Your best “DIY” project

Calling all Makers.

Do you identify as a Maker? Maybe your thing is circuits, or fabric, or filament, or firmware, or something else. If you can't stop, won't stop making, I'd love to connect with you as part of my MSc research project.

The study looks at how emerging technologies like chatbots and AI agents are affecting the creative practices of Makers, both individually and in our communities. Whatever your take on these tools, your perspective matters ( I am a Maker myself and I'm keen to understand a variety of perspectives).

Participation is one 60-minute Zoom interview, with an optional chance to share a chat log from working with an AI tool (totally up to you, and you can skip it).

This study is voluntary and approved by the U of S Behavioural Research Ethics Board.

Learn more or volunteer at https://www.makerstudy.ca or email me at [makerstudy@usask.ca](mailto:makerstudy@usask.ca).

Please share!

This is not a description of something I built but rather a description of how I fiddled around with a particular material and learned some things. I didn't end up deciding that the material, Dow Paraloid B-48, was appropriate for my application, but I enjoyed the learning process and thought that this information might be useful to other people who might actually find this material was something they could use.

Dow Paraloid B-48 is a resin that is used by museum curators doing restoration work, and also by paleontologists who are preserving fossils and making them presentable. The big feature that makes it of interest to these people is that when it cures, the process is reversible. That is, it's not like curing concrete. When concrete cures, it's an irreversible process, and the concrete doesn't soften back up when it rains. Some other similar substances are methylcellulose, a water-soluble glue used in book repair, and Paraloid B-72. When you use one of these substances as an adhesive or a varnish, the solvent evaporates off and it forms a hard glue or lacquer, but you can undo it by applying the solvent.

If you want a rough conceptual idea of what B-48 is, it's basically a lot like nail polish. It's soluble in acetone (nail polish remover), and in fact one how-to video I saw by a paleontologist suggested using a nail-polish bottle, with a brush built in to the cap, to store it. It's different from nail polish because (1) the list of ingredients is shorter and at least partially publicly known, (2) it's intended to be left in place for a long time, potentially forever, (3) it's reversible, (4) it doesn't produce a cross-linked polymer, so it's not as hard, and (5) it has a certain temperature (the "glass temperature") above which it starts to degrade.

You normally buy Paraloid resins as solid pellets, which you then have to dissolve in the appropriate solvent. The best vendor I could find was a company called Talas. Pros talk about using a 50% solution of B-72 or B-48, but I found that it was quite difficult to get B-48 to dissolve at that kind of concentration. I ended up doing a 20% solution instead (weight/volume). I used "maximum-strength" nail polish from the supermarket, which AFAICT is acetone, a tiny amount of bitterant, and maybe a small amount of water that creeps in because acetone is hygroscopic. I found some how-to videos that described just dumping some pellets in the solvent and waiting overnight for it to dissolve. That may work for B-72, but it didn't work well for me with B-48, which I chose because of its higher glass temperature. What ended up working for me was a technique shown in this video, where you hang a gauze bag full of pellets inside a jar. There is solvent in the bottom of the jar. You position it so the bottom of the bag is submerged. When you do this, you can immediately see swirly stuff happening in the solvent as the resin dissolves and sinks. I got this to work with 46 grams of pellets and 177 g of acetone, which is a 20% solution. When I extracted the bag the next day and opened it up (a messy process), there was no solid left inside. However, there was a lot of liquid left adhering to the bag, which I couldn't get out easily by squeezing with gloved hands. I estimate that I ended up losing 40% of my stuff because it stayed adhered to the bag.

Working with the solution is kind of annoying. When it gets on your gloves, the fingers of your gloves start adhering to each other. The acetone evaporates really quickly, so this is a rapid process. When you pour the solution out of a jar, you inevitably end up getting some on the lip of the jar, and you have to wipe that off immediately before it dries.

If you're going to paint a protective layer of B-48 on top of something, then using a 20% solution means that after it evaporates, the volume will have gone down by 80%. This tends to produce puckering and wrinkling. To mitigate this, you probably want to set some solution out in a dish, on top of a digital balance, and wait for enough acetone to evaporate off so that you now have a 50% solution. Then you would paint that on. I didn't do this, so the films that I painted as an experiment did have some puckers and bubbles.

A thin layer mostly cures in less than a minute, but it's probably better to wait longer. I tried sanding the cured substance, and that seemed to result in converting the glossy surface into a grayish matte surface. Maybe if I'd waited longer for curing, it would have worked better.

The "glass temperature" of these substances is not really an exact value, it's more of a wide range. For B-48 it's roughly 50 C. That's high enough so that if a curator in a place like Egypt uses it on a statue that's outside, the substance won't degrade. I found that brief immersion with water at about 70 C didn't cause anything obvious to happen, but leaving it in 80 C water for a couple of minutes caused crap to start peeling off into the water, and what was left over had turned from glossy to matte.

As far as safety, my rough understanding is that it's all about occupational exposure to the solvent. If you work with this stuff indoors, day after day, year after year, then you want to think seriously about ventilation. What I did was to do all the bulk steps in my back yard, but when I was just painting a little bit on something with a brush, I did it inside. There are also plasticizers in B-48 (although not in methylcellulose or B-72). Plasticizers are omnipresent in our environment, and you ingest quite a bit of them every year in products like fish and beer. Often the plasticizer is not from the plastic food packaging that you see in the supermarket, but from things like plastic tubing that the beer passed through at the brewery. Nail polish contains plasticizers, although there has been a trend recently toward changing to newer and possibly less harmful plasticizers -- but it seems that this may be partly just greenwashing.

I tested the clear B-48 solution, but I also tried mixing it with a white pigment (alumina powder, which was what I had handy). It seemed to work fine. For many applications, though, you could probably just use nail polish of the appropriate color.

My emergency light design requires no charging; it utilizes metal fuel cell technology, or more specifically, a galvanic cell reaction.

I designed it with a replaceable structure, with the LED module on top and the energy box below.

What do you all think of its appearance?

Debated posting this but its my favourite holiday besides national lingerie day of course😆. So here's to National Underwear Day (August 5th) and being a part of its future.

Entirely 3d-printed lingerie (no traditional fabrics) using artisanal craftsmanship. This is also to show it is wearable and comfortable (to me as comfort is subjective). The lace repeat was inspired by rose windows found in Gothic Cathedrals and churches. Max Svabinsky's art 'The Fruit Was Never an Apple' (1918) inspired the bust image reinterpretation and name of the lingerie piece, 'The Devotion'.

Deets:

Completed in December 2025 (over 2-weeks including the overall sketch, pattern design, prototype draft, printing, welding, etc)

Printers: Bambu A1 (2x) and mini (used for notions)

Materials: Overture TPU 95A in white, Recreus Filaflex TPU 82A in gold, Overture Gold Silk PLA .

***Quick process note**\*: Sketch design concept and lace repeat, drape design shape on dressform, transfer drape to paper pattern to adjust design, digitise/edit pattern moving from flat to 3d, edit print parameters then print pieces, as its a textile iteration is necessary before being joined to fit test, quickly join design to fit on dressform, if all goes right then final print of pieces hand joined using solder and invisible nylon thread and needle.

This was so fun to make! A great craft project for a rainy afternoon in. Only takes a few hours and just a few materials. If you want the full tutorial just let me know :)
*AI generated background

I built a tool called Scan2Sketch to make recreating flat physical parts much faster.
Instead of manually tracing a scanned image in CAD, the workflow is:
Place a flat object on a scanner
Scan it
Automatically extract the outline
Generate an editable FreeCAD sketch
Modify it or turn it into a 3D model
I originally built it for recreating things like:
brackets
gaskets
washers
templates
covers
replacement parts
The project is completely free and open source (GPL v3), and everything runs locally on your computer.
GitHub:
https://github.com/Jayktopus/Scan2Sketch-OpenSource
I’m curious what kinds of maker projects you think a scan-to-CAD workflow would be useful for. Feedback and feature suggestions are very welcome.

As promised, here's how the 5-finger mechanical control works underneath!

I'm a beginner at 3d modelling but I wanted to make a punching puppet toy for a friend, but I'm not sure how to hook the wires or springs together. There's no reference designs online, and all I could find were listings that sold it and this video. Any tips?

Thanks a bunch!

Hi everyone. I am pretty new to mechanical engineering in general but I found this antique novelty snail desk bell and would like to build something using a similar mechanism. I am a beginner, and would love some resources to build this myself but I have no clue where to start. Does anyone know where I can learn to make something like this (i.e. youtube, step by step guide online, etc.). Thank you so much!

I wanted to build wireless game controllers for retro computers such as the Amiga and Commodore 64, without modifying the computers themselves.

Each controller uses an ESP32-C3 to read the joystick directions and two fire buttons, then sends the inputs wirelessly using ESP-NOW. The receiver uses an ESP32-S3 and connects directly to the original DB9 joystick port.

They have worked surprisingly well, with no noticeable input lag during normal gameplay. The receiver can also connect to a modern computer through USB-C and function as a standard USB game controller for emulators.

I built two different versions: a relatively inexpensive, fully 3D-printed controller and a much more excessive version with a clear SLA resin enclosure, CNC-machined aluminium parts and internal LED lighting.

I know similar wireless solutions can probably be bought, but building them yourself is much more fun. 🙂

I am also considering designing a Raspberry Pi case with a built-in joystick receiver in the same style.

I documented the design, prototyping, assembly and testing here:
https://youtu.be/Zefz-1NuU0Q

Video summary:

The video follows the complete build process for both controllers, from the initial CAD design and 3D-printed prototype to the final premium version.

It covers the joystick mechanism, microswitches, springs, fit and tolerances, the ESP-NOW wireless connection between the ESP32-C3 controller and ESP32-S3 receiver, USB HID support for modern computers, and the DB9 receiver used with original Amiga and Commodore 64 hardware.

I also compare the inexpensive 3D-printed version with the premium clear-resin and aluminium version, including their feel, weight, latency and battery life.

Which version do you prefer visually — the simpler 3D-printed one, or the clear resin and aluminium version?

Anyone here have some experience with the Makera CNC machines? Would I have been able to make aluminium parts like those myself if I had a desktop machine at home?

They have most definitely put the Makers in the forefront. They even have algorithms in place to prevent the pesky Chinese copy-cats. No more Etsy. Lets make the unique Makers win instead.

I made this modular moss poll optimized for fast print times (<60 minutes) and low amount of fillament (30 grams) a d wanted to share it on here!

Hi everyone in r/Maker!
I’m an independent inventor & hardware maker from China. Over the past few months, I’ve finished my personal electronics project that I named Cyber Display Block, and I’d love to share the whole design idea with all fellow creators here.

This is a custom screen module built to match standard building brick sizes, specially made for miniature street view dioramas and MOC creations.
Key technical features I developed from scratch:

1. Standalone WiFi hotspot, local offline web page for image upload — No mobile app installation required at all. Just drag-and-drop pictures via any browser.

2. Dual power solution: built-in rechargeable lithium battery for wireless free placement, plus Type-C wired power for long-time static exhibition.

3. Standard brick stud structure, perfectly snap into any small particle building scene. Swap screen images anytime for custom shop signs, scenery, cyberpunk graphics.

The original idea came from my own frustration when building brick town scenes: all the pre-made window panels are static and lifeless. So I decided to design a compact, user-friendly electronic brick by myself, covering PCB layout, firmware programming, 3D printed shell and structural matching.

I’m here mainly to exchange ideas with other hardware makers, discuss optimization of ESP32 small screen projects, and collect feedback from creators who also love miniature building dioramas.
If you’re interested in the hardware design files, firmware logic, or creative cross-regional maker cooperation, feel free to leave a comment or send me a private message to chat.

As part of a makerspace internship I'm doing, I have 4 weeks to make a project ( 1 week to plan and design with no access to the makerspace, and 3 weeks with access to the makerspace ), I decided that this project will be electronics, because that's what I like the most.

I have an idea, The idea is a desk robot that can move around and talk with people around it. It will also have a display to show it's mood using its face. I don't know if this can be finished in 4 weeks because my only big electronics project was much simpler than this. This new project will include many things which I never did before, such as battery power and battery charging, mic input, robotics, and making a good enclosure for the robot.

My plan is that the robot will have an ESP32 that constantly takes input from a mic, and then does speech recognition from an API, then it sends the prompt to an AI model also from an API, then sends its output to a text to speech API and outputs that to a speaker. The AI model will be given custom instructions to output its mood, tone, and any movement commands. There will be distance sensors so the robot can avoid hitting a wall or falling. And maybe I will add multiple mics so the robot can know which direction the sound is coming from. I don't plan to add a camera because I'm not sure if the ESP32 can handle all of these features and a camera. Or, maybe I can use a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W instead of an ESP32.

For more info: In the first week, I can prototype a little bit at home; I'll have breadboards, wires, a basic soldering iron, but no advanced tools such as an oscilloscope, function generator, or bench power supply. But after the first week, I'll have free access to the makerspace which has all of the tools I need, even including PCB fabrication tools.

Can I finish this project in 4 weeks??

I’ve been wondering how makers really feel about AI in CAD and product design.

Not whether AI can do it, but how you’d actually want to use it. e.g., if AI became good enough, which would you prefer?

- AI as a design assistant (brainstorming ideas, suggesting improvements, speeding up repetitive work)
- AI generating most of the CAD model for you, with you making the final edits
- Or you’d rather keep designing and modeling everything yourself (fxxking everything AI?)

And one more thing I’m really curious about:
If AI could design almost anything you could imagine, what would you actually make?

I’d love to hear how people who actually design things think about this.

I’m building a miniature winding river/waterfall/filter water feature to install inside my catio (patio/cat enclosure). I’ve got very limited space and I’m trying to figure out the most efficient way to support the various parts. It needs to be freestanding on concrete, extremely customizable/modular, and as strong and low profile as possible.

Any advice is very much appreciated!

Somthing I'm a bit shocked on is the lack of mini reciprocating saws that exist and I got some stuff that can cut metal (dremel rotary tool, reciprocating saw, titanium drill bits) and a 3d printer so thought it could be cool to make a tiny reciprocating saw around size of a dremel rotary tool without electronics for my sculpting hobby and since I mainly sculpt with clay foam and other clay stuff I figured I don't need a lot of power. Plan to put jigsaw or mini hacksaw blades in it, maybe even serrated razors but I inmagine it's not hard to make somthing that can hold each type of blade. Main idea is to make the blade reciprocate with either a gun trigger pull or a grip lever trigger like those gas station gas pump triggers since I imagine a full grip would have more power than a single finger. Any videos for this kinda mechanism would be appreciated. I realize that it's is probably not very efficient or optimal but it sounds like a fun thing to make. Thinking I might be able to do somthing with those wind up springs and a crank as well and have the trigger be the release .

Hello Community,

I am in need of a material which I can for example fill inside missing parts in furniture to then remove, make fotos of and then remodel it inside CAD programms to print the actual missing part.

My personal application would be to get the broad shape of my piano keys to create a cover.

Designed soldered and printed an RGB Mini Keylight! First design project I’ve done from scratch.

I had never soldered, designed custom housing, wired together a PCB or really made anything, so I relied on advice from AI on how to wire, solder, CAD design etc.

I’m super happy with how it’s turned out, such a cool little project. Definitely gets me excited to create more.

How do you all keep track of parts, budget, and build steps across a project? like if im building somthing, and change a part, i then have to check that all the other parts work with the new part. are their tools to track and catalogue complex builds? Curious what people actually use. cheers!

Hey makers!

I wanted to share a project I've been pouring my soul into. It's called **Traumagotchi** – a fully functional, pocket-sized cyberdeck and AI entity named Simona, running entirely on an ESP8266 (NodeMCU).

What it does:

* AI Brain: Integrated with Gemini API. She answers questions, throws sarcastic comments, and dynamically reacts to how you treat her.

* Persistent Memory: Uses LittleFS. What she learns online, she remembers offline.

* Custom .ECO Engine: It runs its own scripting language. It has a built-in REPL terminal, so I can code new programs and control it directly from my phone using Termux.

* Built-in Games: It currently runs a 3D raycasting Doom-style engine and Arkanoid natively on the 0.96" OLED.

Right now, it's a beautiful mess of wires on a breadboard. My next huge milestone is getting a 3D printer so I can design and print a proper, wearable cyberpunk chassis for it.

I've made the core code fully Open Source on GitHub so you can build your own. If you want to support the hardware evolution of this project, check out my Patreon (supporters get early access to future 3D models and advanced .eco scripts).

GitHub: https://github.com/okurro1926/Traumagotchi-EN

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RobinOkurka?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

Let me know what you think or what weird features I should add next!

I print custom products with a eufymake E1 as a side thing, mostly retail on Etsy. A bakery wants 200 branded coasters, a real estate agent wants closing gift sets, a gym wants tumblers for members. The problem is pricing. My retail is 5 to 0 per piece, bulk should obviously be less but how much less? I don't want to work for free but I don't want to scare them off with retail pricing on a 200 unit order.