This tool looks like some medieval nasal torture device, but it’s actually a handy spring clamp for holding small miters together.  You can operate it easily with one hand — Ulmia builds the handle right into the clamps, unlike other wire spring clamps that need separate pliers.

(more…)

When I first glanced at longtime friend-of-Toolmonger Mike Haney’s new entertainment center, I was struck by the number of new entertainment center concepts I’ve seen in the past year or so.  It just makes sense — when the shape of your TV changes, so does the gear that holds it up.

(more…)

All-Spec is selling the Swanstrom S108 Chain Nose (they call them “snipe nose”) pliers for only $19. Swanstrom, the Cadillac of pliers, makes adjustable, comfortable tools.  My wife uses them for her production jewelry work — and wishes she hadn’t just paid $30 for a pair!

Swanstrom S108 Chain Nose Pliers [All-Spec]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

(TV Tonight, Wednesday, November 26th, 2008)  In addition to new episodes of Time Warp and another pointless Prototype This, a new World’s Toughest Fixes works 1/3 of a mile up.

All times are central.

• World’s Toughest Fixes: Nuclear Turbine (National Geographic, 5:00 pm)
• Rock Solid: Tiered Garden Walls (DIY, 5:30 pm)
• How It’s Made: Plastic Bags, Solar Panels, Plastic Gasoline Containers, Hockey Sticks (Discovery, 6:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Aluminum Screw Caps, Chocolate, Pills, Pasta (Discovery, 6:30 pm)
• Ask This Old House (DIY, 7:00 pm)
• Time Warp: Trial Bikes (Discovery, 7:00 pm) NEW
• Time Warp: Cheerleading (Discovery, 7:30 pm) NEW
• Deconstruction: Storm Proofing (DIY, 8:00 pm)
• MythBusters: Viral Hour (Discovery, 8:00 pm)
• Wrecked: Pain in the Glass (Speed, 9:00 pm)
• Prototype This!: Get Up and Go (Discovery, 9:00 pm) NEW
• World’s Toughest Fixes: 2,000-Foot Tower (National Geographic, 9:00 pm) NEW
• Wrecked: Family Business (Speed, 9:30 pm)
• How It’s Made: Steel, Apple Juice, Aircraft Landing Gear, Cosmetics (Discovery, 10:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Holograms, Package Printing, Skin Culture, Canned Corn (Discovery, 10:30 pm)

Enjoy.

Join us as we run down this week’s top five, discuss when to attack a plumbing job yourself (and when to call a pro), and chat about Sean’s recent grout experience. Remember, if you’ve got a question or comment you can call us at 866-718-9403. (Podcast Download)

Irwin is upgrading their XP Quick-Grip line that we first covered in 2006.  Now they describe the clamps as one-handed bar clamps.  The clamps feature the same Power Locks to hold pressure longer and an I-beam bar to resist twisting and bowing, but Irwin increased the rated clamping pressure to 600 pounds and added double-locking swivel jaws with removable face pads.

(more…)

Just in case a certain coworker goes off the deep end

If your router puts up a fight every time you change bits, try a chuck eliminator.  Legacy Woodworking offers two versions, labeled as the Bosch version and the Porter Cable version.  Either of them should help eliminate the whole juggling act with two wrenches, and the related cussing.  Even though they look the same, the Porter Cable version supposedly allows you to change router bits in ten seconds without knuckle scrapes.

(more…)

The woodcrafting itch creeps up on you subtly, and it’s undetectable with the naked eye; but you can spot symptoms of the infection when wooden items crafted from scratch start appearing all over the house.  When I saw reader Beano_t’s flashlight holder, I thought, “That’s a great idea, and I could build it from scrap!”  Only then did I realize — we’re both infected.

It’s not a bad thing.  You can make all manner of cool doodads and household gear out of wood.  Sometimes it comes out looking great — but if you screw up, you just make it over.  Best of all, these little projects give you something to do when you get the itch to be in the shop.

Personally, I’m not seeing the downside here.  Of course, I wouldn’t see it even if there was one — that’s the nature of our affliction.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

If you could track and tailor your home’s energy consumption to save twenty percent a month, would you spend a hundred dollars to do it?  Black and Decker hopes so.  With their recently launched “Energy” series of products they aim to help you conserve by educating you about the energy your place chews up every month.  This power monitor, the lineup’s flagship product, measures and displays your house’s overall energy consumption as well as individual appliance cost, and it sends that info to one handheld device.

(more…)

Incorrect torque on a small screw may not lead to a life-ending event on the highway, but on precision machines and carefully calibrated devices, small screws require careful handling.  If you don’t care to keep up with the digital age, an “old-fashioned” torque driver will do — but if you’re interested in the tools of the new millennium, check out this digital torque driver.

(more…)

Wrestling large sheets of plywood onto your table saw while the blade is spinning can be dangerous — plus lifting and twisting heavy, poorly supported objects is a good way to wrench your back.  Landon Innovations, the makers of the Gorilla Grip, claim their LegUp table saw attachment can make this job easier and safer.

(more…)

Central Online Sales is selling this battery post and terminal cleaner for $1.04.  You can probably pick one up as cheap locally, but we figure it’s a good reminder to always have one of these in your car.  When you’re having problems starting, you clean the battery terminals first thing, and this type of cleaner does the job.

Battery Post and Terminal Cleaner [Central Online Sales]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

(TV Tonight, Tuesday, November 25th, 2008)  Dirty Jobs takes a new look at old parchment, and a new Deconstructed saws some stuff in half.  We also have dueling Extremes again.

All times are central.

• Machinery of the Past (RFD-TV, 8:00 pm)
• Rock Solid: Porphyry Granite Front Walkway (DIY, 5:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Steel, Apple Juice, Aircraft Landing Gear, Cosmetics (Discovery, 5:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Holograms, Package Printing, Skin Culture, Canned Corn (Discovery, 5:00 pm)
• Ask This Old House (DIY, 5:00 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Egg Farm (Discovery, 5:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Ice Cream Treats, Wooden Golf Clubs, Aircraft Wings, Car-Battery Recycling (Science, 7:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Automotive Fuel Pumps, Cricket Bats, Change Machines, Ductile Iron Pipe (Science, 7:00 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Vellum Maker (Discovery, 5:00 pm) NEW
• Deconstructed: Juice Extractor, Strong Box, Telephone, Lava Lamp (Science, 7:00 pm) NEW
• Rock Solid: Houseboat Thin Veneer (DIY, 5:00 pm)
• Deconstructed: Air Conditioner, Electric Toothbrush, Tire, and Turntable (Science, 7:00 pm)
• Extreme Trains: High-Speed Train (History, 6:00 pm) NEW
• Extreme Loggers: Helicopter Logging (Discovery, 5:00 pm) NEW
• How It’s Made: Kayaks, Safety Boots, Electronic Signs, Cereals (Discovery, 5:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Trucks, Adhesive Bandages, Computer Circuit Boards, Liquors (Discovery, 5:00 pm)

Enjoy.

Wood filler is truly inspired stuff — not only does it allow the crafter to fix mistakes, but it also allows someone like me, who’s not the world’s greatest woodworker, to create pieces that can be displayed without shame or explanations. To paraphrase some rather famous marketing, “Filler doesn’t make the things you build;  it makes the things you build less jackass.”  We uncapped a tube in the Toolmonger wood shop to show you how it works.

(more…)

Occasionally you’ll sully your car with something that just won’t come out in the wash — for instance, overspray from spray painting in the yard on a windy day.  A clay bar kit provides the easiest answer; it’s less work than the elbow-grease alternative and less likely to mess up the finish.

(more…)

JessEm’s Zip Slot Mortise Mill transforms your hand drill into a machine for creating loose tenon joints.  Cutting two mortises and using a loose tenon can speed up joinery significantly, because you only need to do one operation multiple times, rather than the three or four operations required with traditional mortise and tenon joints.

(more…)

If I told you to go over to the toolbox and hand me the Nail Jack, what would you look for?  Apparently, you’d look for something like the above image — it’s a new set of nail pullers that’ll be available in the first quarter of 2009.

Just a shade over a foot long, these pullers feature a curved bottom jaw that acts as a fulcrum to pull nails free.  The Nail Jack also sports grabbers and a long handle that’s angled upward to give you extra leverage.

We’re not sure how handy they’d be in day-to-day operations, but the basic design appears to be sound. The opening price point is $30 plus shipping, which seems a bit steep to me for a nail puller — but there aren’t that many runaway nails in the Toolmonger wood shop.

The Nail Jack [Official Site]