Community Quality: 2
(5=Most community) How much of a community is there around the kit? Are there builder groups, online forums, circles, and meetups? Is the kit used in class- rooms or after-school programs? Do the kit makers or builders have a presence at events like Maker Faire?
PumLantern Kit
This kit includes everything needed to build a solar-charged, nighttime-activated, light-pulsing lamp. It charges all day from the SCC3733 solar cell, and “pumms” the four ultra-mega-super-bright LEDs to cast artistic silhouettes against the walls of the stylized cardboard lantern. The LEDs are a random grab of white, blue, red, orange, and green. Basic soldering is […]
Fire Pit Kit
Blacksmith/sculptor Jon Sarriugarte of Form & Reform makes magical propane-powered fire pits. As he puts it, “Not only do they give off warmth but you can entertain your guest with drawings in the sand that burn where you draw!” You can buy one ready-made, or pick up one of his fire pit kits to make […]
ElectroPUFF Craft Lamp Dimmer Kit
This soft, whimsical pompom connects to any incandescent lamp and controls light levels with just a gentle tap. IFM’s patented electronic textiles are the magic behind it. Conductive yarns that sense your touch are combined with recycled carpet fibers to form the soft switch. This kit appeals to kids, grandmas, science geeks — anyone who enjoys crafts […]
Wise Clock 3
The Wise Clock 3 is an easy and highly customizable driver for a 32×16 RGB LED matrix display (included). Its default program includes several different clock modes, but it can also display the date and temperature, or any message. Check out all the different clock faces, including Pong and Pac-Man.
Solder: Time
Solder: Time was a perfect father-daughter project: my 8-year-old assembled the components and I soldered. Afterwards, she had a chunky blue wristwatch that her cousin admired longingly, so we made another one for her. Now their friends are asking for them. I think we’ve started a trend!
Edo-Style Clock
I had a great time building the Edo-Style clock kit from Gakken, and was amazed at its accuracy over several months of use. The kit is well designed, durable, and fun. The included picture-based directions are easy to follow, even if you don’t know Japanese, but if you plan to make one, you can also refer […]
MintyTime Clock
The MintyTime Clock Kit is a fun way to add a binary clock to almost any container. It’s intended to be housed in a mint tin, such as the classic Altoids tin, but it looks great in almost any container, from a custom-designed, laser-cut enclosure to an old wooden recipe box.
LEGO Syringe Kit
MAKE blogger Sean Ragan created this provocative kit enabling you to make a medical replica out of nothing but Lego, with the exception of one slightly modified piece. Build the syringe by following the easy “order-of-operations,” using red for blood, or maybe a blue medicine from the future, or create yourself a sickly yellow-green poison. Complete […]
H3125 Ukulele
Aspiring luthiers will find this a satisfying first project, with its pre-assembled mahogany body and ready-to-attach neck; you’re left with the satisfying jobs of final assembly and finishing. The woods are nice despite the low price — the plywood fretboard being the only weak piece — and if you build it as instructed, you’ll end […]
Pygmy Coho Kayak
Using the book Kayaks You Can Build by Ted Moores and Greg Rossel, I built my first Coho, a stitch-and-glue plywood sea kayak. I considered kits from Redfish, Chesapeake Light Craft, Waters Dancing, and One Ocean, but I settled on Pygmy because other builders touted how accurate their CNC router-cut parts are. Plus I had seen a […]
