This isn’t a tool per se, but it will help you use the ones you already have.  If you haven’t wandered over to the Miller Welding website recently, you might not have found their great “welding library.”  It’s a compendium of tips ranging from the obvious buyer’s guide to some incredibly useful descriptions of techniques.

For the professional welder, they also discuss some of the economic issues involved, including how to keep your costs down and make the most of the tools you’ve got.

If nothing else, this site is worth a bookmark solely for their “Welding Dictionary,” which serves as a great reference when you’re reading other texts.  Best of all: It’s free.

Welding Library [Miller]

We’ve got a great big shop vaccuum that we use for all sorts of cleanup work, but from time to time we’ve thought about how nice it’d be if we didn’t have to go through the job of dragging it out, cleaning it up, and re-storing it when we only managed to make a little mess.  Shop-Vac’s small version looks like it might be a great solution, and the fact that you can hang it up to get it out of the way is a big plus.  We’re about out of free floor and shelf space.

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Installing or removing a serpentine belt is one of those tasks that can really ruin your day.  It’s such a simple task, yet it always seems to take a lot more thinking and grunting than you’d expect.  This tool won’t help you interpret the squiggly little diagram covered in years of grease to figure out how the belt goes in, but it will save you a lot of grunting.

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(Saturday, September 30th, 2006) Building a steel drum should be some interesting metalworking, and we think tonight’s episode of Trick My Truck is new. 

All times are central.

• MythBusters: Chinese Invasion Alarm (Discovery, 7 p.m.)
• Trick My Truck: Mark Ferguson’s Phoenix Rising  (CMT, 8 p.m.)
• Freeform Furniture: Chandelier (DIY, 8 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Contemporary Night-Table (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Earthquake Machine (Discovery, 9 p.m.)
• Handmade Music: Steel Drum, Episode 1 (DIY, 9 p.m.)
• Woodturning Techniques: Lidded Container (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Killer Whirlpool (Discovery, 10 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: Pimp My Ride, two episodes in a row (MTV, midnight), and Robot Rivals: Demolition Machines (DIY, 1 a.m.).

It’s been 75 degrees and beautiful here in Texas, and we’ve spent most of the week in the Toolmonger shop.  If you’ve been out in your shop and haven’t had the chance to keep up with Toolmonger, we suggest you start with these posts:

Finds: Dremel’s Cordless Pumpkin Carving Kit
Halloween’s right around the corner, and Dremel’s again offering a simplified, inexpensive version of their famous rotary tool set up just right for carving pumpkins.  They’ve cut corners by removing the VSR (it’s a two-speed) and high-tech batteries (it runs off two AAs), which drops the price of the rig — complete with the bit Dremel recommends for the job — right into Halloween impulse buy range.

Finds: Handheld Composite Air Sandblaster
We keep a small media blast box in the shop to clean up small parts, but sometimes you just can’t remove them from the vehicle (or other large item they’re attached to) in order to fit them in the little box.  We’ve thought about buying a larger unit, but really it’s not the increased flow we need as much as the portability.  This unit looks like just the thing, though you might want to check out the post’s comments for some interesting opposing viewpoints.

Finds: KREG Universal Bench Clamp
If you’re building a new bench for your wood shop, this looks to be a great ticket to easy, organized clamping.  The base portion installs right into the bench, and you can attach or detach the upper portion of the clamp only when you need it.

Finds: A Cordless, Butane-Powered Hot Glue Gun
Whether you’re using a glue gun for crafts, appliance repair, or any of the other (many) tasks they’re good for, there eventually comes a time when you wish you had a cordless.  Sure, there are some electric ones out there, but it’s been our experience — with soldering irons, anyway — that butane almost always beats out electric for cordless heat sources.  So here you go: a butane hot glue gun.  It’s a little pricey (for a glue gun), but definitely not out of the range of the serious hobbyist.

Finds: Starrett’s Unified Shank Jig Saw Blades
If you’ve got a well-stocked shop, sooner or later you’re going to end up with more than one jigsaw.  (We’d bet at least some of you have two or more already.)  If you have a Bosch, then you’ve already run into the issue of having to keep separate blades for it.  Starrett — in a moment of “why didn’t someone do this earlier” brilliance — offers blades that’ll fit standard and Bosch type mounts.  And they’re not even that expensive.

Next Week

We’ve got a couple of signficant “Hands-On” posts for you next week, including Hobart’s AirForce 250A Plasma Cutter, Bosch’s 14.4V Impact Driver, and MAC’s Foose Toolkit as well as the last update in our Project Garage Yukon engine swap.  (Yep, the swap’s complete!  We’ve got lots to share about the late-model engine swap experience.)

(Friday, September 29th, 2006) Airstreams are the coolest RV’s  ever, and DIY is showing us how to renovate one.  (Sorry about the title – couldn’t resist).  Expect more Rhyming from Holmes on Homes tonight and endless Pimp My Rides…

All times are central.

• DIY Tools & Techniques: Hand Tools (DIY, 5 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Roadkill Cleaners (Discovery, 7 p.m.)
• Toolbelt Diva: Safe Home (Home, 8 p.m.)
• Classic Car Restoration: 1962 Corvette Roadster: Restoration Overview, Corvette History and Setting Up Shop  (DIY, 8 p.m.)
• Toolbelt Diva: Shower Door Install (Home, 8:30 p.m.)
• Classic Rides: Airstream Introduction, Inspection, History and Tear-Out Interior (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Roof Goof (Home, 9 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Floor Fiasco (Home, 9:30 p.m.)
• Tricked Out: Scion XB: Boom Box (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 10 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 10:30 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: Pimp My Ride – 3 episodes in a row — (MTV, 12:30 a.m.).

What a great idea: blades that fit both standard and Bosch-type jig saws.  Why didn’t someone think of this sooner?  (Why didn’t we find one sooner?)

Starrett managed to concoct a blade end that has the shape, “bumps,” and hole to fit in both of the most common types of jig saws.  This is wonderful if you happen to have more than one jig saw in the shop — like we do — and they each require different blades.

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Today Hitachi announced the addition of two new products featuring their HXP 18V batteries: the WH18DL impact driver and the WR18DL impact wrench.  Both models offer similar features with the impact wrench delivering a bit more torque and a 1/2″ square chuck (for standard 1/2″ drive sockets) as opposed to the driver’s 1/4″ hex chuck.

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Lasers are the new black this holiday season, and Skil’s following up their dual-laser circular saw (released earlier this year) by attaching similar dual-laser package to their miter saw.  The difference: the new miter saw uses a motion sensor to turn the laser on automatically whenever you approach the saw.

The concept is that your hands are freed up to manipulate the controls to clamp down the workpiece and adjust the saw.

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(Thursday, September 28th, 2006) It’s all pimping and low substance tonight, alas.  The White Stuff is pretty amusing, though; Watching Tom Wolfe get “pimped” is a sight to behold. 

All times are central.

• DIY Tools & Techniques: Solutions Underfoot (DIY, 5 p.m.)
• Classic Tractor Specials (RFD-TV, 7 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 8 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 8:30 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 9 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Granite Fireplace Revamp (DIY, 9 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 9:30 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 10:30 p.m.)
• Unique Whips: The White Stuff (Speed, 11 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: Pimp My Ride (MTV, 1:30 a.m.), if you haven’t already had enough.

When in the throes of an automotive project there are many things that can hang you up, like not having the best tool for the job.  Having to “make do with what you got” is the hallmark of every DIY mechanic out there. There are times, however, when it’s worth the dough to just shell out and buy the tool that’ll make your project a bit easier — like when you’re messing with fuel, oil, and transmission fluid.

Sooner or later it’s gonna get messy, and there’s nothing you can do about that.  But why not speed up the process with the right tools. 

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This is probably the ultimate craft accessory: a cordless, re-fuelable hot glue gun.  The next time you’re stuck (get it, stuck — hey, it’s late, OK?) in the middle of nowhere gluing 4,000 tiny beads on something, this is your tool.

Seriously, though, hot glue has all kinds of industrial and practical applications far beyond crafts — including positioning wires and making relatively strong, but breakable connections.  For example, we used hot glue to attach trim on a dart board surround we recently built.  It holds the trim on well, but not so well that you can’t break it off to repair the felt underneath if need be.  (And if you’ve seen us play darts, you know the need indeed be.)

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Maybe you can answer this one for us as we’re pretty stumped: How does one reliably and cleanly remove the second temperature sensor plug on the side of the driver’s-side head on a Chevy small-block crate motor?  You know, the one with the 8mm square recess?  (We found a way around it, but we’d really like to find a better solution for next time.)

Some Chevys use both sensor ports, and some use just one or the other, so the crate motors ship with a plug in there.  Actually, if you’re trying to swap engines between different Chevys, you might run into the same issue needing to remove the plug to install a sensor.

The problem is that we can’t find anyone who makes an 8mm square drive socket or driver of any kind.  We’ve seen solutions online such as using RoboGrip pliers (didn’t work) or even driving in a (rare) 3/8″ to 5/16″ socket adapter (nope), but there’s got to be a clean way to do this.

Let us in on a good solution — or source for an 8mm square (not triple-square) driver — and we’ll drop you a tool from the pile in the mail.

You’ve probably seen these — or some like them — online and thought, “Why would I ever need a hex driver that big?“  Answer: To remove the sensor plugs on the top of a Chevy small-block intake manifold.  After those plugs’ve been sitting there happily Loctited in there for ten or eleven years, it’s going to take more than some kind of cobbled-together home tool to get them out.  Trust us; We just found out.

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(Wednesday, September 27th, 2006) Hammered should be enjoyable if you like two drunk, wisecracking dudes — which you probably do if you already watch Junk Brothers. We’d list Shooting Cars but we have no idea what it’s about; Drop us a line if we’re missing out. Test Lab on History should be interesting as well.

All times are central.

• DIY Tools & Techniques: Tech-Savvy Tools (DIY, 5 p.m.)
• Chop Cut Rebuild: In the Hot Seat (Speed, 6:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Ping-Pong Rescue (Discovery, 7 p.m.)
• Building the Ultimate: Hammer Power (Science, 7 p.m.)
• Trick My Truck: Darlene Swift’s Free Spirit (CMT, 8 p.m.)
• PINKS: Maryland (Speed, 8:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Exploding House (Discovery, 9 p.m.)
• Finders Fixers: The Singing Sink (DIY, 9 p.m.)
• Junk Brothers: The Recliner and the Bed Frame (HGTV, 10 p.m.)
• Hammered with John & Jimmy: Classic Go-Cart (HGTV, 10:30 p.m.)
• Unique Whips: Blazing a Trail to NASCAR (Speed, 11 p.m.)
• Test Lab (History, 11 p.m.)
• I Love Toy Trains (RFD-TV, 11:30 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: Pimp My Ride (MTV, 2:10 a.m.).  Or get some sleep!

It looks a bit like someone got into one of those fights with the tools and came out swinging, but the Palm control is supposed to look that way – we swear.  It’s very odd how something just a touch off from normal in a tool can mean the difference between ending up stuck in your tracks or moving onto the next phase of the project. The Palm control is basically a normal ratchet with an 18 degree kink in the handle.

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At $25.45, this is probably one of the least expensive Snap-on tools you’ll ever buy.  Seriously, though, what a great idea: You simply pop your “C” battery-powered flashlight into the clip, attach the magnetic base to the car you’re working on, your toolbox, or whatever other ferrous metal you might find in the area, then swivel the light to face your work.

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