Workshop

The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for the industrial arts from metal and woodworking to CNC machining and 3D printing.

Tool Review: Great Innovations Ultimate Engineering Screw Chart

Tool Review: Great Innovations Ultimate Engineering Screw Chart

The slide rule may be a quaint anachronism in this age of ubiquitous computing, but there’s still a place for the slide chart, the volvelle, the nomogram, and other hand-held “paper computers.” These are still published by a few companies, and are a handy source of on-the-spot reference data, particularly in field or workshop environments that may be inhospitable to or inconvenient for electronic devices. Slide charts containing key screw, bolt, and nut data have been around for decades, and the folks at Great Innovations identify TAD’s Universal Reference Calculator, discontinued in the mid 1990s, as inspiration for their chart.

DiResta: Hatchet

DiResta: Hatchet

In each bi-monthly episode of DiResta (every other Wednesday at 2pm PT), artist and master builder Jimmy DiResta (Dirty Money, Hammered, Against the Grain, Trash for Cash) lets us into his workshop, to look over his shoulder while he builds whatever strikes his fancy. In this episode of DiResta, Jimmy has his way with an old hatchet and transforms it into a sweet little showpiece tool.

For supplies and materials lists, notebook sketches, and Jimmy’s Notes, check out this page on MAKE: http://blog.stage.makezine.com/2012/12/12/diresta-hatchet/