Friday, November 30, 2012

Combination Usb charger- Solar/winding

I have wanted to make one of these for as long time. After looking around the internet I had put together enough ideas to come up with this current design. You can charge it any of three ways-solar panel, winding, or battery.  This works great because you can charge the device no matter what the weather. The benefit of having the battery is that it can be charged during the day and then you can charge your device at the end of the day to be ready for the next. The solar panels charge great in direct sunlight but when is cloudy you can charge by winding or by the stored energy in the battery.  A schematic of the wiring will follow soon along with video of it working. Lemme know what you think.



Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Jump drives and knives

Just wanted to share my new knife and jump drive

 
The jump driven is made from a scandisk 8gb jump drive. With a small screwdriver or a knife you can pry the plastic case open to get the the insides. I hollowed out an enter key from and old keyboard with a dremel and made a slot on one end so the innards of the drive would fit snug. Once snug, I filled the enter key with a two part epoxy and let it cure.  So far  it works great and I have no overheating problems like I thought. Construction videos will follow soon.

The knife is a Gerber micro paraframe. Its my edc (everyday carrier). I used to carry a leatherman skeletool in my back pocket but that was just too bulky. This was 9 bucks at Walmart and is a great handy blade. I found it was super sharp and has kept it for the past few months and I've been using it on a daily basis.  For the price I think its one of the better deals out there for a quality compact knife.  I do wish it had a tab to help flip it open. There is one on the full size paraframe knife, which is also a good deal at about $18 at Walmart also. Review video to follow also.