Toolmonger photo pool member J.Levine posted this sweet mod to his snowblower. He tore off the old crappy crank that positions the blower’s snow spout, and he mounted a custom rig of his own design to power the chute’s movement.

Props to you, sir, both for the cut up drill motor you used to power the chute and for having the good sense to cut up a $10 Drill Master instead of something that might be good for another project. He even posted a video of his handiwork in action.

While he’s out in the yard blowing fresh piles of powder into the neighbor’s yard, we thought he might enjoy a new pair of gloves.

Toolmonger’s Photo Pool [Flickr]

I can’t think of any gadget that’s become ubiquitous as fast as the Apple iPod, with its never-ending array of accessories that run the gamut from high-end earphones to toilet paper holders. Now Whatever Works offers an accessory especially for toolies: a decent tool box that offers protection to your Ipod or other MP3 player as well as an amplifier and AM/FM radio for your listening pleasure.

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Fan in your computer whining because the tiny bearing needs oil? Nothing does the job as well as a micro oiler. Owned one of those cheap leaky plastic pen oilers — the one where you squeeze and too much oil squirts out? Empire’s precision oiler allows precise oil delivery, one drop at a time.

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Rechargable batteries help the environment, but they can be a beating on your wallet.  Fortunately Circuit City is listing this 8 Pack of AA Sanyo Eneloop NiMH rechargeable batteries for $15.  And - extra bonus - if you take advantage of the mail-in offer, they’ll send you four Eneloop battery spacers, the spacers that turn your AA batteries into C and D cell batteries.

8-Pack Batteries [Eneloop]
8-Pack Eneloop [Circuit City]
Mail-in Offer [Eneloop]
Street Pricing [Google Product]

(Wednesday, December 19th, 2007) Get ready for a week or two of reruns, but you’ll probably be too drunk on eggnog to notice.

All times are central.

• How It’s Made: Episode 7, manufacturing golf balls, furniture handles, parking meters and room dividers (Discovery, 5:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: A River Ran Through It (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Build It Bigger: Coaster Build Off (Science, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 44, grinding wheels, compost, window blinds and milk (Discovery, 5:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 28, manufacturing engine blocks, jawbreakers, drum shells and drums (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 52, manhole covers, range hoods, artificial logs, and snowmobiles (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• How Do They Do It?: Speeding Car, Water Display, White Wash (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 5, copy paper, jeans, computers, and plate glass (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Holiday Special (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Granite Fireplace Revamp (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Kitchen Concrete Floor (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Christmas Special (Discovery, 9:00 p.m.)
• Street Tuner Challenge: Buckle up Tight (Speed, 9:00 p.m.)
• Street Tuner Challenge: Policing the Competition (Speed, 9:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Christmas Tree Lights (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)

Enjoy.

At a glance, a zero-offset ratcheting combination wrench (top) looks the same as a standard ratcheting wrench (bottom). But closer examination will reveal a one-way mechanism and a straight box end. These wrenches are still considered reversible — you just have to flip the tool to reverse the ratcheting direction.

What’s the appeal of this tool — the zero offset?  Sure, a perfectly straight wrench has its uses, especially in tight areas and when you have to hold the entire wrench flush against a surface. However, some people probably choose these wrenches because they’re cheaper than traditional reversible ones, or maybe they think the tool’s more durable due to fewer moving parts.

Let’s hear from you - do you find zero-offset wrenches appealing, or are they simply cheap alternatives to standard 15° offset wrenches?

Zero Offset Ratcheting Wrench [Gearwrench]
Standard Reversible Ratcheting Wrench [Gearwrench]

Buildex’s new Tapcon line of anchors cut their own threads as you drive them into masonry.  And unlike most other types of masonry anchors, they’re removable.

You especially appreciate ‘removable’ when you’ve driven a bunch of anchors into a wall, then decided to rearrange or adjust your setup.  With most anchors, you’re, um, screwed.  But with Tapcons you just pull out the screw, fill in the hole with concrete patch paste, paint it, and you’re good to go.

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We’ve had a chance to see the Maker Store first-hand when we participated in the last two Maker Faire events, and they carry all kinds of cool stuff — perfect stuff for last-minute holiday gifts. Take, for example, their Make-customized version of the much-loved Pocket Ref. Or, you might score a $5 Pinewood Derby car kit for your favorite up-and-coming young woodworker — or a TV-B-Gone kit (pictured) for an electronics fiend (who doesn’t like TVs).

Anyway, we’re generally not big on plugging a specific store, but in this case we make an exception. Why? They not only carry great products that’re assured to inspire, but the money also goes to a good source: another publication that could use the dough.

The Maker Store [MAKE Magazine]

Looking for an easy “starter set” gift for relatives who’re just starting to get their hands dirty? Stanley’s making it easy by combining their products into quite functional tool kits. Pictured above, for example, is their FatMax Xtreme kit, which includes a 25′ tape, a marker, a utility knife, a rip claw hammer, a box beam level, a chalk box, a FuBar, a demolition driver set, and an auto trigger clamp — all in a handy open-mouth tool bag — for $250. Other sets range lower and higher in price.

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‘Tis the season for cheap plastic crap. The gimmicky products that surface around holiday time never cease to amaze us. But some of them have a bit of charm — like this drill-powered pencil sharpener.

It works like any other handheld pencil sharpener, but on its backside it sports a 1/4″ shaft that connects to any 3/8” or 1/2” drill. Once connected you have a 2700 RPM (more or less, depending on drill speed) handheld pencil sharpener. We wonder how many seconds it takes to go from pencil to dust pile.

Street pricing starts at $6.

Drill Powered Pencil Sharpener [Lee Valley]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

It’d been a long time since I got really pumped about an innovation in ratcheting wrenches – then I saw these Ultrastar slip-jaw ratcheting wrenches on the Garrett Wade site. Schwing! You hold it in your hand like a normal open-end wrench. But since you never have to take it off the fastener, you don’t lose your rhythm — and you just keep rocking it back and forth, back and forth, til you’re done.

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If you’re looking to purchase a new corded drill, you NEED to take a look at Milwaukee’s venerable Magnum 0234-6. Although Milwaukee packs 8.0A of power into their newer lineup of 1/2″ drills, this model only sports 5.5 amps of oomf. However, this is an old-school model — a proven workhorse, and preferred by many over all other corded drills.

In a nutshell, the 0234-6 has a heavy-duty, industrial 1/2″ chuck, a side handle, an 8′ detachable cord (a.k.a. Quik-Lok), and a 5.5A motor that demands respect and spins at 0 - 850 RPM. It weighs 4.8 lbs, and it doesn’t come with a case.

The best bit: Amazon is currently offering this drill for $94 with free standard shipping (as opposed to slow as heck super-saver shipping). Big box retailers stopped carrying this drill a while ago, and while it is still available at various online vendors, rumor has it that the 0234-6’s will soon become even scarcer. With an average street price of $130+ and dwindling availability, hesitation is your enemy.

Magnum 0234-6 [Milwaukee]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What's this?]

(Tuesday, December 18th, 2007) A new Trade School shows us how to weld tonight, while all the other channels just feed us reruns.

All times are central.

• How It’s Made: Episode 18, Hydroponic lettuce, construction wood and fishing flies (Discovery, 5:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Bar None (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Build It Bigger: Boot Camp (Science, 5:00 p.m.)
• Machinery of the Past (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 28, combination locks, pottery, recreational vehicles and erasers (Discovery, 5:30 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Jobs That Bite Episode 1 (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• How Do They Do It?: Racing Driver, Bank Vaults, Telling Time (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 4, hearing aids, 3-D puzzles, rubber mats, and toilets (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Jobs That Bite Episode 2 (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• 10 Things You Must Know: Home Theater (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• Trade School: Welding (DIY, 9:30 p.m.) NEW

Enjoy.

I’ve mentioned Parts Express before off-handedly when recommending that you take a stab at building your own speakers, but I recently had the opportunity to interact with them again — and thought it worth my time to recommend them as a great source for in-wall speakers.

I was looking to ditch the bulky speakers in my bedroom in favor of some in-walls, but most of the ones I found were either uber-pricey or required massive wall mods for proper installation. Once it occurred to me to check out Parts Express, the job simplified dramatically. I ended up ordering five Dayton Audio branded speakers — two fronts, two rears, and a special center channel — all of which are designed for installation in standard 2×4 walls and cost less than $300 shipped.

Operating in tandem with a Sony subwoofer I borrowed from a sub/satellite system I owned years back, these sound great — and look great, too. (Thankfully my crown molding was white anyway, so the speaker grilles look perfect. If yours aren’t, though, they’re paintable.)

Anyway, if you’re considering this kind of project, Parts Express is worth a look.

Parts Express [Corporate Site]

Though he wasn’t exactly clear what was damaged (or unsatisfactory) in the first place, we thought we’d toss a pair of gloves Karl Palutke’s way for having the guts to tear into his slightly-older iPod with nothing but hand tools and hope — and post the photos to Toolmonger’s photo pool.

Hopefully the project ended as well as it started. And Karl, if you have a moment, why not stop by and fill us in on the details in comments?

Toolmonger’s Photo Pool [Flickr]

While we have yet to test any of the products in Black & Decker’s still-new VPX line, we’re truly impressed by their choice of applications — like this single-VPX-battery-powered inflator. It looks way more practical than lugging around a 12V cigarette-lighter-driven box — especially if you’re just planning to inflate soccer balls or bike tires.

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DeWalt calls these Excavators “soft toe smooth sole Wellington boots,” but where I grew up in Texas we called any large, round-toed boots farmer boots. (You know — to distinguish ‘em from the pointed-toed boots worn by I-came-here-to-do-two-things-drink-some-beer-and-kick-some-ass ranch hands.) Still, they look pretty comfortable. One thing I don’t get, though: can a boot offer both “high abrasion resistance” and “high oil and slip resistance” at the same time?

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