Archive for November, 2006

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TV Tonight: Not a Freaky Friday

Friday, November 3rd, 2006

tv2nite.jpg(Friday, November 3rd, 2006) DIY and Discovery’s Home channel make this a non-freaky Friday – unless you just have basic cable, in which case you’re screwed.

All times are central.

  • DIY Tools & Techniques: Bandsaw and Concrete Saw (DIY, 5 p.m.)
  • Dirty Jobs: Fuel Tank Cleaner (Discovery, 7 p.m.)
  • Toolbelt Diva: Front Porch Makeover (Home, 8 p.m.)
  • Classic Car Restoration: 1962 Corvette Roadster: Engine and Transmission Re-Assembly (DIY, 8 p.m.)
  • Toolbelt Diva: Demo Doorway (Home, 8:30 p.m.)
  • Classic Car Restoration: 1962 Corvette Roadster: Engine Reinstallation (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
  • How It’s Made: Episode 8 (Science, 9 p.m.)
  • Holmes on Homes: Exit Wound (Home, 9 p.m.)
  • Classic Rides: Kitchen Restoration (DIY, 9 p.m.)
  • How It’s Made: Episode 9 (Science, 9:30 p.m.)
  • Holmes on Homes: All Decked Out (Home, 9:30 p.m.)
  • Tricked Out: Mitsubishi Spyder: Custom Body Graphics (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: Speed has NASCAR fun starting at 1 a.m.

Posted in TV/Media | No Comments »

Finds: Milwaukee’s “Trade Titan” Industrial Work Carts

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
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We’ve looked at some pretty cool work carts before, but these seem to be much more down to earth and functional.  They’re made of structural foam with a steel-reinforced base deck, and they include 6″ industrial casters — large enough to jump small bumps without a fuss.  The basic cart frame is 26″ wide, so it’ll fit through most standard doorways.

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Posted in Milwaukee, Shop Tools, Storage | 2 Comments »

Finds: Stanley’s FatMax Brick Sets

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
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I’ll admit that I’ve never used one of these before, but then again I haven’t done much brick or masonry work.  This particular maodel has a bi-material handle guard, is 8-1/2″ long, and has a 4″ cutting edge.  It looks to me like a quality tool — and we’ve had great experiences here with Stanley in general – but I’d really like to hear from a reader who’s put these to work in the field.

We may have some masonry work coming up here, and we’re thinking about picking one of these up.  So, if you’re in the know, drop us a line, yeah?

FatMax 4″ Brick Set [Stanley]

Posted in Hand Tools, Stanley | No Comments »

Finds: Snap-on’s TECHANGLE Flex Ratchet

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
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Leave it to Snap-on to combine the torque wrench and angle gauge into a single very effective tool.  Their new TECHANGLE ratcheting wrench measures torque from 12.5 to 250 ft-lbs (for the 1/2″ drive model) with an accuracy of +/- 2% CW (+/- 3% CCW) and an angle accuracy of +/- 1%.  It sounds like a perfect solution for engine building.

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Posted in Hand Tools, Measuring, Snap-on | No Comments »

TV Tonight: “She’s a Brick House”

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006

tv2nite.jpg(Thursday, November 2nd, 2006) Well, 40% of the programming tonight involves bricks.  You also get to see a Rumley Oil Pull tractor, which is a heck of a machine.

All times are central.

  • DIY Tools & Techniques: Router Technique and Viewer Jig (DIY, 5 p.m.)
  • Classic Tractor Specials: “Agriculture Heritage in Motion.” 1944 Case LA; 1939 Farmall F-20; 1923 Advance-Rumely Oil Pull; 1939 Cletrac General.(RFD-TV, 7 p.m.)
  • MegaStructures: Science of Brick (National Geographic, 8 p.m.)
  • Rock Solid: Brick Wall (DIY, 9 p.m.)
  • Unique Whips: Southern Dis-Comfort (Speed, 11 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: Ahh, as always, just watch Speed…

Posted in TV/Media | No Comments »

Finds: Fisch’s Custom Drill Press Clamp

Wednesday, November 1st, 2006
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We’re not sure hwo they justify the word “custom” in the name, but this looks like a great, reasonably-priced drill press clamp from Fisch.  It fits any drill press with slots or holes and features two quick-release adjustments — one on the bar and one near the clamp head itself.

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Posted in Accessories, Fisch | 1 Comment »

What do you think of Harbor Freight?

Wednesday, November 1st, 2006

logo-best-comments.jpgNormally we use this weekly post to hail a particular favorite comment, but this week we’d like to ask for your opinion.  We’ve posted a few times regarding Harbor Freight’s sales flyer, and each time it’s elicited a number of comments both good and bad regarding their tools’ quality and price.  Clearly they sell some very inexpensive tools, and clearly some of them are below standard.

Clearly some shops — like the body shop at xxx who builds the famous ”Eleanor” cars of Gone In 60 Seconds fame — make good use of them, but we feel like we’ve heard as much negative as positive talk about HF.

We have our own opinions, and we’re preparing a post to express them — but we’d like to hear your thoughts first.  If you would, take a minute to drop a comment here to indicate you’re ideas about HF in the following areas:

1) Do their low prices overcome low tool quality?

2) If you use HF tools, in what areas of work do you use them (and why)?

3) If you don’t use HF tools at all, what’s your reasoning?

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think!

Posted in You Said it | 38 Comments »

Finds: Weller’s Portasol Line

Wednesday, November 1st, 2006
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We’ve written about a couple of electric cordless soldering irons, but if you look through the comments you’ll quickly notice that our readers almost universally prefer butane-power when it comes to portable soldering.  A number of them recommended Weller’s units (like the P2C pictured above).

The P2C reaches solder-melting heat in under a minute, and is adjustable between (the equivalent of) 25 and 75 watts of heat.  It can reach temperatures of up to 850 degrees C.

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Posted in Electronics, Weller | 4 Comments »

Preview: Hitachi’s Diamond Grit Core Bits

Wednesday, November 1st, 2006
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Hitachi released a cool set of diamond grit bits today for use with materials such as tile, marble, porcelain, and glass.  The bit’s hollow, and the outer ring of diamond abrades through the material leaving a core that’s removable via a window in the side of the bit.

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Posted in Accessories, Drills/Bits, Hitachi | 2 Comments »

TV Tonight: Fire Good!

Wednesday, November 1st, 2006

tv2nite.jpg(Wednesday, November 1st, 2006) A new, pyromaniacally promising, episode of Mythbusters airs tonight.  Couple that with the hour of stupidity on HGTV, a few other shows, and the large amount of candy you have pilfered from your kid’s Halloween cache and tonight should be somewhat entertaining.

All times are central.

  • DIY Tools & Techniques: Hobby Tools, Pt. 1 (DIY, 5 p.m.)
  • Chop Cut Rebuild: Smokin’ Pipes (Speed, 6:30 p.m.)
  • MythBusters: Paper Crossbow (Discovery, 7 p.m.)
  • MythBusters: Exploding Lighter (Discovery, 9 p.m.)
  • Finders Fixers: Flue Symptoms (DIY, 9 p.m.)
  • Junk Brothers: The Two Tables (HGTV, 10 p.m.)
  • Hammered with John & Jimmy DiResta: The Guitar (HGTV, 10:30 p.m.)
  • Unique Whips: Back With a Vengeance (Speed, 11 p.m.)
  • I Love Toy Trains (RFD-TV, 11:30 p.m.)

Our insomniac’s suggestions: A bunch of stuff on Speed starting at midnight: two eps of Pinks, Unique Whips, and Shooting Cars.

Posted in TV/Media | No Comments »

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