Tag Archives: DIY + Hacks

3D Printed Dragon Feet TV Stand: For Your Own House of the Dragon

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Because dinosaur feet make everything better (googly eyes, too, but this isn’t about them), Thingiverse user melgrubb created 3D-printed dino feet to support a flatscreen television. That’s cool, but he should have also printed little t-rex arms hugging the television from the sides.

According to Mel, he recently moved a wall-hanging television from one room to another, where it was to become a terrestrial model, but he couldn’t find the original feet (story of my life). His wife suggested 3D printing feet, and when he asked what they should look like, she said dragon feet. The rest is television history.

Of course, the odds of these feet being an exact fit for your television model are low, but they can be scaled up or down in different dimensions to make them fit your television’s bolts. Per Mel: “I printed them in a lovely marble filament, and my wife painted the nails with the ‘sluttiest’ red nail polish she could find at the dollar store. Now, this TV makes us smile even when it’s not turned on.” Haha, that TV makes me smile even when it’s not turned on, and it’s not my TV, and I’m just looking at a picture of it! Now that’s quality.

[via adafruit]

This Robotic Spider Lamp Is Ready to Weave Its Web of Light

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Presumably inspired by my nightmares, the Mecrob Spider Table Lamp is a metal robot spider that comes in kit form. The spider features an abdomen full of fairy lights and four spotlight-style eye lights for illuminating whatever mad scientist project you’re currently working on.

The spider is powered via USB and features a 4-way dimmable switch, providing just enough light to create the ambiance you’re looking for. I can’t say a creepy robot spider lamp really fits my current interior design scheme, but if I ever turn my basement into an evil robotics lab, I now know where to find the perfect lamp for my desk.

Being a kit, you do have to build the posable spider yourself, which is constructed entirely from relatively common machine parts and requires no special tools. It does require you to be able to follow directions, though, something the IKEA couch I recently assembled reminded me I’m not very good at. Where do all these extra parts even go? And why’s it leaning so far backward?

The Baby Flask Is the Best Way to Sneak Booze

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Pure genius Instructables user mikeasaurus has created step-by-step instructions detailing how to create a Baby Flask, a doll baby in a chest-mounted baby carrier you can fill with booze. A lot of booze too. Goodbye, hip flask, hello, Baby Flask!

The Baby Flask consists of a baby carrier holding a doll with all its stuffing removed and replaced with a 2-liter hydration bladder. The straw from the bladder comes out of the baby’s forehead, so it looks like you’re just kissing your baby on the head whenever you’re drinking. As far as genius inventions go, this might actually rival the wheel or inclined plane.

As Mike points out, if anyone asks to see your baby, you can just dismiss them with a “Shhhh, she’s sleeping.” Of course, that may be easier said than done, considering I already had a baby carrier and hydration bladder but no doll, so I had to use a Godzilla toy instead. Fingers crossed that everyone just thinks it’s a really ugly baby.

[via Instructables]

Star Wars Landspeeder Ride-On Children’s Toy Modded with Jet Engine

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Because almost every mode of transportation is improved with more horsepower, inventor and YouTuber Joel Creates replaced the pathetically underpowered 12-volt motors of a children’s Star Wars Landspeeder toy with a small jet engine. And, I think I speak for every speed-lover here when I say, where was this when I was a kid? Also, where the heck was the Bigfoot Power Wheels that was on the top of my birthday list every year?

The modding included locking the back wheels in place to prevent the landspeeder from only doing donuts and adding an R/C controller so the person riding in it (or somebody else you trust with your safety) can steer. Now that looks like fun. I wish my friends did fun stuff like this on weekends. Or maybe they do, and they just don’t invite me.

I was just thinking of adding a jet engine to my nephew’s Radio Flyer wagon; now, I can show this to my sister as a proof of concept. Will she actually let me add the engine? Of course not, but that won’t stop me from telling my nephew I was going to, but his mom wouldn’t let me. I really hope he takes that into consideration while casting his ballot for World’s Greatest Uncle.

[via TechEBlog]

Man Turns Old IKEA Desk Into A Star Wars Workbench

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Presumably using a healthy dose of The Force, filmmaker Glen Vivaris of the YouTube channel Glen Makes crafted this Star Wars-inspired workbench from an old IKEA desk. Most impressive! For reference, I turned my old IKEA desk into kindling, which I then used to light the sofa at my last bonfire party. Now I know what you’re thinking, and I couldn’t agree more; you should have been there.

In addition to the Star Wars-style greebles on its drawer, the desk features a pop-up power strip, and the wall behind the desk has a suction vent for sucking away harmful soldering fumes. It’s a thermal exhaust port! Glen better hope the Rebel Alliance doesn’t fire any proton torpedoes down that thing.

An impressive workbench, to be sure. Currently, my own workbench is a closet door laid across two uneven towers of cardboard boxes. I keep telling myself it’s only temporary, but I’ve been telling myself that since I moved in three years ago, so at this point, I’m really just lying to myself.

[via Laughing Squid]

This Toilet Has a Gaming PC Built Into Its Tank

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Discontent with just bringing a portable gaming system like a Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch into the bathroom to play games while on the can, YouTuber Basically Homeless went and assembled a full-fledged gaming PC in the tank of his working toilet. He then mounted a monitor on the wall right in front of the toilet so he can play Counter-Strike while taking a global offensive. And they say dreams don’t come true!

The construction of the toilet PC basically involved reducing the tank’s water reservoir to a small well he built out of plexiglass, then adding all the computer components to the dry area of the tank outside the plexiglass well. He also added lights, built a window so you can see inside, and included an exhaust fan to keep the PC cool and reduce humidity inside the tank. Now he just needs to add a mini-fridge, and that bathroom will be complete.

So, if you were wondering what home improvement project I’ll be tackling this weekend, the answer is this: a gaming PC toilet. Probably immediately followed by repairing a massive leak, then next weekend, replacing the water-damaged drywall and carpet in the basement.

[via Kotaku]

World’s First Chia Toilet: The Sprouthouse

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Who hasn’t dreamed of resting their rear on some soft green sprouts while they go about their bathroom business? Good news! YouTuber Ali Spagnola created the Sprouthouse: a toilet completely covered in chia seedlings. As far as good ideas go, I think we can all agree this one is Nobel Prize-worthy. Somebody get Ali one of those MacArthur Fellowship genius grants too.

First, Ali wrapped her entire toilet with gauze to hold the seeds while they spout, then carefully watered them every day for seven days until she had the world’s greenest toilet. She then takes a seat to test it, which she describes as “just a little moist, but in a satisfying way.” Wow, who knew sitting on a moist toilet could ever be satisfying?

Ali insists nobody should go their whole life without sitting on a Chia toilet, and I couldn’t agree more. I mean, is a life having never sat on a plant-covered crapper truly worth living? I, for one, don’t plan on risking it. Now I just need to convince my wife to not go into the guest bathroom for the next week.

Modder Runs DOOM on Electronic Badge from ElectroMagnetic Field Festival

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Because there’s a festival for everything, programmer Phil Ashby went and took an electronic badge from the 2022 ElectroMagnetic Field Festival (aka EMF Camp) and got it to run DOOM. I am not surprised. I also won’t be surprised when somebody manages to run DOOM on my Casio watch; it’s simply the natural progression of things.

The badge, which is powered by “a dual-core 32bit Xtensa MCU, 8MB of RAM, and 8MB of flash storage,” also features a tiny display, perfect for those pixelated DOOM graphics. It’s hard to believe the game was so cutting edge back in 1993 when it came out. We’ve come so far! I mean, in some areas, in others, it feels like we’re going backward.

What’s next, running DOOM on objects that aren’t even electronic? Now that will be true technological progress. Just imagine – playing DOOM on a book! It may sound far-fetched, but that’s because I’m still gassed up from the dentist this morning. Thank God my wife drove.

[via TechEBlog]

Man Builds Remote Controlled Bed So He Never Has to Leave It

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I’ve heard of couch potatoes before, but never bed potatoes. But here to prove there is such a thing, a 39-year-old man from China named Zhu Jianqiang went and built himself a joystick-controlled bed so he never has to get out from under the sheets to go about his day. Talk about a genius!

The bed moves about as fast as a walking human and gets an impressive 30 miles to a full charge (there’s plenty of room for a large battery). It can tackle steep grades thanks to its large tires and braking system and includes a motor for raising the incline of your head and a canopy for staying out of the sun. Now it just needs a mini-fridge and I’ve found my dream bed!

In the video, Zhu even takes the bed down to a pond to do a little fishing. That’s cool. At least until he accidentally steers himself into the water. Then it’s less cool and more cold and wet. Unless, of course, it can transform into a submarine bed the way James Bond’s would.

[via TechEBlog]

CAT-CAT: A Star Wars AT-AT Inspired Cat Condo

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Because most people’s cats live better lives than I do, do-it-yourselfer Whitney Fabre constructed the CAT-CAT, an AT-AT-inspired cat condo. She built the condo for her feline friend, Captain Jack Harkness, who was named after the Doctor Who character. Why she didn’t build a TARDIS cat house instead is anybody’s guess.

For those of you interesting in building your own CAT-CAT, Whitney was kind enough to create an Instructable, so you can follow the directions and, provided you have the skills and supplies, wind up with something similar and not just a dangerous pile of wood scrap and nails like I did. But you know what they say: The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. And the worst-laid plans like mine almost always go awry.

There’s no question it’s a fine-looking cat condo. But even if I was able to successfully construct one, would my cat play in it or purposefully ignore it to spite me for all the time and effort I put into building it? Here, let me give you a hint: We named him Spiteful Bill for a reason.

[via Instructables]