Materials
Instant sticky notes
Whereas most glue sticks are designed to permanently stick paper to paper, this glue stick is designed to create instant, repositionable sticky notes out of just about anything (Scotch specifies fabric or paper). A swipe or two (they recommend at least two) with this stick, and your self-printed content/form/memo will stick temporarily to any flat dry surface without residue. I love this stuff and use it to make my various Getting Things Done/43 folders items and tasks stay put in my handheld binder. I jot my items and tasks down on variously colored pieces of paper of whatever size I need, rub the magic stickum on them, and they stay put in my binder until I decide to move them around. My inner child is happy because I get to play with stickers and glue; my inner adult is happy because I can continually and easily refine my GTD system until it is transparent to the tasks at hand; my inner artist is pleased by the happy riot of colors and shapes that my 'organization' system has become; and my inner accountant is happy that I'm not wasting so much money on little pads of sticky notes. And when it's time, it can all be peeled up and recycled. Although this stuff is more expensive than regular glue sticks, a little goes a long way. If any gets where it shouldn't, it washes off with water.
Now that my daughters discovered I have one of these sticks, I have a hard time getting it back. They are fond of making up board games out of pen and paper, which guarantees lots of little bits in the carpet as the game pieces fly around on the slightest breeze. Now they stay put. Ditto for the print-and-cut-apart paper games like Scrabble variants, chess and checkers that you can print from the Web: playability is greatly improved when the playfield can be held on a clipboard in your lap with sticky pieces that won't budge until you want them to. Next big trip we're taking, the girls are getting clipboards with a stack of these things printed out, cut apart, stuck down and ready to play.
-- Bill Fleet
Scotch Restickable Adhesive Glue Stick
$1.50
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by 3M
Related items previously reviewed in Cool Tools:
Write-On Poly Sheets
Sticky Pad
Apples to Apples
Revives old (& creates new) rain gear
This stuff is Gore-Tex in a can! You can make any nylon garment waterproof and still breathable by spraying it with TX.Direct. You don't need to spray the underarms (unless you need ultimate dryness), so breathability is enhanced. I've been using this stuff for years. I initially used it just on Gore-Tex (it really helps bring old Gore-Tex back to life). Then I gave it a shot on a nylon jacket and it worked just like Gore-Tex. Why spend hundreds on a waterproof jacket when you can spend much less, use this spray and get the jacket of your choice? (one can treats about 4 jackets). I also use TX.Direct on my boots that have nylon uppers, and spray my Woolrich felt hat, which works great -- water just beads up on it; can't even tell it's there. The spray is somewhat smelly, so it's best to spray it on outside or in the basement, and it does need to be re-applied after washing. Nikwax also makes a wash-in product you put in with your laundry. I don't like excessively washing my technical gear, though, as it seems to wear out faster. I save the wash-in stuff only for when I do need to wash things, and freshen up my waterproofing when needed with the spray-on. I also don't really like the idea of having those chemicals directly against my skin, so I prefer the spray-on generally because you're only applying it to the exterior of the garment.
-- Doug Barnard
Nikwax TX.Direct Spray-on Waterproofing
$19+
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by NikWax
Dispenses precisely, minimizes gumming
Cyanoacrylate (CA), aka super glue, in 1 and 2 oz sizes is a boon to the hobbyist, woodworker, and handy man. However after 20 or so uses, the typical CA bottle becomes terminally gummed up, tempting you to crack open the cap and obtain glue by dipping a toothpick or piece of wire, opening up the possibility of a CA-tastrophic spill. I resisted trying the Glü-Bot until I knocked over a 1 oz bottle CA in a very inopportune place, and have since found it to be much more effective than a standard glue container.
The Glü-Bot has a precise applicator tip, a widened base that makes it hard to tip over, and it uses a two-chambered system that allows for complete clearing of the dispensing tip at any time. About an inch from the bottom, the bottle divides into two cylinders: one is fat (the reservoir) and the other is skinny (the dispenser tube). When the reservoir is squeezed, the glue is forced into the dispenser tube and through its tip. Because the reservoir has a larger diameter than the dispenser tube, it doesn't take much pressure to fill the dispenser tube, which allows for fairly precise control of the flow of material out of the tip. The tip of most standard glue bottles is a slender cylinder, which grabs glue due to capillary/adhesive action. The last 1/8th inch of the Glü-Bot tip is very narrow, allowing a controlled delivery, but it then widens considerably, forming shoulders that help keep the glue from forming liquid plugs.
After careless use, the tip orifice can plug up, but this is easily remedied into "good as new" condition with a straight pin. Also, tapping the bottle down on a hard surface will often clear the spout of low viscosity glue. Also, once the glue has been dispensed, you tip the bottle so that the dispensing tube drains back into the reservoir. In the "neutral" upright position, the glue level is held at the bottom of the dispensing tub, independent of the amount in the reservoir.
With the Glü-Bot, glue also rarely comes into contact with the filler cap, so it remains easy to open and close. In the upright position, the glue level in the dispensing tube is maintained below the tip, so if a Glü-Bot is dropped it does not automatically result in a spurt of glue from the tip. And the surface of the glue exposed to air in both reservoir and dispenser is big enough to prevent an evaporation or curing-based skin to form on its surface.
The bottom line is that if used correctly the Glü-Bot keeps itself clear of obstruction and is ready to do its job day after day. For glues that cure by drying out, the Glü-Bot minimizes problems caused by infrequent as well as frequent use, so that a house-holder would benefit as well as a professional. It won't keep aging glue viable indefinitely, so those that use glue once in a blue moon would be better off simply buying a fresh bottle whenever the occasional need arises. But for those of us who have an active interest in putting stuff together, the Glü-Bot is a big help.
-- Peter Spencer
Glü-Bot Glue Bottle
$6
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by FastCap
Cardboard fasteners
 
Cardboard is a wonderful building material. You can do far more with it than you might expect. Use it to make furniture, sculpture, models, and of course play structures. The common way to assemble projects with cardboard boxes is to slap pieces together with duct tape. But tape is clumsy, expensive, will unpeel outdoors in weather, looks clunky, and won't take paint. A cool alternative are these Kevlar-like rivets specially designed for box cardboard. One shape does both sides. The rivets sport a grippy ratchet that clinches them close, yet enables them to be reused. The large button gives them holding power and allows you to make joints that can swing, too. We've found that you need either two people working, or ape-long arms, to squeeze both sides of the rivet pairs. Also, they are really made for the double wall corrugated cardboard of the kind you find in large appliance boxes; on thin cardboard they aren't as prettily snug, but still will hold fine. A set of 100 (50 pairs) is enough for a small maze.
-- KK
Mr. McGroovy's Box Rivets
$8 per 50 pairs
Available from Mr. McGroovy's
Mr. McGroovy has free plans and some nice tips on where to locate free large boxes.
Nerdy bargains
Following behind the juggernaut of high-tech industry is a trail of odd bits and stray leftovers. This surplus is a tinkerer's delight. One legendary source of cheap parts, weird stuff, cheap knockoffs, and plain junk is American Science & Surplus. They sell "closeouts, inventory overruns, mis-manufactures, and items whose time has not come. When a surplus item is gone, it is gone." It's the ultimate hacker's mail-order junk store.
They don't take themselves too seriously, either, often belittling the scrap they are selling. The items are illustrated with crude sketches on yellow newsprint paper in their crowded 95-page paper catalog. It's a cornucopia of irresistible bargains. Science fair motors! Chemistry kits! Craft tools. I dare you to open it without finding something you have to have. (AS&S's rustic tone is part of their "crazy cheap" schtick. On their website, in addition to the doodles you can also click to see a photo of an item as well.) While funny, their descriptions are always honest, and the stuff delivered will be entirely useable. More so than most catalogs, the bulk of the items listed are inspirational: " Oh, I could do that!" Prices are, as they say, incredible.
If you "make different," click here.
-- KK
American Science & Surplus
Samples from the catalog:
Got A Horse Of A Different Color?
Recycle old crayons. Now you can finally color him, with custom colors from the Crayola� Crayon Maker. You get the machine and (24) mix-and-match colors. (You've already got that whole box of broken crayons and leftover nubs the kids keep digging through!) Just start melting and molding completely new crayons. There are even (18) sheets of labels included, in which to wrap the new ones. The Crayon Maker measures 9-5/8" tall x 7-3/8" wide x 9-5/8" deep, with a 6-foot power cord and a power switch. It uses a 60W candelabra bulb (not included). It turns off automatically if it's tipped, and the lid locks until the crayons are cool, but it's still for ages 8+ only. UL.
37331
CRAYOLA® CRAYON MAKER
$9.75 / EACH
Chinex?
Rejoice, we have finally found a source of reasonably priced borosilicate lab glassware. This is the kind of glass in the trade marked Pyrex(tm) and Kimax(tm) labware. The stuff you can put right over the flame of the Bunsen burner, or directly onto the hot plate. This stuff is imported from China, and is considered student grade, which is good enough for anything but the most exotic applications. We have beakers, test tubes, graduated cylinders and flasks. Compare the prices below and you will see that they are around half the U.S. equivalent. Call us for larger quantity prices.
88984 BEAKER, 50ML $1.95/EACH
88985 BEAKER, 250ML $2.95/EACH
88986 BEAKER, 600ML $4.50/EACH
Better Grade Dental Tools
A variety of shapes and ugliness, but unbroken tips. Some single ended, some double.. Super for all manner of hobbyism, save do-it-yourself-dentistry. Excellent price in today's weakened dollar market. All stainless steel.
4358
DENTAL TOOLS
$3.75/PKG(3)
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Inventory of new materials
It would be nice to have a place where you could inspect samples of new materials. There you could hold, bend, twist and study the latest plastics, fabrics, and construction materials as they come out of the lab. Second best would be a website/book that linked to sources and descriptions of new stuff. That's what this book and website do. Artists, inventors and makers will find it a fantastic source for information about new innovations in material science. Author Blaine Brownwell has collected, annotated and sourced as many imaginative, green, and unusual materials for sale as he could find. His collection includes metal fabrics, metal-coated plastics, paper concrete, wood-plastic hybrids, and so on. Two hundred new materials in all. You still have the problem of getting your hands on small samples, but having some photos, the specs, and the website of the manufacturer is a huge first step. (Brownwell co-edits Materials Monthly, a publication that sends out one sample per month, but the subscription price is dear at $200/year.)
-- KK
Transmaterial
Edited by Blaine Brownell
2005, 224 pages
$17
Available from Amazon
Transmaterial website
Sample excerpts:
Photo-Cast Tiles
Photographic bas-relief ceramic tiles
Mineral, Interfacial product
No. 093013-001
Map Tile: These tiles were created from a satellite image of a sports arena. This 8"x8" ceramic wall tile has a semi-opaque/semi-matte glaze.
Photo-Form LLC is a tile studio that provides designers the ability to create bas-relief tiles from photographs. Utilizing their patent-pending Photo-Cast process, Photo-Form can create bas-relief ceramic tiles from any 2D image.
Photo-Cast tiles are available in sizes ranging from four inches square to eight inches square, with larger custom sizes available, and may be finished with a wide range of nontoxic glazes or bronze, brass, nickel/silver, or aluminum metal finish.
Contents: Clay, non-toxic glaze (metal powder, gypsum polymer)
Applications: Wall tiles, accents
Types/sizes: 4 x 4" (10 x 10 cm) up to 8 x 8" (20 x 20 cm), custom sizes available
Environmental: Non-toxic
Contact: Photo-Form LLC
15440North 71st Street, Suite 322
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Tel: 888-744-3676
www.photo-form.com
sales@photo-form.com
*
Zinc Foam
Zinc-foam plates, sandwiches, and 3D parts
Metal, Ultraperforming material
No. 057000-002
Developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology, Zinc Foam is a low density, low weight, and resilient manifestation of zinc. These properties make it a great material to be used in fast-moving components and/or components demanding absorption. The zinc foam can be either glued to another material or become a metallic compound with the material.
A zinc-foam sandwich, consisting of two cover sheets and a layer of zinc foam in the middle, greatly expands the field of application. The cover sheets greatly contribute stiffness, while the foam contributes cushioning. The sandwiches can be welded together just like normal sheets of metal.
Contents: Zinc and zinc alloys
Applications: Cushioning, thermal isolation, shock absorption
Types/sizes: 59 x 55" (150 x 140 cm) maximum plate size, 3D shapes
Environmental: High strength-to-weight ratio
Limitations: Thermally unstable above 392 F (200 C)
Contact: Fraunhofer Institute
Reichenhainer Strasse 88
Chemnitz, 09126
Germany
Tel: +0049-371-5397-456
www.iwu.fhg.de/schaumzentrum/english
More...
Industrial-strength graffiti remover
Decent consumer solvents -- for say removing graffiti -- are pretty much unobtainable because of their abuse ("huffing") and paranoia about carcinogenicity. So I was very happy to run across this industrial-grade stuff in an urban San Francisco hardware store.
Not only does it tackle every kind of marker and paint graffiti, but it's perfect for those sticky removal situations like price tags and tree-sap-on-your-car that the consumer-grade citrus solvents still have trouble with. This stuff is also the perfect solution for those otherwise intractable remnants of double-sided foam tape: one shot of this and they rub right off with a paper towel.
It's a pretty potent blend of solvents (including MEK, toluene, and trichloroethylene). So you will want to use it in a ventilated place away from flames, and minimize your skin exposure, but it really does work better.
-- Jonathan Foote
Anti-Vandal Spray
10 0z.
$7
Available from Cole Hardware
Manufactured by Aervoe
General stick
They call this stuff caulk, but I use it as a general purpose glue. It pretty much sticks anything to anything. It may not hold as strongly as epoxy, but for 90% of my attachment jobs it does the trick. Almost everything in my mobile illusions museum is adhered with Lexel. It sticks better than silicone sealant and is not as obnoxious to work with.
-- Doug Payne
Used to stick everything to everything.
Lexel Caulk
3.5 oz.
$5
Available from Amazon
Raw materials for tinkerers
In addition to everything else Amazon sells, you can now secure small portions of materials and mechanical parts suitable for building and repair. Amazon has teamed up with the supplier Small Parts (reviewed in Cool Tools previously) to supply a huge variety of metal tubes, springs, raw materials (titanium, nylon, polycarbonate, glass, etc.), gears, plastic parts, fasteners and bins of other stuff that tinkerers and mid-night engineers might need. Of course you can order from Small Parts direct, but Amazon's option takes advantage of their incredibly handy interface and billing system. Go to their "Industrial & Scientific" tab.
-- KK
Available from Amazon Industrial and Scientific
12-volt plug system
I have been building small portable solar systems for camping and power outages using 12 volts. You can run regular 110-volt devices by sending the 12 volts through an inverter, or more efficiently, there are some really great 12-volt products out there. Unfortunately, most of the 12-volt devices you can buy come with a cigarette lighter plug. These plugs are often of poor quality, and are much too bulky, especially when you want to hook up multiple things to a power source.
I went searching for a better connecting system, and it turns out the ham radio crowd found a great solution years ago. They are called Anderson Powerpoles, and are perhaps the perfect 12-volt connector. Some of the advantages:
* Flat wiping contact system (cleans the contacts every time you use them)
* Interchangeable genderless design
* Colored, modular housings
* Polarized, so you can't hook things up wrong way
* 15/30/45 amp contacts use the same housing
I chopped off every cigarette lighter plug I have, and now put these on everything. Of course I still keep one lighter plug around (with a powerpole on the other end) for when I need juice from a car.
-- Howie Oakes
Anderson Powerpoles
$1 per set
Available from PowerWerx
More info and ideas about Powerpoles
Quick paint touch-up
This is a great tool for touching up paint in your home. There is nothing to clean up at all. Simply unscrew the cap, paint the area that needs to be touched up, and replace the cap. A real time saver.
-- Phil Slight
Qwikie
3 for $16
Available from Builder Depot
Manufactured by Qwikie
Outdoor, waterproof wrap
Electrical tape simply does not work in a marine environment. Even duct tape won't stick to something wet. Try getting any tape to stick to a rope or line on a boat. Or try to get a waterproof seal on a hose leak. X-treme tape can do all these chores with flying colors because it is a non-adhesive, self-bonding wrap. It's not really tape since it's not sticky. This stuff is sort of magical. You stretch it on and it self-fuses tight under tension. It works in cold and wet, and won't melt on hot surfaces, so you can use it on engines. It is easy to apply even when it is below freezing. The tape doesn't stick on itself until you want it to. Once tightened this silicone based wrap forms a reliable bond even in water. I use it as an insulator around wires, like electrical tape. I wrap the end of ropes with it. X-treme tape bears up for many seasons under constant UV and sunlight and the extreme cold, heat, and wet of harsh weather. It's so good I use for any outdoor tape application.
-- David Siesel
X-treme Tape
1 inch x 10 feet
$6
Available from McFeely's
Manufactured by Vypar
Adhesive Remover
This stuff is incredible. It essentially undoes any sticky sticker from any surface, and then totally evaporates leaving no mark. As an art teacher, I'd find that masking tape, for example, when left too long on the back of a displayed piece of artwork, was impossible to remove. Un-Du released its stickiness, and AMAZINGLY, after a few moments of evaporation, the masking tape reverts to it's original sticky state. The original ad for it demonstrated removing a piece of duct tape from a piece of toilet paper. BOTH were intact after a few seconds of application.
-- Duffy Franco
Un-Du
$9
Available from
Amazon
*
Un-du is nice but it's way overpriced. I buy the same thing but a quart at a time. It's called Grip Solvent and it's for regripping golf clubs. $5.69 for a quart instead of $9 for an ounce.
-- Rob
Grip Solvent
$6
Available from Golfsmith
Epoxy Putty
I just had occasion to fix my daughter's eyeglasses. They had snapped at the hinge, in a place where neither glue nor tape would find any purchase, and we needed a way to repair them until we could replace the frames. For about $5 at Home Depot I got a tube holding enough epoxy putty to last for years of small repairs.
Epoxy putty is your standard two-component epoxy in concept, but like plasticene in initial consistency.��You mix two strips by cutting an equal length of each and kneading them together with your fingers until it's even in color. Once it's kneaded, you mold it into shape with your fingers or the same kind of craft tools you would use on clay or plasticene. When it hardens, after about a half hour, it's like rock--you can pound it with a hammer with no apparent effect. I've used it to make handles for broken pocketknife blades, for fixing glasses (like this time), for temporary patches on water pipes, and for a variety of other repairs and odd tasks.��
-- Clifton Royston
[Magic-Sculp epoxy clay was featured in Cool Tools on March 3, 2005 but is packaged in a much larger quantity, at a much higher price, for larger repairs and sculpting.]
Henkel Solid Ribbon Epoxy
$3
Available from Ace Hardware
Amazon carries an Eight Pack for $28
Manufactured by Henkel
Super Rubber Cement
Originally marketed to repair old tennis shoes (which it does very well), this industrial strength rubber cement has many, many purposes.
I had a problem with the trim falling off of my second Mazda Rx-7, so I went around the car and pulled off all the trim and re-glued it with Shoe Goo. I never had the problem again. Through all kinds of weather and at very irresponsible speeds, the trim was still on the car after the vehicle was used up, wrung out, stripped of parts for my third Rx-7 and sold to a salvage yard for scrap metal.
Goop makes several other varieties that are supposedly specialized for different applications, but after trying them I keep going back to the original.
-- Justin Belshe
[Note: Apparently "Shoe Goo" is not a trademark. Several products from differing manufacturers use the same name, in very similar packaging. The link below is to the source which Justin Belshe used. Beware of imitations!]
Shoe Goo
$7
George's Shoes
Superior loosener
 
As a DIY'er, this is one of my favorite products because it REALLY works. I came across it by accident at a small tractor supply store in southern Missouri. The product typically works instantly, but on heavy duty applications, I like to apply a little (or a lot) on a rusted or frozen bolt or car part, tap the part lightly to aid penetration, and wait. After a few minutes, rusted bolts, screws, shafts, piping, any types of "frozen" connections and assemblies will now break lose. I have tried a variety of other loosening products, but they tend to use heavier oils that don't penetrate as well. Smaller hardware stores, and farm supply stores will probably stock it.
-- Mike Farley
Zoom Spout Rust Buster
$1.39
Available from
Home Depot
Manufactured by
La-co
Heavy duty velcro
To me, as a commuter, one of the most impressive parts of the EZ Pass toll-paying system is the hardcore industrial "velcro" tape they give you to attach your transponder to your windshield. It's not really velcro, though -- instead of hooks and loops, both surfaces have these tiny hard plastic mushroom-shaped things that grab each other by the hundreds and don't let go. Both sides are the same, so there is only one tape (called self-mating). And unlike the loosy-fabricky velcro connection, the Dual Lock surfaces don't join until you've positioned them exactly, and then pressed them together with a satisfying "chunk." They're primarily used in industrial applications as a replacement for mechanical fasteners, but I use mine to attach my iPod to my dashboard, and tools to the wall in my workshop.
-- S.S. Flanders
3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fastener Tape
$14/ 10 feet
Available from Amazon
More varieties and quantities available from iTapeStore
Manufactured by 3M
How to remove old caulk
A substance that, once applied to any caulk, softens it to the consistency of butter in about 4 hours. Comes in a squirt bottle, and is slightly thinner than common glue.
-- Matt Havard
3M Caulk Remover
Model 2153
$5/ 8 oz.
Available from Home Depot
Also from Amazon
Flexible epoxy
This is as close to "bomb-proof" as I have found a glue to be. It seems to stick to just about anything, although 3M says it's for metals and plastics. I have used it for gluing D-rings - and other things - into my whitewater canoes. The rings have been able to hold me boiling through big rapids, often upside-down. For this application the glue joint needs to be flexible and waterproof...and this stuff hasn't ever failed me. How it is different from epoxy: Fills gaps. Flexes under stress without giving away. Sticks to smooth plastics like PVC or vinyl. Seems a LOT stronger than epoxies. You'll have to find this in a specialty store or order it over the web.
-- Fen Sartorius
3M Scotch-Weld 3532 B/A Urethane Adhesive
$17/ 2 0z. tube kit (6 per case)
Available from
Hillas Packaging
Epoxy clay
This is a two part epoxy plastic used for sculpting. It works like clay, but dries rock hard. You can add water to soften it or to smooth out the surface while you are forming it. Yet it is very hard when dry. Comes in a few colors. About four years ago, I cut the back of the cab of my Toyota 4x4 out to make more room and attached the steel camper shell directly to the back of the open cab. I used Magic-Sculp to form all of the bodywork after I made the attachment. Four years later, the whole job still looks perfect and still has the durability of hard plastic. It is great stuff, and I recommend it highly.
-- Robert Janca
I lived in Zimbabwe from 1997-99, teaching high school math for the Peace Corps. The local equivalent of Magic-Sculp was used for everything. The standard fix for a cracked plastic bucket was to suture the crack with copper wire and then press Magic-Sculp into the crack from both sides: cheap, waterproof, and stronger than the rest of the bucket.
-- Ian Taylor
Original Sculpture in Magic-Sculp by Greg Brenden, Tucson, Arizona
Magic-Sculp
$30/ 5 lbs.
Available from The Compleat Sculptor
Moldable plastic
Shapelock is "Ultra-High Molecular Weight Low Temperature Thermoplastic. Similar to nylon and polypropylene in toughness., except it's easy to work with and shape."
You get a bag of plastic pellets, put them in 160F water, and they phase change, becoming soft and moldable. If you don't let the water get too hot, when you take the plastic out, it's cool enough to shape with your hands.
When it cools down, it hardens into a strong, durable, paintable, machine-able white plastic. If you don't like what you made, you just put it in 160F water again and reshape it.
Great for making prototypes - also fun to play with.
-- Patrick Tufts
Shapelock
$15 for 250 grams
The same stuff, under a different name (Friendly Plastic), is available in larger quantities, but at a cheaper rate.
$28 for 793 grams
Sculpt
Flexible portable neon
Do-it-yourself neon. This thin electro-luminescent wire (el-wire) glows very brightly. You can bend it easily, tie it to anything. It produces essentially no heat. Best all of it runs on batteries, meaning you can wear it or use it on your bicycle. We make signs with it and, of course, some wild costumes. El-wire (also called Live Wire) has been used to great effect in the night parades at Burning Man; I still have vivid memories of an animated neon kangaroo (mounted on the side of a bike) galloping across the desert. It comes in various lengths from .5 m to 10 m (you can cut it if you know what you are doing) and in eight colors. You can also make it strobe. It is the world's most flexible light. It is very cool stuff.
-- KK
Live Wire in bulk
Starting at .85 cents per foot
Live Wire Pak
Contains 20 feet of wire, belt clip, strobe controller, DC jack.
$46
Available from Live Wire
General purpose glue
Finding the right glue can be tricky. Epoxies can be a mess. Specialized adhesives can get expensive. Hot glue = ick.
I recently found a glue that I can reach for in most situations -- Gorilla Glue. This solvent-free polyurethane glue is best on wood (sands well), but it's not as specific as most wood adhesives. It bonds pretty well on metals, stone, ceramics, and many plastics. Another nice thing is that it foams up a bit when you apply it, so a little bit goes a long way and you don't need to spread it around so much. It is waterproof, meaning it doesn't break down when wet, and doesn't expand or contract with temperature. You do have to clamp stuff in place for a while while it dries, which you should do with any glue. If you glue infrequently, it is nice that Gorilla Glue has a long shelf life -- three years as opposed to one, as with many other polyurethane glues.
-- Camron Assadi
Gorilla Glue
$13 for 8 0z.
Amazon
Manufactured by Gorilla Glue
Easily applied plastic coating
This stuff rocks. Available in spray or dip form, I use it on anything and everything from tool handles to 2.4ghz wardriving antenna. It's available in most home improvement stores (Lowes, Home Depot). I
prefer the dip for small things like keys and tools and the spray for things that are bigger.
-- Heath Dieckert
Plasti Dip
$6 for 14.5 oz
Available from Amazon
Your foam source
For those times when you simply need to have one or a hundred pieces of foam rubber (any kind), custom-cut to your desired size: the Knox Foam Company. This kind of source was hard to find.
--M. Sean Fosmire
Knox Foam Company
Silver clay that becomes silver metal
Precious Metal Clay lets you make fine jewelry with little experience or equipment. It works like Fimo clay, except it is more crumbly because it contains powdered precious metal, such as silver, or gold. (It will also dry out faster.) The organic clay binding burns off when you fire it and you end up with pure fine silver or gold in the shape of the clay you made. If you have jewelry skills you can keep working it from there, soldering, shaping, etc.. Since I don't have much skill I just polish up my pieces or antique them with silver black. There's an implication that you have to fire PMC pieces in a kiln (that would be nice), but so far everything I've done I've fired myself on the kitchen floor with a basic propane torch.
All PMC shrinks significantly when fired. However since the shrinkage is proportional, jewlers use this shrinkage to produce very fine detail that would be difficult if you had to work at full size. PMC comes in various formulations with different shrinkage rates. The original PMC shrinks 30%, while PMC+ and PMC3 shrinks only 10%. (I've never tried using the torch on anything except silver PMC+ and PMC3
because I prefer the lower shrinkage of these.)
My one piece of advice about firing PMC with a propane torch: This stuff is very expensive (it's silver or gold, remember!) so take a small piece and sacrifice it to learn how to heat evenly first. It is very easy to overheat it which will melt the silver into a blob., which is bad. If you aren't sure if it's metal yet (it'll be whitish), pick it up with needle nose plier and drop it very gently on the metal surface you fired it on. It should make a satisfying metal-on-metal thunk. When I am feeling more flush, I'll find out if gold PMC can be fired this way.
-- Quinn Norton
PMC3
$14 for 7 grams
PCM+
$21 for 18 grams
Available from PMC Supply
More...
The modelmakers' source
This is the scale plastic stock and model parts catalog used by architects, scratch-build modelers, railroad hobbyists and other miniature makers. They have EVERYTHING at various mini scales: I-beams, T-beams, H-beams, tubing, tiny plumbing fittings, stone and brick-patterned sheets, plastic sheet stock in every size, color and thickness. The next time you watch a sci-fi film and see a far-away shot of, say a mining colony on a lonely asteroid, you're probably actually looking at a big chunk of the Plastruct product line. Their website is abominable; get their paper catalog.
-- Gareth Branwyn
Plastruct
Catalog, $5
626-912-7016
800-666-7015
 
To avoid gluing your model to your work surface, especially when working with a fast acting solvent cement like Bondene, we recommend you do all cementing on a sheet of polypropylene. Even better, purchase a few serving trays (cafeteria style) and cut the polypropylene sheet to snugly fit inside. This way, the sides will capture any spilled solvent cement before it spoils furniture, and you can use different trays for different in-progress projects
Better than clay
Artists know about this stuff. Itís flexible polymer clay that hardens into rigid plastic after a spell in your kitchen oven. Bright steadfast colors. Or you can paint, drill, and polish it. Great for making toys, models, small sculptures, modern jewelry, and weird stuff ñ anything that demands that colored plastic look. SuperSculpey is a translucent beige-colored (skin like) variety sold in bulk that dollmakers and hollywood special effects swear by. Most good art suppliers will stock it.
 Lifelike doll by Prue Miller
 Figurine by Jenny Fields
Sculpey
manufactured by
Polyform Products
$10 for 2 lbs. The Compleat Sculptor
Also from Amazon
What you need for batik and tie-dye
Grocery store dyes are hot-water dyes. The secret to spectacular tie-die (and batik) is cold-water Procion Dyes. These come in scores of brilliant colors, and can be found in larger art supply stores. To start with you'll only need the smallest size they sell, an ounce or two of dry powder, plenty for maybe a hundred shirts. Dissolve the powder in clean empty squirt bottles and you are ready to go after you soak the designated clothes in Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (sodium carbonate, for a fixative). In our experience you'll want to maximize the concentration of the liquid colors to keep the end result brilliant.
Procion Dyes, 2 oz, $4 each
Plus lots of other tie dye supplies, including blank clothes from
Dharma Trading
800-542-5227
Also, many colors available from Amazon.
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