Makey Awards 2012 Nominee 16: Epilog Laser, Repair Friendly
For easy of repair and a design mindful of same, we nominate Epilog Laser for the 2012 Makey Awards in the Repair Friendly category.
Reviews
Natural Dyeing
Book Review: Harvesting Color by Rebecca Burgess Review by Meara O’Reilly I recently experimented with using the oxalis plant (more commonly known as the weed sourgrass) to dye some towels a bright yellow. It was such an easy and rewarding process, I wanted to look around and see what other colors might be within reach! This book […]
Tool Review: OpenX Dual-Blade Package Opener
The OpenX is advertised as a tool for opening those annoying plastic packages, but I’ve found that its useful for opening just about anything. The tool is just about 7″ long and 1.5″ wide at its head. Its hard, yellow plastic case fits well in my hand, and there’s a handy keyhole on the back so you can hang it up somewhere…
Product Review: Cricut Mini
I missed the original Cricut insanity a few years back when the original model debuted. My friends went NUTS for it, raving about what a great addition it was to their crafty tool supply. On Black Friday, I watched as shoppers knocked each other down trying to pick up sale-priced cartridges. But no Cricut craziness […]
Tool Review: The Easydriver
Admittedly, there are lots of ratcheting screwdrivers in the world. Especially nowadays. But I love the Easydriver, and I suspect I always will, and not just for the warm glow of nostalgia the one from Dad’s toolbox evokes for me. The Easydriver, IMHO, is a classic of modern industrial design. It belongs in a nice coffee table book, somewhere…
Tool Review: PanaVise Vise Buddy Jr.
I tend to do my fine-detail circuit work inside the house on my electronics workbench, and rougher work in my garage workshop. I have vises installed in both places, each chosen to suit the work: in the house I use a PanaVise Jr. Mini-Vise mounted on a tray base; in the garage it’s a heftier swivel vise bolted to my workbench. Now, PanaVise has turned things upside down by offering this new Vise Buddy Jr., which is a small, precision vise head that you can quickly clamp into your bigger bench vise.
Tool Review: BOA Versa Saw
A regular hacksaw frame is fixed to the blade at both ends. These restricted-access hacksaws, on the other hand, are fixed to the blade only at the back end, closest to your hand, and support the front end using a reciprocating, spring-loaded bar with a thin guide slot and a rubber shoe. The shoe rests up against the workpiece, during the stroke, and the blade moves back and forth through the guide slot, which keeps it from flexing away from the intended cutting path. The upshot is that, unlike a regular hacksaw frame, you can make cuts in stuff with almost zero backside clearance.
