This week on Maker Update: sticking the landing after 7 years, the zen of robotics, a cardboard house for cats, cordless heat guns, measuring radiuses, and go big or stay home for your 3D printer.

Tools:

X-Acto Gripster Knife, https://amzn.to/2TQ24uD
Soft Grip Hobby Knife, https://amzn.to/2D8HJvp
Fiskars Craft Knife, https://amzn.to/2ANKa4G
Fiskars Easy Change Knife, https://amzn.to/2Dac5gX
Fiskars Heavy-Duty Knife, No. 2 Blade, https://amzn.to/2ST1RXN
Excel Blades K47 Hobby Knife, https://amzn.to/2M8YCc2
Replacement Excel Blades, https://amzn.to/2M8YE3E
PenBlade, https://amzn.to/2TRLxGR
Slice Precision Cutter, https://amzn.to/2D9kAZH
Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife, https://amzn.to/2M9Uk4e
Fiskars Circle Cutter, https://amzn.to/2AKA6t8

Transcript:

… Let’s start off by quickly going over the pros and cons of a classic X-Acto brand hobby knife. These are easy to find, inexpensive, and they use a standardized system of replacement blades.

Tools: LED Light Weight Magnifier with 5 Lenses
http://amzn.to/2uDdG90

Transcript

For this week’s Cool Tools review, I’m going to show off these wearable magnifying glasses. These run around $14 on Amazon, and by using the link in the video description you help to support my videos and the Cool Tools blog.

I bought these a year ago looking for a way to get a better look at soldering up small stuff. They really are perfect for those times when you’re wiring or painting or glueing up something tiny and delicate. Plus there’s a little LED on the front that helps put a little extra light on things.

This time around, I’m going to show you a tool recommended by Adam Savage on episode 57 of the Cool Tools podcast. This is a spokeshave. You can get one on Amazon for around $35. 

The Kreg Rip-Cut Circular Saw Guide (Amazon link) is a $32 guide for a circular saw. It’s great if you have a small workshop, or no workshop.

If you have a table saw, there’s probably no reason to buy this. But if you have a small garage like mine and you don’t want to surrender the space and money to have a table saw, this and a circular saw are an effective way to accurately break down sheets of wood.

This is review is for the Dremel Versa Tip butane soldering torch (Amazon link). It’s sells for around $38 on Amazon Prime. This is a portable soldering iron/heat gun/hot cutter/wood burning tool, that runs on butane. You click to light it, use the lock to keep the flame on, and then you adjust it for the temperature you need.

If you do any soldering you probably have a pair of helping hands, or some bulky heavy thing like this that can hold your project or components steady while you wire them. They’re useful, but a little clunky to travel with, and often overkill if you’re just splicing a wire or two.

In terms of price and portability, poster tack (a.k.a. poster putty) is a great alternative.

This week for my 1-minute tool review brought to you by Cool Tools, I’ve got gaffer tape from Gaffer Power. I’ve got two flavors here, Gaffer Power Gaffer Tape 2 Inch X 30 Yards  and Gaffer Power Gaffer Tape 3 Inch X 30 Yards. 

Have you ever held screws or nails in your mouth as a way to keep them nearby while working on a project? This week for my tool review I’m going to show you a better solution. This is the MagnoGrip (Amazon), it’s a $14 magnetic wristband available on Amazon. I found it through 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.