Modding Tools 101

lethal_dosage

Sticky please

Modding Tools 101

Alphabetized

This is just going to be a list of modding tools with an explanation of what they are commonly used for.

Safety 101

Never use any of the tools listed below if you do NOT know how to use them properly. Always read the tools manuals on how to use them properly. Not knowing how to use the tools can cause many various injuries. And ALWAYS use the proper safety precautions that are necessary for each tool, and you MUST ALWAYS have safety glasses on.

First Aid:

Burns:
Immediately run under COOL RUNNING WATER for 15 minutes. DO NOT use ice. Use a triple antibiotic ointment and a moisturizer to prevents drying and make you feel more comfortable. Cover the burn with a sterile gauze bandage, wrap loosely to avoid putting pressure on the burn. Take pain reliever if needed, aspirin, ibuprofen this includes, Advil and Tylenol. Don’t break fluid filled blisters as these protect against infection. For major burns got to a hospital to get them treated.

Cuts:
Stop the bleeding by putting gentle pressure on the wound. Rinse out the wound with clean water, don’t use soap. Apply an antibiotic to prevent infection. Cover the wound, open air can speed up healing process. Change bandages at least daily or when they are wet or dirty. Watch for infections. Get stitches for deep wounds.


Aprons:
Not required, but useful so you don’t get your good clothes dirty.

Dust Filter:
These are good, but not required, when you are using Dremel cutoff wheels. The fine metallic dust will get in your lungs and nose if you don’t use one

Ear Protection:
Not required but useful when using loud tools.

Eye Goggles:
These are a must for having, always keep these on you don’t want to get anything in your eyes, it doesn’t feel good.

First Aid Kit:
A good first aid kit should include adhesive bandages, fingertip bandages, elbow & knee bandage, triangular sling/bandage, gauze dressing packs, gauze roll, trauma pad, alcohol pads, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment, burn relief, cold compress, aspirin, tape, scissors, tweezers, exam gloves, and a first aid guide.

Leather Gloves:
Good for when you are heating things with a heat gun or when handling sharp objects.

Vinyl/Latex gloves:
Good for when you are spray painting and using epoxies.


Hand Tools:

Awl:
Good to mark holes in metal, prevents drill bit from slipping away from marked spot.

Coping Saw:
Good for cutting metal and acrylic in smaller designs and circles.

Deburring tool:
Good to deburr window edges quickly

Files:
Flat and half-round files are good for cleaning up window edges, and blowholes.Needle Files are good for cleaning up smaller window edges and other designs.

Hacksaw:
Good for cutting metal and acrylic stock, angle, bar, small tubes.

Sanding block:
Good to use when wanting a good spray-paint finish, also when sanding flat surfaces to get a nice smooth finish.

Scissors:
Good for cutting thinner mesh and small wires

Score:
Marks where cuts are wanted to be made by scratching it

Screwdrivers:
Good for getting out tight screws or to screw in something tighter. Precision Screwdrivers are good for getting into tight spaces, and screwing in motherboards and drives in place.

Pliers:
Needle nose and regular pliers are good for gripping and screwing in nuts and bolts in smaller spots.

Wire cutters:
Useful when cutting wire

Wire Stripper:
Needed to strip wire for soldering, usually have a wire cutter built in.


Electric Tools:


Drill:
Corded and cordless drills are both good to have. Good for drilling smaller holes and drilling out rivets.

Drill Press:
Good for when drilling both small and large holes where accuracy is needed. A must for hole saws.

Heat Gun:
See Heating tools

Hot Glue gun:
Typically used when soldering to cover joints on PCB.

Jigsaw:
Good for cutting windows and blow holes when you don’t have a hole saw; make sure the right blade is used.

Rotary Tool:
More commonly referred to as a Dremel, these are useful for their many attachments that can be put on. Can be used to sand, cut, polish, and etch.

Sanders:
The most useful is a random orbiting sander; others are smaller precision ones that are good for when needing to get into corners and tighter spaces. Useful to get paint off cases and to smooth out other things i.e. Bondo. Different sander paper grits are more useful for certain things then others, for more see accessories.

Soldering Iron/Gun:
See heating Tools

Table Saw:
Good for cutting acrylic and thin aluminum, make sure the right blade is used.


Heating tools:

Heat Gun:
Good for bending thinner acrylic and when using heatshrink.

Soldering Iron/Gun:
Soldering guns are for useful when soldering bigger wires together. A soldering iron is more useful for PC work, variable voltage are best, otherwise a 15W will be good.

Torch:
Propane being most typical torch, Mapp gas burns hotter then propane; use each when needed. Good for soldering and brazing.


Accessories:


Electrical Tape:
Good when soldering wires together.

Drill bits:
When holes typically smaller then ½” are needed; different ones are needed for different materials. Wood drill bits can be used for acrylic.

Hole saw:
Typically used when making blow holes for fans.
80mm fan- 3 ¼” hole saw
92mm fan- 3 ½” hole saw
120mm fan- 4 ¾” hole saw

Masking Tape:
Good to lay on a panel to prevent the paint from being scratched when cutting, also good to draw designs on.

Permanent Markers:
Good to have a regular and fine one to mark curves and other designs where a score is impractical.

Pencil:
Good when drawing designs on masking tape where mess ups will easily occur.

Sandpaper:
Grits typically used range from 280-2000
280- Good for smoothing Bondo and taking paint off cases.
400-2000- Good for spray painting and lapping

Solder:
Fluxcore solder for most PC soldering.

Wire:
Typically 18AWG and 22AWG wire is used in PC’s


Modding Guides:

Spray painting guide:
http://www.xoxideforums.com/showthread.php?t=18049
Thanks to Timberwolf

Soldering guide:
http://www.hardwaremods.com/guides/s...ing_guide.html
Thanks to me- Lethal_Dosage

V1.0

BeaMeR

Good job on the Safety 101 it should help alot of people out including myself. I have a fire obssesion so now I know what to do when I get burned.

Sleepy_Sentry

Nice sticky. Rep to you!

The only thing I have to say besides good job is I hope everyone knows to go to the hospital if they are injured lol.

R.Carter

Awesome post lethal.

I'd like to add some stuff about the safety aspect.

When treating any burn or cut, try to use a non-stick gauze. It will help out when you take it off.

Quick note about dust filters: read about what you are planning on wearing. If the mask you are thinking about wearing has only 1 elastic band, it is probably what is called a "nuisance filter." As it will say on the package, it will not protect you against anything. Having a false sense of security is worse than not doing anything at all.

Look for your filter to be rated for what you are using. They are not all the same. This is especially true when wanting to use a cannister type mask in the case of wanting respiratory protection while painting. There are no paper masks that will protect you from air sprayed acrylic enamel paints. Read the label and do what it says. It is better than an MSDS when it comes to useful information concerning protecting yourself. Good ventilation is a must.

When picking out your eye protection, look for "Z-87" to be somewhere on the lens. These will have met the NIOSH standard and will protect you. Your Oakleys may have "Thermonuclear Protection," but they will not stop that piece of metal from going through them and into your eye. Side shields ain't a bad idea either.

Pick up a full face shield next time you are at Home Depot. Always wear your glasses with the shield.

Add a CPR microshield to your 1st Aid kit. Some cooties are forever.

For that matter, go spend some time and get 1st Aid and CPR certified. I sincerely hope that it is a waste of money in that you will never have to use it.

I would strongly recommend using Nitrile gloves as opposed to latex or vinyl. They are a much better glove in most applications. Specifically when used to examine/treat someone who is hurt. NEVER treat someone without wearing gloves.

Leather gloves are great when handling hot stuff. But there are better things for sharp edges. While you are getting a face shield, go to the gloves section and check out the mechanics gloves. These are usually made of kevlar with leather or something similar. They will allow you much improved manipulation ability when handling the stuff, and keep your hands protected. And you can handle hot stuff too.

Speaking of getting burned, your workspace should include a fire extinguisher. A good, small one can be bought for less than $10.

Some general safety tips:

If a tool comes with a guard, do not disable or remove it. It is there for a reason.

Personal pretective equipment (gloves, glasses, etc) should be your LAST CHOICE when it comes to protecting yourself. Unfortunately, sometimes it will be your only choice. Look for a way to totally eliminate what it is that can hurt you by some mechanical or engineered means. For instance, a guard on your power tool (the greatest flaw of the Dremel), a mechanical ventialtion system while painting, wet cutting or vacuum cutting. It the hazard is not there, it cannot hurt you.

The only difference between getting hurt at work and getting hurt at home is that Worker's Comp will not cover your dumb *** at the house.

And most importantly, there is no such thing as common sense when it comes to safety issues. If there is 1 thing I have learned while working as a safety professional it's that "common sense" and "safety" are mutally exclusive terms.

Sleepy_Sentry

Here's something I thought of: you may not be able to use latex gloves if you are allergic to them.

lethal_dosage

thats why i said vinyl/latex

Also thanks for the additional info R.Carter

Sleepy_Sentry

Oh ok.

Also make sure you're not allergic to metal. Lol just joking.

Having a guide on electicity safety would be a good idea. I was stupid enough (wasn't thinking that day, we all have "stupid" days) to attach two paper clips to the plug on a 70mm computer fan and stick it in the electrical outlet. I made it out shock free! Maybe I'll write a guide if no one else has time (I've been busy this summer).

lethal_dosage

There is still more to come on this guide this is just V1.0

KiGrind

This cool, great to have everything compiled in one thread. But seriously to me if you have to ask what tools to use, you shouldn't even be doing it because you wont have a clue as to how to use them.

Sleepy_Sentry

Ok. Keep up the great work!

KiGrind

RotoZip, Torqu Wrench, Plasma Cutter, FiberGlass, Bondo Body Filler, Bondo Fiberglass, Filler Primer, Finishing Sander, Denatuered Alcohol, Goof Off...

You missed some important stuff there!

lethal_dosage

first line of the saftey notice:

This is just the V1.0 of this guide. Also i was listing more common tools that most have. Not many have a plasma cutter. Thats another reason why laser cutter isn't on there.

Also fiberglass, bondo, and the other materials are going in another guide im making called Modding Materials 101 so there is a spot for those already.

KiGrind

Awsome, I'm making a guide on using fiberglass and bondo correctly. Want to intergrate?