Gar’s Tips & Tools – Issue #198

Access to tools, techniques, and shop tales from the diverse worlds of DIY

Can We Admit That “Robbies” Are Superior Screws?

In this Stumpy Nubs video, James details the history of the Robertson screw (aka “Robbies” or “square drive”) and why they are believed by many makers [raises hand] to be superior to Phillips and (horrors) slotted.

10 Workshop No-No’s (According to Van Neistat)

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

In this episode of Black Magic Craft, game-crafter Jeremy Pillipow 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

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.

On Cool Tools, in response to the Inspired Objects conversation, and a recommendation for Slice-brand cutters, yankinwaoz wrote:

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.

The other one is their manual box cutter.

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.

---

Consider a Paid Subscription

Gar’s Tips & Tools is free, but if you really like what I’m throwing down and want to support it, please consider a paid subscription. Same great taste, more cheddar for me to help keep me plastic razor blades. I will also pick paid subscribers at random and send them out little treats on occasion.

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.

05/9/25

Packable USB Mic/Flight Price Drops/Global Travel Trends

Nomadico issue #154

* Quick note from me: I’ll be having a live Q&A call on travel deals, living abroad, and the nomadic life for paid subscribers on May 20. If you’d like to upgrade and join us, please do so before then (starting at $8 a month). More about me and my work here. – Tim Leffel

Travel-sized Laptop USB Mic

I have a regular quality USB microphone for sounding good on podcast interviews and video calls, but it’s another sizeable thing to carry around when traveling, especially with a carry-on. So I recently bought this tiny gooseneck USB mic that fits in a little pocket-sized pouch and weighs next to nothing. At $17 it’s not pro quality of course, but better than the built-in mic on most computers and it’s easy to keep off-screen too.

Welcome Airline News

Frequent travelers got two pieces of good news this week. First, Thailand flights can now go direct to and from the USA after meeting safety conditions, something that hasn’t been possible for a decade. Second, one silver lining from the huge drop in visitors to the USA is that flight prices dropped 5% year-over-year in March and look to be down even more for April onward. This is a great time to look at every column when searching international fares. I just snagged one-way biz class seats from Tampa to Leon/Guanajuato in Mexico for $425 in July, only $90 more than the worst economy ticket available.

Global Travel Trends

This questioning part of this travel trends survey from American Express took place before all the negative disruptions in Washington DC started, but it’s still an interesting look at what regular travelers around the world are thinking about (more meaningful souvenirs) and acting on (like stacking points and miles) for upcoming vacations. Looking at different age groups and how they travel, it dives into attitudes about social media, AI answers, traveling for events, and letting the kids choose a destination.

100 Years of Solitude

The best-known novel from Latin America is probably the Gabriel Garcia Marquez classic One Hundred Years of Solitude, set in a mythical Colombian town in the 19th and early 20th centuries. If you found the 422 pages of “magic realism” and a century’s worth of characters hard to keep straight, I’d highly recommend the recent 8-part miniseries on Netflix covering the first half of the book. (The rest is going into production now). Seeing the people on screen makes them much easier to track and the pacing feels just right. The cinematography is impressive too, mostly done within a purpose-built town that evolves through the ages.

---

A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.

05/8/25

What’s in my NOW? — Daniel Olshansky

issue #212

I’m a 32-year-old single male and have been living in Bellevue, WA for the last couple of years. I strive to achieve my full potential in every aspect of life. One day, later in my life, I’ll dedicate my time to helping others achieve their full potential as well. Today I do so through reading, writing, building, following my curiosity, and leading the engineering team at Grove. Most of the time I’m either out in nature, in front of my computer, or having a long deep discussion with interesting people over dinner or a long walk.

My website links out to my social media profiles, but I’d suggest following me at either Olshansky’s Newsletter or olshansky.medium.com if you’re interested in following some of my writing.

---

PHYSICAL

• TRS Gemini – As someone who lives with an L5/S1 herniation, this is a tool I always keep in my backpack. It’s like a foam roller that meets a couple of lacrosse balls and can be used as lumbar support (e.g., on a plane), for soft tissue manipulation (when training), and self-adjusting your upper back (when there’s no chiropractor around).
• Instant Coffee Packets – I love a good iced coffee as much as the next person, but paying $10 each time is getting excessive. As long as you have a bottle, most places will provide free ice and have milk or creamer available, creating a very convenient and cost-efficient way to get an iced coffee on the go. This way you save the $10 coffee with a croissant for those special high-quality occasions. There are tons of different flavours, but I like this one in particular because I get some vitamins in as well.
• Battery Jump Starter – Your car’s battery is likely going to need a jump start at the worst possible time (travelling, in a rush, etc.). If you have cables, another driver might be able to help you out. If you have insurance, you can call them in. But keeping a battery jump starter keeps you self-sufficient and going in less than 5 minutes. There’s no particular brand I’m attached to, but I do suggest having a quarterly calendar event that reminds you to charge it up.

---

DIGITAL

• Snipd – This app transformed how I consume podcasts. I listen to podcasts at 0.8x speed and would always open up the notes app on my phone to jot down key moments. This was annoying and distracting, especially if I was listening to the podcast while at the gym. With Snipd, I double-click on my headphones every time there’s a key moment I want to remember, and have all my snips sync to Notion and Obsidian. It makes it really easy to keep track of everything I listen to and refer back to key moments I’m looking for.
• Todoist – I tried nearly a dozen different ways to keep track of my TODOs, but after discovering Todoist 5 years ago, I haven’t looked back. I use it to plan my day, capture my ideas, as a calendar, and generally just organize my entire life. Can’t live without it.

---

INVISIBLE

Figure out what you want-to do instead of what you want-to want-to do. Now go and do it.

Sign up here to get What’s in my NOW? a week early in your inbox.

05/7/25

Pop Gun War / New Deal Photography

Issue No. 65

POP GUN WAR – WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A BOY IN A SEEDY WORLD FINDS ANGEL WINGS IN THE TRASH?

Pop Gun War Volume 1: Gift
by Farel Dalrymple
Image Comics
2016, 144 pages, 6.4 x 10 x 0.5 inches (softcover)

Buy on Amazon

A boy pulls a pair of discarded wings from a garbage can, placed there by the tattooed angel who paid to saw them off. In a city where giant goldfish are used like poker chips in seedy bars, gangs roam the streets and life is hard. The boy straps the discarded angel wings to his back, and after being knocked from it by a rock-throwing hooligan, he gingerly takes flight from a rooftop apartment building.

Amidst a gritty urban landscape and surreal images, Pop Gun War: Gift is grounded in reality and touched by dreams, and dreams of dreams. Characters grow to enormous height. A puppet master lures the city’s children to his puppet theater to keep them safe. An oversized goldfish clad in nerdish glasses levitates. A man gives everything a label because people don’t always know what things are. A cloak-clad monk hides the fact that he is burdened by chains. A woman’s severed head hidden in a handbag cajoles kids into littering and smoking. Incensed by a flying child, people inexplicably, violently smash car windows with baseball bats.

With sparse dialogue, non sequiturs, and a stream-of-consciousness storyline, Pop Gun War: Gift’s boldly drawn black-and-white drawings and full-page paintings in colorful oils illuminate a thoughtful tale of a young boy who found the wings he always had. – S. Deathrage

---

TASCHEN’S HEFTY NEW DEAL PHOTOGRAPHY GOES WELL BEYOND FAMILIAR DEPRESSION-ERA IMAGES

New Deal Photography: USA 1935-1943
by Peter Walther
Taschen
2016, 608 pages, 5.9 x 7.9 x 1.7 inches (hardcover)

Buy on Amazon

If you purchase a copy of New Deal Photography: USA 1935-1943 by Peter Walther hoping to find iconic Farm Security Administration images, such as the migrant mother by Dorothea Lange or the father and his two sons running in a dust storm by Arthur Rothstein, you will not be disappointed. With almost 400 photographs filling its 608 pages, including numerous gems by Walker Evans, there’s plenty of room for the expected. But New Deal Photography goes well beyond these familiar images, powerful though they may be.

The book’s geographic organization forces us to consider Depression-era life in the Northeast and South, too, pushing our perspectives beyond the more familiar locations of Oklahoma and California. In addition, Walther’s collection of images features numerous color photographs by Russell Lee, Jon Collier, and Marion Post Wolcott. Again, we are used to seeing the era depicted in black and white, but seeing it in color confounds many of our expectations about what rural America actually looked like during those desperate years.

Walther’s essay for the book, which is printed in English, German, and French, presents a brisk but useful overview of the Farm Security Administration, from its founding mission to relocate Dust Bowl farmers in Oklahoma to greener pastures, to the photographs that were initially commissioned to document the relocation process. That might have been all the FSA did, but Walther introduces us to an FSA economist named Roy Stryker, who understood that photographs would do a much better job of telling the story of rural America in the late 1930s than any economic report ever could.

And Stryker didn’t just hire photographers to take the FSA’s pictures – he also hired artists, which is why painters like Ben Shahn were given Leica cameras and sent into the heartland of America. In the end, more than 10,000 photographs were shot, printed, and captioned, but there could have been a great many more. Apparently, Stryker punched holes in as many as 100,000 negatives he deemed unsuitable for the FSA’s collection, which means Walther’s New Deal Photography could have been even bigger. – Ben Marks

05/6/25

Bike Repair

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 136

An accessible bike manual

Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance

I’ve been using this book for over a year and so far haven’t found anything it doesn’t cover when it comes to maintaining my bike. Zinn includes lots of step-by-step instructions with clear illustrations. I was a complete novice prior to reading this, and now it’s nice not having to run to the bike shop for every little thing I need fixed. It gives me confidence to tackle things I normally wouldn’t attempt. — Rob Lewis

• Chains
  A bike chain is a simple series of links connected by rivets. Rollers surround each rivet between the link plates and engage the teeth of the cogs and chainrings. It is an extremely efficient method of transmitting mechanical energy from the pedals to the rear wheel. In terms of weight, cost, and efficiency, the bicycle chain has no equal, and— believe me—people have tried without success to improve on it for years.
  To keep your bike running smoothly, you have to take care of the chain. It needs to be kept clean and well lubricated in order to transmit your energy efficiently and shift smoothly. Chains need to be replaced frequently to prolong the working life of other, more expensive, drivetrain components because a chain gets longer as its internal parts wear, thus contacting the gear teeth differently than intended.

---

Essential bike maintenance tool

Park Team Race Stand

Bicycles need routine maintenance to perform safely and efficiently. But without a bike stand you end up kneeling in a contorted position on the cement floor of your dimly lit garage. And this torture, on your knees and your back and your elbows, which no knight of the Inquisition had the genius to invent, is what causes many of us to abandon bicycle maintenance, and eventually our riding.

Serious riders get the idea. But for the rest of us more casual riders, a bike stand, let alone a Park, seems like a ridiculous expense. After all, a bike stand does nothing more than hold your bike firmly at a height and angle that is convenient for you while you work on it.

Until you’ve used a bike stand, it’s hard to communicate what a difference this makes. Your bike now moves, easily, to a position that is convenient for *you*, rather than the other way around. I think I’m an average primate, and the fact is, I’m not going to do jack squat unless it’s easy. And that’s what a bike stand does for bicycle maintenance. Once you remove the physical agony from the picture, working on your bike becomes something you actually look forward to. Would you believe that I actually enjoy cleaning my bike now? Well, you shouldn’t, because that’s crap. But I do keep my bike clean. I do regular maintenance and make significant upgrades to my bikes; all because I know that the bike I am working on is firmly held and at an angle and height that lets me work in comfort. It’s such a small thing, but it makes such a huge difference.

The Park Race Stand was designed to be portable, but without sacrificing strength or stability. It’s equally at home in your garage or in the field. It’s moderately heavy, and a bit ungainly. Getting it in and out of your car is not difficult, but it ain’t enjoyable either. To give the unit its strength and stability, it doesn’t really fold. Instead you just lift it up and the legs sort of drop downward by themselves. There are heavy plastic clips to secure the legs, but a Velcro strap does a better job.

A bike stand is a *transformative* tool. It really changes the experience of working on your bike, and the Park Race stand is the best. — Verner

---

Handiest bike tool

Park Tool AWS-1

Peer behind the service counter at most bike shops and you’ll see a Park Tool workstand. There’ll be a waist-level tool tray on the stand, and unless it’s already in the hands of a mechanic, the triangle-shaped AWS-1, which features a 4-, 5- and 6mm hex wrench, will likely be one of a handful of tools resting in the tray.

While many general tools are too general, this one is specific and functional enough for excellence. It’s useful enough to be taken for granted, one of my hallmarks for a real Cool Tool. So many maintenance and repair jobs on bicycles involve these three hex wrench sizes that it’s easily the most used tool in the shop.

Details that make this tool great include a grip-friendly ball in the center (I own an older version without the ball, and it’s not as comfortable to hold and also provides less leverage) and color-coded rings at the base of each wrench, so the user can quickly choose the correct size.

I still use my Craftsman T-wrenches when I need a hex with more leverage, and particularly on an 8mm crank bolt, which the AWS-1 doesn’t cover. I also use a great set of Pedro’s L-wrenches with a ball end on one side for offset access. But the convenient Park Tool AWS-1 is so much my mainstay that it doesn’t ever get put away. The company’s website also hosts an array of helpful repair how-tos. — Elon Schoenholz

---

Solid state bike tool

Park Tool MT-1

I’m sure most roadside bicycle repair multi-tools do their job, but for me the MT-1 is the coolest. Not only does it do the job better than most, its design is so simple, it’s so small and lightweight, so ingenious that it has to qualify as a cool tool.

Park’s MT-1 is made out of nickel-plated investment-cast steel, weighs next to nothing, has no moving parts, and yet has all the functions one needs for most emergency bicycle repairs, from adjusting derailleurs to tightening crank bolts. Because the shafts are so short and the lever longer, the MT-1 provides superior torque to tools such as the previously reviewed Crank Brothers Multi-19, or a standard folding hex, such as Park’s AWS-9. Unlike folding tools such as the Multi-19 or AWS-9, the MT-1 has no retaining bolt that can come loose over time. And because the thin MT-1 has such a low profile, it can fit in tight places, including small saddlebags.

It also offers 8-, 9- and 10mm socket wrenches, which are commonly used on rack and fender hardware, as well as older brake bolts. Overall, the MT-1 is simpler and more usable than the Crank Brothers tool. Though it does have fewer functions, I find the ones the MT-1 does have are all I need for road riding that doesn’t involve a long-distance expedition — and they work better. Perhaps the only thing wrong with it is that it isn’t blaze orange; I forgot mine in the grass the other day after a quick tune-up, which I might not have done if it had been painted an obnoxiously bright hue. — Andrew Wilson

---

Cable adjuster

Fourth Hand Tool

I always knew there had to be an easier, smoother way to change cables on my bicycle or Lambretta. Previously tightening a brake or clutch cable on my old scooter involved fumbling with a vice grip or begging someone to hold the cable taught while I clamped down the adjustment screw. Enter the 4th hand tool. This little beauty grabs one side of any cable you are adjusting. Squeeze the grips and it clicks locked at the distance you are aiming to adjust! — David

---

Walnut-sized hex set

Topeak Mini 6

This incredibly compact, bike-oriented multi-tool has five different sizes of Allen wrench plus a Phillips screwdriver head, all of which folds up into a little pod about the size of a walnut. Sometimes I’ll carry it in my pocket or toss it in shoulder bag; mostly I keep it in the under-seat pouch of my bike. It really comes in handy for quick adjustments: raising the seat height, tightening the rear view mirror, adding and removing accessories, etc. Because it’s so small it doesn’t give enough leverage for really tight nuts (you can’t remove a handlebar stem with it), but by extending the tools on the opposite side of the one you’re using you can get a handle that’s effectively 2.5 inches long, which is enough for small jobs. It also works well as a keychain fob, though at 58g it’s slightly on the heavy side. — Dylan Tweney

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.

05/5/25

Splitwise/Construction Physics/Anti-nausea hack

Recomendo - issue #460

Split expenses seamlessly

On a recent wedding party trip, a group of six of us easily split the costs of our stay, food, drinks, Ubers, and party favors using Splitwise. We created a group that allowed each of us to add our expenses individually, and the app handled all the calculations and cost-splitting for us. All that was left to do was for each person to settle up at the end of our trip. The app is free to use on iPhone, Android, and the web, and we managed just fine with the free version. — CD

Infrastructure nerd

A blog I am really digging is Brian Potter’s Construction Physics, which is self-described as “Essays about buildings, infrastructure, and industrial technology.” Sounds boring, but is thrilling, as Potter deep dives into our built environment. The territory is similar to the podcast 99%Invisible, but far more quantitative. I’ve found his investigations so interesting I am systematically reading through his back issues. — KK

Anti-nausea hack

A study found that smelling isopropyl alcohol pads was more effective than a common anti-nausea drug at reducing nausea in emergency department patients, with peak effect in just four minutes. I bought a box of 100 alcohol prep pads ($6) to keep in my wallet for emergencies. Just hold near your nose and inhale gently if needed. They’re so slim I forget they’re there, but I’ll be glad to have them if nausea strikes. — MF

Grownup Star Wars

The best show in the Star Wars universe is the extended story running through Andor and Rogue One. Tight drama, no cartoon comedy, stunning alien worlds. Season 2 of Andor is now streaming (on Disney+) and it is even better than the first: incredibly intense and gripping. It’s a story about how resistance to fascism stumbles, and the sacrifices needed to prevail. The skill in building these worlds is stellar, with next-century levels of detail and immersion, way beyond the classic Star Wars films. Same universe, but for thinking adults. — KK

Non-psychedelic ways to change your mind

Found on Reddit, this guide to rewiring your brain emphasizes interrupting negative thought patterns, reframing perspectives, and, of course, mindfulness as techniques for mental transformation. There’s no step-by-step outline—and each of these 12 methods requires additional research for support—but I found the guide helpful as a reminder that our brains are transformable. All it takes is attention and intention when it comes to developing better habits. —CD

Life wisdom text file

Merlin Mann’s Wisdom Project is a collection of life lessons hosted as a text file on GitHub, delivered with Mann’s trademark humility and sharp wit.

Five pieces of wisdom:

• Write down the travel items you forgot to pack while you’re still traveling.
• Sometimes in life, even though it’s not your fault, it’s still your problem.
• You are not obligated to have a strong opinion about everything.
• Never organize anything you should discard.
• If an item is especially precious or valuable to you, never set it down anyplace that you wouldn’t want it to be overnight.

— MF

---

Sign up here to get Recomendo a week early in your inbox.

05/4/25

What’s in my NOW? — Daniel Olshansky