Assembling a Solder:Time watch.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at 5:07PM There is a sense of achievement that comes from using something that you assembled. Most people will have experienced this with Ikea furniture, going from a box of pieces to a fully made wardrobe takes some effort, but it's a task that most people are capable of and it's probably the nearest many of us will get to actually making something with their own hands.
If you buy the Solder:Time kit from Spikenzielabs you'll get the chance to assemble your own watch. It's not difficult, and I found it to be very satisfying. I like the fact that you constantly get reminded of your handiwork every time you look at your wrist to check the time.
When I got the soldering iron out it reminded me of the first time I soldered a chip. Back in 1989 I bought one of the first affordable Satellite TV receivers - the Amstrad SRX200. It had 16 channel buttons on the front, one for each channel. The problem was when they launched the next Astra satellite, this broadcast another 16 channels but the Amstrad box had no capacity left (due to incredible shortsightedness) . The solution was to send off for a mail-order chip that replaced one in the machine, allowing you to tune into the extra channels and repurpose the buttons above 10 to allow access to the extra channels. That day when I desoldered the old chip, soldered in the new one and switched on the machine to find that what I'd done had actually worked has stuck with me till this day.
I experienced a bit of that feeling again when I put the battery in this watch.
Here is the video showing how I got on.
Update - 1/12/11 - Andy from Spikenzielabs has been in touch to apologise for not sending me the sample one - I really wasn't expecting an apology - it was all just a bit of fun. So I just wanted to add that Andy and the team from Spikenzielabs are really nice people with a good fun product and they deserve your custom.
Reader Comments (4)
Thank you again for another outstanding review...... 10 out of 10
You're right, every time you use something you've assembled, you always feel a sense of accomplishment. The feeling is just priceless.
Amazing! I haven't really seen anything like this yet. Where can we buy this?
"Amateur" doesn't indicate one's skill or aptitude; it indicates one's remuneration. Olympic athletes are amateurs, and they're very good at what they do. The word comes from Latin (amo, amas, amat, etc.) and literally means "lover of".
You can be a professional (get paid for it) and still be rubbish, as some of my colleagues prove daily...