If you’ve ever stripped a screw head in a servomotor or in the deepest recess of your motherboard, you can probably appreciate Sturtevant’s 2 to 36 inch-pound screwdriver. Hobbyists will run screaming from the $278 price tag this kit carries, but electronics professionals may not, especially with the all-mechanical internals (no batteries to worry about), and the Sturtevant-Richmont name. They’re not a very well-known label, but Sturtevant-Richmont makes some of the most accurate torque tools in the world.

The hefty price is mitigated somewhat by the wide assortment of bits the driver arrives with. Several Torx, Phillips, and hex sizes are included, plus a 1/4″-drive adapter for your sockets. It’s actually not a bad deal when you consider that an equivalent Snap-On product costs just a few dollars less, and comes with none of the Sturtevant-Richmont’s attachments.

Adjustable Torque Limiting Driver [Sturtevant-Richmont]

Klein Depthfinder™ steel fish tapes have permanent laser-etched marks at 1′ increments and a polypropylene case and handle. The $10 Model 56005’s tape is 25′ long and ¼” wide (other models are available, including stainless steel, lengths up to 240′, and 1/8″ widths). When I first saw one at Home Depot, I thought “What’s the big deal with the marks? You push the fish tape through wherever you want wire to run, connect wire to the end, and pull the wire back through. Who needs marks?”

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Sony’s new LiFePO4 (olivine-type lithium iron phosphate) batteries have a high power density (1800W/kg), a life span of around 2,000 charge-discharge cycles, an “excellent” shelf life, and can charge to 99% capacity in 30 minutes. Sony first supplied the new batteries in June 2009 for use in power tools, but their capabilities open up many other applications, including electric vehicles.

Patented by the University of Texas’ Dr. John Goodenough in 1996, LiFePO4 has a cell structure that remains stable in temperatures as high as 300°-500° Celsius. The batteries have a nominal cell voltage of 3.2V, a 1.1Ah capacity, and a 20A maximum continuous discharge current — so you don’t want to accidentally short these, or things might get hot in a hurry.

Sony [Manufacturer's Site]
EE Times [Source]

Automotive electrical work.

How many people ran for cover? Even among tech-savvy Toolmongers, electrical work can be a big, hairy monster, partially due to the confusing nature of electrical diagnosis, and partially due to the wide variety of tools needed to do the work properly. Fortunately, one of the most common styles is pretty cheap.

Mac Tools retails a crimper designed to properly attach Weatherpack connectors, but there’s a nice bonus. Many different terminals can be secured with this crimper, even if they aren’t designed for it. Deutsch and Yazaki terminals work nicely in Weatherpack jaws, which isn’t a bad trifecta for $35. Unless you’re a pretty neurotic type-A personality, this will do nicely for occasional repairs. Anyone who’s used one of these before will probably note that this plier-style crimper isn’t as precise as a torque-sensing type, but careful use will navigate nicely around those issues.

Weatherpack Crimper [Mac Tools]

The DeoxIT® Service Kit, $60 from Caig Laboratories, comes in a zip-top bag with a variety of products incorporating their DeoxIT® contact cleaner including sprays, wipes, and brush applicators. Caig claims that DeoxIT® is a “fast-acting, deoxidizing solution that cleans, protects, lubricates, and improves conductivity on all metal connectors and contacts.”

Different versions and sizes of DeoxIT® are available through Amazon and other web sites.

I have used DeoxIT® on many connections including tool battery packs, flashlight batteries, vehicle batteries, vehicle audio and antennas, and computers — and found that it does work. Have you used DeoxIT®, or similar contact cleaners? What’s your opinion of it?

Caig Laboratories [Manufacturer's Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Soldering isn’t your only option for an electrically conductive connection. MG Chemicals sells one alternative — the two-part silver conductive epoxy pictured above.

When the silver epoxy cures you’re left with a bond that’s not only high strength, but also highly conductive to electricity. You can use it to connect heat sensitive components, connect broken traces, or even bond heat sinks. The epoxy bonds well to metals, but it also bonds to glass, wood, paper, fiber and rubber.

One drawback to using this epoxy is that you can’t solder to it and you need to be careful soldering around it because it might melt. Another is that you have to wait 4 to 5 hours for it to cure.

Prices for MG Chemical’s two-part silver epoxy start at $25 for two 3mL syringes.

Silver Conductive Epoxy [MG Chemicals]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Silver Conductive Epoxy [CableOrganizer.com]

Most people just hand-tighten their coax cables, let alone actually use a torque wrench to get the perfect torque. If you want to “do it right,” Jonard makes a series of torque wrenches designed specifically to prevent over-tightening 7/16-inch “F” connectors on Coax Cable.

When you’ve reached the specified torque with this 6-1/2″ wrench, you’ll hear an audible click. Jonard mentions that these wrenches only work in tightening mode, which isn’t that uncommon — do you use your torque wrench to loosen your lug nuts?

Jonard sells four models: a full head and a speed head in 20 inch-pound and 30 inch-pound versions.  Any of ‘em will run you $27 before shipping.

Torque Wrench [Jonard]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Anyone who doesn’t go for phones with ten thousand buttons and every dubiously-useful gadget on the market these days may find their salvation in Casio’s G’zOne Boulder phone.

In spite of the impossible name, the G’zOne (gee zee one) Boulder has an interesting feature list. It meets a military standard (810F) for resistance to water, shock, vibration, salt fog, humidity, high- and low-temperature storage, altitude, and solar radiation. Short version: it’s a tough cookie.

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Blazer’s line of utility torches are powerful little monsters — you can adjust the flame from a smoky, match-like burn to a nearly-invisible jet of 2,500-degree plasma, hot enough to turn steel into a molten puddle. They run on easily-obtainable butane and can handle everything from soldering heavy-gauge wire to applying heat shrink.

You’ve got to be careful with this little bugger, but it’s a kick-ass tool for electronics techs, hobbyists, and anyone who needs to apply a bit — or a lot — of precise heat. Street pricing is about $40.

Blazer GB-2001 [Blazer]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Toolmongers lucky enough to have a computer in their shop (whether for CNC, CAD, simple word processing, or to satisfy that Twitter addiction) have probably gotten crap in the board at some point. If you’ve ever wrestled with an aluminum chip stuck under your spacebar or tried to type with fingers doused in 5W-30, you probably know what I’m going on about.

You can keep your keyboard intact with a plastic overlay, but those tend to get really nasty over time, and finding one to match your specific keyboard may be a struggle. But Adesso has a cheaper solution: the waterproof, fully-sealed AKB-230. We see them a lot at the auto repair shop or the steel shop. Those guys swear by them.

At $23, it’s priced reasonably, even if you probably can’t write an email in the Marianas trench. Dust and contaminants are no problem, since there are no recesses for crud to fall into. It’s flexible enough to roll into a neat cylinder, which is a useless feature for shop use, but it does make the board very portable if need arises. If the sucker gets dirty, all it takes is a spritz of Simple Green to give it that new-rubber luster.

Adesso AKB-230 [Adesso]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Thank the fine folks at Fluke for these neat little expletive-savers:  they’re simple prongs of thin, sturdy metal used for back-probing wiring harnesses.  Anyone who’s used a bent pin or rusty paper clip from the shop floor can appreciate these doohickeys, especially since the female banana plug socket on the back makes ‘em compatible with Fluke’s interchangeable test lead wires.

Sure, $31 is a fair amount to ask for what are basically sewing pins with a socket on the end, but for career electrical technicians and harness builders, these lovelies would make a great addition to a tool box — if you’ve ever had to disassemble a Weatherpack connector, you understand why some Toolmongers would make the investment.

Back-Probe Pins [Fluke]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

It’s not winter now here in the U.S., but it’s never to early to start preparing. One problem to think about is how are you going to use your newfangled phone without removing your gloves. Cutting-edge phones like the Apple iPhone, the Palm Pre, the HTC G1, and many phones soon to be released use a capacitive touch screen. What this means is the phone only works with your bare finger — not a stylus, and especially not gloves.

Right now the glove of choice for this application seems to be the ETIP Gloves from The North Face, but since you can’t actually purchase them, we’re writing about the Touchees_  tech gloves. Aisoy Robotics claims the Touchees_ high thermal insulation gloves are compatible with all kinds of touch screens.  These 90% cotton, 10% polyamide gloves come in black and cream colors in one size — the only measurement they give is 19.5cm from the tip of the middle finger to the wrist.

The gloves normally run €17.00 or about $24 a pair, but they’re discounting them to €15.00 ($21) right now. Shipping will run you €5.5 ($8).

Touchees_ [Corporate Site]

If you’re in the habit of forgetting your keys, you may find this Schlage LiNK Deadbolt with Keypad to be a sound investment.  Not only can you unlock your door by punching the numbered keypad on the deadbolt, you can also cause the latch to unlock from anywhere in the world using a computer or cell phone with Internet access.

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One problem with some cable organizing sleeves is that it’s hard to add or remove cables, but with the Zip-It Up cable organizer you can just unzip the sleeve, remove or add cables, and re-zip it.

The 20″ fabric sleeve can stretch to contain as many as 20 wires.  It comes in either gray or black and sells for as little as $5, but watch out for the shipping costs.

Zip-It Up [Clear Prospects Ltd.]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

There’s nothing like a bilingual ODB II scanner to get your car or truck moving in the morning. I first saw an AutoXray product when it was featured on Shadetree Mechanic in the ’90s — it was a fairly priced scanner that would work well for any consumer.  Now AutoXray offers upper-end models like the TechScan 7000.

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Everybody has their favorite method of keeping cable clutter under control, whether it’s Velcro straps, cable trays, zip ties, or even cable lacing.  Here’s another method to add to your cable-organizing repertoire:  Wirestraps.  These clear straps keep cords together, keep them in position, and blend into the background.

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In situations where I need to calculate wire size, breaker size, or some other electrical value, I usually have to break out the electrical handbooks or hunt on the web to double-check my work. If, like me, you can never remember the codes and values for electrical wiring, the ElectriCalc Pro can help.

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