Tip for the week

Get a pair of forceps with sharp points. Work them on a stone to get the edges REALLY sharp. You can use them to dig out the splinters or grab them.

cut down some rolls off lining paper.

then use toilet roll holder screwed to wall to hold it.

always got scribble paper to hand for notes or quick drawings.

Pair of digital callipers are what I use to pull out splinters, ends are alteady ground and close right up.

A discarded roof slate screwed to the wall of the shed over the lathe and a bit of chalk for jotting numbers and reminders. I live on aprox 12 billion tons of chalk so no shortage.

Sort out the little black book that holds all your pass words , and remember to have it with you before you sit down with the iPad.

Better still - use a password manager KeePass is a good one, and its free. There are variants for Windows, Mac, and Android.

Edited By JasonB on 01/07/2016 09:49:40

The black book does have the advantage over Keepass etc in that it contains the security number that lets you into the device in the first place

I use surgical tweezers with curved tips, to extract splinters. If I need to start digging I use a scalpel. I have multiple sets of the tweezers, as I use them for holding surface mount components when prototyping circuits.

Andrew

Tweezers, needles, scalpel, stanley knife... I've been paring away a corn on my heel for several days with a modelling knife.

I like Jason's calliper idea, they meet much better than most tweezers.

Neil

Medical tweezers have pretty good alignment. And anyway I don't have any digital calipers; I prefer to use micrometers.

Andrew

It's an ideal use for vernier callipers

Yes, I use it extensively, but be (obviously) aware that if you lose the file it stores them in/the PC dies etc you've lost all your passwords.

One mitigating action is to put the password file into your Dropbox folder (other cloud solutions exist) so it's stored offsite as well - yes, cloud is insecure blah blah blah, but I don't put my really valuable (and mentally remembered) passwords in it anyway.

The other mitigation is to use Keepass for ease-of-use (simple copy-paste of passwords to where you need them) and a black book as the master copy

Back to splinter removal, a pal of mine who owned a bike shop picked up plenty in his hands, and he had medical-quality tweezers with an attached magnifying glass. Does anyone know where I can get one?

Mike,

Plenty on Amazon and ebay. But if you're not into that than definitely worth looking in a sewing/fabric/crafting shop.

HTH,

Rod

Loo rolls both cheap and absorbent, kitchen towel, commercial paper hand towels, phone wipes, old shirts in cotton, rayon, wool mix, etc All have different properties for different tasks.
I use old Christmas cards and some card packaging eg easter egg box for notes, templates, etc as it is self supporting and more robust than paper.
The bottom few inches of milk bottles are obvious containers but gentle warming can stretch one so it fits over another to make a full lidded box.

If you want to do the straw blowing trick this thread started with get an old ball point pen tube and heat it up with a paint stripper. Then you can stretch and bend it into a thin tube that doesn't blow the swarf back in your face.

I actually use a razor blade/ window scraper thin blade to dig splinters out, does the job, i'm not frightened of cutting tools so it's ok. You always remember you're in control of what you remove so it's not that dangerous so long as you keep that in mind.

Michael W

Splinters? Use a spade - just chop off the affected part.

I now resemble the Venus de Milo.

Without the b**bs

When I was a kid my dad swore by Yellow Basilicon for 'drawing' splinters. My needle-fearing wife uses magnesium sulphate.

Neil

I keep all my passwords in a password protected excel file, I keep it backed up but my biggest problem is remembering the file password