Wish List

Apparently I’m hard to shop for, so here’s a bunch of stuff I want.

General

• Cool/interesting materials
  • Some examples I already have include: Tungsten cube, bismuth crystals, vials of Gallium, Niobium coin, samples of the “darkest black” made from carbon nanotubes, I used to hsve some ferrofluid, but it leaked.
  • Tritium Vial (Green cuz it’s the brightest) ($17)
    • Tritium is just fricken cool. I’ve always wanted a little vial. I wouldn’t wear it on a necklace or carry it on a keychain, but I’d absolutely put it on my shelf of cool materials. Green is apparently the brightest color for Tritium vials (and even that is still pretty dim). I linked to the largest vial they have on that site, but I certainly wouldn’t say no to other shapes/sizes/colors!
• Old brass instruments of pretty much any kind.
  • I am specifically on the lookout for a small humidity gauge, like one from a humidor, to use for a Kintsugi Muro (curing box). Most of the ones I find for sale are brass colored plastic, which would work, but real brass and glass would be ideal.
  • Barometers and thermometers are also cool
• Pallet dismantling tools
  • Denailer gun. It’s like a nail gun, but for denailing. Basically, when you pull the boards apart, they have nails sticking through. You slip the long nose of the denailer over the pointy end of the nail sticking out, and hits it real hard and shoots backwards it out of the wood. WAY better than trying to hammer it out or grab it with pliers. Something like the AirLocker AP700 seems good.
  • Metal/nail detector wand. Yeah, like the one you see the TSA or security guards use. It’s used to find nails that might still be in the pallet boards. You don’t want to find those later with the saw blade.
• Honing Guide for sharpening planer blades and chisels
  • I got nice sharpening stones, and hand sharpening is fine for knives, but planes and chisels work best with precise angles that require a guide. There’s a bunch of versions, but something like this or this. Ones that look like this are real popular, but the narrow roller means it’s easy to accidentally tilt it and mess up your angle when sharpening.
• 3D pen
  • It’s weird I don’t have one, I know. I did have a super cheap one, but it died. It worked just long enough for me to learn that I do actually like using them and would have fun with a better one. There’s a wide range of options, but most important to me would just be one that’s not gonna crap out and uses standard printer 1.75mm filament. I have a bunch of filament for my 3D printers, I don’t want to have to buy different material for the pen. Maybe something like the one Sanago?
• A nice color-accurate OLED computer monitor
  • The contrast on OLEDs are just soooo nice. I have decent monitors, but not with that rich deep OLED contrast!

Specific Products

In order of cost (low to high)

• KNIPEX 8” TwinGrip Pliers (82 01 200) ($37)
  • There are so many times that being able to grip a bolt or something with the tip of the pliers would be really handy. I’d love the full 3 piece kit, but if I had to pick one, it’d be the 8”.
• KNIPEX 7 1/4” Pliers Wrench (86 03 180) ($58)
  • I’ve heard many times from many sources that these are one of the most crazy useful tools in the shop. Again, more sizes would be awesome, but the 7 1/4” seem to be most people’s go-to.
• Justrite 8oz Dispensing Can - 14004 ($58)
  • Super useful little guy for safely dispensing small amounts of solvents rather than taking the cap off a larger container. I would use it for acetone. Again, pricey for what it is, but people who have them love how useful they are. Worth it if you use it a lot, and I would.
• JetKVM ($89)
  • This would be really handy for remote controlling computers. I can think of at least 3 ways I’d use it off the top of my head. If it proves as useful as I think it is, I may end up wanting a few.
• Genesis Junior Pro Plasma Globe ($160)
  • I LOVE plasma globes. I have owned a couple cheap ones over the years, but they always break. The most recent one breaking the day I got it. Plus, I found out that the ones you find at the store wear out quickly anyway. This one is a museum quality piece with much more sturdy glass that will last much longer. AND it comes in crazy colors I didn’t even know where options! “Genesis” is definitely my favorite color combo here.
• Flipper Zero ($199)
  • Cool little gadget to tinker with a huge variety of wireless signals. I’ve had many times where I wished I had one of these to test out an idea, but I just have never pulled the trigger on actually getting one.
    Accessories
  • Wifi Dev Board ($35)
  • Silicone Case ($15)
  • Screen Protectors ($7.50)
• DeWalt 20V 16 Ga. Cordless Finish Nailer (DCN662B) ($400) On sale at Ace for $330 as of 12/6/25)
  • I have a pneumatic 16 Ga. finish nailer that I use a lot. But boy would I love to not have to be tethered to the air compressor. Especially when building the solstice bonfires. Or having to snake the hose up from the shop through the house to install trim or whatever. Another pricey one, but I’d use it.
• Foredom SR Motor Universal Kit ($546.36)
  • Flex shaft tools are CRAZY useful. I have a crappy old dremel flex shaft that I use all the time. For years though, I’ve dreamed of having a PROPER flex shaft rotary tool hanging by my desk rather than unpacking the tangled mess of that Dremel and having to set the speed manually. The Foredom SR is the one all the others are cheap imitations of. It has a foot pedal so that I can have both hands to hold the tool and the work piece and not have to worry about the DANG DREMEL rolling off the table again. This is one of those “yeah, it’s pricey, but it’s a proper tool that I’d use a lot, and it’d be safer than the shitty one I use now, so it’s worth it” things.
• Sawstop CTS Compact Table Saw ($899)
  • Table saws are really useful, but terrifying. I have one that is okay, but I avoid using it because it scares me. SawStop is the only company that makes a saw that can detect contact with your skin and instantly retract the blade. That means it’s nearly impossible for this thing to cut off a finger. It’s amazing tech, and I would really prefer to have a saw with that feature. It’s also apparently just a very nice table saw.
• Bridgestone Winter Driving School ($1535-3825)
  • I’ve heard good things about these classes. I want to take performance driving classes, and apparently doing it on ice is like a slow motion version of a lot of the same principles that apply to pavement driving, allowing much more control and understanding of the dynamics at play.