For metal working, jewelry, and maybe even wood working. I think a box of these blue shop towels once every few months would be a very welcomed edition by many makers.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Scott-Blue-Pop-Up-Box-Shop-Towels-200-Box-75190/307573071
From wiping grease off your hands to applying wood finishing, to cleaning up machines. I strongly encourage the administration to make these blue shop towels a restocked consumable in the maker space.
Second, For Jewelry and Electronics, there are these things called “Clean room wipes”
They dont have an official brand in the US. the closes thing I found to the same size and texture from the USA are from a company called “Berkshire” but theyre much more expensive from there. Good stuff. But anyways. These “Clean room wipes” I listed above come from china, in my opinion are much better than the Kimtech tissues we stock ghasp yes I know, I said it.
These “clean room wipes” are more like very soft cotton rags and are invaluable in a workshop setting when wiping circuit boards and chips with IPA. And I can only imagine how useful theyll be while cleaning or handling fine jewelry projects. You can rub polishing compound on them and use them that way.
Though, one thing to note. They are made of a polymer. Not cotton. So they will melt under direct heat.
I can bring some in for anyone who is interested to try. They’re 4’’ x 4’’ soft fabric like sheets that absorb grease, oil, liquids. In my opinion, we should have a few packs of these in the electronics and jewelry areas.
fun fact, if you order them direct inside mainland china, theyre only like 2 USD for that pack of 200. crazy good value. Taobao is awesome.
For the electronics lab, I would like a new type of flux to be considered for use.
The flux I suggest burns cleaner, is easier to get off boards, and makes the place smell not as bad.
Its American made in Connecticut, the brand is called Amtech and the model is the new NC-559-V3.
It smells like sugar cookies, and when heated with soldering irons or hot air, it does not turn brown and black like normal flux meaning that you can more easily see your solder joint when working with it to ensure you have a good connection, and once it cools, its much easier to clean with IPA.
Here is the link
You can buy it from Amtech Directly. Ideally they should be stored in a fridge but as long as its not over 80 degrees ambient, itll be ok. The expiration date is 1 year from manufacturing. And a 10cc tube should not be too much or too little for our maker space. Though, after everyone tries it. Theyre only going to want to use that.
