Although at first look this tool might seem like a Rube Goldberg design, on closer inspection you appreciate the ingenuity of its designer.  I can’t attest to how well it actually works, but it definitely looks cool.

Strike the top of this 8″ tool like you would a chisel to get the narrow 5/32″ jaws underneath the nail head. When you attach your hammer to either the top or side of the puller and lever against the fulcrum, the spring loaded jaws close to grip the nail.

Add this nail puller to your collection of eccentric tools for $15.

Forged Nail Puller [Lee Valley]

“Bluebird Wax Stranger” isn’t some strange news headline from The Onion, but rather the name of a pocket-sized multi-tool from the attitude-laden snowboard accessory company Bluebird Wax. Okay, so it’s only four screwdriver tips (two Phillips, two flathead) that hook up to a fancy-blue ratcheting handle — but it retails for about half of most other ratcheting multi-screwdrivers. Check out the gnarly pitch from the folks at Backcountry.com:

Don’t let a loose screw or poorly adjusted binding ruin your day snowboarding. Be prepared with the Bluebird Wax Stranger Pocket Tool. You hardly notice this small ratcheting screwdriver in your pocket, and its Phillips and flat-head screwdriver bits fit about any binding out there. When your friend says “Dude, I think my binding is loose,” hit him with the Stranger Pocket Tool and get back to riding.

So, for half the cash you can keep your ride in good condition and help the less driven on the slopes — but I’d bet on this one being handy in the shop, too. Dude.

Bluebird Wax Stranger [Backcountry]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

There probably isn’t an angle this saw can’t reach — and with Tools-Plus selling it for $188, there are probably very few reasons for me not owning one right now. This Porter Cable “Tiger Claw” variable angle reciprocating saw boasts 180 degrees of adjustability on the rear gear housing and 360 degrees on the front housing. Both gear housings adjust smoothly on ball bearings, with 13 position stops in the rear and 12 positions in the front — that should just about cover every conceivable angle.

An 11.5A variable 0-2900 SPM motor powers the saw, which has a cutting stroke of 1-1/4″. A detachable “Quik-Change” front shoe, to utilize more teeth in the cutting action, and “Quik-Change” keyless blades make this saw truly variable.  You also get blades, a heavy-duty case, and a one year limited warranty.

Tiger Claw [Porter & Cable]
Porter Cable 9750 [Tools-Plus]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

(Monday, January 28th, 2008) A new episode of Ultimate Factories visits the Caterpillar factory, and Invention Nation gives us another new mystery episode. Guess the reference of tonight’s title if you can — no Googling!

All times are central.

• Holmes on Homes: Clean Slate (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Build It Bigger: World’s Tallest Skyscraper (Science, 5:00 p.m.)
• Trains & Locomotives (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 4, hearing aids, 3-D puzzles, rubber mats, and toilets (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 34, inflatable safety devices, braille typewriters, and carbon fibre cellos (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Lead Balloon (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• Ultimate Factories: Caterpillar (National Geographic, 7:00 p.m.) NEW
• Top Gear: Episode 3 (BBC America, 7:00 p.m.)
• Smash Lab: Hurricane Proof House (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• Street Tuner Challenge: Putting it Together (Speed, 8:00 p.m.)
• Top Gear: Episode 2 (BBC America, 8:00 p.m.)
• Street Tuner Challenge: Get Competitive (Speed, 8:30 p.m.)
• Smash Lab: Crash Absorbing Concrete (Discovery, 9:00 p.m.)
• Invention Nation: Episode 10 (Science, 9:00 p.m.) NEW
• Invention Nation: New Cool (Science, 9:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Exploding Toilet (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)

Enjoy.

So you’re looking to get into woodworking, and you figure the cheapest route is probably to avoid the big expensive power tools and go with small hand tools. You figure, it was good enough for our 18th century forefathers, it’s good enough for you. Then you get the shock from seeing the price of some of the nicer planes on the market. Well, Anant out of India has got the planes you want at more reasonable prices for the everyday normal guy. (more…)

I don’t really have anything against Billy Mays. His commercials and infomercial stylings will one day be the stuff of legend and myth - as advertising will surely be beamed into our brains in the future. But until then Billy has got to shout louder and smile bigger than everyone else, all while giving you a ball-busting deal on his latest product.

I would like to say that if I had a crap-ton of Zorbee’s to hock that I might find a quieter, more dignified way to go about it, but all things considered, brute force might actually work pretty well. Billy gets into every living room at least 20 times a day and more on the weekends. After a while it seems pretty normal to see his grinning mug smiling back at you.

Somewhere between reruns of Gilligan’s Island and History’s Mysteries, a loud, cheerful dude tries to help you furnish your living room with the Hercules Hook or clean that nasty stain in the hallway. No one else is trying to help you figure this crap out at 3 in the morning — they’re all sleeping. Maybe you do need some Mighty Putty. That would make life better. He’s a crafty one, that Mr. Mays.

All we’re saying is beware of salesmen that don’t blink and seem to point at you more than twice in a 10 second span of time.

Billy Mays Products [Google]

The Dust Bubble disposable dust collector adheres to walls and other surfaces for a quicker and easier post-drilling cleanup. The Dust Bubble also cuts down on preparation time because it eliminates the need to remove or protect furniture and other belongings in the vicinity of the to-be-drilled zone. Stick it. Drill it. Bin it. The days of holding a drill with one hand and a vacuum with the other are over!

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As as strange as it sounds, ScrapeRite manufactures plastic razor blades. Why on earth would you want a plastic razor blade? Designed for the automotive detailing industry, these blades can remove most stuck-on paints, adhesives, or other muck without damaging the surface like harder steel razor blades.

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This week was a busy one here at Toolmonger. If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — and you didn’t have a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select:

What Exactly Is A Base-Boar-Zit?
A Base-Boar-Zit drills a curved hole into a wall and base board stud. It’s not much use for anyone who isn’t running cable behind a wall, but those who are get stoked at the very sight of one. Basically, line the base up with the wall, use a drill to power the bit, and push. You get a nice clean hole through the wall ready for cable.

Byrdrench’s Two-Fisted Multi-Tool
The Byrdrench would fit right in with 007’s arsenal. Not only does it pack a small toolbox in it’s slender form, it also separates down the middle to reveal an easy-open knife blade. It’s the closest thing you’re going to find this side of Cybertron to a Transformer — not to mention, it serves as four different types of hand tools while looking this good.

A Knotty Learning Tool
Unless you were an Eagle Scout knot-tying champion, you most likely don’t know how to tie more than one or two basic types of knots. The Fourteener knotting tool teaches you how to tie knots on a small, specially crafted learning board — it’ll take your rope-wrangling skills from sad to MacGyver in no time flat.

Goodbye Fish Tape, Hello Magnafish
From the “Why didn’t I think of that?” files comes the Magnafish. Instead of fishing behind a wall for the wire you know you strung behind that wall, just use the Magnafish to attract it and tell it where you want it to go. We’re sure this big magnet will deter a great deal of violence against drywall.

Hot or Not? “Blind” Tool Selection
After a post about what are and should be important factors in the tool selection process, and whether buying blind to brand is a good thing or not, Toolmonger readers light up the comments section with their usual hardcore insight. The result is a spirited back and forth over what makes a good tool buy.

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.

There was a time in the US when you could buy a small truck. It’s true! They usually had a modest inline four, a bench seat, and A/C and a radio if you were lucky. They weren’t the gigantic, six thousand pound, glorified station wagons that lumber their way to soccer practice and make the yearly trip to Home Depot in order to justify their existence. They were big enough to fit at least a sheet of plywood and strong enough to get it where it needed to go.

Does bigger mean better when it comes to work trucks? Do you miss the days of the Ranger, the S-10, or the Nissan Hardbody? Trucks like the Ranger and the Toyota Tacoma are still in production, but they’re fairly chubby compared to their former selves. What do you all think? Drop us a line in the comments.

This drill/driver from DeWalt doesn’t sport lithium batteries or futuristic aggressive grips, but it’s a great, useful tool nonetheless — I know because I have one.  If you don’t, then head to Amazon where this DeWalt heavy-duty 3/8″, 9.6V cordless drill/driver kit is now $75. The DeWalt DC750KA weighs a reasonable 3.4 lbs. and features a 15 position adjustable clutch, insert bit, dual-speed range (0-300/0-1,000 RPM), and a carrying case with two batteries.  DeWalt protects it with a three year warranty.

Via Amazon [What’s This?] (B000GIIRLK) [What's This?]
DC750KA Drill/Driver [DeWalt]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

(Friday, January 25th, 2008) A new episode of How It’s Made promises interesting segments on stainless steel and laboratory glass blowing — we hope they show a glass lathe in use! It looks like DIY, while providing nothing new, is revamping their Friday night lineup.  HOME has a mini-marathon of the eternally angry Holmes.

All times are central.

• Holmes on Homes: Wheelchair Bathroom (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Build It Bigger: Turbo-Charged Boats (Science, 5:00 p.m.)
• Cool Tools: Wood Work (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• Today Show Tips: Tips, Tools, and Gadgets (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 15, honey and honeycombs, fiber optics, bricks, and pipe organs (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• Ultimate Factories: Budweiser (National Geographic, 6:00 p.m.)
• Modern Marvels: Saws (History, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 17, seatbelts, windows, wax figurines, and hot air balloons (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Pasadena 911 - Part 1 (Home, 7:00 p.m.)
• How Do They Do It?: Episode 4, fresh drinking water in the desert, large LED TV screens, and Ferrari sports cars (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Episode 4, the production process of hearing aids, 3-D puzzles, rubber mats, and toilets (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Pasadena 911 - Part 2 (Home, 8:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made 4: Episode 20, stainless steel, football helmets, resin figurines, and laboratory glassware (Science, 8:00 p.m.) NEW
• Hammered With John and Jimmy DiResta: The Retro Table Lamps (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made 4: Episode 19, Wooden Barrels, Fire Hydrants, Automotive Seats, and Cathode Ray Tubes (Science, 8:30 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Hand Tools and Sharpening Tour (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Nashville Kitchen (Home, 9:00 p.m.)
• Build It Bigger: Coaster Build Off (Science, 9:00 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Turned Sycamore Bowl With Ebony Rim (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: Garden Armchair (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

Though the ax is one of the first tools created by humans, practically no humans today even own one. Modern life has made them largely obsolete — that is, until you leave the city and have need of one. Luckily for us, Coleman makes some fine axes, like the Camp Axe pictured above, for cheap.

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A reader sent us a link to this Unclutterer post about Pottery Barn’s solution for kids that need a little help reaching the sink. While I’m not sure that I’d shell out for the Pottery Barn version, this looks like a first-class idea for a home project — especially if you’ve been thinking about updating that vanity cabinet anyway.

(Thanks, Jet!)

Pottery Barn’s Hide-Away Step Stool [Unclutterer]

At last, say goodbye to the days on the job site when you could only express your team loyalty with mere words. Now you can beat in the message — literally. No one will dare mess with your team after seeing you cling tightly to the simulated football grip — complete with front-facing laces — of this construction-grade, “all-purpose” hammer. Now who’s ready for some football? You are!

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What do you do with dull scissors? Throw them out and buy a new pair? Try to hone them on a whetstone? Don’t bother — Accusharp makes an economical sharpener just for sharpening scissors, hedge clippers, tin snips, and other tools with similar blades.

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Two part foam spray-in insulation is becoming the standard in new home construction. It installs quickly, it boasts a high R-value per inch, and it prevents energy-stealing air leaks. Until fairly recently only pros could do this job, but lately companies like Dow Chemical have released products like the Froth-Pak 12 — it’s the same foam the pros use, but scaled down for smaller Jobs like fixing those pesky air leaks.

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