If you’ve ever been unlucky enough to bruise your backside (or worse) after falling on a patch of ice, you know how important it is to keep walkways and stairs clear of the slippery stuff. Ice Buster’s walk-behind salt spreader provides a good mid-range solution for de-icing, with mittenfuls of kitty litter being at the low end and multi-thousand dollar hoppers attached to your truck bed at the high end.

(more…)

Emson claims their “As Seen on TV” MXZ Pocket Saw cuts though almost anything — metal, bricks, wood, and maybe even tomatoes. I’m a bit skeptical of all infomercial tools, but this three-position locking saw blade with a tungsten carbide edge “that never needs sharpening” still caught my eye.

(more…)

If you need to cut a hole in the middle of a sheet of metal duct, Malco’s CDR duct ripper will get you started. Designed especially for puncturing and ripping ductwork, this tool looks somewhat like a standard blade screwdriver, but the similarities end there. 

Malco grinds the tip of this hardened, corrosion-resistant blade to a perfect angle for puncturing sheet metal. A hanging hole penetrates the cushioned grip for easy storage.  If you don’t want to ruin a perfectly good screwdriver, you can pick it up for about $12.

Duct Ripper [Malco]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

It seems we’re humans aren’t the only Toolmongers in the animal kingdom — thanks to Researchers from the University of Oxford — who mounted tiny half-ounce cameras to the tail feathers of New Caledonian crows — we now know that these very special birds make and use their own simple tools.

(more…)

After a hard day slogging through the woods, you may want to swap your normal pocket knife for the French Army Bivouac Knife. Standard issue in the French Infantry, this knife unfolds to give you everything needed to eat your hard-earned meal.

(more…)

While the folding draw knife was “new, novel, and selling rapidly” in the 1880s, draw knives have aided woodworkers since Noah noticed the clouds rolling in. Gripping both handles, the woodworker pulls the draw knife toward him (or pushes away, despite the name), peeling bark and wood from logs and leaving a unique hand-made look.

(more…)

Last week was a busy one here at Toolmonger. 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:

Preview: Sears Brings Li-Ion To C3 Series Cordless
Sears finally plans to make li-ion batteries available for their affordable line of 19V C3 tools. We have a few of these around the Toolmonger shop and are very pleased that we’ll be able to keep ‘em around longer than their original Ni-Cd batterys.

Make A Lathe Out Of Your Drill Press
For those crafters short on dough but high on turning, Grizzly has an attachment that hooks up to your existing drill press and puts the power of turning in the shop for less than $30. If your stock is smaller than two feet, this could be your rig.

Jason Should’ve Wielded A Bill Hook — For Pruning
The bill hook looks mean – because it is. Wielded correctly it makes short work of brush and overgrowth. Though it looks like a slasher movie prop, this tool has been around for hundreds of years — mostly because it works.

Hardwood Levels By Crick Are Trick
Crick has been making sweet-ass, custom hardwood levels for the better part of 30 years. Though the waiting list can seem a little long, the features and overall quality of the product make them something to consider when a new level is in your future.

Bartender, Get Me A Gimlet
The hand-powered gimlet is the really old-fashioned way to get a screw started in that heirloom you’re building for the family. It takes some extra effort, but that’s kind of the point.

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.

If you need a place to store all those Christmas decorations, HyLoft is discounting their 36″ by 36″ storage system to $20 apiece, while supplies last. Made from steel and finished in a scratch resistant white finish, this 36″ by 36″ unit adjusts from 16″ to 28″ high.

HyLoft backs their product with a lifetime warranty. Easily installed on finished or unfinished ceilings, each storage unit holds up to 150 lbs. Amazon is also discounting the Hyloft storage unit to $35 — and they’re throwing in free shipping to boot.

Storage Unit [HyLoft]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What's This?]

(Monday, December 31th, 2007) The new Weapon Masters premiers, although we’re not sure how Toolmonger-worthy it is.  Anyway, it’s something new for New Year’s Eve.

All times are central.

• MythBusters: Killer Tissue Box (Discovery, 5:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: O-fence-ive (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Trains & Locomotives (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Archimedes Death Ray (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Exploding Water Heater (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• Top Gear: Episode 6 (BBC America, 7:00 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Trail Blazers (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• Top Gear: Episode 5 (BBC America, 8:00 p.m.)
• Weapon Masters: Roman Scorpion (Discovery, 9:00 p.m.) NEW
• MythBusters: Vodka Myths (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)

Enjoy.

(Sunday, December 30th, 2007) Tonight you can learn how to blow glass.

All times are central.

• How It’s Made: Episode 40, plastic bottles and jars, mail, and wooden pens (Science, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 41, plastic injection moulds, automotive oil filters, filing cabinets, and blown glass (Science, 6:30 p.m.)
• Kitchens and Baths 2007 (HGTV, 8:00 p.m.)
• Classic Tractors (RFD-TV, 8:00 p.m.)
• Tricked Out: S2K Custom Interior (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

(Saturday, December 29th, 2007) There’s a How It’s Made Season 4 marathon on the Science channel (we highly recommend the curling stones episode), and DIY has woodworking reruns but those are the highlights for tonight.

All times are central

• Build It Bigger: Hurricane-Proof Homes (Science, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made 4: Episode 9, Bumpers, Lighting Gels & Camera Filters, Steam-powered Models, Candy Canes (Science, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made 4: Episode 10, Umbrellas, Outboard Motors, Silver Cutlery, Tape Measures (Science, 6:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made 4: Episode 11, scalpels, oil paints, British police helmets, and ice axes (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made 4: Episode 12, bacon, snow blowers, and luxury cars (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: Work Table and Clamp Cart (DIY, 7:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made 4: Episode 13, automatic transmissions, silver miniatures, hot air balloon baskets and darts (Science, 8:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: Pedestal Table (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made 4: Episode 14, Magnets, Cooked Ham, Silver-plated Teapots and Crash Test Dummies (Science, 8:30 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Drum Table (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made 4: Episode 15, Curling Stones, Refrigerators, Aluminium Baseball Bats and Opalescent Glass (Science, 9:00 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Jigs and Fixtures Tour (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made 4: Episode 16, Levels, Hot Dogs, Abrasive Grains and Sandpaper (Science, 9:30 p.m.)
• Freeform Furniture: Coffee Table (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

In a promotion that ends tonight, Sears is selling its GearWrench 10-piece metric box end wrench set for just $30, half off the regular $60 price. With their thin heads and shanks, these wrenches excel in tight spots — the ratcheting mechanism requires only five degrees of movement instead of the usual 30 degrees needed by standard end wrenches.  The set includes sizes 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18mm and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

For the same price Sears offers the SAE version of this set which includes sizes 1/4, 5/16, 11/32, 3/8, 7/16, 1/2, 9/16, 5/8, 11/16, and 3/4-inches.

GearWrench Metric Set [Sears]
GearWrench SAE Set [Sears]

I love building wooden storage projects, for two reasons: first is the simple joy of making something, and second is the added organization to my home and shop. I’m addicted to it. I must build tables, shelves, cases, and cabinets. Luckily, Santa saw fit to stuff my stocking with this sweet book from Black and Decker.

I haven’t had time to read it yet, but just looking at the pictures I can tell it was written in the ‘80s. Lucky for me wood projects haven’t changed that much, and a lot of them are still pretty cool with a twist here and a mod there.

Did you get any cool, tool-related loot this year? Post it up to the photo pool — we’d love to see it!

Toolmonger’s Photo Pool [Flickr]

How many times have you scraped the front door open onto a plastic wedge, returned carrying an arm-quivering load of shop gear/groceries/X-mas loot, and had the door slam in your face when you got there? Those inflexible wedges do lose their grip after a time. Luckily, inventor Michael Pendergrass of Rocklin (no kidding), California, came up with a doorstop that lets the door roll into place and then grips it there.

And since it’s made of Santoprene rubber, the doorstop won’t mar or damage your floors. At a street price of around $12, it may trip your radar, but it could be worth it if your most-used doors are as rebellious as ours.

Rock N Lock Doorstop [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

The bikahtagenigan, or crooked knife, was an essential tool used by Native Americans in creating birchbark canoes, paddles and poles, brown ash split baskets, snowshoes, and clubs. The crooked knife is a drawknife made with a bent handle; the carver grasps the knife fingers-up with the blade facing him and pulls it toward himself, slicing and shaving the wood to form smooth surfaces.

Native Americans made the earliest crooked knives in the American Northeast and Atlantic Canada from beaver or porcupine incisors hafted into a wooden handle. Contact with French, English, and Scandinavian settlers brought the technology of metal blades to the Maine Indians by the early 1700s. The knives were widely made and used until around 1930, when modern manufactured goods replaced many items that were traditionally carved.

Crooked knife handles are often elaborately designed, displaying items such as the carved heads of animals, horse hooves, hands with wedding rings, snake bodies, inlaid photographs, women’s legs, and traditional deer and dove images seen in beadwork of the Iroquois. The knife pictured above shows a playing card motif.

Today, Maine Indian basketmakers and canoe builders still create and use crooked knives, and you can find a number of knives online at antique woodworking sites. And if you’ve used one before, upload your pictures — we’d love to see this traditional tool in action.

Crooked Knife Online Exhibit [Hudson Museum]

Now that the holidays are over, ’tis the season to get organized! And to help you find a place for all those new (large) tools Santa brought, we’ve selected two great consumer models –  Rubbermaid’s and Gladiator’s — from all the many storage systems on the market to profile here on Toolmonger. Read on past the jump for photos and details.

(more…)

The folks over at ProblemSolvers claim their rolling snow shovel “clears snow faster and requires no bending or lifting, so you stand up straight while clearing snow from sidewalks or driveways.” Now, I can’t help but be suspicious when I’m told I can clear snow with no bending or lifting.

Admittedly, I was raised in an area where snow falls a foot at a time. But is it possible this thing really works? Or does it work in light, fluffy, just-fallen, dry snow, at depths only less than three inches? This thing’ll probably hold up in Houston, but can it take on Buffalo? Let us know what you think in comments!

Rolling Snow Shovel [ProblemSolvers]