{"id":47178,"date":"2026-10-31T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=47178"},"modified":"2026-10-27T13:00:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T20:00:47","slug":"gars-tips-tools-issue-216","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/gars-tips-tools-issue-216\/","title":{"rendered":"Gar&#8217;s Tips &#038; Tools &#8211; Issue #216"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1><strong>The Accessible Workshop<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Adaptive Tools That Make Your Work Easier<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!IosU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Facffbc0d-d57b-40cc-8d09-30abab92718b_800x800.avif\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!IosU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Facffbc0d-d57b-40cc-8d09-30abab92718b_800x800.avif\" alt=\"\" width=\"418\" height=\"418\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>Hex Key Handles<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>How did I go so long without one of these simple hex key T-handles? I\u2019ve known about them for years and thought about them every time I was cursing my way through assembling flat-pack furniture, I finally got some, and they\u2019re great. I got a pack of <a href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/WrXdh\">three cheap, chunky plastic ones<\/a> and the size is perfect for confident gripping with arthritic hands. The handles are made to accept a variety of common hex sizes, and they\u2019re designed to be used either in a T- or L-handle configuration. At under $2 each, you definitely want some of these around your home and shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1><strong>Exploring Weird Tools Concepts and the Infimaker 5-Axis Desktop CNC<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Laura Kampf: Infimaker 5-Axis Desktop CNC\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/s9BSEFPkBNk?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" style=\"max-width:100%;aspect-ratio:16\/9;height:auto;\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>While this <strong>Laura Kampf<\/strong> video is basically a promotion for the forthcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/infimaker\/infimaker-k1-the-pro-grade-desktop-5-axis-cnc?ref=1tzlzy&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=US_F3_Google_Search_K1_Prelaunch_Purchase_Web_Generic_Internal_20260609_Markus&amp;utm_content=K1&amp;utm_term=small%205%20axis%20cnc%20machine&amp;campaign_id=23917548216&amp;adgroup_id=195009551421&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=23917548216&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw0fbWBhBkEiwAwJuQ8dN0vU0LGX-ZRn5r1Cl-acL5C90MkO3i7F4Gd_75UyMDdg3RiCv_6BoC4mcQAvD_BwE\">Infimaker 5-Axis Desktop CNC<\/a>, it uses that opportunity to explore an \u201cIs this crazy or clever?\u201d idea. Laura wants to know if there\u2019s any real value in a disk-shaped measuring tool that you keep in your pocket and roll across surfaces and material for rough measuring. She uses the Infimaker to go down the rabbit hole of the idea to see if it\u2019s worth pursuing. Moving quickly (and cheaply) from idea to prototype is a real superpower in developing product ideas, so you can definitely see how a machine like this could be a serious asset. The Infimaker had a successful $4.7 million crowdfunding campaign in Sept. The machines are allegedly shipping in early 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1><strong>Marveling at Cheap Flat-Pack<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jbC8!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd0751c82-3bbc-49bd-a876-53637a5bfa36_882x1600.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jbC8!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd0751c82-3bbc-49bd-a876-53637a5bfa36_882x1600.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"382\" height=\"693\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>My wife recently bought a \u201c<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/E1XemAE\">baker\u2019s rack<\/a><\/strong>\u201d to use as a microwave and coffee stand in her art studio. As soon as I saw it on our doorstep, I knew I had a job ahead of me. The heavy box (for a 21.7\u201d x 14.6\u201d x 49.4\u201d shelving unit) was disturbingly small. I knew it was going to be filled with a TinkerToy collection of short box-tubing components and a big-ass bag o\u2019 hardware. It was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It took me two nights of after-dinner work to get it all put together. And those hours also became a kind of meditation on the mad genius of international consumer manufacturing and trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t mean that as a hymn to global consumer capitalism. There are plenty of uncomfortable questions buried inside cheap imported goods: labor, environmental costs, shipping, disposability. But I couldn\u2019t help marveling at the amount of mostly invisible intelligence embodied in this mundane under-$50 object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Somebody had to design a nearly 50-inch-tall rack with four shelves, a built-in power strip, and enough strength to hold a microwave, coffee maker, etc. And design it so that it would fit into that alarmingly small shipping box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then there\u2019s the manufacturing. There must have been 25 or 30 main components, plus a heavy sack of hardware. The tubing was nicely powder-coated, the shelves were decent, and dozens of holes drilled into dozens of different parts somehow had to line up perfectly. As I worked, I could imagine this deft balancing act of trade-offs around engineering, materials, and precision manufacturing, all within the reality of razor-thin margins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Somebody designed it. Somebody sourced the tubing, shelving lumber, fasteners, electrical components, and packaging. Somebody worked out the manufacturing, assembly sequence, and instructions. Somebody figured out how to pack it into that tiny carton. Then it entered the vast global Rube Goldberg machinery of factories, warehouses, container ships, ports, trucks, and delivery networks before landing on our porch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, you can\u2019t help but feel like $49 is <em>too<\/em> cheap, and image the real costs are simply showing up somewhere else. But after two nights of cursing the thing, I found myself admiring it and the processes by which it had come to me. Human beings on the other side of the world had been handed a nearly absurd set of constraints: Make it sturdy. Make it useful. Make it decent-looking. Make all the holes line up. Make it fit into a tiny box. Ship it halfway around the world. And price the damned thing under fifty bucks. How the hell do they do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1><strong>Still Sweet on It<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Tools That Remain Favorites<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!c5Kz!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F064fdd72-65f1-44e3-99be-585979b1f30b_1416x1500.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!c5Kz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F064fdd72-65f1-44e3-99be-585979b1f30b_1416x1500.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"520\" height=\"551\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Three years ago, when I got a new remote job that I knew would require a lot of weekly Zoom meetings, I knew I needed decent video lighting for my office. Not knowing what sorts of lights I would ultimately require, I went onto Amazon and ordered a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/v4wl\">cheap set of LED panel lights<\/a><\/strong> on adjustable stands to tide me over until I could figure out what a really needed. Three years later, and I still have the same lights and see no reason to upgrade. When I bought these UBessize lights on stands, they were only $30. Today, they\u2019re even lower, at $25! The stands are a bit rickety, and everything smacks of cost-cutting and minimal amounts of material. But the lights work great, there are four brightness levels, and the stands are adjustable. They even come with five color filters. Honestly, when these eventually die, I\u2019ll likely just get the same ones again. For my needs, they\u2019re perfect. I even sometimes pair them with a USB power brick so I can move them around for close-up photography lighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>Workshop Setup<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!pT6v!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84531723-708f-4ecf-a9cd-18e1e292436a_600x457.heic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!pT6v!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84531723-708f-4ecf-a9cd-18e1e292436a_600x457.heic\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"457\"><\/a><figcaption><strong>Donald Kinnaman packs the contents of an entire workshop into a 90-sq. ft. metal shed next to his Phoenix, Arizona, home. He rolls the machines he needs out onto the covered patio behind his house and goes to work.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In a recent <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/workshop-setup\/\">Tools for Possibility<\/a><\/strong> on <em>Cool Tools<\/em>, the subject was workshop setup. There are a lot of really great ideas here, from creating a simple tabletop spray booth from a box and a fan, using PVC pipes for tool storage, and shopping carts as mobile workstations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1><strong>Turning a Broken Caulking Gun into a Vise<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!P3Bs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F658bea87-5844-4caf-afdd-6c5a62a23863_884x940.heic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!P3Bs!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F658bea87-5844-4caf-afdd-6c5a62a23863_884x940.heic\" alt=\"\" width=\"592\" height=\"630\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br>In this <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DewQC61E9D8\/?img_index=4&amp;exln=MWs4ZHVsaXd5c2tpNw%3D%3D\">Taku Woodcraft Instagram video<\/a><\/strong>, <strong>Takurou<\/strong> shows how he cleverly constructed a useful bench top cutting vise using a discarded caulking gun mechanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1><strong>Thanks to All My Subscribers!<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>I now have well over <code>10,000<\/code> subscribers to this humble little newsletter. And 50 <a href=\"https:\/\/garstipsandtools.com\/subscribe\">paid subscribers<\/a>. A million thanks to all of you. Doing this newsletters is a true joy for me and I especially like feeling like I\u2019m connected to a community of fellow makers. Thanks to everyone who\u2019s sent me an email, made a comment, shared a tip or tool. Let\u2019s keep the ball rolling for another 200 issues!<br><br>If you want to <strong>financially support this work<\/strong>, please consider a <a href=\"https:\/\/garstipsandtools.com\/subscribe\">paid subscription<\/a>. It helps keep me in <a href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/5dw10\">PB Swiss<\/a>. I appreciate you.<br><br>A very special thanks to <a href=\"https:\/\/garstipsandtools.com\/subscribe\">Hero of the Realm<\/a> subscribers: <strong>Moses Hawk<\/strong>, <strong>Jim Coraci, Donobster<\/strong>, <strong>Peter Sugarman<\/strong>, and <strong>Will Phillips<\/strong> for your generous support.<br><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Access to tools, techniques, and shop tales from the diverse worlds of DIY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"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\/47178"}],"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\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47178"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47181,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47178\/revisions\/47181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}