(TV Tonight, Saturday, October 31st, 2009) Not much on tonight, being Halloween and all.

All times are central

• Top Gear: Season 7 Ep. 2 (BBC America, 5:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Rum, police badges, car washes, pressure gauges (Science, 7:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Muffins, metal detectors, aircraft engines (Science, 7:30 pm)
• Under Construction: Roof Is on Fire, Secretary to Hire (DIY, 9:00 pm)
• Under Construction: Two Projects and a Baby (DIY, 9:30 pm)

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:

A Light Saber’s Little Brother
I just replaced my trusty but annoying 3AA Maglite with the incandescent bulb and twist-on lens. I’ve never been too much of a Maglite fan, but it’s hard to argue with the sheer number of them out there. They work, but now there’s a new hotness in my roll cab’s top drawer.

My Current Favorite Beater Knife
I own more than a few pocket knives — not as many as Sean, of course, but I have at least 20, including some really nice ones. But the nice ones aren’t the ones we carry around day-to-day, are they? My daily-carry knife is a total beater, and it’s the one you see pictured above: a 3-1/2″ Winchester.

Eaton M90 Rebuild: Part 3
The next series of steps in rebuilding the Eaton M90 requires some new parts and careful disassembly. An arbor press is a must for this stage. Once the snout’s removed, it needs to be disassembled. There are two bearings, a seal, a spring, and the drive shaft inside, all of which need to be removed without damaging the snout.

Jackass Projects: Porsche 944 S2, Part One
Longtime Toolmongers will remember me mentioning my Porsche project a couple of times on the blog, mostly surrounded by four-letter words and complaints about German engineers’ total disrespect of the auto mechanic and outrageously insane parts prices. But I have some good news to report: it’s running, and I’ve been daily driving it for about six months. Here’s part one of the whole (jackass) story.

Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 5: Engine Teardown
What the hell’s been going on with the Toolmonger Shop Truck Build? Well, for a while, a lot of nothing. You may have noticed that the economy isn’t exactly stellar, and honestly we just didn’t have the dough to mess with it for a while. But we’re off the dime, and the truck’s on the move again.

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.

Everyone needs a flashlight. Seriously. If it’s dark, you need light to see. And we see tons of flashlights here in the Toolmonger offices, lights in almost every flavor ranging from candy coated (gimmicky) to chicken (simple and useful for everything). Over the last year or so we’ve discovered a few favorites and thought we’d share. Here’s our fourth favorite: the four-cell Maglite.

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I usually delete spam from my inbox without reading it, but recently an email caught my eye, touting the new Pressurex Tactile Pressure Indicating Sensor Film. I looked up the website and it looks like a handy tool for determining whether two surfaces mate well. The film has tiny “microcapsules.” When you tighten or clamp two surfaces together with the film in between, it makes the microcapsules rupture and makes a permanent picture of the forces on the surface.

Here’s an article showing the applications in assessing disc brake contact with the rotor. It seems like it would be great for any automotive assembly where you want even pressure around a gasket. It’s also a good way to diagnose any adhesive bonding problems, especially when the members are clamped as the adhesive dries. The site says they’ll provide free samples, and free is a great price.

Pressurex [Website]

Amazon has the Cobra Toilet Auger for 75 cents, a whopping 94% off the normal list price of $11.99.

The deal likely isn’t that great as it sells through acehardwareoutlet and shipping is on the order of $8.50, but then again that’s still pretty cheap compared to other prices plus shipping. It’s best to check your local hardware store first, though.

Toilet Augers are simple tools for dealing with a somewhat disgusting and annoying problem. Here’s a good guide to their use should you need it spelled out.

Via Amazon [What’s This?]

(TV Tonight, Friday, October 30th, 2009) Just a night of reruns for your Friday Halloween preparations; best to get carving your pumpkins…

All times are central

• How Do They Do It?: G-Suits, Smart Grid, Stolen Car (Science, 5:00 pm)
• Ask This Old House: Pressure Reducing Valve, Problems With Crown Molding (DIY, 5:30 pm)
• How Do They Do It?: Airbags, ice rinks, mattresses (Science, 5:30 pm)
• Cool Tools: Saws, Knives and Blades (DIY, 6:00 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Mud Mineral Excavator (Discovery, 6:00 pm)
• How Do They Do It?: Armored cars, elevators, cheese (Science, 6:00 pm)
• How Do They Do It?: Air to air, ski slopes, car production (Science, 6:30 pm)
• Dirty Jobs: Locomotive Builder (Discovery, 7:00 pm)
• Punkin Chunkin 2008 (Science, 7:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Sails, Walnuts, Wheel Immobilizers, Honeycomb Structural Panels (Science, 8:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Animatronics, axes, racing karts, custom running shoes (Science, 8:30 pm)

Longtime Toolmongers will remember me mentioning my Porsche project a couple of times on the blog, mostly surrounded by four-letter words and complaints about German engineers’ total disrespect of the auto mechanic and outrageously insane parts prices. But I have some good news to report: it’s running, and I’ve been daily driving it for about six months. Here’s part one of the whole (jackass) story.

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Spline wrenches are cool because you can turn a variety of different fastener heads such as hex, partially rounded hex, 12pt, square, external Torx, and yes, even spline heads, with one wrench.  If you’re willing to give up the ratcheting feature in the Stanley Proto and SK spline wrenches, you can get a set of seven Craftsman combo open end/box spline wrenches from Sears for under $20.

Craftsman angles the wrench heads by 15° to save your knuckles and they reinforce the open end so the wrench doesn’t deform under high torque, rounding the head. The set normally includes 5/16″, 3/8″, 7/16″, 1/2″, 9/16″, and 11/16″ wrenches, but to be nice Sears is throwing in a 5/8″ wrench and a storage tray.

Universal Wrench Set [Sears]

What the hell’s been going on with the Toolmonger Shop Truck Build? Well, for a while, a lot of nothing. You may have noticed that the economy isn’t exactly stellar, and honestly we just didn’t have the dough to mess with it for a while. But we’re off the dime, and the truck’s on the move again.

Once we got the engine out and on its stand we discovered we had a lot of work ahead of us. (Remember: a “free” truck is never free.) Time did a number on this truck, and its previous owner had ridden it hard and put it away wet more than once. Under the hood was just as rough as the interior and body work. In fact, it was worse.

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If you bought one of the Halloween-themed flashlights pictured above from Target recently, you should “immediately stop using the flashlights and return the product to any Target store for a full refund.” The CPSC reports that these flashlights “can overheat and melt, posing a burn hazard to consumers.” So far the manufacturer has heard of eight such incidents, “including one report of burns to the hand.”

Or hey, better yet, skip the Halloween-themed gear when it comes to the important stuff. If you want to give your kids a flashlight to carry during the yearly loot-fest, why not go with a tried-and-true quality flashlight? Bonus: it’s far less likely to end up in the trash can once we move on to Turkey day and X-Mas.

Halloween Flashlights Recalled Due to Burn Hazard [CPSC]

Sean previously covered the Veritas twin screw vise with a chain drive here at TM. Evidently Lie-Nielsen thought it was such a good idea they produced their own chain drive vise. The concept behind both vises is simple: make sure the large jaw closes parallel by turning both screws the same amount.

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A day spent sanding is a day spent in hell. Unfortunately I like my projects to come out looking good. Over the last few years we’ve spent hours upon hours “in the grit.” Gator products are normally what get stuck to the bottom of the sander or wrapped around a block. One of Gator’s newest creations is the Ultra Power paper with Black Zirconium.

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Craftsman’s 8-amp variable speed reciprocating saw is on sale right now in Sears stores and online for $59.88, about 25% off its normal price. The trigger-operated saw runs up to 2,500 strokes per minute with a 1-1/8 inch long blade stroke.

Recip saws are a Halloween favorite around here for carving out your favorite scary pumpkin face and making with the gourd carnage. And of course, you can wipe the slime off and use the saw for other things throughout the year, too.

Craftsman 8 Amp Reciprocating Saw with Soft Carry Bag & 3 pc. Blade Assortment [Craftsman]
How to Carve Pumpkins with Power Tools [ExtremePumpkins.com]

(TV Tonight, Thursday, October 29th, 2009) We get new episodes of American Chopper and Street Customs — finally TLC is giving us something to watch even if it involves Larry King and overpriced slacker shoes.

All times are central

• Junkyard Wars: Gliders (Science, 5:00 pm)
• Ask This Old House: Tribute to Tile Expert Joe Ferrante (DIY, 5:30 pm)
• Cool Tools: Ergonomics (DIY, 6:00 pm)
• Junkyard Wars: Power Raft (Science, 6:00 pm)
• American Chopper: Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal Theme Bike (TLC, 7:00 pm)
• Ultimate Factories: Corvette (National Geographic, 7:00 pm)
• Some Assembly Required (Science, 7:00 pm)
• American Chopper: OCC Band Bike (TLC, 8:00 pm) NEW
• How Do They Do It?: Mine Oil, Shipping Lanes, Stretched Limos (Science, 8:00 pm)
• Successful Farming Machinery Show (RFD-TV, 8:00 pm)
• How Do They Do It?: armored cars, elevators, cheese (Science, 8:30 pm)
• Street Customs: Vans Van (TLC, 9:00 pm) NEW

Instead of adjusting the air flow at the compressor, Astro Pneumatics’ digital flow regulator screws right onto your spray gun or other air tool to precisely control the flow of air. Love it or hate it, instead of a analog gauge it uses a digital readout.

Constructed with a mirror-plated finish, the regulator’s electronics are sealed and the display is behind impact-proof glass. Unfortunately this also means the battery’s not replaceable, but the display shuts off 45 seconds after you press the button to give the battery a life expectancy of 5,000 readings.

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Dynamite Tool currently has the Channellock 350S 9-Inch Ironworkers Plier with Spring for $19.50.

The 350S is designed mainly for working with rebar tie wires (baling wire!). The hook at the end of the handle is a stop for the hand and allows pulling with greater force when tightening the wire. We never thought about the lack of a return spring on other pliers of this size, but it does make the repetitive opening and closing of pliers much easier. They are also available on Amazon for $20.50 and eligible for Super Saver shipping so that may be a better deal if you’re ordering other stuff.

Channellock 350S 9-Inch Ironworkers Plier with Spring [dynamitetoolco.com]
Via Amazon

If you want to know how the welding supply industry is reacting to the cordless market, take a gander at the Trek 180 battery-powered MIG Welder. It’s awesomeness in a 52-lb. box.

We’re not saying this is meant to replace a larger shop model, and neither is Hobart. What the Trek 180 is designed to do is take care of small jobs when you are away from anything resembling civilization. The rig can run off its own 120 amp 17VDC battery or from an 115V power outlet with a 20 percent duty cycle.

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