Going green is well and good, but I’m more willing to look at an “eco-friendly” solution if it’ll also save me some money.  And since saving water is saving money, I’m attracted to any tool that’ll help keep my new trees alive without making the water meter run.  This root irrigator is just such a tool — it delivers water from your hose deep down into the dirt so it can’t just evaporate off.  This method also encourages trees and bushes to develop stronger and deeper roots, so they’re tougher and more able to withstand dry spells.

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If time isn’t an issue with your flat tire, and if you already own an air compressor with a standard air chuck, then this $5 kit will let you repair six tires. In addition to being cheap-ass, these kits won’t send your tires out of balance enough to notice, and they provide a permanent fix.

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If a full drum aerator is overkill for your yard, or if you have lots of time on your hands, consider aerating your yard by hand foot with the Yard Butler Core Aerator.  You might be asking, “If I’m going to go the cheap route, why not just use a pitchfork?”  Well, many people claim that core, or plug, turf aeration is superior to spike (read: pitchfork) aeration because more air can get to the roots — which is, after all, the point of aeration.

Core aeration of an entire yard with this tool might be so slow as to be useless, but you could aerate the trouble spots with it, and that might be all you need.  If you have standing water in certain areas or packed high-traffic areas, core aeration should help — and with street pricing at $22, this tool might be the least expensive way to do that.

Yard Butler Core Aerator [Lewis Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

If you want to secure a large solid item, bungees, tiedowns, straps, and rope will serve just fine, but for a plethora of little junk, go with a cargo net.  Cheap nets sell for as low as $10, and you can pick up a reasonably good net like the one pictured above for as little as $20. If you want quality and time-saving features, look for a net with adjustable straps across the middle.

And if you’re in the mood for overkill, you can get a steel net rated at 10,000 lbs. for $500.

Cargo Net [etrailer.com]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

Grab some candles that’ve seen the end of their use as a light source, and you can finish woodwork on a lathe beautifully and economically. Once the actual shaping is complete and you’ve sanded to your satisfaction, simply hold the candle stub to the wood and watch the shine grow. It may not be the highest quality finish, and it’s certainly not the most complicated, but the candle wax produces a warm glow that brings out the beauty of the wood — and it can be as cheap as free if someone in the house is forever burning candles.

Photo from Flickr member Paraflyer.

Lathe Finish Tips [Ask Dresdner]
Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

In the past few years, the price of ultrasonic cleaning technology has dropped so low that a cleaner costs less than most power tools. Nowadays, you can buy an ultrasonic cleaner like the Sonic Wave CD-2800 for just $20 — and while it’s billed as a jewelery cleaner, you could just as easily clean small parts with it.  Just drop the parts in the one-pint stainless steel tank; the Sonic Wave’ll blast ‘em for three minutes with 42kHz waves, then automatically shut off.
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While doing the yearly maintenance on your lawnmower like a good Toolmonger, you pull the spark plug and discover it’s covered in crud. While replacing the plug is a fine idea, you might save a little dough and a trip to the store by cleaning it and using it for another year. And though you could clean the plug with a little elbow grease, why do it the hard way when this cheap-ass pneumatic spark plug cleaner’ll do the job for you?

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Your shop-vac may not be the most efficient dust collector, but you can turn it into a two-stage dust-collection system with the Mini Cyclone Separator from Woodstock International. You’ll change the bag or clean the filter less often, because larger chips will drop out into the attached five-gallon bucket.

Woodstock molds their Mini Cyclone Separator from ABS. It sits on top of a standard five-gallon bucket, where it accepts two 2-1/2″ hoses. To empty the bucket, simply lift off the separator.

Look to pay anywhere from $17 to $24 for the Mini Cyclone Separator. You’ll have to supply your own five-gallon pail. If you have 2-1/4″ hoses, you can get a reducer for about $5.

Mini Cyclone Separator [Woodstock International]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon(B0000223XZ) [What’s This?] [What's This?]

With Harbor Freight’s micro die grinder, you can grind or sand in hard to reach places, carve something intricate, or just polish the scratches out of your iPod.  The 1/8″ collet will accept most Dremel bits for all sorts of jobs. It’s definitely worth grabbing one, even if you only use it a couple times a year to sand down the burs on your safety glasses.

The variable-speed micro grinder can spin up to 56,000 RPM, which is 20,000 RPM higher than your average Dremel. Rear exhaust keeps the air out of your work. The grinder set includes a 47″ air hose, inline oiler, brass coupler, and two collet wrenches. It all comes in a crappy nice plastic case, too.

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times: keep your cheap-ass HF pneumatic tools oiled, and they’ll last you a long time.  Pick one up at Harbor Freight for $15.

Micro Die Grinder [Harbor Freight]

When you hear the name Winchester, it generally calls up images of lever-action rifles and ammunition, but if you run in certain circles it can also mean pocket knives. These may not be fancy affairs that’ll gain value with time, but an honest work knife like this pakka-handled Stockman will get you through the day.

You can find these knives for around $12 at almost any local sporting goods store, but don’t let the lack of budget-killing price tags put you off — we use this type of rig around the Toolmonger shop quite a bit. This solid work knife measures around 3-7/8” closed, which is more than big enough for daily tasks like cutting up boxes, rope, or wire.

Street Pricing [Google Products]

Around 17 or 18, the age when most kids trade in their model cars for real ones, they also put away their hobby knives in exchange for shiny mechanic’s tools. But if you ever want to rejoin the model crafting ranks, you can grab a full set of hobby knives for less than you’d pay for one of the old Revel models you used to put together with ‘em.

Northern Tools sells this 35-piece set of hobby knives and blade attachments in a nice wooden box for $10. The set includes three different handles, two saw blades, six shaping blades, 17 cutting blades, three awl points, an edge trim guide, tweezers, a mini-planer, and a sanding block — you know, all that stuff you used to ignore when building models as a kid.

35-Piece Hobby Knife Kit [Northern Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

If you’re new to pneumatic tools, you might assume that these tools are going to separate you from a bunch of your hard-earned green — but that’s not necessarily so. The 18-gauge Central Pneumatic is a fine example of an honest, hard-working nailer, and at $20, it won’t murder your budget.

Is this going to become a treasured family heirloom?  No.  But as long as you treat it with reasonable care, it’ll get the job done long enough for you to save up for a better rig a year down the road. In the meantime, for less than the cost of renting one, you can continue on your woodworking way.

Central Pneumatic Nailer [Harbor Freight]

If you’ve ever had to ask for an extra hand while using a tape measure, check out this deal: Black & Decker’s AutoTape for $10 — marked down from $20 — with FREE shipping from homedepot.com. The offer’s good though April 30.

Black & Decker AutoTape [Home Depot]

What could be better then a set of vise-grips? How about two pairs of knockoff vise-grips as helping hands? This welding jig from Pittsburgh bolts to your workbench and allows you to clamp pieces in position with two 10″ locking pliers.

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The first time I saw this photo, I thought someone had taken a picture of my shop and posted it to the Flickr pool. I use this same setup, including the Irwin clamps and the Delta drill press, in my shop at home.

It actually works pretty well, all things considered. Just clamp wood in position, as shown here, and off you go. Sometimes I clamp another piece of wood on the other side of the table for added bracing — but in any case, it was funny to see someone else performing the same acts of “make do with what you got” that I do.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Who needs a Rotozip, when your cordless drill will work just as well? Grizzly’s Beaver saw-drill can cut a starting hole with its tip and rip through material with its tooth-covered shank. Chuck this bit up into any drill with a 1/4″ chuck or larger, and you’re ready to cut drywall, paneling, and a slew of other materials

For drilling the initial pilot hole, the first 5/8″ of the Beaver saw-drill’s tip resembles a common, 135°, split-point drill bit. The saw portion — with 90 sharp, side-cutting teeth — makes up the next 1-3/4″. For faster cutting and longer life, both the drilling and cutting portions are precision-ground and coated with titanium nitride. Grizzly makes the entire bit from M2 high-speed steel.

Made in USA, the Beaver saw drill will only run you $4 at Amazon — a heck of a lot cheaper than a Rotozip, and one less power tool to lug around.

Beaver Saw-Drill [Grizzly]
Via Amazon [What's This?]

Instead of disassembling an obstruction to get behind it, sometimes you can get around it with an indexable ratchet. The ratchet head on this 1/2″ drive model from Pittsburgh swivels 360° and locks into various positions allowing you access to locations otherwise impossible to reach. This might not be a tool for every day, but when you need it you’ll be glad you have it.

Pittsburgh makes the reversible ratchet from heavy-duty chrome vanadium with a polished chrome finish. The ratchet measures 12-13/16″ long, and the handle features an ergonomic rubber grip.

On special, I’ve seen this ratchet go for as low as $13.  Sure, you can buy quality indexable ratchets from respected companies like Stanley Proto and MAC — but unless you use it regularly, you might be better off with this economical version.

Indexable 1/2″ Ratchet [Harbor Freight]
Street Pricing [Google Products]