tl;dr: Next Talk & Tinker Meetup 1/30 @ River Valley Co-op, bring your home-made/fixed/hacked instruments! Repair tip for sticky "soft-touch" coatings
Hi all!
We’re really excited for this Talk & Tinker Tuesday with home-made musical instruments at Easthampton River Valley Co-op on 1/30 from 6-9 pm! If you have an instrument (or other sound creating device) that you made, fixed, modified, hacked, repurposed, or whatever, bring it along this coming Tuesday and show off what you’ve done. If you haven’t yet made anything but are curious about what others have made, come and see. Find out what weird sounds a shortwave radio makes when your cellphone is nearby. Want to make a wind chime out of disassembled hard drive platters? You can do that too! I’ll be bringing a kit-made mountain dulcimer and a scrap-wood marimba(ish), both from my ancient past, along with my stepper motor noise machine, arduino based synth kit, and whatever else I can come up with. Come join us! And don’t forget, at the Talk and Tinker Tuesday on 2/13 we’ll be exploring locksport and lockpicking! And there’s an idea starting to form for a radio-related theme in the future. If you have a suggestion for a topic, theme, or feature at an upcoming event, let us know!
Do you have any devices that once had velvety smooth "soft touch" rubber coating on them that has since become gross and sticky? I’ve had it happen to computer mice, RC controllers, battery packs, and lots of other things. What had once been a useful object becomes a sensory nightmare that you never want to touch again. But there’s a fix. It won’t restore the silky smooth finish, but you can at least strip it down to smooth plastic without too much effort. All you need is baking soda and water, an easy to clean work surface, some paper towels or rags, and maybe gloves, old toothbrushes, and disassembly tools, depending on your target. All you do is mix a little water into the baking soda until you get a thick paste, then rub it into the sticky surface, carefully avoiding charging ports, moving parts, and other places you don’t want grit and/or water. You should see the surface coating wear away fairly easily, revealing smooth, non-sticky plastic below. Use a toothbrush or other implement to get to hard to reach areas, and if you’re comfortable taking you device apart, it’s even easier to do with the covers removed. Once you’ve scrubbed away all the stickiness, use a slightly damp cloth to wipe off whatever remains and you’re done.
If you want to get in touch with other makers/hackers/tinkerers, coordinate getting to meetups, Talk & Tinker nights or events like HOPE, discuss repairs, sewing, native plants, bikes, local matters, or nearly anything else you can think of, join us on Discord with this invite https://discord.gg/FQjR4J6p. Just remember to say a quick ‘hi’ in the introductions channel when you join to help everyone get to know each other.
Be safe and keep making things!
Bill C.
MakeFixHack is a growing community of makers, tinkerers, hackers, crafters, and other like-minded people, sharing knowledge and working to create a community workshop/hackerspace here in Easthampton. MakeFixHack is an open and welcoming community and strives to be a safe space for all.
Be safe and keep making things!
- Bill C.
Where to find us:
MakeFixHack is a growing community of makers, tinkerers, hackers, crafters, and other like-minded people, sharing knowledge and working to create a community workshop/hackerspace here in Easthampton. MakeFixHack is an open and welcoming community and strives to be a safe space for all.