Review: Northern Tool Bi-Metal Hole Saw Kit

I picked up a mini drill press a while ago and I got it mostly to use hole saws to cut holes in metal. I had tried using a dremel in the past, but apparently I can't cut a round hole in metal. More of a messed up trapezoid...
I purchased a 13 piece Bi-Metal hole saw kit from Northern Tool. It comes in a nice case with a foam insert.

It includes two mandrels for different size hole saws, and an extra drill bit. Its a deal for $45.

I can't think of anything to complain about.

-Joe

Robot Overlord

I have no idea where this came from, but a friend sent it to me. It's a 1930s take on robocop... This site has some background and a cool picture.

Riding in DC/NOVA

I was in DC for work again all last week. The great thing is its within driving distance for me.

But why I like it, is that I can bring my road bike and go for a ride everyday after work.

I jump on the W. O. & D. (washington and old dominion), then connect to the 4 mile run, and back up the Custis trail to the hotel.

But whats tricky is I had no idea how to connect the W. O. & D. down to the airport, and around to the Potomac. I ran in to the nicest commuter in the world (on a 95 Kona Kileua!) who showed me how to connect it. You take the WO&D to Walter Reed Road, take a right, about 100' then take a hard left on to the bike path. Stay on the bike path until you see Quincy st, take a right, then an immediate left on to the sidewalk at the light. Then follow the bike path over I-395. At the bottom of the ramp, go left, and left again on to Martha Custis Drive. Follow that to a light at Glebe Road, then take Glebe over a bridge and make a hard right on to the bike path. After cruising by the Potomac you have to finish with a long climb up the Custis trail.

Great ride, and so much better than riding hte bike in the gym. Here's my GMAP-Pedometer version of it.


But I could start flying down if I had a Ritchey Logic Break-Away. Damn I want that bike. Time to sell some stuff and pick one up. This blog easily has 4 readers, that should warrant a free frame for test rides right?

Nasa Pod

I just put together my NASA Pod Retro MP3 player over on instructables.

Steam punk is played out, this is straight up NASA punk. Or at least I imagine if it were the 1960s space race and NASA was commissioned to make an MP3 player, this is what it would look like.

This project uses the Daisy Mp3 Player kit from MAKEzine, a VU meter from this instructable , and a case from Curious Inventor.

Check it out if you get a chance.

-Joe

Review: Weller WES51

When I first got in to electronics again as an adult I was using a $4 radioshack soldering iron. It worked well enough. But they lack real heat settings, the tips always wore out and they broke about once a year. Kinda lame.



A few years back I picked myself up a Weller WES51 Soldering Station. Wow, when you use a proper tool the job sure comes out nicer.

It has a bunch of neat features, like the fact that it turns off after 30 minutes of inactivity. You can set the tip temperature from 350° to 850°, which it monitors at the tip, not just some arbitrary power output level. It uses easy to find replaceable tips and they come in a ton of sizes, although I always use the tiny tip.

Sure I would have to buy a new soldering iron every year for 25 years to break even on the purchase but it does make for nicer work and its more fun to use.

Looks like they run about $100 online. I bought mine from J.B. Saunders in Boulder, CO.

The most used tool in my electronics toolbox: T-stripper

This is probably the most used tool in my electronics tool box. It cuts and strips wires, only one job, and it does it perfectly.

It has notches for 16-26AWG wire.

I have tried auto-strippers and they are meh'. I actually like the auto stripper tool for working with ribbon cable, otherwise this thing rocks. I believe these are made by Ideal, I have no idea where I picked them up from...

I am going to get so much more traffic now that I used the word "stripper" in a post.

Which reminds me, has anyone read the book Female Chauvinist Pig: The rise of Raunch Culture in America by Ariel Levy? It is a a good read. There is a cool interview with her over on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

Basic Stamp Logic Analyzer

I know I have strayed from bikes on the blog recently, but in the summer I ride more road, and that makes for boring pics. You don't want to read about that.

A month or so ago Parallax had their basic stamp logic analyzer on sale for $30, so I picked it up. Its a slick little tool . It is handy to use when testing your wiring and software.


You see here it is between the stamp at the bs2 dev board.

If you have a BS2 and see it on sale again over at parallax.com check it out.

The only downside is the software is windows only, so mac geeks like myself will have to use a VM.

-Joe

project box tools

My go-to tool for working on project boxes is the stepped drill bit. They work great for making holes for switches or plugs.

These are a deal for $9 at Harbor Freight .

Sockets for your torque wrench

I am a torque wrench believer! My bikes have a bit of carbon on them, and it scares me to think how much I would over tighten them without it.

If you have read this for a while, you might have seen my review of the amazing guistaforza torque wrench from effetto mariposa. It really is a nice tool, and when you spend that kind of coin on it, you are always sure to use it.

That wrench tops out at 16nm, which is enough for most bike parts, but bottom brackets and cranks can use more. Along with non bike uses like car stuff that I pretend I know how to do.

So for higher torque ranges I use the Park Tools TW-2 . While the guistaforza came with bits, most 3/8" torque wrenches do not. Unfortunetly this can be pricy as you'll need hex, torx and the usual sockets. At your average home depot or sears a set of allen head sockets will run you up to $30. And then you need to buy the torx as well. You can run to Harbour Frieght and get them for about $10 per set, but the quality is sub par.


I found the answer, over at Northern Tool they have a set of hex, phillips, blade, metric allen, imperial allen and torx on sale for $11. Yes $11, so keep an eye out to go on sale again. They are really nice, high quality and come with a case to hold them all.


Also with this adapter you can use them in the guista forza if you need to.