DIY low budget front panel labels

Simple way to make fast and cheap front panel labels for DIY electronics.

All stuff is available from Staples or other office supplier.
Method requires PC, laser or jet printer and use of image editing software.

DIY front panel label. Fast and easy.

MicroLux PCB drill press

PCB drill is the most important "must have" tool for every electronic hobbyist.
There's huge variety of different homemade and professional hand held tools, flexible shaft attachments and bench top drill presses that can be used for that purpose. For my hobby project I normally use MicroLux mini drill press from MicroMark.com

MicroLux 3-Speed Mini Drill Press with attachments.

Door organizer

Home work shop. DIY door organizer.

Just my few tips how to keep stuff organized;-)

Since I've started making DIY projects for fun, I've learned few funny rules.
 - If you don't see thing, you don't use it.
 - If you don't use thing, you forget that you have it.
 - If you think that you don't have it you buy it, just in case.
 - One day you find old thing;-(
With some variation cycle may repeat...

In my opinion, good solution to avoid this problem is to keep track of tools and parts and have all stuff easy accessible.
That means simple and effective storage system should be developed.
As a part of this system and in attempt of reusing vertical empty areas in my room I've built improvised door organizer using casual things:

- 2' x 4' standard perfboard;
- couple 1" L-brackets;
- 1" wooden screws;
- box of paper clips;
- carton and plastic food packaging.   

DIY door organizer. Easy to find stuff when you need it.

DIY bookshelf

Home workshop. DIY bookshelf.

Another DIY project inspired by great post from Instructables: home-made, cheap and beautiful bookshelf.
It's a very simple and portable bookshelf that can be completed in a half an hour only with cordless drill, hand saw and wrench.

Design can be easily adapted to fit any room or even closet.
You can get high grade boards and make decent bookshelf for living room or use some scrap lumber and build storage shelf for your garage.

My version of bookshelf is 1' wide and 6' tall.

Bookshelf is fully populated. I think I'll build another one;-)

PVC shelf

Home workshop. DIY PVC shelf.

Inexpensive and very easy to make storage solution for busy home workshop.
This kind of expandable shelf can be easily modified and scaled to fit any work area.
All materials like PVC pipes, fittings and PVC cement should be widely available at hardware stores or plumbing supplier.
PVC pipe doesn't require any finishing but it can be stained to match rest of furniture in your house.

PVC shelf. Aesthetic and affordable storage for your home.

Geometrical configuration of shelf seems to be not the optimal but at that moment I couldn't find T-fitting so I used what was available. Anyway, it was only prototype to test concept.

DIY loft bed

Dream home workshop. DIY geek's bed and desk.
 
I think, it's a common public opinion, that most geeks, instead of going to bar to get some beer and pick up hot chicks, are spending spare time at home watching p working in their own home mechanical workshop, electronic lab, musical studio, you name it.
And this is absolutely correct. Home workshop is a only place where dreams and desires of creative person come true. That's why one could stay there 24/7 tinkering with stuff, enjoying freedom in creativity and power of imagination or ... just playing computer games;-)

Mad scientist's lab in olden days.

Designing and building perfect workshop may take long time and significant efforts but learning from other people's experience usually sparks your imagination and finally saves you time and money.
In this and in following posts I'm going to share some tips and ideas that I've implemented while I was building my home workshop.

DRL light problem

How to fix DRL light problem in a Honda Civic.

Recently my 2003 Honda Civic has developed minor electrical issue.
Occasionally, upon starting engine, DRL (Daytime Running Lights) warning light may come ON with annoying buzzing sound. It may stay ON for few minutes and then goes OFF itself.
When it's happened first time, I checked front lamps and DRL lights were flickering.

To prevent things from getting worse and, maybe, save a couple bucks, I've started looking for solutions among technical web community. Internet search has revealed that this is a quite common failure and it's caused by DRL module itself. In most cases described problem has arisen because of degraded soldering joints on a module PCB.

Well, we've got tip so let's check it out...

DIY laser spirograph (part 8)

DIY home laser show. PIC based spirograph. Now - version 2.

Finally, new version of PIC based laser spirograph is fully completed . Modified spirograph's acquired new design, learned new cool tricks, and got new box too.
Introduction of new programmable features resulted in addition of extra control elements to the device and new spirograph looks like quite sophisticated  apparatus.

PIC based laser spirograph V2.

PIC based laser spirograph V2.