This week on Maker Update, a monocycle with some extra kick, light up thread that runs off you, a laser cut spice elevator, and an LED coat for the club.

This week on Maker Update, a stargazing microcontroller, frictionless gears, voxelated displays, hand lettering, and a Hakko soldering station on the cheap.

This Week on Maker Update, the social distance bike, a Narnia book nook, DIY UV-C sterilization, making circles with Adam Savage, and putting holes in concrete.

This week on Maker Update, a Google calendar for your wall, real pinball over the internet, a laser crown, snoozing skeleton, and upgrading a vintage vending machine.

Tools:

Aven Adjustable Circuit Board Holder
http://amzn.to/2FB0s2f

Hakko Flush Cutters
http://amzn.to/2GO1nM0

Tool:

Hakko CHP-170 Micro Soft Wire Cutter
http://amzn.to/2fOo7n8

Transcript:

It’s time for another Cool Tools review! This time around I’m going to show you my favorite pair of flush cutters for electronics. They’re just $5 on Amazon, and made by Hakko. By picking these using the link in the description you help to support my show and the Cool Tools blog.

We’re going to take a quick look at three very different options in portable soldering irons. The point here is really just to give you a demo of each on the same table and you can draw your own conclusions on what might work best for you. 

This is the Hakko FX-901 portable soldering iron (available on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2sh7g0t). It runs off 4 AA batteries that you can swap out really fast with this removable cartridge design. I use rechargeables in mine and I get over an hour of use out of it before I notice the temperature drops. Alkaline batteries will run hotter, but not last as long.

This week on Maker Update, an enchanted talking tiki totem pole, my trip to OSH Park and Metrix Makerspace, a retro lightbox, and why you need flush cutters. This week’s Cool Tool is the Hakko CHP-170 Flush Cutter.

This week on Maker Update, a zoetrope and a fidget spinner make a baby, an SLS printer from Formlabs, a Raspberry Pi weather chamber, component carnage, and a tiny OLED Pi screen. Our featured Cool Tool is the Hakko FX-901 cordless soldering iron.