Tool Hacks

3030 Articles

Close up of a multi-USB tester PCB

Troubled USB Device? This Tool Can Help

August 26, 2025 by 18 Comments

You know how it goes — some gadgets stick around in your toolbox far longer than reason dictates, because maybe one day you’ll need it. How many of us held onto ISA diagnostic cards long past the death of the interface?

But unlike ISA, USB isn’t going away anytime soon. Which is exactly why this USB and more tester by [Iron Fuse] deserves a spot in your toolbox. This post is not meant to directly lure you into buying something, but seen how compact it is, it would be sad to challenge anyone to reinvent this ‘wheel’, instead of just ordering it.

So, to get into the details. This is far from the first USB tester to appear on these pages, but it is one of the most versatile ones we’ve seen so far. On the surface, it looks simple: a hand-soldered 14×17 cm PCB with twelve different connectors, all broken out to labelled test points. Hook up a dodgy cable or device, connect a known-good counterpart, and the board makes it painless to probe continuity, resistance, or those pesky shorts where D+ suddenly thinks it’s a ground line.

You’ll still need your multimeter (automation is promised for a future revision), but the convenience of not juggling probes into microscopic USB-C cavities is hard to overstate. Also, if finding out whether you have a power-only or a data cable is your goal, this might be the tool for you instead.

Close up of a DIY minimalist EDC multitool, a penny, and a paperclip

This Pocket Multitool Weighs Less Than A Penny

August 21, 2025 by 27 Comments

A multitool that weighs less than a penny? Yes, it exists. This video by [ToolTechGeek] shows his titanium flat-cut design tipping the scales at only 1.9 grams—lighter than the 2.5-gram copper penny jingling in your pocket. His reasoning: where most everyday carry (EDC) tools are bulky, overpriced, or simply too much, this hack flips the equation: reduce it to the absolute minimum, yet keep it useful.

You might have seen this before. This second attempt is done by laser-cutting titanium instead of stainless steel. Thinner, tougher, and rust-proof, titanium slashes the weight dramatically, while still keeping edges functional without sharpening. Despite the size, this tool manages to pack in a Phillips and flathead screwdriver, a makeshift saw, a paint-lid opener, a wire bender (yes, tested on a paperclip), and even a 1/4″ wrench doubling as a bit driver. High-torque screwdriving by using the long edges is a clever exploit, and yes—it scrapes wood, snaps zip ties, and even forces a bottle cap open, albeit a bit roughly.

It’s not about replacing your Leatherman; it’s about carrying something instead of nothing. Ultra-minimalist, featherlight, pocket-slip friendly—bet you can’t find a reason not to just have it in your pocket.

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Adjustable Allen Key After All These Years

August 18, 2025 by 40 Comments

The Allen key turns 115 this year. It’s strange to believe that in all that time, no one has come up with an adjustable version, but apparently true. Luckily [Chronova Engineering] has taken up the challenge in his latest video.

The video is a fascinating glimpse at the toolmaker’s art–manual machining and careful human judgement. Humans being the fallable creatures we are, the design goes through a few iterations. After the first failure in metal, [Chronova] falls back on 3D printing to rapidly prototype the next six iterations. Given how much work goes into manually machining the designs, we can only imagine the time savings that represents.

The final version is has classic hexagonal rod split in two, so that a chisel-shaped rod can spread the two prongs out to engage the sides of the Allen bolt. Even with that settled, the prongs and wedge had to be redesigned several times to find exact shape and heat-treatment that would work. At this point the range is anything between 4 mm and 6 mm, which is admittedly narrow, but [Chronova Engineering] believes the mechanism has the potential to go wider.

The design is not being patented, but the drawings are available via the [Chronova Engineering] Patreon if you really need an adjustable Allen key and don’t feel like reverse-engineering the mechanism from video. It’s a much larger project than we’ve featured from this channel before– enormous, really, compared to steam engines that fit on pencil erasers or electric motors that squeeze through the eye of a needle.

Our thanks hall-of-fame tipster [Keith Olson] for letting us know about this one. If you want a slice of that fame for yourself, the tips line is always open. Continue reading “Adjustable Allen Key After All These Years” →

Calibration, Good Old Calibration

August 14, 2025 by 6 Comments

Do you calibrate your digital meters? Most of us don’t have the gear to do a proper calibration, but [Mike Wyatt] shares his simple way to calibrate his DMMs using a precision resistor coupled with a thermistor. The idea is to use a standard dual banana plug along with a 3D-printed housing to hold the simple electronics.

The calibration element is a precision resistor. But the assembly includes a 1% thermistor. In addition to the banana plugs, there are test points to access the resistor and another pair for the thermistor.

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Current Source Mixes Old School And New

August 12, 2025 by 4 Comments

At first glance, [RobBest]’s constant current source looks old school. The box is somewhat old-fashioned, featuring switches and binding posts. Most importantly, there’s a large analog meter dominating the front panel. Then you notice the OLED display, and you know something’s up.

The device can source or sink a constant current. In addition, it features a timer that calculates milliamp-hours and automatically turns off when not in use. The brain is a PIC 16F1765, which controls the screen, the buttons, and a few relays. While that might seem an odd choice for the processor, it is actually smart. The device has both a DAC and an ADC, plus an internal op amp. The analog output and a single pass transistor control the current flow, while the two relays flip it between a source and a sink.

Without that op amp, the DAC can’t produce much current. However, by passing it through the onboard amplifier, the output can drive about 100 mA, which is sufficient for this project.

This is a classic circuit, but the addition of a CPU and a display gives it capabilities that would have been very difficult to build back in the day. Want to dive into the theory behind constant current sources?  Or just the practical use of a voltage regulator to make one?

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Calipers: Do You Get What You Pay For?

August 11, 2025 by 53 Comments

Generally, you think that if you pay more for something, it must be better, right? But that’s not always true. Even if it is true at the lower end, sometimes premium brands are just barely better than the midrange. [Project Farm] looks at a bunch of different calipers — a constant fixture around the shop if you do any machining, 3D printing, or PCB layout. The price range spans from less than $10 for some Harbor Freight specials to brands like Mitutoyo, which cost well over $100. Where’s the sweet spot? See the video below to find out.

The first part of the video covers how much the units weigh, how smooth the action is, and how much force it takes to push it down. However, those are not what you probably care most about. The real questions are how accurate and repeatable they are.

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A Portable 12 VDC Water Chiller For The Chemistry Lab

August 6, 2025 by 20 Comments

Having a chiller is often essential for the chemistry laboratory, but what if you’re somewhere without easy access to water, nevermind a mains outlet to plug your usual chiller into? In that case you can build a portable one that will happily run off the 12 VDC provided by a mobile source like the accessory outlet in a car while reusing the water from its reservoir, as demonstrated by [Markus Bindhammer] in a recent video.

The build uses a compressor-based freezer as the base, which is significantly more capable than the typical Peltier-cooled refrigerators that cannot cool as fast or efficiently. The changes he made involve running in- and outlet tubing into the freezer’s compartment, with a submerged 12 VDC water pump providing the water to the outlet. This pump is controlled by a variable speed controller board that’s put in a box on the outside with the power lead also sneaking into the freezer. With these modifications in place the freezer’s functionality isn’t significantly impacted, so it can be used as normal.

After filling the compartment with water, the lid is closed and the freezer engaged. The pump controller is then switched on, with the water flow adjusted to fit the distillation job at hand. Although in this case a fairly small freezer was modified, nobody is saying that you cannot also do it with a much larger freezer, and fill it with ice cream and other treats to help it and lab critters cool down faster.

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