If you thought Tuesday’s functional 1/9 scale V8 was interesting, you’re going to completely lose it when you see Pierre Scerri’s fully-functional Ferarri 312 PB.  And when Scerri says “fully-functional,” he means it: the engine runs, the transmission shifts, the tachometer reads accurately — it even starts with a tiny key.

From the Internet Craftmanship Museum, who has declared Scerri their “Metalworking Craftsman of the Year” for 2007:

“As a young telecommunications engineer [Scerri] wanted very much to own such a car, but realized there was no way he could ever afford to buy one.  If he wanted to have a car like that, he would have to build one himself.  He started with drawings of each part of the car — a project that took three years in itself working just from photographs of the real car.  He then started on construction of the car.  The 12-year construction odyssey took Pierre on a journey though virtually every process needed to build the full size car.  He learned to mold his own rubber tires, cast his own glass headlights, make his own battery, weld the tube frame, build the shock absorbers and such delicate tasks as making a miniature tachometer and other working gauges.  The drawing and machining skills were learned from reading books, as he had not been given any training in these subjects when in school.”

This is easily one of the most inspirational projects I’ve seen to date.  What amazes me far more than the actual completed project is the astounding range of skills that Scerri had to learn.  Metalworking, woodworking, casting, glassmaking — the list seems endless. 

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This is just a reminder to everyone that we tablulate the weekly Top 5 votes tomorrow, so if you haven’t yet made your feelings known, now’s the time.  For latecomers (or those who’ve forgotten):

Help us choose this 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 each 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.

Even More Information for The Curious [Toolmonger]

PS: If you don’t already subscribe, be sure to check out our free Tool Talk podcast where you can hear Sean and me run down the top five in person.  We also bring in guests from time to time and answer any questions you call in.

Maybe you can help us settle a long-running argument around the Toolmonger offices: gas or charcoal?

I’ll admit to being an ardent supporter of gas grills for many years — before I finally converted.  My father always had gas grills, and during most of my young life I lived in one apartment or another and was concerned about fire safety.  (You can’t easily “turn off” charcoal, and I didn’t like the idea of leaving a burning fire on the porch for hours.)  I also liked being able to easily control heat.

But last year, Sean shamed me into going old school.  After my gas grill broke down for the third or fourth time — they only last a season or so without a major rebuild (or a seriously major investment) — and he still had ‘que at his house via his $25 charcoal box, I relented.  Since then I’ve totally become a convert — like one of those guys who won’t shut up about his new Apple computer.  I love the simplicity, the flavor, and even the social aspects of charcoal.  I’ve even learned to control the heat — even in my $45 cheap-o grill.

So what do you think?  Gas or charcoal?  Why?  Let us know in comments.

Randy writes: “I used to have a Weber long-handled wood grill brush with brass bristles.  I’ve had a Char-Broil Brush Hawg for several months and have used it perhaps a dozen or so times.  In my opinion, it’s an improvement.  It’s a fairly sturdy plastic grill brush with changable stainless bristle pads.  The bristles seem to stand up to reasonable grill scrubbing duties.  There’s a stainless lip on the front for scraping, and a stainless hook on the back lifts grates and doubles as a storage hook for hanging the brush on the side of the grill.  My only complaint is that the front lip sticks up a little too high for my grill and catches on the hanging rack in the back when I’m cleaning the grates.  Pricing for the brush is about $12 and the replacement pads are about $4.”

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The Pedalo grout cleaning system keeps you off your knees and on your feet when dealing with freshly-installed grout — saving both time and wear and tear on your body.  The core of the system is an aluminum pole with a grout sponge attachment and a matching, serrated, foot-driven “squeegee” bucket. 

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Today the (normally) best-and-brightest at Google decided to jump off the cool-name bandwagon, changing the aptly-named Froogle service’s moniker to the more pedestrian “Google Product Search.”

We’re big fans of Froogle’s Google Product Search’s functionality — so much so that we include a link on every tool post where the service returns a hit.   It helps us show you the real “street” price of the items we write about.  But we simply can’t understand why they’d bail on such a great name.  “Froogle” combined in one incredibly-well-thought-out word both what the service did and who was doing it.  “Google Product Search,” well, doesn’t.

As far as we’re concerned, this change ejects Google from the “brilliant name club” — where it hob-nobbed with the likes of Stanley (”FUBAR“) and Channellock (”BigAZZ pliers“) — right into “wussed-out crowd central.”  Now they can commiserate with Snap-on (who passed on “Crud Thug” to go with the infinitely-less-memorable “PT280THUGA Air Removal Tool”) and Microsoft (”SQL Server” — now that’s original).

Shame.  But thanks, Google, for the service — and for not breaking our links.

This is amazing: it’s an ass-kicking chipper/shredder that’s mobile.  We’d tell you more, but we weren’t able to turn up specs on German company Claas’ North American website.  It appears to be an attachment for the Jaguar Green Eye, though, which can also serve as a mower and corn husker.

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Anyone who lives in OH, NY, MA or RI should be familiar with the Bargain Outlet; this store offers all kinds of deals, like this Delta 10″ table saw for $88.  Other deals from their latest flyer that caught our eye: a 6-ton electric log splitter for $289, a high-pressure, 3/8″ x 50′, 1200 psi air hose for $9, and a 10 hp, 5000w Coleman generator (with a Briggs & Stratton engine) for $649.

Note: The quotes around the word “Delta” worry us a bit, but hey — $88 isn’t bad for any table saw.

Delta 10″ Saw [Bargain-Outlet]
Store Locations [Bargain-Outlet]

Think of the Strike Allnailer as a cross between a hammerdrill and a nailer — it holds a nail between its “pincers” and drives it home with repeated blows from a reciprocating hammer assembly.  The manufacturer says it’ll handle most any nail up to 6″ long that you can fit in its jaws, and you can preset the drive depth.

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(Thursday, April 19th, 2007) TLC has all the motorcycles you could want, although a 5 day build at Daytona for John “I’m not called Cougar anymore” Mellencamp really doesn’t seem that compelling.

All times are central.

• Chop Cut Rebuild: Season Premiere (Speed, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 39, firefighter boots, garden tools, automated machines and gypsum boards. (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 44, grinding wheels, compost, window blinds and milk. (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Classic Tractor Specials (RFD-TV, 7:00 p.m.)
• Overhaulin’: SEMA Show (TLC, 7:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Rock Garden (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• American Chopper: FANtasy Bike - Joseph McClendon (TLC, 8:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Stamped Concrete (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Pimp My Ride (MTV, 9:00 p.m.)
• American Chopper: Peavey 2 (TLC, 9:00 p.m.)
• Motorcycle Mania: Daytona Bike Week (TLC, 10:00 p.m.)
• Don’t Sweat It: Wooden Bookshelf and Planter Box (HGTV, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

I’ll admit, the result you see in the photo above is my own doing; it’s what happens when you pass up the belt service a few times on an old Jeep Grand Cherokee then ignore the obvious “bearing noise” from under the hood for a week or two. 

Oops.

When I removed the pulley, most of the ball bearings tinkled out the bottom of the car onto the ground.  I figure the bearing siezed, the pulley froze in position, and the friction of the belt melted away about one-third of it.  I spent this afternoon driving down to where I parked the Jeep, quickly replacing the pulley and belt, and driving it back home.  (Thanks Sean, for the ride and a spare hand.)

The repair was easy.  What really pissed me off was my call to the local Jeep dealer’s parts department.  They wanted $144 for the pulley alone or a full $235 for the tensioner arm as well.  I understand that sometimes parts like this are a bit high, but when I found it just a phone call later at the local O’Reilly’s for $27 I just about came unglued. 

What the hell are they thinking?  Do they really believe that a plastic pulley with a press-fit bearing is worth almost a buck-and-a-half, or did their marketing research tell them that Jeep owners just get off on paying five times the price for parts?

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We just wanted to remind you about our RIDGID pneumatics giveaway.  RIDGID was kind enough to offer up a set of pneumatic tools for giveaway to one of our loyal readers.  Sometime in June we’ll select a winner from all of you who post valid comments here on Toolmonger since the giveaway started.

So, when you post a comment here, you’re not only sharing your experience with other Toolmongers around the world, you’re also adding a chance to win!  That’s good all ’round, yeah?

Toolmonger’s RIDGID Pneumatics Giveaway [Toolmonger]

We ran across this web-posting of a great first-hand story regarding one man’s incredible “find” at a New England garage sale.  In the lucky guy’s own words:

“For some unknown reason I mentioned the word ‘patternmaker’.  When I did, it was like correctly answering the Final Jeopardy question of “The profession of my long-dead father”.  I instantly became his long lost son, as he and I slugged it out trading patternmaker volleys in a game of one upsmanship.  He was totally amazed that I, being a 30-something-Chuck-Taylor-wearing-in-sore-need-of-a-shave-who-looks-like-he-oughta-be-tending-a- garbage-scow-for-a-living-’murican-male would have even a remote clue about a trade that’s all but dead.

“He tells me about all the patternmaking that his father did while employed at a firm just down the road from where he lives. His father made patterns for machinery used to process wool. He then tells me that his great uncle was also a patternmaker…

“This is when he decides to tell me that he has a patternmaker’s chest that belonged to his father…”

And what a chest it is, as you can see in the picture above — just one of a half-dozen or so photos of this treasure.

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Grab a beer and learn how to plan your car’s 30K/60K mile service, avoiding the traps of dealer package deals to do the job right — and on the cheap.  We’ll talk you through compiling the real list of required maintenance from your car’s service schedule then help you decide which parts you can do yourself, which parts you’ll want to pay others to do, and how to find the best deals on the jobs you’re sending out.  (Podcast Download)

Latex paint is known for its low odor, quick dry time, and flowing coverage.  Rattle-can painting is known for its simplicity — and messy clean-ups.  What if the two met Reese’s-PB-and-chocolate-car-accident style?  The result: Krylon’s new H2O spray-can latex — complete with all the benefits of water-based latex paint and rattle-can application plus overspray that cleans up with soap and water.

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Today only you can get a 10′ x 10′ steel storage shed at Sears for $280. It offers 498 cu. ft. of storage and comes with a 12 year warranty. Of course, some assembly is required.

Storage Sheds [Arrow Buildings]
Arrow 10′ x10′ Shed [Sears]
Street Pricing [Froogle]

Setting up a table saw for basic cuts is a challenge for many DIYers, and setting up the cuts required to form a pentagon or hexagon can be downright impossible — unless you happen to have this layout guide from Veritas. It looks like a hexagon deformed from a bad fall, but each corner represents the angle required to form a particular shape, either four, five, six, eight, or even twelve-sided.

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