Boing Boing » Adam Savage http://boingboing.net Brain candy for Happy Mutants Sun, 19 May 2013 17:03:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 Weller Pyropen http://boingboing.net/2012/10/15/weller-pyropen.html http://boingboing.net/2012/10/15/weller-pyropen.html#comments Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:17:41 +0000 Cool Tools http://boingboing.net/?p=187413 The Weller Pyropen is one of the best portable soldering irons out there. I like them because I get almost an hour and half of heat, and I can move around — no cords. So, while I have an electric soldering station, I almost exclusively end up using this Weller, even when I’m near the station. I just find it easier. So, you switch it on, it lights the butane up, and it makes this cool high-pitched scream. And when it glows red, it's very hot. It heats up faster than an electric; it will reach full heat in about 30 seconds. I love these things.

-- Adam Savage

 

Weller Pyropen
$125

Available from Weller

 

Note: According to a spokesman at the manufacturer, the Weller Portasol (PS100), previously reviewed on Cool Tools here, and the Weller Pyropen are nearly identical products. The Portasol is about half the price and has a slightly hotter max temperature and is made in Japan. The Pyropen is currently made in Ireland. Both are considered the same high professional quality. --KK

]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/10/15/weller-pyropen.html/feed 12 Adam Savage's Maker Faire 2012 Talk: Why We Make http://boingboing.net/2012/05/24/adam-savages-maker-fair.html http://boingboing.net/2012/05/24/adam-savages-maker-fair.html#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 16:57:19 +0000 Mark Frauenfelder http://boingboing.net/?p=162801

IMG 1555[Video Link] It was so great to see Adam Savage at Maker Faire again this year. Thousands of people crammed into the the giant Fiesta Hall for Adam's presentation.

Adam started by talking about his fedora, which is a replica of the one Harrison Ford wore in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. He explained that the hat was made by a guy named Marc Kitter. Unable to find an accurate Indiana Jones fedora, Kitter taught himself millenary, so he could make one for himself.

After Kitter got good at hat making, he started his own company, the Adventurebilt Hat Company, which makes 40 to 50 pure beaver felt fedoras per year for $650 each. They are so good that Harrison Ford wears an Adventurebilt in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I wonder how many extra orders Kitter got as a result of Adam's talk?

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