(Friday, June 27th, 2008) We’re well into the second rerun cycle of Forge and Anvil, but it’s still the best thing on tonight — unless you enjoy watching Norm staple leather.

All times are central.

• How It’s Made: Solid Tires, Cheesecake, Canoe Paddles, Globes (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Boomerangs, Barbecues, Pinball Machines, Strobe Lights (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Geoduck Farmer (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• Cool Stuff: How It Works: the world’s largest vertical flight simulator, San Diego’s Wave Machine (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• Cool Stuff: How It Works: 3-D ultrasound technology, bionic limbs (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• Hammered With John & Jimmy DiResta: The Rocking Chair (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• Ice Road Truckers: The Big Blizzard (History, 8:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Remix: Musical Instruments (Science, 8:00 p.m.)
• Deconstruction: Granite (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Remix: Sporting Goods (Science, 8:30 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Contemporary Writing Desk (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: Cigar Chair (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
• Forge and Anvil: Playing Horseshoes. Episode 104 (RFD-TV, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

Pounding tent stakes into hardpan, into tree roots, into rock — into just about every impossible plastic-stake-breaking, metal-stake-bending situation there is — has been an American pasttime for as long as camping has been. These ScrewPegs should take some of the pain out of the situation.

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Safely cutting small pieces presents a challenge, especially when the workpiece is smaller than the minimum comfortable distance from the cutters. The Finger Saver sold by Price Cutter aims to give you the control to cut and shape these small pieces while keeping your hands a safe distance away from the cutter.

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I hoped this was an electric bazooka when I saw the picture, but it only bends PVC pipe. But maybe that isn’t such a tiny feat; I’ve cracked or snapped a lot of PVC while trying to get a shape I wanted. The key: You’ve got to heat it up to get a good tight angle. Something like this scheme might be ok if you only bend PVC as an art or hobby, but if you’ve got lots of PVC pipe to bend you’ll probably want a PVC-bending oven, or box — or tube.

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Your drill is a Bosch, your reciprocating saw a Milkwaukee, your router a DeWalt, and that’s just your tools — the rest of your crew also owns a widely mixed set of cordless tools. You could, and routinely do, fill a bench with chargers. With the Crew Charge from 10C Technologies you can charge up to four different-style batteries at the same time.

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Thanks to reader Fred who pointed out the Billy Goat outdoor vacuum. If you want to go one step further — clean up the yard and mulch the big pieces as well — then check out this offering from Troy-Bilt. This multi-function chipper/shredder/vacuum can’t match the Billy Goat’s impressive vacuum statistics, but it’ll convert your lawn trash to a useful lawnscaping substance, which could be a good reason to stop and consider.

Street pricing for the CSV060 chipper/shredder/vacuum is as low as $540.

Chipper/Shredder/Vac [Troy-Bilt]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Around this time of year here in Texas the springtime rain has just about dried up and face-melting heat begins to burn its way into everything outside, including the lawn. To keep all that beautiful, green grass alive — the easy way — arm your sprinkler system with a sprinkler-control unit like the Rain Bird EC 9.

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The Archimedes drill predates the Yankee screwdriver by a few hundred years, but it works much the same way. When you drive the handle down in a linear motion, the small chuck at the right end of the threads spins the drill.

I found the picture above on an antique site — this particular Archimedes drill was designed for jewelers, to drill tiny holes in soft metal. I’m sure the torque is nothing to speak of, and the RPM is somewhere just above a plain old screwdriver, but this actually makes it perfect for a few applications.

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(Thursday, June 26th, 2008) The last new episode of Overhaulin’ airs tonight, and a new American Chopper entertains us with theme-park hijinks.

All times are central.

• Ultimate Factories: John Deere (National Geographic, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Cars, Grocery Carts, Rapid Tooling and Prototyping, Collectible Coins (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• Rides: Roush Racing (TLC, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Ball Bearings, Electrical Wires, Wax Casting, and Automated Machines (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Overhaulin’: The Marks Return—Chip’s Picks (TLC, 7:00 p.m.) NEW
• Ultimate Factories: Winnebago (National Geographic, 7:00 p.m.)
• Classic Tractor Show (RFD-TV, 7:00 p.m.)
• Cool Tools: The Hardware Show Special (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• American Chopper: Darien Lake Bike (TLC, 8:00 p.m.) NEW
• Ultimate Factories: Caterpillar (National Geographic, 8:00 p.m.)
• Ultimate Factories: Corvette (National Geographic, 9:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Gummies, Ball Bearings, Fish Farming, Bronze Sculptures (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Aluminum Pots and Pans, Artificial Limbs, Peanut Butter, High-Intensity Light Bulbs (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

Owning a few tools and knowing what to do with them makes doing projects a ton easier. Reader Fred Boness can certainly attest to this — he demonstrated his astronomy-crafting skills with his new binoculars stand.

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Maybe the designers at Wenger are fans of roll-on truck bed liners, because the newest knives in the Evolution (Evo) line look like they got the roll-on treatment. Wenger’s touting the EvoGrip as the next step in the progression of their Evolution platform.

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I normally don’t go for the dime-store keychain stuff, but these Garrett Wade pewter keychains aren’t half bad. They come in three styles: wood plane, garden implements, and mechanic’s tools.

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The ingenuity of the Yankee Screwdriver lies in its utility. This tool allows quick assembly and disassembly of anything you need to build or get into, without the cramps of a hand driver or the batteries and cords that come with a power tool. Easypower’s Push Pull driver — “Yankee Screwdriver” is a Stanley trademark — provides the functionality without the price, and it also uses standard 1/4″ hex bits so you won’t need an adapter.

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Reader Litcritter just became a proud papa, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a tool guy. While his bundle of joy was being born he took the time to swing the camera around and grab a shot of the crash cart in the corner of the room.

We dig this for two reasons: Firstly, because Litcritter is just cool for thinking about rolling storage while his daughter was coming into the world; and secondly because some IT team decided to buy comparatively cheap rolling storage from Sears rather than pay crack-smoking prices for the same gear painted taupe.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

The tough plastic bags of salt, fertilizer, soil, or other products can also be tough to pick up and carry — you can transport these bags more easily by attaching Grabbit’s bag handle. Not only does their bag handle carry bags, you can also use it to keep bags closed, to hang bags off the floor for storage, and even to maneuver a heavy tarp full of leaves.

If you’re interested you can grab the Grabbit bag handle for $6 to $8.

Bag Handle [Grabbit Tool]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon(B000RJXUR4) [What’s This?] [What's This?]

The Depot is rolling into summer with a deal: for the next week or so they’re discounting “select” ceiling fans by 40 percent. You’ll have to go online for some of them, but most are discounted and in your local store now.  Though we’re a bit surprised to see a deal on fans at the outset of summer, it’s a welcome break.

We’re always leery when we see “select” in the fine print.  As we suspected, some of the fans on sale are models from years gone by that didn’t move or were too strange-looking to install in the living room. But the nice-looking Hampton Bay 52″ Leland is selling for $53 instead of $90 — it’s worth consideration.

40% Off Ceiling Fan Sale [Home Depot]

(Wednesday, June 25th, 2008) At a certain point Discovery is going to have to invest in some new shows, right? Or will it just be How It’s Made 24/7?

All times are central.

• Rock Solid: Masonry Camp (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Gummies, Ball Bearings, Fish Farming, Bronze Sculptures (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Aluminum Pots and Pans, Artificial Limbs, Peanut Butter, High-Intensity Light Bulbs (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Escalator Handrails, Highlighters, Guitar Strings, Wigs (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Chains, Bagels, Vinyl Records (Discovery, 7:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Concrete Glider (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• Under Construction: A Cornice Between Brothers (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Ice Road Truckers: The Big Blizzard (History, 9:00 p.m.)
• Hammered With John & Jimmy DiResta: The Computer Work Station (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Fiberglass Boat, Clothes Dryers, Bubble Gum, Fireworks (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Steel Safes, False Teeth, Airplanes, Maple Syrup (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.