It’s Memorial Day at the Toolmonger shop and that means BBQ and beer wins out over shop work. To help you along on the road to good burgers and easy grilling take a look at a few posts that cover our favorite way to prepare food.

How-To: BBQ South African-Style
An awesome reader from South Africa named Freddie shows us how it’s done on the other side of the world. In short, big beef, big fire, big taste - we’re fans.

Hot or Not? Gas Grills (Vs. Charcoal)
The virtues of charcoal flame and gas powered grills still sets the grilling man to sing the praises of each.

What BBQ Tools Should Every Griller Own?
So you’ve picked your grill, now what? Try geeking out on some badass grilling tools.

Now if you’ll excuse us there’s a beer and some ground round that needs our attention.

(Monday, May 26th, 2008) On this minimal Monday, Rock Solid shows us another way to horrify the neighbors.

All times are central.

• Holmes on Homes: Gone to Pot (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Trains & Locomotives (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
• Top Gear: Botswana Special (BBC America, 7:00 p.m.)
• Top Gear: Episode 3 (BBC America, 8:00 p.m.)
• How Do They Do It? (Science, 8:00 p.m.)
• How Do They Do It? (Science, 8:30 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Outdoor Shower (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Fire Pit & Grill (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

(Sunday, May 25th, 2008) Ax Men is just a clip show tonight — hopefully you’re on vacation anyway.

All times are central.

• Cool Tools: Top to Bottom (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• Celebrity Rides: Burt Builds a Bandit Special (DIY, 6:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Holmes Inspection 1 (Home, 7:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Completely Incomplete (Home, 8:00 p.m.)
• Classic Tractor Show (RFD-TV, 8:00 p.m.)
• Cool Tools: Demolition (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Ax Men: The Toughest Season (History, 9:00 p.m.) NEW

Enjoy.

(Saturday, May 24th, 2008) We’ve got reruns on DIY and a Mythbusters mini-marathon tonight.

All times are central.

• MythBusters: Shredded Plane (Discovery, 5:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Doozy Jacuzzi (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Cool Tools: Power Play (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Crimes and Myth-Demeanors (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Mega Movie Myths 1 (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: Stepback Cupboard (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Mega Movie Myths 2 (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: The Butterfly Table (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Masters and Mentors Tour: James Krenov and Art Carpenter (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• Hammered With John & Jimmy DiResta: The Copper Chimenea (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

Beer and tools come together once again, in the form of these NOS (new old stock) polished aluminum beer stein/coffee mugs being sold by eBay member 2speedyshippers. The seller claims these steins were distributed exclusively by Snap-on dealers in the mid 1980s and are extremely rare. The 5″-tall steins weigh two pounds each, with handles shaped like curved wrenches, and cups shaped like a double-hex drive sockets.

2speedyshippers is auctioning off several of these mugs — the last auction ends May 27, 2008.  I couldn’t find any info about these on the Internet, so if you’ve ever seen one, let us know in comments.

Vintage Snap-on Beer Mug [eBay]

Dasco added this Target Guard to their mason chisel, concrete chisel, and brick set, to keep us from mashing our hands with large hammers.  Now, a professional probably isn’t going to miss the mark unless he’s got  a massive hangover, so I’m guessing they’re marketing this to the DIYers.  Street pricing starts at $10 for the concrete chisel.  It looks like a good idea to me, but it also looks bulky — the space and shape could be awkward.

Does anybody out there use one of these tools all the time? Is this a waste of space or a nice feature? Let us know in comments.

Mason’s Chisel With Target Guard [Lowe’s]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Next time you’re repairing fence in the back forty, you’ll probably want to bring along a fence stretcher. Whether you need to stretch, splice, staple, or reposition high-tensile, barbed, or smooth wire, Goldenrod’s #405 fence stretcher will do the job.

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If a full drum aerator is overkill for your yard, or if you have lots of time on your hands, consider aerating your yard by hand foot with the Yard Butler Core Aerator.  You might be asking, “If I’m going to go the cheap route, why not just use a pitchfork?”  Well, many people claim that core, or plug, turf aeration is superior to spike (read: pitchfork) aeration because more air can get to the roots — which is, after all, the point of aeration.

Core aeration of an entire yard with this tool might be so slow as to be useless, but you could aerate the trouble spots with it, and that might be all you need.  If you have standing water in certain areas or packed high-traffic areas, core aeration should help — and with street pricing at $22, this tool might be the least expensive way to do that.

Yard Butler Core Aerator [Lewis Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

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

Pimp Your Toolbox Snap-on Style
Now the fast and the furious can pimp their toolbox with neon. Snap-on offers 23″ tubes that attach to any ferrous surface with magnetic clamps.  Choose from red, green, and blue lights for your sweet new Technicolor dream box. Pointless and immature, sure — but then again, so was the pet rock, and that sold millions.

Watering Crystals
It may sound like science fiction, but with modern chemistry you can modify your lawn to make it store water like a camel. Polyacrylamide polymer crystals can absorb 400 times their weight in water, swelling up to a jelly-like consistency and looking like watery ice. When the soils gets dry, the crystals release water to the roots as needed.

Hands-On: Paslode CF-325 Cordless Framing Nailer
For remote jobs, carrying an air compressor can become problematic — when you’re replacing a few slats at the back of your wooden fence, for instance, or building a shed in the back forty. That’s when the Paslode CF-325 cordless framing nailer shines.  Big, bad, and gunshot-loud, it drives nails just like your standard pneumatic nailer, but without all the extra gear.

Mine Probe
If you’re in the market for Gerber’s Deluxe Mine Probe Kit, one of two things is probably true: A) you’re underpaid, or B) you need to move. People who remove unexploded ordnance work mostly on their bellies, inching across the battlefield, constantly in danger. For these serious people and their serious work, Gerber makes some precision mine probe tools to replace that old KA-BAR.

More Flexible Than A Romanian Gymnast
Some tools don’t lend themselves very well to dust collection — you have to manhandle the dust-collection hose with complicated twists and turns to get it into position right before it snaps. Rockler’s new FlexForm hoses can help. Think of it as a giant bendy straw that can flex and bend to almost any shape you need to get the job done.

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.

In response to our post on using leftover candles to finish woodturnings, Toolmonger Frank Townend asked whether the candles have to be beeswax.  The answer is essentially “No,” but let’s take a look at some more detail.  I went looking for descriptions of the different types of wax finishes and found this on WoodTurningVideosPlus.com: “Beeswax produces a nice, subtle satin luster,” and “Carnauba produces a very high gloss.”  They also mention microcrystalline wax as another option.

On multiple sites, I found people using the carnauba wax on pens and pipes that they’ve turned, but I had trouble finding good sources of carnauba wax — I’ve linked to what I found. If anyone knows of good sources for woodturning wax or other finishes, let us know in comments.

Carnauba Wax 1/2-lb for $20 [Woodcraft]
Carnauba Wax 2-oz for $8 [Cup O’ Joe’s]
Woodturning Waxes [Wood Turning Videos Plus]

I traded in my gas-powered leaf muncher for this Toro garden vacuum last year, and I couldn’t be happier with its performance — what I’m not happy about is that I didn’t get it for $50 at Home Depot. The Toro Rake and Vacuum, a 3-in-1 blower, vacuum, and leaf mulcher, easily moves debris and wet leaves, with two speed settings and a top air speed of 210 MPH. You can attach the vacuum, blower, and leaf-bag attachments without any tools, and it comes with a two-year warranty.

Rake and Vac [Toro]
Rake and Vac [Home Depot]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

(Friday, May 23rd, 2008) It’s a standard Friday night, with the addition of three rerun episodes of the ill-fated and long-lost Junkyard Wars. We’re not sure why the Military Channel is rebranding episodes of old shows to fit their schedule, but we’re not going to complain. As always, don’t miss Forge and Anvil!

All times are central.

• Holmes on Homes: Stone Walled (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• Modern Marvels: Heavy Metals (History, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Fire Fighter Boots, Garden Tools, Automated Machines, Gypsum Boards (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Plastic Bottles and Jars, Mail, Eggs, Handcrafted Wooden Pens (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Cool Stuff: How It Works (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• Toolbelt Diva: Backyard Playground (Home, 7:00 p.m.)
• Junkyard Mega-Wars: Assault Vehicles (Military, 7:00 p.m.)
• Cool Stuff: How It Works (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• Take Home Handyman: Backdoor Bling: Max & Brandon (Home, 7:30 p.m.)
• Hammered With John & Jimmy DiResta: The Toy Chest (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Automotive Fuel Pumps, Cricket Bats, Change Machines, Ductile Iron Pipe (Science, 8:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Let’s Rejoist (Home, 8:00 p.m.)
• Junkyard Mega-Wars: Field Artillery (Military, 8:00 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Jigs and Fixture Tour (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Wooden Barrels, Fire Hydrants, Automotive Seats, Cathode Ray Tubes (Science, 8:30 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Contemporary Jatoba Bookcase (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• Junkyard Mega-Wars: Fire Trucks (Military, 9:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: Dressing Table (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
• Ax Men: Storm of the Century (History, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Radiators, Hatchery Chicks, Phyllo Dough, Cross-country Skis (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Electric Baseboard Heaters, Molded Pulp Containers, Chicken, Video Games (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)
• Forge and Anvil: Civil War. Episode 110 (RFD-TV, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

The medium-class 18 to 24 volt cordless drill seems to be a consumer favorite right now, especially if the drill in question is lithium-ion-powered. Craftsman’s professional 20V lands squarely in this popular price/performance zone, though we’ve found Craftsman drills to be hit-and-miss when it comes to power and quality. So we put this one to the test. Read on past the jump to find out how it fared.

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If you’ve ever wondered why there are a bunch of 3/4″ holes in your workbench, Lee Valley sells one answer. Their patent-pending Veritas bench anchors turn those holes into a good purchase for any 1/2-13 bolt or threaded rod.

The removable and reusable all-steel bench anchors wedge into through-holes 5/8″ or thicker, or into blind holes at least 1-1/4″ deep, giving you 3/8″ of threads in your bench-dog holes to attach jigs or stops to your workbench.

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Get a grip on your carpet! Pulling out old carpet is usually hard on the hands, but a carpet puller gives you a comfortable and powerful grip, so you can rip out more carpet with less hand fatigue.

While many specialty tools are so specific and expensive that renting is the best approach for the non-professional, this one is so inexpensive, you might as well have it on hand for when you need it.  Available for as little as $20, you’ll stretch your budget without straining your hands.

Shop Fox Carpet Puller [Woodstock International]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

While the Dash-Surfer might look like the unholy union of an ironing board and a piece of exercise equipment, you’ll immediately appreciate the utility of the thing if you’ve ever spent any length of time working under a dashboard. Without any support, the kneeling and twisting can turn into a real pain in the neck, back, shoulders, etc. The Dash-Surfer provides a level and stable surface to lie down on while working under the dash, eliminating the stress and strain of the more conventional method.

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Automated machines, or robots, are starting to work with us on the jobsite. First they take on the dangerous jobs, where death, injury, and insurance put the capital “E” in Expensive. After the pioneering is done in those jobs, the robots will move on to the repetitive jobs next. Over time, bricklayers will become bricklayer-robot technicians, and other talented artisans will adapt in the same way.

The designer of the Mortar Machine is working on the cutting edge of the technology that could make such a future possible. For now, the Mortar Machine is barely half a bricklayer — it won’t actually lay the bricks, only the mortar. And someone will still have to lay the tracks it runs on, load it, fix it, and cuss at it when it doesn’t work. But consider how CNC technology is getting better and cheaper — and what is that but a stationary robot?

Toolmongers understand the unpredictable reality of the worksite, but it’s impossible to ignore that tools are progressing in complexity, quickly. How do you feel about working alongside a robot? Is this technological development hot or not? Let us know in comments.

Mortar Machine [ABC]
Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Photo by tanakawho, posted on Flickr.