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"It’s Just Cool"
I like to make furniture of all kinds. From tables to cribs, it doesn’t matter, but when I saw this end table/chest/beer cooler at a social event recently, I knew it made the list of crap I gotta eventually build.
It’s not just that it’s a table and cooler, but the construction of the design also makes me think this would be a great project to tackle. It’s rough and simple but provides a lot of areas to customize. Now all I need to do is find an old metal cooler and build an end table around it. Normally I don’t go for the rustic stuff, but in this case I’ll make an exception.
Ok, so we’re a little late on this. But hey — at least you’ve got until October now, right? An awesome friend shot me a link to a post over on the Highland Woodworking blog carrying a list — actually, a really well-thought-out list — of stuff around the shop that’d help you in an apocalyptic zombie attack. (The post seems to be a response to the CDC recommendations — no, really — that prove once and for all that the CDC does indeed have a sense of humor.)
Besides tagging Festool’s contractor first aid kit as an obvious choice, they recommend the lathe skew chisel, cordless drill (w/spade bit), and cordless recip as primary anti-zombie weapons, and note that Japanese cut-off saws would work great for hand-to-hand combat. One maybe-not-so-good option, though, is a chain saw, as TM reader Dreamcatcher points out in my favorite comment so far this week:
Some coworkers and I ate at a little cafe the other day and got to watch a show: The local gas mart had failed a year or two ago and a worker was taking it down — with a digger. Most at our table considered our lunch show annoying. I, of course, loved it.
It’s simply amazing, both how quickly the operator took the entire over hang and building down and what a neat little pile he made while doing it. Sure, the digger really wasn’t made for this sort of thing, but damn if I can tell why not. Inside twenty minutes after I took this shot, the digger was gone and so was the building.
Tools come in all sizes, both great and small, but the thing to remember is to try to bring the right tool to bear on the right project. I can’t help thinking these guys had this one pegged.
Here’s another one from the email pile: the JackJaw. Funny name aside, it looks pretty slick. As you pull on the handle, the mechanism tightens up two jaws to grab and pull stakes or posts with a lot more force than you can generate on your own. (The maker claims that 200 lbs. of force on the handle translates into a whopping 4,200 lbs. of gripping force and 1,800 lbs. of “breakout” force.) A large steel base plate stabilizes the whole thing.
You may have noticed a sharp spike in the number of limo-riding, formally-dressed high school kids in your locale a while back. But not all of them are wearing expensive custom dresses or rented tuxedos. The once-original idea of fashioning prom wear from duct tape has taken off — with the help of the Duck brand.
(A quick moment’s rant: While I can’t deny the marketing genius of naming one’s tape business after the most common mispronunciation of “duct,” I do get a little riled every time I see it. It was bad enough when folks called it “duck tape” because they didn’t understand its original application. For years now they can also head down to the local big box and buy some by that name. Doh!)
The bond between driver and car often falls into the “If I have to explain, you wouldn’t understand” category – however, it’s a very rare driver and vehicle that make it 82 years together without interruption. That’s just what Allen Swift did.
In 1928, Allen Swift, Springfield, Massachusetts, received a new 1928 Rolls-Royce Picadilly P1 Roadster from his father as a graduation gift. Over the years, he put 170,000 miles on it, and drove it until October, 2005, when he died at the age of 102.
So cutting foam rubber isn’t your thing; still, you’ve got to love a tool that has counter-reciprocating blades. The counter-reciprocating action is supposed to cut down on vibration and noise and give you more control for precise cutting of all densities of foam rubber, plastic foams, and even carpet.
Made in Germany, the 3.2A motor can produce 3,200 SPM (which I’m guessing means Strokes Per Minute) with no load. The tool operates with a long paddle-type switch and can be locked running. You can change the four different length blades without tools.
A reader turned us on to this Gizmodo find: a seriously scary-looking trike powered by two Bosch power drills. The kicker: The maker claims it tops out around 18 MPH — with the pilot lying head-first about a foot off the ground.
I’ve seen (and made) plenty of crazy projects like this, but what makes this one stand out to me enough to mention here on Toolmonger is the workmanship. Click through to the site and check out the sweet chain/gearing setup that hooks the two drills together as a drive system. That’s not your average, ordinary kludge. Nor is what appears to be some seriously well laid-out tube fabrication and welding. The steering mechanism is pretty sweet as well: a computer-modeled and CNC milled “spline-shaped joint” that allows the rider to steer with his or her whole body.
Granted, this isn’t exactly practical transportation. But I’m fascinated by the handiwork.
The “EX” [Nils Ferber]
At Toolmonger, we try to stick to bringing you new and cool tools, so we don’t share a lot of websites — but sometimes we need to be reminded why we have those tools. When I rediscovered Matthias Wandel’s woodworking site, I thought “Holy crap — this is a guy who knows how to use his tools to build some damn cool stuff.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve featured projects from his website. He’s the guy who built the wooden combination lock and brought you the Eyeballing Game. If you haven’t yet explored his site, you should: It’s chock-full of other amazing Wandel-ful projects.
The Versa-Block from Eagle Jigs has been around for a while, but it’s still a neat solution to pack 16 different precise measurements into one octagon-shaped jig. You’d use it primarily for setting bit and blade heights, but the octagon shape also measures 45º, 90º, and 135º angles.
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