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Although you should be able to find small wire cutters and small

needlenose pliers at electronics stores such as RadioShack, you might

also check out the tools available at hobby supply stores or jewelry-

making/bead supply stores. Our local bead supply store carries a nice

assortment of tools that work perfectly with small wire.

Wire strippers:You use these to cut plastic insulation from the outside

of a wire without harming the copper wire inside. The stripped wire can

then be inserted into a breadboard or get soldered to a component to

keep electricity flowing.

A vise:Use this to hold components still while you drill, saw, sand, or

whatever.

A 3X magnifying glass:This helps you read part numbers on compo-

nents and check your soldering joints to make sure they’re good. You

can get handheld or table-mounted magnifying glasses.

Safety glasses: Your eyes are one of your most important tools, so be

sure to have a pair of safety glasses on hand to protect them. When using

the tools in your workshop to drill, saw, clip wires, solder, and perform

many other tasks, you need these special glasses to avoid injury from

small pieces that could go flying.

Multimeter.......................................................................................................

A multimeteris essentially an electronics troubleshooting tool that you can’t

do without. You could use it to hunt down the defective part of a circuit —

for example, where the voltage is too low to get your circuit going. A multime-

ter is a combo type of testing tool in that it combines the functions of a few

others meters (a voltmeter, an ammeter, and an ohmmeter) in one package.

By using a multimeter, you can take certain electrical measurements, such as

Current:The flow of electrons through your circuit

Voltage:The force your battery uses to push the electrons through your

circuit

Resistance:The amount of fight your circuit puts up when voltage

pushes the electrons through your circuit

To use a multimeter to test these various measurements, you set a multi-posi-

tion switch on the meter to have it measure the appropriate range of volts,

amperage, or resistance.

Check out Chapter 4, where we tell you exactly how to use a multimeter for

more about the various test types it offers and how it works.

Chapter 3: Assembling Your Electronics Arsenal 37