The drill press might be one of the more overlooked shop tools when it comes to dust collection, but it still can make quite a mess — especially if it gets dual use as a drum sander. The dust and shavings also make it hard to see your workpiece while drilling. Peachtree Woodworking Supply sells one solution: a versatile kit that makes collecting dust at the drill press easy.
Cryogenics — as if freezing people to wake them up later wasn’t weird enough, now you can freeze your tools. If you saw this post on Milwaukee’s “Ice Edge” recip saw blades, you might have thought a cryogenic heat-treatment process was an oddity. But cryogenic deep-freezing of metals is becoming common, and not just because it can cut production costs. Something good happens to metal at -300 Fahrenheit — testing shows better wear, greater flexibility, and increased durability.
Instead of paying sky-high bucks for a steel fence around his pool area, photo pool member MIG-ateur decided to make a jig and assemble the panels himself. Check out the clever panel-assembly jig and the rather bad-ass finished product.
We’re staggered by the sheer magnitude of building an entire fence of the stuff, but breaking it down into sections surely made it easier — good thinking, and a great jig. We tip our hats to MIG-ateur for carrying through with the project.
Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]
If a windstorm has ever scattered your deck furniture across the neighborhood, Deck-Tiedowns from Bishop Innovations could save you a lot of grief. They’re simple stainless steel rings with “T”-shaped ends — you just slip ‘em between your deck planks, and twist. They provide a secure anchor for grills, patio furniture, etc, when weather threatens to blow them away.
You can find Deck-Tiedowns in some hardware stores, but if your local store doesn’t carry ‘em, you can buy ‘em directly from the website. They’ll fit boards up to 1-1/2″ thick. A four-pack of tiedowns costs $6, and a 12-pack runs $15.
Deck-Tiedown [Official Site]
PDF Order Form [Decktiedown.com]
A float is a tool similar to a rasp, but it cuts more aggressively, and you can sharpen it with a triangular file when it dulls. We’ve covered Lie-Nielson’s Planemakers’ Floats on Toolmonger before — now they offer a new line of joinery floats more suited for cabinet-making and furniture-building.
Creative woodcrafters and hobbyists alike have turned to alternative sources for the rare wood and sweet deals they crave. We support this trend — it brings recycling and a certain amount of free-thinking to woodworking. Lately, we’ve heard this question a lot: How much should I pay for this recycled wood from old barns or 100-year-old houses?
Who needs a Rotozip, when your cordless drill will work just as well? Grizzly’s Beaver saw-drill can cut a starting hole with its tip and rip through material with its tooth-covered shank. Chuck this bit up into any drill with a 1/4″ chuck or larger, and you’re ready to cut drywall, paneling, and a slew of other materials
For drilling the initial pilot hole, the first 5/8″ of the Beaver saw-drill’s tip resembles a common, 135°, split-point drill bit. The saw portion — with 90 sharp, side-cutting teeth — makes up the next 1-3/4″. For faster cutting and longer life, both the drilling and cutting portions are precision-ground and coated with titanium nitride. Grizzly makes the entire bit from M2 high-speed steel.
Made in USA, the Beaver saw drill will only run you $4 at Amazon — a heck of a lot cheaper than a Rotozip, and one less power tool to lug around.
Beaver Saw-Drill [Grizzly]
Via Amazon
(Wednesday, March 19th, 2008) A new Smash Lab gives us a sinking feeling, and a rerun of one of the more spectacular Mythbusters shows what happens when your water heater’s safety valve gets stuck.
All times are central.
Enjoy.
Nick’s post and the discussion on the scratching capabilities of Scotch-Brite pads made me think of what I use for scratch removal. Novus has been making polish for acrylics for over 25 years — their three-part system can handle almost all but the most severe scratches. I’ve used it to polish museum display cases, and even some glass, with excellent results.
I hate to pick on Stanley again, but they just happen to offer examples of what I’m talking about. On the left we have an antique Stanley driver handle — and on the right, a driver found in stores today. A casual observer might notice that one is ornately carved and the other is about as utilitarian as it gets. Both are Stanley, but they play completely different roles in our everyday lives.
These days it seems everyone has a nail gun, no matter how few nails they need to drive — even someone who’s never hefted a hammer can pick up a nailer/compressor package for the simplest of projects. But when it comes to getting nails out of lumber, we all seem to resort to the same simple tools: wrecking bars, cat’s paws, FUBARs, and brute force. Now the Nail Kicker gives you a way to reclaim lumber, without relying on just hand tools.
If picking the right push mower isn’t something you like to step into cold, the Home Depot website provides a sweet comparison tool — with voice-overs, tons of pictures, and more than a few models from five of the major manufacturers to choose from.
We can’t imagine anyone would ever pick a mower based solely on an online sales “showroom”, but with this super useful tool you can skim the best features of the popular models on the market, without having to leave the house — and we’re all about that.
Push Mower Selector [Home Depot]
For all the readers that hated the Saw-Aid — and those that might actually have liked it — here’s another tool from Stots: the Dust Sucker And More!, hereafter shortened to “the Dust Sucker”. The Dust Sucker aims to make dust collection on your router table more effective. At the same time it provides a starting pin for fenceless routing, and it gives you a convenient place to store the things you always want close at hand, like router bits, a collet wrench, or brass setup bars.
We love that independent spirit that tools guys have. This Toolmonger decided his tractor could look as good as, or better than, his car. Then he backed it up with some creative time with a welder and a little elbow grease, and voila! — a daily driver with more pull than your work truck.
Of course, we’re sure the top end on this honey is pretty low — but the sheer time it took to build has got to be worth a little sacrifice in the speed department. We’re betting no one at the local Dairy Queen has bigger dubs than this guy.
Big Yellow Tractor Car [Hawkes Haven]
The hot weather hasn’t arrived yet, and those early-morning, outside jobs still bring a chill. Luckily, Sears is offering their Craftsman heated work jacket on sale for $70. Thanks to the conductivity and heat delivery of the rechargeable Thermotex system, this durable, washable jacket will keep you warm for up to five hours, with three temperature settings between 85 and 110 degrees.
The outer shell is made from 100-percent cotton with a quilted nylon lining. The jacket features a built-in Teflon fabric protector, triple-stitching, and a heavy-duty zipper. You can get it in sizes Medium - 2XLarge, and Sears covers it with a two-year warranty.
Heated Work Jacket [Sears]
(Tuesday, March 18th, 2008) This night of quality reruns includes the Dirty Jobs anniversary clip show — which is still pretty entertaining.
All times are central.
Enjoy.
Toolmonger’s own Benjamin Johnson offered up this seriously sweet and sandy ride. Ben created this awesome Dodge sandbox truck for his daughter, with help from his father-in-law. Ben built some wheels onto this completely cool plaything, so it can be moved around the yard. Someone’s thinking.
Check it — this ride comes fully loaded with brake lights, license plate holder, steering wheel, wooden windows, bench seating, and a hard, flip-up sand cover. Ben has single-handedly raised the bar for sandboxes around here — nice.
Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]
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