PVC pipe instrument designed by Lee-Kuo

This was one of those spontaneous projects that simply went straight into action. Lee-Kuo used his 3D skills and completely designed the instrument in Cinema 4D using a grid system for the tuned length. After he had completed the model we decided to build it. It’s a slow process but we are making great progress. You can watch a stop animation of this instrument on my YouTube channel, Lee-Kuo created the animation and music for the video. I will update this post when we complete the instrument.  Watch the animation here

view from the front ( 3D rendering )

view from the rear ( 3D rendering )

in the process of building

Read Full Post »

Popsicle stick night lamp kit

This beautiful night lamp is number three in our collection of house lamps. My son Lee wanted to make this and just about completed everything except for the difficult roof section. They really are lovely and give a beautiful orange glow during the night. All the house kits are available in Taiwan from stationary shops or direct from the supplier at this address. big3

the third popsicle stick house we have made from big3

close-up of the lovely wooden details

the lovely warm orange glow during the night

close-up of the front door at night time

Read Full Post »

Felt covered speakers for 30Watt DIY amplifier

After a long break from doing crafts we are now back with another wonderful project. My son Lee built a 30Watt stereo amplifier during the summer vacation and designed these speakers at school. Finally we managed to find time to complete them and the gluing of felt was a great exercise in being neat. The loudspeakers cost 10 Euro from our local electronics shop. They look, feel and sound great on his amplifier (see a post further down) We will design speaker stands for them to bring them to ear height.

an inside view showing the bracing and front bass port

front view showing the 3 holes and construction

speaker connections on the rear

The front view with the lovely duo tone felting

Read Full Post »

Mini miniature golf, holes 2, 9, 10, 16

We have moved home and so there have been no posts for a long time. These beautiful mini golf boards are great to play with and now we have 4 more for the collection. We made these during the summer vacation but we had a typhoon and they all soaked up the rain so we had to re-make them. Now we are settling into a routine maybe we can post a few more crafts.

hole 2, The Bridge, This is a great hole to play

hole 9, Bazooka, This is a difficult hole to play

hole 10, The Forest, not easy to get a hole in 1

hole 16, Crooked Lane, easy to get a hole in 1

Read Full Post »

DIY 30 Watt stereo amplifier

The summer vacation is over and here is a beautifully presented stereo amplifier from Lee-Kuo. We found the kit in our local electronics store. It came with all the components but no schematics or instructions so we simply decided to put it together as we thought best. We wanted it to look impressive so we found this wooden tray in HOLA. It sounds absolutely fantastic through my MA84′s and a SONY X339ES CD player. Lee-Kuo is now 13 and he soldered everything by himself, this is 90% his project, I just drilled the base and prepared a few cables. Until the next vacation project, happy listening.

the front with the bass, treble, balance and volume pots.

the rear with rca inputs, speaker terminals, on/off and power socket

close up of the tone controls board

close up of the power supply board

Read Full Post »

Art class drawings by Lee-Kuo

Here are the last 2 drawings Lee-Kuo drew in art class this semester. Normally he never shows us his school work but these are really good so I said I would put them on my blog.

great ideas from Lee-Kuo to complete this drawing

the topic was "LUNCHBOX" so he came all the way from space to his desk

Read Full Post »

Art class montage by Lee-Kuo

Lee-Kuo came home one day from school and showed us this lovely montage. We thought it was a great piece of work for the subject of flowers.

Lee-Kuo's flower montage from the school art class

Read Full Post »

Alphabet weaving designs by Lee-Kuo

As Lee-Kuo was sitting in his classroom, the student next to him asked if he was bored, because Lee had just drawn the whole alphabet on a test sheet. These are amazing creations drawn with great skill and care. It is one single thread that creates each letter, take a look at the letter B which Lee made one evening. He never stops making his parents proud of him, fantastic Lee-Kuo.

lovely drawings of weaving patterns from Lee-Kuo

lower case letters

amazing alphabet weaving patterns drawn on the back of a test sheet

close-up of the marvelous drawing skill and idea

a different version using 3 pins and his woven letter B

Read Full Post »

Pyramid maze, designed by Lee-Kuo

When the winter vacation began, Lee-Kuo designed another wonderful maze, this time in the shape of a pyramid. He used the exact angles as the pyramids of Giza and we created a 3d model to help us make the paper model. It was not easy drawing the paper model especially with many strange angles but we succeeded. After we made it many people have had lots of fun trying to get the ball through the maze. Click here for the 3d model

the pyramid base with strengthening bars

the side with strengthening bars

the base and first level walls

level 2 and walls

level 3 and walls

the top

the finished pyramid maze

Read Full Post »

Mini miniature golf, hole 13

We finally finished hole 13 and here it is. It’s called “left turn” and is not easy to get a hole in one. We took the dimensions from a 3d model we made, this makes it so much easier to find the correct angles and lengths. Until the next hole, good putting.

hole 13, in Lee-Kuo's beautiful miniature golf series

Read Full Post »