(Thursday, November 23nd, 2006) Well, if you’re a red-blooded American you are stuffing your face with turkey and watching football today, so it is no surprise that there is little to watch.  (Sucks to be a Canadian TV-wise today, though.  Do we have any Canadian readers?). Speed has a Pinks marathon on all day if you’re desperate to watch some automotive action.

All times are central.

• DIY Tools & Techniques: Table Saw Fences/Card Scraper (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• Classic Tractor Specials: “New Life for Old Iron.” Orion Samuelson’s Farmall F-20; Huge IH Titan; Mogal. (RFD-TV, 7:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Granite Countertops (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: Tools of the Trade: Fire Trucks (National Geographic, 1:00 a.m.).  Happy Thanksgiving!

Dremel may have been knocked from the throne when it comes to the most expensive glue gun: The HiPURformer system blows by the $20 mark and keeps on going.  We had to ask why this system was so much more, and the answer is that it does a bunch more than a standard glue gun – and it’s cordless. 

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So your check engine light’s on and you have no freakin’ idea what’s wrong.  Is something actually wrong with the engine, or is it just a failed sensor?  If you’re driving an older vehicle — something that’s computerized and built before around 1995 — it’s probably OBD-I, which means two things: 1) You can’t use any of the fancy OBD-II code readers (with LCDs and built-in manuals) to tell what’s up, and 2) you aren’t going to have to spend $200+ on one of the aforementioned readers.

In fact, you can pick up a little “scanner” for arounde $25 that’ll do the job just fine, assuming that you’re patient enough to sit and count LED flashes.

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Irving says: “If you want to Dysonize your big shop vac, check out the Clearvue Mini CV06.  It’s designed for wood chips, but I’ve found it works wonderfully on general remodeling clean up (mortar and drywall chunks, fine dust, etc.).  And I’m only powering it with a craptastic $40 6-gallon RIDGID shop vacuum.”

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Just like that old Dodge pickup we used to take to the lumber yard, Metabo’s new HE 2000 heat gun features three speeds — though they’re not “on the column.”  This industrial-quality gun can pump out 7.8, 9.5, 94 17.7 cubic-feet-per-minute of hot air at between 120 and 1,100 degrees F.

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(Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006) Well, it’s the holidays, and you should be spending time with friends and family – or hiding from them in the shop. So what if we’re heading into a lot of TV rerun time?

All times are central.

• DIY Tools & Techniques: Drywall I (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• Chop Cut Rebuild: Pump Up the Volume  (Speed, 6:00 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Jet Pack (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• Unique Whips: A Unique Dream  (Speed, 9:00 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Elevator of Death (Discovery, 9:00 p.m.)
• Junk Brothers: The Side Table and the Kitchen Table (HGTV, 10:00 p.m.)
• Hammered with John & Jimmy DiResta: The Children’s Art Table (HGTV, 10:30 p.m.)
• Unique Whips: Duelling Lambos  (Speed, 11:00 p.m.)
• I Love Toy Trains: “Great Train Layouts you can Visit.” The VA Museum of Transportation; The Choo Choo Barn.(RFD-TV, 11:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

In our families, pocket knives have represented “keepsake” gifts that last for generations. Some are intended for daily carry, some for special purposes, and some for collection, but all are appreciated and treasured.

We’ve taken a little time to round up some of our favorites this season to help you get started finding the one that’s perfect for your father, mother, brother, sister, or friend.  We broke down the products we researched into daily carry knives, multi-tools, large knives, and exclusives (collector knives) — and we marked some of our favorites with a distinct symbol.

At the end of the post we’ve also linked a downloadable and printable PDF of the ‘guide.

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Dyson makes great uprights — just ask Sean.  He says that nothing (at least nothing legal for sale over-the-counter) gets dog hair out of carpet better.  Now Dyson’s entered the handheld arena with their new Root 6, described as “the only handheld that doesn’t lose suction.” 

But when a friend described the Root 6 to us as a “mini shop vacuum,” we knew we had to find out what it’d really do — or not do — even if it meant a sacrifice.   

A note to readers: Don’t do this to your Root 6.  Really.

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We’re planning on sleeping late Friday like a bunch of lazy slugs.  But if you’re going to roll out for the deals, we’re here to support you — in spirit at least.

Wal-Mart recently posted their Black-Friday flyer, which includes a Black & Decker 14.4V cordless drill/circular saw combo kit for $50.

Just remember to wear heavily-padded clothing so you don’t get totally trampled by all the screaming idiots stampeding for the two $988 42″ Plasma HDTVs they’ll have in stock.

Ryobi’s got an interesting take on outdoor power tools: Why buy and maintain a half-dozen engines when you’re only going to use one tool at a time?  With their Expand-It system you can purchase any one of a number of different Ryobi split-shaft string trimmers, then swap out the business end with any of a long list of accessories includinga brush cutter, edger, blower, cultivator, limb pruner, and hedge trimmer. 

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When it comes to welding helmet decorations, we live by a simple credo: flames = good.  So when we heard about Hobart’s XTV-series auto-darkening helmets, our first question was, “Do they come in flames?”

Yes.  Yes, they do.

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(Tuesday, November 21st, 2006) Well there’s a lot on — including a new Overhaulin’ – but mostly just a bunch of reruns. We write those words a lot, don’t we?  Machinery of the Past shows what happens when you get bit with the collecting bug.

All times are central.

• Machinery of the Past: “Tractors of the Past.” A collection of Case tractor power; world’s largest private collections consisting of 500 John Deere tractors. (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
• DIY Tools & Techniques: Bench Planes/Power Hand Planers (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Coal Miner (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• Rides: Terrible Baja (TLC, 7:00 p.m.)
• 10 Things You Must Know: Vinyl Siding (DIY, 7:30 p.m.)
• Overhaulin’: CNN/Hummer Special (TLC, 8:00 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Jobs That Bite…Harder (Discovery, 9:00 p.m.)
• Overhaulin’: The Boss is Back (TLC, 9:00 p.m.)
• John Ratzenberger’s Made in America: Weber Grills (Travel, 9:00 p.m.)
• Chop Cut Rebuild: Sparks Flying (Speed, 9:00 p.m.)
• John Ratzenberger’s Made in America: Hale Products (Travel, 9:30 p.m.)
• Unique Whips: Revenge of the Benz (Speed, 11:00 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: Two eps of Trick My Truck (CMT, Midnight).

I’d bet we’ve seen at least a dozen variations on the ages-old standard utility knife design this year alone.  Safety seems to be a top concern in the delivery systems of today, which isn’t surprising considering how easy it is to cut the living crap out of yourself with these things.  (Just ask Chuck.  He recently, um, stylized a pair of jeans while cutting open some clamshell packaging with one.)  So, we’re seeing more and more auto-retracting blades like the Hidden Edge by Starrett (above). 

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Estwing, known for their strange-looking-but-quite-comfortable framing hammers, also makes other hammers — such as this welding/chipping model.  While hopefully you’re not spending that much time chipping at your welds, there’s no reason to suffer discomfort in doing so — and Estwing’s hammer looks pretty darn comfy.

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We get more than a little, well, cantankerous if there’re no tunes in the shop, so portable tunes that can survive the jobsite are hight on the list when we’re loading up for remote work. 

Makita’s BMR100 cordless portable AM/FM radio looks to be made specifically for long plays when corded power isn’t an option, and that sounds great to us.  Unlike other units, the offering from Makita goes for a minimalist approach with no charger outlets or ability to power other tools; it’s an island entirely self contained, and lithium-ion batteries provide usable power for over two freakin’ days of solid play time before it needs recharging.

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(Monday November 20th, 2006) I’ll make a wish too…that Discovery gives us some new shows instead of the pile of reruns they’re laying on us tonight — including a rerun of a “best of” show.  How lazy is that?

All times are central.

• Trains and Locomotives: “Rio Grande Snow Freight.” Narrow-gauge 2-8-2’s pull trains in snow in CO and NM. (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
• DIY Tools & Techniques: Polishing Tool/Miter Saw Stands (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• American Chopper: David Mann Bike 2 (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• American Hot Rod: Make-A-Wish Car 1 (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• American Chopper: Bill Murray Bike 1 (Discovery, 9:00 p.m.)
• Freeform Furniture: Manly Mantelpiece (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• American Chopper: Bill Murray Bike 2 (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• Modern Marvels: Axes, Swords and Knives. (History, 10:00 p.m.)
• American Chopper: Best of American Chopper: Jr. vs. Sr. (Discovery, 11:00 p.m.)
• Unique Whips: Indy-Scribable (Speed, 11:00 p.m.)

Enjoy.

Construction workers (at least here in the ‘States) don’t think in decimals — they think in feet, inches, and fractions.  So does Calculated Industries’ Construction Master Pro Trig calculator.  And besides speaking “construction,” it also handles trigonometric functions to help calculate precise angle measurements for framing and roofing.

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