I am in a never ending battle to keep my hectic life less cluttered. This fact spans all aspects of my world…from my office space, to my desk at home, to our garage, and everything in between.  Kurt Kay & John Kurcheski of K Concepts have designed an interesting device for mounting some of your sports equipment (aka balls) to your wall, hoop, fence, goalpost, trunk of your car, etc. The Ball Claw is engineered to securely hold your basketballs, volleyballs, soccer balls, and footballs out from underfoot.

The Ball Claw comes in three sizes: large for regulation sized basketballs (29.5″ and 28.5″), medium for #4, #5 soccer balls, volleyballs, and youth basketballs, and small for youth, high school, college and professional footballs.

The Ball Claw is well constructed of a high-quality injection-molded ABS plastic that feels very sturdy when flexed. It can be used indoors and outside.

Sadly, this is one of several ways the Gadgeteer Kid and I store our sports balls. Definitely not he best way to keep/take care of your sports gear and equipment.

Installation was a breeze. The Ball Claw comes with basic installation bits and pieces (aka screws and molly bolts). Using the Bosch impact wrench I reviewed a few years ago, it took the Gadgeteer Kid and me less than five minutes to install all three of the ball mounts to a pillar in our garage.

The Ball Claws definitely work as advertised. They are well thought out, designed to last and at $12, relatively inexpensive. Truly a great way to keep your sport balls organized and out of the way. I do like the Ball Claw and have ordered another to hold a second basketball…..probably should get a second football one too .

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Fitness, Sports, Reviews

Tagged: sports gear, Storage

The Ball Claw Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 9, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Just a little too late for Easter, but Choc Edge has just released their 3D chocolate maker.  We’ve covered 3D printers before but most of those just make inedible plastic models. Using CAD/CAM software you can extrude 3D chocolates into whatever shape tickles your fancy.

The first 10 machines will be auctioned on Ebay and pre-orders are being taken at a discounted price of £2,488 (approx $4000US ). Normal retail will be £2,888 (approx $4600US). Sweeeeeet!

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Kitchen Gadgets, News

Tagged: 3-D printing, Chocolates

Choc Edge 3D Chocolate Printer originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 15, 2012 at 11:00 am.

I’ve tried a lot of Bluetooth keyboard cases for the iPad, and they all suffer from the same complaint.  Regardless of any other features they may offer, all keyboard cases have undersized keyboards.  If you’re a true touch-typist, like I am, you’ll find it very hard to type on these small keyboards because your finger placement and movements aren’t “right”.  Even if you manage to adjust to the smaller size, you’ll find that a lot of the punctuation keys aren’t where you expect them to be.  The absolute best Bluetooth keyboard I’ve tried with my iPad is the Apple Wireless Keyboard.  Inspired by some comments on my last keyboard case review, I decided I’d try to find a case that carries both the iPad and the Apple keyboard and that could be used as a “keyboard desk” on your lap or on a tabletop.

I didn’t have any luck finding such a case, so I decided I’d try to hack my own case.  I started with the Vera Bradley Mini Laptop Case.  I reviewed one of the Mini Laptop cases back in 2010, and you can read that review for specifics about the case.  Let’s take a look to see what I did and why I chose this case as my starting point.

I realize that the Vera Bradley case isn’t going to appeal to everyone, but I was familiar with this case and could visualize how I could work with it.  There may be other cases on the market that are plainer and that may even work better than this case did.

All pictures in this review can be clicked for larger images.

I thought of the Vera Bradley Mini Laptop because the bottom of the case is covered in a velvety fabric that acts like the loops for Velcro.  The case comes with two fabric-wrapped hard foam bars with Velcro hooks sewn on one side.  You use those bars to adjust the size of the storage area to keep your netbook, portable DVD player, or other small electronics from sliding around in the case.  I thought I’d be able to arrange them to act as a brace for the bottom of the iPad.  The top of the iPad would lean back against the top of the Mini Laptop case, and I’d have an iPad stand.

Of course, the problem with that plan is that the Mini Laptop opens up like a book and lays completely flat.  I’d need to add some sort of strapping to prevent the case from opening flat.

I ordered some brown grosgrain ribbon to match the color of the brown Mini Laptop.  I got 0.25″ wide ribbon, but I think something wider might have worked better.  I folded the end of the ribbon down a couple of times and sewed it together to prevent fraying.

I then selected a point on the side of the case to attach the ribbon.  The body of the Mini Laptop is hard and is molded into a clamshell shape.  I couldn’t push the needle through the stiffening material, so I sewed the ribbon into the fabric edge on the top of one side.  I just eyeballed the length I’d need to hold the top open at 90-degrees, cut the free end of the ribbon, folded it down, and sewed it to the bottom side of the case.  I repeated those steps for the other side of the case.

This wasn’t as easy to do as it might sound.  The fabric is attached tightly to the hard interior shell, and it was hard to get a needle through the fabric without it jabbing into the shell.  It might have been easier if I had a curved upholstery needle, but I didn’t have one on hand.

Once both ribbons were in place, the case was held open at about 90-degrees.

The bottom of the case is about 0.6″ deep.  The curved shape prevents the keyboard case from fitting in completely to the bottom, but the width of the case is sufficient for the Bluetooth keyboard.  I decided I’d put the keyboard in with the keys facing the bottom.  The curved shape suspends the keyboard, so the keys don’t touch the bottom.  There’s no pressure on the keys this way.

I shoved both of the Velcro bars to the hinge-side of the bottom.  As luck would have it, the height of the Velcro bars is about the same as the height of the battery compartment on the back of the keyboard when it’s laying in the Vera Bradley case.

I could lay the iPad down over the keyboard, and the iPad was supported by the battery compartment and the two Velcro bars.  I show the iPad with the screen down in this picture, but I think it might actually be better to have the screen up.  The screen would be protected by the padded top of the Mini Laptop case.

The bag has a fabric hinge, and both the top and the bottom have depth (about 0.4-0.5″ for the top).  I could easily close the Mini Laptop and zip it up with the keyboard and iPad inside.  Everything was held tightly enough inside that I didn’t hear anything sliding around.

The Mini Laptop has a zippered pocket on the front (behind the open lid) that can easily hold the charger and cable for the iPad and extra batteries for the keyboard.  There’s a full-length pocket on the bottom, but you should probably only put flat things in that side so the case can sit evenly.

To use the keyboard case, I attached one of the Velcro bars near the hinge to serve as the base for the iPad stand. There’s a little room to move the placement of the Velcro bar, so you can adjust the angle of the iPad.  It’s shown in the landscape orientation, but it also works for portrait.

What you can’t see is that I placed the other Velcro bar under the keyboard, near the battery compartment.  I set the front edge of the keyboard on the lip of the Mini Laptop case, so the keyboard is supported and elevated so your wrist isn’t sitting on the zippered edge of the bag.

Even when empty, the case tipped back a bit when I had it open to the 90-degrees held by the ribbons.  With chargers, batteries, and cables in the exterior zipper pocket, the tipping was worse.  With the iPad leaning against the open top, it would simply fall back.  You can see that the back had to be supported to even get this picture.  I was hoping the keyboard would help stablize the position, but it’s simply not heavy enough to counterbalance the weight of the case and the iPad.  Trying to use this case on a tabletop wouldn’t work, because it would tip over the minute you lifted your hands off the keyboard.  Using it on your lap would be disasterous, because your iPad would almost certainly fall to the floor if you moved your hands off the keyboard.

I suppose I could try to put a weight in the open pocket to balance the open case, but who wants to carry an iPad case that’s as heavy as a laptop?  I suppose you could try pulling the shoulder strap around your leg and sitting on it, but that still leaves you open to breaking your iPad if you shift in your seat and the strap slips free.

It was a good thought, but I think I’m back to the drawing board.

Filed in categories: Bags, Backpacks, Do-It-Yourself, iPhone, iPad, iPod related

Tagged: DIY, iPad case with Bluetooth keyboard

Hack Your Own Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 12, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

In my review of Sugru I mentioned that it would be great if it came in primary colours, which would give you yellow and reds and allow you to mix almost any colour. Well they must have listened to me. Announced today, it’s now available in packs of  8 x 5 gram packs of red, blue, yellow, black, and white, or a pack of black and white, or a pack of black only.  Only “issue” is that the price for the colors has remained the same ($15)  as the original 12 packs, so it has gone up in price.  Similarly the black and white packs are the same price but you only get 8 packs instead of 12 ($17).

I’m still finding more uses for my Sugru, I “fixed” my son’s cracked iPod screen just last night

If you’re interested you can buy direct from the Sugru online page.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: DIY, Repair

Sugru – Hack it Better in Primary Colours originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 6, 2012 at 8:00 am.

This post brought to you by Scotts®. All opinions are 100% mine.

When Julie asked if I would like to review the Scotts® Snap® Spreader System and Snap-Pac fertilizer, I told her I would be glad to.  I love having a nice yard to show off to everyone. Mowing is one of my favorite things to do around the house, although I don’t like to weed-eat.  Taking care of my lawn and making it look its best makes me feel like I have accomplished something. Conventional spreaders are convenient but can be a hassle. There are lots of steps before you’re ready:  lugging around the large bags, having to cut them open, pour the contents into the spreader, read the instructions on the bag to know what setting to put the spreader on, and finally setting the spreader to the correct settings. After doing all this, you are finally ready to start fertilizing. Enter Scotts newest foray into turning your yard into a beautiful masterpiece.  The Scotts Snap Lawn Care System Snap Spreader takes all the guesswork out of having a beautiful yard.

With Scotts’ newest design, you can just Snap, Lock and Go…

Comparison of the new Snap-Pac bag to the older style bag…. Notice the handle holes on the Snap-Pac bag for ease of handling and placing in the Snap Spreader.

Getting started is actually quite easy, after unpacking the Spreader from the box it came in, taking off all the cardboard, unfolding the handle and locking it into place with the thumbscrew on the side of the handle, the Spreader is ready to receive the Snap-Pac bag.

You simply place the Snap-Pac bag down into the Snap Spreader. You will see on the front of the Snap Spreader is a little lever; after placing the Snap-Pac bag into the Snap Spreader, simply push the lever into the locked position and the Snap Spreader is ready to go.  You don’t have to worry about setting anything.  The spreading rate is automatically set for you.

You will notice on the bottom of the Snap-Pac bag there is a oblong opening with a plastic bushing.  On the Snap Spreader, there is a a similiar setup, but instead of a plastic bushing there is a plastic shaft that inter-locks with the bushing on the Snap-Pac bag.

After placing the Snap-Pac bag in place, you are ready to fertilize.  As with all spreaders, there is a lever that activates the system.  There is a some resistance on the lever. I wasn’t sure if I was doing something right, but after a little more pressure we were able to get the lever to work.  When you pull the lever,  it engages the plastic shaft and slides it over to open the Snap-Pac bag.

After pulling the lever up, just start walking at a normal pace. Pushing the Snap Spreader around the yard engages the rotary spreader, which throws the fertilizer around your yard. Keep a steady pace of walking, not too fast but a slow pace, and the fertilizer spreads evenly.  The large wheels on the Snap spreader are nice; they allow you to effortlessly go over your yard.

I had my mother try this spreader so I could take some pics.  She enjoyed the ease of the Snap spreader and had fun walking around and fertilizing her yard. The Snap spreader works great.  I wish the Snap-Pac bags would cover more area, but I’m not sure they could make the bags larger. If you have a large yard, just make sure you have purchased enough Snap-Pac bags to cover your yard. When the Snap-Pac bag runs out, just slide lever over to unlock, remove empty bag, place a new bag in, lock it back in place, and you are ready to continue. Doesn’t get any easier.

The Snap spreader also has a edge guard to keep the fertilizer out of your flower gardens.  Just pull the lever down to engage the edge guard; when you are away from the flower garden, just pull the lever back up. All this can be done without having to stop – nice feature and easy to do.

One thing I noticed on the Snap Spreader that I received is that the lever didn’t go back down; it was stuck in the open position. I was able to remedy this by pushing the plastic shaft back over to its original position.  The first picture shows the shaft in the open position; the second shows the shaft pushed back over by hand. This is a slight annoyance and I’m not sure why it is doing this, but just releasing the lever did not let the shaft go back to its original position to accept a new Snap-Pac bag.

Once finished with fertilizing, removal is just the opposite – slide lever to unlocked position, pull the bag out, and fold the handle down for easy storage.  Then just toss the empty Snap-Pac bag into your garbage for quick disposal….

I would definitely recommend the Scotts Snap Lawn Care System to anyone.  The ease of this system with no guess work makes it a great spreader to have around. No more large bags of fertilizer to haul around, and no more setting the spreader to different settings.. I like this system.  And you can purchase more than just fertilizer for the Scott Snap Spreader.  There are bags of seeds and weed killers also available in Snap-Pac bags.

For even more info, check out Snap Perks on Facebook.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Outdoor Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Lawn care

Scotts Snap Lawn Care System Snap Spreader Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 30, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Around my household I’m known as McGyver because of my VERY improvised solutions to fixing things. The issue I have though is that often my fixes don’t even last as long as an episode of McGyver  When I first came across a product called Sugru, my mind boggled about the many different ways that this could be used.

Sugru is an air-curing rubber that can be formed and shaped by hand, sticks to most surfaces, cures to a tough flexible silicone overnight, and is stable at -60°C to + 180°C. Strong, flexible, waterproof and durable, it can be used for a multitude of purposes to adapt, modify and repair. Its uses are really only limited by your imagination. Once cured it can be removed with a craft knife and the residue removed with fingernails and tissue paper, if required. How well does it work ?  Sugru was good enough to send The Gadgeteer some of their product so we can find out for ourselves.

Sugru was developed by Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh from Kilkenny, Ireland who conceived the idea in 2003. Through a lot of hard work, perseverance  and eventually business grants, Sugru was released and has grown in popularity. Sugru even appeared in position 22 in Time magazines 50 top inventions of 2010 (the iPad was number 34 ).

Sugru comes in a neat, resealable silver foil pack (neat but absolutely terrible to photograph ). On the back of the packet there’s handy hints, usage examples, and other information. Note on the left hand side of the back, there’s a use by date.   Ideally Sugru should be used within 6 months of selling date. So this packet has a sell by date of April 2012 and a use by of October 2012. If the Sugru is too old, it gets crumbly and hard to work with, and it loses its flexibility and tends to crack rather than flex when cured. Sugru suggests that you can keep it in the fridge as this should almost double the life of the product.

Inside the pack are twelve 5 gram packs of Sugru in varying colours: 3 black, 3 white, and 2 each of blue, orange, and green. Each individual pack has the use by date on it as well.

There’s a 7 steps quick start guide-book as well that gives you some starter ideas and also has a colour mixing guide to make various colours.

I was eager to just get straight into it, so I quickly found hack number one.  My son wanted to shorten the Y junction for the cables on his headphones. Sugru to the rescue.

When you cut open the sealed pack you can see that Sugru looks just like plasticine or Play-Doh, and that’s exactly what it feels like, though maybe a bit softer. There’s no bad smells from it like you get with some putties or silicone-based products. After opening the packet, you have around 30 minutes to work with the Sugru. I took half the 5 gram pack and rolled it around in my fingers, formed it into a sausage, wrapped it around the cable, and smoothed it off………

And voila!  One hacked and fixed headphone cable – and even in his favourite colour.

After 24 hours, the Sugru has hardened into a flexible rubber compound. Sugru is electrically non-conductive, so there’s no reason why it can’t be used on exposed wires, circuits or anything of that nature. It’s a bit hard to get a nice smooth finish on the Sugru, and you can spend a lot of time trying to achieve with lots of “soft touching” and some soapy water – but then is a nice professional looking repair still a hack?

It’s worth noting that after curing, Sugru can be cut, carved, or even sanded. Also of note is that it won’t stick to soapy water or greasy plastics like polyethylene or cling wrap film. You can use this to your advantage where you need to shape things but don’t want the Sugru to stick to something while you’re shaping it or it’s curing.

So my next job was to see how it goes fixing things.  A while ago my spotting scope tripod fell over and broke the vertical winder. You can see it’s made of hard moulded plastic and there isn’t enough surface area to get a good bond with a glue. The repair had to be able to  put up with the pressure and twisting involved in turning the handle.  I could have used a big blob of two-part epoxy but it would have been very messy to apply especially since I can’t actually remove the mechanism to work on.

Half a packet of Sugru, a bit of moulding , 24 hours, and the winder works fine again. Okay, I can’t fold it up anymore but it’s 99% better than when it was blu-tacked to the leg so I wouldn’t lose it The Sugru has hardened nicely and is holding the two pieces together really well. It easily puts up with the pressure on the join while turning the handle. If I really wanted the handle to fold again I could probably use a razor or knife to cut off the excess, but meh !

Since getting the pack I’ve fixed and hacked all sorts of  things either by coating or connecting, made things like pot handles, knobs and hooks, sealed leaking tap joints and tried to use it in all the ways I can think of. I won’t bore you with more pictures of my projects suffice to say that Sugru has handled each task just fine every time.

A lot of the jobs I’ve done have been small ones, generally using only about half a packet.  Sugru starts to cure as soon as you open the pack, and that means I’ve had to find something else to use it on. Yes I could line up a number of jobs to do at once, but that takes away the spontaneity  of using Sugru.  I see from the web site that people have come up with all sorts of  methods of extending the life of an open packet but I’m not sure I could be bothered. It’d be nice if it came in 2.5g packs as well for those smaller jobs. Conversely I’d also like the option to purchase bigger packs for bigger projects like making large grips or handles and the like.

Base colours are limited to the 5 above and it would be nice if there was yellow and red, but I’m guessing this has something to do with the compound used to colour Sugru.  They’d be two nice colours to have, and if you had prime colours, it’d be easier to mix other colours.

The  limited shelf life may be an issue if you only use it occasionally; however, the way things are going, might be I’ll have to buy another pack way before the six months are up. A way around the limited life might be to buy one pack between a few people, divvy them up, and then group reorder when you’ve used them all up.

All in all I love Sugru. I’m constantly on the lookout for things to  fix or hack. I’m going to make sure I always have some handy in the house and in my gadget bag. It’s impossible to cover all the things that you can use Sugru for, so make sure you go over to Sugru’s website and see some of the ingenious ways that people have used it. If only McGyver had a packet of Sugru in his pocket every episode, the mind boggles with what he could have done

* I mentioned that Sugru was good enough to sent me a pack to review.  In reality, they actually sent me two, as the first pack went missing in the postal system somewhere between the UK and Australia.  Now I’ve used it I’m hoping that the missing parcel turns up and hopefully before the expiry date of the Sugru

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Reviews

Tagged: DIY, Hacking, Repair

Sugru – Hack Things Better Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 29, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Recently a spate of videos showing a smartphone treated with Neverwet being dipped in water was doing the rounds; however,  Ross Nanotechnology’s  product goes well beyond that.  Neverwet is a spray on or dip application that applies a super hydrophobic coating that completely repels water and heavy oils.  Any liquid placed on the coating literally just rolls of without touching the underlying surface.

Besides its applications in electronics, it can be used on almost all materials.  It’s properties include:

• anti-wetting
• anti-icing
• anti-corrosion
• anti-bacterial
• self-cleaning

Although not yet available to consumers as a retail product, their web site indicates retail spray cans being available by mid 2012 (not early 2012 as indicated in the video).  Make sure you check out some of the videos on their website.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: DIY, Waterproof

Keep Your Gadgets Dry with Neverwet originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 26, 2012 at 10:00 am.

Last year, I reveiwed the Minox Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF 5.0 “tribute” camera (see related products links at the bottom) that reminded me of the old Imperial Reflex 620 Duo camera my mother had owned.  I was very disappointed in the tiny, low-res images captured by that almost $300 toy-like camera.  If only ThinkGeek had the Recesky Twin Lens Reflex Camera Kit then, I could have saved a lot of money and had a real, working, film camera.  With the Recesky kit, you spend about an hour to build the camera.  It has a fixed 1/125 sec shutter speed and focuses at 50cm to infinity.  Just like the original twin lens reflex camera, you hold it at your waist and look down into the top-mounted viewfinder.  You’ll need to supply your own 35mm film; ISO400 is recommended.  The Recesky Twin Lens Reflex camera kit is only $29.99.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: DIY, film camera

Build Your Own Twin-Lens Reflex Film Camera originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 21, 2012 at 1:00 pm.

It’s not often that you can build your own lamp, but Homeloo offers a series of assemble-it-yourself wooden lamps from Sukoo so you can build your own.  The lamps, like the Sukoo DIY Wooden Classic Lamp shown here, are made of pine wood MDF.  The folks at Homeloo assure us that the temperatures won’t get high enough to cause fire problems with the MDF.  The lighting kit comes with a 220V connector, which won’t work for all countries.  The lamp kit shown is $18.00.  Prices for other lamp kits range from $17 to $27.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: Desk lamp, DIY

DIY Classic Desk Lamp originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 29, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

Make no mistake.  We’re suckers for flashlights at The Gadgeteer!  I thought I’d seen it all, but this odd duck grabbed my attention.  The WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight from Maxxeon has a swiveling head, magnets, a hook and a rechargeable battery?  Let’s take a look!

You get a wall charger, car charger, belt clip and instructions.

The Maxxeon WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight’s most notable feature is the rotating head, which rotates 360 degrees and tilts 180.

The two silver discs are a pair of very, very strong magnets.  This light measures just over 10 inches long.

The red button is the on/off switch.  It also toggles the brightness level between hi (300 lumens) and low (75 lumens).

Feeding time!  The internal NiMH pack, which the manufacturer says is replaceable, charges in about three hours.

The belt clip stays put via the magnets.  I thought this would never hold, but there are two posts that slide into the body that keep it from just popping off.  I wouldn’t go mountain climbing or engage in extreme sports with this on my belt, but it works!

The bottom has a tripod screw and a pull-out hook that extends out 3 inches.  I nearly missed this feature, but the hook has proven very useful.

This is the business-end of the light.  A Cree XP-G, Cool White, 5 W LED really shines, literally.

And how does it look?  Well, I was pleasantly surprised to see how “crisp” the edges of the light was.  No hotspots in the center.  Very uniform throughout. And boy is it bright!  I found that the “low” setting (75 lumens) was plenty bright for most close-up work.

Light on "LOW" (about 75 lumens)

Light on "HIGH" (300 lumens)

I attempted to take snapshots of the two brightness settings.  It’s difficult to tell the difference in these photos, but “high” is definitely brighter, but it’s a little hard to tell what mode you’re in as you toggle between them.  Some kind of visual indicator like on the status LED (which only blinks once every few seconds when in use) would have been nice.

The hook, combined with the swivel head, is my favorite feature.  I like to have some extra light when I’m working on some project in the car.  Here, the hook is hanging off the sunroof opening.

I can’t say enough good things about this light.  I’ve used it nearly every day for a few weeks now, and the battery shows no sign of letting up.  I suppose it helps I always use it on the “low” setting, which I find perfectly adequate for close-up work.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Reviews

Tagged: LED flashlight

Maxxeon WorkStar 2000 Technician’s Floodlight Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 21, 2012 at 11:05 am.

Sugru is an air-curing rubber that can be formed and shaped by hand, sticks to most surfaces, cures to a tough flexible silicon overnight, and is stable at -60°C to + 180°C. Strong, flexible, waterproof and durable, it can be used for a multitude of purposes to adapt, modify and repair. Its uses are really only limited by your imagination. Once cured it can be removed with a craft knife and the residue removed with fingernails and tissue paper if required.

Hard to explain all the uses so have a look at the clip after the jump, or visit the Sugru website.  Available in multi-application packs from £7.50 ( $12 ).

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Repair, rubber

Sugru – Hack things better originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 18, 2012 at 9:00 am.

Warning: If you like robots, DO NOT READ this article. Don’t.do.it… If you decide not to heed my advice, it won’t be my fault if your productivity goes down the drain for the next 8hrs and your credit card starts to complain. You’ve been warned.

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

I love toy robots and have started a small collection which you can see in the image above. I tend to like the ones that look a little retro, but I’m not that picky. The other day I was surfing around and somehow happened upon one of the coolest sites I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a 3D printing site called My Robot Nation.

Using their web based building tool, you can construct your own custom robot from over 9 billion part combinations. You can choose from many different heads, torsos, arms and legs. One caveat though… you have to use Chrome or Firefox to use their web based builder tool as it requires a WebGL enabled browser.

You can add all kinds of parts and stickers to your robot such as bolts, grills, visors, logos, letters, etc. Each part can be rotated and sized. You can even spin the robot around to add parts to the back side.

When you’ve finished adding parts, you can paint your robot by simply choosing a color and pointing and clicking on the part you want to paint.

But wait, there’s more! You can also pose the figure by turning the head, torso and arms.

Are you drooling yet?

I think I spent 2hrs or more building my first one, which you see above. I decided to purchase the smallest size – 2 inches due to price. $17.99 didn’t seem that much to pay for a 2 inch tall custom robot that I designed myself. But $169.99 for a 6 inch robot was way more than I wanted to spend. So I placed the order and waited about a week for my creation to arrive.

Here he is! Pretty cool right? If you aren’t familiar with 3D printing, here is some information about it directly from My Robot Nation’s site:

The printer projects the digital model of the 3D object into a compact base of gypsum powder (similar to plaster of Paris). Next, just as an inkjet moves over paper to print a document, it deposits a binder with 24-bit color layer-by-layer into the plaster-like base, literally building your robot millimeter by millimeter from the powder.

As it’s built, the loose powder around it supports its structure so there is no wasteful scaffolding to remove, no toxic materials or run-off, and the unused loose powder is recycled right back into the machine.

According to their FAQ, the printing process is pretty time consuming. The robot is printed at a rate of about one inch per hour and requires about 48 hours to cure.

The figure feels a bit fragile and isn’t something you want to “play” with or give to a small child. I’m pretty sure that dropping it on a hard surface from even a very short distance would cause it to break.

I am really happy with the way my first Robot turned out and I definitely have plans to create another one or a whole army of robots in the near future. The online building tool is very easy to use and is a lot of fun.

So, who is going to order one?

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Geek Toys, Reviews

Tagged: Robot

My Robot Nation – Build Your Own Robot Figurine originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 12, 2012 at 3:00 pm.

The PowerUp Electric Powered Paper Airplane Conversion Kit from TailorToys will turn a homemade folded paper airplane into an electric powered propeller driven plane. It comes with one propeller module and a charger module which runs on 3 AA batteries. You will need to supply your own paper to fold your plane. Once folded, clip the propeller module in place and charge it. 20 seconds of charge time will fly your plane for around 30 seconds or so. This looks like it could be a lot of fun for less than $20. You can get yours at Amazon.com

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Geek Toys, Kid Gadgets, News

Tagged: Toy

Convert a Paper Airplane into an Electric Plane originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 30, 2011 at 10:00 am.

Over the past few years, I have had no less than three custom monitors created for me. All of which involved a separate trip to the audiologist to have specially-made molds of my ears created for the monitors to be made from. These visits had to be scheduled and involved a commute to have pink goo injected into my ear canal. The molds were then shipped and took many weeks of waiting for the monitors to be manufactured and shipped back to me.  This is a time-horizon potentially spanning months before actually having your custom fitted earbuds in your possession. sculpted eers have created a system that reduces the many week wait to a mere four minutes. They promise great sounding custom-fitted/molded earphones in less than thirty minutes, start to finish.

Package Contents:

• SonoFit Fitting System
• 1 – Tube of Fitting Lubricant
• 2 – Earphone Faceplates
• 1 – Carrying Case
• 1 – User Manual
• 1 – Fitting Guide

Specifications:

• Typical Weight – approx 15 g (0.53 oz)
• Cable – 1.3 m (50 in.) kink-resistant
• Connector – 3.5mm (1/8”) gold-plated stereo jack
• Typical nominal impedance – 90 ohms
• Sensitivity – 106 dB SPL /146 mVrms @1 kHz
• Maximum output level – 120 dB SPL
• Frequency Response – 20 Hz – 20 kHz

sculpted eers manufactures two types of earbuds, the PCS-200 (which you see here) and the PCS-100 custom fitted earpieces. While they look basically the same, the PCS-200 have premium dual drivers with crossover and the PCS-100 have a single driver with enhanced bass.

This interesting looking device is the SonoFit system created/designed in partnership with Sonomax. The SonoFit system produces custom fitted eartips without the assistance of an audiologist. That seems fine and dandy but is sadly a one shot deal. Once you begin this multiple step process, there is no turning back and you get, what you get…..

The first step in the process is to lubricate the eartips so that they may more easily move while they form to the inside of your ear. As you would expect, the SonoFit system includes a small bottle of oily liquid. The key is to spread a good amount evenly on both eartips.

While I was carefully applying the lubrication, one of the switches fell off the system.

It was easy enough to put back in place but seemed a bit cheesy that it fell apart so readily.

The next step is to actuate the #1 flipper switch on both earpieces and then place the SonoFit system on your head. The system needs to be precisely situated on your head. This is due to the fact the formation process locks everything into place, just as you want the finished earpieces to sit.

Once seated perfectly on your head and within your ears, you flip the second set of leavers and the process begins. You must remain still with your jaw loose. No talking or smiling. During the four minutes, there is definitely movement inside your ears as the eartips mold to the inner shape of ear canals.

After the four minutes of transformation, you carefully remove the SonoFit assembly from your head. As you can see, the eartips have changed shape.

The next step is to remove the PCS-200 (now) custom-fitted earpieces from the SonoFit headset. This was the easiest, simplest part of the process. Once you clean off the eartips and connect the earphone faceplates, your new earbuds are supposed to be good to go……

In regards to ‘custom fitted’, they do not fit my ears very well at all. They do not stay set within my ears, as they sit on the outside of my ear canal instead of in them. This leads to, at best, poor to mediocre sound quality since they do not set properly in my ears. The highs and mids are alright but most of the bass is totally lost.

When I force the eartips into my ears, the openings where the sound comes out is up against the wall of my ear and I cannot hear a thing. If I manipulated them right over the opening to my inner ear, they momentarily sounded very good. Once I removed the force holding them in place, they lose their seal and returned to sounding fair.

My theory behind this failure to form properly is due to the 90 degree turn my ear canal makes. This picture of my UE Pro 7′s and JHAudio JH|5 ear monitors illustrate just how dramatic the turn is.

The crazy thing is, they fit the Gadgeteer Kid’s ears better than mine. According to him, they sound very nice and feel good. So, at least, they will not go to waste.

Form fitness aside, the earbuds themselves are well made but are definitely not professional, custom-made monitors either. They are made well enough, but to be painfully honest, there are better alternatives (that would be more or less a sure thing) at the $200-$300 price range.

The cable is 1.3 m (50 in.) long and kink-resistant. The plug is gold plated and well enough constructed.

I find it very difficult to recommend any ‘do-it-yourself’ system that utterly failed me, especially when it costs between $200 (PCS-100) to $300 (PCS-200). If the SonoFit system had created me a form-fitted set of (great sounding) earbuds, I would say at $300 its a good deal considering the instant gratification of a custom-fit pair of earbuds in 4 minutes. However, since this is one-shot deal, as I stated above there are better options for the same or even less money.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Do-It-Yourself, Reviews

Tagged: Customized, Earbuds

sculpted eers PCS-200 Custom Molded Earphones Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 26, 2011 at 3:00 pm.

Most bathroom tub and shower faucets don’t have any settings indicators, so you never know for sure if you have the water temperature adjusted to your liking before getting in the shower.  These simple, yet ingenious Temji bands from Dreamfarm stretch to fit most any faucet.  Simply use trial-and-error one more time to find the adjustment that’s just right for you, then fit the dial and indicator on your faucet.  To make things easier, there’s a red band for hot and blue for cold.  Temji is only $4.95.  You can order directly from Temji (in Australia) or use their store finder to find resellers near you.  (There are several resellers here in Greensboro, but I can’t tell if they offer the entire line of Dreamfarm products.)

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Home Tech, News

Tagged: Faucet, Home safety

Keep Things from Getting Too Hot with Temji Shower Temperature Dials originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 14, 2011 at 9:00 am.

I’ve seen magnetic paint and chalkboard paint, but I’ve never seen conductive paint before.  Bare Conductive makes conductive paint that allows you to paint electrical circuits anywhere: floor, ceiling, clothing, walls – anywhere but skin.  The paint is water-based, non-toxic, and air-dryable.  Once dried, it becomes the circuit.  You can paint over it so it blends in with the surface it’s painted on, and you can even paint another layer of conductive paint on top without interfering with the previous circuit.  Check out the Bare Conductive website for ideas, and go to ThinkGeek to purchase some Bare Paint Conductive Paint for $29.99.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: Conductive paint

Create Electrical Circuits Anywhere with Paint originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 12, 2011 at 10:00 am.

A while back, Julie posted a news item about a ‘wooden pocket knife.’  I was intrigued: normally, one cuts wood with a knife, right?  So when the opportunity to review Nathan’s Knife Kit from Klecker Knives came up, I had to check it out.  My 8-year-old son had been asking me when he could get his own pocket knife.  I want him to begin to appreciate knife safety, but at the same time I know that he is not ready yet in the responsibility department for an actual knife of his own.  Add to this that he and I like to do little DIY-type woodworking projects together (bearing in mind that my tools and skills are meager at best), and this seemed like a perfect fit for both of us.  Onward!

NOTE: All images in this review have been enabled with clickable enlargeability for your viewing pleasure.  ;-)

Background

Packaging

Contents

Assembly

Some shots of the knife in the open and locked out position.  Yes, the locking mechanism really does lock out, and the thumb button must be depressed to close the blade, just like in a real lock-back folding knife.  It even produces a tactile and audible “lock” sound when locking open.

Detail shot of the locking mechanism in the open and locked out position:
A few more shots to illustrate the finished construction.  The parts in our kit all fit together nice and tight, with no slop or loose connections.

Something to keep in mind is that, while the blade is not “sharp” in the sense of having a true blade edge, it does have a sharply pointed tip.  

Part of the benefit of having the kit made from wood is that the finished knife can be sanded, glued, sealed, stained, painted and decorated as desired.   They encourage everyone who completes a kit to send them some pics of the finished work which they will post in their Hall of Fame.

And finally, below are a few shots of my son holding the completed knife.  He was eight when we assembled the kit just a month or two ago.

Conclusion

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Reviews

Tagged: DIY, Pocket Knife

Nathan’s Wooden Knife Kit Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 28, 2011 at 8:00 am.

The MudWatt kit from KeegoTech is an educational DIY kit that can teach kids about soil chemistry, microbiology and electricity. By combining ordinary dirt from your yard, along with scraps from your refrigerator, kids can create a fuel cell that will light up an LED. The MudWatt set is priced at $44.95 and can be expanded with other accessories such as a hacker boards for even more learning fun.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Kid Gadgets, News

Tagged: Learning

MudWatt Generates Power from Mud and Garbage originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 27, 2011 at 11:30 am.

If you’re looking for a cool gift for your favorite ukulele player, this is it. It’s a kit for a folding soprano ukulele. The parts are made of laser cut bamboo. All you need is some sandpaper, glue and a few other miscellaneous items and you’ll be able to build your own instrument that just happens to fold up into a nifty little package that can easily stow in your backpack. The resulting uke won’t sound as good as a traditionally built instrument, but it will make a fun do-it-yourself project. There are two kit designs to choose from, which are priced from $75-$87.50 (pictured). If you don’t want to take the time to build the kit, you can even buy them already finished… but for the price of the finished kits ($250 – $375), you could buy a decent regular uke. Check out these kits here.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Musical Gear, News

Tagged: DIY, Musical instruments

Ukulele taking up too much space? Fold it. originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 26, 2011 at 11:49 am.

Duct tape artisans can now enjoy a wide variety of patterns in their favorite cloth tape. Want to create a polka dotted duct tape wallet? Now you can with Platypus Designer Duct Tapes from Fortis Design. There are 14 designs to choose from, that range from plaids and paisley to wicker and leopard. Each roll is 32 ft long and is priced at $6.95. You can find Platypus Designer Duct Tape at brick and mortar stores like Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Ace Hardware, or purchase online through Fortis Design.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: Crafts

Get Crafty with Designer Duct Tape originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 18, 2011 at 6:04 pm.

Parts-People.com is a family owned business that was started back in 2002. They have a shop in Austin, TX and a web site that specializes in Dell laptop repair and parts replacement supplies. You can send them your laptop for repair, or if you are a DIY kinda of person, you can purchase the parts and perform the repairs on your own. They sell parts that range from motherboards, bezels and AC adapters, all the way down to screws for a large variety of Dell branded laptops (including Alienware laptops).

Check out their Facebook page where they run contests (they are currently giving away a laptop) and provide additional info about their services.

For the do-it-yourself Dell owner, they even offer a YouTube Channel that has over 200 tutorial videos that show you step by step how to perform many different types of laptop repairs. The videos are easy to understand and include all the info you need to perform the repairs from start to finish, including the list of needed tools. Each video also has a link to the full written instructions for each repair as well.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Laptops and Gear, News

Tagged: Dell, Laptop, Repair

Great Repair Site for Dell Laptop Owners originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 29, 2011 at 3:30 pm.

A Mixbook collects your photos and lets you share them with others.

Mixtapes (or mixCDs, if you’re of the younger generation that didn’t have to use tape), those custom-designed soundtracks of your life from high school and before, were ubiquitous. If you liked someone, or wanted to celebrate a special memory or event, you’d make a mixtape to play in the background. We still do similar things through custom play lists on iTunes, Rdio, or Spotify, or tweaked stations on Pandora. In many areas, there are also groups of ladies (mostly) who enjoy clipping, pasting, and constructing scrapbooks of various events. There are special scissors that pink the edges of special background papers, stickers, and other items that fill the aisles of craft stores across the country. Imagine a mashup of these two things, and you have Mixbook personalized printed photo books. Mixbook is a service, basically,  that takes this scrapbooking ability online. With the proliferation of high quality cameras, we can now edit, crop, and manipulate photos. No longer do we need to clip, paste, and bind memories – we can do it digitally.  The folks at MixBook asked the Gadgeteer team to try out their service, and I was selected to delve into it.

I’ve been taking pictures digitally for over ten years. About eight years ago, I was introduced to flickr.com (years before it was acquired by Yahoo) and was a pro user for several years. I have probably 70 GB of photos on my hard drive, plus CDs and hard drives with archived photos. Some were taken with an early Kodak point and shoot, some with  prosumer units of moderate ability, and many were taken with a Canon Digital Rebel or a Nikon D40x  or D90. I’ve had various other card-deck-sized point-and-shoot units and taken some nice shots with a few of them as well. The longer I carry cameras around, however, the more convinced I become that, as Chase Jarvis says, “The best camera is the one that’s with you.” But, no matter which camera you use, sharing the moments of your life is an important part of capturing those photos.

Remembering - I parked near this cemetery for eight years. The best camera is the one that's with you.

Mixbook’s website allows you to upload your pictures, choose backgrounds, add decorations, and layout pages, then order books to be sent to yourself or anyone else. There are several sizes and binding types available – hard-bound, soft cover, and wire-bound. You make this choice, and start adding pages to your book. You have total control over how pages are laid out, and there are templates for various numbers of photos on each page which make this process easier and give you good ideas to start from. Changing the template is simple, but you cannot save an edited template for use on other pages. Dragging your photos over from the thumbnail-sized gallery is quick and easy. You can have large background photos, various smaller shots floating over them, and turn photos at different angles, all in an intuitive interface that, unfortunately, is built in Adobe Flash. (This means you can only edit your books on a computer that has Flash installed. Tablet performance is horrid or non-functional.) Since I’m only using Flash in Chrome, this meant I could only edit my book from home, rather than on the devices I carry with me on a daily basis. Hopefully, this will improve in time. That said, upload was painless, with several streams allowed at a time. I don’t think I had a single issue uploading, and I pushed out some large files, usually in groups of 5-10 at a time.

MixBook Flash fail - I'll be so glad when plug-ins are no longer in use.

Once edited and finished, ordering a book is a simple process. When you click the order button, the system quickly calculates how many pages your book is, and what the cost will be. If this is not to your liking, you can remove or add pages and re-calculate your order without a problem. You can also give gift certificates in the form of redemption codes, which is a simple thing to use. This would be a fantastic gift for someone who has just been on an epic journey, like a semester abroad or an anniversary trip, to allow them to preserve and share the occasion. (Even with a coupon code for the full amount, however, you’ll still need to enter a credit card for the final shipment. This is just for verification of identity and shipping, however, and is not kept on file, according to their help desk.) I contacted support and asked several questions, and got great service on each occasion, with timely follow-up and accurate answers.

A two-page, full bleed photo layout. Registration (matching across the pages) is very difficult, and done flawlessly.

The product I was delivered was quite impressive. I opened it when I got home (late because of work – everyone was asleep) and enjoyed looking through it and remembering taking each photo. I left it on the dining room table, and the next morning, after the Lovely Bride had left for work, I stumbled out to make some tea. There was a note on top of my book with a single word in huge letters: “WOW!” I think that says a lot. She had spent all of breakfast going through it, remembering which photos we’d taken together, and seeing the ones for the first time that I’d taken on business trips, and had almost been late for work! And that’s the goal with such a product: share your photos with friends so that they can relive or learn of your experiences.

Quibbles are few. The Flash thing goes without saying, but this legacy program is quite ingrained on today’s web. With new technologies being released, and with tablets and other devices becoming more prevalent on today’s internet, I’m sure this will improve over time. Regarding the final book, as a former printing artist, I noticed a few things. Several full-bleed pages (where the photo was designed to go off the edge of the page) were cut short, and a white border showed. While my wife never noticed, I knew and was a bit irritated that there was a flaw.

White border on a full bleed photo. On the cover, yet. Arrghhh!

I’ve never seen that on any of the books I’ve ordered through iPhoto or Snapfish. Also, although the packaging was secure and tight, there was nothing to protect the book from the rough cardboard packaging. One of the premium touches in an iPhoto book is a slipcover and sleeve, all enclosed in protective wrap. If you’re sending this as a gift, the out-of-box experience is quite dull. With the pricing nearly identical, this feels a bit plain for such a nice finished product.

Vanity tags - custom printing on the binding gives your Mixbook that final professional touch.

All in all, the experience and the product received was quite good. The clarity of the photos as printed, the quality of the binding, and the selection and speed of upload were all perfection. If you have photos languishing in your digital “shoebox in the closet,” you should put one together and share it with someone you care about. Isn’t that why you took those photos in the first place?

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, Do-It-Yourself, Reviews

Tagged: Photo album printing, photo gifts, Photo keepsake

Mixbook Personalized Printed Photo Books Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 25, 2011 at 11:00 am.

Bheestie Bags are another of those bags filled with a desiccant to help you dry out electronics that have been exposed to moisture.  The bags are 6″ X 9″, so they’re big enough for phones and MP3 player but not bigger tablets.  You can keep a Bheestie Bag, unopened, in reserve about a year.  It can be used more than once to dry out electronics, but that usage will shorten the “shelf life” of the bag.  There are blue indicator beads inside that will turn gray to let you know when you need to replace the bag.  An item exposed to a little water will reportedly be ready after being in the bag overnight; an item that got a good dunking could need up to 72 hours.  Each bag is $20 from Bheestie.  They can also be purchased at retailers like REI, Amazon, Restoration Hardware, and Nextascent.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Gear, News

Tagged: Repair wet electronics

Bheestie Bags Promise to Save Your Wet Electronics originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 18, 2011 at 8:01 am.

Everyone knows that electricity bills are getting higher and higher, and often we’re burning up precious fossil fuels to create this power.  Now Solar Panels are becoming a viable solution even for the average consumer these days but tend to be expensive, delicate, require specialised installation and look pretty ugly up there on the roof,

Well at CEATAC, 3M demonstrated it’s new special film developed to coat ordinary, existing windows and convert them into solar panels. Made from an organic photovoltaic material the film not only  generates energy from sunlight but also absorbs over 90% of infrared light, resulting in a cooling effect as well.

The film’s narrow, translucent green strips have gaps between them and are glued onto the window in large patches.  Unlike solar paneling, the film is easy to install and according to 3M senior manager Ashuiro Aoyagi can be installed by the average person.  It’s worth noting though that the film only generates about 20 percent of the power generated by a regular solar panel so a 1m square only generates roughly enough power to charge a smartphone under direct  sunlight.

Pricing and availability are not yet available.

See 3M’s Solar Energy Site for more information on their currently available solutions.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: Solar

3M Solar Panel Window Film originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 12, 2011 at 3:05 pm.

We have reviewed Dremel tools before- the 300 series, the Trio, and a cordless tool, however the company just keeps making a good thing better. The new Dremel 3000 power rotary tool incorporates a lot of smaller changes, and one big one- the nose cap now acts as a wrench for loosening tools.

The new tool runs 5,000 to 32,000 rpm, packs a 1.2 amp motor in the 20 ounce package and is compatible with most Dremel rotary tool accessories and attachments. Among the smaller changes are larger and better placed air vents (earlier models tended to be easy to block or blew hot air on your fingers), a more ergonomic grip (the grove shown above on the bottom is perfect for your little finger in many positions). The front end was reshaped to make the pencil grip easier, and the symmetrical housing  allows ambidextrous use.

The big change, however, is a new nose cap that screws off as usual for various attachments, and is also shaped to act as a wrench to change tools easily. The nose cap has a reinforced opening the same size and shape as the collet nut. The good news is that it acts as the aforementioned wrench. The less good news is that you have to line things up to remove or reattach the cap.

End view of the EZ Twist nose cap

EZ Twist nose cap- note the shaped opening

It comes in a molded plastic case with a small ‘starter’ selection of 28 bits and accessories- none of which are the recently introduced EZ Lock system oddly enough- and two attachments- the cutting guide which turns the tool into a router or rotary cutting tool, and the sanding/grinding guide which turns the tool into a mini-grinding or sanding station. The sanding/grinding tool is recommended for use with the Dremel 2500-01 Multi-Vise (not included). It offers a four year limited warranty.

What comes in the box

Attachments and accessories included

The Gutting Guide and rotary cutting bit

The Sanding/Grinding Guide and sanding bit

The 1.2 amp motor is a bit stronger than the 300′s 1.15 amps, but not powerful as the professional series 400 XPR’s 2.0 amp motor. Compared the the 400 XPR (my main tool at work), the 3000 runs less smoothly with a slight vibration at the lower speeds. Like the 300, it has an integrated on/off/speed selection control. It works well, with a slight detent at different speed settings (although I prefer the separate controls the 400 XPR features. )

I like the new design. It  is comfortable to hold in several positions and seems to run a lot cooler. There is something about the simple ‘little finger groove’ that really seems to help. The main body is fairly compact, so it fits in odd positions well and feels nice and light.

The tool in my hand. Note the little finger grove.

The new ‘EZ Twist’ nose cap is certainly a nice feature, and a good example of tool evolution. Early Dremels required a wrench to remove the bits, then they installed a locking mechanism that made it easier, then there was a new shape of collet nut that worked with the lock to make it a mostly tool-free job… unless you got things a bit too tight. The EZ Twist cap may not seem very revolutionary but it is a really nice step towards painless bit changes. I am not sure it is a big enough change to upgrade from a different recent model, but if you only have an older tool or have never tried a Dremel, you should look into this series!

If you do not know what you can do with a Dremel, you really owe it to yourself to look into these. Go to the Dremel Videos and How To page for a glimpse of what these really cool tools can do for you!

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Reviews

Tagged: Dremel, power tool, rotary tool

Dremel 3000 Rotary Tool Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 9, 2011 at 2:25 pm.