Today the (normally) best-and-brightest at Google decided to jump off the cool-name bandwagon, changing the aptly-named Froogle service’s moniker to the more pedestrian “Google Product Search.”

We’re big fans of Froogle’s Google Product Search’s functionality — so much so that we include a link on every tool post where the service returns a hit.   It helps us show you the real “street” price of the items we write about.  But we simply can’t understand why they’d bail on such a great name.  “Froogle” combined in one incredibly-well-thought-out word both what the service did and who was doing it.  “Google Product Search,” well, doesn’t.

As far as we’re concerned, this change ejects Google from the “brilliant name club” — where it hob-nobbed with the likes of Stanley (”FUBAR“) and Channellock (”BigAZZ pliers“) — right into “wussed-out crowd central.”  Now they can commiserate with Snap-on (who passed on “Crud Thug” to go with the infinitely-less-memorable “PT280THUGA Air Removal Tool”) and Microsoft (”SQL Server” — now that’s original).

Shame.  But thanks, Google, for the service — and for not breaking our links.

I’ll admit, the result you see in the photo above is my own doing; it’s what happens when you pass up the belt service a few times on an old Jeep Grand Cherokee then ignore the obvious “bearing noise” from under the hood for a week or two. 

Oops.

When I removed the pulley, most of the ball bearings tinkled out the bottom of the car onto the ground.  I figure the bearing siezed, the pulley froze in position, and the friction of the belt melted away about one-third of it.  I spent this afternoon driving down to where I parked the Jeep, quickly replacing the pulley and belt, and driving it back home.  (Thanks Sean, for the ride and a spare hand.)

The repair was easy.  What really pissed me off was my call to the local Jeep dealer’s parts department.  They wanted $144 for the pulley alone or a full $235 for the tensioner arm as well.  I understand that sometimes parts like this are a bit high, but when I found it just a phone call later at the local O’Reilly’s for $27 I just about came unglued. 

What the hell are they thinking?  Do they really believe that a plastic pulley with a press-fit bearing is worth almost a buck-and-a-half, or did their marketing research tell them that Jeep owners just get off on paying five times the price for parts?

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When I sat down at my computer this morning, I was startled to notice that it’s April 10th and that it’s a Tuesday. Yeah, I know — this “phenomenon” happens every seven years. But another “phenomenon” occurred on this day back in 1979 that makes Tuesday, April 10th forever known to me as Terrible Tuesday.

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I’m always fascinated whenever I hear about a tool manufacturer buying up a name for their tools.  Certainly in cases such as Rockwell — where the name itself carries some actual tool cred – the reasons for its are purchase obvious.  But what about Dodge Hemi Tools?

Back in ‘05, B3 Brands purchased rights to the name from the auto manufacturer and began to apply it to a variety of cordless power tools.  Their press releases — the third and last one posted on May 17, 2005 — are filled with such phrases as “start your engines!” and “Hey, those tools got a HEMI?” and refer over and over to the tools’ “power.”

Are we really that simple?  It’s bad enough that the idea of a hemispherical combustion chamber alone draws the buying public to whatever crate it’s bolted into.  (Not that I don’t enjoy some of Chrysler’s new designs –  I do.  But come on: even some lawn mowers have a “hemi.”)  But tools?  This reminds me of a radio ad I heard years ago making fun of the use of inflatable gorillas in advertising.  “Would a house be more likely to sell with a gorilla?” the ad asked.  “Two bedrooms, three baths, gorilla.”

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This article gives us all yet another reason not to alienate your neighbors.  Apparently an 85-year-old man named Paul Smith enjoys woodworking — in the form of making dominoes — in his Naples, FL home shop.  From NaplesNews.com:

The Homeowners Association had said that Smith was running a business, which is against association rules, because he sold the dominoes for $40 after purchasing his materials and investing 19 hours of labor into creating them.  Smith maintained he made the dominoes at cost and therefore had a hobby, which is allowed under association rules.

While the article is actually a follow up indicating that the association will likely rule in favor of Smith’s hobby, one has to wonder how something like this came up in the first place.  Granted, it could be a simple case of nosy, retired neighbors turning him in after bridge one night, but it’s been my experience that this kind of thing is generally a symptom more often than the real problem.

And it’s something we should all take a few minutes to learn from.

When I was a kid, my father had a full machine shop and wood shop in our two-car garage.  I remember it as being packed tight, and that’s the memory of an eight-year-old; it must have been incredibly tight.  He did quite a bit of commercial work from there, ranging from repairing 25 metal lathes (in exchange for keeping two, one of which he sold to pay for repairs to the other, landing him a free lathe) to fixing lawn mowers for extra cash.  But our neighbors never seemed to complain.  Why?  It’s simple: they all knew that if they needed help it was there. 

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I came across this story recently over on The Consumerist:

Lowes Steals Money From Old Lady’s House, Threatens to Sue Her For Slander
Subcontractors working for Lowes stole money hidden in a reader’s elderly mother’s bedroom.  When the mother complained, Lowe’s threatened to sue her for slander.

[…]

Yet another story about home-improvement warehouse subcontractors behaving criminally.  This industry needs to be reigned in.

Ouch.  I feel for the woman who was victimized, but what really pisses me off about this is the fact that it calls into question the honesty of thousands of hard-working contractors around the country.  All it takes is one set of dicks to do soemthing like this to make the public forget all the honest work that goes down.

I remember reading recently about a group of contractors that found a wad of cash in the attic of an elderly couple — some “stash” for a rainy day long forgotten — which they promptly returned.  (I tried to find a link, but couldn’t quickly.  If any of your remember this and know where to find it, post the link in comments please.)  Or how ’bout the guys working in the post-Katrina south pulling bodies out of attics?  That’s not the kind of work you think of when you think “roofing contractor,” but hey, they’re doing it.

I’ve run into many really incredible people via Toolmonger — honest, knowledgable, and hard-working people who I’d guess all take this kind of event very personally.  It reflects on us all.

Why do people do this?

Original Article [The Consumerist]

I posted yesterday regarding my, um, surprise when I discovered that I’d have to remove the entire dash to get at the heater core in my good ‘ole ‘97 F150 pickup.  Well, the job’s part way done, and we finally exposed the heater core.  The above picture shows what it looks like right now.

I always liked my F150, but this job has taught me a few things about Ford pickups.  First, you obviously don’t want to own one long enough to have to replace the heater core.  People aren’t kidding when they say it’s a big job.  It requires removing the dash, the HVAC vent system (that’s as big as the dash), and — if you beleve the manual — the steering column.  As you can see, we managed to leave the steering column in, but that’s not really all that much help.  We’re currently 12+ hours into the job, and the hard part is yet to come.  And this is a couple of guys who’ve done their share of car work sitting in a shop chock-ass full of tools.

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The Woodworking Shows convention, which has been making its way around the country, will stop in Overland Park, KS this weekend, Feb. 2nd to 4th.  The show’ll feature master clinics on shop machinery, power tools, and finishing, and offers a variety of seminars on various topics.

Admission is $8 a person for a three-day pass, with parking priced at an additional $5.  Semiars start at $55 and are sold separated.  Check before you go.  Children under 12 are free with a paid admission — and they take cash only.

Check out the links below for additional information, and if you’d like to hear what some other Toolmongers thought of previous show stops, check out the last link.

The WoodWorking Shows - Kansas City [Ticket Sales]
The WoodWorking Shows - Kansas City [Main]
Reader Comments: Ohio Stop [Toolmonger]

Update: You can obtain a “$2 off admission and bring your spouse free” coupon here. (Thanks, Gene!)

I’ve posted links to a bunch of crazy articles lately where clueless people write knowledgably about tools.  Here’s one that’s not so bad.

Maureen Gilmer of DIY Network apparently contributed this bit, titled “Forget Diamonds, Get Women Quality Tools.”  A good start, yeah?  She then goes on:

Whether it’s knitting needles or a carving knife, women use more tools every day than most men. And yet women are most often overlooked by toolmakers. When they do make tools for women, they either give them bright color or downsize them for smaller hands, neither of which does much to help you get the job done.

Women don’t gloat over their tool collection like men do. Girls want just a few good tools that do what needs to get done. Oddly enough, the two best garden tools for girls have guy names: Leatherman and Pocketboy. Both are rarely found in stores and best bought online.

Let me start by saying that the rest of the article boils down to a great review of the Leatherman and Pocketboy, which is a must-read for anyone who does a lot of pruning — hence the “A+ for content.” 

But what’s this about women not “gloating over their tool collection like men do?”  Huh?  I enjoy my tool collection.  I even use it from time to time.  But I’m not so sure I gloat over it. 

Why does ever writer seem to feel the compelling need to condemn sexism in tool writing by perpetuating it?  Here’s my advice to everyone out there who’s planning on writing about tools for women: Do men and women a favor and just talk about the tool.  Skip the stereotypes and stick to the facts — like the rest of this well-written tool review.

Forget Diamonds, Get Women Quality Tools [FortWayne.com] 

FoxNews.com included this piece yesterday from Jason Cameron, a contributing editor of Men’s Journal Magazine in which he “reveals the essential tools to satisfy your inner Mr. or Mrs. Fix-It!”

His list, in order:

• Ridgid’s R2600 5-in Orbital Sander
• Makita’s LST401 18V Lithium 4-Piece Combo Pack
• Occidental Leather’s 9540 Adjustable Finisher Tool Belt
• Ryobi’s AIRgrip MultiTask-it
• Panasonic’s Cordless Drill & Driver
• Stanley’s FatMax Xtreme Fubar

I’m not sure exactly how to take this list.  If it’s intended as a “tool kit,” it makes no sense at all.  The only hand tool in the list is the Fubar, which as cool as it is — and it’s very cool — isn’t something most homeowners’ll want to pick up as their only hand tool.

If the list is intended as a “new stuff you should have” list, I’d beg to differ with some of their choices.  There’s nothing wrong with RIDGID’s orbital sander, but again, is any orbital sander really at the top of a DIYers list?  Makita makes some great power tools, but if you’re buying a combo kit, you’ve got a lot to consider: What other tools do they offer?  What’s the future of the battery line?  Do you need the power they offer?  Competition’s hot in the combo kit market, and I’m not sure I’d recommend the Makita kit to everyone.

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Remember all those great beer ads back in the day?  From croaking frogs to less-filling, at least they were entertaining.  Could beer-ad-chic be the next renaissance for tool advertising?

My favorite beer ad: Miller’s ad with the guy standing in his front yard watching some poor sap try to park his trailer over and over again.   Damn.

Andy, a theatrical audio engineer, commented on our previous post regarding the Behringer CT-100 Audio Cable Tester, bringing to our attention that Berhringer borrowed the design from smaller audio firm Ebtech’s Swizz Army 6-in-1 Cable Tester, pictured above.  They certainly appear identical to me.

While I’m aware of Behringer’s past with Mackie and Aphex, I’ve never really been a Behringer hater.  When I was first struggling to pick up a mixer for my band, I was happy to find a Behringer that sounded pretty decent — it was a Mackie ripoff, after all.  Sure, it was built poorly, wouldn’t last as long as the Mackie (which I bought later), and Behringer couldn’t provide the same level of support for it.  But I couldn’t afford that level of quality and support, anyway — at the time.

Often we make choices like this not as much based on ultimate morality as we do the need to find something readily-available that we can afford and’ll do the job.

I remember when the company Eagle starter producing the first IBM PC clones way back when I was a kid.  (My parents owned part of a computer store, so I worked there on weekends.)  Eagle was sued — the boards we’re layed out identically — and eventually they worked out a deal that opened up the PC market to what it is today.  If IBM’d had its way, we’d still pay $3500 for a desktop PC — without any other options.

So while I don’t feel particularly bad for Mackie or Aphex, I have to admit that I do feel bad for Ebtech.  This tester’s a great idea, and I could totally have afforded an extra $30 or so to buy from the original creator — had I known they existed.  Sadly, Ebtech didn’t have the same kind of relationship with Guitar Center (or Mars, back when I was buying), which means I didn’t see it until Andy posted the other day — after I’ve had my CT-100 for about seven years.

Thanks, Andy, for pointing this out, and here’s a post with the Swizz Army unit.  It streets for around $80, and can be found in most quality pro-audio establishments.  You amateurs (like me) can pick it up from Musician’s Friend, where it’s selling for $90 as of this moment.

The Swizz Army 6-in-1 Cable Tester [Ebtech]
Street Pricing [Froogle]

Note: I really enjoyed Andy’s audio submissions, and I love seeing cool audio tools, so I’ve created a new “Audio” tool-type category.  Hopefully we’ll see more submissions along these lines!

I came across this article today in the Minot Daily News about a 15-year-old blacksmith who sells his work, and I had to share — not because the story’s about blacksmithing (which is incredibly cool in and of itself) — but because it explains a tradition in blacksmithing that I’d like to see carried over to other crafts.  From the article:

“When I was 11, I saw a blacksmith giving a demonstration at Fort Union Historic Site,” the young smithy said. “I watched him work and he even showed me how to do some simple forging. I was so intrigued that later that year I convinced my father to buy me a forge and anvil from a retired farmer.”

One of my dearest friends is a blacksmith, and he spends a lot of his time demonstrating as well.  In fact, he introduced my father to blacksmithing, which is how they met, much as this boy met the man who demonstrated for him — and became a life-long friend. 

Taking in those interested in the craft and treating them as honored guests (instead of clueless noobs) is part of the blacksmith’s tradition — a part I suspect comes from the fact that it’s almost a lost art.  

But why wait until a skill is almost lost?  Why not show off whatever skill it is you have to your friends and neighbors, then encourage those who show interest to establish their own skillset?  Whether you’re a carpenter, electrician, machinist, or even just an experienced and enthusiastic DIYer, why not pass on those skills to those around you. 

At worst, you’ll make yourself and someone else happy for a bit.  At best you’ll spark an interest that’ll pass down for generations — and likely make a good friend in the process.

Working Iron by Hand [The Minot Daily News]

Rick wrote in with a question which really got me thinking this morning.  He writes: “Here’s the deal:  The wife bought me the 137 piece Craftsman Mechanic’s Toolset.  (Don’t ask how I know.)  She actually paid $86 something as there was some promotion going the day she bought it.  That said, It’s now $99.  But I noticed that also for $99 they have a 155 piece set.  Now I’m not usually one to go by the number of pieces solely, but I did notice that the 155 piece set had a more complete 6-point metric socket set (6-18mm instead of just 6-15mm) as well as twice as many combination wrenches (12 versus 6) and I figured – for the same price – I may as well get the bigger set.

“So last night I went and bought the 155 piece set — I figure she wasn’t going to have time to exchange it, and they’re both charged to our Sears card, so it makes no difference.  My idea is that after the holidays I’d return the 137 piece set for a full refund as she still has the receipt (I hope).

“Now you know the background, so here’s my question:  I noticed that the 137 piece has something going for it — the fact that it’s got the new ‘higher visibility’ laser etching versus the 155 piece kit’s standard hard-to-read engraving.  My question to the Toolmongers out there is: Would you take the 137 piece with the easier to read sizes, or the larger 155 piece set with the harder to read, but “old reliable” engraved sizes?”

I’ll admit that as a Toolmonger, my first thought was, “I have some of each of these sockets, and I don’t really see that much difference.”  But the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t help thinking that I have far better advice to give Rick than “don’t worry about the engraving.”

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