(TV Tonight, Saturday, March 28th, 2009) A Dirty Jobs marathon is what you get, so let’s hope it’s what you want.

All times are central.

• Top Gear: Season 12 Ep. 7 (BBC America, 5:00 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Alligator Egg Collector (Discovery, 5:00 pm)
• Deconstruction: Storm Proofing (DIY, 6:00 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Brown Plate Special (Discovery, 6:00 pm)
• Deconstruction: Paint (DIY, 6:30 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Locomotive Builder (Discovery, 7:00 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Diaper Cleaner (Discovery, 8:00 pm)
• Under Construction: Change Order Open (DIY, 9:00 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Spider Pharm (Discovery, 9:00 pm)
• Under Construction: Toughest Clients (DIY, 9:30 pm)

Enjoy.

I do a lot of work on my own cars, mainly because I’m cheap and I enjoy the work. I own a couple of test lights to verify that circuits are working, and I keep a small array of test wires that serve as jumpers, but the Power Probe III jumped out at me because it performs those functions plus many more.

(more…)

These Micro Zip sanders look pretty sweet. We’ve seen their larger brethren around — we might even have one lying around the Toolmonger shop somewhere.  Basically these are just like the large versions, with hook-and-loop backing, but Hot Wheels-sized.

The gist of the sander is you can put it in tiny places where larger units won’t fit.  With the hook-and-loop system on the back you can replace the paper without chucking the entire thing.  Our question:  Does this work better than a little block of wood with sandpaper stapled to it? You wouldn’t have to buy special paper, and you could get a bunch of mileage out of even a half-sheet.

In our case we’d also have to be wary of our shop dog Talat mistaking the foam sander for one of his toys and tearing it to shreds.  So what do you think?  Is this a sanding savior or possible chew toy?  Let us know in comments.

Street pricing starts at around $12.

Micro Zip Sander [Gator]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Programmable thermostats can save you money, but what if you only have a window air conditioner — are you left out in the cold?  Maybe not if you plug your AC unit into the WIN100 programmable thermostat from Lux.  The thermostat plugs into the wall and cycles the power to a window AC unit or space heater depending on the current temperature set point.

(more…)

Recently I was shopping for a drill press, and I probably could’ve gotten away with a benchtop model if it was just for woodworking, but I also do metal fabrication so I wanted a stationary model that stands on the floor. I wound up going with this Ridgid drill press.

(more…)

It’s been a busy week here at Toolmonger.  If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — and you haven’t had a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select:

Be Your Own Sawmill
If you cringe at the price of wood at the lumber mills or, even worse, the big box stores, you might be searching for other options.  I checked out some portable sawmills and found that most of ‘em cost upwards of $3,000.  Then I found this more affordable tool by the Granberg Company — it works off your chainsaw.

Is This Quick-Change A Scam?
Recently Kreg introduced this quick-change bit set for use with its pocket screw jigs. Personally I’ve never understood why these quick-change kits are so popular, especially with keyless chucks becoming so commonplace, but if you’re a fan, now you can quickly switch between drilling pocket holes to screwing boards together.

Hot or Not? Electric Chainsaw Sharpener
Chicago Electric makes this inexpensive chainsaw sharpener that sells for $35 at Harbor Freight.  Sure, the quality of tools purchased from Harbor Freight can be suspect, but how can you screw up a chainsaw sharpener?

Grey Water Heat Recovery
If we can take ReTherm’s claim at face value, by installing their device to recover waste heat that would otherwise go down the drain, we can save at least as much as we would with tankless water heaters, at a fraction of the install cost — which means the device might actually pay for itself in a reasonable period of time.

Many Materials, One Bit
Imagine carrying just one set of bits to the job site whether you need to drill into metal, concrete, wood, tile, or a combination of materials.  Bosch brings that daydream into reality with their multiconstruction bits.

Help us choose next week’s Top 5!

We’d appreciate your help in choosing next week’s Top 5, which’ll be featured here, elsewhere, and in the podcast as well. While you’re reading TM this week, look out for the “Interesting Post” button at the bottom of the article:

When you see an article that piques your interest, click the button once. You’ll return to the same page, but TM’s software’ll score your click for future reference. We’ll check in on the totals before selecting next week’s Top 5.

A ladder can help you get from one place to another, like from the ground to the roof, but you probably use it more commonly as a platform for working where you couldn’t otherwise reach.  Getting the right tools up the ladder and keeping them there can be a shuffle even with a tool belt, but this ladder caddy from H.F. Staples looks like a neat way to carry and hold all the tools you’ll need while you’re off the ground.

(more…)

ToolDiscounter.com is selling this OTC torque angle gauge for $8.70.  This’ll help you torque “torque to yield” fasteners by angle of rotation after tightening.

OTC Torque Angle Gauge [ToolDiscounter.com]
Street Pricing [Google]

(TV Tonight, Friday, March 27th, 2009)  Who cares about cars or metalworking?  This is the year of logging excitement, with a new American Logger tonight.

All times are central.

• This Old House: Newton Project (DIY, 5:30 pm)
• How Do They Do It?: Black Boxes, Steam Turbine, Racing Car (Science, 6:00 pm)
• Rock Solid: Round Stone Planting Wall (DIY, 6:30 pm)
• How Do They Do It?: Family Car, Titanium, Letter (Science, 6:30 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Buoy Cleaner (Discovery, 7:00 pm)
• Ask This Old House: Lawn Improvements, Leaky Ceiling (DIY, 7:30 pm)
• American Loggers: Stuck in the Muck (Discovery, 8:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Javelins, Cuckoo Clocks, Hearts of Pain, Windshield Wipers (Science, 8:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Motorcycle Engines, Glass, Enamel Sculptures, Hand-Made Paper, Vaulting Poles (Science, 8:30 pm)
• American Loggers: White Gold (Discovery, 9:00 pm) NEW
• How It’s Made: Remix: Golf (Science, 9:30 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Cave Digger (Discovery, 10:00 pm)

Enjoy.

You can easily tip over a push mower to access the underside of the deck and the blade — trying this with your riding mower probably won’t do it or your back any good.  This tractor lift from Ohio Steel raises and holds the front end of the tractor in the air so you can do maintenance underneath.

(more…)

We’re sure that most folks to the north never give it a second thought till later on in the year, but down here in Texas, March means the blast furnace we call Summer is looming ahead.  In my case that meant I needed to get the AC fixed at the ole homestead. The Freon leaked out last year due to a faulty coil, and I’ve been without since September.

(more…)

In setting up a woodshop, I always thought I’d end up with the standard Norm setup — a belt/disk sander combo and a separate oscillating spindle sander — but I’ve read that the motors on the lower-end spindle units can stall out when sanding, and I can’t afford the $1,000+ high-end shop sanders.  I read the reviews of this Ridgid oscillating edge belt/spindle sander and I had doubts about the belt sander part, but I figured at worst I’d end up with an affordable oscillating spindle sander.

(more…)

The rotating trays of Vestil’s mobile parts bin store your hardware so you can easily access it.  The mobile organizer also lets you bring your hardware with you rather than having to travel back and forth to go get it.  When you’re done with it you can easily squirrel the organizer away into any 20″ wide space.

(more…)

A few years of tending the landscaping around the garden and sidewalk area of the yard have left me with a firm resolve to install some brick garden walls instead of the crappy little things that get torn up with the weed eater. But I’m cheap, so I don’t want to shell out a bunch of green for brick.  My question:  Does anyone know a semi-reliable way to attain brick seconds or leftovers?

I just need something I can make one-foot-high garden/landscaping walls with — and the initial pop of new material can be a little high for a “nice-to-have” item like this.  I don’t need a lot of it, and they don’t even have to match each other.   If I have to go to five different places and get as many different colors of brick or stone, I’m fine with that.

Am I better off just eating the cost, or can this be done Toolmonger-style, on the cheap?  Let me know in comments.

When cutting mortises, you can go a lot of different ways:  you can drill holes and then clean out the waste with chisels;  you can make a jig that allows you to cut the mortise with your router and a straight cutting bit;  you can also choose from quite a few jigs, specialty tools, and gadgets on the market.  One of these gadgets, the Mortise Pal looks like a workable solution, if you can afford it.

(more…)

A kind reader alerted us to this PDF rebate form for Ingersoll Rand air tools purchased between March 1 and April 30, 2009 — you can get back between 10% and 15% depending on the amount of the original purchase.

Air Tool Rebate Form (PDF) [Ingersoll Rand]

(TV Tonight, Thursday, March 26th, 2009) We get a new Street Customs chopping a roof and Heli-Loggers chopping some trees.

All times are central.

• This Old House: Newton Project (DIY, 5:30 pm)
• Overhaulin: Overlord (TLC, 6:00 pm)
• Rock Solid: Cobble Pavers (DIY, 6:30 pm)
• Modern Marvels: The Lumberyard (History, 7:00 pm)
• Top Gear (BBC America, 7:00 pm)
• Overhaulin: Scout’s Honor (TLC, 7:00 pm)
• Ultimate Factories: Peterbilt (National Geographic, 7:00 pm)
• Ask This Old House: Replacing Rotted Stairs, Leaky Polybutylene Pipes (DIY, 7:30 pm)
• Street Customs: Challenger Convertible (TLC, 8:00 pm) NEW
• Ultimate Factories: Caterpillar (National Geographic, 8:00 pm)
• Successful Farming Machinery Show (RFD-TV, 8:00 pm)
• Cool Tools: Multi-Task (DIY, 8:30 pm)
• Heli-Loggers: Dangerous Ground (TLC, 9:00 pm) NEW

Enjoy.