I have roughly one zillion screwdrivers at my disposal most of the time. I’ve got a few sets of general purpose screwdrivers, many small jewelers and electronics screwdrivers, and even some nice ones attached to Swiss Army knives and Leatherman multi-tools. But the one I use most for servicing small electronics is my Technician’s Pocket Screwdriver
If you’ve ever struggled to locate the center of a circular plate or a piece of round stock using a ruler or a square, you know it can be a tricky proposition. My usual ham-fisted method involves marking the midpoint of several diameters and kind of visually averaging all those sloppy centers to get roughly in the middle of the thing. If I need more accuracy, I try to sandwich the circle between two framing squares and then draw lines between opposing corners–lines which, at least in theory, should bisect each corner at 45 degrees and intersect in the middle of the circumscribed circle. In theory.
Make subscriber Scott House wrote in to let us know about BikeCAD and associated cycle design software from BikeForrest. BikeCAD is a parametric CAD tool used to design hardtail mountain bike and road bike frames. Other variants of the software are available to help produce full suspensions, recumbents, tandems, and custom wheels.
Overall, I like the Shinwa 78610. Even though I have a decent capacitative stud finder, I often seem to end up using a 1/16″ drill to probe for studs, anyway. And if I’m looking for joists in the ceiling instead of studs in the wall, mechanical probing is pretty much my only option, because inevitably the ceilings in my homes seem to have popcorn texture which prevents the use of any kind of instrument you have to slide across the surface. So for that use alone, I’m glad I’ve got the Shinwa in my toolbox and think it’s worth the $15.
Got some strange screws that need unscrewing? Want to get in there and modify some gear the manufacturer didn’t trust you to open? Check out the 54 Piece Bit Driver Kit from the Maker Shed. The kit includes a magnetized driver with metal shaft, swivel top, and rubberized grip, a 60 mm extension, a 130 mm flexible extension, and 54 bits. Problem solved!
In response to my post yesterday on tap and die, one of our fave MAKE contributors, Ross Hershberger, posted a set of tips we thought should have its own post. Then, reader johngineer chimed in with his own excellent tips. We love getting this sort of intel from our community. Thanks, guys! First, Ross: Making […]
Taps and dies are the two tools you use for cutting threads into material around a hole (tap) and for cutting threads into a rod (die) for mating with that hole. The basics of how to do it are quite simple. All you need to know are a few steps and you need a tap […]
