Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales
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Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #139
On Digi-Key’s website, they have a set of calculators for converting between various units of physical force (newtons, gram-force, metric ton-force, and others). So, the next time you need to covert between Sthène and Poundal...
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #138
In this TronicsFix video, Steve buys 7 broken NES game cartridges, priced from $5 - $30, to see how hard it is to fix them. Most of the repairs come down to cleaning the "golden finger" contacts on the edge of the circuit boards and Steve finds that a combo o…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #137
Months back, I proposed the idea of doing a "Tips Busters" section where I deputize readers to try out a tip, any tip they see that appears too good to be true, to determine whether it works, doesn't work, sorta works. I'm still hoping to put such a series to…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #136
Last issue, I wrote about Adam Savage restoring the yellowed plastic cover of a vintage Nagra IV-S audio recorder. He ended up using a combination of a 12% hydrogen-peroxide bath and stages of a polishing compound to bring the cover back to its former glory. …
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #135
In this quick Tested video, Adam Savage sets out to restore the lid of a gorgeous vintage Nagra IV-S audio recorder he recently acquired. The machine is in surprisingly good condition, but the clear plastic cover was scratched and badly yellowed. Doing resear…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #134
In this Project Farm video, Todd tests 15 different circular saw blades to find out which ones are the best. He tested blades for performance in ripping 2×4 lumber (before and after striking nails) and compared for performance while cutting through oak and ri…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #133
My old Make: colleague, Becky Stern, has a new video series that she's doing for the electronics component company, Digi-Key. Becky has always done an impressive job of explaining what can be intimidating technical information in an entertaining and digestibl…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #132
There are few hand tools that people seem to have more opinions about than ratcheting screwdrivers. And, now we have some decent testing of this everyday tool by Todd at Project Farm. Todd tests 14 different brands for efficiency, precision, and durability. T…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #131
As I frequently say about Stumpy Nubs videos, even though James is a woodworker, many of the tools he recommends apply to all sorts of makery. In this video he covers 7 clever shop tools. As a non-woodworker, I was particularly interested in CBN (cubic boron …
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #130
In these two clickclackclunk tutorials on Instructables, he offers an excellent beginner's class on screws and tapping of screws. Knowing how to tap threads for fasteners gives you a new kind of superpower for your projects. It's one of those skills that seem…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #129
In this “Ask Adam Savage” segment on Tested, Adam is asked about shop clamps. This leads to a typically-Adam thoughtful and wise deep dive into the many uses and types of clamps: c-clamps, bar clamps, vice grips, quick-grip clamps, welding clamps, jeweler’s c…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #128
In response to John Baglio's search for a series of prototyping videos he'd run across, Talon Chandler immediately responded with:"He's probably talking about Dan Gelbart. Dan is a local legend among engineers in Vancouver, BC. He founded Creo, a printing tec…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #127
Through an article in Family Handyman on pry bar tricks, I learned of something called an inflatable pry bar. Maybe this is a tool common to others, but I'd never heard of it, and now I think I need one in my life.
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #126
My dad passed away on June 14th at the age of 90. He was a civil engineer and a building contractor. He was an engineer in the Air Force during the Korean War, building runways. His father, my granddad, was a talented jack-of-all-trades and a clever, whimsica…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #125
In this GreatScott! video, Scott decides to compare wire nut connectors, common in the US, against Wago connectors, more common in Europe. Scott tests for ease of use, problems, speed of application, reusability, size, price, pull test, resistance, and flamma…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #124
Becky Stern 3D printed some wings for her Aven soldering stand. These fold up onto the sides of the otherwise hollow stand and allow her to store a TS80P USB-powered soldering iron, a spool of solder, and solder wick. The whole thing sits comfortably on top o…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #123
I love this vertical-drawer cabinet for storing drill, rotary tool, and end mill bits. The video is in Japanese but there are English subtitles. This design could be a space-saving solution for a lot of tools and accessories that can be organized and stored t…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #122
In this Project Farm video, Todd tests out 15 brands of everyday carry (EDC) folding knives from Fallkniven, Benchmade, Gerber, Victorinox, Kershaw, Cold Steel, Kizer, CRKT Fossil, Leatherman Skeletool, Milwaukee, DeWalt, COAST, Kingmax, Vulcan, Master USA. I…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #121
Twitter user laen posted this fantastic idea for organizing and storing cables. He uses hanging storage bags on a rod. Cables and misc tech accessories are the bane of my existence. This is a great solution for not only storing cables but other sorted small p…
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #120
Zach Freedman has designed a really cool grid-based storage system that you can 3D print. Zach never does anything small and that's the case here. He designed and printed all sorts of bins, trays, tool holders, and racks. It's a pretty complete workbench stor…