Make: Kit Reviews

Alternative time-telling devices are compelling, but only if they’re easy to read. Building a kit can be satisfying, but only if it leaves room for creativity. The Chronulator clock kit fits the bill on both counts. Solder it together, and you’ve got a microcontroller-based clock that converts time to current, displaying hours and minutes on […]

Clocks: Arduino, clocks, hackable

The Real Time Clock Kit Parts Bundle includes everything but the casing to build the PIC-based clock designed by Sparkle Labs and featured in MAKE Volume 09. Be sure to read the article for detailed explanations of how the PIC, Real Time Clock, and LED driver all work together to make a functioning clock.

Clocks: clocks, LEDs, microcontroller, PIC

Bzzzzrrrreeeeepeh-khkhkhhhhhhhk! Build your own Noise Toy with this kit from electronic noise group the Loud Objects. Plug in your headphones and glitch out, or jack into an amp and play it as an instrument. These kits come complete with a custom-printed circuit board, a noise generating microchip programmed with the firmware Loud Objects uses for […]

Musical Instruments: music, musical instruments, noise-maker

Looking to get some clean preamp boost out of your guitar, and love the tone that vintage tubes offer? Check out The Persuader pedal from Mod Kits DIY. The Persuader can take the tone of your guitar from nice and clean to that warm, smooth tube overdrive. Easy to construct with the solid instructions, this […]

Musical Instruments: effects pedal, guitar, music, musical instruments

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 […]

Musical Instruments: music, musical instruments, Ukulele

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

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 […]

Outdoor & Sport: boats, kayak, outdoors, sports

Though making your own technical outdoor gear may seem out of reach, all it takes is a good pattern, solid instructions, techie fabrics, and some sewing skill. Thru-Hiker puts the pieces in your hands; you add the skill and patience. This vest kit is a good one to tackle for starters, and includes a toasty layer of Primaloft, […]

Outdoor & Sport: clothing, outdoors, sports, vest

Traditional surfboards are fragile, plus they’re made of toxic goo — polyurethane foam and polyester resin — that ends up as landfill. This deluxe starter kit has all the tools and materials you need to make a tougher, greener epoxy board using expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam that’s recyclable. And Greenlight’s lamination technique, using bamboo fabric […]

Outdoor & Sport: green, outdoors, sports, surf board, surfing