Just a reminder: Toolmonger will be at Make Magazine’s 2008 Bay Area Maker Faire this weekend, and we’d love to meet you and talk tools — and maybe spend some time working with you, too.

(more…)

Removing a stripped screw or a drywall screw that missed the stud can be a trial — you try to back the screw out with a screwdriver, you almost get it, but it slips back into the hole again. Sometimes you can grab the deviant screw with your fingers or a set of pliers, but Lee Valley sells a tool designed especially for removing stripped screws.

(more…)

You can always tell who uses a tool bag by what’s in it and what kind of shape it’s in. In this case, plumbing fittings and the nastified nature of the canvas scream ‘utility contractor’ — this is a working man’s tool bag.

The coolest thing about this rig: it’s used day in, day out, in the mud, and it still holds up. If it gets too nasty, hose it out and set it in the sun for awhile, and it’s ready to go again. It might not win any new design awards for fancy workmanship — but it might outlast the ones that do.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

If you work construction or renovation, you often need to straighten a twisted stud or joist.  Tools such as Stanley’s Fubar will do the trick, but what if you don’t want to carry a separate tool to get the job done?  Estwing adds board-tweaking ability to a tool already in your hand: the hammer.  The patented Hammertooth hammer can straighten any 2x board — just place the tooth and claw on either side of a board, and twist.

(more…)

If you want to make full use of your drill press or milling machine table, Palmgren makes a kit with just about everything you’d ever need, including a steel storage rack to neatly organize all the pieces.

Here’s the complete list of what’s included:

• Four 9⁄16″ T-slot nuts
• Four 5⁄8″ T-slot nuts
• Six flange nuts
• Four coupling nuts
• Six step block pairs
• Six step clamps
• 24 studs — four each 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″, 7″, and 8″ lengths
• Two 1-3⁄4″ wide U-clamp sets — each U-clamp set contains a 5″ stud, a flange nut, a ball joint, a U-clamp, and a 9⁄16″ T-slot nut
• Steel storage rack

At $140, this kit isn’t cheap, and it weighs 28 lbs, so shipping will definitely cost you — but you’ll never be lacking for ways to hold down your work.  Sears sells what appears to be the identical kit, rebranded as Craftsman, for $100.

Clamping Kit [Palmgren]
Clamping Kit [Grainger]
Clamping Kit [Sears]
Via Amazon(B0007ZFK0S) [What’s This?] [What's This?]

In response to this recent post, Toolmongers have come out strongly in favor of pocket knives. Almost everyone agrees that pocket knives come in handy all the time, even if you don’t always have the right tool for a given situation. But if your pockets are big enough to carry this 87-tool Swiss Army knife, you will always have the right tool for the situation.

(more…)

Sharpen those shears, ’cause this Harbor Freight coupon expires today. You can check out their other coupons, too, but this knockout punch kit makes the top of my list. It allows you to cut perfect holes in 10-gauge mild steel, aluminum, and fiberglass. The kit includes dies sized 1/2″, 3/4″, 1″, and 1-1/4″, and hole punches sized 7/8″, 1-3/32″, 1-11/32″, and 1-11/16″, all made from heat-treated, high-carbon steel. You’ll also get driving screws and a mold-blown plastic case to hold it all. After today, the price reverts back to $15.

Knockout Punch Kit [Harbor Freight]
Coupons [Harbor Freight]

(Wednesday, April 30th, 2008) Tonight boils down to a tough choice: Made in America or Patent Bending? Of course, if you have Tivo you can watch both.

All times are central.

• Holmes on Homes: O-fense-ive (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Eco Masons: Dean and Derek Go Green (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Diamond Cutting, Wood Doors, Paintballs, Newspapers (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Wooden Barrels, Fire Hydrants, Automotive Seats, Cathode Ray Tubes (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: MacGyver Myths (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• Patent Bending: Chute N’ Shoes (Science, 8:00 p.m.)
• John Ratzenberger’s Made in America: Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (Travel, 8:00 p.m.)
• Patent Bending: Bicycle Lawnmower (Science, 8:30 p.m.)
• John Ratzenberger’s Made in America: Hobie Cat; General Jackson Showboat (Travel, 8:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Grenades and Guts (Discovery, 9:00 p.m.)
• Master Blasters: Car Field Goal (Science, 9:00 p.m.)
• Hammered With John & Jimmy DiResta: The Retro Table Lamps (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Hydroponic Lettuce, Construction Wood, Recycling, Fishing Flies (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Automotive Fuel Pumps, Cricket Bats, Change Machines, Ductile Iron Pipe (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

This really cool-looking edge clamp works great for repairing cracks in the tops and backs of stringed instruments, but the average woodworker might not find it very useful, unless he regularly needs to repair cracked wooden bowls, vases, or other thin curved objects. In that case, this $140 tool just might come in handy.

(more…)

Recently, one of the mechanics at my local shop got himself a brand new Snap-on box with a top hutch, and I got a little jealous — ok, a lot jealous. It’s big, blue, shiny, and completely lust-worthy.

The five thousand dollar buy-in is steep for most, but you’re really buying the Snap-on name and quality. A box like this will last through many moves from house to house, from shop to shop — and all the while it’ll hold a ton of tools without sagging or faltering like a few department store toolboxes might. Plus, you can always expand or adapt this versatile box to suit your circumstances.

Only the buyer can say whether the Snap-on box is worth the uber price difference. But most of us can agree, this box is mighty good looking — even with all the drool stains on it.

Rolling Toolbox And Top Hutch [Snap-on]

How do you make the world’s smallest violin? With the world’s smallest plane, of course. Herdim claims this diminutive plane is “the smallest functional plane in the world ever to be manufactured in a series.” Despite its ridiculously small size, Herdim actually makes this plane for violin makers to hollow small surfaces.

(more…)

We can always count on pegboard to start a hot debate among Toolmongers. We split right down the middle — the anti-pegboard people on one side furiously advocate toolboxes and storage systems, and the staunch pegboard supporters come back with tales of super convenience.  Toolmonger’s own Brad Justinen offers up this slick photo of his pegboard setup, brandishing his fine selection of hand tools.

We’ll say this: almost anyone’s shop can accommodate both pegboard and other storage systems, and it’s a totally subjective thing. Chuck and I often disagree on the virtues of the holy board ourselves, but clearly it does a great job of getting tools off the bench — and almost any tool guy will tell you, that’s a step in the right direction.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Sometimes you need a thin wrench, sometimes you need an adjustable wrench, and sometimes you need a wrench that’s both thin and adjustable.  The jaws of the adjustable Smart Wrench from Engineer measure just 1/16″ thick — thin enough to slip into all but the tightest locations. The 6″ long adjustable wrench can accommodate nuts as large as 3/4″.

Grab one Smart Wrench for $28 at Garrett Wade, or two for $50.

Smart Wrench [Engineer]
Smart Wrench [Garrett Wade]

When you picture a small workshop like dad used to have, a picture like this probably pops into your head. Reader Wattsei kindly posted this photo of his dad’s shop, and we remember why dad always seemed like he could fix anything — because he probably had before.

Workshops like this are the best kind — it’s seen countless broken bicycles, woodworking projects, and household fix-it jobs. Through the years, Wattsei’s old man has carefully stocked it, so it’s ready to handle any issue that comes along.

To some it might look like a bunch of cluttered junk — but to a tool guy this looks like a place where you can get some work done. Thanks for the photo, Wattsei.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Through this Thursday, Sears is discounting both their standard and metric 4-in-1 wrench sets by 50%. Normally $30, right now you can pick up a set for $15. Each set includes two 12-point box-end wrenches with reversible ratcheting sockets that fit two different sizes. That means each wrench can tighten and loosen four different sized fasteners.

The two-wrench standard set includes one wrench that fits 5/16″, 3/8″, 7/16″, and 1/2″ sizes, and a second wrench that fits 9/16″, 5/8″, 11/16″, and 3/4″ sizes.

The two-wrench metric set includes one wrench that fits 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, and 13mm sizes, and a second wrench that fits 16mm, 17mm, 18mm, and 19mm sizes.

Craftsman heat-treats the handles and plates them with nickel-chrome — they also heat-treat the box-end sockets and finish them in black oxide.

The deal expires May 1, 2008.

Craftsman 4-in-1 Standard Wrench Set [Sears]
Craftsman 4-in-1 Metric Wrench Set [Sears]

(Tuesday, April 29th, 2008) Rock Solid always reminds us why we don’t have extensive stonework around the house, and Saws is well worth catching again.

All times are central.

• Holmes on Homes: House 2 Home: Part 2 (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Machinery of the Past (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
• Modern Marvels: Saws (History, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Hydroponic Lettuce, Construction Wood, Recycling, Fishing Flies (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Automotive Fuel Pumps, Cricket Bats, Change Machines, Ductile Iron Pipe (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Porphyry Granite Front Walkway (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Ax Men: Loggers Under Fire (History, 9:00 p.m.)

Enjoy.

If you’ve got a lush green lawn, you most likely want to keep it that way — which means no parking on the lawn or driving across it.  Now Soil Retention Systems makes Drivable Grass, a flexible concrete pad that’s used in place of concrete or asphalt driving surfaces. Raised concrete tiles provide a solid surface for driving and parking, and grass grows between the tiles, with the roots protected.

(more…)