Just bought some new tools!

[colorex]

Looks like Ecuador has a new supplier for steel circularly polarized antennas

I guess it's not 100% galvanized steel wire. It is easily bent, but it is still very flexy. I now only have to work out how to get the bends at the right distance, and also make a jig to make it a lot easier to get the angles right at the first try!

For reference I am using a brand new 60W soldering iron. Anything less drives me crazy waiting for stuff to heat up.

Oh, and I think I got the vernier thing now. And I think it has a precision of 0.1 mm - but it's really not that precise as the moving part wiggles around shifting the measurement. Why? Cheap chinese product, cost me less than $5.

 

[Craftydan]

Now all you need to do is build one of these and it'll be a snap:

DIWire

And while you're putting one together, make one for me too

60W should be good for cooking though almost anything -- Great for low gauge battery leads. Some day you'll want to regulate the power/temp for the smaller jobs, but until you're slapping together your own PCB for your self-aware autonomous quad copter, what you have should be perfect.

Ironically, the injection molded plastic calipers are more accurate than the low end metal ones. Assuming you're nicer to yours than I am to mine:

 

[colorex]

Your scale is different than mine - this is probably what gives you more precision. Mine only have 10 lines on the moving part.

Oh and the inner diameter measurement is practically useless on anything less than 1 cm as the tips are very wide.

 

[Craftydan]

Yup, this one is good to 0.05 (20 marks on the mm vernier scale), but it's more the fit than marking. A good injection molded plastic part has a phenomenally precise fit. The Lego corp are masters at it and they claim that you can take one of their early production blocks made in the 40s and it will lock perfectly with any block made today. Now the cheap knock-off companies don't have their knack, but even poorly done, they're amazingly precise. It's a crying shame it's not cheap/easy to do.

Now it's still plastic -- it will bend, warp and dent if you're rough with it, but a light touch is all that's needed. In the mean time, your metal one is plenty good enough, and when you need better, you know what to look for.

now for the I.D. jaws, remember, they don't have to go all the way inside -- just a touch to each wall will do. You'll still have to be careful keeping the slider straight, but you should be able to measure down to a few mm, to 1/2 a mm.

 

[colorex]

now for the I.D. jaws, remember, they don't have to go all the way inside -- just a touch to each wall will do. You'll still have to be careful keeping the slider straight, but you should be able to measure down to a few mm, to 1/2 a mm.

Hmmm let me try that. I can get it to fit, but it's probably not precise any longer. I'm talking about a 3mm bolt here.

 

[Wpee]

This is the least expensive Dremal attachment they sell $13.
We use a lot of 1/4" foam panels that is sold in hardware stores as insulation "Z-folded" bundels 4 feet high for about $18 and it makes a lot of airplane parts.
And when you need to SLOT or CONNECT the 1/4" thickness you do NOT need to Exact-O blade the grooves.

It is QUICK and cuts clean and straight.
Great for making folded box corners.

 

[xuzme720]

Might have to get one of those! I guess it's going to be way messier than the Exacto treatment, but cleaner end result!