I was very interested when I got the PR about the Q Knot reusable rubber ties from a company called UTWire. They work on the same principle as standard plastic zip-ties but they can be fairly easily pulled apart and reused. If you crossed a rubber band with a zip-tie, you’d get a Q Knot.
I have a lot of scissors. The less precious pairs come and go, but any textile crafter will tell you that fabric scissors have a special spot in the collection. They need to be sharp, heavy, and easy to handle. So when GarrettWade sent me a pair of their 7″ dressmaker’s scissors, I was excited to dig in for a review.
One thing I wrestle with in my day-to-day, sometimes literally, is shipping boxes — lots of shipping boxes: boxes of MAKE books and magazines, review books and hardware, and boxes of other cool stuff that shows up on my doorstep. And because I don’t drive and live alone, most of my shopping is on the internet. More boxes. So, my most frequent around-the-office tools are scissors and a box cutter. So, I was very interested when Fiskars offered to send me one of their new ShopBoss snips-based multi-tool.
Weighing in at eighty pounds, the DW734 is the smaller of two bench-top planers that DeWalt offers. You can pick one up from a big box store for around $360-$400. The 15A, 120V electric motor spins the three cutting blades at 10,000 RPM and the automatic feed system uses two rubber drums to grab the workpiece and steadily feed it through the blades at 96 cuts per inch. The blades are reversible and produce a nice finish, however due to the mounting hole configuration they are very difficult to re-sharpen. You can buy a pack of three replacement blades for around $45 online.
Here’s a novel way to take measurements using sound waves with an iPhone. German developer Florian Student’s Acoustic Ruler Pro for iOS will measure distances up to 25 meters by clocking the time delay of emitted sound waves. You can use the app with either a pair of headphones or with another iPhone to measure the distance between the two handsets.
Being someone who already suffers from a debilitating form of arthritis, and spends most days and nights tap dancing on a keyboard, I’m amazed that I haven’t developed some form of RSI (repetitive strain injury), the catch-all term for the cumulative chronic “micro-injuries” associated with repetitive movements and work fatigue. I don’t have chronic RSI, but I do get intense wrist pain sometimes, associated with my arthritis, and occasionally, little shooting nerve pains (which always make me wonder if RSI has finally befallen me). But for the last 14 years I’ve employed a faithful tool in helping me avoid aches and pains in my hands: Handeze Therapeutic Support Gloves.
Then, SNAP! Andrew and I both jumped as all of the cameras shuttered simultaneously. That was it: quick and painless. I took my turn in the chair, and remained unphased as the simul-shutter snapped my photo….later that night, I had a 3D model of my head swirling around on my iPhone screen.
