Servo - March 2016

Putting It All Away

• Design your projects so that you can disassemble them into easily stored pieces.

• Plan for reuse by standardizing the parts you use.

• Have a couple “fun” projects on the shelf for those times when you only have a few minutes available to work on something. This helps keep the spark alive and gives you the opportunity to test out new ideas.

• I do a lot of trial and error builds. Not every design I come up with works, however, your mileage may vary. I chalk these up to learning experiences and go on to another design or new project. Sometimes I will build something just to test out an idea which I hope will one day be incorporated into a project.

• Think about how and where you will store your creations, and organize things so they are easy to find.

• Repair things before putting them away. Who wants to have to try to remember the issues with a broken prop when it is time to use it once again?

• Use screws instead of glue when using PVC to aid in disassembly (Figure 9).

• Use plastic storage bins to keep things dry and organized. Label them so items are easy to locate and retrieve.

I am Fresh Out of Ideas. Do You Have Any?

My primary motivation for this article was to have these tips assembled in a single, easily referenced place and allow us all to be more efficient builders. Equally important is that I hope that after reading this, you will be encouraged to participate in building our community!

I have started a forum thread on this specific topic and would like you to take a minute and add a tip or two that you feel would benefit other builders. Let’s come together by making connections and sharing our knowledge. You can find the thread at http://tinyurl.com/j8txr4e.