Adam@SheekGeek

DIY Bent Plywood Guitar and Ukulele Holder

October 16, 2018September 12, 2018 by Adam@SheekGeek

I’ve had the materials for a couple of years to do a project just like this, just never got around to it. When I came across this guy’s website and video tutorial making a bent laminated guitar holder, I had to give it a shot.

You’re most familiar with flat plywood, but plywood can be made in all kinds of shapes. The famous Charles and Ray Eames designers showed the world how far plywood could be bent to their will (yes… yes I just wrote that, sorry).

To make bent plywood, there’s a variety of methods, but typically you have at least one mould made from wood, metal, or MDF. Then you’ll use very thin sheets of wood called veneer. Coat the wood with glue and lay multiple layers on the mould and apply pressure until the glue dries. To apply pressure some designs use a positive mould and a negative mould and sandwich the veneer sheets between them. You could also just use clamps like the guy in the the links above, or you could do what I did and use a vacuum bag to get the pressure of the atmosphere to get in all the nooks and crannies.

I don’t have a real vacuum bagging system, not that you have to spend too much to get one. I already had a Ziploc food saver vacuum sealer I’d never used. It came with 3 small bags to get you started, and I only used one.

My first inclination for making the mould was to use my Xcarve CNC to mill out the design, but I’m kind of pissed off at my CNC workflow right now so I skipped this. It is much faster to just cut some MDF by hand. I started by cutting a template for the design out of cardboard to test the angles and lengths I would need. I then traced the side profile of the design on some MDF and cut it out on my bandsaw. I needed the mould to be about 3 inches wide so I cut 4 of these rough designs and glued and clamped them overnight.

The next day, I cut the now solid block on my bandsaw. This didn’t go as planned because my bandsaw blade wasn’t tight enough (I think) and I ended up with a not consistently 90-degree edge on my critical radius of the mould. This meant I’d have to do a lot of sanding to try to even it out.

I mounted the mould in my workmate and went at it with the beltsander. Of course always wear a dust mask working with wood, and at least a half-face respirator with NIOSH100 particle filters (NOT just vapor filters!) and goggles when working with MDF. (Reference from someone who knows a bit about safety). MDF is a blend of sawdust and god-knows-what nasty chemicals in the glue. Limit your exposure to it, and try to be in an outside environment. Attach a shop vac to your tools, clean up any dust in the shop and be sure to run your HEPA filter to clear the air of particulates for any MDF work or and fine sanding, etc.

Once I got the approximate lengths from the mould, I cut the veneer. I had 12 square foot pack of Sauers & Company walnut veneer which happened to be about 6 inches wide. I was able to fudge my measurements so that splitting the sheet in the middle on half of my cuts gave me two pieces I could use for a uke holder. Guitar holders will need to be wider and you’ll likely have a bit of waste when ripping with the grain. Keep these offcuts for other future projects though, seriously make a bangle bracelet or ring or something if you can’t think of anything else. I only used a single sheet from my supply which gave me enough material to make 2 uke holders. When cutting, you should make sure you cut with the grain for half of the sheets and then across the grain for the other half. The criss-cross grain gives plywood its flexibility and strength.

I used an exacto blade to cut my sheets. I ended up with 8 sheets total which measured roughly 5.5″ x 2.75″ each. Again, 4 sheets had the grain running longways, the other 4 had the grain running their shortest dimension. This veneer is somewhat fragile and liked to split in places I didn’t intend, so I had to be very careful with it and cut or score with a metal straight edge.

The sheets of veneer with the grain running longways did not want to bend around my form, so I did what any idiot would do and tossed them into a bowl of hot water first. They immediately curled and I could no longer tell which side was the “good” side to show the best grain detail. This did allow the sheets to easily bend around my tight radiused curve on the mould without splitting or breaking though.

Since I was going to be making a giant mess with glue of any type, I’ve learned to lay down a good foundation of wax paper to protect my working surface (countertop in this case). TIp: If the wax paper wants to curl up and not lay flat, simply rub a wet rag on the counter first. the water’s tension will make the paper adhere to the countertop. A note of caution. The glue will bead up and roll off this and spill all over the floor if you aren’t careful. so make sure to keep it contained.

I also covered my mould in wax paper to prevent sticking, but next time I’m just going to use Johnson’s paste wax. This stuff is good for just about every thing as well but works great for mould release in fiberglass and plywood projects, repels glues, protects wood, and won’t leave additional crease marks in your design like the wax paper can.

I took the nicest piece of long-grained veneer from the bowl of warm water and coated it with glue. This will be the inside piece, facing the user. Then I started layering all 8 pieces , applying glue between each layer and making sure to alternate grain direction each time. I also wanted to end with grain running length-wise so I saved the second best looking piece for this.

When I was done building the stack, I laid it on the mould, placed it in the vacuum bag and hit the “Vacuum and seal” button. The Ziplock device sicked out all the air in about 20 seconds or so and during that time I frantically smoothed pieces and wedged them how I wanted. When it is done, it heat-seals the bag. I’m not going to lie, I had to cut the bag, reposition the stack and do it again. I was luck in that my mould was small and fit in the bag with some extra room. I cut it open straight across and reused the same bag.

This is how it sat for a full 24 hours which thought was plenty of time. Heck, this guy built a longboard using vacuum bags and only let it dry 8 hours. I was having no luck with that. The glue was still just as thin as when I put it on there. So I called the woodcraft store and asked for advice. The recommendation I got was that putting the sheets in water to loosen up the fibers added way too much water to the situation. Honestly, I think it was a combination of that and the glue I used which was Titebond II extended wood glue, which was recommended to me by another guy at Woodcraft which takes longer to dry anyway. (I was originally going to use this pack of veneer to make acoustic guitar sides which would require a long working time for the glue). Really though I can’t figure out how the glue is supposed to dry if it’s in an airtight container. Isn’t the bottle an airtight container and that’s why it’s not all solid when you buy it? Where’s the moisture supposed to go? Next time I’ll maybe throw in some desiccant packs under there to soak up the moisture from the glue. After more research, the moisture apparently soaks into the MDF. Not directly because of the wax paper, but indirectly. There are a few factors that control the glue drying (depending on the glue or epoxy). One main contributor is temperatur. Using a heating pad or electric blanket is often recommended.

After a full day and a half with no change in glue consistency anywhere in the bag, I wrapped duct tape around the form tightly to try to keep its shape, then cut the bag open on both sides to allow the air in. After a day or so of additional drying time I cut it out. I thought the wax paper wouldn’t stick to the veneer, but I was wrong. It stuck pretty good and I had a tough time peeling it off, so I ended up sanding it off. Also, the back side came out looking pretty good except it had the webbed texture of the vacuum bag in glue relief that I had to sand off. It also STILL hadn’t cured fully and it was still quite pliable, with the veneer separating if I tried to bend it. Looking at the angle of the holder, I realized that as it was, it would never be a good hook shape to hold the guitar given the mould I had and a little springback in the wood since it hadn’t fully cured yet. So I cut a half-inch dowel in half and stuck it in the crease and put the stack of veneers back into tension for another day. I clamped it this time and added some water-thin CA glue (superglue) to some of the loose veneers in the middle of the stack. I also had to superglue a few strips of veneer that just couldn’t handle the bend and had split.

After all this it was finally dry. I went about sanding it. Sanding interior radiuses is a nightmare, so do yourself a favor and but a nice round foam sanding block and make sure to never buy cheap sandpaper. I used 3M cause I had it, but a rule of thumb is that almost any yellow (don’t use black) sandpaper with a P rating will be good. There are two different grit rating systems for sandpaper and the P rating is the european one. It has higher regulations and gives much more consistent results. Also, 180P grip is not the same as 180 CAMI or just 180 grit You should be looking at the FEPA/ISO standard, which is the P rating. This is printed on the back of the paper. And I recommended against black sandpaper because it it to be used in wetsanding metals typically. It is made of silicon carbide and can stain wood with carbon dust that will show up in your final finish if you aren’t careful.

You can see here how rough the hanger is at this point. You can also see some separated veneers. Again, i hit those with water-thin superglue which is great because it wicks its way into every crevice (again apply this on top of wax paper or you’re going to have a bad time…). I used small clamps to hold these edges tight until it was dry. I actually waited overnight, but could have started earlier. You might want to get some activator for the CA glue to speed up the drying process. Even overnight when I sanded I could smell when I hit a pocket of wet stuff.

The pic below shows the hanger with the edges cleaned up on the bandsaw a bit in comparison to the cardboard template prototype.

I laid out the decorative curves for the cuts on the bandsaw using sticky remnants of sandpaper as a guide. I cur one side, the traces it on some paper for the other side. It can never be perfect because the mould wasn’t straight and I can only cut so much off the edges since it is already pretty narrow.

I also used the bandsaw to cut the center notch for the actual instrument to hand from. This was a bit of measurement then trial and error as I have several ukuleles of different neck widths and I wanted a universal hander. I have to say tat due to the saw’s limitations and the extreme curve of the piece, I think I was able to get the best result possible. Sand again with 180P and 320P. 320 is overkill on the smooth finish, 220P is best for this, but I don’t have any on hand.

Here you can see the prototype cardboard with the final product. It;s a little wonky and twisted, but it will work. Now on to finishing. The inspiration designs were all glossy, but I can’t stand a glossy finish on wood. Seems too fake and plastic to me. All my instruments (save for my electrics guitars which are painted) have a nice satin finish. This is also a test of the Wipe-On poly I’m using or the Ukulele kit I’m building. (More on this in a later post or series of posts i’ll likely forget to update a link here for).

The first coat of poly is a light sealing coat. Wait until it completely dries and is no longer tacky, hit again lightly with the 320 and then do a heavier coat. Do this in a ventilated area, and be careful with the wrags you use. They will spontaneously combust as they dryl it’s best to lay them out flat on your driveway or in the yard until the poly cures hard on the rags, then throw them away.never store them in a pile in your garage or house or even nearby. Don’t believe me? Google it to see many stories of people who were careless and now they are homeless.

Again,wear gloves when using chemicals, as well as well ventilated areas and safety glasses. You’ll do one thinner seal coat, let it dry then come back in a few hours and do a light sanding, and thicker coat Repeat once or twice more to your desired effect. A satin poly will never be too shiny, so if you want that look, make sure you buy the gloss finish wipe-on poly.

On the very end results I added some foam padding with rubber cement to the edges of the hook as to not mar the ukes, and of course screwed it to the wall. Works and looks great!

Now was it work all the time and effort rather than just buying one? Hell yea it was. Plus now I have all the materials to make as many as I want and get fancy with them with inlays and such. This one was a learning process. I already know what I’d like to improve.

PCB Milling Software Survey

August 20, 2018July 30, 2018 by Adam@SheekGeek

FacAcademy had used a great tool designed in-house for PCB milling making it stupid easy. I should be able to mill some PCBs at home right? Ha!

Method 1 Carbide Copper (web-based): Carbide Copper (Formally Rapid PCB)is by far the simplest solution for PCBs. A simple step by step process takes your Gerber and Excellon files and generates great g-code for your machine to run. Check it out below:

Method 2 Easel (web-based): Easel is the online CAM tool from Inventables, the makers of Xcarve. It has a lot of good settings in it and the interface is great. I just hate storing all my files online. Honestly I’m kinds sick of all these online “apps” that change settings and user interfaces elements all the time. Makes it impossible to follow a video tutorial after 6 months since nothing looks or works the same (looking at you AutoDesk!)

Method 3 FlatCAM: Once you create your PCB, you need to run a CAM process inside your PCB tool (such as EagleCAD or KiCAD, etc) to export the gerber and excellon files of your design. Gerber files basically throw all bottom traces into one file, all top traces into another, all drill files into another, etc. Then to view these, you need a Gerber viewer. Once you do that, you can use a CAM software to generate the tooling for making the board. This is where FlatCAm comes in. You import your gerber files and FlatCAM will help you create the path the PCBmill will need to move to create your circuit. I must say, I found FlatCAm’s user interface frustrating. YOu bring in your gerber of the bottom traces for instance, then click another tab to set up the tooling, then that creates another file in your project in which you must then select and select another tab (again) to finally generate the g code for your machine. You have to do the same with the top traces file, the drills file, and the dimension file. This seems convoluted and frustrated me.

Method 4 MakerCam: This method works well for Fritzing. You can export an SVG from Fritzing, then import that into inkscape for touch-ups, then on to MakerCAM to generate the final product.

Method 5 FabModules: The older linux-based Fabmodules won’t work for me, I’m not installing a bunch of junk on my PC just to run fab modules. Luckily, there’s a new web-based version at http://fabmodules.org The new version doesn’t seem to be as good as the old version in creating the output files. Here’s a basic intro to making PCBs with it:

Method 6 Fusion 360: While the newest version of Eagle has a plugin to send the PCB design to Fusion360, you can’t do anything useful with it (such as extrude the traces easily). It seems you have to redraw or trace the traces onto a Fusion360 sketch. While using “Smart snapping” can simplify this, it’s still something that should be automated. (Correct me in the comments if I am mistaken about this method). However, a friend of mine worked out a method that seems to have worked well for him. You export the EagleCAD as an PNG, then import the PNG to fabmodules to create an SVG of the outline of the traces, then import this SVG into fusion and extrude and generate toolpaths.

The workflow is similar to the video above for the fabmodules. Once you bring your SVG into Fusion360, extrude all the traces up about 0.2mm (could be time consuming) and extrude the remainder of the PCB downward -1.5mm and select a teeny-tiny endmill. If you have to, simply create this as a new tool. 1/64″ (0.39-0.4mm) is what FabAcademy uses typically. Then create a 2D contour around all the traces.

PCB Milling Tips

July 16, 2018 by Adam@SheekGeek

This post is like a scratchpad for documenting for myself the process, but could be helpful to you as well. To mill PCBs, I recommend the following:

Only use FR1 blank boards. FR1 is paper infused with fiberglass resin. This is better to mill than FR-4 fiberglass substrate boards. It is better on bits than FR4 and you won’t have tiny specs of glass dust in the air when you cut PCBs. You can get this at Inventables.com or Bantam (formally Othermill)

I had a bunch of issues generating a usable board. My workflow was originally to use EagleCAD to FlatCAM, then pronterface to control my smoothie board. I have since come across Carbide Copper which seems to be MUCH better.

Since my work are isn’t level, I attempted to level it before milling a PCB. That didn’t work for… well.. reasons.

I then decided to autolevel the board. After MUCH research and trials and tribulations, I discovered that the smoothieboard has this feature built in to it’s CNC firmware. You need to probe the PCB to see where the surface is, and it will automatically record the offset in the Z axis and apply it to your G-code so you’ll have nice boards.

First, place the PCB blank on the workspace using 2-sided scotch tape.
Move the CNC to the 0,0 position and make sure this is the MACHINE offset (reset the smoothieboard once in this position).
Build a probe (simply two wires with alligator clips as ends that plug into the Z stop.
Scuff up the PCB’s surface with a scotch brite
Use a piece of aluminum tape affixed to the PCB’s surface in a nondescript spot. Allow some of the tape to overhang enough to clip one lead from the probe to it.
Clip the other lead of the probe on your endmill
Make sure there’s good conductivity from the metal tape and the surface of the PCB, or else you’ll be buying new bits and might break your machine.
Knowing the dimensions of your board, and how resolute you wish to measure the surface, issue the following command:
G31 X0 Y0 A75 B50 I7 J7

This starts probing at X0 Y0, and goes to X75mm probing 7 times along the way (I7). It will then move 1/7th (J 7) in the Y dimension towards Y50mm. It makes a zig zag like this across the entire board until it reaches the endpoint X75 Y50. The number of probe points in each dimension (I and J) need to be odd numbers. An example of its results are shown below.

50.0000| -0.0986 -0.0920 -0.1032 -0.1336 -0.1647 -0.2448 -0.3930
41.6667| -0.0966 -0.0860 -0.0906 -0.1032 -0.1475 -0.1833 -0.1727
33.3333| -0.0582 -0.0476 -0.0463 -0.0774 -0.1184 -0.1667 -0.2335
25.0000| -0.0741 -0.0437 -0.0384 -0.0582 -0.1052 -0.1581 -0.2263
16.6667| -0.0364 -0.0099 0.0013 -0.0278 -0.0681 -0.1237 -0.1912
-8.3333| -0.0172 0.0139 0.0218 0.0053 -0.0337 -0.0886 -0.1661
_0.0000| 0.0040 0.0291 0.0404 0.0139 -0.0086 -0.0655 -0.1389
_________—–+———-+———-+———-+———-+———-+———-+—–
_________0.0000 12.5000 25.0000 37.5000 50.0000 62.5000 75.0000

(Thanks for the great spacing wordpress… just ignore the underscores) The numbers represent the offset from Z=0 at each point in the grid.
At this point simply tell the machine to go to (0,0,0), remove the probe clips and tape (Seriously do NOT forget to do this… again).
Load the gcode into pronterface, turn on the router on its lowest speed and run the file.
Cuss a lot when something goes wrong.
Contemplate creating your own all-in-one solution.

Another tip I saw online (Thanks pda3k!) was to use the Z probe in a single spot (this would be for other things, not PCBs.

New Z probe: T. Once it makes contact, it raises the tool to 19mm. G10 L20 Set Coordinate System
G30 Z9.6
G10 L20 P1 Z9.6 ;G10 L20 Set Coordinate System in P1, he touch plate is 9.6mm thick
G0 Z19 ;it raises the tool to 19mm.

Although OpenCNCPilot looks like a very nice project with autolevelling and camera integration… Maybe I’ll use this to help visualize stuff better. Thought it likely won’t work with the smoothieboard. We’ll see in the future post.

DIY Learning tower

February 19, 2019July 9, 2018 by Adam@SheekGeek

Having a toddler that always wants to help in the kitchen, there’s a need to have a safer alternative to having them just stand on a chair to reach the countertop. I had no idea, but this is already a thing called a learning tower. Kind of a overblown name for a stool with guard rails if you ask me, but whatever. As a note, this blog post if filled with affiliate links. I thought you might like to have the entire tools list.

After looking online at learning towers (and learning what they are) I was learning toward buying some IKEA parts and hacking them together like so many others online, however IKEA stopped selling one of the crucial components. This left me having to do some custom work. If you’re in for a penny you’re in for a pound so I started looking at custom designs for learning towers. After about an hour of research Jess just said “go see what scrap wood we have and we’ll cobble something together.”

We happened to have a scrap piece of wood that used to be a leaf blower hovercraft… for… reasons. It was 33 inches by 36 inches. Of course with a hole in it for the leaf blower to mount. That’ll do. It’s just tall enough for our countertop and just wide enough that when split in half it can hold a toddler with a bit of wiggle room. Final dimensions of the sides were 36″tall by 16″ wide.

I sliced it up to be the sides of the learning tower. Then I got to (finally) use my router table and my 1″ diameter 1/2″ depth roundover bit for the first time. The trick is not to have the bit stick up too far on the router table, otherwise you’ll get a nice roundover on the edge, but it’ll cut deep enough to leave the face of the wood raised a bit proud. This would then need to be sanded down (unless you like the look and feel of it). Run this on both sides of each piece to get a nice smooth rounded edge. It makes it safer for tiny hands as well as making it look more professional. I got my router table from Craigslist that a guy had built from this plan on a woodworking website for $10. He was upgrading and it was taking up space so I got it for less than the wood costed him. It didn’t come with the router itself for that price. I had to get my own. It was the perfect excuse to get a beefier router for future projects than the Dewalt DW611 trim router I have in my Xcarve CNC machine. I stuck with Dewalt for the brand and got a DW616 model with the fixed base. I mounted it on the underside of my table and when I need to, I can unscrew it and use it manually.

Now to attach the two side panels. In the old scrap pile, we had an 8 foot section of 1×2″ pine. I have no clue why it was magically there when we needed it, I don’t remember ever buying it. Regardless, it was good to be used. Jess threw out the number of 16″ for the space between the sides of the tower. That worked out to having 6 of these beams. Of course they were a bit shorter due to the kerf of the blade. I cut these using my pull saw and a plastic miter box. The draw saw is the best thing to ever slice bread. Especially for trim pieces, the cuts are very precise, the blade has minimal kerf, and it cuts very quickly. In fact I use this saw over a push saw on all my projects be it cutting 4x4s or moulding. At this point, stumbling our way through the design, we settled on something with ladder-like steps the kid could climb up, and that we could reposition the platform as they grow.

I knocked off the sharp 90 degree edges of the 1×2 pieces using a cornering tool kit. This tool looks like an old can opener and works kind of like a plane to scrape the edges into a smoother shape. I got a kit a couple years ago for a project and have wanted to use them on something else for a while now. I have to say, this is way better than trying to smooth the corners of these small pieces with sandpaper and much safer for your fingers than using a router table for these small pieces.

Normally, connecting pieces of wood in this way leaves much to be desired. If you drill directly into the side panel into the end of the 1×2 piece you’ll have a really weak joint and you’ll see the screw on the side of the panel. It isn’t strong because the wood fibers (visible by looking at the grain) are aligned along the long axis of the 1×2. Wood fibers are basically long tubes that the water gets drawn up into the tree through. When you screw directly into the end, imagine that you are screwing into the end of a stack of straws. The fibers spread around the screw and there’s not much for the screw to grip on. The best way to connect these pieces is with Pocket Holes. I got a great and versatile pocket hole jig made by Kreg recently and this was a great chance to try it out. Probably 10 years ago I got a knock off pocket hole jig made of aluminum to save some money, but it ended up working for barely one project before the guide holes got all wallowed out and useless. It also could only accept a certain size piece of wood as it was a piece of extruded aluminum. This kreg kit on the other hand can accept a wide range of pieces of wood. It also has guides for making the perfect depth hole based on the the wood thickness. The drill guide is completely removable to use on parts in situ as well. All in all, the Kreg kit is the best bet by far.

I messed up one of the beams by not setting the correct depth for the pocket hole, so that left me with 5 total. That works out to 4 on the bottom for the ladder step and platform holder and then one for the back at the top. I typically have found that 1-1/4″ drywall screws are just about the most useful type of screw to have laying around for just about any project, so I used a single screw on each end of the beams to attach them. (Now there are times when to buy different screws, but in most cases these will work fine). To keep the beams from spinning about the screws (even though the pocket holes helped with this by being slightly off axis) I tacked each beam through the side panels with 2 finishing nails from my brad gun.

I then cut a platform out of a piece of 1/2″ scrap plywood to fit between the side panels. To make sure this thing will stay in place, I attached a 1/2″ square dowel on the front and back edges just inside where the platform rests on the beams. I glued it and tacked it with brads.

When we got to this point we realized the design was a little tippy front to back and didn’t sit squarely on the floor. Going back to the scrap pile, I cut out two sets of “feet” about 18″ long and 3″ tall. I then cut these in half so they’d stick out of the front and back more when I mounted them. Of course I rounded them off at the router table again with the same bit. I attached them to the bottom of the tower with wood glue and brad nails that I once again cut off the excess length with a hacksaw and sanded them smooth with an orbital sander. This added 5-6 inches to the footprint on the front and back making the whole thing much more stable.

A touch of wood putty here and there to fill in gaps in the edges of the plywood and cover the most visible pocket holes, a light sanding all over, and a couple cans of dark grey spray paint on the edges and interior did a majority of the finishing. Jess had some wood-flavored contact paper and added that to the exterior of the side panels.

A few coats of spray-on polyurethane on the platform finished that part off. Jess modge podged the edge of the contact paper to the rounded end of the sides and voila’ our learning tower was complete. –Though after use by the sink it was shown that it’s better to use the exterior modge podge instead. It is a little hardier when it gets wet that the regular stuff.

What to do with all these Jawbone devices now the company is defunct?

December 18, 2019July 3, 2018 by Adam@SheekGeek

(TLDR: Jawbone Replacements – Fitbit Inspire HR, Fitbit Charge 3, Garmin Vívoactive 3 Music)

Having gotten a couple Jawbone Up24 devices a few years ago for dirt cheap (<$10 each used) I thought it was a great deal, until Jawbone shut down their servers recently. The app no longer works for tracking steps or sleep, you can’t create new accounts or anything anymore. I think it’s a damn shame that even while the company is dying with no hope of saving it, they haven’t open sources their hardware/software. As a plea to all companies, especially those with millions of devices already in the market, please open your designs to the public if your company is dying!!! Otherwise all those devices are going to end up in landfills even though they still have the ability to work. I realize that there may be some tech you can’ share such as what’s involved in patent disputes, but at least open the parts of the code that provide basic functionality for hackers to work with!

For the Jawbone UP24 bands I have, I did some googling and found someone who wrote an app that allows the UP bands to vibrate when your phone gets notifications which still works even after Jawbone’s API has been taken offline. This is a great thing to use for things such as calendar notifications or timer on your phone. Here’s my journey into getting these things to work.

If you don’t currently have a jawbone device, you can get them online second hand pretty easily and for practically nothing nowadays. YOu can’t buy them from stores anymore though. I recommend you pick up a UP24 band.

The next step is to fix the band if you need to. I did a hard reset on my band as it wasn’t charging correctly. Here’s the steps

To hard reset your band, please follow these steps:

Press the button on your band 10 times. Try to pace the presses at about about one press every second.

On the 10th press, PRESS + HOLD the button for 15 FULL SECONDS, or until the sun status light appears. Once you see the light, let go of the button. (via https://blog.mornati.net/)

Doing a hard reset will wipe all saved data from the device, but since Jawbone’s servers are down and likely for the count, I don’t think that matters much.

Next download the Jawbone App. As I mentioned before, it won’t track steps or sleep, or allow you to connect to a jawbone account, however you need this to pair your UP24 band to your phone. This is required after a hard reset. Open the app and click through the screens (don’t try to sign or log in as it won’t work, their servers are turned off) but you’ll eventually come to a point where you need to pair the device as shown in the video below. This worked for me with no problem at all and without having to log in.

The next part (after pairing the device with your phone) is to download the app to allow you to push notifications called UpNotifications in the play store. You can select which apps you will allow. This app does cost $1.79, but given that you can get the device <$10 (we got one for $3 on ebay), and this app for <$2 I think it’s still worth it. What’s cool is the builder of this app Stefano Brilli documented the process of building this app on his blog.

In the UpNotifications app, simply go to the top and switch on notifications, then go to “select band” and it should be populated in the list with it’s address. CLick that, then select which apps you want to be able to push notifications to the band.

It should be noted that this app might support more than just Jawbones. It detected my FitBit Charge 2 device as well.

Tada! You just saved a functional device from the ending up in a landfill. This is truly recycling in the sense that you’re ReUsing (reduce, reuse, recycle). LIke other forms of recycling, it’s a bit of a downgrade of the band’s once glorious functionality, but at least now you’ve given it a second life.

Another quick note if you encounter problems, the only troubleshooting info I have from the UpNotifications app says to make sure your firmware is updated. SInce you can’t access the jawbone app, I’m not sure how that’s possible. If you figure it out, or have any other hacks for these little guys, feel free to post them in the comments.

I will recommend updating to a different company’s fitness band. There are a ton of options, and I have only tried a few. For instance, I mentioned the Fitbit Charge 2 earlier. This is a great basic step counter and heart rate tracker and when paired with your phone can map your exercises using the phone’s GPS. I loved the small size and simple interface. It tracks heart rate constantly and does a great job of detecting how well you’ve slept (showing you a chart with deep sleep, REM, and showing how many times you were awake or restless in the night). The heart rate tracker can also estimate cardio fitness score, a measure of how healthy you are overall.

After using my Fitbit Charge 2 for more than a year, I decided that I wanted more features like integrated GPS so I didn’t need to bring my phone with me when I exercised. I tried the Samsung Gear S2. This is a full android device that can make cell phone calls and has Svoice (Samsung’s version of Siri) which I found worked well. It has built-in apps for heart rate, GPS tracking of exercises. (Though I used both the MapMyRun and Endomondo apps for the watch as well). The Heart rate monitoring isn’t constant, rather it can be set to measure when you are still for a programmable period of time (sucha s 10 or 30 minutes). It doesn’t have a native sleep tracker app so I tried a couple apps I downloaded. Most of the apps available for the phone are actually just watch faces which is disappointing. I love that this watch was waterproof so I could shower and swim with it, and the wireless charging feature. Eventually I got rid of it though because it had to be recharged every day. I got it used so maybe the previous owner had messed up the battery. Regardless, I moved on.

I settled on the Garmin Vivoactive 3 which I charge about as often as the Fitbit, only once a week. It has integrated GPS so I don’t need to bring my phone to track my exercise. It also has a great heart rate monitor and is one of the few watches with Heart Rate Variability (HRV) monitoring features which can be used to determine how healthy you are. It is also waterproof, and has a full color screen which you can easily see in full daylight.

In all, there isn’t a ton that can be done with the Jawbone’s now that their servers are offline unless someone backwards engineers the communication protocol to set up new bands with an app. This is very unlikely given the current scenario. The best option is to move to another company. Fitbit, Garmin, and samsung’s stock prices are all pretty steady over the last year so I believe they will stick around for the long haul. Samsung owns South Korea so it isn’t going anywhere, and garmin has been in the GPS game for ages.