One of the great things about the internet is the ability to explore across linquistic barriers. Google (and other web translation engines) have made it possible to explore web content in other languages. My international search has turned up some interesting non-native English web sites that feature the use of Kee Klamp products. One such site is a site in France that talks about how to build a beach kite cart. If you haven’t seen this sport, check out the videos below. It must be pretty wild to be whipped along the beach in a wheeled cart, pulled by a kite.
The Maker Faire is coming to Detroit this Summer. If you haven’t heard of the Maker Faire before, they call it
Maker Faire is a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It's for creative, resourceful people of all ages and backgrounds who like to tinker and love to make things. So much to see, you will need 2 days to see it all!
If you’re creative and you’ve got something to share, you can actually contribute to this even. Here’s the info:
The Call for Makers is now open for the 1st Annual Maker Faire Detroit 2010! We are now accepting entries for Maker Faire Detroit, July 31st and August 1st, 2010 at the Henry Ford. This year's focus is on Young Makers, and we are excited to be engaging Makers of all ages around innovation, inspiration and education. We look forward to reviewing your application.
Key Points:
Entry Open Date: Mar 18, 2010. Please enter early so we can reserve space for your exhibit.
Entry Close Date: May 31, 2010. Space is limited, please submit your entry by the due date!
Notification of Acceptance: Jun 1, 2010.
Maker Faire Detroit: Jul 31 - Aug 1, 2010 Hours: Saturday 9:30am - 8pm, Sunday 9:30am - 5pm
Organized by the staff of Make magazine, makezine.com and craftzine.com, Maker Faire is a newfangled fair that brings together science, art, craft and engineering plus music in a fun, energized, and exciting public forum. The aim is to inspire people of all ages to roll up their sleeves and become makers. This family-friendly event showcases the amazing work of all kinds of makers - anyone who is embracing the DIY spirit and wants to share their accomplishments with an appreciative audience.
We hope to be at the Detroit and NYC Maker Faire’s this year. So if you’re going, let us know!!!
Tyson from Parkour Visions pointed out this flickr pool that had some Kee Klamp railings that were tagged as Parkour training locations. Parkour is an intense sport that uses everyday objects such as railings and walls as the context for an extreme workout of body and coordination.
Check out some of the other things that have been constructed with Kee Klamp for Parkour:
Recently we posted a completed computer gaming chair from Don Sturrock. I am in the middle of a project (details coming soon) where I want to mount a monitor to a horizontal pole. I remembered Don’s project and asked him how he attached his monitor. He was kind enough to share the details and a few pictures. I thought others would be interested on how to attach a monitor to pole or pipe, so here are the details:
Details from Don
For my monitor I used two flat 3"x5" nail plates from Home Depot and a 6" long piece of alderwood 1x4. I attached the nail plates to the 1x4 with six #4 x 3/4" screws and then lined up the monitor mount holes onto the plates, drilled them out, painted it with RustOleum Flat Black Enamel and used the screws from the monitor to attach to the plates (see pic). The metal clamps have a good bite on the pipe so I feel the monitor is secure (22" monitor).
I also sent a pic of the underside of the keyboard. you can see the velcro that attaches it to the 16" long 1x4 alderwood and the plastic clamps (sorry for the fuzzy picture).
Downsides of this Approach
In looking at this mounting approach, it may be inexpensive but there are probably some downsides to be recognized
Not sure how this will work on a vertical pole – Don mounted to a horizontal pole (that’s what I’m planning on doing.) I’m not sure how this would hold if mounted on a vertical pole or pipe.
Scratches up the pipe – Judging from the pictures, adjusting the monitor (because of the bite of the clamps) scratches up the pipe pretty good. If you’re doing something that has to have really clean look then this might not work for you.
The Alternatives
A decent pipe mount looks like it’s going to cost you a couple of dollars.
If anyone else knows of (or has an idea about) how to inexpensively attach a monitor to a pipe or pole, then please leave a note in the comments or shoot me an email: chris – at – simplifiedbuilding.com
jtwanderlust on Instructables built this really nice looking bed frame made from pipe and Kee Klamp fittings. His Instructable takes you from start to finish, showing you all the steps and pitfalls of the project. We love to see this kind of ingenuity among our customers. Our compliments to jtwanderlust.
Don Sturrock sent us this idea of a computer gaming desk made from Kee Lite aluminum pipe fittings and pipe. Using parts from our Sketchup Library, Don put together a frame that would support the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and chair. So far it is just a concept, but this kind of creativity and ingenuity is what we love to see from people who visit our site.
Recently the 2009 World Championship for Freerunning / Parkour were held in Great Britain. One of the things I noticed was that most of the tubular structures on the stage were constructed of Kee Klamp fittings. Freerunning appears to be an emerging urban athletic movement. If you’re a Freerunner, check out our fittings when building structures to swing, hang and hover on.
The UK has a new show, Bang Goes the Theory, that appears to be similar to our Myth Busters here in the US. In their promo piece they have a huge contraption that has several pieces that appear to be made form Kee Klamp pipe fittings. Check out other categories on our blog for more creative uses for Kee Klamp fittings.
My wife follows a number of “crafty” blogs and pointed out this PVC Playhouse project. The blog has a simple plan for building a nice looking PVC framed playhouse for kids. If you are thinking of putting together a project like this, take a look at our furniture grade PVC, PVC fittings, and PVC Snap Clamps.
Geekdad from Wired Magazine has posted a “how to” article on building a backyard movie theater. We’ve had people contact us about building these in the past, so I figured that I’d post up a link to their instructions. We carry PVC fittings that could be used to construct a movie screen structure. If you really wanted to add durability, strength, and weight you could try building it with with size 7 Kee Klamp or Kee Lite fittings and galvanized fence posts. Click here to see the instructions.
One of our customers, Dustin, came up with a creative use for our PVC fittings and Snap Clamps. He used them to create and setup a wall for his haunted house. Here is what Dustin had to say:
The first thing the patrons came to was the first PVC Hallway which was put together using the 3-way and 4-way furniture grade fittings and covered by black heavy weight vinyl sheeting held on with the snap clamps.
Skulls were stenciled onto the inside and outside of the sheeting. The hallway was very sturdy when put together and featured 2 strobe lights in the hallway itself. The effect was very creepy as the skulls would appear and fade with the strobe lighting flashes. Second was an ‘L” shaped room,that we had a live actor hide in. Again used the same basic parts to construct this room. In the dark,the room was almost invisible,and the actor would be behind you without the patron even knowing he was there. We had great success using your items.
Our haunt was such a success that we are expanding the haunt by triple the size it was this year! I look forward to doing much business with you.
On a recent camping trip I observed some people playing a game called Ladder Golf. I instantly thought that one of these sets could be built using the PVC fittings we sell.
The UK has a new show, ![[9.jpg]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_G41xpW1S5xk/Sj2H3SBQIuI/AAAAAAAAQms/Rnw_6QMB_6E/s1600/9.jpg)
![[12.jpg]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_G41xpW1S5xk/Sj2W14YdvXI/AAAAAAAAQoc/AQ0bJPlnJuk/s1600/12.jpg)
