Lifehacker readers offer their best tips for getting more from your digital scale, creating a DIY knife sharpener, and building a budget standing desk.
Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favourites. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments or send it using the contact tab on the right.
Double the Capacity of your Digital Scale
Doc shares a way to double the capacity on some digital scales:
No matter how large the capacity, it seems that eventually the output of a digital scale will display some abbreviation of “Over Load”.
To get around this, place a mass just shy of the capacity on the scale and press the Tare button to zero out the weight. When you remove the mass, the display shows a negative number equal to whatever you removed. This lets you effectively double the capacity of your scale, since anything you place on it will have to compensate for the negative weight first.
Photo by Veganbaking.net.
Create a DIY Knife Sharpening Kit
Michael shares a tip about building a knife sharpening kit:
I’ve used a lot of different sharpening systems for knives and my favourite has got to be high-grit sandpaper. There’s even a Wikipedia article about it named Scary Sharp. I found a good Instructable that shows just how to build it. Best part? The super sharp knives. Second best part? It’s cheap.
Build a Budget Standing Desk
Matt shares his own budget standing desk build:
I’ve seen a lot of budget standing desks on Lifehacker, so I thought I’d share my own. Rather than cobbling together Ikea parts, I used sawhorse brackets, scrap lumber, and a hollow door (all of which I had handy) to create a simple but sturdy standing desk. The result is a lot of desk space and plenty of space underneath for my bike and my tower. Price can range from free to around $US40 or higher if you want to get fancy.
Get All the Toothpaste from the Tube
Josh shares his tip for getting all the toothpaste from a nearly empty tube:
My combination of procrastination and a vigilante waste-reducing spirit means I’m often ill-prepared to deal with low toothpaste levels. I found myself using this simple method (pictures attached) to extract every last bit of the minty mortar, and I thought I would share it. Just use the side of your deodorant container (or any straight edge, really) to press out even more toothpaste and spare yourself (and the poor cashier) a fire-breathing trip to the convenient store — at least until your tube is truly empty.
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