How to Solder Wire to Wire Connections
Splicing Two Wires: The ability to electrically and mechanically join two wires together is essential for all types of prototyping, maintenance, and modification of any electrical system. There are several ways to join two wires including wire nuts, Wago connectors,...
Want to Start Soldering?
Soldering can be quite intimidating – the hot iron, the smoke, the images of burned and destroyed equipment. However, with minimal tooling, and a little practice, anyone can make professional looking solder joints with consistency and ease. We’re going to...
GEARS 2021 Workshop
Well, 2021 has been a lot of firsts for everything – many of them not so great – but it was an exciting first year for the GEARS (Generalist Electromechanics for Applied Researchers) Workshop! This workshop has been a long time in the making, and we plan...
Stop Testing Batteries with a Voltmeter!
What’s the first thing you check when something doesn’t work? Power! The classic “is it plugged in” question, though hated by everyone, can pretty often solve the problem in seconds. What about equipment with batteries? Well you can change them, but some equipment has...
Five things to ask before 3D printing, molding, or machining
3D printing is a great technology – in fact, when I talk with children, they don’t realize that not everything is 3D printed, in fact, little in the average person’s life is. Subtractive manufacturing and injection molding are still the dominant players in mass...
Will Your GPS Work After April 6?
Technology often lasts longer than it’s designers imagined, generally long enough that at least one design decision made in an early stage eventually rises up and threatens the ecosystem. The GPS system is about to encounter such an event – the counter rollover...
Level Up Your 80/20 Frames
We love 80/20 T-slot rail. It’s a quick way to make frames and supports for instruments, experimental gear, and even some strong storage fixtures. One of the common issues when making a frame with 80/20 is that it needs to be installed on an un-level concrete floor,...
How to use your hail ruler
Recently we’ve been hit by several hail storms in the Colorado front range – after digging around for a ruler after one storm, John pulled out his Digikey PCB Ruler and posted some hail photos on Facebook and Twitter. Folks really reacted to the photos,...
5 Ways to Improve Your Mechanical Drawings
We love helping our customers create physical products from their concepts, ideas, and visions. Sometimes all you’ve got is a drawing on the back of a napkin and no time to learn a complex 3D CAD system – no problem! We can take anything from your sketch...
New Laser Cutting Services
We’re happy to announce that we have added laser cutting and engraving to our portfolio of in-house services! What can it do? Our laser can cut or engrave most any organic material, as well as mark many metals and other materials. This opens up a whole new set...