Author: Dave Farquhar

White spots on polyurethane: How to fix them

Dave Farquhar DIY
White spots on polyurethane: How to fix them

Sometimes when the polyurethane dries on your project, it leaves white spots on the finish, marring otherwise nice-looking work. Maybe that only happens to me, but I don’t think so. Fortunately you can fix white spots on polyurethane. And when you know what causes them, you can prevent them in the first place.

White spots on polyurethane are generally caused by two things: Not stirring thoroughly enough before applying it, or a buildup of moisture. While preventing the white spots is easier than fixing them, you can fix them by sanding down the high spots and then drawing out the moisture. If the spot is small, you can touch it up with a furniture marker.

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Organize tool box drawers cheap

Dave Farquhar DIY
Organize tool box drawers cheap

Sometimes I dig through my toolbox drawers looking for something and find tools I’d forgotten I had. And I might or might not find the tool I was looking for. Sound familiar? You can spend hundreds of dollars on organization systems, but you may not want to. Here’s how you can organize tool box drawers cheap, and without blowing your whole holiday weekend.

Toolbox organization trays can help you sort and group similar tools and keep the tools from jumbling into a mess, striking a balance between foam systems that look nice but offer no flexibility, and chaotic junk drawers that hide your tools from you. If some of your tools have instruction booklets, having trays lets you keep them right next to the tools if you ever need them.

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How to take the drawers out of a Craftsman toolbox

Dave Farquhar DIY
How to take the drawers out of a Craftsman toolbox

I was organizing my toolbox when two of the drawers jammed. And people wonder why I’m so disorganized. Every time I try to organize, something like that happens. But anyway, it seems like finding out how to take the drawers out of a Craftsman toolbox is even harder than getting organized. Hopefully I can simplify that.

Most Craftsman toolboxes don’t use hand-operated tabs or levers like other brands. Craftsman toolboxes have a drawer stop that you can push in with a screwdriver after you extend the drawer as far as it will go. Push on the stop gently to avoid bending it too far. Once you push in the stop, it releases the drawer so you can pull it out the rest of the way.

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Wiring Marx Accessories

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Wiring Marx Accessories

Wiring Marx accessories isn’t too hard, and Marx accessories are forgiving. You can just run two wires to them, somehow, and they’ll probably work. But that’s probably not what you’re after. You probably want efficiency in terms of how much wire you use, and you probably want to hide your wires. Marx’s design allows for some clever tricks hobbyists have devised over the years.

The main rule to remember is to use around 20 AWG wire and connect the non-insulated binding post on the accessory to the common post on your transformer, and the insulated binding post to the hot post, using the dedicated accessory terminals if your transformer has them. This allows you to do some tricks when it comes to saving wire.

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Make replacement drawers for a small parts organizer

Dave Farquhar DIY
Make replacement drawers for a small parts organizer

I have a couple of small parts organizer cabinets. Over the years several drawers went missing or broke. Fortunately it’s easy and cheap to make replacement drawers for a small parts organizer. You don’t have to throw out a $20 cabinet over some missing drawers. Here’s an illustrated guide showing how I made mine.

To make replacement drawers for a small parts organizer, trace out all of the sides on a piece of thick cardboard. The thicker the better. Leave flaps in each corner. Cut out the big rectangle. Cut one side of each flap. Score the rest of the lines and fold them, then secure with wood glue.

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Gigabit USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter on USB 2.0 port

Dave Farquhar Hardware
Gigabit USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter on USB 2.0 port

Is there such thing as a gigabit USB 2.0 Ethernet adapter? There is, but they’re hard to find because gigabit runs faster than the limits of USB 2.0. But you can use a gigabit USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter on a USB 2.0 port and it will function.

When you plug a USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter into a USB 2.0 port, it will still work at reduced speed, as long as your operating system has a driver for it. It will still negotiate a gigabit link speed with your Ethernet switch, and you’ll get whatever speeds your system can manage. It will be faster than 100 megabits.

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How to block computer scammer calls

Dave Farquhar scams
How to block computer scammer calls

My computer security buddies have been posting a lot lately on social media about computer scammers, giving advice on how to spot them. But what if I told you that you could block them entirely? Here’s how to block computer scammer calls.

Generally speaking, you can block most computer scams by signing up for a simultaneous ring service, installing a call blocking app on your cell phone, and changing the DNS settings on your computer or router.

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How to disassemble and service a Marx 333 locomotive

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
How to disassemble and service a Marx 333 locomotive

The Marx 333 was Marx’s biggest, fanciest, and most expensive steam locomotive during the postwar era, powering its higher-end sets like the 9635 and 55950. It shares some parts commonality with other Marx engines but if you’ve never worked on one before, it can be a little unclear how to disassemble and service one.

The main thing to keep in mind with a Marx 333 as opposed to other Marx diecast locomotives is the linkages. After you remove the screws from the front, you have to remove the linkage or the siderods, depending on the vintage. After that, the motor drops out easily. Servicing the plastic-bodied Marx 1829 is essentially the same.

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Can Magnets Damage Electronics?

Dave Farquhar Hardware
Can Magnets Damage Electronics?

Can magnets damage electronics? It’s a common question, or at least a common belief, especially among people over the age of 30.  But the danger that household magnets pose to modern electronics is minimal and grows smaller with each passing year.

While a household magnet can theoretically damage a hard drive, it’s only under unusual circumstances, and more and more electronics are moving away from magnetic hard drives. Household magnets have no effect on computer chips. Household magnets could damage the media older computers used for storage and make CRTs act strange, but that’s where the idea came from and both of these technologies are fading from use.

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What are Thread Cutting Screws Used For?

Dave Farquhar DIY
What are Thread Cutting Screws Used For?

What are thread cutting screws used for? You use thread cutting screws when you need to join two pieces together, but you can’t or don’t want to use tools to cut threads ahead of time to accommodate the screws.

Thread cutting screws are a special type of self tapping screw. People often use the words thread cutting, thread forming, and self tapping interchangeably. These classes of screws are very similar but they have subtle distinctions. Thread cutting screws create less stress on the workpiece than thread forming screws do. You can also get thread cutting screws for metal or plastic and wood.

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