We’re willing to try anything that makes caulking easier and gets us back to doing something else. The Flextension caulking tube tip attaches to all tubes of caulk and adhesive. It allows you to spread a bead in places that would be difficult or even impossible to reach with a normal caulking gun. Even though this looks like one of those As Seen On TV products, for $2 it can’t hurt to give it a shot.

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A few months ago we mentioned Elmer’s new stainable wood glue with the intent of going to get some and testing it out. After using a few tubes we can tell you that it’s not perfect, but it does work okay.

We glued up quite a few projects with it, some of which you’ll see on Toolmonger in the future, and we can say that the stainable glue does accept Danish oil pretty well — but it leaves much to be desired with oil-based stains like Minwax, and it hardly discolors at all with light, oak-colored, water-based products.

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Elmer the Bull — yes, he’s Elsie the milk Cow’s husband – has been helping woodworkers stick projects together for over 60 years now. Now the famous bull brings us some really handy stuff: stainable wood glue.

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The ultimate clamp for cabinetmakers is the parallel jaw clamp. They clamp down tight, they evenly distribute force, and they have resin coated jaws that won’t mar or damage your project. Check out Irwin’s entry in the parallel jaw clamp game: 24” and 48” models.

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Dowels joinery pretty much ensures two things: first, you’ll have a strong joint. The second is that you’ll have a frustrating time getting everything to line up — particularly on butt joints where you’re joining two boards edge to edge. Wolfcraft’s Dowel Pro jig claims to eliminate some of that frustration, saving you time as well.

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Think of ”gaffer’s tape” as the Cadillac of general purpose tapes — the king of half-assed repairs. (Duct tape is the “queen.”) “Gaff” tape — as the pros call it – is a cloth-backed tape often used in cinematic and theatrical productions. It outshines regular duct tape in both tensile and adhesion strength — without leaving as much nasty residue as duct tape.

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The next time you’re in the hardware store, look for multi-purpose brushes in the plumbing section. These 4″ tin-handled brushes are commonly known as “flux” or “acid” brushes, and you can use them to spread pastes, greases, and liquids — almost any basic brushing task. And they’re cheap enough to throw away if when they get nasty.

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Titebond’s fluorescent wood glue looks like normal glue, but glows under a “black light,” making it easy to spot glue you missed during sanding — before you get ready to stain that heirloom project.  There’s nothing worse than dragging your work back to the shop, removing the glue, and re-sanding everything.

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My first car was probably made up of about 60% Bondo, and while that’s not what you should do with it, it’s still great stuff.  I’ve used it for all types of applications other than bodywork.  The trick in buying Bondo is to buy about five times what you think you’ll need.  I found a gallon of their #265 lightweight filler over at Home & Beyond for just $17.46 — a pretty good deal.

Hey, sometimes it’s the only thing that’ll get the job done.

#265 [Bondo]
Bondo Gallon Body Filler [Home & Beyond]
Street Pricing [Google Street]

I originally found Tapemonster.com when I was playing in bands and needed board tape (that’s sized perfectly for labeling a mixer), gaffer’s tape (which doesn’t leave goo on stuff), and glow tape (to keep from running into mic stands in the dark).  But even after I gave up my rock star dream for writing, I still order all sorts of stuff from these people: like colored electrical tape.
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Amazon’s offering this leather and vinyl repair kit for $12.70.  It ships with a few different colors you can mix to perfectly match your vehicle and the manufacturer claims it works on all vinyl and leather-covered areas such as dashboards, seats, and even furniture at home. 

Actually, I ripped the leather seat in my truck so I’m looking for a cheap repair.  This might be it!

Via Amazon [What's this?]
Street Pricing [Google Product Search]

What’s better than a roll of duct tape? 8.5″x11″ sheets of duct tape, of course, especially if you’re making large repairs — like patching up a tarp or tent — where multiple strips of the normal stuff tend to peel off.  According to manufacturer Intertape Polymer Group, you can either slap these on whole for maximum coverage or cut them to shape for the best fit.

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Believe it or not, J-B Weld makes quite a few different products above and beyond their classic “J-B Weld” metal-filled epoxy — like this stuff designed to re-attach rear-view mirrors.

I came across this because one of the project cars that’s been gracing (read: pissing fluid all over, getting pushed around it, and generally frustrating everyone who visits) the Toolmonger shop came to us with the rear-view mirror sitting in the passenger seat.  Seriously, this looks like just the ticket.

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Though the Wonderlokking website may be difficult to find, Wonderlok Chair glue (thankfully) isn’t.  These little tubes of chair glue are pretty unassuming, but the big fixing power of its formula is a great weapon to have at hand.

Wonderlok is what it is because of how it works.  It’s not the strongest glue ever made to fix a piece of wooden furniture, but it’s preferred by craftsman because of its “ooze” factor.  Wonderlok’s great because you can apply it from the outside of a joint seam and it will penetrate (”ooze”) into the joint to form a solid bond throughout — which’ll hopefully hold your rickety chair or table firm without disassembly.

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Loctite’s Power Grab construction adhesives have been a staple for finishing work for some time.  Now they’ve introduced the same adhesive in a double-sided tape format to make attaching things like house numbers, coat hooks, and baseboards simpler.

Like the original Power Grab, the rolled version is waterproof, resistant to UV light, and stands up to temperatures from -40F to 248F.

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Why use thread-lock?  Let’s say, for grins, that you’d like your transmission bell housing bolts not to shake themselves out of the sockets.  Or perhaps you’d like the hyper-cool aftermarket steering wheel you just installed to actually stay connected to the vehicle – all good things, and all areas in which thread-lock can help. 

We used the Threadlocker Stick by Loctite a great deal on the Yukon project, both to secure bolts under the hood and to secure the aforementioned steering wheel replacement.  The stick works just like a glue stick from your school days; just twist the bottom and more sticky thread compound is pushed out the top.  This form factor is really helpful as you don’t get it all over yourself.

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Titebond calls Titebond III the “ultimate wood glue.”  (Is the third time the charm?)  It’s a waterproof wood glue that cleans up with water (before it dries, of course) and offers a one-year shelf life.  Titebond says it has a polymer-based formula that offers the “preferred performance attributes as defined by professional woodworkers.”

Titebond III sports excellent water-resistance and provides a stronger bond by optimizing for wood-to-wood applications.  It also doesn’t foam and requires less clamp time than polyurethane based adhesives.  Working with Titebond doesn’t require the use of gloves, either. 

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