Master Gift Getter
Perhaps there is a school you can attend that will teach you how to find perfect gifts for your friends. I haven't been there, but I know someone who should be lecturing. From the hands of the man who brought me lock-picks, Swiss army knives and countless...
...dangerous(previous blog entry)
...adventures!(another old post)
I give you Shape Lock, which is a brand name for something more generally known as "friendly plastics" or polycaprolactone(wikipedia). We had loads of fun with it the first day, but had to keep it on a shelf for a few days to allow me to speak directly to other humans. Even then concentration was difficult. My mind raced constantly thinking of cool uses for this stuff.
Eventually, when the Christmas hubbub was dying down, I settled on a project that I've wanted to attempt for a long time -- making a custom attachment for my Gorilla Pod.
Before we go any further, if at any time you find yourself asking why I haven't purchased any of the perfectly adequate retail versions of this stuff, you took a wrong turn at the google search box. Just follow the checkout buttons. I'm sure you find something.
The concept: A secure, comfortable belt attachment for my iPhone that will also mount to my tripod. I had been working out a magnet scheme for this, but I've decided that I don't like having to remove my phone from it's case to have the compass work. Here is what I've got so far...
The Picasa album is annotated, so I won't go into too much detail here. The belt clip works great, but I still need to strengthen one of the welds (which means it doesn't yet meet the 'secure' criterion) and I need to fashion a ball-joint attachment to allow me to aim the iPhone when it is on the 'Pod'.
[Begin edit Jan 13/10] I reworked the clip and it now seems quite strong. I also completed the Gorilla Pod mount. New pictures added to the online album. [end edit]
In short, if you love D.I.Y., you really ought to treat yourself to a bag of this stuff. If you keep it clean, it is nearly infinitely reusable. You can paint it, drill it...
I'll shut up now ;)
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| Liquid Metal |
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| Prince Rupert's Drops |
I give you Shape Lock, which is a brand name for something more generally known as "friendly plastics" or polycaprolactone(wikipedia). We had loads of fun with it the first day, but had to keep it on a shelf for a few days to allow me to speak directly to other humans. Even then concentration was difficult. My mind raced constantly thinking of cool uses for this stuff.
Eventually, when the Christmas hubbub was dying down, I settled on a project that I've wanted to attempt for a long time -- making a custom attachment for my Gorilla Pod.
Before we go any further, if at any time you find yourself asking why I haven't purchased any of the perfectly adequate retail versions of this stuff, you took a wrong turn at the google search box. Just follow the checkout buttons. I'm sure you find something.
The concept: A secure, comfortable belt attachment for my iPhone that will also mount to my tripod. I had been working out a magnet scheme for this, but I've decided that I don't like having to remove my phone from it's case to have the compass work. Here is what I've got so far...
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| iphone Belt Clip |
[Begin edit Jan 13/10] I reworked the clip and it now seems quite strong. I also completed the Gorilla Pod mount. New pictures added to the online album. [end edit]
In short, if you love D.I.Y., you really ought to treat yourself to a bag of this stuff. If you keep it clean, it is nearly infinitely reusable. You can paint it, drill it...
I'll shut up now ;)
Comments
Is there a fixed "firmness" to the plastic produced, or can the durability vary? Can you compare the elasticity to something?