This week on Maker Update, a circadian sound sculpture, TensorFlow for the ESP32, NVIDIA buys ARM, flexball, walking triangles, and tapping threads.

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.

This week on Maker Update, a hover board for witches, lasercut zodiak, a starburst display, thread plotting, wobbling oloids, and interactive trees.

This week on Maker Update: Smokin’ cosplay, a password ring, secret messages, a PCB starship, 3D Printed Furniture, Project Egress, and Happy Birthday Hackaday!

This week on Maker Update, a mechanical tulip, the E3D print slicer, a LEGO walkie talkie Twitch switch, 3D printing with DiResta, a triaxial clock, Laura Kampf’s swing bike, and turning pixels to gcode.

This is the Hakko FX-901 portable soldering iron (available on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2sh7g0t). 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.

[Editors’ note: This same tutorial was originally published as an Instructable. I’m publishing it here for posterity.]

The quality and design of project boards has become so good in recent years, that I almost feel bad putting them together. In this guide, I’m going to show you a simple soldering technique that can make the back of your boards look as nice as the front. You’ll learn how to make perfectly smooth, consistent solder joints that look impossibly tidy.

This week on Maker Update, an enchanted talking tiki totem pole, my trip to OSH Park and Metrix Makerspace, a retro lightbox, and why you need flush cutters. This week’s Cool Tool is the Hakko CHP-170 Flush Cutter.

This week on Maker Update: the classic bristlebot gets an upgrade, Eagle CAD drops a bomb, ASUS takes on Raspberry Pi, musical domes, hacked Furbys, vape tech, and Chi-town gets a big ol’ Maker Faire.