Just a reminder: Toolmonger will be at Make Magazine’s 2008 Bay Area Maker Faire this weekend, and we’d love to meet you and talk tools — and maybe spend some time working with you, too.

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Learning how to weld can be a bit intimidating for some, but the best way to learn is to study with folks who know how to teach it. The Lincoln Electric Welding School in Cleveland has been doing just that since 1917 — if you want to sign up, they’ve just announced the 2008 schedule.

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Makita’s “Experience More” Tour continues to roll around the country this year. The black and blue semi still has plenty of planned stops left to go — they’ll be doing demos in the Florida area in the near future.

The Makita website says the mobile event and training trailer is geared to professional tradesmen who use power tools to make their living. It showcases 125 trade tools along with hands-on demo stations, engineering exhibits, and touchscreen displays with interactive video. And on occasion, the Makita girls will appear at the events.

You might be asking, “What do hot chicks with power tools have to do with cordless drill performance specs?”  That’s up for debate — but if you’re into it, check out the schedules on the Makita site.

“Experience More” Tour Event Dates [Makita]

Case Knife collectors will gather in Pennsylvania this summer to gawk at rare knives and hang out with others who share a passion for collectible blades. The press release from Case promises fun.

“Attendees can look forward to many brand new, fun and exciting Case-themed activities planned throughout the weekend,” says Lisa Boser-Miller, Administrator of the Case Collectors Club, “like a Job Case look-a-like contest and a special dedication inside the Zippo/Case Museum on Friday morning.”

They’re holding the event July 18-19 in Bradford, PA. If you’re into going, hit the folks at Case up for more details.

Collector Appreciation Event In 2008 [WR Case]

If you’re in St. Paul, MN this coming Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, check out the WoodWorking Show. Tool manufacturers, woodworking publishers, and local businesses will be exhibiting their stuff at the RiverCentre. Every half hour you can catch a different seminar, with topics such as hand plane use and HVLP finishing. Admission is $6 for the day, but you can get a coupon for $2 admission at the website.

St. Paul, MN Show Feb. 29 - Mar. 2 [WoodWorking Show]

Our friends over at W.R. Case took some time out of their schedule at the 30th annual SHOT show in Las Vegas to chat with us about the upcoming year and some of the new additions in the Case lineup.

Manning the front lines at Case’s SHOT show booth was John Sullivan who was stoked to tell us about case’s newest knife pattern, the Sway Back Jack. John tells us this is a completely new pattern designed in collaboration with Case and custom knife maker, Tony Bose — his fourth new blade pattern designed for the Case lineup.

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Ridgid Tools starts the year off with an interesting promotion for cleaning your pipes — a “buy one, get one” deal with products at multiple price points. At the bottom end, when you buy a sink machine for around $300, you get a free toilet auger with a street price of around $50. If you’re in the trade, you might want to invest in some of the pricier items — buy a $4,000 water jetter and you get a free SeeSnake micro inspection camera, with a street price of around $200. With so many choices, your pipes will gleam in 2008.

2008 Spring Fling Drain Cleaning Promo [Ridgid]

Aptly named after American inventor Thomas Edison, the Edison Project is Craftsmans answer to other tool companies’ more active means of finding new ideas for hand tools, power tools or garden tools. They want you to bring your ideas right to them!

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The Irwin Ultimate Tradesman Challenge is in California next week. We normally don’t go for these kinds of things but this is a shop-style contest, and we can’t resist. Here’s how it works.

All you do is measure, mark, and drill a piece of wood as quickly and accurately as possible, using Irwin tools. Of course there are a few other people (read: untamed masses) competing against you, so you’ll have to be dead-on and wicked fast.

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Folks close to Pelham, Alabama can visit the Bosch Impact Tour today through Saturday.  We haven’t seen the event in person, but it looks pretty sweet.  Not only does Bosch cart out and let you play with all their new gear, they also perform demos throughout the day — like actually tossing their jobsite radio 15′ onto concrete.  You know, general tool mayhem.   (Wow, that sounds a lot like the Toolmonger shop.)

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Fans of Makita Tools who live in New York, Wisconsin and Colorado will be stoked this month: at Makita “Experience More” Tour stops you can gawk at over 125 trade tools.  You can also (temporarily) lay your mitts on some Makita tools at demo stations and learn more from engineering exhibits.

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Those who sign up in time — and are willing to make the trip to Warren, Maine — can join Deneb Puchalski for Lie Nielson introductory hand planning skills workshop in June.  In July, Christopher Schwarz will be there, too, schooling eager attendees in the ever-popular project of building a workbench.

According to Lie Nielson, space is limited, and the experience will set you back $50.  But considering the topics, I’d love to sit in and soak up some wood working wisdom.  It’s a sure bet there will be Lie Nielsen tool reps lurking about the workshop — and there are worse things than folks with good tools willing to let you handle a few before you buy.  Check out the Lie Nelson site for details.

Lie Nielsen Workshops [Lie Nielsen]

On Sunday, April 22nd, Home Depot is celebrating Earth Day by giving away free compact fluorescent lightbulbs to one million customers that visit any Home Depot store.  According to the ‘Depot, switching out a million bulbs for CFLs would generate $12 million in energy savings and a 196,000,000 pound reduction in CO2 emissions next year.

Free is the best deal of all, and we offer a hearty thumbs-up to Home Depot for this thoughtful Earth Day promotion. 

Earth Day CFL Giveaway [Home Depot]
April 22nd 2007 [Earth Day]

Phillip suggested we mention the power tool drag races, a San Francisco event that’s been making the rounds for a while now.  He writes: “Get out the old tools and hop them up for an afternoon at the track!  There’s a discussion forum and a mailing list you can sign up for.  Cool!”

The linked site mentions an event last year — around the time of last years MAKEr Faire, if I remember correctly — but hopefully they’ll have some new events this year.  A quick search on YouTube’ll find you dozens of videos of the action.

Power Tool Drag Races [Main Site]

The Woodworking Show is making a stop at the Ohio Expo Center & State Fair in Columbus this weekend.  If nothing else, it looks like a great place to check out (and geek out on) woodworking tools.  They’ll also have classes and clinics, though they do cost more than the basic admission.

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If you’re in the Tucson area — or will be this weekend — you might want to check out the Arizona State Home Show.  It’s running January 5th through the 7th at the Tucson Convention Center.

Featured guests include This Old House’s Steve Thomas, Trading Space’s Flank Bielec, and my personal favorite Linda Cobb, the “Queen of Clean.”  Hey – laugh all you want, but I’ve gotten more crazy crap out of my carpet, clothes, and furniture with tips from the Queen than you can possibly count.

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Those of you in the Minneapolis, MN area on September 12th – 15th may want to take advantage of the JLC Live Residential Construction Show.

What can you expect to see at the show?  Perhaps the greatest show on Earth.  Wait, doesn’t the “greatest show on Earth” have tigers and a human cannonball?  Well, forget the tigers and the human ballistics.  This show has tools! What’s better than the latest tools on display for you to play with?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  (more…)