(Monday, March 26th, 2007) Just a whole lot of nothing.
All times are central
Enjoy.
Once (in my youth) a friend and I were assembling a strut with a coil-over spring with one of those crappy five-dollar compressor tools. I looked away for a second and there was a bang followed by silence. The spring had come loose and knocked my friend’s hat off while blowing by his face. Since then I lean towards stronger and more stable spring compressors — like the Strut Tamer from OTC. It’s large, heavy-duty, and not going to lose its grip at an inopportune moment.
Sizod writes: “Here’s a heavy-duty tire gauge with a 10″ flexible hose. The bleed valve is great for those who need to deflate their tires for mud of beach cruising, and $11 is a good price for a cheap addition to your truck/car tool kit. Plus, you can add it to your cart the next time you buy a CD or DVD and get free shipping.”
I’ve got to add that I really, really like this type of tire gauge. I used to use the little “stick” types (that you pick up for $1 at the auto parts store), but when I started autocrossing I picked up one like this. It’s so much easier to snake the end into the valve on deep wheels, and you can read it when the valve’s positioned upside down or in another inconvenient place.
The bleed valve is indeed handy, too, even if you’re not an off-roader. Autocrossing, I used it to pump down my over-pressured tires after the event — tire pressure can serve as a poor-man’s suspension adjustment — but later I still used it to dial in accurate pressures when I went over a bit.
This one looks very similar to the one I had, but I paid $40 for mine.
Phillip writes: “They claim to be the strongest storage cabinets available. Strong Hold cabinets, carts, shelves, and workbenches are built like you’d build them — if you had the time. They’re available in nine colors and are built heavy-duty with 12-gauge metal.”
Sizod writes: “Here’s proof that Toolmongering started with chimps’ ancestors.” From Archaeology News/SFGate.com:
“Archaeologists working in the rain forest of West Africa’s Ivory Coast say they have found a site where prehistoric families of cimpanzees fashioned crude stone hammers to crack open nuts for their food.”
This reminds me of something I learned from Sean: never hit something (or someone) with any part of your body when there’s something else available for the task. Apparently neither he – nor his martial-arts instructor — was the first to come to that conclusion.
The rest of the article’s an interesting read as well.
Excavators Say They’ve Found Tools Made by Chimps [Archaeology News]
(Sunday, March 25th, 2007) There’s not much on tonight. DIY covers the LA Auto Show, though, which is worth watching.
All times are central.
Enjoy.
These cable anchors from Greenlee help you get the job done fast while keeping cables tight and organized — and looking good in the process. With one nail and a little yellow anchor, a savvy pro (that’s you) can secure up to eight power (or voice, data, or video) cables to studs or plates.
The nail holds the anchor to the wall, and cables simply press into the slots.
A number of you wrote in to asking when Toolmonger’s two podcasts would be available via iTunes, and I’m happy to let you know that they’re both listed now:
Note: If you have iTunes installed, the links below should take you directly to the podcasts. You can also find them yourself in iTunes by searching on the podcast names, or by “toolmonger.com” to see ‘em all.
Tool Talk: Our weekly podcast (releasing on Mondays) where we run down the top five posts from the last week and answer your phoned-in questions. We also generally bring a guest on each week.
One Beer Projects: Here we walk you through simple projects that you can accomplish in about the time it takes to drink a beer — you know, all that stuff you should be doing. This week we explained how to install a ceiling fan and how to patch up those cheap-ass fences new home builders stick you with.
Coming Next Week
On Tool Talk we’re visited by Ray Robinson, an experienced blacksmith who shares some of his stories about getting starting in blacksmithing and learning the art. Ray’s a great guy who really exemplifies the kind of cameraderie to be found in the tool community. Watch for this ‘cast Monday morning.
We’ve also got a fun One Beer Project for you: not geting f%#*@# at the car repair shop. Even if you’re a seasoned pro, you’ll want to check this out as we’ll walk you though some high-tech methods you may not have thought of. Watch for this one on Wednesday.
It’s been a busy week here at Toolmonger. We’ve been testing tools like madmen preparing for Hands-On Week. Don’t miss our daily hands-on posts covering all sorts of stuff you’ll want to see for yourself.
If you’ve been spending time in the shop, too, and you haven’t had a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select:
Empire’s 1240 “Fat Boy” Framing Square: Double Think for Durability
This aluminum framing square is 3/16″ thick — about twice as thick as standard squares — to help survive drops from the roof and other mishandling. While some craftsmen prefer plastic or lexan for lightness or steel for strength, an thick aluminum square provides a little bit of both.
Tie-Rod Coupler: Mechanic, Un-Strand Thyself
Ever tried to tried to push a car with a broken tie rod onto a trailer — or even out of the road? The broken wheel always turns sideways, stopping the car and sometimes damaging bodywork. This coupler holds the rod together temporarily to help you out. Don’t try to drive it, though.
The Rock-It Drum Dolly: All Gain, No Pain
Readers loved this four-wheel dolly with a rounded side to help you roll 50-gallon drums from vertical to horizontal, especially at under $60.
Hot or Not? Fast Orange Hand Cleaner
The overall take on this common shop hand cleaner is “hot,” though some readers recommended Lava Pro, Goop, and others. Be sure to check out the comments for some great suggestions on how to get the dirt out after a day of hard work.
Double-Claw Chain Shortener: Rope Flexibility, Chain Strength
This little device gives you some of the flexibility of rope when using chain as a tie-down by connecting two links together, shortening the chain. Readers agreed on two things: 1) Get a good one (like this) and not a cheapie from HF or elsewhere, and 2) be careful when using these. Look in comments for a link to a great safety site with more information.
Help us choose next week’s Top 5!
We’d appreciate your help in choosing next week’s Top 5, which’ll be featured here, elsewhere, and in the podcast as well. While you’re reading TM this week, look out for the “Interesting Post” button at the bottom of the article:
When you see an article that piques your interest, click the button once. You’ll return to the same page, but TM’s software’ll score your click for future reference. We’ll check in on the totals before selecting next week’s Top 5.
Most “women’s” tools leave much to be desired – passing up quality and good design for pretty colors and gimmicks. Not Mechanix, though. Their woman’s home and garden gloves look as tough as their shop gloves, they’re not even pink, and there’s not a flower to be found anywhere on ‘em. They are, however, sized just right for smaller hands and feature sport-stitched webbing in the rear to provide a snug fit for slender wrists.
Abec clued us in to this drill, circ trim saw, and light combo for $99.88 at Sears. While there are probably other combo kits that’ll give you more options for purchasing additional tools down the road, it’s pretty hard to complain at this price. It’d make a decent starter set for a homeowner.
Heads up, though: the sale’s this weekend only.
(Saturday, March 24th, 2007) More Myths Reopened was pretty cool, although as usual they just left themselves open to more whining. Our email to Discovery bore fruit and their website is back up now!
Two Guys Go to PRI promises trade show glitz and glamour. As usual DIY offers the most Toolmonger-y programming tonight.
All times are central.
Enjoy.
While none of this Bosch miter saw’s features are new or revolutionary, one stands out: it’s got every cool feature we’ve seen in the last year. Lasers, full adjustment, extensions – it’s got ‘em all. It also doesn’t hurt that if the Terminator was Googling his family tree, the 4410L might be his great grandmother. Yeah, it’s that cool.
Stuey writes: “Sears is having a two-day sale this Friday and Saturday, March 23rd and 24th. There are a few 50% off tool deals worth mentioning, including a magnetic pickup tool with light or magentic tray, both $7.49 each, two saw horses for $12.49, and a 54-piece driving set for $12.49. There are a few other goodies on sale, too. Check out your local circular or the link(s) below for more details.”
Craftsman Two-Day Sale 3/23-24 [Sears]
Magnetic Pickup Tool w/Light [Sears]
Magnetic Tray [Sears]
Two Saw Horses [Sears]
54-Pc. Driving Set [Sears]
If you spend much time under a car or inside equipment cases, it’s just a matter of time before you finally give in to your inner geek and try a headworn flashlight. You’ll quickly discover that they’re sweet — if you get a good one.
After all the interest lately in inexpensive LED lighting, Stuey wrote in to tell us about Petzl’s headworn lamps — what he considers the best ones made because of their quality materials and solid build. And his favorite Petzl? The Zipka Plus, pictured above.
Following last week’s $10 mini-multimeter deal, Sizod sent us this clamp-style for just $12. From the online description:
“This electrician’s digital multimeter comes with an amperage measuring clamp. Simply clamp it on one of the wires of a device and it will measure the amount of power being used.”
Other features:
Once you own a set of beam compasses, you’ll find that you’ll can finally clean up your shop — because you’ll no longer need your massive collection of soda cans, coffee cups, and scrap cardboard to draw straight circles.
These beam compass heads clamp onto just about any material between 5/8″ and 3/4″ thick — but most commonly a stick of spare wood — in order to act just like the compass you used in grade school.
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