Get To Know The DIY Project All Star Tools This Weekend

We write about a wide variety of DIY projects, and what we’ve noticed is that a handful of tools make it possible to perform an enormous variety of tasks. This weekend, get to know these all-star tools and the amazing DIY projects they can produce.

Soldering

You need to know how to solder to tackle many of the electronic DIY projects you’ll come across online. It’s not a tricky task, and this comic can teach you the basics. If you need a little more information, this introduction to soldering should do the trick. Grab yourself a soldering kit and you can tackle fun projects like these:

• Add volume controls to your headset
• Add a remote and mic to your favourite headphones
• Make paper speakers
• Make a Wi-Fi booster
• Make a motion-detecting camera

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Sugru

Like play-dough for adults, Sugru is a quick-drying rubber that helps you solve problems, fix broken stuff, and create plenty of cool items. Here are a few examples to get you started:

• Fix broken headphones
• Replace laptop bumpers
• Make Apple’s headphones actually fit your ears
• Fix a leaky hose

For more ideas, check out our Sugru tag page.

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Arduino

When you want to make your own electronics, you turn to Arduino. With this basic board, you can make all sorts of interesting things with other people’s code. Once you’ve acquired a board, you can create fun projects like these:

• Create a device that automatically mutes your TV when annoying people are on it
• Make a mosquito killer
• Control an RC car
• Make a video doorbell system
• Dashboard iPod controller

For more Arduino-based projects, check out our Arduino tag pages.

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Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi has made a major impact in its time on the market. The little board packs so much functionality into a small space, you can do some pretty incredible things. If you’re new to the Raspberry Pi (or need help finding a board), check out our getting started guide. It will teach you to set up your board and install Raspbian, the standard operating system for the Raspberry Pi. From there, you can tackle a bunch of other awesome projects such as these:

• Create a low-powered NAS
• Make a Spotify server
• Create an XBMC home media centre (or use Plex if you prefer)
• Turn it into a home VPN server
• Create an AirPlay-capable streaming music server

If that’s not enough, here are ten more awesome projects to try.

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Have a great weekend!