Skill Builders

How to Choose the Right Circular Saw Blade

How to Choose the Right Circular Saw Blade

Steve Wilson

By Steve Wilson

Steve Wilson

Steve Willson began his career as a carpentry contractor in Rochester, New York, where he owned and operated his own business. He then joined Popular Mechanics magazine as their Home Improvement Editor, a position he held for 22 years. He is the author of three books and has edited or rewritten 11 books on various home improvement and tool-use topics. He also writes for The Home Depot, which carries a wide selection of circular saws, blades and accessories.

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Electric circular saws are small, electric versions of lumber mill saws. They can go where the work is, instead of the other way around.

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Create Custom Screen Printing Designs at Home

Create Custom Screen Printing Designs at Home

Tim Deagan

By Tim Deagan

Tim Deagan

Tim Deagan (@TimDeagan) likes to make things. He casts, prints, screens, welds, brazes, bends, screws, glues, nails, and dreams in his Austin, Texas, shop. He's spent decades gathering tools based on the idea that one day he will come up with a project that has a special use for each and every one of them.

Tim likes to learn and try new things. A career troubleshooter, he designs, writes, and debugs code to pay the bills. He has worked as a stagehand, meat cutter, speechwriter, programmer, sales associate at Radio Shack, VJ, sandwich maker, computer tech support specialist, car washer, desk clerk, DBA, virtual CIO, and technical writer. He's run archeology field labs, darkrooms, produce teams, video stores, ice cream shops, consulting teams, developers, and QA teams. He's written for Make: magazine, Nuts & Volts, Lotus Notes Advisor and Databased Advisor.

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Screen printing is very simple, and you can achieve pretty incredible results with primitive equipment.

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Prepare for Repairs with the Ultimate Electronics Field Kit

Prepare for Repairs with the Ultimate Electronics Field Kit

Tim Deagan

By Tim Deagan

Tim Deagan

Tim Deagan (@TimDeagan) likes to make things. He casts, prints, screens, welds, brazes, bends, screws, glues, nails, and dreams in his Austin, Texas, shop. He's spent decades gathering tools based on the idea that one day he will come up with a project that has a special use for each and every one of them.

Tim likes to learn and try new things. A career troubleshooter, he designs, writes, and debugs code to pay the bills. He has worked as a stagehand, meat cutter, speechwriter, programmer, sales associate at Radio Shack, VJ, sandwich maker, computer tech support specialist, car washer, desk clerk, DBA, virtual CIO, and technical writer. He's run archeology field labs, darkrooms, produce teams, video stores, ice cream shops, consulting teams, developers, and QA teams. He's written for Make: magazine, Nuts & Volts, Lotus Notes Advisor and Databased Advisor.

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When you’re out and about and you need to fix electronics on the fly, what should you be carrying in your field kit?

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Use Polarized Lighting Techniques to Capture Cool Color Effects

Use Polarized Lighting Techniques to Capture Cool Color Effects

Ted Kinsman

By Ted Kinsman

Ted Kinsman

Ted Kinsman has worked as an optical engineer, a physicist, and a physics instructor before joining RIT to teach the technical side of imaging. He is one of the few active high-speed photographers able to photograph at times less than 1/1,000,000th of a second. Recently, Kinsman’s work has expanded to the x-ray region of the spectrum where he continues to explore imagery for books and magazines. His work has appeared on The Discovery Channel, Crime Scene Investigations (CSI), The X-Files, South Park, The Tyra Banks Show, and The Frozen Planet series. Kinsman is currently an Assistant Professor in the school of Photographic arts and sciences (SPAS) where he teaches in the Photographic Sciences Dept. at RIT.

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You can manipulate light to do all kinds of magical things in your photographs. Learn how to use polarized light to see objects in a new way.

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Learn the Double-Stitch Technique to Handsew Leather

Learn the Double-Stitch Technique to Handsew Leather

Tim Deagan

By Tim Deagan

Tim Deagan

Tim Deagan (@TimDeagan) likes to make things. He casts, prints, screens, welds, brazes, bends, screws, glues, nails, and dreams in his Austin, Texas, shop. He's spent decades gathering tools based on the idea that one day he will come up with a project that has a special use for each and every one of them.

Tim likes to learn and try new things. A career troubleshooter, he designs, writes, and debugs code to pay the bills. He has worked as a stagehand, meat cutter, speechwriter, programmer, sales associate at Radio Shack, VJ, sandwich maker, computer tech support specialist, car washer, desk clerk, DBA, virtual CIO, and technical writer. He's run archeology field labs, darkrooms, produce teams, video stores, ice cream shops, consulting teams, developers, and QA teams. He's written for Make: magazine, Nuts & Volts, Lotus Notes Advisor and Databased Advisor.

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This basic technique will propel you toward custom leather tool coverings, bags, apparel, and more.

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