Toner Transfer Etched Custom Car Audio Panel
Great looking results from the very accessible process of toner transfer galvanic etching, by Rab. [via Hacked Gadgets]
Toolbox
Clear Snap-Together USB Project Enclosures
Adafruit’s most recent Part Finder Friday column featured these cool no-nonsense BUD USB 7201-C polycarbonate USB dongle cases, available at Digi-Key and Mouser and probably other places. They cost about $2 apiece if you’re only buying a couple and come in three pieces—two snap-together clamshell halves plus a connector cap—and take a 19x45mm circuit board, which seems to be a pretty common PCB size among commercial USB keys. I just ordered two to re-skin some generic thumb drives I own with bulky cases that won’t fit into the back port of my Xbox 360.. Good find, guys!
Easy File Handles From Corks
This trick might have been around forever, but it was new to me: using wine and champagne corks for file handles. Ray Connors, a new member of the Hack Factory, was showing me his handcrafted lockpicks when I spotted his files. A very clever alternative to buying handles, plus you can use different corks for […]
Skill Builder: Making A Butterfly Spline (Or “Arikata”)
Japanese-style woodworker, Len Cullum, shows us how to create a butterfly spline.
Rust Box Advice
I picked up this lovely old toolbox full of tools at a yard sale recently. Any advice on reviving some of those rusty tools in there? Please add your favorite refinishing/de-rusting tips in the comments.
Wear Your Lockpicks!
One of our new members at the Hack Factory is Ray Connors, a locksport aficionado. He makes his own lockpicks, which are sold in pairs, double-sided rake/tensors. Also, I really liked his method for storing them, in a safety pin laced through a pen spring. Wearable lockpicks!
SparkFun’s Funny Take on Obligatory Product Safety Warnings
The clever copy some bright marketeer wrote for SparkFun’s Heaterizer XL-3000 is turning into a pretty awesome viral advertisement for the product, and for SparkFun itself. [via Boing Boing]