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What is the most useful tool you ever made?

dougw

There are many great topics that relate to tools, and there are endless numbers of tools to discuss, but inevitably we run into situations where we don't have a good tool for the job and have to cobble a tool together to complete the work.

I make some little tool to do a specific job all the time, but I never stop to think whether it is a remarkable tool. I don't even document that  I made a tool.

I don't think we ever asked the question - what is the best tool you ever made, so I'm asking now. If you are like me it is going to take some time to recall something significant. In fact I am posting this question before I even have my own answer, but give it some thought. I suspect the answers will be interesting.

My most recent tool was just a wooden needle to apply ink to a 3D print - much more precise than a paint brush. I'm sure when I scan through some of my projects, I will come up with something better....

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  • Not sure what to call it, but one day I accidentally 'made a tool' that detects the internal RF switches in test equipment.  I was prototyping an automatic level control circuit and connected it to a network analyzer to see how flat its response was over frequency.  It was nice and flat for the most part but I was able to see a series of bumps.  I also manually swept my circuit with an RF signal generator and observed its output on a spectrum analyzer.  Again I saw little bumps.  This time they occured at frequencies that were nice round numbers.  That's when it occurred to me that these little bumps must be happening as a result of the equipment switching to another chain of its internal circuitry.  RF equipment can be very expensive so we generally aren't allowed to open it up.  This accidental tool was able to provide insights into the internal operation of test equipment without the need to crack it open.

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  • Not sure what to call it, but one day I accidentally 'made a tool' that detects the internal RF switches in test equipment.  I was prototyping an automatic level control circuit and connected it to a network analyzer to see how flat its response was over frequency.  It was nice and flat for the most part but I was able to see a series of bumps.  I also manually swept my circuit with an RF signal generator and observed its output on a spectrum analyzer.  Again I saw little bumps.  This time they occured at frequencies that were nice round numbers.  That's when it occurred to me that these little bumps must be happening as a result of the equipment switching to another chain of its internal circuitry.  RF equipment can be very expensive so we generally aren't allowed to open it up.  This accidental tool was able to provide insights into the internal operation of test equipment without the need to crack it open.

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