{"id":36011,"date":"2020-04-30T09:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T16:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=36011"},"modified":"2020-05-08T10:44:23","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T17:44:23","slug":"making-a-wire-clamper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/making-a-wire-clamper\/","title":{"rendered":"Making a Wire Clamper"},"content":{"rendered":"

For our next tool-related conversation, I\u2019d like to\u00a0talk with you all\u00a0<\/a>about your \u201cTouch? Die!\u201d tools. These are the most precious and critical tools in your collection, the tools that you have an almost irrationally protective attitude towards. I call them \u201cTouch? Die!\u201d tools because I had a friend years ago who had a stamp that he\u2019d use to mark certain tools. It read: Touch? Die! He was otherwise a very gentle, peaceful soul, so the intensity of this statement always struck me and made me realize how protective we can be over certain tools that we can\u2019t bear to lose, part with, or have damaged.<\/p>\n

Making a Wire Clamper<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A

A lovely, fancy version of an easy-to-make wire clamping tool.<\/p><\/div>\n

I love being introduced to tools that I didn\u2019t even know existed and being able to immediately recognize their utility. Such is the case in\u00a0this video<\/a>, sent to me by my pal\u00a0Steven Roberts<\/a>, on how to build a wire clamper. A wire clamper is a device that allows you to very tightly wrap wire around an object. In the video, Advoko creates a very fancy version of the clamper, but he also shows how to make a far easier, simpler version.
\nGoing from Idea to 3D Printed Part<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Designing

Designing a quick 3D-printed stand for working on a robot.<\/p><\/div>\n

In\u00a0this video<\/a>,\u00a0Matt Denton<\/strong>\u00a0shows you how to go from an idea in your head to 3D designing and virtually testing the object before 3D printing it. A great tutorial for those still somewhat new to working in CAD software.
\nTibet Almond Stick<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Holy

Holy Art Deco packaging, Batman!<\/p><\/div>\n

Via the\u00a0Cool Tools site<\/a>\u00a0I was introduced to the\u00a0Tibet Almond Stick<\/a>. It is sold as a\u00a0furniture scratch remover.<\/a>\u00a0But as my friend\u00a0Bob Knetzger<\/strong>\u00a0points out<\/a>, it also works wonderfully as a restorer of guitar, banjo, and mandolin strings. And check out that cool retro packaging!
\nMore on Pencil Magnets<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Add

Add a magnet and stick pencils up all over the shop.<\/p><\/div>\n

Reader\u00a0Karl Chwe<\/strong>\u00a0offered this tip on adding a magnet to a pencil to allow you to stick it to metallic surfaces:\u00a0<\/a>\u201cThe best solution might be to get some of those\u00a0prism-shaped pencil grip aids<\/a>, with the triangular cross section, that are supposed to improve your grip on a pencil. Cut them in half so they\u2019re shorter, glue the magnet to it with construction adhesive, then slide it on the eraser side of the pencil. Durable and removable!\u201d And you have the added bonus that the triangular shape will prevent your pencil from rolling away when you put it down.<\/p>\n

DIY Tin Pants<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Making

Making your own near-indestructible pants.<\/p><\/div>\n

I am still\u00a0looking for input\u00a0<\/a>into my \u201cMaker Sartorial\u201d series\u2013the clothes, shop aprons, tool belts, shoes, etc. you wear while working on projects. In that vein, I present to you\u00a0a video<\/a>\u00a0I wrote about on\u00a0Make:<\/em>\u00a0many years ago about making your own tin pants. The video is poorly edited and overly-long, and the process can be dangerous if you don\u2019t take proper safety precautions (like wearing a respirator and having extremely good ventilation). But the results are pretty great, at a fraction of the cost of store-bought tin pants. If any of my readers use or have made their own tin pants, I\u2019d love to\u00a0hear about it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Toys!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Adam

Adam raves about his new Proxxon rotary tool.<\/p><\/div>\n

I have a\u00a0thing<\/em>\u00a0for rotary tools. I have\u2026 too many. But after watching this\u00a0Adam Savage tool review<\/a>, I want another. I have known about Proxxon products for years and have long-wanted one of their\u00a0foam cutting tables<\/a>, but I had no idea that they made a lightweight,\u00a0precision rotary tool.<\/a>\u00a0Christmas list here we come!
\nThe Maker’s Muse<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Coooooookie.\"

Coooooookie.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Practical Engineer<\/a>\u00a0has created this silly yet awesome hands-free in-shop Oreo cookie dispenser. Video\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"oreo\"<\/p>\n

Shop Talk<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"If

If you don’t have a lathe, you can turn one of these on a drill press.<\/p><\/div>\n

In response to\u00a0making an awl\/reamer out of an old drill bit<\/a>, reader\u00a0Craig<\/strong>\u00a0writes: \u201cYou can do the whole awl project on a drill or drill press. Before I had a lathe, that\u2019s what I did. Just avoid heavy lateral stress as you turn the awl and handle. One method that I\u2019ve used is to glue wood and metal together, chuck the bit or rod, then turn the handle. I have used angle grinders, a Dremel, and files to form the tool.\u201d<\/p>\n

***
\nIn response to my Maker Sartorial call, reader\u00a0Jason Young<\/strong>\u00a0wrote to tell me about these amazing-looking CAT-brand work pants:<\/p>\n

\u201cI discovered\u00a0these pants<\/a>\u00a0a few years ago when a British friend wore them around Tech Shop. We called them \u201cCraig Pants,\u201d in honor of him, even though \u201cpants\u201d has a different connotation in BritSpeak. \ud83d\ude42\u00a0Several of us ended up getting them and wore them all the time. I love them and now own several pairs. In fact, I was up on a ladder all day painting our house and the extra pockets and attachment points were extremely helpful. They\u2019re incredibly rugged, fit great, and wear well (just don\u2019t wash them with screws in the pockets). They even have knee pockets that keep insertable knee pads in place. They\u2019re my go-to pants when doing any serious making.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""Craig

“Craig Pants” aka Caterpillar Men’s Trademark Pant<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales – Issue #44<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":36021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[2371],"tags":[2372],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36011"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36098,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36011\/revisions\/36098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}