At a recent junkyard excursion I happened upon this somewhat rough Dodge. Now you might ask — as I did — what the hell is with the wing? Did you clear a flight path for that? Are you trying to hold the trunk down? The answer is simple — kids do stupid crap with their cars.

If there’s a way to glue, stick ‘em, bolt, paint, or yes, Velcro, something onto a vehicle you can be sure a kid between the ages of 16 to 23 has done so with what turns out to be frightening results.

Not that I’m any kind of car genius that hasn’t dealt out my share of Frankenstein to an automobile either. Check out this honey of a ride. Yes sir, my very first car — the Turbo Gerbil, an ’83 Corolla SR5, named thusly because it was not turbo and sounded funny when put before gerbil.

Dig that aftermarket chrome stripe and holofoil Toyota shade. I’m no expert here but I’m guessing that took at least two or three seconds off my quarter mile time — sun’s rays being reflected and all.

Don’t try and make sense out of it; it only makes sense when a group of seventeen-year-olds start naming each other’s cars. Together with the Lunch Wagon, an ’86 Nissan king-cab; Merlin the Brown Wizard, a ’79 Celica that had no weather stripping; and the Funky Chicken, a white ’86 Ford Thunderbird that stalled out at every other light we stopped at, we made up a collection of road warriors that has not since been equaled since Urkel on Family Matters learned to drive.

So when you see something like this run-down Dodge in the junkyard years later, you just have to shake your head and smile. Somebody had an awful lot of fun with this thing. I know I did with mine.

This little 3-gallon air compressor from Bosch looks pretty much like the others you’d see, except for the fact that it mounts its tanks vertically instead of horizontally. This not only makes ‘em easier to drain — just open a single valve in the central control panel — it also moves the center of gravity inward so the whole rig feels more balanced in your hand when you carry it.

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Designer’s Handbook: Steel Wire is an out-of-print publication of the American Iron and Steel Institute. The book is a short introduction to designing products with steel wire and wire products.

Chapters cover the manufacture of steel wire, classification, and specifications. Then there are a few chapters of design considerations and study, the four-slide machine, swaging, piercing, cold forming, etc. Welding is covered as well. We get details of mechanical joint design, spring design and case studies as well as the use and production of wire cloth. There is even a chapter on the use of wire in “modern” art (this book was published in 1974 after all). All in all, it’s an excellent introduction to a form, rather than a type of material we often take for granted in our projects! The book is available inexpensively on the used market such as Amazon with prices in the range of $1.00-$15.00. I think I picked up my copy at a used book sale for a buck.

Via Amazon [What’s This?]

To folks who aren’t woodworkers, this is a “pile of old tools.” To a craftsman this is a pile of old gold — and in some cases it costs as much, too. These planes on display in a booth at the Southwest Tool Collectors Association Tool Meet in Houston are a fine example of you-never-know-what-you-might-find.

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Tapping threads straight can sometimes be a challenge. A lathe, drill press, or a lot of practice help the process — or you could use a tool like Big Gator Tools’ V-Tap Guide. A series of graduated holes in the V-Tap Guide keep the tap aligned perpendicular to the surface.

Big Gator Tools makes the V-Tap Guide from nickel alloyed steel, heat treats it, grinds the bottom flat, and chrome plates it. They also cut a V-groove into the bottom, which both gives the tool its name and allows you tap perpendicular holes on corners and round stock in addition to flat surfaces.

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It’s like the Military Channel has reached in and given me a great gift — 24 hours of tanks. My Tivo will be overflowing with armored goodness Thursday. The Military Channel’s Tanks-giving may be a cheap gimmick, but in this case I’m down.

As some of the long time Toolmonger readers know, I’m a little obsessed with tanks. Okay, I’m a lot obsessed with tanks, but still, instead of the same ole’ football games I see every year I’m going to be watching heavy armor and tracked war machines with the family while recovering from my tryptophan coma.

Tanks-Giving [Military Channel]

Speaking of multi-tools (e.g., TM 11/20/09), I just saw the Level Best2 in one of those card pack mailers — PRODUCTS FOR WOODWORKERS. RECESSION BUSTING DISCOUNT COUPONS INSIDE! — that I usually toss into the recycle bin. This “ideal portable tool” comes in 12″ and 6″ sizes, and, if you order one 12″ version now using code LB2, you will “Get One 6″ Tool FREE!” — only $19.95 plus S&H, which appears to be $4.95. If you don’t like yellow, you can get a Level Best2 in blue, violet, or pink, also. They are pretty clear on its four uses: level, plumb, square, and ruler.

Web pricing starts around $6 for the 6″ and $10 for the 12″, so, depending on S&H from other sites, the bundle from the manufacturer could be a good deal. But is this a useful tool? What do you think?

Level Best2 [Manufacturer's Site]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

(TV Tonight, Monday, November 23rd, 2009) The best night to head out to the shop and do something useful.

All times are central

• Trains & Locomotives (RFD-TV, 5:00 pm)
• Cool Tools: Change of Season (DIY, 6:00 pm)
• Ask This Old House: Clogged Drains, Installing Kitchen Cabinets (DIY, 6:30 pm)
• Top Gear: Season 10 Ep. 5 (BBC America, 7:00 pm)
• Top Gear: Season 10 Ep. 4 (BBC America, 8:00 pm)
• Disaster House: Driveway Disaster (DIY, 10:30 pm)

(TV Tonight, Sunday, November 22nd, 2009) Not a bad night of reruns, if you need a reason to veg out.

All times are central

• Top Gear: Season 10 Ep. 4 (BBC America, 5:00 pm)
• Stacey David’s Gearz: KnuckleBuster Returns (Speed, 5:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Donuts, banjos, shock absorbers, fire extinguishers (Science, 5:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Duvets, faucets, dress forms, boat propellers (Science, 5:30 pm)
• Stud Finder (DIY, 6:00 pm)
• Top Gear: Season 10 Ep. 3 (BBC America, 6:00 pm)
• Holmes on Homes: Lack of Truss (HGTV, 8:00 pm)
• Successful Farming Machinery Show (RFD-TV, 9:00 pm)
• Disaster House: Driveway Disaster (DIY, 10:00 pm)
• Deconstruction: Flooring (DIY, 10:30 pm)

(TV Tonight, Saturday, November 21st, 2009) Nothing much to watch tonight, although the Some Assembly Required episodes are all interesting.

All times are central

• Top Gear: Season 10 Ep. 3 (BBC America, 5:00 pm)
• Some Assembly Required: Skeletool at the Leatherman factory, Simmons Beautyrest (Science, 5:00 pm)
• Some Assembly Required: Henning’s Cheese Factory, New Balance running shoes, Steinway pianos (Science, 6:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Kevlar canoes, marble cheddar, escalators, disk music boxes (Science, 7:00 pm)
• How It’s Made: Popcorn, riding mowers, adjustable beds, cultured diamonds (Science, 7:30 pm)
• Under Construction: Rangehood Revisited (DIY, 9:00 pm)
• Some Assembly Required: Gibson guitar factory, Batesville Casket Company, Burt’s Bees (Science, 9:00 pm)
• Under Construction: Blue Stone Blues (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:

DeWalt’s New(ish) Heat Gun
I’ll admit that most heat guns look the same. This one makes hot air (adjustable from 120 to 1100 degrees F) and offers a nice nozzle protector to keep the heat on the project and off your hands. You can also kind of see at the bottom a swing-out hook that makes the gun easier to store hanging up.

Saving Cash With An Arbor
One of the biggest complaints I hear when the word “Shopsmith” is brought up is cost. It’s true SS products can be a little on the pricey side, but being the cheap bastard I am I can’t bring myself to send the cash down the $80-a-pop hole that is the Shopsmith saw blade product line. That’s where the 5/8” Saw Arbor comes in.

Basic Automotive Troubleshooting, Explained
Reader Scott pointed us to his blog where he asks the following: What are these little blue and grey caps called? What do they do? Are they part of the cooling system? What happens if they are not there?

Hog Ringer Pliers
Unused hog rings kinda look like rounded staples. When you squeeze them with hog ringer pliers they form a ring capturing whatever happens to be in the center. They’re used in all sorts of applications, like fencing, landscaping, mattress and automobile seat construction, and even holding sausage casings closed.

Easydriver Set
Many years ago I either bought or was given the original Easydriver. This version did not use standard hex bits: It has a simple shaft with a slotted screwdriver on one end and a Phillips on the other. Nevertheless, I did find it useful, and I still keep it in the kitchen tool drawer.

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.

I’ve gotta go along with Sean when he said (in reporting a similar recall last August) “sometimes I’m glad I don’t own a gas grill.” The manufacturer and importer of the SLG series “Perfect Flame” brand outdoor propane or natural gas grills is voluntarily recalling almost 663,000 of the above-pictured model in the United States and an other 1,700 in Canada. Why?

The firm has received about 40 reports of fires from the burners deteriorating and about 23 reports of the lids catching fire. The firm is aware of one report of an eye injury requiring surgery and 21 incidents of minor burns to the hands, arms, or face.

Ouch!

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Full disclosure: I know very little about TIG welding. I’m okay with a MIG rig, and I can stick weld well enough to hook things together, but I’ve never handled a TIG torch. So when I received a press release from Weldcraft indicating that they’d expanded their gas lens line a bit, I had to hit the ‘net to discover that a gas lens is simply a fitting that re-directs the gas normally emitted from the torch, focusing it to provide more even coverage and flow for a given welding situation.

It makes sense to me, then, why Weldcraft would be proud of offering a relatively wide range of lenses in standard size, large diameter, and stubby to fit just about all their air and water-cooled TIG torches.

Gas Lenses Improve TIG Welding Performance [Weldcraft]

If given the choice I almost always gravitate towards shops that look like this — mostly because it’s simply not possible to get a space to look this way without putting some time and effort into it. Also, because there is always an unfinished something in the works hanging around that catches our eye.

Right off the bat in this case, we’d ask about the homebrew toolbox in the center there propping up some other items and find out what its story is — we’re sure it has one. As always, reader ghb624 has an interesting-looking workspace even if it is a bit on the busy side. Well done, sir!

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

On a recent junkyard trip Sean and I came across this monstrosity in a Ford. Sean’s comment: “Wanna take one guess as to how this guy crashed?” Known most commonly as a “spinner knob” (or alternatively as a “suicide knob”), more sturdy and functional versions of this thing made cranking a whopping huge steering wheel around three or four full revolutions lock-to-lock easier. But with the advent of modern power steering — and a strong desire among most state motor vehicle departments to discourage the inaccurate steering inputs that lead to over-control — spinners are actually illegal in some places around the U.S.

But a non-spinning version made from nylon tape and a golf ball? That’s just an accident waiting to happen.

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Everybody’s trying to come up with the next gotta-have-it multi-tool like the try-square. Great Neck Saw’s attempt packs 10 measuring tools in one device. The Mayes Squangle is basically a square with an extra adjustable arm that swings from 45° to 90° and locks with two thumbscrews. To increase their tool count, they threw in a bubble vial.

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Amazon has a good deal on the Earthway 1001-B Precision Garden Seeder right now at $39.99 with super saver shipping.

Okay, maybe it’s a little late to seed your garden this year (although depending where you are, it could be the right time for some winter crops) but an implement like this can make seeding a garden a lot easier than flinging handfuls of seed, or manually placing seed along a 100′ row. The 1001-B Seeder has 6 seed plates for seeding sweet corn, bean, peas, carrots, beets, and radishes. Other plates are available as well as blank ones. It plants to the correct depth, covers the seed and packs the soil. Easy!

Via Amazon [What’s This?]