Review: Heat Sink Soldering Tweezer
An affordable and useful addition to any electronics bench.
Toolbox
Two-Tone Hammock
Don’t you just want to lounge on your own DIY two-toned hammock all summer long? All LIFE long, for that matter. You can if you follow this excellent tutorial by Design Milk.
Space Station Toolbox
Ever wondered what tools they pack on the International Space Station? Astronaut Tim Peake shared some ISS toolboxes on his Flickr page and kindly said we could post one of his pics. What do you think?
DIY Vegetable Garden
LOVE a veggie garden but not sure how to make one yourself? Ramshackle Glam can show you how!
Flashback: Make a Cigar Box Organizer for Father’s Day
A cigar box organizer is great for any type of dad. For the fixer-upper, it makes a great tool kit. The behind-the-desk-dad can fill it with everyday office supplies. You can adjust the compartments to fit his organizational needs.
Tool Review: Garrett Wade Gunsmithing Screwdrivers
This is a set of three finely made flat-head screwdrivers with fancy hardwood handles and nice brass ferrules. Apart from their fine finish, the hollow-ground tips are the screwdrivers’ major selling point. Supposedly, unlike a double-wedge shaped screwdriver blade, a hollow-ground blade applies more torque to the bottom of the screw’s slot, where it’s strongest, and less at its top, where it’s weakest and most likely to get scuffed or marred. Though the appearance of screw heads is rarely important to me, there are functional reasons why it’s important to avoid damaging screws as much as practical, and I get as irritated as anyone else with screws and drivers that readily slip out of engagement. Flat-head screws are, in my experience, usually the worst offenders, and though I was a bit skeptical, I have to say these hollow-ground tips really do feel more solid.
Best of 2012: Toolsday
We started doing tool-review-Tuesdays—inevitably compounded to “Toolsdays” in short order—in early 2011, and 2012 has been the column’s first full calendar year. The reviews are written on a volunteer basis by MAKE staff and friends. Sometimes a manufacturer or retailer provides a review unit, but as often as not, the reviewer simply opens his or her toolbox, picks out a personal favorite, and serenades it. Usually the tool is of modern manufacture and is available for retail sale, but sometimes we write about old tools, eBay finds, and family heirlooms. These “tool stories” usually add a human interest element to the sometimes dry approach common in product reviews, and have been some of my personal favorite Toolsday columns from 2012.