Metallic Sharpie

For indelible writing on dark glossy surfaces

(This is a reader favorite from 2003 – Mark)

The Metallic Sharpie is a vast improvement over other metallic pens out there — no shaking the pen before use, and the ink doesn’t puddle up. It dries permanent and shows up great on dark surfaces as well as light ones. It became favorite art tool in my arsenal when I was able to write a friends phone number on a freshly opened, ice-cold beer bottle. Seconds after jotting the number, it was indelible. I try to take it everywhere — it’s good for men’s room graffiti, VHS tapes, I even labeled various keys on my key ring. You can get metallic sharpies at Staples or Office Max.

(There’s almost no other way to easily write on slippery surfaces. The metallic sharpie uses silver ink, which has remarkable contrast against both light and dark surfaces. For writing on black plastic or enamel (there is more of it around than you think) nothing else will do. — editors)

Olympus Digital Voice Recorder

Records 1,000 hours as MP3 files

I’ve had rotten luck with voice recorders over the years. Quite a few micro-cassette recorders have conked out on me (sometimes while conducting interviews for magazine articles). Once, I used a minidisc recorder and ejected the disk without first stopping the recording and I lost everything.

When I interviewed Martha Stewart in her office for Wired in 2007 (here’s the article), I used both a tape recorder *and* a microphone attachment for my iPod to record our conversation. When we sat down to talk, I decided at the last second to I pull out my laptop and use the built-in mic to record the conversation, too.

When I got back to the hotel room and turned on my three recording devices, I learned that the tape recorder and iPod didn’t record the conversation (probably my fault), but the laptop recording was OK. If I hadn’t used the laptop, I would have been dead in the water. No way would Martha have granted me another interview.

When I wrote Made by Hand I interviewed a bunch of people. I used a tiny Olympus Digital Voice Recorder to interview people as we stood and walked in their yards, workshops, launch-sites, compounds, and so on. It worked beautifully. The interface was pretty easy to figure out, and the built-in USB plug was very handy. I just attached it my computer and copied the audio file to my hard drive. (I used to transcribe recordings myself but now I use Rev.com and pay $1 a minute for good transcriptions)

It uses two AAA batteries (advertised to have 110 hours of battery life), and you can switch the microphone between dictation and conference mode. The first model I bought had 256 MB of flash storage with 18 hours in the high quality mode and 69 hours in the lowest-quality mode. The latest model has 4 GB of storage and is advertised to store 1,400 hours of recording.

Messermeister Meridian Elite 8-inch Chef’s Knife

Insanely sharp chef knife

(This is a reader favorite from 2003 — Mark)

This is my workhorse. It’s big, heavy but well balanced, and very sharp. The Meridian knives have a German shape but a Japanese-style edge, which means they cut very well. I use this for anything too large for my other knives, and when the mood strikes.

OneBlade hybrid electric trimmer and shaver

Shaves to any length

I first learned about the OneBlade on the Lifehacker blog last year. It caught my attention because shaving has always been a bit of chore for me and I kept looking for something better. I’ve had an electric razor for quick shaves but I had to be careful to avoid “razor burn” irritation on my throat.

I’ve also used various multi-blade razors with shaving cream; I got a better shave but it took longer and required cleaning up. I retired 4 years ago and shaving changed to a once or twice a week activity that included a longer beard to cut off. The electric couldn’t do it well and the multi-blade razors would clog up.

The OneBlade cuts close to the skin and doesn’t require shaving cream. I can shave with or against the grain. The shave is almost as close as a razor; you can’t see the difference and can only feel it by rubbing your face. It includes trimming combs that fit on the blade holding it away from your face to leave a short beard of fixed lengths; I don’t use them.

Six months later I’m still using the original blade; only using it once or twice a week probably contributes to the long life. Close shave, quick shave, easy to use, little or no cleanup; what’s not to like?

Maker Update: Hakko FX-901 cordless soldering iron

The latest in tips and maker projects from around the world

This week in 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.

This is the Hakko FX-901 portable soldering iron. 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.

Here’s why I love this thing.

1. It gets up to soldering temperature faster than any plug-in soldering iron I own. From the moment I flip the switch, I’m usually soldering in 15 seconds. None of my plug-in irons do that. A soldering station might, but I haven’t had the space or money to invest in those. And because of quick heat, I can conserve power by turning it on only when I’m about to solder, then switching it off.
2. I can solder where it’s convenient. For most of my life I haven’t had a garage or real workspace, so soldering happened wherever there was an outlet and a table. That usually meant burns on the kitchen table, bad light and bad ventilation. With this I can setup anywhere. I can do repairs outside. I don’t have to sweat how long my extension cord is.
3. The design. There are so many little details to appreciate. It feels good in your hand. You can put the cap on when it’s still hot and the cap locks down the switch so it won’t accidentally turn on. The battery cartridge is quick to change out. The flat bottom allows it to stand up, so you don’t have to worry about using a stand. It’s a well designed tool and you can tell when you use it.

There are some drawbacks, though. It has a blunt, cone shaped tip that is a little clumsy for small electronic work. You can easily swap out the tip for one of their chisel tips but they’re proprietary cost almost as much as the soldering iron itself.

The heat isn’t adjustable and doesn’t get hot enough to work with really thick wire, like automotive grade jumper cable wire. I use this out in the driveway when I work on electrical connections for my Go Kart, but I know that when I need to solder up battery wire I need to reach for my butane iron (or crimper).

Other than that, though, this is usually the first soldering iron I reach for in my house, regardless of the circumstance. Nothing else is quicker to start and easier to pack up when I’m done.

Full show notes available here.

The Big Book of Maker Skills

No-nonsense maker advice

Chris Hackett is a no-nonsense builder, artist, and hacker with decades of experience making things with found resources. In this dense but visual book he delivers punchy nuggets of advice without a lot of fluff. Just as I like it. His expertise extends from welding, metalworking, glass, electronics, to scrounging for materials. His pithy lessons are solid and reliable. I learned several dozen tips I didn’t know. This book would be especially useful for students, new makers, or the garage enthusiast because its short text and abundant images make it easy to browse.

What’s in My Bag? — Mark Slavonia