For our upcoming Make: Newsletter, which will be focused on handy tips, I put a call out on our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, G+) to share their favorite tips. The response on Twitter was fantastic — tweeters are already used to forming thoughts into aphorisms because of Twitter’s 140 character limit. Here are some of my favorites:
Don’t get so caught up in thinking that you never do anything.
Measure twice. Cut once.
never buy cheap screwdrivers.
leave tweeter, go make something.
never work when you are tired.
Never use your finger to check if the hot glue has cooled down. It hasn’t.
Automotive polishing compound on a clean damp rag can make grubby, scratched, and stained things shine. Plastics, metal…paint even!
Rubbing alcohol removes sharpie marks from most smooth surfaces.
Do not attempt to wire a breadboard when you have just taken asthma meds.
if you borrow a clean tool, return it clean. If you borrow a dirty tool, return it clean.
Double check the spelling of your employer/clients name on the silkscreen of your PCB. Not that I’ve done this. :)
in theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.
Don’t release the magic smoke.
learn to draw in isometric perspective, it can really help you visualize a project.
when filling a pcb start with the shortest components and work up to the tallest or else its like soldering through skyscrapers!
estate sales are a great place to get quality tools and materials.
Wet your soldering sponge with tea. It’s slightly acidic and will give the soldering iron a wonderfully clean tip.
Don’t be afraid to take things apart. Overcoming that fear is often the hardest part of fixing things.
Pick your tool after you plan your job.
Please add your own tips in the comments here, and check out all the responses on Twitter! Want to sign up for the Make: Newsletter? You can do it right here:
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That kid on the left is about to put a hole thruough his palm… Never put any organ in the direction the tool might slip to…
Measure once, cut once. Properly.
If you have a habit of chewing your nails, don’t become a plumber.
The difference between knowing and not knowing is trying.
“Appropriate Technology reminds us that before we choose our tools and techniques, we must choose our dreams and values. For some technologies serve them, while others make them unobtainable.” Tom Sender, Rainbook.
Dad gave me the following principle called HALT. Never attempt something when Hungry Angry Lonely or Tired…
To see if your blade is sharp enough, touch the edge to the top of your fingernail. If it sticks a little, you’re in good shape.
Sharpness of an edge can easily be determined within optical tolerance. Shine a bright light (or sun’s rays) at a right angle to the edge, NOT on the side, on the cutting edge. Reflection means dull. No reflection is sharp.
If you borrow a dull tool, return it sharp. PROMPTLY. This will so astonish the lender that he and his children will speak of you with hushed reverence in tales told ’round the campfires for generations.