While supplies last, Rockler has the large Bessey VarioClippix Spring Clamps on sale for $3.33 each (limit six per customer), a 67% reduction from their “regular” price. These high-impact plastic clamps have a 2″ throat depth, a 4″ maximum jaw opening, soft pivoting pads for work surface protection, and large ergonomic handles. If you fall into the you-can-never-have-enough-clamps camp, you may want to grab a few of these.

VarioClippix Spring Clamps [Rockler]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Right now Amazon has the Coleman Cable 9347 Indoor Safe Tree Extension Cord for $6.85.

The Safe Tree cord is a somewhat bizarre product. It is presumably a mercury switch in an extension cord. The box is lashed to the tree and if the tree falls over power is cut off. It’s certainly a dream product for those of us who worry too much, although we can’t really see how a falling tree will cause a problem electrically. Unless it falls in the pool. In which case the switchbox will get wet anyway. But we can think of other tools or products that could benefit from this, and it is certainly a cheap “hackable.”

Coleman Cable 9347 Indoor Safe Tree Extension Cord Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Currently MSC is selling the Flexbar magnetic Soft Jaws for vises for $12.99.

You can get less expensive vise jaw liners (such as these from Sears), but the Flexbar soft jaws are a bit more versatile. One jaw has a horizontal vee groove and the other has two vertical and one at 45 degrees for holding all manner of work. They’re made of nylon, which wears well in this application. MSC is difficult to link to for sale pricing so the part# is LR09232208.

Flexbar Magnetic Soft Jaws [mscdirect.com]

AllProTools has the Porter Cable 7335 RO sander for $99.00 on sale right now.

The 7335 has a 3.7 amp motor, variable speed, 5″ diameter and a generally high build quality. It seems as if it may be a discontinued model in favor of the 7445, so prices may continue to fall over time. I’ve been using a yard sale score ($20!) 7335 for the past few years and it has never failed me in spite of having been mightily abused by the previous owner. Being able to hold it with two hands means greater control and less fatigue (although it is heavier) than palm type sanders.

Porter Cable 7335 [allprotools.com]

Lee Valley has four discontinued books on sale (they bought remaindered stock) for $6 or less each. The two that I find most interesting, pictured above, cover building workshop workstations and power-tool joinery (the other two are about garden design and orchids). Stock is limited.

Building Workshop Workstations [Lee Valley]
Building Workshop Workstation Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Power-Tool Joinery [Lee Valley]
Power-Tool Joinery Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Amazon currently has the Black & Decker VEC1086BBD Smart Battery 6/4/2 Amp Battery Charger for $30.14 and it qualifies for free shipping. It’s doesn’t fall in the “best buys of all time” category but it is handy if you don’t have one already. Trust us, you want one of these before you need it.

I had a lovely time coping with a dead battery this weekend, small-child-playing-with-dome-light related, and used my very old battery charger to get the battery charged. As I was setting the battery charger up at night, in the semi-darkness I got a bit paranoid about hooking the wrong polarity up as well as leaving it charging for too long. The B&D charger has circuitry that they claim prevents both of those situations. This isn’t a power pack, and it doesn’t jump start a car (and chargers like that are available for not much more) but it does seem like a basic useful battery charger.

Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Right now you can find the RoboToolz RT-2210-20 20 x Magnification Builders Level for $69.99 at Amazon.

The Builder’s Level is a transit, albeit a cheap version of a professional transit. It features accuracy of +/- 1/4″ at 100′ with a magnification 20x and an advertised range of 200′. It should be good for any light duty surveying such as fence lines. It doesn’t come with a tripod or a graduated rod, however, so you’ll have to get those elsewhere.

RoboToolz RT-2210-20 Builders Level Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Right now you can find the Empire Level 27088 Magnetic Base at Amazon for $10.52.

The base is no frills — it has an adjustable arm, no fine adjustment, and a clamp that should fit most dial indicators with a stem (rather than dovetail mount).

This looks like a good deal but the two negative reviews leave us wondering. It seems that both reviewers didn’t know that most non-switchable mag bases ship with a keeper on the magnet. Compounding this is the illustration showing a 1″ dial travel indicator, when for a small base like this it would be better to use a test indicator or much smaller dial travel indicator. It would also be nice to know how much holding force the magnet has.

Empire Level 27088 Magnetic Base Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Welding Supply currently has the Tweco SMGC200 Magnetic Ground Clamp for $22.95

Used in place of the typical alligator clamps, the SMGC200 Magnetic Ground Clamp allows you to quickly place the ground clamp on any flat or round surface. The top handle actuates the magnet and is rated for 200 amps and 176 degrees F.

Tweco SMGC200 Magnetic Ground Clamp [weldingsupply.com]

TM has had recent posts about both soldering and desoldering. If you’re doing either, the Edsyn FXF15 FUMINATOR can help to remove the potentially toxic fumes. You can get one in blue, green, or red from Edsyn for $27 (a 75% discount according to their website). Shipping costs seem a bit high, but maybe you can find some other things you need to rationalize the shipping. This bench-top fume extraction system draws fumes away from the operator, and comes with front and rear charcoal-impregnated filters, a 12 VDC wall transformer, a single adjustable arm, and is ESD safe. The FXF15 weighs 1.09 lbs, and is 5.5″ W × 9″ H × 5.5″ H. It appears to have a fan system similar to the Edsyn FXF11 (available from Amazon), but without the solder-peg stand and dual adjustable arm.

Instructables has several DIY alternatives (here’s a filtered version, for example).

Edsyn Fuminator FXF15 Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Amazon has a #61-#80 set of drill bits for the low price of $3.95.

These bits are definitely not high quality, but it’s worth keeping a set around just in case you have to drill a tiny hole from time to time. Bits this small are also handy for cleaning out small orifices by hand or even gauging holes if you don’t have a set of wire gauges that small. The description is confusing as it labels the size in mm, but we’re reasonably sure they’re number gauge bits. The case is definitely a throwaway, though, compared to the small metal indexes sets usually come in.

Via Amazon [What’s This?]

“Wow, that looks stupid. Who would use that thing? I’m never going to use this.” We said all those things at one point about the right angle attachment. Then we dug it out of the drawer about five times and had to eat our words. If you have a Dremel, get smart and buy in now — Utopia Tools has the Dremel 575 Right Angle Attachment for $16.99.

The right angle attachment, um…, attaches to your Dremel and provides a relatively compact 90-degree drive to the tool for getting into smaller spaces. The right angle drive doesn’t provide any speed reduction/torque increase, just a 1:1 drive at 90 degrees. It certainly means the body of the dremel can be held well away from the cut, when using smaller cutoff wheels and such.

Dremel 575 Right Angle Attachment [utopiatools.com]

Last August I posted a Dealmonger for the Osborne Revolving Leather Punch at $16.48 — now Amazon has the punch for the incredible price of $10.45 and it’s eligible for “Super Saver” shipping if you’re buying a bunch of stuff.

At that price you really can’t pass it up, even compared to cheap imports, if you need a punch for leather, rubber or other soft materials. In the last year I’ve used mine many times, and nothing works better for punching small holes.

C.S. Osborne 223 Revolving Leather Hole Punch Via Amazon [What’s This?]

A casual glance will tell you these are not standard slip joint pliers or cutters. What’s a little more rare is the person who can tell you they are Grozing pliers. Whittemore-Durgin Glass Co. has this pair of Inland brand Grozing pliers on sale for $5.92. 

Grozing pliers are used for nibbling glass and tile as well as breaking glass along the score line left by a glass cutter. The jaws are smooth and ground such that they have clearance for different thicknesses of glass, unlike regular pliers that won’t grip thick work properly. They’re a must-have for glass work, and there are other times having a pair of smooth jawed pliers just comes in handy, such as for bending small pieces of metal.

Inland Grozing Pliers [whittemoredurgin.com]

Rockler has a small autoloader screwdriver (see TM 2006 and 2007) for $10 as an online-only special. The unit comes with 6 bits (Phillips #0, #00, #000; slotted 3/32″, 1/8″, 5/32″; all bits are 5/32″ × 1″) that are accessed by pulling back on the handle, twisting to select the desired bit, and then pushing the handle forward. A large autoloader with 6 bits (Phillips #1, #2, #3; slotted 1/8″, 3/16″, 1/4″; all bits are 1/4″ × 1″), is also on sale for $15 (online-only). Free shipping with promo code V9789. This online sale ends this Wednesday, September 30.

Small Autoloader Screwdriver [Rockler]
Large Autoloader Screwdriver [Rockler]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

While there are much better models out there, Tool King has a “Grip” (a cheap import brand) 100′ long open tape measure on sale for $5.99. It will likely break at the first opportunity, but for that kind of cash if you get a few uses out of it you’d probably be ahead.

If you find yourself measuring long distances and hate running a 25′ or 50′ tape out and marking where it ends and running it out again, having a 100′ tape, even a cheap one, will save a lot of work. It’s perfect for setting up that archery range or laying out flagging for the road sprayer.

100′ Open Tape Measure [toolking.com]

Drillspot has what seems to be the lowest prices on Flex-Hones. For instance, $8.97 for a 1/4″ hone and 12.01 for a 3/4″ diameter hone. Of course, they do have many different sizes available — this one just jumped out at us.

Flex hones are used to debur and smooth a bore, as well as provide a cross-hatched finish, which is important for retaining lubricant on the walls of a cylinder (oddly enough you don’t want a polished bore in many applications, you want a bit of tooth) such as a brake cylinder. Because the individual “globules” of abrasive float in their bristles, you get a self-centering action that should give a uniform finish.

Flex Hone [drillspot.com]