Digging with a post hole digger isn’t the most fun way to spend your weekend — that’s why they invented power augers!  But if you aren’t up for renting or buying a power auger, try out Seymour Manufacturing’s Iwan auger.  Twisting the handle of this post-hole-digger alternative bores a 6″ hole in a variety of soils.

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We stumbled across this fun-looking project from Skil and thought we’d pass it on. It’s a caboose-ish toybox, complete with top-mounted game board. The link below takes you to Skil’s site where you’ll find more pictures plus a link where you can download full plans and instructions via a PDF.

And if you’re not into the caboose theme (shame on you!) they also offer a simplified no-detail square version. Have fun!

Caboose-Inspired Toy Chest [Skil]

It could be that after the second season of Ice Road Truckers and Ax Men, I’m a bit burned on the whole tough-guy-drama type of show.  However, I don’t think that’s the case.  I still await the next season of Ax Men with enthusiasm, and for some reason I like Ice Road.  But Sandhogs just isn’t cutting it for me, no pun intended.

Perhaps it’s that I have no desire whatsoever to be underground. These guys are closed in and surrounded by rock, choking levels of dust and debris, not to mention other tough, smelly dudes just as cranky as they themselves are.  There’s no upside here.  I have respect for the guys — all of them are 1,000 times tougher than I am — but little interest in the show.

What do you think?  Have I finally met my personal sissy-boy level and copped out, or is this one just not as good as some of the others?  Let us know in comments.

Sandhogs [History]

Detail sanding becomes difficult when you can’t see exactly how much material you’ve removed or how much you have left to remove.  Seyco addresses this problem with its SeeSander, a see-through cutting disk that allows you to see the surface of the workpiece as you sand.

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The two words most disliked by dirty-fingernailed Porschephiles: special tool. Porsche repair manuals — should you be lucky (or rich) enough to actually own a manual — are rife with these words, and often even “basic” repairs require one or more of ‘em. Like, for example, replacing a 944’s timing/balance shaft belts.

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Skil’s website features a slick how-to on building a bookcase with pocket joinery.  The guys over at Extreme How-To magazine put the article together, and though they often do some pretty far-out projects, this one seems easy enough that even beginners could tackle it with a solid chance of success.

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All2ools.com is selling the Starrett D34-5CME DigiTape electronic tape measure for $26.52.  The DigiTape features a digital readout that displays inside/outside measurements in inches, metric, and even fractions.  Note: The photo above may not be the same model as the one on sale at All2ools.com.

D34-5CME DigiTape [All2ools.com]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

(Wednesday, September 24th, 2008) A new Under Construction is about all we get tonight.

All times are central.

• Ask This Old House (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Masonry Camp (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Automatic Transmissions, Silver Miniatures, Hot Air Balloon Baskets, Darts (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Ice Cream Cones, Tent Trailers, Shoe Polish, and Pliers (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Water Stun Gun (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• Deconstruction: Granite (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• MythBusters: Killer Cable Snaps (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• Deconstruction: Home Building (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Under Construction: You Can Count on Palanca (DIY, 9:00 p.m.) NEW
• How It’s Made: Bacon, Snowblowers, Luxury Cars (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Steel Shipping Drums, Police Whistles, Miniature Train Cars, and Glass Blocks (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

The Journal of Light Construction’s website features a great slideshow on what happens when a determined homeowner wants to expand their place and can’t go up or out.  In this case they went down –- 11 feet and 300 cubic yards of dirt worth of down, to be more exact.

Though this wouldn’t work for everyone, the large-scale subterranean home project did turn out pretty well, from what can see of the pictures.  The new floor space must have added about thirty percent more square footage to their home, but they’re betting that the bracing will support the house above — not a maneuver we’d recommend for the faint of heart.

Adding Under [JLC Online]

This insulation cutter from Stanley isn’t a glamorous or expensive tool — just a simple piece of transparent plastic added to a standard utility knife — but it compresses the insulation batt as you cut, and at the same time it keeps your hand from coming in contact with the insulation.

Stanley’s insulation cutter costs somewhere between $6 and $10 and includes a utility knife in the deal.

Insulation Knife [Stanley]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Toolmongers love to cluck and fuss over shop layout. A clever layout can almost double your shop’s expected productivity and storage, while uninventive layout can rob you of usable space at a lightning-fast clip.  Smart tool guys like Tmib_Seattle lay out their shops beforehand to get a feel for maximum yield.

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When you were a kid, do you remember visiting your Grandma and she’d have that bowl of 15-year-old hard candy sitting out on her coffee table?  Well, here’s something to replace that bowl for the modern-day Toolmonger:  the Victorinox candy jar.  Imagine the look on your kid’s or grandkid’s face when they first spot this candy jar!

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Milwaukee’s new M12 Lithium line includes quite a few different-looking tools, and we think this copper tubing cutter in particular might have some interesting potential.  Hardcore pros may find the specs brow-popping — with its cutter speed of 500 RPM, Milwaukee boasts that it’ll cut copper tubing up to 10X faster than conventional cutters, and it automatically adjusts to cut tubing with diameters from 3/8″ to 1″.

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Stanley continues to keep its flashlight line fresh with the coming addition of the 3-in-1 tripod LED flashlight.  Just from the look of it the new light seems more capable than its predecessors — it features better bulbs, each contained in a separate unit that can be removed from the master unit and carried separately.

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Widget Supply is selling this universal pin chuck for $4.  A pin chuck will hold small drill bits in chucks that can’t close small enough to hold them.  It could come in handy for applications like deburring.

Universal Pin Chuck [Widget Supply]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

(Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008)  It’s another lackluster Tuesday with nothing new to watch.

All times are central.

• Ask This Old House (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Canal Brick Courtyard (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Bacon, Snowblowers, Luxury Cars (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Steel Shipping Drums, Police Whistles, Miniature Train Cars, and Glass Blocks (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Billboard Installer (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Cave Biologist (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Interior Brick Wall (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Sandhogs (History, 9:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Scalpels, Oil Paints, British Police Helmets, Ice Axes (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Pocket Knives, Soapstone Products, Electric Pole Transformers, Traditional Snowshoes (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

It’s not that fathers and sons don’t love each other, but when Dad screws up, the son will find it funny — ok, not funny, hysterical.  In this case, anybody can see that a dump truck unloading on a hill is going to be trouble, but sometimes you just have to let Dad have his way.

Even if these guys set this up just for the video, I wouldn’t be able to resist posting on the net and making fun of the same guy who told you, “Stop that, you’re gonna break it!” all those times.  Just once to catch dad pulling a “Doh!” on camera is worth more than money.

AFV Dump Truck Tips [YouTube]