The guy down the street has a peg board set up to hold his tools, just like every one you know.  You’re a DIY/tool guy; you want need to have something slicker than he does to hold your gear, yeah?  How ’bout your own custom-made slot-wall? 

Porter Cable’s got your back with their Slot-Wall Self feeding bit. This bit, when hooked to your router, will cut a “T” shaped slot into a 2×4 or wooden board of your choosing. That “T” slot will hold peg board hangers or standard slot-wall hangers.  Do you see where we’e going here?

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We were talking to a Skil insider today and heard that this fall Skil will get a line of 10.8V lithium-ion tools.  As you can imagine, our first thoughts jumped to parent-company Bosch’s 10.8V-li-ion-powered I-Driver and PS20.

We’re big fans of the PS20.  If you don’t have one yet, shame on you.  Go get one right now, and if your friends give you any crap about buying a “small tool,” make them carry around a 5 lb. weight for a day.  Bigger isn’t always better — especially when smaller’ll do the job.

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(Thursday, August 24th, 2006) We did our best to find something for you to watch tonight.  It’s not an easy job sometimes. Maybe tonight’s a good night to write letters to Discovery demanding they bring back the king of blowing things up fabrication — Jesse James.  Or maybe Southern Steel.  Anything.

All times are central.

• DIY Tools & Techniques: Radical Router Projects (DIY, 5 p.m.)
• Floors, Doors & Windows: Front Door (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 36: Wind Generators, PVC Gloves, Thermo-Formed Glass, Fire Trucks. (Discovery, 6 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 13: Bicycle Helmets, Lithium Batteries, Car Brakes, Aluminum. (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Building the Ultimate: The Shape of the Future (Science, 7 p.m.)
• Classic Tractor Specials: “World of Antique Tractors.” Tractor pull; small engine show from Glendale, AZ. (RFD-TV, 7 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 8 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 8:30 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Manufactured Stone Fireplace (DIY, 9 p.m.)
• Weapons Week: Anatomy of an FA-18 (Military, 10 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 10:30 p.m.)
• Unique Whips: Southern Dis-Comfort (Speed, midnight)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: Classic Tractor Specials (RFD-TV, 3:00 a.m.).  Or, if you can’t sleep, write another letter to Discovery.  Tell them Toolmonger sent you.

The first time I bought an electric toothbrush, my best friend said, “What, are you too lazy to move the brush back and forth yourself?”  Yes.  Yes, I am.

I’m also too lazy to extend my measuring tape myself, too lazy to adjust my adjustable wrench myself, and too lazy to crank down a clamp. 

Thankfully, Black & Decker understands lazy.  They’ve given the world the AutoTape, the AutoWrench, and now (this October, anyway) the AutoClamp.  Now if I just wasn’t too lazy — and too cheap — to replace batteries, I’d be set.

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Since you’ve graced Toolmonger with your opinions in ever-increasing numbers, we decided to create a weekly post to share some of our favorites.  Our big motivation behind this post is to share some of the comments from older posts.  You’d have to dig around in the archives to find them — which we highly recommend, by the way, as there’s some good stuff back there.  Just because it’s not on the front page anymore doesn’t mean the comments aren’t flying.

So, let’s jump right in with comments from this last week.

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It’s been a month since we hauled the MasterCool MMB12 from the truck to the shop, and we’ve had quite an opportunity to learn about it since then.  When we first posted about it, we noted that in our use, it fell a good bit short of the manufacturer’s claims of 20-30 degrees of cooling — even in our 35% humidity shop in Texas.

However, we’ve come to realize that even 10 degrees of cooling can make all the difference — and you can achieve 20 degrees of cooling if you’re willing to make a few trips to the mini-mart for ice. 

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From the SaberTooth website:

Traditional pliers don’t allow for much leverage, so SaberTooth invented the Max Force Multi Pliers with the dual pivot-action lever which generates greater power, control, and comfort for superior clamping and cutting power.

We can understand the desire for four pliers in one — especially in a smaller toolkit, like the one you carry in your car.  But are these pliers really all that?

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(Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006) There are 6 episodes of How It’s Made on tonight spread across Discovery and the Science Channel. Building the Ultimate looks interesting for fans of geodesic domes. Also look out for a rerun of the grossest MythBusters episode ever: Stinky Car.

All times are central

• DIY Tools and Techniques:Cutting Edge Innovations (DIY, 5 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 25: Coins, Cars, Grocery Carts (Discovery, 6 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 28: Combination Locks, Pottery, Recreational Vehicles, Erasers (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Chop Cut Rebuild (Speed, 6:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 42: High-Precision Cutting Tools, Stained Glass, Semi-Trailers, Recorders (Science Channel, 7 p.m.)
• Building the Ultimate: Skymakers: The History of Domed Structures (Science, 7 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 48: Car Engines, Flour, Recliners and Envelopes (Discovery, 7 p.m.)
• Wings at War: The Pioneers, Vertical Flight Pioneers. (Military, 8 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 37: Radiators, Hatchery Chicks, Phyllo Dough, Cross-Country Skis. (Science, 8 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 38: Electric Baseboard Heaters, Molded Pulp Containers, Video Games. (Science, 8:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Crimes and Myth-demeanors 2 (Discovery, 9 p.m.)
• Assembly Required: Cargotecture (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
• Junk Brothers: The Side Table and the Kitchen Table (HGTV, 10 p.m.)
• PINKS: Mustang vs Wooly Mammoth (Speed, 10:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Stinky Car (Discovery, 11 p.m.)
• Unique Whips: Back With a Vengeance (Speed, 11 p.m.)
• I Love Toy Trains: “Great Lionel Layouts.” Fritz Von Tagen’s Pre-War Layout, Part 1. (RFD-TV, 11:30 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: PINKS (Speed, 12:30 a.m.), Unique Whips (Speed, 1:00 a.m.), and Chop Cut Rebuild (Speed, 3:00 a.m.).

We here at Toolmonger are cheap.  We’re not talking blow-through-the-toll-booth-doing-90-and-hope-to-outrun-the cameras cheap.  (OK, maybe once or twice.  We didn’t have any change.  Really!) But we just can’t see paying more for framing than we paid for the object it is being made for.  True Toolmongers make their own frames.

One of the most annoying things, at least for us anyway, when making a frame is the hardware installation.  It’s always a pain in the rear.  We wind up cracking something in the process when using a staple gun, and hammering brads into a small frame just sets you up for a finger smashing.  Logan’s F400-1 Fitting Tool looks to be an easy solution.

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So you’ve moved into your nice, new house and since you have a pre-installed sprinkler system you’ll never need to worry about dragging the hose around again, right?

Wrong.  Depending on how well your local government has managed water resources, you might find yourself under severe water restrictions (like we have in North Texas).  And if that’s the case, you’ll soon discover that besides your grass dying, there’s a good chance your foundation (and front walkway) may crack.

To avoid it, you’ll need soaker hoses.  And to avoid going out in the heat (or coming home during the workday or forgetting to turn the hose on) you’ll need a water timer.

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Those of you in the Minneapolis, MN area on September 12th – 15th may want to take advantage of the JLC Live Residential Construction Show.

What can you expect to see at the show?  Perhaps the greatest show on Earth.  Wait, doesn’t the “greatest show on Earth” have tigers and a human cannonball?  Well, forget the tigers and the human ballistics.  This show has tools! What’s better than the latest tools on display for you to play with?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  (more…)

(Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006) Hey, it’s not a bad night of shows including 3 solid hours on TLC.   Classic Tractors has a good segment on orchard tractors, which are beautifully streamlined to avoid damaging the tree branches.

All times are central.

• Machinery of the Past: “On-Farm Museums.” German Built One-Cylinder Lanz Bulldog Tractor, 1898 Garr Scott Steamer, The World’s Only Discer or Disk Harrow Museum (RFD-TV, 5 p.m.)
• DIY Tools and Techniques: Cool Table Saw Cuts (DIY, 5 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 45: Brushes and Push Brooms, Blackboards, Smoked Salmon, Zippers (Discovery, 6 p.m.)
• Modern Marvels: More Earthmovers. (History, 6 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 32: Yogurt, Candles, Neon Signs, Book Binding. (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Classic Tractor Fever: “Orchards and High Crops,” John Deere Tractors, Case Orchard Models (RFD-TV, 6:30 p.m.)
• PINKS: Nova vs Camaro (Speed, 6:30 p.m.)
• Overhaulin’: Chip & AJ Trading Places (TLC, 7 p.m.)
• Monster Truck Tech (National Geographic, 7 p.m.)
• Rides: Roush Racing (TLC, 8 p.m.)
• Overhaulin’: Spaced Out (TLC, 9 p.m.)
• John Ratzenberger’s Made in America: Mack Truck, Milgard Windows, Coca-Cola. (Travel, 9 p.m.)
• John Ratzenberger’s Made in America: Fender Electric Guitars, M. L. Leddy Saddles, Wheaties. (Travel 9:30 p.m.)
• Trade School: Tiling (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
• Weapons Week: Warbots (Military, 10 p.m.)
• Build Or Bust: Season Finale (Speed, 10p.m.)
• Unique Whips: Dead Men Walking (Speed, 11 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: Machinery of the Past (RFD-TV, 1:00 a.m.), Classic Tractor Fever (RFD-TV, 2:30 a.m.) and Build Or Bust (Speed, 3:00 a..m.).  Sleep tight!

Welcome to our first round of Toolmonger’s “Doh!” of the Week where we’ll gather up reader mail (and our personal experiences) to bring you some tales of folly in the shop. 

First of all, thanks to all those users who’ve stepped up to share their pain with everyone both to entertain and to help us all avoid stepping in the same cold, slush-filled pothole.  And special thanks to readers Rick and Tyrone who really threw down the gauntlet in comments to get the ball rolling.

This week’s theme: kids in the shop.

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Switching between tools takes time, and if you have to set up the tools as well, that time can seem like an eternity.  We come from the “if I have to stop to reset at all, that’s too long” school of thought.

Now that you you know how impatient we are, you can see how the Rotex RO 150 FEQ from Festool appeals to our inner “lazy.”  (You know, like those really freaky Volkswagen “fast” commercials?  No?  Oh well.)  It switches from random orbital sanding to rotary sanding, which means you can take off a little or a lot without swapping tools.

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We’ve received quite a bit of email (and even some comments) requesting additional coverage of industrial tools and waterjet machining in particluar.  So, we went looking for a friendly “waterjet expert” to introduce us (and you) to the technology. 

Man, were we lucky.  We found Carl Olsen.  Carl works for OMAX, a manufacturer of high-end precision abrasive waterjet systems.  But Carl’s waterjet experience goes way back.  According to him, his father was one of the originators of the waterjet cutting concept back in the 1960’s, and while other kids played cowboys and indians, he ran around with the garden hose cutting up the yard playing “waterjet.” 

For the last 10 years, he’s helped OMAX develop and improve the software that controls their cutting machines, but in his spare time he created and maintains http://www.waterjets.org/, a site chock full of myth-dispelling excucational facts about waterjet technology.  Between all this, he took the time to talk to us.

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It’s almost impossible to glue up any large panel like a table top without a clamping system of some sort.  To get an even surface, your panels will require clamps and pressure on the sides to set the glue and additional pressure on the top and bottom to prevent joint buckling.  It can be a real trick to get it all right, and once everything is glued and clamped down properly there are so many clamps sticking out in every direction that it looks more like an alien mother ship than a woodworking project.

Or, you can just try out Woodcraft’s clamping system.

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(Monday, August 21st, 2006) Discovery makes Monday fun as usual, with their full night of build programming. OCC Roadshow seems like a welcome change from the typical American Chopper fare, but I guess we’ll see if real tension makes the boys behave any differently.

All times are central.

• Trains and Locomotives (RFD-TV, 5 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 16: Personal Watercraft, Ice Skates, Wine, Office Furniture (Discovery, 6 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 31: Horse-Drawn Carriages, Artificial Eyes, Dog and Cat Food, Mirrors. (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• American Chopper: Bill Murray Bike 2 (Discovery, 7 p.m.)
• American Hot Rod: ‘56 Chevy Convertible - Pt. 2 (Discovery, 8 p.m.)
• Biker Build-Off: Mike Metzger vs. Larry Linkogle (Discovery, 9 p.m.)
• DIY Freeform Furniture: Bench (DIY, 9 p.m.)
• American Chopper: OCC Roadshow (Discovery, 10 p.m.)
• I Want That! Tech Toys: Mother of All Barbecues, Robots, Video Game Workouts, Turntable for Today (HGTV, 10:30 a.m.)
• American Chopper: Sunoco Bike 1 (Discovery, 11 p.m.)
• Unique Whips: Duelling Lambos (Speed, 11 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestion: Trains and Locomotives (1:00 a.m., RFD-TV).