geotek

Almost any schematic program will do. I used Eagle, and did a screen capture on the schematic. Then I used photoshop to crop the image and sample it to the proper size. Most schematic symbols are too small, so you need to enlarge them a bit.

We have a makerspace, The MakerBarn. Out of our 100 members, about 80% are woodworkers. I was preparing some sandpaper the other day and one of the more experienced members asked me what I was doing. It was then I realized not everyone knew about the technique. So the instructable was born.

Wow, what a neat project. A trip to Home Depot and I could build an entire Air Force.

I guess I wasn't clear about why I was doing this. At The MakerBarn we have an electronics lab that is well equipped with instrumentation, but building up a wide variety of components for the members and kids to use for experimentation takes time and a lot of money. This is an excellent way to stock up on a wide range of parts without breaking the bank. The MakerBarn is a 501c3 non-profit. If you have a stash of electronic components you would like find a home for, contact us through our web site: themakerbarn.org or our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/theMakerBarn/. Companies like PCBway have already made donations and we certainly appreciate it.

The use of the torch is tricky, but it heats up the solder connections so quickly not much heat goes into the component. In my experience, I've found that hot air guns take more time, thus more heat is put into the components. The best way would be to have a large solder pot to dip the backside into. Even using a hot air gun, this should be done outside with a bit of breeze to carry fumes away.

Right, it amazing how cheap some of the parts are. The harvesting works well fro relays, transformers, switches and connectors. They are expensive where ever you find them. I had a couple of boards that were from some sort of telecom switching device. They each had nearly 100 miniature DPDT relays. I'm not sure what I'll do with 200 relays, but some have already been put to use.

Try Altech, their web site is:http://www.completethecycle.com/

It would probably work well as a Steam Punk towel rod as well.

Great idea! I think I have an old GR audio generator I could adapt.

Thanks for all the positive comments. It's great for the kids to build something and take it home. Once they get home in a familiar environment, they have a chance to play with the circuit and think more about what makes it work.

They certainly are not the best for fidelity. The biggest problem we had was finding an empty spot on the low end of the FM band. You can change the tuning by spreading the winding of the coil a bit.

To surface the spoil board I use a simple 3/4" straight router bit at 18,000 RPM.

Right you are. I was just testing you :-).

We used two CR2032 batteries (6 volts) using the clothespin holder. See Instructable "Simple Battery Holder for Coin Cells"

Less than a minute for some aspirins, but many have a light gel coat which slows things down. Certain quickly soluble candies may also work well (if the bugs don't get them).