Getting Somewhat More Serious 99Shopping List: Experiments 12 Through 15Recommended: Miniature hand saw
I assume that you will want to mount a finished electronics project in a de-
cent-looking enclosure. Consequently, you are likely to need tools to cut,
shape, and trim thin plastic. For example, you may want to cut a square
hole so that you can mount a square power switch in it.
Power tools are not suitable for this kind of delicate work. A miniature
handsaw (a.k.a. a “hobby saw”) is ideal for trimming things to fit. X-Acto
makes a range of tiny saw blades. I suggest the #15 blade, plus the handle
that it fits in, shown in Figure 3-14. Available online from Tower Hobbies,
Hobbylinc, ArtCity, and many other arts/crafts sources. Also look for the
larger X-Acto saw blade, #234 or #239, which you can use for cutting per-
forated board.
Recommended: Miniature vise
A miniature vise can do things that the helping hand cannot. I use mine
when I’m sawing small pieces of plastic and as a dead weight to anchor a
piece of perforated board while I’m working on it. See Figure 3-15.
Look for a cast-iron vise that is listed as being 1 inch or slightly larger, avail-
able from Megahobby, eBay, and other arts/crafts sources. Also consider
the PanaVise, which has a tilting head to allow you to turn your work to
any angle.
Recommended: Deburring tool
A deburring tool instantly smoothes and bevels any rough edge (when you
have sawn or drilled a piece of plastic, for instance) and also can enlarge
holes slightly. This may be necessary because some components are manu-
factured to metric sizes, which don’t fit in the holes that you drill with Ameri-
can bits. Your small local hardware store may not stock deburring tools, but
they are very inexpensively available from Sears, McMaster-Carr, KVM Tools,
or Amazon. See Figure 3-16.
Optional: Hand-cranked countersink
You need a countersink to bevel the edges of screw holes to accept flat-
headed screws. If you use a countersink bit in an electric drill, it won’t give
you precise control when you’re working with thin, soft plastic.
Handheld countersinks that you grasp and turn like a screwdriver are easy
to find, but McMaster-Carr (catalog item 28775A61) is the only source I’ve
found for a hand-cranked tool that is much quicker to use. It comes with a
set of bits, as shown in Figure 3-17.
Optional: Pick and hook set
Made by Stanley, part number 82-115, available from Amazon and hard-
ware stores. You can find imported imitations for a few dollars less. See
Figure 3-18.
Optional: Calipers
These may seem like a luxury, but are useful for measuring the external
diameter of a round object (such as the screw thread on a switch or a po-
tentiometer) or the internal diameter of a hole (into which you may want
a switch or potentiometer to fit).
Figure 3-14. X-Acto makes a range of
small saw blades that are ideal for cutting
square holes to mount components in
plastic panels.Figure 3-15. This one-inch vise is available
from the McMaster-Carr catalog.Figure 3-16. This cunning little blade,
safety-tipped with a round bump on the
end, removes rough edges from saw cuts
with a single stroke, and can enlarge holes
that are almost big enough—but not quite.