This week on Maker Update: a tall desk to help your brain, the World Cup for spider bots, Jack-o-Lanterns to last the season, and making LEDs the hard way.

This week on Maker Update: a medieval street inside a bookshelf, a self-watering plant wall, and tips to panini press your plastic waste.

Host: Jen Schachter (https://www.jenschachter.com/)

This week on Maker Update: Donald and Tyler talk about all of our favorite projects from 2024.

This week on Maker Update: a sandwich on the ceiling, ClapTrap’s new Clappers, the Raspberry Pi Pico 2, and the holy grail of WLED controllers.

This week on Maker Update, a mask launcher, Hackaday U, a Star Wars book nook, FlexBot, quarter-scale arcade, DeWalt’s welding table, and embossing comes to Fusion.

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:

Surebonder PRO2-100 100-Watt High Temperature Industrial Glue Gun https://amzn.to/2Jzziu7
•YouTube Review: https://youtu.be/VhR7m2-hZwg

Ryobi (60 Watt) Cordless Glue Gun https://amzn.to/2JD2zUS
•YouTube Review: https://youtu.be/xPYm_Zk_9qs

PAM FastenMaster HB220 220 Watt Adjustable Temperature Glue Gun
https://amzn.to/2JxPv2W
•YouTube Review: https://youtu.be/XUxyjFphWZk

Transcript:

The glue guns I’m talking about here are the Surebonder Pro2-100, which runs around $30. The Ryobi Cordless Glue Gun, which is also around $30. And the FastenMaster HB220 adjustable glue gun, which I got for $80.

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.