This week Sean and I make an impassioned plea for you to try welding, talk reel vs. electric vs. gas mowers, and, as always, run down the week’s top five posts as selected by Toolmonger readers. Highlights: we discuss the zillions of small flux-core welders available inexpensively, question the cost of building with aluminum or other high-buck materials as compared to steel, reminisce about pushing reel mowers as kids, and talk tools, tools, tools. Remember, if you’ve got a question or comment you can call us at 866-718-9403. (Podcast Download)

My memories of pushing a heavy-ass reel mower uphill (both ways) as a kid may have turned me off to these green human-powered lawn clippers, but I’ve been hearing good things about ‘em recently. I hear they’re better designed, lighter, and smoother-rolling than the rusty monster of my childhood. And many say they deliver a better cut, too, because the scissor-like action of the blades shears the grass, rather than crushing it like a gas mower.

Probably the best feature is the fact that they require little maintenance and no gas.  They’re also are so quiet that you’re a lot less likely to get dirty looks from your neighbors when you roll one of these babies out on a Saturday morning.

Of course, you’re probably not going to mow a 40-acre Montana ranch with one. But for a smaller lawn, what the hell?

What’s your opinion on this? Would you rather just jump on your Cub Cadet with cup holders, cruise control, and fine Corinthian Leather? Or are these the future? Let us know in comments.

Is a reel mower right for you? [ReelMowerGuide.com]
Environmentally Friendly Lawn Care Products [Clean Air Gardening]

Last week was a busy week here at Toolmonger with all the breaking s#!$ and what-have-you. If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — 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:

A Real Erector Set — You Know, For Adults
Want to build with aluminum but don’t have a TIG (or a MIG gun and a lot of experience)? This is your ticket. Think of it as an all-aluminum erector set for adults.

Wild Bill’s Poker
Building a fire is fun, but burining your arm up proving your manliness by sticking your hand in the fire to adjust the wood isn’t. Actually, maybe it is. But this is still a safer solution in the long run: a handy 52″ long poker.

Ingersoll Rand’s IQv Cordless Tools
Everyone’s heard of Ingersoll Rand’s pneumatic line, but would you trust ‘em to make quality electric cordless tools? They’re betting you are.

The Engineer’s Black Book
This little book of things-you-need-to-know-to-survive-the-apocalypse looks handy as hell, but we’re still waiting to see how it stands up to the Machinery’s and other handbooks over time. We’ll know in twenty years or so.

Breaking S#!$: Bringing Down The House With The FuBar III
Breaking s#!$ is fun — oh hells yeah. And this video shows you just how quickly a few relatively inexperienced guys can demolish a structure with Stanley’s not-on-shelves-yet FuBar III. How bad-ass is it? Check out the video to see.

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.

Need to install a several ground rods? Stop swinging that sledge hammer and just set your rotary hammer to “hammer only,” then mount this adapter in the chuck and slip the hollow end over the top of the rod. The weight of the tool does the work – and does it without distorting the end of the rod. Models are available for various shank types, and they’ll set you back about $80.

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When we told you to buy one of these great notebooks earlier this year, we were dead-right. It’s one of the greatest notebooks ever.  Mine is currently full of sketches, thoughts, plans, shopping lists, and a whole bunch of other crap. When I went to order a fresh one from Amazon’s new and used section today, I discovered that Amazon is selling them for $9.50 — about a buck cheaper than you usually see them retail. 

The Moleskine notebook is pocket sized, hard bound, and has the square/gridded pages — though they make lined and open versions, too. Not included are hand drawn illustrations of the next great tool or project. That’s up to you.

Pocket Squared Notebook [Moleskine]
Via Amazon [What's this?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

You never be too rich or have too many clamps. Here’s another to add to your collection; it’s the love child of a squeeze trigger clamp and a traditional bar clamp. The result: bar clamp reach with one-handed trigger simplicity.

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(Monday, October 29th, 2007) Tonight: a new Top Gear and a slew of reruns for those with nothing better to do. Saws is well worth watching again.

All times are central.

• How It’s Made: Episode 15 honey and honeycombs, fiber optics, bricks and pipe organs (Discovery, 5:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Ceiling the Deal (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Build It Bigger: Coaster Build Off (Science, 5:00 p.m.)
• Trains and Locomotives (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 25 coins, cars and grocery carts (Discovery, 5:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Killer Whirlpool (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• Modern Marvels: Saws (History, 6:00 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: 150th Dirty Job Extravaganza (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• How Do They Do It?: Racing Driver, Bank Vaults, Telling Time (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• Top Gear: Episode 4 (BBC America, 7:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made, Season 3: Episode 21 Fiberglass Insulation, Wooden Ducks, Gumball Machines, Exhaust Systems (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• Top Gear: Episode 3 (BBC America, 8:00 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Well Digger (Discovery, 9:00 p.m.)
• Celebrity Rides: Burt Builds a Bandit (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Turkey Farmer (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)

Enjoy!

Ok, so it’s not meant to be deadly, but it sure looks that way to us. This drill employs microwaves to drill through concrete, stone – and even glass without breaking it. And it produces no dust or noise, either. Of course, stray microwaves can effectively cook your internal organs if you’re not paying attention, so, um, pay attention.

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Here’s another tool for breaking s#@! from the firefighters’ playbook. It’s called the Rabbit Tool by most, although it’s officially the Hydra-Ram. Whereas many of the other fire and rescue tools we’ve featured require some pretty violent swinging force — or a powerful pneumatic or hydraulic power source — to get the job done, the Rabbit Tool just needs one guy squeezing the handle and the tool together.

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Thanks to MSA Safety Works and their line of NFL hard hats, you can now break s#!$, support for your favorite football team, and protect your melon all at the same time! These hard hats meet industry standards and (most importantly) feature bright, colorful logos that you can proudly wear in public. Not only do they look good, but these hats are said to be comfortable enough to wear through an entire game project.

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Dubbed the KATool by manufacturer Council, its “KA” supposedly stands for Kwik Access — but it could just as easily be Kick Ass. We hear that firefighters love this tool because it’s a classic fast attack tool, allowing you to tear up a wall quickly to check for fire extension, cut wires, clear doors, etc. And we hear they particularly like like the fact that it’s light enough to carry into a fire along with all their other gear.

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This video of the Calder cooling towers falling down looks so similar to the nuclear plant in the Simpson’s home town of Springfield that I kept waiting to hear Homer’s voice over the crowd — “DOH!”

Still, this is some seriously cool breaking s#!$.

It’s a pry bar. It’s a nail puller. It’s a hammer. It’s a pick. It’s yet another demolition multi-tool with a kick-ass name: the Demo Dawg. Designed by a remodeler to simplify many of his back-breaking tasks, the Demo Dawg helps remove drywall, tear up flooring and roofing, tear out cabinets, and even relocate a landscape planting.

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Don’t let getting hit in the head by flying debris stop your demolition fun — especially when you can pick up this hard hat is from Mfasco for under $4. Is it the best hard hat around? We doubt it. But every bit of damage this cheap-ass hat soaks up is damage you won’t take to the head.

The Radians #300 Safety Hard Hat features a snap adjustment and meets ANSI Z89.1-1997, Type 1, Class E g and C standards for helmets. And it rings up at $3.92 — which means you have no excuse for not owning one.

Plus, if nothing else you could wear it with a suit and be Max Zorin for halloween.

Radian 300 Hard Hat [Mfasco]
Street Pricing [Google Product]

(Friday, October 26th, 2007) Tonight we get a night of reruns. If you’re a regular couch potato, tonight is best spent out in the shop. But if you need to vegetate — and you haven’t seen all these already — there’s plenty to watch.

But our pick of the night: Burt Builds a Bandit!

All times are central.

• How It’s Made: Episode 12, Aluminum screw caps, chocolate, pills and pasta (Discovery, 5:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Falling Flat (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Build It Bigger: Battle Machines (Science, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 7, kayaks, safety boots, electronic signs and breakfast cereals (Discovery, 5:30 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Cheese Maker (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• Toolbelt Diva: This Show is Fan-tastic (Home, 7:00 p.m.)
• How Do They Do It?: Monster Digger, Submarine, Beer Car (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• Take Home Handyman: Stripping for Beginners: Julie & Ray (Home, 7:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made, Season 3: Episode 20, Traditional Bows, Coffee Machines, Mascots, Hammocks (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: Dressing Table (DIY, 7:30 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Unfinished Business (Home, 8:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: Mailbox (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Wall-Mounted Magazine Rack (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Build It Bigger: High Risk Tower (Science, 9:00 p.m.)
• Celebrity Rides: Burt Builds a Bandit (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)

Enjoy.

Often cordless tools serve as the “little brothers” of their more powerful corded siblings. But recent advances in battery technology have enabled tools that break that mold — like Ridgid’s MaxSelect reciprocating saw. Though it accepts the older Ridgid 18V NiCd batteries (use ‘em if you got ‘em), slapping in the latest 24V lithium-ion pack makes it really shine. Read on past the jump to see if the Ridgid can stand up to some major demolition testing.

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The AMPCO 7920 German-type sledge hammer will run you $900 on Amazon. Believe it or not, this 23.79 pound — when you pay almost $40 a pound you want to be accurate – German-type sledge serves a practical purpose. Its non-sparking, non-magnetic, corrosion-resistant, beryllium free head meets OSHA and NFPA requirements for use in hazardous, flammable, or combustible environment. So you can break s#!$ just about anywhere.

If that isn’t enough to make you run out and buy one right now, AMPCO’s offers a lifetime warranty. (They don’t specify whether that lifetime is the tools or yours, though. We hear toxic waste can sting.)

Don’t forget to read the reviews on Amazon as you rush to purchase this sledge — they’re quite amusing.

AMPCO 7920 [Manufacturer]
Via Amazon [What's this?]