Archive for July, 2008
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
No more walking! Well, less anyway. We’ve all seen the millions of miles of fenceline with grass growing under it and mowed grass to either side. Maybe you’ve seen one of the guys walking the fenceline with a string trimmer — they walk fast since they don’t need a manicured look, but it’s still a long trip. The Postmaster looks to me like the end of that problem: Hook it to anything you can ride (it features a cotter-pin-type hitch) and watch it bump and swing around every post.
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Posted in Lawn/Garden, Swisher | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Enco is selling this set of three Unibits — the go-to bit for drilling thin metals, cutting round holes in pipes and other difficult surfaces, and enlarging existing holes — for $35. Each Unibit incorporates a range of bit sizes; the bits in this set cover the ranges 1/8″- 1/2″x 1/32″, 3/16″- 1/2″x 1/64″, and 1/4″- 3/4″x 1/64″.
Less than $12 apiece sounds like a good price, especially when you consider how much time you could spend wallowing out a hole without this tool.
Three-Piece Unibit Set [Enco]
Posted in Dealmonger, Drills/Bits, Enco | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Tell your story about your Warn winch, share the photos or video, and win a Warn winch… It sounded better when it wasn’t only for people who own Warn winches. Still, if you do own a winch, from Warn, you’ve got till August 30, 2008 to tell your story and maybe win a new M8000 winch.
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Posted in Accessories, Automotive, On the Web, Power Tools, Warn | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
First invented for halibut fishing, then later refined to work with other long-shafted tools, Stout’s BackSaver grip allows you to grip most tools higher on the shaft, reducing the amount of bending required when shoveling, raking, sweeping, mopping, etc. Less bending hopefully leads to less strain and fatigue.
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Posted in Accessories, Ace Hardware, Amazon | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Mirrors on your tools? I couldn’t resist posting about this pretty tile saw, just for the picture, but this tool’s beauty is more than skin-deep. Like Gemini Saw Company’s more mundane-looking Taurus 3, this Revolution tile saw features a cool ring-shaped blade. Whereas a normal wet saw pretty much only cuts straight lines, the ring blade allows cutting action more like a scroll saw.
Street pricing on the Revolution starts at $945 and blades run $100+.
Revolution XT Tile Saw [Gemini Saw Co.]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]
Posted in Amazon, Gemini, Power Tools, Saws, Tool Pr0n | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Amazon is listing this Milwaukee framing nailer for $196, with free shipping. It’ll shoot 2″ to 3-1/2″ round-head nails with an operating pressure of 70-120 PSI, and it features a bump-and-fire mode, a reload indicator, and an adjustable air deflector. If your budget’s really tight, you can pick this up in the “new and used” section for as low as $165.
Framing Nailer [Milwaukee]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [B000ENEULS] [What's This?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Posted in Air Tools, Amazon, Dealmonger, Milwaukee | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
(Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008) A new episode of Deconstruction looks at your pipes tonight.
All times are central.
- Rock Solid: Outdoor Shower (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
- Deconstruction: Plumbing (DIY, 8:00 p.m.) NEW
- Under Construction: Over Extension (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
- Ice Road Truckers: Man Down (History, 9:00 p.m.)
- Wrecked: “I Just Need a Good Wreck” (Speed, 9:00 p.m.)
- Under Construction: A Stained Relationship (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
- Wrecked: Dominating the Market (Speed, 9:30 p.m.)
Enjoy.
Posted in TV/Media | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Cutting glass in a straight line is a snap, but curved cuts are a different story — I’ve tried and failed spectacularly. But maybe if I’d had a pair of these glass-nibbling pincers I would’ve done a better job.
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Posted in Hand Tools, Knipex | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Most of us will never need a single clamp that holds seven tons — hell, most of us will never need a combination of clamps that collectively hold seven tons — but if you’re supposed to move some big equipment at highway speeds or across stormy seas, or if you just need to hold down a tarp in a tornado, then you may need the Flash Clamp.
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Posted in Amazon, Heavy Equipment, It's Just Cool, Moclamp | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Modern customer-support lines are the butt of countless jokes, and rightly so. These stories, the stuff of myth and legend, are often just folks venting, saying to their friends what they couldn’t say to a live person on the other end of the phone. I recently did battle with a few of the seasoned vets at the Lowe’s help desk and came away — like many other support callers — with a few new scars and an overwhelming desire to torch the product in question.
After hundreds of hours of hard use, my Task Force belt/disc sander snapped its primary drive belt. For those of you who can’t picture it, it’s the drive belt that connects the motor to the large sanding belt on the top of the unit. Without it, only the disc spins. So when it snapped it rendered the sander largely useless, and I needed a new one.
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Posted in Editorial, Lowe's, Task Force | 30 Comments »
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
If you want a dependable, long-lived battery, you’ve got to keep it charged — and that goes double for vehicles that see infrequent use, like boats, lawn tractors, and your babied classic car. Schumacher designed this on-board charger to be mounted inside your vehicle, close to the battery, so a topped-off battery is always just an extension cord away.
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Posted in Amazon, Automotive, Electrical | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Why use elbow grease to remove rust when you can just dunk the object in a vat of Evapo-Rust? Non-toxic and reusable, one gallon of Evapo-Rust will remove rust from up to 300 lbs of moderately rusted steel.
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Posted in Amazon, Cleaning | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Dropping a tool’s list price down out of the thousand-dollar range can make it affordable to lots of small companies, but when I saw this Bora magnetic drill listed for under half cost, I started looking for a catch. There is one, sort of: The travel on this mag drill is only 2″. But if your application doesn’t need more than that, you may be able to switch to a tool that’s a third of the usual price.
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Posted in Drills/Bits, Evolution, Metalworking | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
If you’ve been sitting on the fence wondering when to shell out for the new woodworking gear from Woodcraft, this Saturday is the time. This sale banner from their site sums up the spirit of the thing — ten percent off everything.
It’s only good Saturday the 26th, so keep that in mind when ordering — but ten percent is handy, especially if you couple that with the free shipping on orders over $75.
25th Anniversary Sale [Woodcraft]
Posted in Dealmonger, WoodCraft | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
(Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008) Robocars is worth catching if you’re a robot nut, er, enthusiast.
All times are central.
- Robocars (Science, 5:00 p.m.)
- Machinery of the Past (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
- Rock Solid: Stone Patio and Walkway (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
- Modern Marvels: Copper (History, 6:00 p.m.)
- Rock Solid: Eco Masons: Dean and Derek Go Green (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
- American Chopper: Iowa Farm Bureau Bike 2 (Green, 9:00 p.m.)
Enjoy.
Posted in TV/Media | No Comments »
Monday, July 21st, 2008
Changing the angle of your table saw blade from 90° to 45° and back to 90° was never easier. Like an idiot light on your dash, the AnglePerfect III’s built-in LED will light when your blade has reached the correct angle.
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Posted in Measuring | 5 Comments »
Monday, July 21st, 2008
This trimmer attachment will blow your mind; it makes your trimmer your blower! Sporting “multi-stage turbine technology” — you saw the picture, right? — this attachment will fit any of Stihl’s KombiMotors, the largest of which is 1.9 BHP. They mention that it outperforms one of their standalone blowers, but I didn’t see any information about which motor, so file the claim under “marketing BS” until there’s real information.
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Posted in Cleaning, Lawn/Garden, Stihl | 1 Comment »
