Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/12/30/my-favorite-shop-tips-of-2020-part-2.html
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Saw a YouTuber extolling auto switches last night. Is there a difference between one of these and a basic relay/contactor? Or is it just that someone else already did the work and it’s only a slight savings?
Old school pot farmers have been diy’ing different versions of these for generations, to control banks of 1000 Watt lights with cheap mechanical timers. Now sold commercially at extravagant markup, of course.
Same idea as a relay, but with a little extra timing. The one I have delays turning the vac on for 1 sec (to keep the amps on the circuit lower) and then keeps the vac on for 7 seconds after you shut off the tool. This clears the dust and keeps the vac on for multiple cuts.
I hacked the one I bought to connect a single vac to multiple tools. I wouldn’t be able to run multiple tools at once, but in my small shop, that is not an issue.
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I will try that magnet in the glove trick later today, thank you.
I put small dots of white-out on my USB connectors and devices so I know the orientation. At least with USB-C it’s no longer necessary.
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I have a single glove finger with a magnet attached to help with fiddly installations on aircraft where I dont have enough room to fit a whole glove. Also handy for retrieving a dropped fastener.
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good tip, thank you
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