“The less you measure, the more accurate you’ll be.” It sounds like an improbable statement, but at some point most woodworkers discover that transferring measurements from one piece to another yields more accurate and repeatable results than using a ruler. This truism led Bridge City Tool Works to design their turning tree, for setting wood turner’s calipers.

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If you use pneumatic tools a lot, you probably know to take care of them.  But if you only use ‘em a little, you might let the maintenance slide — not worrying about water in the line, not using a good filter, not lubricating your tools — like some Toolmongers I know. If you haven’t treated your air tools right, and they don’t seem to work quite like they used to, don’t give up hope. Blaster Chemical makes an air tool conditioner spray that one retailer claims is “SO POWERFUL IT BRINGS “DEAD” AIR TOOLS BACK TO LIFE!”

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Ace Hardware is selling these Crews Stratos safety glasses for 71 cents a pair. They feature adjustable temples and a scratch-resistant coating. I buy these by the dozen so I’m never without a clear, clean, and scratch-free pair at hand — they’re just basic, good safety glasses at a disposable price.

Crews Stratos Safety Glasses [Ace Hardware]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

If you’re lucky enough to live in a house with a “mud room,” you can remove your shoes and grime before entering the house proper. And if you don’t live in a house with a mud room, the chief cleaner of that house will bless you for shedding the mud from your shoes before coming inside.  This boot brush will help you do just that, and its great design doesn’t require you to bolt it down.

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If you’re the type of woodworker who uses curvy free-flowing forms in your work, you’ll appreciate the Guinevere System from King Arthur’s Tools — its inflatable rubber sanders conform to the shape of your workpiece.  Between the drum sanders and dome-shaped sanders, you’ll be able to prepare just about any surface.

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What’s better than a laser on your paint bucket? A magnet to hold your brush. Bercom’s Handy paint pail made a splash (or lack of splash) with its magnetic brush holder and hand strap. Now Bercom brings us a Handy ladder bucket, with a ladder hook, built-in paint grid, and the magnetic brush holder as well.

Street pricing starts at $16.

Handy Ladder Pail [Bercom]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

I stumbled across this deal at Sportsman’s Guide — strange place to buy a vise, I know. You can get this KR Tools 3-1/2″ cast iron bench vise for $5 when you apply the code “SH638″ at checkout. Rated at 8,000 PSI, the vise features replaceable steel jaws, dual-locking 360-degree swivel base, chrome-plated handle, and a striking anvil on the top. It weighs about ten pounds, which makes shipping about $5 to most locations.

Bench Vise [Sportsman's Guide]
KR Tools [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

(Thursday, July 31st, 2008) Shark Week suckage continues with nothing but reruns tonight.

All times are central.

• Under Construction: A Lally a Day (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Stamped Concrete (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• Overhaulin’: Brushtang (TLC, 7:00 p.m.)
• Classic Tractors (RFD-TV, 7:30 p.m.)
• Cool Tools: Safety (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• American Chopper: Viega Corporation (TLC, 8:00 p.m.)
• Cool Tools: High Tech (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

Part push pin, part staple, TAK push pins might just be the solution you need for stringing your holiday lights. The oversize head with U-shaped channel captures the wire and holds it in place. TAK push pins aren’t just for lights — they’ll hold your bulletins just like other push pins, but with the dual pins, the paper won’t rotate unexpectedly on you.

You can pick up a set of twenty TAK push pins for about $7.

TAK Push Pins [Ideation]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Standby power is getting more press lately, and a few companies out there want to sell you something to save you money — strange, they want you to give your money to them instead.

BUT! Fellow Toolmongers! Today for you we have something fan-tastic, practically for free, something that you can use, something that if you had to pay for it you would give real money for it!

Nah, really I just want to point out that putting your electronics on switches, and turning them off, is the easiest solution. But these resources may help you if you’re really into convenience, or measuring your specific situation.

As usual, Wikipedia provides some interesting information, including the fact that the government got on the bandwagon in 2001. You know it’s bad if the government is ahead of you in saving money! At least they’ve compiled lists of low-standby-power appliances, in case you want to take it into consideration when you go shopping.

Surge Protector With Remote [Belkin]
Standby Power [Wikipedia]
Appliance Database [LBL.gov]
Standby Power [Energy Star]

MSC has marked down this 13-piece ball-end hex key set to $8. Made by Allen, the set includes sizes 1/20, 1/16, 5/64, 3/32, 7/64, 1/8, 9/64, 5/32, 3/16, 7/32, 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8-inch, and they all come in a plastic holder.

The offer’s good through August 11, 2008. If you haven’t used ball-end hex keys for getting at poorly placed screws, we highly recommend them!

Note: If you’re having trouble getting the deal, you may have to click through the flyer, linked below — the wrenches are on the bottom of p. 13.

13-Pc. Ball-End Hex Key Set [MSC]
Flyer [MSC]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Cut around the spotweld — sounds easy, right? Sure it is, provided you can get to the spotweld with a drill, which could be a whole other project with some panels I’ve seen. These spotweld cutters work like hole saws; they cut around the weld and allow you to easily separate the two pieces of sheet metal.

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If you’re going to coat your pickup bed with a roll-on bed-liner, prepping the bed correctly can mean the difference between a liner that lasts the lifetime of the truck and one that starts peeling in a few years. Like anything else worth doing right, sanding the bed is slow, hard work — luckily, Hutchins offers a sanding system to speed up the process and prepare the bed more effectively.

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If you thought the hoverboard was the coolest thing about the Back to the Future sequels, you’ll agree that the Airboard, though bigger, is the coolest ride around. You might have seen it in the Sydney Olympics’ opening ceremonies, but you may not have known that the Airboard is another example of a tool company stepping out of its normal routine and doing something fun. Thank goodness the Arbortech Toolmongers took some time off from making Allsaws and power chisels in order to make awesome toys!

Pricing on the Airboard is a telephone call away, and there’s an authorized dealer in New York. (The Perth, WA location is in Western Australia, for any fellow Yanks out there who are confused.)

Airboard [Arbortech]

Amazon’s got another deal/steal for us: a Milwaukee 1/4″-sheet palm sander for $30, including free shipping.  The lightweight 3A motor generates 14,000 orbits per minute.  An ergonomic body design with tactile rubber on top gives more control with less hand fatigue, and pad cushioning reduces swirl marks and ensures a smoother finish.  The integrated vacuum port fits either 1-1/4 or 2-1/4-inch vacuum attachments.

Palm Sander [Milwaukee Tools]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [B000YZ8L66] [What's This?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

(Wednesday, July 30th, 2008) DIY is shark-free, with a new episode of Under Construction. We couldn’t figure out if this is a new Mythbusters special or not — we think it might be? But it’s about Sharks, rerun or not.

All times are central.

• Under Construction: Billy to the Rescue (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Rock Garden (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• Deconstruction: Nail Guns and Air Compressors (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Shark Special 2 (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• Under Construction: A Stained Relationship (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• Ice Road Truckers: A Trucker’s Farewell (History, 9:00 p.m.)
• Wrecked: Old Dogs, New Tricks (Speed, 9:00 p.m.)
• Under Construction: Stairway to Headache (DIY, 9:30 p.m.) NEW
• Wrecked: Accidents Happen (Speed, 9:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

The Auriou company in France appears to have closed. My French is abysmal, so calling to investigate will do me no good, but this looks like an example of tool history slowly moving on. Auriou has been making rasps and rifflers by hand since the mid-nineteenth century — these tools, like so many before them, have now become irreplaceable.

If you own some of these quality woodworking tools, make sure to hang on to your piece of history and take good care of them.

Auriou [Official Site]