Nicole Harkin, Writer and Photographer

Cool Tools Show 275: Nicole Harkin

Our guest this week is Nicole Harkin. Nicole’s an award-winning writer and photographer based in Washington, D.C. Her first book, Tilting, A Memoir was released in 2017 and since then she’s been working on a true-life novel about her grandmother. In addition to writing, Nicole is also the founder of the DC Family Biking Facebook page.

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Show notes:

Splinter Out
These are little sterilized metal pieces with a point. They are amazing for removing splitters, which is something of a crisis if you have children. Well for adults too. Splinters suck! What these do is amazing: they get the splinter out without hurting you. I have not interrogated the magic, but I carry these in my wallet now. About $15 for a 5 pack of 20 each.

AKS Design Studio Thermos
Before the pandemic a friend bought me this mug from my Amazon wishlist. I liked the color. This thing is amazing. I use it to keep water cool next to my bed. A full 24 hours later the thermos will still have ice in it. Every sip from this thing is a joy. It’s double-walled and it won some award. It has a very large wide mouth. So I think you could use it for ramen, and it works for hot or for cold

Chatbooks for Instagram
My mother had all of our photo albums completed when she died. She worked on them consistently throughout our lives. I am not my mother. But I feel like I am accomplishing something similar. Every November, I go into Chat Books, re-link my Instagram account, download all of the photos from the year, and have them send me two printed books. I give one to my mother-in-law and keep the other. Since I have two boys, I assume at some point they will each have a set. The key to this system, is taking and posting photos to Instagram. I can also edit out photos from the album, if there is something that is not germain to the year. I paid $44 for two books.

Canon PIXMA Wireless MegaTank All-in-One Printer
These are Ink Jet printers and wireless. What I love about it is the tanks that are in the front of the printer. You can see how much ink is left! When I run out of ink, I will just take more ink and pour it into this receptacle so I can see how much is there and it is using ink much more slowly than the ones with the cartridges. I paid an extra $100 for this version with the tanks, but I can already tell, I’m ahead. Especially with virtual school, this has been a life changer.

About REACH:

With so much social injustice in the world, I was looking for some way to actually make a difference in people’s lives. I found REACH Incorporated, a literacy non-profit in DC where I volunteer in the summer teaching photography or podcasting.

Mark Hecker, the founder, former social worker, and Harvard Grad, started REACH 12 years ago when he realized there was a gaping hole in literacy needs for high school kids in DC. 80 percent of DC public school kids are not reading on grade level when entering high school. In order to improve your literacy you have to read at the level where you currently are. So if you are a 9th grader reading at a 4th grade level, you need to read 4th grade books.

Mark’s insight and genius was starting a reading literacy program in the high school which has the high schoolers tutoring the elementary kids in reading. This is the definition of win/win. The high schoolers practice reading at their actual levels, the kids in elementary schools receive extra help, the high school tutors are paid for their time and thereby learn the soft job skills many are lacking.

If you are looking for a real organization working to make real change on the ground for real people, take a look at REACH.

We have hired professional editors to help create our weekly podcasts and video reviews. So far, Cool Tools listeners have pledged $390 a month. Please consider supporting us on Patreon. We have great rewards for people who contribute! If you would like to make a one-time donation, you can do so using this link: https://paypal.me/cooltools.– MF

Surgical Forceps

Locking mechanism allows them to be used as clamps

I’ve been using these surgical forceps for roughly 18 months in scale model making. They are very useful for securely gripping very small parts without damaging them. They work similarly to vice-grips in that they lock (and have 3 notches to control the amount of grip) on to whatever small part you are trying to hold. In my case, it is far easier to hold very thin brass wire (0.45mm diameter) with these forceps than by hand or with tweezers. I use the wire together with very small components to add detail to plastic kits (in this case, for a steam locomotive). They are very inexpensive.

Work, Work, Work, Put-Away, Put-Away, Put-Away

Gareth's Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales - Issue #87

Like what you see? Please share the love. Have ideas for improving this newsletter? Let me know. And, thanks as always for your support.

Work, Work, Work, Put-Away, Put-Away, Put-Away

What are the “anchor points” in YOUR shop?

In this video, Adam Savage talks about the anchor points of a shop (the machines and workstations that the rest of the shop orbits around), the fact that you can never have enough casters on shop components (and on-hand), and other useful tidbits. For me, the pearl here is how he keeps his shop cleaned and organized as he works. As he puts it: “work, work, work, put-away, put-away, put-away.” By taking periodic breaks and cleaning as you go, you don’t end up with an insurmountable mess when you’re done. I’ve never done this, but I plan to start. Adam also talked in one of his previous organization videos about “giving a gift to your future self” by doing a thorough cleaning and organizing at the end of a project so that future you is ready to roll when starting the next project. Wise words.

Cutting Small Tubing with a Razor Blade?

Score and snap. So satisfying.

On Jimmy DiResta’s Instagram stories, he shows a neat trick for cutting small diameter copper tubing (brass, too?) by scoring it first with a razor knife and then snapping it off in a vise.

Foam Detailing with a Woodburning Kit

Using a woodburner to create rivet heads and other details.

On the Evil Ted YouTube channel, he builds an easy-to-make pair of cyberpunk goggles out of foam. What I loved about this project is the use of the different tips in a cheap woodburning kit to burn rivets and square details into the foam material.

Cool Dowel Hack

Hey, it works for axes and hammerheads…

Got a hole that’s a little too roomy for your wooden dowel? Here’s a method for expanding the dowel in the hole using a little wedge.

Skill Set: Preparing a Mold Box and Mixing Silicone

It ain’t pretty, but it does the job.

For those playing along in our molding and casting series (first installments here and here), I hope you made your mold box for our first one-part mold. Here’s my quick n’ dirty box. I made it from scraps of foamboard. Because my object was not flat on the bottom, I embedded it in clay.

It’s now ready for silicone. The silicone that comes with the Alumilite kit is a ten-to-one mix ratio (by weight), silicone to catalyst. Alumilite also has a video on how to mix their silicone. Follow the instruction on your RTV rubber, if different.

As always, refer to Paige Russell’s one-part molding class on Instructables. Among other things, she shows a neat trick for easily measuring the volume of needed silicone using tapioca, rice, or similar grains.

Using tapioca to measure the mold amount needed.

Tips for Molding:

* Wear gloves.

* If you’re measuring your silicone by weight on a digital scale, cover the scale with a Ziploc bag (or similar) to protect from spills

* Make sure to mix the rubber and catalyst before combining and then make sure you mix them together really well. No streaks!

* Pour the silicone into one corner of your mold box and let it flow in, around, and over your object.

* Alumilite offers a handy Volume Calculator for determining how much silicone rubber you need.

Storage Tech: Square Bottle Drawer Trays

Free plastic organizers.

Reader Justin Gasal sent me this tip and even made a little video. He uses square plastic bottles to make removable parts bins for his tool drawers. I do something similar. I use segmented plastic food trays. Here’s my rotary tool accessories organized in a party platter container. I cut tool cloth to go in each bin.

Yummy Dremel crudités.

(Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales is published by Cool Tools Lab. To receive the newsletter a week early, sign up here. — editors)

CoffeeSock Reusable Filters

Reusable alternative to paper filters and nylon sacks

I really like my Chemex coffee brewer. However, the Chemex filters are a bit on the pricey side, and in the past I’ve tried a couple of alternatives. Cheap basket filters from the grocery store didn’t fit well, and the resulting coffee was not great. A reusable metal filter worked OK once or twice, but the tiny holes got clogged up. I ended up going back to the official Chemex filters. There was a stretch of time during the summer/early fall when the Chemex filters became unobtainable for less than 4x the normal price, so again I went looking for an alternative. That is when I tried the CoffeeSock, and I don’t think I’ll be going back to paper. The CoffeeSock is a cloth filter made to fit Chemex brewers. It provides great results. I like really strong coffee, and it lets through a lot of the good-tasting oils from the ground but doesn’t let through any bits.

I’ve been using the same filter for a couple of months now and haven’t had any problems with it getting funky. After using it in the morning, and after it has cooled off a bit, I dump the used grounds, rinse it out, and set it out to air dry. In the morning, before using the filter, I set it in my coffee mug and pour some boiling water on it. This serves to warm the filter up and do some extra cleaning. I then take it out of mug, toss the now brownish water, and proceed to brew my coffee. This process is a bit more involved than using paper filters, but I find that it is worth the effort.

What’s in my desk? — Marie Cosgrove-Davies

What’s in my desk? issue #98

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Marie is a Product Manager at a large tech company. She’s been working from home on and off for five or so years. When she’s not at her desk, she’s out in the garden or working through her book backlog (booklog?).

About the desk

My work is mostly video calls and writing. I was (voluntarily) remote for a while even before we all went remote a year ago, so I’ve spent some time refining my desk set-up. I use a bamboo-topped electric adjustable standing desk, and aside from the pictured items the most interesting things on my desk are probably my sun lamp (crucial in the winter, plus I look like a washed-out ghost in meetings!) and a wand cat toy (so when a cat comes and begs for attention during a meeting I can entertain them without getting too distracted).

What’s in my desk

FM3 Buddha Machine. It plays a small set of ambient loops, and has two controls: a volume dial that’s also on/off, and a loop selector slider. This is great for me because I find it hard to focus in silence, and I also get easily distracted by words and music playing (even instrumentals). There are a bunch of great online ambient sound generators, but I wind up not using them because of the pain of switching audio from headset to laptop speakers. The simplicity and ease of using this gadget is perfect (you’ll probably have to eBay-stalk them to find one of your own, though).

Clay aromatherapy diffuser (leca balls). I was ogling fancy clay scent diffusers as an alternative to the candles I’ve been burning all winter and then realized I could prototype them for free with my gardening leca balls, a small cup, and aromatherapy oils I have on hand. It’s working pretty well so far!

Dentek mini brushes. I had braces a few years ago and got hooked on these little brushes, and have kept using them even now that my braces are off. I love that they come with their own easily pocketable carrying case and the little brushes fit well into my teeth so I don’t have to run to the bathroom post-lunch.

Humidifier remote. This is a bit of a cheat since you obviously need the humidifier as well, but having a humidifier with a remote in my office makes a HUGE difference — I can turn it on/off easily during or between meetings, and this one even has a timer so it’ll turn off after a certain period.

Super Sliders Furniture Movers

Reusable slide and hide furniture movers for carpet

Our local yoga class went virtual due to the virus. I don’t have any wall space for the legs up the wall, back on the floor pose. So, the sofa needed to move on the carpeted floor. I about busted a gut until I found these. Honestly, it’s like there are wheels on the sofa. The square edge makes them unobtrusive to look at. Now I spend hours moving the sofa to different places in the living room just for fun.

What’s in my desk? — Marie Cosgrove-Davies