Collins Complete DIY Manual will show you how to perform dozens of home improvement projects and repairs, from painting and decorating, to freezing a section of pipe for maintenance. Collins illustrates each topic with many colorful diagrams and photographs. Although this book is geared more toward homeowners than apartment dwellers, it’s an excellent reference for everyone.
Though as Toolmongers we probably see more orange Black & Decker gear than their appliances, here’s one that’s made for the kitchen — but kick-ass for the shop: the Slice Right electric knife. It’ll carve the toughest turkey, but you’ll wish you had one the first time you try cutting any foam.
With twenty bucks and some elbow grease, you can turn your litter-strewn, sticky-countered, beer-stained place back into the gleaming pad you had (or wished you had) before your New Year’s party. And you can do it with completely eco-friendly cleaners made from natural, nice-smelling ingredients like almond and cherry oils (dishwashing liquid), lemon oil (hard surface cleaner), coconut-based soap with vinegar (glass and mirror cleaner), and cedar oil with citric acid (toilet cleaner).
How many times have you scraped the front door open onto a plastic wedge, returned carrying an arm-quivering load of shop gear/groceries/X-mas loot, and had the door slam in your face when you got there? Those inflexible wedges do lose their grip after a time. Luckily, inventor Michael Pendergrass of Rocklin (no kidding), California, came up with a doorstop that lets the door roll into place and then grips it there.
And since it’s made of Santoprene rubber, the doorstop won’t mar or damage your floors. At a street price of around $12, it may trip your radar, but it could be worth it if your most-used doors are as rebellious as ours.
Rock N Lock Doorstop [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Buildex’s new Tapcon line of anchors cut their own threads as you drive them into masonry. And unlike most other types of masonry anchors, they’re removable.
You especially appreciate ‘removable’ when you’ve driven a bunch of anchors into a wall, then decided to rearrange or adjust your setup. With most anchors, you’re, um, screwed. But with Tapcons you just pull out the screw, fill in the hole with concrete patch paste, paint it, and you’re good to go.
Looking for an easy “starter set” gift for relatives who’re just starting to get their hands dirty? Stanley’s making it easy by combining their products into quite functional tool kits. Pictured above, for example, is their FatMax Xtreme kit, which includes a 25′ tape, a marker, a utility knife, a rip claw hammer, a box beam level, a chalk box, a FuBar, a demolition driver set, and an auto trigger clamp — all in a handy open-mouth tool bag — for $250. Other sets range lower and higher in price.
I’ve mentioned Parts Express before off-handedly when recommending that you take a stab at building your own speakers, but I recently had the opportunity to interact with them again — and thought it worth my time to recommend them as a great source for in-wall speakers.
I was looking to ditch the bulky speakers in my bedroom in favor of some in-walls, but most of the ones I found were either uber-pricey or required massive wall mods for proper installation. Once it occurred to me to check out Parts Express, the job simplified dramatically. I ended up ordering five Dayton Audio branded speakers — two fronts, two rears, and a special center channel — all of which are designed for installation in standard 2×4 walls and cost less than $300 shipped.
Operating in tandem with a Sony subwoofer I borrowed from a sub/satellite system I owned years back, these sound great — and look great, too. (Thankfully my crown molding was white anyway, so the speaker grilles look perfect. If yours aren’t, though, they’re paintable.)
Anyway, if you’re considering this kind of project, Parts Express is worth a look.
Parts Express [Corporate Site]
While we have yet to test any of the products in Black & Decker’s still-new VPX line, we’re truly impressed by their choice of applications — like this single-VPX-battery-powered inflator. It looks way more practical than lugging around a 12V cigarette-lighter-driven box — especially if you’re just planning to inflate soccer balls or bike tires.
If you’re looking to replace your water heater soon – or you just want to know how about how to make it last longer – you might want to take a second to visit WaterHeaterRescue.com. While most sites just walk you through choosing a water heater based on efficiency ratings and first-hour delivery numbers, this site tells you how to properly choose, outfit, install, and maintain a water heater if you want it to last.
A word of warning, though. The purveyors of the site also sell kits for retrofitting water heaters. But even with this caveat, I feel that most of their advice rings true.
Velcro self-gripping straps are a great alternative to cable ties, especially when you’re dealing with delicate materials such as AV wires. They’re strong, lightweight, reusable, and available in several different colors and sizes.
Here’s another tool guaranteed to help holiday shoppers please their gadget-loving friends and family: Skil’s new li-ion Power Wrench. Based on Skil’s proven 7.2V li-ion batteries, the power wrench can maintain its charge even when stashed away for up to 18 months. And with a reversible 1/4″ square drive, the Power Wrench can do just about everything that a socket wrench can do, only quicker and easier.
Home theaters can be as simple as hooking up a few components or as complex as building a new addition on the house. But one thing’s a given: if you’re still watching a tiny screen and listening through two speakers, you’re missing out. HomeTime.com offers a pretty basic introduction to the technology options out there, and if you add a little creative Toolmongering to the information they provide, you can pretty easily upgrade your football-watching and movie-renting experience without too much pain.
And don’t forget to check out the Toolmonger photo pool for some great pictures of reader’s projects along these lines. There’s a great set in there of a plasma TV install — look ma, no wires!
DIY Home Theater [HomeTime.com]
There’s nothing wrong with ripping out the whole bathroom and re-designing it. But if you’re on a lesser budget — of both time and cash — the folks over at NewHomeOwnerGuide.com assembled a handy set of tips on how to personalize and fix-up your bathroom for under $100. Besides the scratch, they say you’ll need “a basic knowledge of painting, wallpapering, and light woodworking.”
(Thanks, daxiang stef, for the great cc-licensed photo.)
No problem, right?
Bathroom Makeover [NewHomeOwnerGuide.com]
Bics are reliable fire-starters, and they don’t leak in your pocket and leave little square burns on you if you forget to sit ‘em out overnight before carrying ‘em after refilling ‘em. But how can you be cool flipping open a Bic? Answer: you can’t. Now you can have butane reliability and Zippo cool with the new Zippo BLU line.
(Ed. Note: I don’t smoke, but I often carry a lighter. How else will you finish the tip of cut nylon rope or activate heat-shrink tubing on the go? My point: lighters a great for non-smokers, too.)
The Shoulder Dolly supposedly helps you move heavy objects by supporting them on your shoulders, taking the stress off your back. One possible downside: if your partners slips going down the stairs, you, him, and that refrigerator are all going down together.
Amazon is currently listing this three-speed Air King blower for $37.23 with free super saver shipping. It features three blower speeds, a 1/16 HP motor, a pivoting head that offers airflow in three direction, a 10′ power cord, and two grounded outlets on the side to power other tools. It looks perfect for, say, drying out a basement or offering some ventilation in a closed workspace.
Utility Blower [AirKing]
Via Amazon
Street Pricing [Google Products]
This holiday season marks the entry of lithium-ion power into the lower-priced market, and Black & Decker clearly aims to be a big player with brand-spankin’-new VPX tool series. Centered around an interchangeable 7V li-ion battery and focusing on lightweight, compact designs, the VPX series looks quite promising. Best of all, we understand that the current B&D will continue to expand the VPX line throughout next year.
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