There’s something about a handplane that makes you feel like a craftsman. In that spirit, I was moved to pick up this Footprint 220B “professional” block plane when I saw it at Sears this week for $25, and I’ve had good experiences with it since. (It’s available from a number of other sources at a similar price — like the Amazon link below – but I just happened to be wandering around Sears. I’m sure you’ll understand.)
Delta tool owners — both novice and intermediate — can sign up for Deltla’s “owner registration program” and receive free woodworking plans. As you can see from their image above, the plans may be somewhat random in nature but the idea here is to keep you coming back, so they do try to send something interesting.
Thumbs and beers up to this week’s sponsors for helping us bring you new tools and news each day: Harbor Freight, RIDGID, and Equipment Insurance International. Want to join them? Advertise with Toolmonger.
In case you saw our post about Litcritter’s slick retro-style entertainment bench a few days ago, we thought you’d like to see the photo he posted of the finished project. Check out the Toolmonger photo pool for more pictures of it — and all sorts of interesting stuff.
Remember old-school Toolmonger that was all young, dumb and full of… vigor? So do we. Check out what we were discussing a year ago this week:
Aren’t you glad you lived to see 2007?
While we’re sure there are pros out there who could tell you far more than we can about car stereo installation, we’ve installed more than a few over the years. And we’ve learned a few things about the process. Read on past the jump to learn how to save a ton of cash by skipping high-dollar shop installations — and avoiding costly noob mistakes.
TM reader and photo pool member Sir Realist began posting photos of his bronze studio today, and we’re hoping that posting this one will encourage him to post some more — including some of him at work!
In fact, we’d be grateful if he could stop by here at Toolmonger and share a bit with us about getting started in bronze work as it’s something we’ve always wondered about but with which we have exactly zero experience.
And if you get a chance, sign up with Flickr, join the Toolmonger group, and share some pics of your current projects, tools, or even your shop. We’ll keep an eye out for ‘em!
Eastwood’s offering 10% off a ton of stuff right now, including their famous vehicle tilter and their very popular line of planishing hammers and English wheels. We seem to end up on Eastwood’s website at least once a week as they carry all sorts of interesting automotive tools — many of which we have in the shop.
One note, though: they do this 10% sale pretty regularly, so don’t get in a huff if you’re not ready to buy. It’ll come around again soon.
Eastwood Co. [Corporate Site]
(Friday, June 22nd, 2007) Well, as usual, Home has a few offerings, DIY continues to underwhelm us with re-runs, and How It’s Made keeps our interest in TV alive for one more week.
All times are central.
Enjoy.
We’re entering the home stretch on our RIDGID pneumatics giveaway — it wraps up at the end of June. RIDGID was kind enough to offer up a set of pneumatic tools for giveaway to one of our loyal readers. Later this month we’ll select a winner from all of you who post valid comments here on Toolmonger since the giveaway started.
Not that you’re not already posting your thoughts here — and deserve a hearty “thank you” from me and the rest of the Toolmonger community — but when you post a comment, 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]
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.
Skil’s recently posted a well-thought-out how-to article on creating a nice cedar grill cart by Skil resident project expert Ray Travers. As avid “outdoor chefs” (read: we like to sit around the grill with a beer), we can attest to the usefulness of a grill cart like this one. And as an added bonus, Ray shares quite a bit of information about Skil’s not-yet-releases X-Bench portable workstation.
This $6 bit set from Harbor Freight includes many of the crazy bits you only rarely use – like hollow hex, Pozi, hollow-tip Torx, and splined — but have to have when the need arises. As far as I’m concerned, that’s one of the prime applications for cheap-ass tools.
The New Yankee cam is up and running again today. This picture (taken moments ago from the live feed) finally confirms that sawdust really does exist in the new Yankee Shop, though I’m fairly certain that the guy in the pic isn’t Norm or one of his cyborg clones. It’s fun stuff either way.
Norm Cam [New Yankee Workshop]
A while back we asked you to help us — and our other readers — what makes up the perfect car toolkit. You responded with a tour-de-force of awesome suggestions, many of which even made their way into my own car kits. Now we’re asking you to help us assemble the perfect toolkit for home use.
Tired of your crap “disappearing” from the work trailer while you’re out on site? Screw DeWalt’s SiteLock base station into a corner of the office, add a few of their wireless sensors around each room, and you’ve got a fighting chance. The SiteLock not only sets off an alarm when triggered, it also uses the two-way wireless data system built into current cellular networks to notify you via a pocket-sized monitoring device — so you can run back to the office and kick some thief ass.
I’ve wanted one of these ever since reading about them in Sean’s great post on new vs. old-school tools. Yeah, they’re not as good as the new Stanley levels, but I have a new Stanley level. I don’t have a #96. But since I’m low on discretionary cash right now, I’m going to pass this find on to you.
Mr. Peabody (from somewhere in New England) currently lists the #96 picture above as:
“A 28″ long model with three laminations, never abused or altered, both vials original and functioning… Expected dings and scuffs from careful use and never retrofitted with a hang hole. A nice one.”
Bidding’s currently at a very-low $10.50, but he just listed it. There are six days left on the auction. Good luck.
www.flickr.com
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