Maker Project Lab
September 14, 2023 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: News Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

All Eyes On Me [Maker Update]

This week on Maker Update: a necklace with a staring problem, a laser powered mosquito swatter, moire play, and a giant 3D printed mechanical hand.

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December 16, 2021 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: News Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Under Pressure [Maker Update]

This week on Maker Update: a tough nut to crack, hand-made computers, top tips for perfect prints, flexures, supersized switches, and making tensegrity sculptures out of humans.

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April 30, 2018 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: Tools Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Portable Soldering Irons Compared

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. 

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April 12, 2018 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: Tools Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hakko FX-901 Cordless Soldering Iron Review

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.

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September 15, 2017 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: Tips, Tools Tags: , , , , , , ,

How to Make Beautiful Solder Joints

[Editors’ note: This same tutorial was originally published as an Instructable. I’m publishing it here for posterity.]

The quality and design of project boards has become so good in recent years, that I almost feel bad putting them together. In this guide, I’m going to show you a simple soldering technique that can make the back of your boards look as nice as the front. You’ll learn how to make perfectly smooth, consistent solder joints that look impossibly tidy.

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June 7, 2017 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: News Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Zoetrope Fidget Spinner [Maker Update #37]

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

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