MakersBox

1,822 orders since Apr 05, 2014

Adair Village, OR, United States of America

Ships from United States of America.

Custom Work Available

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Orders ship on Saturday. I love to support workshops. Ask me about custom PCBs or bulk orders. See where my kits have gone at http://www.makersbox.us/2017/11/500-tindie-orders.html.

Overall Rating:

Review Breakdown

Average Ratings

Product: (4.90)

Documentation: (4.55)

Shipping: (4.77)

Communication: (4.79)

All Reviews

Daniel | April 10, 2022

Super Happy.

For Easy Joule Thief Soldering Kit

Product shipped fast. Kits worked as described. Instructions easy to follow. I would buy from this seller again!

Gerald | Aug. 21, 2021

This Turtle is an amazing product!

For Open Source Turtle Robot Kit

Highly Recomended!
This is definitely a fun project to #3D print and assemble or it's available with the 3D printing already done.
It works very well with the many already loaded programs that are pre-installed. I dropped a couple of stars on the
"Documentation" window as I feel it could be a little more clear as how to use the various programs BUT this may only be because of MY 77 year old heads inability to understand it. Regardless, it didn't matter that much because any questions I sent off to Ken were answered very quickly and precisely, elimating all my concerns.

Now to start on making my own programs. I'm excited!
Be aware Ken, you've been warned! HaHaHa

Nick | June 21, 2021

pretty good

For Open Source Turtle Robot Kit

Instructions were a little confusing because there were several documents describing each of several revisions to the hardware, but otherwise sufficient. Preloaded sw was easy to modify without reading documentation.

My only gripe is that I haven't been able to make the pen up/down servo work correctly (I haven't reached out for help yet due to my own time limitations; I'm not criticizing the vendor's support). Fortunately my pen is locked in the down position, so my son is still entertained by the drawings produced by the robot.

Lawrence | Feb. 14, 2021

Great Little Project

For Easy Joule Thief Soldering Kit

This is the best execution of a simple joule thief circuit that I've found. Easy to solder, includes battery clips (AA and AAA positions), on/off switch, the classic toroid coil with easy to work with color differentiated insulated wires and a nice 10mm diffused LED all arranged in a well thought out format. Takes 1.5V primaries down to 0.4 or 0.5 V.

Paul | Nov. 16, 2020

Exactly what was ordered.

For SMD Challenge Hackaday Edition

Exactly what was ordered. The Hackaday SMD Challenge kit ordered was delivered in time with no issues.

Nicolas | Nov. 13, 2020

Nice torture test

For SMD Challenge Hackaday Edition

I participated this year in the challenge at Remoticon. It was my first time soldering smd. I can't wait for next year.

Richard | Sept. 22, 2020

I hate this.

For SMD Challenge

I breathed and blew away the 0201 LED. Twice. I hate this. May the person who invented it have eternally wet socks.

Response from MakersBox | Sept. 23, 2020

Hats off for trying. And for admitting failure. Send me a message through the product page and I'll send you a "third chance".

Vincent | Sept. 15, 2020

Cool!

For ArduStryfe MOSFET Board

Saves time in modding. I like that its compact and clean. Not too many companies have good customer service either and your company is fast and efficient.

Mark | Aug. 13, 2020

Thanks for teaching me how to SMT solder!

For I Can Surface Mount Solder

Great and fun experience, thanks!

100 character minimum............................................................................................

Gary | July 21, 2020

Fast delivery, easy assembly, only online documentation

For MOSFET Jr Shield Kit for Arduino

Put this together in about an hour. Online (only) instructions were easy to follow. I have used it to test pinball lamp matrixes. I wish it had more mosfets. Didn’t come with heat sinks for all the mosfets, nor nuts/bolts for any of the heat sinks. Great for learning, good for work.

Daniel | June 17, 2020

Great joule thief circuit

For Easy Joule Thief Soldering Kit

I have a drawer full of half dead batteries that I keep around hoping to use. We are in hurricane season and will most likely lose power a few times. These circuits allow you to squeeze every last bit out of your used batteries. This circuit is particularly good at that. Thanks for a great product, quick shipping, and easy to follow instructions.

Robert | Feb. 24, 2020

It works and shines bright like a diamond :-)

For Easy Joule Thief Soldering Kit

I bought this kit about 4 years ago.
Just recently I found the box in my storage space and remembered I wanted to solder something ...

It is beginner friendly and easy to solder.

Response from MakersBox | Feb. 24, 2020

Love it. I often wonder how many of my kits actually get completed. I have a number of ones I bought from others with good intentions and then had my attention diverted else where. Thanks for the update!

Marie-Lynn | Feb. 14, 2020

Sweet kit! Can't wait to build it.

For Easy Joule Thief Soldering Kit

Testing kits to make info pages in French and suggest to our visitors at #BadgeLifeMuseum and solderingvillage.com.

Neil | Feb. 11, 2020

Great experience

For Easy Joule Thief Soldering Kit

Very responsive- answered my question right away Arrived quickly- he fills orders/ships each Saturday.

Adam | Feb. 10, 2020

Cool soldering kit for teaching, but could use improvements

For Soldering Kit for Doctor Who Fans

The kit itself was well made, worked well for teaching a soldering workshop. However, the main problem with it was the lack of clear instructions, the only guidelines we could find were a picture of the assembled kit through the website provided. More detailed instructions or guides would have been useful. It also didn't come with a battery, which we did not expect.

Response from MakersBox | Feb. 10, 2020

Sorry about that. The assembly instructions for this are in the video on the product page..

I can't ship batteries through USPS. I need to make that a bit clearer in the description.

Greg | Feb. 8, 2020

Easy to put together. Looks great!

For Soldering Kit for Doctor Who Fans

My daughter is a big Doctor Who fan. I bought this a while back to put together for her. I followed the video on soldering it and had no trouble.
I should have bought me one.
It sounds like the audio and the LED dim to bright got reprogrammed so the light goes up as the sound goes up.
This is a little treasure.

George | Oct. 13, 2019

Fun Kit

For Programmable POV Fidget Spinner

This was a fun kit to build and show off. I ordered the option with some pre-programmed text as one of the modes. Everything works great. One thing that took a bit to figure out is that the spin direction matters for the text. You can spin either way for the symmetrical patterns, but if you want to read the speed, counter or custom text, the letters come out reversed when spun in the wrong direction. Thinking about the circuit's use of a hall sensor, this makes sense and was a good lesson in understanding the design.

Robert | June 8, 2019

Expletives not included!

For SMD Challenge

You need 1. Kit, 2. Soldering Iron, 3. Flux, 4. Tweezers, 5. Solder, 6. Magnification, 7. Dictionary of Very Offensive Words.

Both the regular and misery editions successfully assembled. (Didn't even know there was an 01005 size until I got this kit!)

Actually, the hardest part is soldering on the pin so you can wear it as a badge! Spent some time faffing about with that.

Great kit!!!

William | May 27, 2019

Easy to build, works great.

For Easy Joule Thief Soldering Kit

Good quality parts, excellent directions. Might be a little difficult for a first time soldering project, the battery clips are large which is harder to solder. Also winding a toroid transformer is of higher difficulty.

I like how this can be built for AA or AAA batteries. I have a lot of old AA batteries, so I did it for AA.

It worked the first time. The LED is really bright, I can see to not trip over the junk in my ham shack with it. I find is makes a nice light to put over my keyboard so I can read the keys at night. I just wedge it into the debris on my computer desk with the LED pointing at the keyboard.
The LED is still glowing when the battery is below 0.5 Volts. If I turn it off when the battery reads 0.44 Volts, then it won't turn back on immediately. If I let it sit for 5-10 minutes then the battery Voltage goes up a little and it starts again.

David | May 21, 2019

Excellent service as always.

For I Can Solder Badge

The addition of a power switch is a nice addition. Having the schematic printed on the board is a plus.

Landon | April 23, 2019

Fantastic Kit!

For DIY Ardu (Arduino-Compatible Clone)

Great piece of kit. Definitely a fun way to spend an hour or to teach someone to solder while giving them someone at the end for future projects!

James | March 15, 2019

Happy customer

For Leo Kit (Arduino-Compatible Leonardo Clone)

I enjoyed putting this kit together and my new Arduino Leonardo Clone works great. I haven't detected any functional differences between this clone and an 'official' Leonardo from arduino.cc. The pictures of the product don't show a 2x3 pin ICSP programming connector but that was included. My kit was missing the USB connector so I contacted the vendor and he immediately took responsibility and sent me one. Great customer support!

The crystal and crystal load resistor (0603 package) where the most challenging parts for me to solder. I'm glad it wasn't too easy because now I'm proud of having assembled this myself. I used the SMD soldering tools and techniques I picked up from watching YouTube videos. I used a STK500 board to program the MEGA32u4 with the standard Leonardo bootloader that I found packaged with the Arduino IDE. Pin 1 on the ICSP connector is clearly marked with a small circle. I think this programming could have been done with any ICSP programmer, including another Arduino, but I already had the STK500.

Mark | March 2, 2019

Misery Edition Very Challenging!

For SMD Challenge

Just as advertised, the misery did increase once past the 0402 parts. I couldn't complete it due to parts flying away but I did manage to get one 0201 and 01005 parts down. I did a live stream while doing the challenge:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/aKSAb9lbrFI
Part 2: https://youtu.be/GNeI7xGzH98

Communication just OK because I didn't communicate with MakersBox. :)

Mark KA6WKE

Brian | Dec. 24, 2018

Great challenge fun.

For SMD Challenge

Exactly as advertised. I chose the misery version. The ic chip has a pad directly beneath so i used a hot air gun on that one only. Messed up the 0603 led so I simply bridged the connection. The 0201 and 01005 I used my microscope. They supply a 2nd set 2nd chance on the smallest resistor and led.

David | Dec. 16, 2018

Product good but shipping expensive

For I Can Surface Mount Solder

Beware if you buy from UK you have to pay custom charges, nearly as much as Items! Was not expecting that.

Gregory | Dec. 16, 2018

short lived 0201 component challenge

For SMD Challenge

The smd kit challenge is a great way to test your soldering skills. but what would have made it even greater is if all the components (leds and resistors) where 0201 for those of us who want a really good challenge so as to improve those skills and challenges that we rarely face in soldering for a hobby. i wish the pcb had a key ring case so as to protect it from being shorted from any metal from any keys which it might come into contact with. perhaps tindie might look into doing something like that. being in the UK the delivery seemed to take for ages. maybe selling your product on amazon might make things a bit quicker. i really enjoyed putting the components on the pcb but once the 0201 components where soldered down all the rest seemed a breeze to put on. if you really want to challenge us tindi give us components (resistors and caps) with them all being 01005. this will i feel will really challenge those of us who take their soldering seriously and enjoy improving their skills in the art of soldering. great kit, but short lived challenge when the 0201 components where soldered down.

Bob | Nov. 23, 2018

Nice little kit

For Soldering Kit for Doctor Who Fans

Almost perfect.

The only thing I would change is to have the light slowly fade in-out when in sound mode like is does in silent mode, instead of on/off. However, I expect that is a limitation of the hardware.

Still great value for money. I wear it on my lanyard and get lots of comments.

Response from MakersBox | March 28, 2020

Thanks to a customer's help with the code, the current firmware has been upgraded to do this!

Robert | Oct. 20, 2018

I never liked fidget spinners before.

For Programmable POV Fidget Spinner

Awesome. Easy assembly, super cool customization options, fun built-ins as well. Color me impressed. My friends are too.

Jan | Sept. 5, 2018

Awesome project, can only recommend

For SMD Challenge

I did have some experience hand-soldering 0603 parts, so I said to myself: "This can't be _that_ difficult…"
Well, going to 0402 was a challenge, and soldering the 0201 parts was brutal.
But, much to my surprise, everything worked at the first try :) Didn't even need the "second change" parts!

For anyone interested in electronics and soldering I can only recommend accepting this challenge. You will learn, you will curse, and in the end you will experience the joy of having completed a seemingly impossible task.

Some good magnification, a steady hand, high quality tweezers and a fine tipped soldering iron are a must. A multimeter with a diode tester is also really helpful.

Andrew | July 2, 2018

Great little bot for getting kids excited about robotics

For Open Source Turtle Robot Kit

There is something about a physical robot putting pen to paper that excites and stimulates young minds more than the prettiest graphics on a screen could ever do. Amazingly, there is a huge "hole" in the robotics market to serve this purpose. OSTR stands alone, but is by no means a compromise.

The electronics kit is straightforward and easy to assemble. The parts shipped are packaged correctly and the components chosen are easy to differentiate and assemble. The instructions on how to assemble them are also organized well and the order of assembly is correct for making sure that the parts are easy to solder (short components first, etc.). We have not used the IR wall detection yet, but this was a very nice touch which helps give the robot some additional educational opportunities.

The 3D printed body shipped is also very good quality. I was nervous at first because the holes for the metal nuts were not well shaped, but I found that pressing the nut into place by sticking the bolt through the hole, then threading the nut on to "pull" it into the plastic and finally removing the bolt, leaving the now-captured nut in place worked very well. The wheels also fit on to the motor shafts perfectly. I don't think that the "grub screw" method in the documentation would have worked at all with these wheels at all, but thankfully was unnecessary. The instructions also recommend threading the (long) motor and servo wires under the chassis but I found that this caused considerable interference with the movement of the pen.

The overall design of the robot is very well thought out -- putting the four AA batteries as low on the chassis as possible gives the robot a great low center of gravity and also adds considerable weight which helps the robot move around on the paper. The robot is pretty robust and other than it being stepped on or falling off of a table, I would not be worried about it being man-handled by excited children. I found that calibration was largely unnecessary, especially given that dead-reckoning movement is highly inaccurate to begin with. We were printing simple designs in only a few minutes. I think that adding a few washers to the caster so that it helps keep the robot from "rocking" would improve movement even more, but we really are talking about finicky little details.

There are only two "downsides" to OSTR, and neither prevents me from recommending this to anyone. The first is that you must connect a cable to the robot to program it. This is however easily solved with any of the BLE-to-UART modules that you can find online. The other downside is that for younger kids, programming the robot in Arduino's IDE is a little challenging. I am looking to see how difficult it would be to use any of the Blockly-inspired GUIs to program the robot with any tablet or computer.

OSTR really is a wonderful, relatively inexpensive Turtle Graphics robot. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who would like a basic drawing robot platform.

(Please note that Tindie doesn't let me not rate the communication; I did not try to communicate with the business owner but could not mark this field "not applicable")

Seth | June 23, 2018

Works Great!

For Yet Another Programming Shield

Bought this to program attiny84 chips for Ken's Geek Spinner project. I like the indicator lights. Works great. Thanks Ken!

Elias | June 15, 2018

Great Product

For Easy Joule Thief Soldering Kit

The Joule thief came on time. It was new-as advertised. I am very pleased with my order; and, I would definitely buy from this seller again.

Pierre | June 11, 2018

Easy way to experiment with ATtiny programming

For Yet Another Programming Shield

I bought this kit to experiment with ATtiny programming and it worked as advertised. Very easy to assemble the board and the instructions were clear to follow for programming as well.

Pierre | June 11, 2018

Really fun project to work on SMD soldering skills

For SMD Challenge

Great kit, fun way to work on SMD soldering skills. I wound up having to order a few spare 0201 LED's from Digikey, but the part #'s were easy to find and everything worked after learning some new soldering techniques!

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