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. 

Heat Shrink! This week, for my one-minute tool review brought to you by the Cools Tools blog at cool-tools.org, I’m going to show off this $6 assortment of color coded heat shrink tubing I found on Amazon.

This is the FastCap Babe-Bot (Amazon link). It is a 4-oz. bottle made for glue. I’ve got mine filled with wood glue. They also make a bigger 16oz. version but I find this one a little more handy.

Today I’m going to show off what you can do with a pair of dirt cheap digital calipers (Amazon link). These come in a plastic case. Mine even had an extra battery included. On the front here you have a power button, a zero button to zero out the measurement, and a toggle between inches and mm.

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 Rothco G.I. type mechanics tool bag is around $16 on Amazon. Russel Brooks wrote a review of this bag for Cool Tools saying that these are similar to bags he was issued when he was in the Air Force in the ’70s. They’re made of a thick canvas with a heavy brass zipper, pockets on both sides, and small pockets lining the inside.

This week on Maker Update, Blade Runner binoculars, setbacks at Glowforge, custom zipper pulls, JOY pads, and colorized laser engraving. This week’s Cool Tool is the Canary Corrugated Cardboard Cutter.

[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.

This week on Maker Update, a servo robot puppet, Raspbian moves to Stretch, a YouTube Live camera, giant gold bricks, trauma shears, and pouring your own knobs. This week’s Cool Tool is a pair of Fluoride Coated Medical Shears.

This week on Maker Update, acoustic levitation, an Arduino made by Sony, a new kit by Anouk Wipprecht, self-centering drill bits, and a turning old monitors into a video wall. This week’s Cool Tool is a self-centering drill bit set.