The online community at EDC Forums focuses on the everyday carry lifestyle/obsession, which is basically an interest in items that you always have on you: knives, tools, keys, packs, etc. A small portion of the members take the interest further by customizing tools for specific individual needs, which is pretty cool — one of the coolest is the Keyman mod.

The mod consists of a stripped-down Leatherman with filed-down keys substituted for the tools. EDC Forum member shadeone created the compact, jingle-free, key-carrying solution shown above. You can check out more picks of this and other mods via the links below.

Shadeone’s Post [EDC Forums]
EDC Forums [Official Site]

Don’t call this diminutive belt sander a toy. Like all of Proxxon’s power tools, they designed their block belt sander for smaller projects and detail work. Though it weighs in at just 1-1/2 lbs, this little belt sander can chew through ferrous and non-ferrous metals, wood, and plastic almost as well as its larger cousins.

A quiet 1/5 HP motor drives the belt on this little powerhouse up to 525 ft/min. Proxxon manufactures the housing from fiberglass-reinforced polyamide, with a hole in the housing that can accommodate a screw clamp, turning the tool into a stationary belt sander.

With its 1-1/2″ wide aluminum oxide sanding belt, the block belt sander sports a total sanding surface of 1-1/2″ by 2-3/8″. A finely adjustable spring-clamping system secures the belt and makes changing belts a tool-less operation. The belt sits flush to the left side of the sander for sanding all the way into corners.

You’ll pay $150 to own this fine little belt sander. For that price, you’ll also get five 120-grit belts, five 240-grit belts, and a stationary screw clamp, all packed in a high-quality polypropylene storage case. You can get additional belts in 80, 120, 180, and 240 grits.

Proxxon [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
VIa Amazon [What's This?]

The AVT in Makita’s AVT line of tools stands for Anti-Vibration Technology. The AVT tools work on the same principle as a boxer engine in a motorcycle: a mechanism inside the tool propels a counterweight that balances the force of the tool’s stroke. In addition to giving the user a much smoother experience, the technology also increases the efficiency of the tool, because it isn’t jolted all around while it’s cutting or pounding or whatever. Toolmonger has featured the AVT jackhammer — and of course, we’d all love to use a jackhammer at least once. But now the AVT technology is also available in a tool your average Toolmonger can get some use out of, a recip saw.

(more…)

Maybe you’ve lost the original pin wrench that came with your grinder, or maybe you’re sick of keeping up with a different wrench for each grinder you own. If so, you’re in luck — you can choose from several replacement options.

Harbor Freight sells a cheap adjustable pin wrench that may fit the bill. It adjusts to fit grinder hubs from 3/8″ to 1-1/16″. For only $4 this cheap-ass tool of the bunch could be yours.

If Harbor Freight tools make you cringe, try an almost identical model from Garrett Wade for four times the price. Don’t fear, you’re getting something for the extra dough — this wrench can accommodate a wider variety of grinders, with hubs from 3/8″ to 1-9/16″.

Amazon also sells an adjustable pin wrench that looks like a pair of dividers. For $15 this 7″ long wrench fits a much larger range of grinder hub sizes. Made of chrome vanadium steel, this wrench features 5/32″ diameter pins. Customers have complained that these pins are too large for their grinder — but that’s nothing a few minutes on the grinding wheel can’t solve.

Adjustable Pin Wrench [Harbor Freight]
Adjustable Pin Wrench [Garrett Wade]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

Here’s a sweet deal from HomeDepot.com: All summer long, they’ll be shipping most power tools for free. According to Home Depot:

“The offer is valid on select tool purchases from 2/21/08 - 7/31/08 only. Offer includes: combination tool kits, drill presses, cordless drills, corded drills, impact drivers, screwdrivers, screwguns, sanders, polishers, grinders, hammer drills, chippers, breakers, lathes, staplers, planers, joiners, routers, recip saws, spiral saws, cut-off saws, circular saws, jig saws, band saws, worm drive saws, mitre saws, table saws, heat guns, nibblers, shears, stationary table saws and nailers. Offer excludes garden tools, plumbing tools and electrical tools.”

The offer also excludes certain package weights and sizes, and they won’t deliver to P.O. boxes, Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico.

Free Shipping Deal [Home Depot]

(Friday, April 18th, 2008) Home is all Holmes tonight, with a mini-marathon of our favorite superhero contractor fighting fly-by-night repairs and shoddy contruction.

All times are central.

• Holmes on Homes: Bungled Bungalow (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Cool Stuff: How It Works: Episode 4 (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Kitchen Coleslaw (Home, 7:00 p.m.)
• Cool Stuff: How It Works: Episode 2 (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• Hammered With John & Jimmy DiResta: The Dining Room Table (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• Ax Men: Reversal of Fortune (History, 8:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Stainless Steel, Football Helmets, Resin Figurines, Laboratory Glassware (Science, 8:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Bar None (Home, 8:00 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Asian-Inspired Open Bookcase (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Fire Extinguishers, Doughnuts, Shock Absorbers, Banjos (Science, 8:30 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Wall-Mounted Magazine Rack (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• Build It Bigger: Battle Machines (Science, 9:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: A River Ran Through It (Home, 9:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee: Workshop CD Storage Case (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Aluminum Screw Caps, Chocolate, Pills, Pasta (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Bacon, Snowblowers, Luxury Cars (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)
• Forge and Anvil: Gates of Charleston, Episode 105 (RFD-TV, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

I’ve always said Swiss Army knives should be red, and I’ve defended that position with vigor — until I got a look at the rosewood-handled Swisschamp, new for this year’s Victorinox lineup.

(more…)

Just when you thought your multi-talented angle grinder couldn’t get any “multi-talented-er”, along comes the Grizzly Industrial angle grinder stand. This cool grinder accessory effectively turns your 4-1/2″ angle grinder into a mini metal-cutting chopsaw.

(more…)

Got a stuck screw or a screw with some wacky security head? Don’t reach for the extractor kit; wrap these $25 screw pliers around the head, and simply twist the screw out. Made by one of Japan’s leading hand tool manufacturers — Engineer Inc., formerly Futaba Tool Mfg. — these pliers remove tamper-resistant, rusty, stripped-head, or otherwise damaged screws.

Engineer makes their 6″ long screw pliers from industrial quality steel, hardens them to HRC56±2, and rubber-coats the handles. The rounded nose design and specially shaped jaws allow the screw pliers to grab nearly flush screw heads firmly enough to twist them when a normal screwdriver fails.

Screw Pliers [Engineer, Inc.]
Screw Pliers [Corporate Site]
Via Amazon [What's This?]

With spring at hand and summer just around the corner, soon you’ll be hauling the hose all all over the yard. In my experience, the worst part of dealing with a garden hose is reeling it back in, so this No-Crank hose reel definitely appeals to me. After you’re done with the hose, just pull the lever on the No-Crank — and a motor powered by house water pressure reels it back in.

(more…)

What do you do when you’ve got a computer-controlled mill, a pencil that needs to be sharpened, and a bit of free time on your hands? You program the mill to be the world’s most powerful pencil sharpener — then you grab a camera and put your extremely cool video on YouTube to prove it. Though it probably took a little time to figure this out, it sure beats the little plastic-box, hand-turning kind we have in the shop.

Who says form has to follow function?  Why can’t it lead once in a while? Flaunt your style with one of these beautiful tape measures from Dixon Tape and Rule. Choose a tape measure covered in a fancy veneer or made from a solid block of exotic, domestic, or imported wood. They even hand-paint some models or decorate ‘em with inlays.

(more…)

Big box stores and credit cards are some necessary evils in life — well, my life anyway. This coupon, the result of a partnership between Visa and Lowe’s, saves you $10 on a purchase of $25 or more.  The catch: you have to use your Visa card to get the discount, and there are some exceptions, like products that are exempt from the deal. To get your coupon, just enter your name and email address on the link provided. The offer expires July 30th.

Life Takes Visa [Visa]
Lowe’s $10 Coupon [Lowe's]

(Thursday, April 17th, 2008) We get new episodes of Cool Tools — the first promises abrasive enthusiasm.

All times are central.

• Holmes on Homes: Window Well Hell (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Aluminum Screw Caps, Chocolate, Pills, Pasta (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• Rides: Driven (TLC, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Bacon, Snowblowers, Luxury Cars (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Modern Marvels: Bricks (History, 7:00 p.m.)
• Classic Tractor Show (RFD-TV, 7:00 p.m.)
• American Chopper: Iowa Farm Bureau Bike 1 (TLC, 7:00 p.m.)
• Cool Tools: On the Surface (DIY, 8:00 p.m.) NEW
• American Chopper: Iowa Farm Bureau Bike 2 (TLC, 8:00 p.m.)
• Cool Tools: Down Under (DIY, 8:30 p.m.) NEW
• Holmes on Homes: Pasadena 911 (Home, 9:00 p.m.)
• Ax Men: Reversal of Fortune (History, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Plastic Bags, Solar Panels, Plastic Gasoline Containers, Hockey Sticks (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Scalpels, Oil Paints, British Police Helmets, Ice Axes (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

Sometimes a hacksaw just won’t cut it — it can be too large to fit into small spaces. For confined spaces you could use a blade holder with a naked hacksaw blade, but it’s difficult to keep the unsupported blade from bending. To solve this problem, Headway Innovations designed the Boa Versa Saw. The Versa Saw incorporates into the handle a spring-loaded sliding frame that supports the hacksaw blade close to the cut.

(more…)

These sockets work where deep sockets just aren’t deep enough. Kobalt’s Thru-Ratchet sockets and ratchets are hollow down the center, so they can fit over any length of bolt.  In a lot of cases you could get the same performance out of your ratcheting wrenches, but this system allows you to get into deep recesses that would otherwise be inaccessible.

Thru-Ratchet sockets plug right in to the ratchet handle, instead of attaching to a square drive. Integrating into the handle reduces overall height by up to fifty percent over a standard ratchet and socket — which is good for areas with low clearance.

(more…)

Every tool collection needs a good hand plane.  Without taking up too much space, it can quickly and quietly tweak your woodworking projects.  And it doesn’t have to be an elaborate tool — Woodsmith offers a kit for making a simple wooden hand plane.

(more…)