Forums | MacLife

Uhh, does anyone have anything they'd like to add?

It would benefit other hackers to grow this a bit...

filter mask

Insanly important, especially when using the dremel.

mmm...

okay, fine files.  not coarse.  200-grit sandpaper or better.  perhaps garnet, as it cuts and smooths better. Those last two for polishing after deburring.

soldering iron.  I use Antex, as it's faboo for getting into small spaces and heats quickly.  Highly manageable and maneuverable. Lots of tips available. I think I posted that circa 2 weeks BC (Before Crash)

I've got a craftsman telescopic mirror in my kit that's pretty handy.

Do you usually use magnetic screwdrivers? I bought a craftsman magnetic nutdriver/screwdriver type thing (with lots of bits). It's really handy for those screws hiding way in the back, but I'm concerned about the magnetism around hard drives and stuff... Should I be worried?

Typically, the magnetic strength of tools isn't strong enough to worry about damage to computer hardware.
I don't know how stronmg your particular kit is, tho.
My aforementioned Craftsman set ( made for electronics and computers ) is only slightly magnetic.

So long as you don't go rubbing it on any chips, you're probably okay.

Bah, forget all the percision stuff,

     The essentials,

     Milwauukee Cordless Sawzall, (this thing will cut the body of a car)
     Dewalt 18volt XRP Cordless Drill,
     Esab Mig Welding outfit.
     
     O wait, thats what I use for trashing crappy Dells etc...

   

     Here is some serious stuff,
 
     Set of percision files,
          great for making parts fit, that might
          have a 1mm difference.  Good for case modding etc...
   
      Anti Static wrist straps etc... Must Have (NO FRIGGIN EXCUSES)
 
      Good ol' soddering Iron, or a butane one which heats up instantly.
              15 watt iron is best for real percision sodering,
              30 watts, is good for all arround work
              40 watts, is best for real heavy soddering, such large gauge           
              wires, and metal parts etc...  Butane irons, heat up instanty
              and put out as much heat as a 30-40 wat iron
       
       Desoddering iron
 
       Soddering Tools,  I boug a set at radio shack for 5 bucks
       It came with sevral tools for holding wires while sodering,     
       and a mettal brush for cleaning soder jobs and a stand for
       my iron.
   
       Complete set of good, non magnitized percession screwdrivers,
            20 bucks at radio shack
     
            Make sure it has t7 (torx 7) and above screwdrivers, these are     
            needed to open powerbooks etc...

        A dremmel is allwayse a good tool
 
        Hot glue gun, can be used instead of sodder, especialy in an
        emergency, or if soder is to hot.  Not reccomended unless
        you are sure if you want to use it.

        DepthGauges, Calpiers, Percission Mesuring devices,
        you will find uses for them, especialy for case modding etc...

        Various thin pecies of plastic, etc... good for prying stuff apart.
   
        and perhaps the most esential thing,  the will to void your
        warrenty, piss off apple, and possibly put a 3000 dollar mac
        in the dumpster

lol, I finally got around to checkin this thread .

The NC modding kit:

-Set of small screwdrivers from Radio shack to be able to open iBook RAM slot without eating the screw apart. Also very useful for other mods which have smaller screws.
-Ratchet set from Radio Shack. Has Torx, flathead, phillips, and others. Nice lil helper for working on Cubes. $15 at the time. Helps remove stuck screws a lot better than just a standard driver.
-Swiss Army Knife (Laugh it up but its an awesome multipurpose tool. Use it the most on my custom wire jobs. Too lazy and cheap to buy proper wire stipper stuff.)
-Tweezers of many different lengths. One I use the most is a pair that is about 10inches long. Nice tool for dealing with dropped screws or getting into tight spaces.
-Ice Pick...no not joking. I use one of these to get at hard to reach Cuda switches instead of pulling out a lot of hardware. Also good for removing ROM chips. Just slide pick thru hole on ROM PCB and lift carefully.
-Towel or shirt or a fan. Maybe its just me but everytime I mod I get a lil sweaty . Need something to wipe it on and to keep cool.
-Duct tape and Electrical Tape. Never know when you might need one of the other.

Lastly, the one thing I dont have...

-Surgical steady hands to get job done faster

Freezer mac wrote:

a must for taking hard drives apart is a tamper proof set for a drill or socket screwdriver... mine came in a little red rubberized case with optional magnet/quickseter. has 32 bits, inc hex, torx, star, tri-wing, and spanner.... can be found here(i found it at ace hardware for $5 in a grab-bin, but have seen it sold for as much as $20 elsewhere.)

I have one from Ace Hardware that I got for 20 bucks , which has more like 100 bits of all types.  This was sold in a large red rubberized box, and was labled very clearly.

Last edited by Mac_Addict58 (2005-02-18 1:44 am)

For me, at a ripe old age of (more than most of you), I really needed and appreciate a halogen head mounted lamp. Yeah, it is geekified, but when crawling around under a table at 11:45 pm looking for a dropped hard drive jumper, it is the only way to go.

You can get a good one at a sporting goods "big box" store for 20-25 dollars.

markwlewis wrote:

For me, at a ripe old age of (more than most of you), I really needed and appreciate a halogen head mounted lamp. Yeah, it is geekified, but when crawling around under a table at 11:45 pm looking for a dropped hard drive jumper, it is the only way to go.

You can get a good one at a sporting goods "big box" store for 20-25 dollars.

It's also good when you drop the occasional resistor onto the carpet

Gerber needle-nose

I've found the locking mechanism of the Gerbers to be far safer and easier to use than the Leatherman's which requires you to open another tightly installed tool to close the one you're currently using. And the tools tend to open and close more smoothly on the Gerber.

i got booter info lol really

one thing all you young geeks forgot is one day, you will need
lighted magnifying glasses.
you wear them, they give around a 3x magnification and supply light from both left and right sides.

us elders find them quite useful.
10 bucks well spent