I love this box. This is the kind of thing that gets handed down from generation to generation until no one can remember where it came from but won’t throw it away either. Yes, you read correctly: this is a 50 lb. dynamite box.

Not only does the case look like a product Wylie Coyote just ordered from Acme, but just picture the neighbor in your shop for the first time: “Hey Bob, can you hand me the wrench? It’s in that box over there marked ‘dynamite.’ Better put out that cigarette first, though.”

Even if it were fake, it would be great to mess with people’s heads. I don’t know if I could resist keeping some red road flares in there just to make someone do a head check.

Thanks to Beano for the crazy-cool picture post.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Who doesn’t need more space in their garage?  Whether it’s that extra car that sits outside, all your lawn care equipment, snowmobiles, or ATV’s, there never seems to be enough room for it all.  With these four-post lifts from Dannmar you can recover that wasted space above your vehicles to store your stuff.  Hell, you could even set up your shop on the lift and raise it out of the way when you need to park your vehicle — how sweet would that be?

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If you just have a lawn mower, a Gas Caddy like the one pictured above might be a little overkill — but if you maintain a bunch of gas-powered equipment, you might appreciate this simple solution for transferring and storing all that fuel.

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Matco is running an online sweepstakes to promote their new line of service carts, and the grand prize is a MSC11 service cart with top chest add-on.  You can enter the sweepstakes for free — just fill out the online form and you’re entered!  Judging from the pictures on the website this cart looks pretty sweet, and it would go great in an auto shop.

Contest Info [Matco Tools]

People keep telling you, “You don’t need a truck if you don’t haul stuff regularly.  Just get a trailer.”  I see some problems with that logic: for one thing, a trailer requires extra storage space that you might not have;  and also it requires that you plan ahead and pull the trailer every time you might need it.  The Tow-N-Stow may not help with your planning ability, but it definitely takes care of the problem of where to store the trailer.

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Create more space in your garage, shop, basement, or other room by getting your bins off the floor and hanging them on the wall with the Enviro Stacker.

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With Father’s Day about a month away, I’m sure many of us are scrambling to find this year’s present.  We’ve already exhausted the pocket knife, cigar cutter, homemade picture frame, beer gift basket, necktie, and personal coupon books in past years, and we’re running short on ideas — but if your dad’s a sports fan and a Toolmonger, you might want to check out these sports-themed tool belts from Fantasia Memorabilia.

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The three-piece Smart Cap from Evriholder Products adds a screw cap and spout to any bag so you can easily pour, seal, and store bags of pet food, seed, potting soil, or any other products that comes in a plastic bag.

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A while back Toolmonger reviewed a Finishline AlligatorBoard with a patriotic flag pattern. I can’t see hanging tools off a flag — it just doesn’t seem right to me — but I could work with this black and white checkerboard pattern.

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Reader Mike is in the market for a Shopsmith band saw, and he asked us how we like it.  It’s a great question, and some folks have already rung in on this one in the positive.

I might be a little biased, but I’d say if your Shopsmith was made in the last 30 years and you want a band saw, it’s a no-brainer.  The saw features a 6″ depth of cut;  the table tilts 5 degrees left and 45 degrees right;  and the blade spins from 700 to 1,050 RPM.

As others have said, you’ll have to tune it and spend a minute or two setting it up, but it’s a small price to pay as far as I’m concerned.  Retail price is in the neighborhood of $500 — but the one I just started running in the shop is on its third decade, and it doesn’t have a single issue.

Shopsmith 11″ Band Saw [Shopsmith]

The war rages on between Toolmongers who favor store-bought shop storage and benches and those who prefer to build it themselves.  In the Toolmonger shop we’ve always had some of each — we support the DIY ethos, but who really has time to build their rolling tool chests?   Still, we’re curious about store-bought systems, like Whirlpool’s Gladiator line, that try to address all your storage issues.

Storage systems like the Gladiator consist of benches, cabinets, wall components, and flooring, available in configurable chunks so you can create the setup you need and stay flexible.  But most folks point out first-thing that these store-bought systems don’t really handle everything, which is true — only custom-built rigs can.

The next comment is about price:  the store-bought gear is expensive.  For instance, the Gladiator 6’ modular bench with a steel frame and solid maple top will run you about $530.  A home-built bench that serves the same function might cost half that or less, and the cash you save could be put to good use buying tools and doing projects.

In many shops we find a mix of both:  buy what you can’t, or don’t want to, build and make the rest yourself.  In the end, getting the shop “just right” is far less important than what you do in it.  If you happen to wind up with a mash-up of gear, so be it — interior designers call that “character.”

So what do you think?  Let us know in comments.

Gladiator Garage System [GarageWorks]
6′ Modular Workbench [GarageWorks]

My cold drinks always get hot in the shop.  Sometimes I carry a small lunchbox with a freezer pack out there, but I usually forget about it and end up leaving it out in the garage for a few days.  For Toolmongers who don’t keep a mini fridge, or the “old” fridge, out in the shop, Craftsman makes this Retro Design Cooler — it looks cool and it keeps your drinks cool, too!

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Welding gear is expensive — even if you start with a basic unit, all the accessories you need will cost you some more of your hard-earned bucks. Wouldn’t it be convenient if there was a complete package that could hook you up with everything you needed? Here comes Lincoln Electric with the Lincoln Welders Backpack.

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Whether for carpentry, woodworking, or home improvement, every Toolmonger needs a tool belt to save you from running back and forth for tools or materials. I found my old tool belt in the Sears clearance aisle in the ’80s so it’s about time for a replacement, and this ToolRider GSR Gelfoam Suspension Rig looks like a good option — a full harness with gel padding helps support the fully loaded belt. .

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We’d like to give credit to reader fred who recommended some Zerust products in this post almost a year ago — we forgot about it until we saw these liners for sale.  Of course we’ve talked about non-slip toolbox liners before, here and here, but if you’re thinking about throwing down that kind of money for the Craftsman product, why not buy a non-slip liner that also protects your tools from corrosion for almost the same price?

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Craftsman’s LocBoard Tool Cart consists of two LocBoards, pegboard-like units that connect at the top, and a bottom “shelf” — the whole unit can hold 850 pounds.  While it would look really cool to fill up both sides of this cart with hand tools or specialty tools, I’m not sure if it’s practical for my shop.

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The simple problem of keeping cords coiled breeds many strange solutions, like giant twist-ties and molded-plastic contraptions, so why not throw some Velcro at the problem, too?

Coil Keepers are simple wraps made of nylon and Velcro with built-in ABS D-rings.  You wrap the Coil Keeper around the coiled hose or cord, and hang it from the D-ring.  The 15″ long by 1-1/2″ wide straps can even join together for larger diameters.

Pricing start at $4 for a set of four Coil Keepers — or you could probably whip up something similar with the previously covered two-sided Velcro rolls.

Coil Keeper [Bowtie Products]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]