electronics. It includes a MintDuino — a mint tin containing all the components you need to build a full-featured Arduino-compatible microcontroller — plus the Mintronics Survival Pack, another tin containing over 60 über-handy components you can use for […]

Electronics and Controllers Microcontrollers: Arduino, electronics, microcontrollers