Free Advice #003: Use a magnet, inside a plastic bag or beneath multiple layers of plastic wrap, to clean up shrapnel from drilling, cutting, or tapping metal

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Free Advice HerpDerp Makin' stuff and breakin' stuff Swarf + Copeaux + Scobs TØØLS
Earlier this month, I wanted to replace the bolt-feet on the bottoms of some filing cabinets with wheels, so I flipped one of them on its side, unscrewed one of the foot-bolts, and tried it in the closest-looking (size-wise) pieces of my bolt size-and-thread-check set, and found that it went smoothly into the female end […]

Never forget that rubber bands eventually go bad.
AND, if you need less-ephemeral, non-messy rubber bands, use silicone rubber bands (FREE ADVICE #002).

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Free Advice HerpDerp Is that the way it is? Mucking About With Things RECCIES The Diary of Lupin Pooter
Fragments of deteriorated rubber bands. At upper left: bits from rubber bands that were, IIRC, bluish-green originally. Or were they purple? They’re bluish-green now. At lower-right: parts of what were once white rubber bands. Rubber bands (here taken to mean solid, non-woven elastic rings) degrade. Whether they’re made from natural rubber or synthetic rubber (e.g. […]

Dishwasher-safeness claims are often fibs: Free Advice #001

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Free Advice Is that the way it is? The Diary of Lupin Pooter
Remember… free advice is worth every cent you’ve paid for it. Rule of thumb: If it’s not all-metal (e.g. a plain stainless steel saucepan) or all-ceramic (e.g. an unadorned coffee mug) or a solid lump of plastic like a one-piece, you perhaps ought to hand-wash it. Dishwasher detergents are less sudsy but significantly more chemically […]