If you’re searching for a last-minute gift for the maker in your life, or ideas on treating yourself this holiday season, you’ve come to the right place. We love tools, toys, and the blurry crossover between them.
So here, in no particular order, are some of our favorite gifts and gadgets from 2024 and before. Of course every maker could use a subscription to Make: magazine, but if they have one already, here are a few more ideas.
Keychron Q1 HE
Keychron Q1 HE – $219
The Keychron Q1 HE is a unique 75% (82-key) luxury mechanical keyboard that features hot-swappable Hall-effect Gateron Nebula double-rail magnetic switches. Unlike traditional mechanical switches that have a single, fixed actuation point, these magnetic switches offer 0.1mm sensitivity along the entire 4.0mm actuation range, meaning you can customize your actuation point as you wish (per key!).
And here’s where things get really crazy: you can define up to four actuation points per key, allowing for example a slight press to be bound to a walking action in a game, then transition to running at the next threshold. The HE also features a new 2.4GHz connection with 1000Hz polling, in addition to three Bluetooth 5.1 slots and USB-C wired.
The 6063 aluminum chassis and double-gasket construction provides a luxury feel and sound, and a 4000mAh battery provides hundreds of hours of wireless operation between charges — depending on your usage of the south-facing RGB LEDs and their 22 effects! The Q1 HE is available from Keychron’s site for $199 barebone without keycaps and switches, or $219 fully assembled. —David J. Groom
Make: Skill Seeker Maker Workbook – Print
Make: Skill Seeker Maker Workbook – Print – $17
Ever wanted to learn new skills, but with the satisfaction of earning points and viewing progress on a video game dashboard? Skill Seeker by Steph Piper is a new, powerful tool to help you level up your skills, identify your skill gaps, and self-reflect on your goals.
Color in each tile as you progress and visualize your growth in a satisfying, colorful skill tree. Skill Seeker breaks up interest areas into small, achievable goals and milestones that you can color in as you go. Tally up your points and calculate your Maker XP (experience) score and set your own personal goals.
Use Skill Seeker to track years of growth across 15 maker skill areas as you evolve into who you are yet to become. Find a huge trove of 50-plus other skills online based on the popular open-access skill trees project. Level up with friends and family and get on the same page by swapping scores and goals.
There’s no better book to help guide you on your journey to become a well-rounded Hacksmith, a jack of all trades, a modern-day MacGyver, and a person eager to take on any challenge in the world of making.
James “The Hacksmith” Hobson, Hacksmith Industries
Also, the first lucky few to order a copy will get a free Skill Seeker poster!
We interviewed Steph Piper on Make:cast
Carvera Air Desktop CNC Mill
Carvera Air – $2,099 pre-sale
The Carvera Air may not be the biggest or most powerful CNC, but if you put one on your desktop, you just might find it’s one of your go-to tools. This fully enclosed little CNC is only slightly larger than a desktop 3D printer but is capable of milling wood, plastics, and even metal. The optional laser module pushes the possibilities even further.
Desktop CNCs often feel underpowered and not rigid enough for serious jobs. Carvera Air’s die-cast metal frame and 20mm linear rods make for a strong, stiff machine. The 200-watt spindle cuts aluminum with ease. The front lid is a bit flimsy, which can interfere with the dust seals.
To control the Carvera Air, there’s software for Windows, Mac, and Android. It could be more user friendly — some operations aren’t entirely clear at first — but if you work through the example projects, you’ll be up to speed.
The Air also has a probe to measure materials, a red dot laser to preview job extents, a 4th axis for near-3D rotary jobs, and optional 5W laser module for engraving. If you’re in the market for a desktop CNC I can, with no reservations, recommend the Carvera Air. —Matthew Stultz
WeCreat Vision
WeCreat Vision – $1,150
Recently we’ve seen an explosion of affordable, open-gantry diode laser cutters based on solid-state UV lasers from the BluRay market. But these came at a high cost in safety: a reflection from an open-gantry UV laser can blind you before you can blink, even hundreds of feet away.
Rising to this challenge, the WeCreat Vision has found a perfect balance between convenience, safety, and functionality with one simple trick: it’s a fully enclosed laser that automatically adjusts its height! The lid, made of UV-blocking polycarbonate, raises 140mm and has a built-in autofocus HD camera that makes it easy to align your cuts with your material. To engrave larger sheet goods, an optional (untested) extension allows 145″ of material to be automatically fed through.
Another problem with affordable lasers is the software — typically awful and barely usable, or overly complicated. WeCreat has fixed this too with a great piece of software called WeCreat MakeIt! (yes, the ! is in the name) that’s nicely featured and easy to use, allowing you to connect to the Vision over USB or Wi-Fi.
If you’re in the market for a diode laser, especially one with a rotary for engraving mugs and such, the WeCreat Vision is a great option and at this time my top pick on the market. —Matt Stultz
Maker’s Notebook – Hardcover 3rd Edition
Maker’s Notebook – Hardcover – $25
These notebooks are the perfect place to write your own ideas, diagrams, sketches, calculations and notes and make excellent gifts for all the Maker, Crafter, Teacher, Student, Engineer, Inventor, Scientist, Dreamers out there…hey that sounds like you!
Pages of useful reference material from electronics symbols, resistor codes, weights, measures and basic conversions to the amount of caffeine in different beverages.
The Maker’s Notebook (10″ x 7″) contains 150 pages of engineering graph paper with 20 pages of excellent Maker reference material.
Jimu FireBot Robot Kit
Jimu FireBot – $70
Jimu is a series of robot kits from UBTech; their FireBot is a good mix of entertainment value and low cost. With 606 pieces including three servomotors, these parts look and feel a lot like Lego, but are slightly odd-sized, so you can’t swap one-to-one. The kit requires an app, and the animated instructions are helpful and clear, except for one servo connector that’s backward (careful builders will be OK).
I put FireBot on the floor, paired Bluetooth, and scared the wits out of my dog. It’s surprisingly zippy and its built-in actions are charming. Making my own action from scratch was tougher — my first attempts resulted in a scary chattering from a servo pushed too far.
Overall the Jimu FireBot is a great kit that’s easily worth the cost. It suffers slightly from a weird UI and fragile-feeling servo cables, and includes only one touch sensor (other sensors are available if you combine kits). But it’s a good build with room to grow, the presets are fun, and the programming mode leaves room to explore. —Sam Freeman
These reviews appeared in Make: Volumes 88 – 91
For more ideas for gifts for makers, subscribe to Make: magazine.