Tech Guides & Apps

Built from real trade experience — OSHA-certified electrician and fiber optic technician. Practical references and calculators for the shop and the field. No fluff, no invented specs.

FIELD GUIDE · PDF

Fiber Optic Termination Field Guide

$47

A practical field reference for fiber optic termination: connector types, prep and cleave procedure, polishing grades, testing with a light source and power meter, loss budgets, and troubleshooting common faults. Written from real hands-on fiber tech experience.

Buy — $47
WEB APP

CutCalc — Plasma & Laser Shop Calculator

Free

Kerf offset calculator, feed and speed estimator by material and thickness, plus material weight and job cost estimator for plasma and laser cutting. Runs right in your browser — nothing to install.

Open CutCalc
WEB APP

Tech Toolbox

Free

A collection of quick calculators and references for electrical and shop work — wire sizing helpers, conduit fill, voltage drop, and more. Mobile-friendly for the job site.

Open Tech Toolbox
FIELD GUIDE · PDF

Mobile Welding Rig Setup Guide

$47

The complete field guide to setting up a truck or trailer welding rig: platform comparison, four-zone layout, welder + generator sizing math with a worked example, gas bottle securing, cable management and voltage-drop table, grounding and electrical safety, fire prevention, OSHA-relevant notes, printable startup/shutdown checklists, maintenance schedule, and troubleshooting reference. 10 pages. Field guidance — not engineered drawings.

Buy — $47
BUILD PLAN · PDF

Shop Dust-Collection Build Plan

$37

Full build plan for a shop dust-collection system: CFM table for 12 common tools, duct velocity and sizing tables, static-pressure budgeting, trunk-and-branch layout rules with two worked example layouts, blast-gate placement, cyclone vs. single-stage comparison, MERV filter specs, motor circuit table, generic parts list, 12-step assembly, commissioning checklist, and maintenance schedule. 9 pages. Verify electrical loads with a licensed electrician.

Buy — $37
SPREADSHEET · XLSX

Material Inventory Tracker

$27

Functional Excel workbook for tracking shop materials: stock sheet with auto-calculating on-hand qty and total inventory value, low-stock alerts (REORDER/LOW/OK) with red/amber/green formatting, project usage log that auto-deducts from stock, and a reorder calculator with suggested quantities and estimated costs. How-to sheet included.

Buy — $27
TEMPLATE PACK · PDF

OSHA 1926 Safety Plan Template Pack

$37

Ten fill-in safety plan templates for small construction shops: hazard assessment, toolbox talk log, PPE matrix, incident report, competent-person designations and more — mapped to the real OSHA 1926 structure.

Buy — $37
FIELD GUIDE · PDF

Home Electrical Troubleshooting Field Guide

$27

Homeowner-safe electrical diagnostics from an OSHA-certified electrician: dead-outlet GFCI/AFCI flowcharts, breaker-tripping causes, flickering-light fixes — with explicit boundaries on when to call a pro.

Buy — $27
FIELD GUIDE · PDF

Off-Grid Land Buying & Due-Diligence Guide

$27

Due diligence for buying rural land: zoning checks, access easements, well and septic feasibility, solar exposure assessment, flood plain checks, and VA loan basics for rural property. General info, no legal advice.

Buy — $27
FIELD GUIDE · PDF

Generator Transfer Switch Install Guide

$47

Sizing a portable or standby generator, manual vs. automatic transfer switches vs. interlock kits, NEC Article 702 essentials, neutral-bonding rules, three drawn wiring diagrams, copper wire-sizing table, 10-step commissioning checklist, and the 10 most common install mistakes. 12 pages. Field guidance — hire a licensed electrician and follow local code.

Buy — $47
BUILD PLAN · PDF

Workshop Air Compressor Line Layout

$37

Full layout guide for shop air: tool CFM table with sizing rules, copper vs. black iron vs. PEX vs. aluminum comparison (never PVC), slope and drain-leg details, filter/regulator/dryer placement, quick-connect station layout, and a worked 2-car-garage example with parts list. 10 pages.

Buy — $37
REFERENCE · PDF

EMT Conduit Bending Cheat-Sheet Pack

$27

Every EMT bend on one reference: 90° stubs, back-to-back bends, offset multiplier table (10°–60°), 3-point and 4-point saddles, take-up and deduct constants for 1/2", 3/4", and 1" EMT, hand-bender technique, plus 6 practice exercises with worked answers. 10 pages.

Buy — $27
About the author: Derek Shores is an OSHA-certified electrician and fiber optic technician. These guides and tools come from real work in the field — established techniques and practical references, not theory.

Questions? Email dshores1993@gmail.com.