Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #21
Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #21
Glue in a Mustard Bottle
Frank Abbott, a member of the (recommended) Shop Hacks Facebook group, posted this picture of his wood glue, now housed in a mustard bottle, and asked if others had tried the same. Turns out, French's makes a popular glue bottle in addition to a classic yellow mustard. Many in the group swear by the surprisingly durable snap-top on the bottle. Other members recommended dollar store condiment squeeze bottles and other types of recycled bottles, like dishwasher soap containers. And many used this as an opportunity to profess their undying love for the Glu-Bot.
Cardboard Attachment Techniques
Maker-centered educator and learner, Kevin Jarrett, is compiling a collection of techniques for attaching cardboard. I love the way that he and others are visually representing the various techniques.
Learning Arduino with Marc de Vinck
My friend and former Make: colleague, Marc de Vinck, has a series of excellent Arduino tutorial videos. When Marc was doing videos for Make:, I always admired his clear, direct, and no nonsense approach to teaching. It's the same approach he uses here.
Turning Pliers into Helping Hands
Andrew Lewis shared this little hack on Facebook: "The old 'use string and a lollypop stick when you haven't got a hand-held vice' trick... Keeps the hands from getting tired when holding work for a long time."
Makevember
On Donald Bell's Maker Update, he reminds us that Dominic Morrow is repeating his Makevember Challenge this year. The idea is to do a small maker project every day for the month of November, post the projects to social media, and tag them #makevember. Dominic has even created a little parts kit this year. He had me at the googly eyes.
The Maker Muse
Instagram maker, Marylou G Anderson, has put up a number of really clever design solutions and projects. I love her approach to creating simple drawer pulls by using a loop of leather. Easy, reasonably durable, and handsome.
Halloween Project Motherload
One of the many things I am proud of that we did at Make: was all of the amazing Halloween haunts, costume, food and party ideas published over the years. You can access that treasure-trove by using the #Halloween tag on the website.
Life Hacks: Takin' Out Da Trash
For years, on trash night, I have hauled all of the trash to the bins beside my driveway and then rolled the filled bins out to the street. A few months ago, I came up with an easier and more fun way to do trash night. I roll the bins up to my front door, load them there, and then roll them out to the street. Less lugging trash, less weight in the bins for half the trip, and I can even stand on my front porch and toss trash and recycling into the open bins from there. "He shoots. He scores!"