Pre-Winter Checks? Sometimes It’s Already Too Late. Winter is just around the corner, that magical time of year when we all start nervously checking our boilers. We tell ourselves to check them before the first cold snap hits. But let’s be honest—you can’t predict when a tiny component, like a thermistor, will decide to die….
⚠️ EXTREME WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS. SERIOUS RISK OF SHOCK, FIRE, AND DEATH. Before you read any further, understand this: This post is a cautionary tale, NOT a tutorial. It describes a foolish risk I took years ago. The device shown is poorly made and inherently dangerous. Attempting to repair it could easily lead…
A Universal Annoyance Unless you live completely off-grid, you know this sight: the chaotic mess of tangled power cords. The humble extension cord (or “power strip”) is an indispensable tool in modern life, bridging the gap between outlets and devices, expanding connectivity. They come in various lengths and configurations, and you can even make your…
Why bother making your own cables? Flat ribbon cables with IDC connectors are everywhere in the world of electronics—inside computers, CNC machines, 3D printers, you name it. Most of the time, they come bundled with the products, and you just plug them in. But every so often, a project comes along—a repair, a prototype, or…
The day my angle grinder revealed more than just rust. It started as a typical weekend warrior project: routine maintenance on my container roof. The plan was simple—grind off some surface rust, slap on a new coat of paint, and call it a day. But as the grinder sang its song, the rust gave way…
The Problem No One Else Seems to Care About As a self-proclaimed “clumsy old technician,” I often find myself making custom servo motor cables. While the expensive crimpers for the signal pins are a necessary evil, I’ve always been annoyed by the tool for the cable shield. It’s a one-piece shield shell featuring an integrated…
A long while back, I bought a mini lathe. It mostly sits in a corner like a forgotten relic, but sometimes, it becomes the most essential tool in my workshop. Like when I had to machine a servo motor shaft that didn’t fit. The problem was that the motor to be replaced had a 12.7…
Earlier this year, I bought my mother-in-law in Malaysia a brand-new, top-of-the-line Cuckoo IH pressure rice cooker. She was thrilled. The irony? The rice cooker my wife and I use every day is an old workhorse I’ve kept running for years with my own two hands. This isn’t a story about being cheap. It’s a…
If you’re a tinkerer like me, you understand the obsession. It’s that tiny, irrational detail that nobody else notices, but it keeps you up at night. For me, it was the missing 1/4″ screw mount on my GoPro Hero 8. Sure, the stock GoPro finger mount is functional. But as someone who grew up with…
We all have one—that old, beat-up piece of gear we just can’t let go of. For me, it’s my HP DV6-6022TX laptop, a machine that’s been with me for nearly 15 years. It was a major purchase back when I decided to become a self-proclaimed “clumsy technician,” and we’ve been through countless jobs together. We’ve…