Category: Electronics

Portable Soldering Station

Here’s how to make a portable soldering station with a USB iron and a battery pack. I’ve 3D printed some sides for a plain stand that turns it into a storage box for the soldering iron and solder.

The TS80P smart soldering iron is super tiny but packs a ton of features. It’s got a little OLED screen, adjustable temperature, customizable firmware, and comes apart to get even tinier.

You need to power it with USB-C, either with an AC adapter or a beefy backup battery.

I picked a full-size soldering iron stand for three reasons:

  1. I am super clumsy and therefore never liked the mini stands, which leave the iron exposed not only to my flailing arms but to other things on the desk. I prefer an enclosed design to prevent burning myself or the things around me.
  2. The full-size stand has a brass sponge for cleaning the tip, which I’ve been spoiled by at home and therefore can’t live without.
  3. The open space in the middle will fit all the things I need to carry in a portable kit.

Supplies:

You can get all these supplies, even the 3D printing filament, at Digi-Key, the sponsor of this project. They carry all kinds of soldering supplies, backup batteries, and other tools, and they ship super fast. Here are the specific items I used to build this project.

Check out this project on Maker.io.

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Raspberry Pi Smart Magic Mirror

Here’s an easy smart mirror powered by Raspberry Pi. I’m using the MagicMirror2 software with features for weather, my calendar, public transit, and any other of the hundreds of available IoT modules. I installed an old computer monitor on an articulated mount with a piece of two-way mirror glass.

Thanks to Digi-Key for sponsoring this video! Check out this project on maker.io.

Materials and Supplies

For this project, you will need:

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

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3D Enclosure and Felt Knobs for the Bitty

The Bitty is a pocket drum machine by Curious Sound Objects. I 3D printed an enclosure to help it sit flat on the table, and I encased the knobs in felt so they are soft and squishy.

Thanks to Digi-Key for sponsoring this video!

Supplies & Tools

For this project, in addition to a Bitty, you will need:

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

I used Tinkercad to sketch out my idea, which is basically a box the same shape as the Bitty, with openings for the switches and knobs. It’s flat on the front to print with that side to the build plate. I punched out the Curious Sound Objects logo from the speaker area. You can grab the file on Tinkercad.

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Endless Seltzer

I upgraded my seltzer machine by hooking it up to a 50lb CO2 tank, with the help of my friend Ian. We’re calling it “Endless Seltzer”. We both really love fizzy water.

Ian Charnas is a YouTuber who does mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer engineering. In his videos he makes these super fun inventions and raffles them off to support good causes – so you can win almost everything you see on his channel.

Supplies

We did some research online and found this adapter you can get that connects the SodaStream to a more industrial standard type tank. That’s all that’s really required for the minimum viable product, but naturally, we wanted to add a bit more engineering so we also built an internet-connected scale that keeps track of how much CO2 is left.

Supplies and Tools:

Check out the electronics components in a saved list on Digi-Key.

Although you don’t have to build the electronics part of this project to enjoy the fizzy benefits, you must understand the dangers of working with a pressurized tank of gas. If it falls over and the valve is damaged, the whole thing could become a dangerous projectile. Basically a missile. The main precaution we’re taking is to install a tank strap to the wall. Don’t skip this step. I’m also setting up a CO2 safety monitor/alarm just in case there’s a leak.

Check out all my favorite electronics tools and supplies.

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

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Webcam Privacy Friend – 3D Printed Eyeball

Meet my new webcam privacy friend, a motorized and 3D printed eyeball that sits atop my screen.

I’ve used stickers and post-its to cover my webcam for years, for peace of mind that my webcam is only accessible when I want. But it’s hard to remember to replace the sticker after each meeting, and I’ve been looking for an excuse to try building a simple robot companion.

Here’s how I made it.

For this project, you will need:

And if you optionally choose to solder your circuit:

Check out all my favorite electronics tools and supplies.

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

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Tape Measure Yagi Antenna

My take on this classic design uses pieces of standard tape measure steel as radials, a 1-inch diameter PVC pipe as the mast, and 3D printed couplers to link the radials to the mast.

Supplies

For this project, you will need:

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

This video was sponsored by Ham Radio Prep. Get 20% off at hamradioprep.com with code BECKY20.

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Glowing Birthday Cake Embroidery for Estefannie

Here’s a birthday present I made for my friend and fellow YouTuber Estefannie. It’s an embroidery I designed with some of her favorite things, as well as some electronics to play sound and light up the birthday candles.

Last year Estefannie and I found out our birthdays are only a day apart, so naturally, we decided to do a youtube collab to celebrate and make each other gifts. I knew Estefannie moved into a house not too long ago, so I decided to make something to help decorate all that new wall space. Embroidery is a natural choice for me, but this time I used a computerized embroidery machine instead of doing it by hand.

Supplies

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

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LED Cylon Scooter – 80s Larson Scanner

This project is a very 80s upgrade to a very 80s scooter– I’m putting an LED strip in the grill of my boyfriend Smokey’s Honda Elite to create a larson scanner animation effect while teaching him how to solder.

Supplies

For this project I used a strip of WS2812b LED strip, also known as NeoPixels. I chose the densest variety to pack as many LEDs in as possible for a nice smooth animation effect.

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

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Easy LED Circuit

Today I’m going to show you how to create a simple yet customizable LED and battery circuit that’s perfect for putting inside your next project. This is a great first soldering project! Follow along with the video to practice your technique.

The most basic LED circuit can be made by sandwiching the legs around a coincell battery. This is also a good way to identify the positive and negative legs of the LED since it will only light up one way. That’s because LEDs are diodes, which allow electricity to flow one way, but not the other. The positive side of the battery should be touching the positive, usually longer, leg of the LED.

Put a little tape on it, and you can enjoy the glow for about a day before it gradually dies out. This is a hacky way to add LEDs to projects that only need to work for a short time, like costumes and props.

If you want to create a durable circuit, it’s time to bust out that soldering iron. In addition to your LEDs, you’ll also need resistors, some wire, some heat shrink tubing, a three-cell battery holder, either triple-A or double-A, and a switch, if your battery holder doesn’t have one already.

Supplies:

For this project, you will need:

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

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Slack Status Updater

This project helps make your day a little easier if you’re a remote worker using Slack. I’ll show you how to build it using an ESP8266 wifi board. Don’t miss the video above for the overview.

Whether you’re new to using Slack or you’ve just been using it a lot more lately, you’ll understand the importance of setting your Slack status. It lets your colleagues know if you’re available to chat, in a meeting, out sick, etc.

Forget to set it when you leave your desk, and you may get interrupted by somebody who thinks you’re available. I thought it would help me remember to have a physical device on my desk that can set my Slack status for me. This project is a collaboration with Brian Lough, who’s an ESP whiz and author of many Arduino API libraries including this new one for Slack. You might remember my YouTube subscriber counter, which was also written using one of Brian’s API libraries.

If you’re new to Arduino, try my free Arduino class first.

Supplies:

For this project, you will need:

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