{"id":40506,"date":"2022-11-10T09:26:08","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T16:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=40506"},"modified":"2022-11-29T11:21:16","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T18:21:16","slug":"cleaning-pcb-golden-fingers-on-game-cartridges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/cleaning-pcb-golden-fingers-on-game-cartridges\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleaning PCB “Golden Fingers” on Game Cartridges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Cleaning PCB “Golden Fingers” on Game Cartridges<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In this TronicsFix<\/em> video<\/a>, Steve<\/strong> 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 \u201cgolden finger\u201d contacts on the edge of the circuit boards and Steve finds that a combo of pink eraser<\/a>, IPA<\/a> on a Q-tip, and a metal polishing cloth<\/a> does the trick. One game had badly corroded pins on a chip and was therefore DOA, another had a short in one of the chips (same), a few required jumping wires to repair broken copper traces. But, in the end, only a couple of the games were beyond basic repairs.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Awesome Woodworking Tips from Lloyd Khan<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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When I was a teen, I was obsessed with the Whole Earth Catalogs<\/em> and completely enamored with the work of often-featured designer-builders like Jay Baldwin<\/strong>, Greg Baer<\/strong>, Malcolm Wells<\/strong>, and Lloyd Khan<\/strong>. Khan was responsible for the very WEC-like outsized Shelter publications<\/a>, featuring crazy, cool, and arty owner-built dwellings. Lloyd is still around, still doing his thing. His Instagram<\/a> is worth a follow. This particular post<\/a> is loaded with a number of high-quality construction tips.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Getting to Know the 555 Timer Chip<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In this DroneBot Workshop<\/em><\/a> they provide a clear and concise 42-minute introduction to the ubiquitous and versatile 555 timer chip<\/a>. They discuss how the 555 works, its various modes, and some of the basic projects you can use it in.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
A Chemist Explains How Super Glue Works<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Brent<\/strong>, of the excellent game crafting and miniature painting channel, Goobertown Hobbies<\/em>, also has a Ph.D. in chemistry. In this video<\/a> on his channel, he explains the chemistry behind cyanoacrylate (aka Super Glue) and how the glue actually works.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Electroplating 3D Prints<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Via Donald Bell\u2019s<\/strong> Maker Update<\/a> comes a recommendation for this article<\/a> on Makezine<\/em> about how to create faux chrome finishes on 3D prints. The process involves lots of sanding and smoothing of the print, a spray with a copper conductive paint, then an electroplating bath. The results are pretty spectacular.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Testing and Ranking Heavy-Duty Staplers<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In this Project Farm<\/em> video<\/a>, Todd<\/strong> tests out 14 different brands of heavy-duty staplers. He looks at units from Makita, Milwaukee, Ryobi, Arrow, DeWalt, WorkPro, Bauer, Neu Master, Ework, Bielmeier, Stanley, and Citadel. The staplers were compared for resistance to jams, stapling speed, capability to drive staples into spruce, oak, and composite decking. Bottom line? The Ryobi<\/a> performed very well and offers the best value, at $84 (at time of testing). The stapler that tested best overall was the Makita<\/a>, at a whopping $210 at time of testing.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Shop Talk<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Newsletter reader<\/em> Paul Cryan<\/em><\/strong> asks:<\/em>\u201cHow do you know if a tip you\u2019ve come across is original enough to report?\u201dGood question, Paul. A lot of it comes down to experience and intuition. I\u2019ve been writing in the DIY space for over 30 years, so I have some sense of the saturation of tips and techniques that are shared. But ultimately, I don\u2019t sweat \u201coriginality\u201d as much as I do practicality. If it\u2019s a great tip, even if it\u2019s been around for a while, even a very long while, it\u2019s worth sharing with those for whom it\u2019s new and as a reminder to those who may already know it. I see tips all the time that serve as a reminder for me to finally break down and try it out (or bring it back into my work flow).<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
***<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
I got a lot of responses to my <\/em>\u201cShop Talk\u201d post <\/em><\/a>about areas of DIY where you say \u201cHell, no, get me a pro.\u201d Everyone seemed to be on the same page. Reader <\/em>Craig<\/em><\/strong> best summarized the responses I received:<\/em>\u201cMy dad did almost no home or auto repairs. Not because he didn\u2019t know how, but because he freakin\u2019 hated doing them. Mom, however, might have been able to build a house with a pocketknife and a pair of vise grips. She just had skills\u2026lots of them.”I have done a wide spectrum of things but as I\u2019ve gotten older, I triage everything:If I want to try something, I do.If I don\u2019t want to, I don\u2019t.If it absolutely must be done and I don\u2019t want to do it, I hire it out.No guilt, just a depleted treasury.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales – Issue #138<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":40568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2371],"tags":[2372],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40506"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40506"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40532,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40506\/revisions\/40532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}