Category Archives: Asset

Watch Loupe

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This morning my new eyeglasses arrived, they are these ones from AliExpress: Watch Loupe Glasses Magnifying Repair Tool Loop Magnifiers Watchmaker Jewelry Jewelers Magnifier Foreye Convenient Professional.

Rather than do an unboxing video I thought I’d just write it up in this blog post.

There’s a headband type thing that comes with them that looks rather cheap and flimsy (it is), but it’s actually quite functional and practical.

The 20X magnification is my fav, and I might even see if I can get something with higher magnification one day.

John's new eyeglasses

The headband that goes with the eyeglasses

In The Lab With Jay Jay – September 7, 2023 – Unboxing AliExpress TE-801 Third Hand With Magnifier

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This post is part of my video blog: In The Lab With Jay Jay.

In this video I unbox two “different” helping hands (AKA “third hand”) only to discover they are the same TE-801 model.

I purchased these separately on AliExpress:

They are exactly the same product so if you’re planning to purchase might as well get the cheapest option. Note that the first link above also has a separate more expensive option which is actually a different product, I didn’t get one of those.

In addition to unboxing these third hands I also add some 4mm heat shrink to the alligator clips to take the bite out of the teeth.

Note: in this video I have the annoying habit of calling “heat shrink”, “shrink wrap”. The correct term is heat shrink, shrink wrap is a different type of thing.

In the video I use 4mm yellow heat shrink:

The hot air gun I use is a part of my Horusdy Soldering Station.

The batteries I use are Duracell AAA batteries.

My gloves are:

UV light

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Got myself a USB powered UV light. It came with a few tubes of solder mask:

I’m gonna keep this in my booth where it will be used. Don’t want to use it anywhere near where I keep my UV solder mask because I don’t want to accidentally cure it!
John's UV light, switched off
John's UV light, switched on

Bodge wire

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Thanks to my mate Bruce from Branchus Creations and his wire size suggestions I got a bunch of bodge wire for doing PCB repairs, being 1KG Enameled Copper Winding Wire 0.05 0.06 0.1 0.13 0.2 0.4 0.8 0.5mm 0.65 1.0 1.4 1.3mm Cable Magnet Wire Winding Wire Coil red. I got:

  • 0.07mm (back)
  • 0.16mm (front left)
  • 0.31mm (front right)

It would have been more convenient for me if the 0.07mm wire had have been on a smaller roll like the other two, but we can’t have everything. I’ve been thinking I might get some sort of wire rack, but I’m not sure where I would keep it.

I wasn’t sure exactly how I would go about cleaning enamel off the wire for soldering, so I asked ChatGPT, which gave me a number of options:

  1. Mechanical stripping
  2. Thermal stripping
  3. Chemical stripping

I think what I will actually try is just tinning the ends with my soldering iron and some fresh solder and see if that will burn off just a little bit of enamel on the tips, leaving me with a tinned wire I can easily solder into place.

John's three rolls of bodge wire

Organizing the lab

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I’ve made arrangements to hang my Xbox Torx drivers (you need T10, T15, and T20 drivers, I got this HORUSDY 12-Piece Magnetic Torx Screwdrivers Set, S2 Steel T5 – T40 Torx Star Screwdrivers with Demagnetizer and Storage Pouch) on the side of my table:
John's Torx drivers, distance shot
John's Torx drivers, close up

I used 30mm nails but they’re not quite long enough, so I got some 40mm ones which I will upgrade to when they arrive.

Also I moved my old laptop off the music stand to make room for my bodge wire and Kapton tape dispenser:
John's bodge wire rolls and tape dispenser on music stand

Game on!

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I was at the thrift store the other day and I found this retro gaming system for AU$15 (US$10). Haven’t had a play with it yet, I’m saving it for when I have some time to do the unboxing. And I didn’t want to do that until I had my new HDMI recording setup installed, but that’s done now, so I AM READY BABY.

John's new retro gaming system

New kit

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I’ve installed my two new microscopes, the TOMLOV DM602 Pro which arrived today, and the Yizhan Microscope which arrived yesterday.

Using my new 8K 5-in 1-out HDMI 2.1 Switch I can put either of the microscopes on the top display. I can also put the Rigol MSO5074 scope and an Xbox on the top display. There is one spare HDMI port which is on the front of the device which I can use for ad hoc purposes.

Before the HDMI switch output runs into the top display (a Teac TV) it runs through a 4K Audio Video Capture Device which allows me to record the output for inclusion in my videos.

John's new screens

TOWOT Industrial Tweezers

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I purchased some high-precision tweezers which arrived today. I got these ones: TOWOT Industrial Tweezers (SA11-15) from Amazon for AUD$58.95. Haven’t used them in anger yet but they look pretty good. I got these because I tried working with my cheapo tweezers which I already had, and they weren’t up to the job. So hopefully I have better luck with these ones.