craigsmith

Label Paint Cans with the Things They Painted

Label Paint Cans with the Things They Painted

Alpha maker Craig Smith discovers the hard way that it’s a good idea to label paint and stain cans with the projects they were used on.

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Quick ‘n Dirty: Countersink

Quick ‘n Dirty: Countersink

Maker extraordinaire Craig Smith shared another quick work tip with us: Sometimes I grab the cordless drill/driver, some screws, and perhaps a small pilot drill bit on a quick construction/repair project. The screws would be better if they were 100% flush and I didn’t grab a countersink bit, or perhaps I’m at a location without […]

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Tape Measure Notepad

Tape Measure Notepad

If you ever had a project with a lot of measuring in one area, with a lot of cutting in another, you’ll do this to your measuring tape. (Ever put up drywall?) By simply sanding the shine off of the plastic casing on a measuring tape, you have a writeable and erasable surface to jot down those numbers.

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Introducing: The Hans Solderer

Introducing: The Hans Solderer

About 1983, when I was fifteen, I dropped my dad’s red Bakelite soldering gun and broke the casing. Of course he was upset, so I did my best to “fix it.” So I took my original Star Wars Han Solo pistol and gutted it to hold the soldering gun components.

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Faux Molten Lava/Metal Effects

Faux Molten Lava/Metal Effects

Another day, another awesome project email from Craig Smith. Craig wrote in to share with us some details about the faux molten lava effect he achieved on his Mustafarian Panning Droid he showed off at the Celebration IV Star Wars convention.

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Impressive Tuner Coil

Impressive Tuner Coil

Craig Smith of Firefly Workshop (South Milwaukee, WI) With my crystal radio projects, I recently made a dual coil variometer tuner. Connected to a diode, crystal earphone, antenna & ground wires (no batteries) I tuned in 1540 KXCL Waterloo Iowa from 270 miles away here in Milwaukee. The coils were wound on a segment of […]

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Altoids Tin Radio

Altoids Tin Radio

The awesome Craig Smith is at it again. He continues to explore the venerable crystal radio, now focusing on miniaturization. And that, of course, means on thing: Mint Tin Crystal Set! Craig writes… I’ve made a half dozen battery-free crystal radios in about eight weeks. But I always wanted to try to stuff one inside […]

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