Using Bits of Left Over Molding Rubber to Volumize New Molds
In this Robert Tolene video, he offers a tip for saving on molding materials. He calls it “dunkin’ chunkies” — he cuts old mold pieces into small chunks and adds them into a new mold pour (in the areas where they won’t interfere with the object being molded).
Using a Shop Towel to Constrain Snipped Bits
From a Pask Makes video: When cutting/nipping bits of metal or other material that might fly away, line up your cut and then cover the workpiece with a towel before doing the cutting. This will prevent the waste pieces from flying all over your work area.
A Web App for Creating Project Boxes
Via Bob Clagett’s I Like to Make Stuff: MakerCase is a free web app that allows you to design boxes and project cases that can then be laser- or CNC cut. Once you’re satisfied with your design, MakerCase turns the model into an SVG or DXF file that can be sent to a laser cutter or CNC router.
Put Screws Back When Disassembling
Via this Tested video from Adam Savage: In disassembling parts you’ll be reassembling, rather than storing the hardware somewhere and then trying to remember where it all goes back, temporarily hand-screw it into the threaded part of the piece for safe keeping.
Here are some of my favorite tool mentions from the newsletter this year.
Recommended by reader Emory Kimbrough:
Titmus SW09R Livewire sealed glasses – they combine ANSI-rated impact protection with dust seals, a removable head strap that creates an even better seal against sneaky dust, and keeps the glasses from slipping down or slipping off at a bad moment. Finally, these were available with progressive lenses and in my strong prescription. Got mine with good customer service and prompt shipping from safetygearpro.com.
On the subject bit drivers, reader KokoTheTalkingApe, chimed in:
“My favorite is the Wiha Ultra Driver. It stores 13 double-ended bits in the handle, so it has 26 tips. The bits are stored in two rotating carousels that fan open when you pull them out. I don’t usually like proprietary bits, but these have held up well and replacements are readily available. The bitholder locks onto the bit. Made in Germany. Not ratcheting.”
Via Stumpy Nubs came this brilliant idea of wrapping your tool handles in stretchy, grippy hockey tape.
The iFixit electronics driver set is well thought out and designed, solidly built, with 64 bits of every configuration you’re likely to encounter: Slotted, Phillips, Torx, Torx Security, Square, Pentalobe, Hex, five nutdrivers, and more. There is also a flex extension shaft and the lid acts as a small parts sorting tray.
Mentioned in newsletter 118, at only $119, the Craftsman 7-¼” cordless circular saw is amazingly good for the price.
In issue 122, I included testing of folding knives by Todd at Project Farm. The surprise knife was the Kingmax at an amazing price of $13. And from an earlier Project Farm knife test: Smith & Wesson ($15.50).
This was the year I finally fell in love with Carhartt work shirts. Don’t know what took me so long. Also available in women’s sizes.
Need mechanical shop pencils? You want a FastCap FatBoy.
Maker Slang for 2022
I rounded up all of the content from the maker jargon and slang columns this year and did a Boing Boing post. You can see the entire list here. And last year’s list here.
Support This Newsletter, Buy My Merch
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Cool tools really work.
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.
Of my maybe dozen books on anatomy, this is the masterpiece: Atlas of Human Anatomy by Frank Netter. How any one human could do all these exquisite drawings in a lifetime is beyond me. The drawings of the hand are spectacular. There is no descriptive text, so I don’t know if this is the perfect text for helping with self-diagnosis, but this is a reference book anyone interested in the human body should have. I have an older 4th edition, but they recently released the 5th.
The Anatomical Chart Series by Peter Bachin and Ernest Beck is a flip-page guide that includes excellent anatomical charts. It appears to be out-of-print but you can find it used.
The Human Body by Ruth & Bertel Bruun is a great and colorful children’s anatomy book. You can find it used for around $3. — Lloyd Kahn
Anatomy Trains is a map of our musculoskeletal anatomy. It’s intended for hands-on and movement bodyworkers but is a great read for anyone interested in structure, whole-systems thinking, and brilliant design. I realized after doing Pilates for a while that I had no idea about anatomical structure and why Pilates was effective. While advocating no particular body/mind discipline, Anatomy Trains allowed me to understand why Pilates works. That was eight years ago; my understanding continues to expand over time.
Author Tom Myers asks a grand question: what would happen if we take a different cut at understanding the muscles and tendons? Instead of cutting against the grain at the ends, what happens when you follow the grain past the individual muscles and tendons and see how long the lines of tension go? Tom creates a set of rules and then starts mapping.
An anatomy expert could research and apply those rules themselves; I just followed along. The results are pretty cool: a map of about a dozen or so long lines of tension in our bodies. Most of them are longer than we are tall; some are almost twice as long. Some lines are roughly linear and some spiral around our torso and leg bones. Some lines are near the skin while some are next to the bones. Tom created a new term for these lines: myofascial meridians. Nobody has ever done this before, but the lines are real: Myers has gone into the lab multiple times with teams of students to dissect these long lines of tension in cadavers.
Myers studied under two remarkable body/mind instructors: Moshe Feldenkrais and Ida Rolf. He also studied under Buckminster Fuller, the great whole-systems engineer of the 20th century. The first chapter of the book, The World According to Fascia, provides a lot of background information for the mappings in the remainder of the book. Myers notes that there are three fractal/pervasive networks in our body: circulatory/chemical, nervous/electrical, and structural/spatial. He notes the elusiveness of the structural network: while we’ve had clear models of the first two for hundreds of years, our fine-grained structural network is still quite elusive. This is whole-systems thinking at its finest: lots of ideas how natural tech connects from the nano-scale to full-size human beings.
Like the great science book Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, this book can be read at many different levels. The first way is just to look at the maps and the supporting drawings and charts. A second way is to read the various side discussions and notes. A third way is to plough straight through the rather dense text. I’ve never read AT from cover to cover, but I’ve gone through most of it and read almost all of the side discussions.
My one criticism of the book: its full title, Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists, is enough to scare off those not in the industry. It is a wonderful and friendly book, but books like this must have a formidable title to be sold to medical/health professionals. The ideas it discusses are right on the edge of our understanding of biological systems, but there is not a milligram of woo-woo. — Phil Earnhardt
Humans are not assembled out of parts like a car or a computer. "Body as machine' is a useful metaphor, but like any poetic trope, it does not tell the whole story. In our modern perception of human movement anatomy, however, we are in danger of making this metaphor into the be all and end all. In actual fact, our bodies are conceived as a whole, and grow, live, and die as a whole- but our mind is a knife.
I have an inexpensive (and unfortunately no longer available) 30-inch visible man sitting on my desk. Putting it together was an education; I couldn’t believe how much stuff we have crammed into our insides. Everyday the man-model reminds me of the wonder of our temporary home. To go deeper into the full catalog of human meat, you need the Anatomical Chart Company, which carries replicas of most human body parts. Eyes, guts, brains, etc. in three dimensions. They aren’t cheap, but they are detailed. I am looking for a spot in my studio to park their budget life-sized skeleton. It focuses one’s productivity. — KK
Budget Bucky Skeleton
This economical, life-size articulated adult plastic model is our most popular school-level skeleton. It's ideal for teaching the basics of anatomy when intricate textural nuances of the bone are not required. Articulated joints allow for movement. The arms and legs are removable for study. Features nerve branches, vertebral artery and herniated lumbar disc. Skull includes movable jaw, cut calvarium, suture lines, and 3 removable lower teeth. Includes rolling stand and the PortAPack Systems Set of 5 laminated 8-1/2" x 11" charts covering the Muscular, Skeletal, Nervous, Circulatory, and Digestive Systems. Also includes extra hardware for emergency repairs. Size: 5' 6" tall. Weight: 23 lbs.
Human Muscle & Skeleton Anatomy Model
A ton of anatomical detail in a tiny package, this 8 inch human skeleton and musculature anatomical model contains 46 detachable parts and display stand. This puzzle-like anatomy model also includes an illustrated assembly guide and description of the human anatomy along with some fun Q&A to test your knowledge. The hand painted parts are medical education quality.
Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.
