My “concise” imperative really wanted to call this a bulletproof messenger bag, but I’m quite confident Instructables user Culturespy, author of this interesting (albeit, to my mind, slightly paranoid) tutorial, would be quick to point out that there’s no such thing as “bulletproof.” Writing a free public tutorial about how to build a piece of […]
I love PVC pipe: It’s weatherproof, cheap, commonly available, easy to work, and easy to join temporarily or permanently. Apart from a slightly icky environmental footprint, the only serious drawback of PVC pipe is that it’s ugly, owing largely to the fact that it’s usually available only in white, off-white, gray, or (sometimes) black. PVC can be painted, sure, but getting a good finish requires careful surface preparation, and even then the paint tends to flake or wear off with time, weather, and/or handling.
But, as you’ll know if you’ve ever tried to remove a purple primer stain, it is possible to indelibly colorize PVC pipe. I got curious about what was in purple primer, and a bit of digging revealed that it’s just clear primer plus purple dye. I reasoned, then, that I ought to be able to make my own “purple primer” in whatever color I wanted by adding solvent dye to clear primer. Long story short: It works, and it works great. You can read all about it here.
Don’t forget, we’re closing in on our Technojunk Teardown contest. If you’re participating, do send in your entries ASAP. If you haven’t whipped out the drivers and gotten busy on a cast-off piece of technojunk yet, there’s still time! Deadline is 11:59 p.m. PDT on September 24, 2010. There are some great prizes at stake […]
In the Make: Online Toolbox, we focus mainly on tools that fly under the radar of more conventional tool coverage: in-depth tool-making projects, strange, or specialty tools unique to a trade or craft that can be useful elsewhere, tools and techniques you may not know about, but once you do, and incorporate them into your […]
Use a ring binder to store and organize small parts and electronic components.
Once the growing sprawl of electronic parts starts showing up in your dreams, you know you’ve got some tidying up to do. It can be a challenge to spend quality hacking time on humdrum sorting & parts organization, but of course, in the long run it’s a no-brainer. I’ve yet to discover a magical motivator* […]
I don’t know how long they’ve been available, but Timothy J. Silverman’s lovely photo (uppermost) just alerted me to the existence of these dual-reading dial calipers that simultaneously report inches and meters on the main scale and the dial. I do remember wanting such an instrument a couple of years ago and Googling around trying to find one with no success. The version pictured immediately above (and, I think, in Timothy’s photo) is this Chinese model imported by TFT Tools, but many other models are available.
