Hardware hacker - gadgets and materials for home inventors

Whole Earth Review, Summer, 1990 by Don Lancaster

Stock No. 321 Stock No. 296- Tubing Cutter handles round brass, aluminum, and copper up to 5/8" O.D. Nylon body helps reduce friction. Cuts tubing without crimping. Stock No. 321- Tubing Benders handle sizes up to 3/16" O.D. Bands tubing without crimping. Kepro Circuit Systems 630 Axminister Drive, Fenton, MO 63026; 800/325-3878. Catalog free. Probably the best source for smallquantity experimenter's printed circuit materials and supplies. Use the dry-resist pre-coated boards and their ammonium persulfate etchant for the best results. STANDARD MANUAL RESIST ETCHED CIRCUIT KITS Produce baisc PC boards by applying etch resists directly on surfaces of unsensitized boards, then etching. Kit contains three 3" x 6" XXXP blanks clad one side with 1 oz. copper, resist ink pen, assorted pressure sensitive terminal circles and conductor strips, graph layout paper, ferric chloride etching solution with tray and cleaning pad to pare finished board for soldering CAT. NO. S-101A Shpg Wt-1 lb, 13 oz. Net price $9.65 CAT NO. S101AG Similar to S101A but FR-4 glass epoxy laminate boards Shpg Wt-1 lb., 15 oz. Net price $10.50 Machine Design Penton Plaza, Cleveland, OH 44144; 216/696-7000. Subscription free to engineers. A very good mechanical engineering trade journal. They are fussy about their free subscriptions, so sound like o real engineer when you fill out your qualification cord. Model Railroader 1027 N. 7th Street, Milwaukee, Wi 53233; 414/796-8776. $27.95/year (1 2 issues). Besides unusual tools and techniques, this hobby magazine has for and away the finest technical writing and technical illustration of any publication anywhere ever. Use it as a style and layout material, and hope to someday be able to communicate that good. Should be required reading for any tech writer. Bob's layout can be rolled like a giant too cart. He keeps it in the garage and con roll it outside for photography. Like many model railroaders he has far more cars and locomotives than he can run at any one time. McMaster-Carr Box 54960, Los Angeles, CA 90054; 213/692-591 1. Catalog free. The super hardware stores that industry shops at. Branches in all larger cities. Try to cop one of their humongous 2400-page catalogs. Stocks at least one each of everything, but does not discount.

Molded Rubber Tie-Downs Use to secure tarps, tents trailers, boxes, and loose tools. Tough, resilent tiedowns molded of special rubber compound that stretches about 1-2 times original length. Resit weather extremes and ozone. High strength hook eyes and plated hooks. Maxim 120 San Gabriel Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94086; 408/737-7600. Catalog free. Innovative smaller microchip manufacturer Unique and lowcost products include video switches, micropower regulators, supervisors, AID & DIA, power op-amps, lots more. Chips that cry to be used. Metalphoto 18531 S. Miles Rood, Cleveland, OH 44128; 216/475-0555. Brochures free. Manufactures photosensitized and partially anodized aluminum plates. You expose these, develop them, and boil them in sealing glop to make very durable nameplates, front panels, or vandal resistant interpretive signs. Nuts and Volts Box I I 1, Placentia, CA 92670; 714/632-7721. $12/year 12 issues). An all-ads moil-order shopper specifically for hardware hackers, ham radio operators, CB folks, computer users, and satellite pirates. Their low-price ads are attractive for most shoestring technical startups. Meredith instruments 6403 N. 59th Avenue, Glendale, AZ 85301; 602/934-9387. Catolog free. The best hacker source for surplus losers and related optics. Prices start around 25. Also has a light show BBS up at 6021867-7258. FEATURES.' * 0.5 mW Hard SeW Helium Noon Laser Tubs * Solid State Switching Power Supply * Rugged Aluminum Housing