#diy
234 episodes
#5579: Cutting Things With a Dremel: What Actually Works
Cut-off wheels vs cutting bits, RPM by material, and why lateral cutting is fine with the right attachment and fatal with the wrong one.
#5541: Re-terminating a Keystone Jack After a Bad Ethernet Run
A DIY Ethernet run came up at 80 Mbps on 2.5G fiber. Here's what went wrong and whether re-termination is a skill worth learning.
#5529: 15 Forgotten Hardware Parts Your DIY Kit Needs
A 64-drawer parts bin reveals why you keep buying the same screws twice — and the 15 fasteners worth actually stocking.
#5516: Wall Anchors: Why Your Holes Keep Failing
Nylon anchors don't fill gaps — they multiply grip. Here's what actually works when your hole is compromised.
#5514: Drilling Concrete: Jigs, Anchors, and Fidelity
Why your hammer drill wanders off mark, which wall-capable jigs actually grip, and how to match drill bits to anchors.
#5513: Why Phone Mounts Fail (And What Doesn't)
Suction cups, vent clips, and magnets all fail at the same point. Here's what heavy-duty mounting actually looks like.
#5376: Why a Zello Pager Wearable Doesn't Exist Yet
Pagers blink until acknowledged. Zello beeps until you tap. But nobody's shipped the wearable that bridges them.
#5372: 10 Power Tools, Ranked by What to Buy First
A purchasing sequence, not a wish list: the 10 power tools a homeowner should own, in the order you should actually buy them.
#5371: Corded vs Cordless Jigsaws: What Actually Matters
Amps and SPM are the least predictive specs on the box. Here's what actually determines whether a jigsaw cuts square.
#5366: Packing a Medic Belt: TQ First, Then Everything Else
Tourniquet at ten o'clock, radio at four. How medics build a belt kit that works in seconds — and what goes in a reduced version for non-medics.
#5362: Building a Workbench Superstructure From T-Slot
T-slot, welded steel, or strut channel? How to build a vertical frame that carries monitors, shelves, and lights off your desktop.
#5361: Choosing a Foldable Workbench for a Tiny Jerusalem Apartment
What actually matters when your workbench has to fold into a closet — and why plastic tables fail at the joints, not the top.
#5329: One Box of VESA Mounts, Three Wrong Assumptions
Daniel's box of orphaned VESA mounts raises three questions — and the answers all point away from welding.
#5328: A Shabbat Radio That Can't Be Paused
A soundproof box that plays podcasts continuously — no pause, no skip, no volume. Just open the lid and listen.
#5318: Rebuilding the Dremel 4250 Manual for One Task
A 48-page Dremel manual, filtered down to only what you need to engrave four-digit inventory codes.
#5287: Does an Engraver's Practice Material Kit Exist?
Hand engravers have practice plates. Designers have plastic sample sets. Nobody's combined them — here's how to build your own reference library.
#5286: Soldering Isn't Dead — It's a Hiring Bottleneck
Robots build the boards, but humans fix them — and the industry can't hire enough people who can hold an iron.
#5272: Soldering for Beginners: Badges, Fumes, and Real Safety
The smoke you see isn't the lead — and the cheap fume extractor most beginners buy doesn't work. Here's what actually does.
#5270: Teardowns as Documentation: Inside the Hardware Repair Playbook
A dead Dremel sparks a deep dive into teardowns as a documentation discipline — and why board-level knowledge matters more than ever.
#5265: Repairing a $50 Dremel When the Warranty Costs More
A $50 tool, a 90-minute drive, and a warranty that costs more than the item. How macro PCB photography and public documentation make repair possible.
#5257: Dremel 4300 vs Foredom: Which Engraver Lasts?
Daniel's Dremel Lite is dying. We compare the 4300, DeWalt, Bosch, and Foredom on power, durability, and repairability.
#5225: Carving Paleo-Hebrew Into Everyday Objects
Custom metal stencils, the right vector files, and tasteful ways to bring an ancient script back onto everyday objects.
#5215: Sacrificial Coatings for Permanent Marking
Wax, silicone, spar varnish, or two-part epoxy? How to pick a protective topcoat that fails so your engraved mark doesn't.
#5211: Brass vs Stainless: Marking HDPE Boxes That Last
Engraving HDPE storage boxes means fighting heat, not cutting. Here's how stencil material, carbide bits, and groove depth all connect.