This inexpensive powder coat oven from Harbor Freight might be a good alternative to that “recovered” oven you’ve been thinking about installing in the shop.  Why?  It runs on 110V so you don’t have to drop 220V, it’s a lot more compact, and you need a range top in the garage like you need an extra hole in your head.

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Harbor Freight is currently listing this four-piece set of locking pliers for $5 — cheap enough that you could lose them or foul them while welding and not worry much.  And before you comment, understand that I’m fully aware that these are nowhere near the quality of a set of Vise-Grips or other quality locking pliers.  But I know two things about locking pliers:

1) They’re easy to lose and foul, and

2) When you need more than two of them, you often need a lot of them.

This is especially true of welding clamps, which HF also sells.  I have a drawer full of ‘em.

As far as these go, you get a 4-3/4″ needle-nosed set, a 4″ straight-jaw set, and two 5″ C-clamp sets.  Maximum jaw openings are 1-1/2″, 1-3/4″, 1″, and 2″.

4-Piece Mini Locking Pliers Set [Harbor Freight]

I’m not sure I’d want to bet my ass on this — like hauling my Jeep up out of a ravine while I’m in it – but I can think of any number of projects that’d benefit from this tool.  And it’d beat the living hell out of a come-along for loading a car up a relatively shallow ramp.

Features include a 1.5 HP 12V motor, and remote control with a 9′ cord, and 50′ of 5/32″ aircraft cable.  But the best feature of all is the price: $49.99 at Harbor Freight right now.

2,000 Lb. Capacity Utility Winch [Harbor Freight]

If you’re a welder — even an amateur — you probably already own a great welding helmet.  But what about friends who come over and want to “help?”  Do you have a helmet for them?  That’s a perfect time for a cheap-ass tool, and Harbor Freight has some deals that might interest you, like this auto-darkening helmet — complete with Discovery-channel-blue flames! — for $60.

It features a 1/25,000 second switching speed and a variable shade control that adjusts it between a #9 and a #13.  It appears to be (like most of these) solar-powered, but it also has a backup battery.

Blue Flame Design Auto-Darkening Welding Helmet [Harbor Freight]

You really can’t have too many scales around the shop: a normal bathroom scale for really heavy stuff, a fish scale for medium-weight measurements, and a small scale like this one for gauging mixing measurements and such.  And at $10, there’s really no excuse not to have one.

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Don’t have the scratch for Stanley’s Mobile Project Center or Black & Decker’s Workmate?  That doesn’t mean you have to go without.  While we certainly wouldn’t claim that Strong Arm’s on-the-cheap solution measures up to the quality of those famous brands, it’s a hell of a lot easier on the wallet. 

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Sometimes convenience trumps micron-level precision, and for those times plastic vernier calipers rule.  Their shape makes measuring inside, outside, and depth dimensions simple — much easier than with a standard tape measure and about as accurate — but I’m loathe to carry my quality dial calipers where they might get damaged, lost, or stolen.  That’s why I keep a set of cheap-ass plastic vernier capliers in every toolbox.

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For those whoe don’t have $400 bucks to drop on an evaporative cooler — or live outslide of Arizona — an old school oscillating fan is the way to go to bring some cool into the shop on the cheap.

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If you enjoyed the technician’s bag we posted earlier this week, here’s a cheaper alternative we came across this weekend: a canvas tool bag for just $8. It’s not exactly feature laden, and it doesn’t come with a name brand label plastered on the side, but it will carry a set of tools around the house or in the car.

15″ Canvas Tool Bag [Carfood]
Street Pricing [Froogle]
Via Amazon [What's This?]

What’s the most common first project for newbie welders?  A welding cart.  A really crappy welding cart.  So why not save your self some dough — and hassle — by picking up a cheap one like this Clarke for around $50?  You can always build the second most common first project instead: a BBQ grille.

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Ever notice that when you drop a bolt or socket under the hood it always ends up somewhere both hard-to-reach and dark?  Harbor Freight’s offering a tool right now that kills both those birds with one $7 stone.

David writes: “Harbor Freight now has a cheap and functional fix for this problem in the form of a magnetic light on a stalk.  Nestled into the end of the flexible stalk is a high-power magnet and in the middle of the magnet is a white LED light.  The stalk bends smoothly and stays in place while you’re maneuvering it toward your intended target, and the bright light helps you see what’s going on so you can nail it the first time.  The handle doubles as a Mag-Lite-style battery compartment with a sealed on-off button.  I’ve had no reliability problems with mine, and I’m a happy customer!”

Flexible Magnetic Pickup Tool [Harbor Freight]

These cheap-ass tie-downs from Kwik Tek look pretty slick.  Unlike ratchet-types, they simply lock and unlock to hold the strap in place — kind of like the strap on a backpack.  We’re not suggesting that you throw away your ratcheting tie downs, but in our experience you just can’t have too big a variety of gear to tie-down crap to your truck or trailer.

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Tim writes: “Princess Auto carries basically the exact same thing as this Harbor Freight arbor press for around $35 Canadian — a great deal.  I’d love to know from Toolmongers how good these really are, though.  I’d be using it for things like pressing out/in suspension bushings, press-fit objects like brass bushings, pins, etc.”

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Everyone needs a floor jack.  Seriously.  When our favorite cheapo floor jack in the shop went out recently, it was off to the races to find another before the stores closed.  Had we checked we first — instead of just charging off to the closest stores — we would have found the Companion 2-ton floor jack from Sears.

It’s about what you’d expect from a 2-ton jack: small and no frills.  It does fit the bill in the wallet department, though.  A whopping $16 will get you a four thousand pound, 5.5″ lift with a swivel saddle.

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Any super-fine hand saw we can pick up for under $10 is worth a look.  Fine-tooth stiff-backed saws like these from Lee Valley are a bit on the specialized size for some; however, at these price points you could throw one in the drawer for a few bucks and be ready for super fine work when the time comes — and not break a twenty for both of ‘em.  I’ve used these for fine work in modelmaking and such, and I’m glad to have ‘em around.

These saws can cut a variety of materials including wood, plastic, and brass.  Both saws have ripping teeth that are so fine they leave a smooth finish regardless of grain direction.  Their blades also won’t bind in most cases because they only cut on the pull stroke.

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Ok — I’m under no illusions that this is a quality winch or even that it’ll pull its rated 2,000 lbs.  However, that said, this is a useful piece of gear at $60.  It’d be quite handy for dragging items around the shop or even for loading smaller stuff.

Even if you were only to take this apart and use it for building something else, it’s a pretty good deal: a 1.5 HP motor, a planetary gear system, and a bunch of cable for $60.

2,000 Lb. Capacity Utility Winch [Harbor Freight]

Mike R. writes: “Sams Club sells an interlocking mat product that works great as a cheap-ass shop floor.  They are black on the reverse side so you don’t have to deal with the obnoxious colors.  You get 33 square feet for just under $20, which works out to like .60 a square foot.  I’ve got it in a basement shop, kids play area and laundry room, and it’s held up great for 6 months of random kid and shoe abuse.  Since it’s a thick rubber foam, it’s alot more comforatable to stand an walk on than concrete.  The panels are easy to pull up and replace if you manage to screw one up.  It’s also very easy to cut with a utility knife, so installation was painless.”

“I doubt this would last long if you parked cars on it, but I plan on putting some in the shop area in my garage this spring.  I haven’t had this in a greasy or oily enviroment yet so I don’t know how well it will handle that kind of abuse.”

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