DIY Blog

I’ve never been a sys admin or a network technician, but I bet that when you need your punch down tool (a.k.a. Krone tool) the most is when it’s most likely gone missing. This clever hack is a useful one for anybody that does a lot of wire patching.

Don’t let the title fool you, I’m quite certain you can also do this with your Victorinox Cybertool or your trusty Wenger camping knife. Just make sure you measure carefully before cutting your tool.

Leatherman Punchdown Tool [link]

«So I’ve been doing a lot of story boarding recently and in an effort to sharpen up my drawing skills I’ve switched from using a pencil to a pen. The only problem has been it’s much harder to do even fills with a pen than a pencil, so I needed a fat marker, too. But I hate carrying around more junk than I need, and most of the art markers out there have two or more points (prismacolor, tria, copic) but none of them have a point fine enough to do real line work. What’s an art director to do? Hack a tria of course…»

Extra Fine Dual Point Tria Art Marker [link]

Thanks to Bold Lentil for this submission:

« You’ll never look at a screw the same way again. Starting with an
anecdote from a bar in Brazil, this post has a simple DIY to make
your own bottle opener. From there it’s simple to consider how
to fill your world with built in bottle openers and a decent example
of extreme re-use. »

Simple and elegant. There’s no excuse to go thirsty!

World’s simplest bottle opener [link]

A well done, straightforward Instructable that shows you how to sharpen your chisels. After all, well cared-for tools will perform better and last you a lifetime.

How to Sharpen a Chisel [link]

This is a great find. I love to drink water and hate having piles of crap everywhere (I really need to clean my office). This upcycling project reuses 2 gallon water jugs and turns them into a brilliant (and modular) storage system.

Modular Storage Bins made from Water Jugs [link]

Although I never really needed a kit like this, I still find it’s a good idea to tag one along in your car. It contains everything you need for basic survival: water, food, warmth, basic tools, etc. Even if you’re not in a survival situation, it still might come in handy, considering it packs a lot in a little package.

If you never leave the city, this Field Soldering Kit might come in handy. It contains everything you need to fix up some wiring when you don’t have access to proper tools. I actually have one in my car and used it once to fix some wiring on a headlamp while camping - far from a soldering iron.

Survival Kit in an Altoids tin [link]

Field Soldering Kit [link]

A nice piece on how to make a sharp knife out of a plain strip of metal (or a butter knife) without any tools. Interesting because it’s so simple, yet still useful.

Knife Making Without Tools [link]

How to makw a primitive, yet functionning airbrush out of household items. Nice hack and much room for improvement. An interesting start to a potentially cool project.

DIY Airbrush [link]

This instructional video shows you how to make lock picks out of hacksaw blades and tools you probably have around the house.

Please  use responsibly.

Make your own Lock Picks [link]

Simple but useful, these helping hands will do when you need help keeping your projects in place when you need a steady hand to help you. Even better than a real hand, you can use these for stuff you wouldn’t want to do near fingers: spray painting, soldering, etc.

Coat Hanger Helping Hands [link]