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Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales is published by Cool Tools Lab. To receive the newsletter a week early, sign up here.
Comparing Circular Saw Blades
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 ripping an 8’ pressure-treated 4×4. Bottom line? The Makita blade ($10) was best overall. The Spyder also performed surprisingly well for its $5 price tag (at time of testing), although that price is currently over $12 each, so look for it on sale. Doing a web search, I see it’s available at some e-tailers for under $7.
Cutlist Optimizer
Speaking of cutting things. If you have a woodworking project that involves a fairly complicated cut list, there is a free app called Cutlist Optimizer. It allows you to both organize your cut list to better keep track of all of your pieces and allows you to optimize the parts you can get from your sheet goods.
How to Calculate 555 Timer Frequency and Duration
Ah, the venerable 555 chip. One of the most useful and popular ICs in electronics history. Invented in 1971, released in 72, it remains a go-to solution for a myriad of timer, delay, pulse, and oscillation applications. In this Digi-Key video, they cover the steps for calculating the necessary resistor and capacitor values needed to achieve the frequency and signal duration that you’re after in your project.
The Power of Great Reference Books and Knowing the Names of Things
As both a maker and a word nerd (I edited Wired’s “Jargon Watch” column for 13 years), I’ve always tried to impress upon people the power in knowing what something is called. Knowing the proper name for something allows you to look it up, learn about it, track it down (if it’s a tangible object). In this Adam Savage video, he harps on the same thing. He does so while extolling the virtues of a book he recently discovered and loves, the Backstage Handbook. This visual technical reference is for stagecraft, but most of its contents–divided into tools, hardware, materials, shop math, electrics, and architecture–can be applied to all manner of making. You you get to learn the proper names for all of the tools, hardware, and materials it covers. Magic!
TOYS! StylusReach Flexible Flashlight
Cool Tools has launched a new newsletter called Tools for Possibilities. Every week, subscribers get sent a page from the CT book: Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. I was tickled to see that the first page I was sent had a review that I wrote on the StylusReach flashlight. The Cool Tools catalog was released in 2013. Nine years later and I still have, use, and love this flashlight. Good tools do that.
Newsletter reader Paco Hidalgo sent this in response to the piece in the last issue on water and baking soda as a CA glue accelerator.
“I first tried the Zip Kicker CA accelerator and found its smell very disagreeable, nauseating, and the spray bottle made it very difficult to apply just a small drop. I later leaned that cyanoacrylate glues “set” (polymerize) by the mere presence of trace amounts of water vapor in the atmosphere. This infographic explains.
“So, I concluded that if that is the case, then liquid water would certainly accelerate the polymerization. I found that just a drop of water from a toothpick or needle onto a blob of the glue does indeed accelerate the setting process. I never heard of using baking soda but that would add a foreign material to the bond. Why do that? [See comment below] There would be no reason to mix baking soda with water since water alone does a good job.
“BTW: A ‘secret’ that I learned from the guy at the counter of a mall hobby shop, is that CA glues will keep indefinitely in the freezer. I think the dry environment prevents the glue from polymerizing. The manufacturers don’t want you to know that so they tell you not to freeze their glues. I keep partial bottles of different types of CA glue, including LOCTITE, sealed inside a ziploc bag in the freezer that are at least 10 years old. I can take a bottle and use it immediately without waiting for it to come to room temp. It is liquid and works just as fast. I wipe the tip with acetone after each use and keep a common pin in the narrow opening so it doesn’t clog.
“I keep all my solvent glues, including Lexel, E6000, and Goop in the freezer too, with the same result. I think the cold environment keeps the solvent from evaporating and escaping from the imperfect seal that normally shortens the shelf life. I keep epoxy glues in the refrigerator. This is enough to prevent them from self-polymerizing.”
[Just to clarify: Baking soda is commonly used by itself as an accelerator, especially in the hobby/modeling communities. Besides being an accelerator, it adds more structure to the join. Large amounts of baking soda can be added to CA glue to create a very hard material. This soda and CA combo as a structural material is common among luthiers repairing bridges and fret boards. It can be sanded, drilled, etc.]
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A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.
Van Neistat goes over 10 of his no-nos in the shop, including: No bare feet!, avoiding trip wires (poorly organized/placed power cables), no fixing cheap garbage (reserve time, tools, and attention for meaningful, well-made stuff), don’t Rob Peter to pay Paul (no taking a tool from one toolbox, e.g. the car box, for work in another location — get duplicate tools), never use the last of anything (reorder before you’re out), and many other wise, well-earned nuggets of wisdom. Here’s one that was new to me: No using a straight edge to guide a razor knife (when making straight cuts, guiding with a straight edge tends to cause slips. It’s better to freehand along a drawn line for safer, straighter results). I need to try this and see how well it works.
8 Non-Hobby Hobby Supplies and Materials
https://youtu.be/3sbmuc5hK3Y
In this episode of Black Magic Craft, game-crafter JeremyPillipow runs down eight of his most trusted unconventional hobby supplies. He lists old faithfuls like baking soda and super glue and coffee stirring sticks (for making wooden flooring, fencing, etc.), but also covers a few more obscure items, like inkjet printers (for printing out pictures of flooring, DIY decals and miniature poster, even full terrain pieces — printed on sticker paper and adhered to foam core). And, anyone who’s watched Jeremy’s channel knows that he’s fast n’ loose with the latex caulk (for sculpting, ground effects, and other terrain-making applications).
Unconventional Creativity Tips
https://youtu.be/_l-d-eFF3nQ
In this idea-packed video, “artistic woodworker” Dave Picciuto, challenges conventional creative advice by presenting 10 (actually 20) unconventional design “hacks” aimed at unlocking your creativity. From working under absurd constraints and sketching badly (on purpose) to seeking inspiration in flea markets and other unconventional places (instead of Pinterest), Dave emphasizes that creativity is a muscle that you can develop through consistent, intentional practice. With additional advice on remixing past failures and giving yourself nonsense rules to constrain your designs, there are a lot of good (and uncommon) ideas here for makers eager to break through creative blocks.
I especially endorse his daily sketching advice and giving yourself permission to draw badly. We tend to do things like write or draw as if someone is standing over our shoulder, judging our work. But if you’re drawing (or writing) for yourself, ditch the invisible judge. Draw for yourself, to express ideas, not to enter an art or drafting contest. Working those muscles for expressing yourself is a true superpower that only takes one thing: Time. Might I recommend the Maker’s Notebook as a place to record your DIY ideas. This was a project I spearheaded when I was at Make:. Dave also offers a free poster and PDF reiterating the 10 main points in the video.
Dollar as a Ruler
I found this image while cleaning up my office recently. I think it’s from Family Handyman. It shows how you can use points on a dollar to measure 2”, 2-1/2”, 3”, and 6”. Handy in a pinch. I’ve written before about knowing the measurements of your hand (width, length of fingers, between joints) and eyeballing teaspoon, tablespoon, and cup measures in the palm of your hand. Now you can add the measures of George to your impromptu ruling.
Fire Blankets
Luckily, so far in my time down here on the Big Blue Marble, I’ve never had to use a fire extinguisher. But I’ve always known how and always had a number of them around my workshop and kitchen. That said, I’ve also never gotten one serviced and have always wondered, in a real fire situation, if that dusty extinguisher on the wall or under the sink would actually function properly. Several years ago, I added fire blankets to my fire suppression tech and I feel way more confident in them. Of course, they have limitations over an extinguisher: You have to get up close and personal with the flames, the fire needs to be small, and you can’t suppress fire in an area that you can’t reach with the blanket. So, while you’re stuck with needing both, I feel more secure knowing there are blankets at the ready in the kitchen, garage, and my wife’s art studio.
Shop Talk
Readers offer their feedback, tips, tales, and tool recommendations.
The Slice cutters are great. I have two of them. But not the ones mentioned.
I like their manual mini cutter. It also has a magnet. Ours sits on the fridge where it’s easy to grab to open a package from the grocery store or Amazon.
And, as mentioned, they’re great for cutting open that thick plastic clamshell packaging. It's a lot safer than a pair of scissors. You aren't going to cut the produce inside. You just run the blade along the fold, and bend it open.
This one sits on the garage fridge handle. It is shaped like a hook so you can hang it, which makes it very convenient. This one is perfect for breaking down boxes and packaging to put into the recycling bin. We’ve had ours for years. They have never gone dull. Never rust. Never had an issue. Can't recommend them enough.
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Special thanks to all of my paid subscribers so far and an extra special thanks to Hero of the Realm, Jim Coraci.
Gar’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales is published by Cool Tools Lab. To receive the newsletter a week early, sign up here.
