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This is my favorite paper plane design of all time. It is a completley flat glider that can soar and loop. enjoy!
I will show you how to tie a monkey's fist knot, and what you can make with them. I had aways wanted to know how to make these, and one day someone showed me how. They are really fun to make and whack people with.
Here's a little hack that'll save you needless minutes logging in.
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This coffee table is a 12:1 scaled replica of a cassette tape. It is made of reclaimed maple, walnut and lucite. Dimensions are 47.25" x 30" x 5" with a 3/8" plexi top. This is a first prototype and one of a kind table. Future versions will be CNC machined out of high grade plywood with a variety of ply combinations and a glass top. This table has been an obsession of mine for 5 years! It is amazing to finally have it come to fruition. The table is completely reversible (sides A and B).
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Breaking news! At JRubyConf 2012 (a 3 day JRuby-focused conference in Minneapolis) it has just been announced that JRuby core team members Thomas Enebo and Charles Nutter are moving from Engine Yard to open source giants Red Hat.
The news was confirmed by Nutter in a tweet:
Engine Yard shares their side of the story and says they'll continue to "work closely with Charles and Tom as well as Red Hat to continue development of JRuby and collaborate on JRuby features to support customers running on JRuby on Engine Yard Cloud."
From the Red Hat perspective comes this post by JBoss director Mark Little. He notes:
They'll [Enebo and Nutter] be working with various teams in JBoss and Red Hat, including the obvious candidates such as TorqueBox, Immutant and OpenJDK, but also helping us deliver on our polyglot visition. I can say that bringing them to Red Hat has been almost 2 years in the making, but it's time that has been well worth spent and I have great expectations for their future here.
Mark Little
JRuby has had an interesting history, starting out as purely as a Java port of MRI by Jan Arne Petersen. It has matured significantly over the years, especially after the current core team leaders took over the reins in 2004. JRuby's performance now trumps that of MRI 1.9 in many cases and JRuby is broadly considered as Ruby's second-most established Ruby implementation (although Rubinius is approaching quickly from the rear in this regard.)
Red Hat has recently begun to make moves into the dynamic app hosting world with OpenShift, a Heroku-style auto-scaling 'Platform as a Service' (PaaS) for webapps. It includes Ruby support and along with the JRuby news shows a growing interest in the language at the popular open source company.
The JRuby team also announced the release of JRuby 1.7 preview 1 this week.
For the past six months or so, Nora has been wanting to make money selling lemonade. I managed to convince her that not many people would buy lemonade in December in Seattle. But I told her that in the summer she could probably sell quite a lot if she set up a stand at my parents' house on a heavily trafficked street near the beach.
Last weekend was hot and sunny and my parents were holding a yard sale as part of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. Perfect! The day before the sale, Nora made signs, bought lemons and carried them home from the produce stand, juiced all of them, and helped me boil sugar and water. Sarah baked some cookies for her to sell too. We set out the next morning with our lemon juice, sugar syrup, ice, cooler, cups, signs, cookies, and red wagon. (She insisted on the wagon because she'd seen some neighborhood kids selling lemonade out of a wagon last summer.)
There were plenty of people out in the neighborhood, and Nora greeted everyone who passed by with an eager "Want to buy some lemonade and cookies?" She kept at it for several hours, stopping only when we were out of several supplies and I told her we needed to get home. Her share of the profit was about $15 (net of lemons and after sharing the cookie revenue with Sarah, the baker) which represents several months' allowance for her. Not bad for a five-year-old, I think!
Nora's first lemonade stand, at my parents' yard sale.
During Alumni Weekend, my 10th reunion at Harvey Mudd College.
And no, they don’t mean the Miami kind. The long-time vise manufacturer is holding a sweepstakes in which they’ll select their favorite story and bestow its teller with five grand. All “qualified” entrants will receive a “free Wilton C-clamp.” We’re not sure what “qualified” means, but after our quick read of the press release, it looks like you just have to be over 21.
Some of the stuff you’ll be competing with for the grand prize includes a guy from Canton, Ohio, who’s owned his Wilton for 40 years and a gunsmith from Georgia who scavenged his off the rear bumper of a service truck.
So hey: Story = free clamp. The sweepstakes closes September 14th, and you can find out more about the whole thing at the link below.
Submit Your Story [Wilton]
MAC Tools announced five new automotive specialty tools recently, including the hammer you see pictured above, which they claim is designed specifically for coaxing auto interiors into place. At first glance, it looks pretty much like the rubber mallet Sean and I have used for years for the same purpose. And honestly, that’s pretty much what it is… with two slight differences. First, the handle is a little longer and more grippy than most of the mallets I keep around the shop, and second, MAC added a third rubber tip on the end of the handle.
While we might poke fun at a pro-line specialty tool that bears exceedingly close resemblance to a dime-store standby, we can definitely attest to the handiness of a soft rubber mallet for putting dashboards back together. If you recall our fight with the old F150 that I (thankfully) no longer own, then you’ve seen at least one application where we hammered away to get everything to line up right. The trick is finding a mallet that’s soft enough to avoid plastic damage, yet hard enough to actually force the part in place. If the MAC hammer is indeed right in that hardness zone, it could be a winner. Of course, it’s damn difficult to tell from a picture.
The other tools released at the same time include a specialty brake spring tool, a brake spring plier set, some air filter cleaners, and a Ford Triton engine insert kit. For additional information on any of these — or to get your grubby mitts on one of these hammers — you’ll need to talk to your friendly MAC truck operator. I guess for now we’ll just eke by with our carefully selected partially-hardened-from-age-to-the-perfect-hardness cheap-ass rubber mallet.
Over the last few years I’ve developed a love for making furniture out of wood. I’ve built almost every kind of furniture one might put in a traditional home, incuding tables. I’m not a pro woodworker and certainly not a master of anything, but I’ve felt for the last few years like I had a good bead on things…until I saw this DB Fletcher automated table.
I have at least heard of Jupe tables that expand by hand and have inserts that lock in place. The thought of building one had always lingered in the back of my brain somewhere between building a deck and learning to play guitar. However, after seeing the automated smoothness of the DB Fletcher version I think my jaw dropped and all aspirations of making the ultimate cool table dropped a hundred fold. It’s genius — pure, brain-bending genius. There are a few drawbacks to this version though; DB Fletcher only operates in England from what we can tell, and we’re guessing that table is depressingly expensive.
Fletcher Automated Capstan Table [YouTube]
Jupe Style Expanding Table [YouTube]
I often wonder if the level of common sense we have is directly proportionate to our dependence on others to think for us. I’m inclined to believe that, in this case, whoever made this picture is having some fun with us. Then again, I saw a pen attached to the desk at the bank the other day with a ball chain that had a breakover clasp in the middle of it and had to think to myself that it was the worst security device ever.
I’m not sure what kind of demo is going on here, but were you to steal this the joke’s on you. The Bosch model kicks the crap out of it and you’ll run out of charge before you can show it to your friends — also, no charger. Then again it did hang around long enough for someone to take the pic, so maybe everyone knew that already.
Sears Product Security [There I Fixed It]
With the introduction of the green-batteried li-ion line a few years ago, we became fans of Ryobi’s power tools. While the early (blue) One+ line pretty much defined (in our opinion, at least) the price-cheap and quality-cheap low-buck tool line, the updated li-ion versions flat blew us away. We thought the li-ion One+ drill compared favorably to models offered at twice the price; you could actually pick up a whole multi-piece kit for under $200. That’s not bad. Of course, Ryobi has always been in the garden tool market as well, so we’re interested to see what comes of Ryobi’s new 40V li-ion line, which applies most of the same technology to a battery pack large enough to power higher-draw tools, like the chain saw pictured above.
The specs look pretty encouraging. Despite looking larger in photos, that’s a 12″ bar in the picture — just about right for the kind of small trimming and pruning jobs it’s likely to see in its target market: the home. And while gas-powered saws will probably always dominate the heavy-duty use market, there’s a lot to be said for the low-maintenance convenience of electric for the homeowner, who won’t want to keep gas and oil (or mix) on hand and re-adjust the damn saw every time they pick it up.
The line launches sometime this summer, so we’ll update you again when we know more about actual street pricing and/or get a chance to take a look at these in person. As with all such tools — and especially the lower-priced ones — the test will be how well these hold up compared to their more expensive rivals. What do you think? Would you consider trying out a Ryobi string trimmer? Or lawn mower?
The 40V Garden Tool Line [Ryobi]
The 40V Chainsaw [Ryobi]
FOD sucks. (That’s Foreign Object Damage, or what happens when you leave something behind when you’re working on something critical like an airplane or a race car. Wrenches, you know, can really muck up operating jet engines.) For years, shops that work on such sensitive gear have gone to great lengths to assure that every tool that leaves the toolbox makes it back home. When I was a kid and I’d visit my dad at work (he worked in aircraft maintenance), I’d see lots of tool silhouettes –pegboards with tool shapes painted on them in bright colors so you’d see color only when the tool normally stored there was missing.
Well, technology marches on. CribMaster, a company that sells all sorts of automated inventory management products, teamed up with Proto to offer professional-quality tools with integrated RFID tags. By mounting tag readers at various choke points (like the door to a hangar, for example) computer systems can automatically read the passage of the tools and mark them in the system as checked out or checked back in. The new brand: ProtoID.
What I wonder is how long it’ll be until this technology trickles down to home use. Certainly there’s a place for it in the professional world, and integrating the tags into the tool itself rather than simply attaching them must be sound pretty attractive to corporate buyers. And this system can’t be nearly as expensive as it would’ve been even a few years ago, which means it might make sense for less-sensitive businesses which are worried about theft or misplacement of tools. But if you could afford it, this would be badass for keeping your tool from falling into the neighbor’s coveting paws. Or getting left in the upstairs bathroom after you repaired a toilet.
Anyway, if you’re interested in how the system works, you can find out more on the company’s website, below. If you click through, be sure to check out the links along the left side of the page where you’ll find everything from toolboxes which automatically check out/in tools, software to handle the record keeping, and even some tool vending machines.
RFID Embedded ProtoID Tools [CribMaster]
Imagine yourself as a marketing pro confronted with selling a new hand tool — like the aviation snips pictured above. You have to convey to people walking by in the big box aisle what makes your snips different from everyone else’s. But here’s the problem: snips look like, well, snips. Look at the picture above! They’re snips.
Of course, the designers would disagree. Whether you agree or disagree with their decisions, it’s clear from the press release that Wiss’ engineers put some thought into them. For example, let’s start with the cutter blades. Wiss added CNC-machined wave-pattern serrations on both blades to “provide more aggressive shearing action, higher resistance to tooth breakage, and longer blade life.” They also use an investment casting process — a relatively old process known for its increased accuracy over sand casting.
The feature list continues: a “free-floating pivot bolt design” reportedly spreads side loads more evenly across the bolt, increasing life over threaded-bolt designs. Wiss also makes the snips out of valve-grade steel.
Granted, we haven’t seen these snips in person, so we can’t tell you for sure whether or not this effort translates into a kick-ass product or not. But we are pleased to see the information included in the press release. You’d be shocked how often we get press releases that don’t tell us anything at all about a product — and certainly nothing about why the company made the design choices they made. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to get to talk to the people behind the product, and each time we seem to uncover something really interesting, even when the tools seem pretty ordinary.
So here’s the big question: What makes one pair of aviation snips better than another? Personally, I suspect that the floating bolt would make a difference for me. I’ve owned pivoting tools (pliers, cutters, etc.) that bit the dust due to a threaded bolt. But what about the serrations? I checked, and none of the snips I currently own are serrated.
Wiss HVAC Snips [Warning: PDF Link]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Welcome to April 2012's bumper pick'n'mix of Ruby and Rails news and releases, fresh from the pages of Ruby Weekly.
Highlights include: Matz's new Ruby implementation, MobiRuby (Ruby for iOS), Passenger 3.0.12, Ruby 1.9.3-p194, TorqueBox 2.0, Adhearsion 2.0, and Dr Nic's App Scrolls.
HeadlinesRuby 1.9.3-p194 Released
A small version bump for Ruby 1.9.3 which includes a security fix for RubyGems (and therefore an updated version) along with oodles of minor tweaks and fixes.
MRuby: A Lightweight Ruby Implementation by Matz
It's been in the making for a while (remember RiteVM?) but this week Matz's new 'lightweight' Ruby implementation, mruby, spread around the Rubysphere like wildfire. The key goal is to produce an embeddable Ruby implementation that has a smaller footprint than MRI.
MobiRuby: A Forthcoming Ruby Toolkit for Building iOS Apps
Announcing 'MacRuby In Action'
MacRuby In Action is a new book hat teaches Ruby developers how to code OS X applications using MacRuby, an OS X-focused Ruby implementation. Jerry Cheung, a senior engineer at Intridea authored the book alongside Brendan Lim and Jeremy McAnally.
Phusion Passenger 3.0.12 Released
The popular Apache and Nginx module for deploying Rack-based Ruby webapps gets an update. It now supports Apache 2.4 and the event MPM.
GitHub Rolls Out An Easier Way to Create Repositories
It's not Ruby specific, but GitHub's prevalence in the Ruby world should make their latest tweaks to the repository creation process interesting to anyone familiar with the service.
The Future of MacRuby?
Matt Aimonetti of the MacRuby project notes that MacRuby's de-facto project leader, Laurent Sansonetti, has been M.I.A. on the project since October and no longer works at Apple. But what does that mean for MacRuby? Matt makes some suggestions.
Adhearsion 2.0 Released: Ruby Telephony Continues to Evolve
Adhearsion is an open-source telephony development framework built in Ruby. The version 2 release brings an all new Web site, updated documentation, support for multiple telephony engines, 'call controllers' and more.
Next Generation MRI Ruby Packages for Ubuntu Available
The Brightbox brainboxes have been hard at work on new MRI Ruby packages (of 1.8.7 and 1.9.3) for Ubuntu. They're ready for you to test right now - instructions inside.
TorqueBox 2.0 Released
TorqueBox is a Ruby application server built on JBoss AS7 and JRuby. In addition to being one of the fastest Ruby servers around, it supports Rack-based web frameworks, and provides simple Ruby interfaces to standard JavaEE services, including scheduled jobs, caching, messaging, and services.
Extending Ruby with Ruby
Some beautiful, code-driven slides by Michael Fairley that dig into adding new features to Ruby by using Ruby itself. To do this, he takes a feature from each of Haskell, Python, and Scala and adds it to Ruby. The slides are complete with speaker notes so it's easy to follow along.
Read Ruby 1.9: The Online Ruby Book
Not new at all but the site recently went down and I lamented the loss of one of my favorite online Ruby references. Finally it's back online, so it's time to let people who haven't seen it before enjoy its greatness :-)
On mruby and MobiRuby
Matt Aimonetti, a key contributor to MacRuby, riffs on the possibilities opened up by mruby and MobiRuby (both above) while suggesting that it'll take a lot for Ruby to be considered a logical choice for iOS development, even by existing Rubyists.
10 Things You Didn't Know Rails Could Do
The slide deck from a RailsConf presentation given by Ruby demigod James Edward Gray II. In a mere 234 (!) slides, he digs into a lot of interesting Rails crevices. Lots of short examples to enjoy.
The Asset Pipeline for Dummies
Eric Berry explains the Rails asset pipeline from the absolute basics up.
Getting Started With mruby
Matt Aimonetti is a real fan of mruby and shows it off by explaining its purpose, comparing it to Lua, and then by building a barebones C app that calls mruby to run a single line of Ruby code.
Make the Web Fast(er): One Rails App at a Time
A great slide deck by Ilya Grigorik about the role that page loading speed has to play in Web applications. It's not particularly Rails focused at all but it covers key things to be aware of.
MySQL Query Comments in Rails with Marginalia
Noah Lorang of 37signals talks about marginalia, a new gem that adds extra comments to Rails' logs which can help in the debugging and performance monitoring process.
Building an iOS Photo-sharing and Geolocation Mobile Client and API
A fine tutorial in the Heroku Development Center about building a photo sharing service with a native iOS client and Rails backend. All deployed on Heroku, naturally :-)
Rails Tutorial for Devise with CanCan and Twitter Bootstrap
Daniel Kehoe is known for his detailed Rails tutorials and this time he demonstrates how to create a Rails 3.2 application using Devise with CanCan and Twitter Bootstrap, from start to finish.
Introducing DCell: Actor-based Distributed Objects for Ruby
DCell by Tony Arcieri (of Celluloid fame) is an actor-based distributed object oriented programming framework for Ruby. It's hard to explain the concepts involved in a short summary but this post does a great job (think an easier, better structured DRb).
A Sneak Preview of Phusion Passenger 3.2
Phusion has been hard at work on the popular Apache and Nginx module (already mentioned above) and explains the internal overhauls that have taken place in the forthcoming Passenger 3.2.
Lessons Learned Upgrading Harvest to Ruby 1.9.3 (from REE)
Harvest is a popular time tracking webapp that uses Ruby behind the scenes. They've just done a big REE to Ruby 1.9.3 upgrade and in this post T J Schuck shares some notes about the process and the 1.8 to 1.9 issues they encountered.
Some Topics From 'The dRuby Book' Explained
A month ago, I shared the news of the Pragmatic Programmers releasing 'The dRuby Book' by Masatoshi Seki. Here, its translator Makoto Inoue goes through some of the topics covered in the book and shows off some uses of DRb.
How to Serve Your Rails Assets Over Amazon S3 with asset_sync
User Authentication with Rails and Backbone.js
Backbone.js is a handy JavaScript framework for developing webapps and Rails is similarly handy on the backend. James R Bracy of 42Floors shares how they use Rails and Backbone together and perform user authentication.
Testing Like The TSA
37signals' David Heinemeier Hansson says we need to shake any bad habits of 'over testing' our code, not aim for 100% test coverage, and avoid the 'TSA-style of testing.'
Gregory Brown Releases 15 Practicing Ruby Articles.. At Once!
Gregory Brown promised to keep releasing content from his Practicing Ruby journal and has now released 15 articles at once! Tricky to write this one up but Gregory's work is always a pleasure to read and you are bound to find some useful Ruby reading in here.
On Railcar: An Isolated Rails Environment
After seeing Yehuda Katz's Kickstarter for Rails.app (covered last week) Jeremy McAnally set to work on a similar project called Railcar. Here's the what, why, and how.
Driving Google Chrome via WebSocket API
Ilya Grigorik demonstrates how to control a Google Chrome browser from Ruby using its remote debugging API.
Rails Internals: Mass Assignment Security
A look at Rails' defences against mass assignment issues by Oscar Del Ben.
Matt Wynne On Using Cucumber
Cucumber is the popular framework for executing feature documentation written in plain text in your BDD process. Pat Shaughnessy sits down with Matt Wynne, co-author of The Cucumber Book, to talk about the ideas behind Cucumber and its design.
Super Charge your Rails App with Rack Cache and Memcache
Watching and ListeningMatz Talks About mruby and Its Possibilities
Back in November 2011, Matz gave a short (9 minutes!) but sweet talk about mruby, what it's about, and where it's headed.
The Ruby5 RailsConf 2012 Podcast
The Ruby5 podcast dedicated an entire episode to RailsConf 2012, summarizing DHH's keynote and talking about some of the other things going on, all in a mere 9 minutes.
RailsCasts on Queue Classic
The PostgreSQL database system can act as a worker queue for Rails apps replacing the need for a separate process to manage background jobs. Ryan Bates shows us how with the 'queue_classic' gem.
Rails Sustainable Productivity with Xavier Shay
At the LA Ruby Conference, Xavier Shay gave a talk about testing, data modelling, code organisation, build systems, and more, while suggesting many Rails Best Practices go against the building of solid and robust applications. 30 minutes long and well recorded/produced.
Migrating to PostgreSQL by RailsCasts
Ryan Bates continues his long line of awesome RailsCasts with a look at how to use the open source PostgreSQL database system with Rails and how to migrate an existing SQLite-backed Rails app to using it.
Designing Hypermedia APIs by Steve Klabnik
Steve Klabnik recently gave a talk on REST and Hypermedia APIs, the topic of his forthcoming book, Designing Hypermedia APIs. Audio isn't great but it's good to see Steve speak.
DSLs in Ruby
Kathy Van Stone delivers a talk about domain specific languages in Ruby, and shows a brief example. The talk is 40 minutes long and the audio quality somewhat better than Steve's talk above.
Ruby Rogues Talk to Jeff Casimir about Ruby Training
The Ruby Rogues sit down with renowned Ruby and Rails trainer Jeff Casimir to discuss his role with the Hungry Academy training program and to talk about the ideas behind training students in the art of programming generally.
Crafting Rails Applications with Jose Valim
The Ruby Rogues sit down with Jose Valim to discuss not only his popular book 'Crafting Rails Applications' but the actual art of crafting Rails apps itself. At 1h20m long, it's a deep dive, but perfect for the car!
Are Interpreters (Python/Ruby/PHP) Immoral?
A developer makes an impassioned plea for developers to learn compiled languages because 'interpreters for non trivial computation' are immoral and 'indefensible' due to their carbon footprint. Hmm.. yeah.. enjoy ;-)
rails-api: Rails for API Applications
Several popular Rubyists have built rails-api, a plugin that can trim down usually unnecessary Rails features for API-only apps. They are particularly keen for people to try it out and send in their performance results so that it might be added directly to Rails core in future.
T: A Command-Line Power Tool for Twitter (written in Ruby)
Authority: An ORM Agnostic Authorization System for Rails
Authority helps you authorize actions in your Rails app. It's ORM-neutral and has little fancy syntax. Just group your models under one or more Authorizer classes and write plain Ruby methods on them.
Pry 0.9.9 Released
Pry is a popular (and significantly more powerful) alternative to irb, the interactive Ruby console. Version 0.9.9 of Pry brings line-based code highlighting, method finding, and a torrent of general improvements.
Her: An ORM for REST APIs
Her is an ORM that map REST resources to Ruby objects. It maps HTTP responses to Ruby objects (through JSON) and adds methods to Ruby objects to trigger HTTP requests.
cache_method: An Easy Way to Cache Method Results
cache_method caches the results of calling methods given their arguments. It's like memoization, but the results are stored in Memcached, Redis, etc. so the cached results can be shared between processes and hosts.
redis_failover: A Ruby-based Solution for Redis Master/Slave Failover
Redis Failover is a ZooKeeper-based automatic master/slave failover solution for Ruby by Ryan LeCompte. (Apache ZooKeeper is a tool for centralized server configuration, coordination, and synchronization.)
Allowy: Another Simple Authorization DSL for Ruby (and Rails)
App Scrolls: Rails App Generation Magic from Dr Nic
The App Scrolls is a magical tool to generate new Rails and modify existing Rails applications (coming) to include your favourite, powerful magic. Authentication, testing, persistence, javascript, css, deployment, and templating - there's a magical scroll for you.
First NMatrix Alpha Released
Get your matrix math and linear algebra on with this prototype Ruby library.
MongoDB Ruby Driver 1.6.2 Released
rdoc-spellcheck: Check Your Documentation for Spelling Errors
A library by Eric Hodel that uses libaspell to spell check your RDoc documentation.
How DHH Has Tidied The Rails routes.rb File on BaseCamp Next
mongoid-minitest: Minitest Matchers for Mongoid
Jobs
Developer Advocate/Spokesperson/Evangelist at New Relic [San Francisco]
New Relic is the emerging standard for application performance management and wildly popular in the Ruby world. They're looking for a unique individual who can nimbly walk the line between development and marketing while wearing an Evangelist hat. Sounds fun!
Senior Web Engineer for Rapidly-Growing Education Business (Steve and Kate's Camp)
Steve and Kate's Camp is seeking a senior web software engineer ready to get their hands dirty now and interested in growing and leading a technical team down the road. Experience with TDD/BDD, Ruby, Rails, and devops all useful. Based in Sausalito, CA.
Senior Rails Engineer at Signature Labs [San Francisco]
Back-end Programmer Hedgeye Risk Management [New Haven, CT]
Senior Rails Engineer at Signature Labs [San Francisco, CA]
Last but not least..Instant: A Live, Immediate Ruby Editing and Visualization Tool
An interesting browser based editing environment where the Ruby code you type is processed on the fly. Inspired by an awesome talk by Bret Victor who did something similar with JavaScript.
Rails One Click: Another Simple Rails Installer for OS X
I've mentioned both Rails.app and Railcar in recent issues, but Rails One Click is another entry to the 'Rails installer for OS X' melee. It's a complete installer with a nice design and well suited to beginners. It focuses on installing only the minimum required to get started building a Rails app.
JavaScript Weekly: Like Ruby Weekly But.. for JavaScript!
I've spoken to some readers recently who were surprised to learn I also run a JavaScript weekly newsletter, so I thought I'd give it another mention here. There's lots of exciting stuff happening in the JS world lately so if you want to keep up.. I've got the newsletter for you :-)
@JavaScriptDaily: A Twitter Alternative to JavaScript Weekly
I guess all the talk of expensive LED products this week got us wondering: Does the company known for offering drool-worthy-yet-astronomically-priced tools offer a simple worklight? Answer: yes. You’re looking at it. And it checks in at a whopping $175. (No, really.) So what exactly do you get for that much cash?
First of all, you get an array of six 3W LEDS which produce a clear, white light. According to Festool Owners Group reviews, the light is quite neutral, though one reviewer notes it’s “unpleasant to look at or get caught in the corner of your eye.” On the plus side, they also mention that it’s surprisingly bright — enough to brighten an entire room. They report good battery life, though not enough for a full “day” of use, at least on its internal battery. However, you can plug the light into the wall “for unlimited runtime” or even power it with various Festool batteries you might have for powering other Festool cordless tools.
So, the short version: It looks pretty cool. But seriously, $175 for a light? I just can’t see it.
SysLite LED Worklamp [FestoolProducts.com]
I know there’s a marketing blitz behind this, but I can’t help but enjoy the idea of a tool that survives without major functional changes for most of a century. Think about it: Since 1937, mankind went from early aviation to jet flight to the moon. Certainly the Model 77 has seen a bit of innovation over the years in terms of motor and material technology, but it remains essentially the same in shape and function — and it’s still a pretty popular model, despite lots of heavy competition.
I suppose a lot of this is due to the fact that the role the circular saw fills in the construction business isn’t as different as it might seem. We still build houses in much the same (basic) way we did 50+ years ago, at least in terms of framing. Most of the innovation seems to have come in materials or design, which has led to some significant improvements in blade technology. In the last few years we’ve seen significant improvements in circ saw blade design specifically, for a number of reasons: to handle the new materials, to increase battery life in cordless circs (since battery tech has finally caught up enough to make them somewhat feasible), and to improve life and performance. Note that the anniversary model 77 pictured above is loaded up with one of Skil’s titanium carbide blades.
Of course, a lot of folks prefer the simpler, cheaper, and certainly lighter sidewinder design. Sean, for example, is a big proponent of sidewinders, and I have to admit that I see his point. Even a small weight reduction makes a difference when you pick up a saw hundreds of times a day. When I built the shelves I wrote about a while back, I used two different circs to cut the shelf notches, and even after cutting only 60 notches, I could tell that one was heavier than the other. Then I looked up the difference: less than a pound.
We understand that the basic Model 77 still sells quite well. And if you happen to be in the market for one this year, Skil offers a “limited edition anniversary” model, which adds a custom black fleck paint finish, a chromed aluminum foot, a commemorative placard, and a commemorative blade. We found the anniversary model (the #MAG77-75 as opposed to the standard #SHD77M) for $190 online. Considering that the standard model sells for around $170, it might be worth a “what the hell” drop of a $20. I mean, you’re probably gonna be lookin’ at the thing for another 20-30 years, right?
One objection, though: despite creating a cool-looking custom product site and commissioning yet another corporate-themed chopper, we didn’t find much at all about the saw’s long history in the product literature. Skil, how ’bout a good story? We’re up for it!
Incidentally, what’s your favorite circ saw and why?
Skil 75th Anniversary Worm Drive [Custom Product Site/Skil]
Street Pricing [75th Anniversary Model]
Street Pricing [Standard 77]
Standard 77 Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Though a lot of people we’ve talked to don’t like the PS10 form factor — many seem happier with the drill-like PS20 pistol-grip style — I’ve always been a huge fan. The Bosch PS10 is hands down the best tool I’ve found for general light assembly and disassembly around the house and shop. For example, I used mine to quickly remove and re-drive about 30 machine screws to re-organize some 19″ rack mount gear in my studio. What makes the PS10 so great, IMO, is that the combination of its straight/90-degree shape and a trustworthy electronic clutch with soft-start — the trifecta for tasks like the ones I described above.
Admittedly, I’ve never really desired a drill-type chuck on the PS10, even though it does bear a strong physical resemblance to any number of small right-angle drills. But adding a chuck to the PS20 did wonders for its general usefulness. Does the same hold true of the PS11?
The specs seem to confirm that the PS11 is pretty much a PS10 + chuck. You get trigger-controlled variable speed (0-1,300 RPM) and torque maxes out at 101 in-lbs. — right in PS10 territory. But you also get a longer (and probably more comfortable) trigger on the PS11, a couple of small LED worklights, as well as a battery gauge and (most critically) a 3/8″ auto-lock chuck.
While I haven’t seen one of these in person yet, I suspect that (like the PS10) it’ll fall into a pretty narrow niche market — but will be the tool for that niche. If you’re constantly drilling small holes in relatively soft material in tight spaces, the PS11 would make a lot of sense. Now the big question: Who’s in that market? Maybe cable runners? Electricians? Help me out here. Is this something you’d use? How?
Expect to pay around $130-$150 for the -2A kit, which includes the tool, charger, two batteries, and a soft case — pretty much the same price as most of the PS-line of drivers.
PS11 12V MAX 3/8″ Angle Drill/Driver [Bosch]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
At no point in my life have I ever looked upon yard work with the same soft-focused, warm fuzzies that seem to inhabit many of my neighbors. They talk of string trimmers the same way I might describe a muscle car. For my part, I just want the least amount of hassle with the easiest care possible. Black & Decker sent me something that actually fits that bill in the 36v string trimmer. It cuts with the same grunt as a gas trimmer but without all the pulls, fuel mixing, and sore shoulders.
Before you assail me with righteous indignation, let me explain. No, the 36v LST136 is not as powerful as many of the gas-powered trimmers on the shelf today. Nor will it last as long at full tilt as a gas trimmer; this is true. What it can do as well and with the same or less hassle is trim the house and fence line and make sure the “project car” in the grass is all tidied up — on one charge and without help. We tested it on the highest setting and foot-tall grass, weeds, and all manner of roughage that had been growing for close to a month and it chopped it all fine.
On paper, the LST136 doesn’t miss much. There’s a 13-inch cut diameter that uses .065 diameter line and the battery features an LED counter with four indicator lights that represent 20 percent per light. This means that even when no light is visible there’s still a 20 percent charge left. When the 36v Li-ion battery is completely drained there’s only an hour of charge time to get it topped off. The curb weight winds up running close to 7 lbs. flat, which is a welcome statistic if you’ve ever lugged a heavier model around for any length of time.
Black & Decker says that on a fully charged battery, the unit should provide 25 mins. run time on regular speed or 8-10 mins. on the higher speed. There’s a also a chart on top of the handle that tells you basically the same thing: the higher the setting you run, the shorter the battery life will be. For our testing we were on setting “3″ for around the house and “6″ for the high weeds and grass. It lasted the entire way around the house and tackled the toughest weeds without missing a beat.
The trimmer obviously has all the assorted bells and whistles normally associated with electric string trimmers, such as a push button swivelhead and brace that turn the trimmer into edging mode. There’s also a telescoping feature built into the length of the pole that adjusts to any reasonably-sized user and helps in storage. The LST136 also isn’t a bump feed unit; it’s auto-feed. In fact, if you go around bumping it on the ground for more line, all you’ll end up doing is rat’s-nesting the feed spool.
We were just sure the LST136 was going to choke on tall grass and overgrowth, but it didn’t. We were positive that, like most of the battery-operated string trimmers out there, we’d run out of charge after about four feet of heavy work, but it plowed on. After the entire task even Toolmonger’s resident curmudgeon (my old man… who doesn’t like anything) said with grudging respect that the LST136 performed as well in basic yard applications (normal trimming and edging) as his Ryobi gas-powered unit.
As much as I hate yard work, this does the job around the homestead and makes short work of weeds if you move quickly and don’t linger on one spot and waste battery life. Is it worth $170 price tag? In some instances, like its intended suburban application, we’d say yes, completely worth it. If you’ve got a ranch to do or are a pro landscaper, no. Then again, if you’re already bought into the 36v Black & Decker system it’s a no-brainer. In any event, invest wisely and wait until your current rig packs up.
LST136 36v String Trimmer [Black & Decker]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
TM reader dgdaner asks: “I farm and ranch and keep the tools I use for fencing in a toolbox in the back of my fencing pickup. I’m too cheap to buy a full-size aluminum box that mounts permanently, so I use smaller (usually plastic) toolboxes that I can carry around. They stay out in the ND weather, and many times I go to use them I find the box half full of water. What’s your best suggestion for a replacement?”
He mentions that the best he’s seen (in his price range) was a Craftsman model which “didn’t use rivets to hold the hand on, so the lid is sealed.” We did a quick search (and looked around our local big box) and found a number of Stanley models that seem similar to the Craftsman the reader mentions. But I can think of at least one other possibility.
When I was a kid, my father brought me home a couple of smallish ammo cans, similar to the one pictured above. Not only are they quite sturdy, they’re also completely watertight. (They’ll often float if empty.) A quick Google search shows that you can buy similar cases online for around $15. There’s only one drawback: they’re a bit small for most tools.
On the other hand, I’ve seen identical cases sized for artillery shells. Even though the last time I checked the Army didn’t recycle them, I’m pretty sure they’re not available for sale — at least over the counter. But I bet you could find them pretty easily, and they’d make a great solution for the reader’s problem.
What do you think, though?
We try not to post too much snark here on Toolmonger, as that’s not really our style. But sometimes you just can’t help it. I caught this unremarkable BBQ grill over on Uncrate recently, and I almost dropped a brick in my shop chair: It’s probably the single best representation I’ve seen of the “manly men” craze and just how much some people will pay to pretend to be the kind of people most Toolmongers naturally are.
Let me explain.
The barrel BBQ is a classic tradition among people who aren’t loaded with cash but do have access to a source of junk barrels, various scrap metal, and a welder. It’s not a gourmet solution; it’s a solution of simplicity. You want to grill. You have stuff lying around and a way to put it together, so you fire up the tools, cut the barrel in half, weld in a few tabs to hold a grill, tack together a stand for it, and then promptly dump in some charcoal, start eating steaks, and stop thinking about the assembly.
Barrels, you see, don’t really make excellent grills. The volume is often too big to cook for small-to-medium parties, so you have to use an imperial assload of charcoal to get the thing hot enough to sear steak. They do make reasonable smokers, though a good smoker will incorporate other features, like a way to stoke the fire without removing the grill and all the food along with it. If you were going to actually design a grill, you’d start with something shaped a lot differently than a barrel.
So what do you get for $950? Special coatings? A stand made of lacewood and unobtainium? Nope. You get a painted barrel on a stand with a mahogany handle (ooh!) and a thermometer. Oh yeah, and you get to believe that your neighbors will think you’re the hard-core DIY type.
Here’s a thought: Go get a nice new (or re-conditioned) steel barrel for $50-$75. Pick up a grill from the local big box. Weld in a few tabs. Pick up $30 worth of 1″ square tube and tack together a stand. Make a handle out of scrap wood — or whatever you’ve got lying around. Grill. Enjoy. Spend the other $700 on, I don’t know, food. For $950, I could build a grill out of stuff literally lying around the shop right now and buy steaks and beers for everyone I know locally.
Ok, I’m done ranting. But seriously — really? It’s fascinating to me that these things sell.
BBQ for Men [lkooq design]
Last week IKEA announced that they’ll soon sell furniture featuring an “integrated HDTV.” That’s right: You can now buy a TV stand complete with TV, BluRay player, and stereo for around $950. That’s the 24″ version.
But wait a minute. The local BuyMore offers a decent-looking low-end 24″ HDTV (complete with 1080p display) for $170. (I’m not, by the way, recommending this TV. It’s just the first one I came across. I found lots of them in this price range.) Brand-name BluRay players start around $65. And even though the IKEA offering only offers 2.1 sound, you can buy a pretty nice smallish 5.1 system for under $200. I’m not a math genius, but that adds up to around $435. So you’re essentially paying $515 for a crappy melamine-covered MDF cabinet and the loss of stereo component selection.
Maybe it’s just me, but this screams DIY.
Seriously, how hard is it to mount a TV? A friend of mine in California attached a nice backboard to a small hutch with nothing but dimensional lumber and bits and pieces from the local big box — and ended up with a solution every bit as nice-looking at what you see here from IKEA. I haven’t asked, but I’d be willing to bet he spent less than $100 on the project altogether. And how hard is it to pick out a TV, stereo, and BluRay player? The materials make it sound like a nightmare — you know, “making sure they work together” and “plugging them in.” I’m sure it’s way easier than assembling the IKEA piece, yeah?
Ok, IKEA-bashing aside, there is a place for a wall-like HDTV mount that doesn’t involve carving up the wall. This is a common problem for renters of all flavors, and this looks like a good solution for it.
So how many of you have built something similar? How’d you solve the problem of stabilizing the TV, and what would you do differently next time?
IKEA Announces Furniture w/Integrated TV, Speakers, BluRay [ExtremeTech]
In celebration of Earth Day, the LED light bulb that won a $10 million government competition to replace the standard 60-watt incandescent with something more green will go on sale at Home Depot — for $60. Ok, the manufacturer Phillips is “discounting” it to $50. Actually, Phillips claims that it’s working with other organizations to subsidize the bulb in order to get that price down to around $20-$30. But still: Is this cheap enough to encourage you to make the leap?
What sets the Phillips bulb apart from the many cheaper offerings already available is its output. While most LED bulbs deliver significantly less light than “equivalent” incandescents, the Phillips is reportedly pretty much interchangeable with a good ‘ole 60W. The Phillips light isn’t blue-white, either, but instead a more yellowish “warm” light like you’ve come to expect. So if these claims are true, it’s probably a lot easier sell for the family than the ones I’ve tried out, which made my room feel like a dimly-lit hospital.
Bottom line: I’m glad to see these available, and I hope that sooner or later we see them readily available in the $20 range, because that’s my price point. When I can pay $20 for a bulb that’ll (theoretically) last 25,000 hours and actually look pretty decent, I’ll go for it, replacing bulbs as they burn out around the house. But $50 is just way too much for one bulb.
Am I wrong?
Rebates to Cut Price of $60 Light Bulb [PhysOrg]
It’s been a comedy of failures around my place lately, with the “new” wearing off the house and its contents and lots of little issues cropping up. It’s given me a lot of opportunity to think about the perfect way to buy products you expect to use for years to come — whether that’s a dishwasher, an air conditioning unit, or a high-end power tool. And I’ve discovered that no matter how I come at the problem, I almost always end up seeking a balance between price and features.
I know this seems pretty obvious, but looking a little deeper, it’s a lot harder to figure than one might suspect.
Take, for example, my dishwasher. The one that came with the house held up pretty well until about a year ago, when it started not getting all the crap off the dishes and generally being a pain in the ass. I put it back together a few times, fixing little issues and such, but recently it got so bad that we jokingly put a sign on it reading “please wash dishes before running dishwasher.” Doh.
And so the feature onslaught began. A basic “it washes dishes” dishwasher (placing it squarely ahead of the one I currently owned) started at around $300. Fancy models ranged upwards of $1,000. Where’s the price line? A little research uncovered that up to around the $500 point, quality ratings and available features increased steadily. But of the over-$500 models, some received great ratings and some less. Some even rated poorly on quality. My read: beyond the $500, I was buying features, not quality. So we bought right around that point — since we generally don’t care too much about the advanced features.
Power tools aren’t that different, at least in our experience. With some exceptions, of course, you generally see a pretty linear correlation between price and quality(/reliability) starting at the lowest-priced units up until some point — which we’ll call the “price/quality line” — at which the relationship breaks down. Some “above-the-line” units continue to follow the relationship, pricing higher and offering advanced features which increase reliability. But for the most part, above the line, you’re just buying individual features.
One other factor to consider with power tools: the job. What are you going to do with the tool? The biggest mistake we see tool consumers make is overestimating the needs of the jobs for which they’ll use their new tools. Bigger isn’t always better, and there are lots of downsides to buying a tool bigger and/or more powerful than you’ll need. For one, they’re more expensive. $150 to $200 will easily buy you a decent 18V drill/driver, but step up to a 36V model and you’ll pay twice that (or more). Sure, that extra torque lets you drill bigger holes, but how often do you need to drill a 1-3/4″ hole in 1/2″ steel? If the answer’s never, you probably wasted $150 or more on the 36V.
They’re heavier, too. If you drill that big-ass hole twice in the course of two years, but you drill smaller holes, say, 100 times, you lugged that sucker around 98 times unnecessarily. Consider, too, that you probably could have borrowed the big drill from a friend, or even rented one for less than your $150 difference.
Of course, this isn’t always the case, and I’m not suggesting that everyone should avoid buying large and powerful power tools. I’m just saying that it’s worth the time to examine one’s use cases before shelling out the dough. It’s a great way to uncover whether you want that monster tool because it’ll make your life better, or because Tim Allen made you think it’s cool.
So what do you think? What’s your thought process when you go tool (or dishwasher) shopping? How do you balance your needs and wants to buy tools that move you toward your project goals instead of holding you back from them?
Remember those cool screwdrivers Lowe’s released last year? You know, the ones that always turned the screwdriver the same way no matter which way you turned the handle? It looks like they’re out in the open now, and True Value has created a competing set that you’ll see in stores in the next few months. TV calls it the “SwiftDriver.”
If you’re having trouble visualizing how this works, I feel your pain. I had to see one (like the one pictured, though not exactly the one pictured) to get the concept. You ratchet it back and forth just like you would a standard “ratcheting” screwdriver, but instead of simply moving in one direction and “ratcheting” in the other, these drivers switch directions internally such that the screw head continues to turn forward as you ratchet your hand back into position to turn again. It’d be a bit difficult to use in really high-torque situations, but it kicks ass for removing machine screws and such. They strike a nice balance between the ease of a full-on power tool and the hand-driven sensitivity of a plain ‘ole screwdriver.
True Value’s version will MSRP for $25 and will sell in a kit form containing the driver, 7 Phillips bits, 3 slotted bits, 3 square recess bits, 4 star bits, and 6 SAE nut drivers. Look for it on shelves in May.
At first these snips from Fiskars smacked of gimmick. But the more I look, the more I think I might just want a set. The idea is simple: Fiskars claims they’ll cut just about anything you might find lying around the house, from paper to carpet to “light sheet metal.” It’s what a Swiss Army knife would look like if you started with a pair of scissors instead of a pocket knife.
To start with, the ShopBoss features nice TPR-padded grips, which look pretty comfortable. The scissor motion isn’t compound, but does feature a nice bend in the grips that looks like it’d give you at least a little bit of leverage when you squeeze them. The blades are titanium coated, too, which makes them hard as hell — and less likely to bend instead of cutting. One side of the blades is serrated, so hopefully you can saw your way through whatever you can’t simply cut. A spring in between the grips adds a little “umph” to your cutting motion as well. Finally, you’ll find a notched cutter in between the top of the grips for cutting wire and an exterior notch for cutting twine. (The exterior notch doubles as a bottle opener, you lush.)
They retail for $30, but we found ‘em pretty easily online for $20. Hell, I’m considering a pair for my home tool kit. It’d do a great job of replacing the “big knife” my dad always recommended, at least for most stuff around the house.
The ShopBoss [Fiskars]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
I have a much older and much less nice-looking version of the square pictured above hanging around my shop. I use it primarily for metal work, but as I’m sure most Toolmongers will attest, once you start using a tool for one purpose, you’ll pretty much reach for it whenever you need to do anything similar. So mine gets a little woodworking use as well. The one pictured above showed up in an Irwin press release we received last week, and though I’m not sure it’s really updated or new, I still wanted to mention it because at around $8 it’s just a great thing to have around.
The Irwin model lists a couple of basic features, including a cast zinc body, black-accented markings on the stainless-steel blade, and a nice little bubble-level. But honestly, I’d say you could pretty much pick up any model that looks and feels sturdy and solid. Let’s put it this way: I don’t know where mine came from. I found it in my dad’s stuff, and I still use it. I can’t really picture buying a replacement, unless I happened to find a need for two.
Combination Square [Irwin]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
I just wanted to drop everyone a quick note to apologize for the issue we had yesterday with the background advertisement bleeding into the main page and causing issues for commenters. This, of course, is what happens when the same guys who write about the tools also have to code the site. (I like to think I can be good at everything, but usually I just end up being mediocre at, well, everything.) Anyway, sorry for the inconvenience, and I wanted to let you know that it’s definitely something I did as opposed to anything caused by the advertising or the advertiser.
Everything should be working now, but I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know in comments if you run into any similar issues now. It’s working fine for me here in Chrome on OS X 10.7, but I’d be interested to know if it’s working on other platforms. Thanks!
So Bosch now offers not just one but two different masonry bit designs: Bulldog bits, designed for fast drilling through light-to-normal weight concrete, and now also a tougher line targeted for use in “reinforced concrete or harsh aggregate.” They call it the Bulldog Xtreme.
Cheesy X-name aside, this bit sounds like it has some design pedegree. For example, the new bit features a solid-head carbide design, which Bosch claims helps it drill more quickly through nasty stuff (like rebar) while wearing down less at the same time as compared to other carbide-tipped bits. And Bosch utilizes a variety of manufacturing technologies to make the Xtreme, too, including a “proprietary diffusion-bonding technology” and a “high-heat, high-pressure solid state welding process” to keep the bits’ carbide and steel in one piece.
Also of interest: a bit shape design that incorporates a conical tip into the flutes in a way that Bosch suggests produces rounder holes — the better for setting anchors or fasteners.
I know. All this jargon gets boring fast (pun intended). But hey — if the bit actually works better, it really does make a difference to those who drill more than one or two holes at a time, which includes the majority of masonry pros. We haven’t tried ‘em out yet, but we look forward to giving them a go.
Look for these on shelves soon, in sizes from 3/16″ to 1-1/8″.
I remember years back when the only people making a vibrating multi-tool was Fein — charging a whopping pretty penny for it, too. Now you can buy similar products from just about every manufacturer in both corded and cordless versions. And Makita’s joined the party, too, with their catchy-named LXMT025, pictured above. This version is cordless, integrated into Makita’s 18V line. Yeah, it’s pretty much like all the others. But nothing drives innovation like competition, and this definitely represents more competition.
Specs look pretty similar to the rest: variable speed control, 6,000 to 20,000 OPM (orbits per minute), and a 3.2 degree oscillation angle. You also get a barrel-grip form factor, which should be familiar to anyone who’s used any of the similar models from other manufacturers. Street pricing looks to start around $320 for the kit, which includes the tool, two batteries, and a charger. Makita says the tool will be available as a bare tool as well, but we haven’t seen it sold online as such yet. Expect it in the near future — good news for those of you looking for one of these to accompany your existing 18V Makita collection.
LXMT025 Cordless Multi-Tool [Makita]
Street Pricing [Google]
The folks over at UserVoice are using Trello quite extensively throughout their development process.
Founder Richard White describes it all in detail.
Need to hire a really great programmer? Want a job that doesn't drive you crazy? Visit the Joel on Software Job Board: Great software jobs, great people.
Yup, I just had a couple bikes stolen from me. So you bet your buns I am not only incredibly angry at the person who hopped my fence and stole my bikes, i am super paranoid now too. We are in full crisis lockdown mode at Chez Angie...so much so, you would have thought someone came and rooted throu...
Where I work we often have need for a dremel tool, and the one we have at our store has always been pretty weak. Rebuilding it's battery (which is made of 4 NiMH AA cells did help some but it was still really weak when you went into anything strong. I was going to hook up a similar battery while cha...
This is a tutorial on what you need and how to bleach your own T-shirt to make a unique cool style. Materials fill your small dish with bleach and proceed to paint you design on the black T-shirt (dark colored T-shirts work well too) It will take awhile for the bleach to show up so be patie...
Many many instructables have been posted about "Altoid tin survival kits." They are extremely popular, because the Altoids tin in the perfect size and shape to contain whatever you please, and still fit in your posket. Here are some of the projects that stood out to me. The Altoids Tin Survival K...
Monkey Climbs a Tree aka Monkey Climbs a String & Elevator Yo-Yo Trick - Luke Renner. Yo-yo used in the demonstration is a Duncan Dragonfly. Filmed by Izzi Renner in Northwest New Mexico February 2012. Contains media elements elements in the public domain. Music courtesy of Stuart and the Juice T...
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Passover (or Pesach) is a Jewish holiday celebrated in the spring which commemorates the ancient Israelites' Exodus from Egypt. During the week-long holiday, only unleavened bread (matzo) is eaten and all chametz (bread or other food made with leavened grain) must be avoided. Chemically speaking, a...
I am going to set up a Parrot CK3100 Bluetooth Device to use in any vehicle with an "AUX IN" Jack. http://www.parrot.com/usa/products/bluetooth-hands-free-car-kits The CK3100 is designed to be installed directly to the existing radio and mute the music when a call comes in, then unmute automatical...
I should first start out by saying that although this is somewhat of a "step-by-step" instructable, I'm not really going into complete detail on all the exact dimensions. Not because I'm lazy, but because I customized this table top to fit on an existing patio table frame that I currently have (at ...
This Instructable will save you from spending any more money on dead highlighters that have run out of ink. Perfect for teachers who have to deal with dead highlighters. Gather Materials Tools a pair of needle nose pliers Materials dead Sharpie Accent highlighter cup of nail polish remover (o...
I'm here to Create another instructable: Tetris. Materials That you Will Need To create a Tetris animation, I thought the easiest Way To create a Animation of Tetris is; Strips of Foam board (Different colors about 7 different kinds) Cardboard Cutter Paper Styrofoam Board. Cutting Out The ...
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This instructable will demonstrate how to create a tri-color gum bichromate print from a digital image. Gum bichromates have a history dating to 1858, when the first color images where printed. Of course 150 years ago, photographers made their negatives individually, using red, green and blue filt...
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This tutorial shows you how to add 200 Watts RMS to an existing Rockford Fosgate Punch 601s amplifier, making it a Punch 801s or Punch 800a2. (A cheater amp for amateur db drag racing!) Purchase the complete parts upgrade kit at: http://nichropulse.com Royalty Free Music by http://danosongs.com
Ok, that "turn into world's greatest line maybe is too much. But it's not. It's absolutely true! Why? Because this stand is completely free, extremely easy to make, can work perfectly on the heaviest loaded touring bikes, can be used as a flagpole, snake catcher, something to put your light on so dr...
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Are you out of shape and you want a cheap and easy way to be fit? Look no farther than the swingset Pull-up bar! For under $40 you can make your very own pull-up station right on your child's swingset! Work out your biceps, triceps, shoulders, back, and neck and build your upper body right in your...
This weave is known by a few names, European 4 in 1 Unbalanced being the most used. Also called Oops and Reversing Bias 4 in 1. Color map: blue = compleate green = active red = go thru or inserted into yellow = orbital or captive purple = rubber ring Supplies you'll need: piliers x2 rings: AR 3.5 ...
making Chainmaille has been a pasion of mine for the last 16years, and over the years i've tought 100'sIF NOT 1000's indirectly how to weave many weaves. and in this first instructable for you lads/lasses im going to cover what is a vary basic weave that meny learn as a startting pattern. Colo...
In this instruction we will be showing you how to make a Byz 4in1 Tube chain. For this you will need 0.125 Id 0.032 wire jump rings. and an understading of two other basic weaves, Box Chain and Byzantine, as well as an undrestanding of an intermediate weave Byzee Beez to Buterflys. and of corse you...
The easiest way to make colorful stepping stones was taught to me by concrete artist, Terri Ryan, who make many, many indoor and outdoor ornaments from concrete. Without a mold, she simply adds a thin layer of concrete to the top of a purchased round stepping stone and stamps a circle or two into t...