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Which Ratcheting Screwdriver is Best?
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. Tests included working arc swing, ratchet back drag, magnet strength, bit retention strength, build quality (shaft wobble), shaft rotation in the locked position, bit failure load, and screwdriver failure load. Bottom line? The PB Swiss screwdriver, at a whopping $144 (at time of testing, now $178!), performed the best. This was followed by the $70 Linus Tech Tips driver. The Megapro and Williams also performed well, at $34 and $36, respectively. I have the Williams driver and have no complaints.
Tips on Quickly Learning a New Skill
In this video, engineer Jeremy Fielding drops a ton of wisdom via 26 strategies for learning a new skill, fast. Many of these might seem obvious (you must be motivated, mistakes will happen), but it’s in the unpacking of these ideas and the case examples he uses that make this video most valuable. And, there are a number of tips that one might overlook or not consider, like asking family and friends if they have resources related to the skill you wish to learn, not being afraid to ask someone to teach you what they know, and the idea that you only need to learn the essentials first, then you can dive in and learn by doing.
Making Clay Out of Common Soil
As my Southern mamma used to say: “Put a new wrinkle on your brain every day.” Here’s today’s wrinkle: I had no idea that you could derive clay, suitable for making pottery, from common soil. I thought you had to find a vein of red clay and harvest that. Sure, such clay is obviously preferred, but you can also render out clay using reddish soil (which has high clay content) or really any type of soil. All you need to do is suspend the soil in water and filter out the heavy materials. After straining through a cloth, you are left with clay.
Maker Slang
Jargon, slang, and tech terms from the diverse worlds of DIY.
Hero prop – In movie-making, a detailed prop designed for close-up shots and closer scrutiny from the audience. In contrast, action props are used where the audience will not see the prop in close-up.
Scumbling – In painting, to soften (the color or tone of a painted area) by overlaying opaque or semi-opaque color applied thinly and lightly with an almost dry brush. I learned this one from my artist wife, Angela White.
Weeding – In vinyl cutting, the act of removing all of the unwanted vinyl around your cut design.
TOYS! Better Sink Strainer
I watched a video a few weeks ago on Cool Tools where Donald Bell extolled the virtues of this OXO sink strainer. Like him, I hate the design of most metal-basket strainers. I ordered one of these and was so impressed with it that I wrote a Boing Boing post about it. Hundreds of BB readers followed suit and many of them are as happy with theirs as I am with mine, so I thought I’d share it here, too.
I made two racks for my Stanley and Harbor Freight sorting boxes. One I welded and later decided it was way overbuilt. Too heavy especially once loaded with full trays of screws, etc. The second one I built a simple frame from 2 x 4s, then slid small shelves out of thin material like Masonite across both sides. It may not be as easy as baker racks, but I’m pretty sure it’s the cheapest way to build a rack in terms of materials. Plywood would be nicer all around, but 2x4s are cheap new, and almost free used.
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Reader Jim Landis wrote:First, thanks for all the fascinating information you keep publishing. I’m a big fan. I’m sure others have discovered this, but some readers might find it useful. When I’m knocking together a quick model out of soda straws and paper clips, etc to get a feel for a project, 1 centimeter to 2 inches is a very convenient scale to use.
1. It’s easy to double or halve numbers without too much mental effort.
2. There’s always a ruler nearby with both inches and centimeters marked in parallel.
3. It’s very close to a 1:5 scale, so models are a nice size for desktops. For context, the original GI Joe dolls, -ahem- action figures, were 1:6 scale.
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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.
Project I’m working on:How Hobbies Change Lives [For over 20 years, I've been fascinated by people who do wonderfully unexpected things in their free time. The deeper I go, the more convinced I become that hobbies, taken seriously, are one of the most underrated forces shaping our lives. And, hey, if you have one (the weirder, the better), I'd love to hear about it!]
PHYSICAL
Piper Warrior plane canvas created froma photo I took: Aviation has a strange way of simplifying life. Up there, excuses disappear, priorities become obvious, and physics remains wonderfully indifferent to your feelings. This canvas, which graces my office wall, reminds me daily that perspective changes everything. Sometimes the solution is not to work harder on a problem, but to gain a little altitude.
Mini Pelican Pin:multicolor and very cheerful, the best companion for any blazer. It was love at first sight. Bold, slightly ridiculous, and impossible to take too seriously, this pin has it all. The wiser I become, the more convinced I become that professionalism and playfulness go hand in hand. Some days a mini pelican on a blazer does more for my motivation than an entire productivity system.
Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés: This is one of those books people recommend for years before you finally pick it up and wonder why you waited so long. Thankfully, it found me in my twenties. It is part mythology, part psychology, and part permission slip to trust your instincts more and more and more. And hey, despite the first word in the title, it works remarkably well for all genders.
DIGITAL
TED talk "How Cities Come to Life": It has always amazed me how many people think cities happen by accident. They never do. Every city is a constellation of decisions made by people, for people, or, well, against people. I’ll be honest: I did not want to give this talk. But I eventually realized I couldn’t not give it, especially considering how the pain of poorly designed cities entered my own life. So I went all in and explored why cities shape far more than skylines, what becomes possible when we design them intentionally, and how they can teach us to live better. It still amazes me that I actually did it, so yes, it’s very much in my NOW.
Dear Derek’s new website: I love Derek Sivers’ ability to make complex ideas feel simple. His new website is a reminder that the internet doesn’t have to be noisy, addictive, or poisonous. It can still be thoughtful, personal, and useful. Way back when, he inspired me to make my own website as simple as they make them. Maybe he’ll inspire you, too.
INVISIBLE
Genius is the opposite of expectation.
I wrote this one down at least twelve years ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. We tend to associate genius with intelligence, talent, credentials, or achievement. Increasingly, I suspect genius is the ability to see what everyone else overlooks because they are busy looking where they were told to look. It hit me when I realized that some of the most interesting people I know are also the least constrained by expectation.
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