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101 Things to do with commonly available materials PDF Print E-mail
Written by Hans Summers   
Saturday, 01 January 2011 21:19

This page documents ideas for using commonly available materials in electronic and radio projects. The raw materials might be found in your local supermarket, DIY store or model shop, amongst other places. The only criteria is that they must be useful and they must be easily available locally in your town!

There aren't 101 ideas here, of course. But I'll add more as time marches on, so it might start to approach 101 eventually. If you have any of your own to contribute, then please email them to me.

1. Baked Bean Cans for circuit boards, shields, etc.

Who'd have thought that baked bean cans could be so useful for electronics projects? The idea of using baked bean cans came from David VK6DI who first introduced me in July 2006 to the use of can lids as circuit boards. Read more...
2. Screw covers for cabinet feet.

Here's my solution to the problem of cabinet feet! Without them, your equipment will scratch your wooden table, or scratch whatever other equipment you stack it on top of. You can always buy cabinet feet, in two unreasonably expensive varieties. Read more...
3. Aluminium angle for cabinet construction.

Cabinet building is easy with aluminium angle and wood from the DIY store. The advantage of building a box for your equipment compared to buying a box, is that suitable enclosures are very hard to find. When you do find a box the right size, it is invariably very expensive. By building your own, you get exactly the size you want, when you want, and not too expensive! Read more...

4. A third hand.

This nice idea is a design by Pierre F2WW, who writes:

"A response to the long-wanted Helping Hand or Third Hand. The idea came up to my mind when browsing the rows at the nearby super-market. You'll recognise a thing of the past : a rat-trap; surprisingly still in demand. Read more...

Last Updated on Sunday, 02 January 2011 11:33
 
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