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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
Mike R. writes, “Since cheap LED flashlights have been popular, here are 10 for $4.70 shipped from a reliable webstie. They’re very bright for their size, and at less than $0.50 each, they’re basically disposable. Black and clear are available at the site. The only downside is that the shipping time is about two weeks.”
Well, it looks like we’ve finally hit bottom in terms of LED light pricing — unless anyone out there finds someone who’ll pay us a few bucks to take a dozen.
White Flashlight Keychain 10-Pack [DealXTreme]
Evan writes: “I don’t really want to submit this as a good tool, but I think it’s time for another installment of ‘Why the hell is this at the tool store?’ from Harbor Freight. I found this in the ‘miscellaneous hand tools’ section on the website.”
While I’d agree that HF sells their share of weird crap — their frog family statue comes to mind — a ring sizer can be handy, and even essentialy for jewelry makers. Truthfully, this is the kind of tool that I’d imagine hanging out in the shop of a real toolaholic – the kind of guy who has a tool for everything, leaving nothing to chance.
And at $4, I might just pick me one up the next time I’m in the store.
Ring Sizing Stick [Harbor Freight]
Paul writes: “Here’s a real winner from Harbor Freight. Save your arm from hacksawing with this powerful tool. Having one of these allows you to fabricate many things with ease. There’s also a whole cult of the Internet of users of this tool. Get one, join in, and get fabricating!”I have to agree. I actually own one of these, though it’s the older green model. (It looks identical to the one in the picture.) It was my first bandsaw, and has since been replaced with a JET that I bought from a friend.
I’m pretty positive that this would be lousy for the use in the picture above — I’d never trust my car’s finish to it — but I picked one up anyway when I found it on sale for $10. (The standard price is still only $20.) It’s actually quite handy around the shop, more for grinding than welding.
Jeremy writes: “Everyone has a 3/8″ drive torque wrench right? And most also have a 1/2″ one, too. But I’ll wager a guess that most DO NOT have a 1/4″ drive torque wrench. I suspect the typical price of one is prohibitive for most people. It’s very hard to find one under $125 unless you go to Harbor Freight. I bought one a few years back and (skeptical of the quality) I put it on the torque analyzer at work. It was better then 3% accuracy. Now I have something for all those little fasteners that love to strip.”
You may have heard Chuck mention that I’m, well, somewhat frugal. That’s an understatement. I’m cheap-ass Toolmonger. For me, shelling out the green is like parting with children; I just can’t bring myself to do it. So when I saw the Task Force jigsaw at Lowe’s the other day for just $19.97, even the inner cheapness in me said… maybe.
Just from looking at the box, I’d say that I’ve seen more menacing looking bread slicers, but at this price point we’re not exactly interested in looks, are we? The truth lies in the stats: a four amp motor, 800 to 3,000 strokes per minute, a keyless blade clamp, and a max wood cutting capacity of almost three inches. Not so bad.
If you’ve been jonesin’ for a multi-LED flashlight — but aren’t willing to shell out $40 for one — Harbor Freight may have your ticket with this nine-LED light selling for a whopping $5 right now.
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