If you ever watched Return of the Jedi and wistfully thought of living among the trees in the forest, this two-story tree house is going to hit you between the eyes. Of course, John Peterson didn’t set out to stop traffic and make a tourist attraction, but that’s exactly what he managed to do.

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When confronted with an everyday object that most certainly isn’t the norm, a small window of confusion opens in your brain and it can’t easily digest the image that your eyes are sending.  It’s this small moment that fills me with the need to obtain these door handles.

I want ‘em for only one reason: The look on people’s faces when you use it for the first time in front of them. Sure, they’re probably wildly expensive and a trick to install — but if you can manage it, does that really matter?

The Incredible Door [YouTube]

At certain times in my life I’ve fancied myself a woodworker. Then I see something like this wooden machine and realize that not only do I have a great deal to learn, but I hate that guy, whoever he is. Seriously, I can’t imagine the time it took to put this together, and even if he had a machine to do the work — it’s still badass.

It’d be a little more eye-popping if it actually did something other than creak and rotate, but that’s easy to say if you’ve never built and sanded a wooden sprocket chain. Of course, this “machine” wouldn’t hold up to stress or movement very well, but it’s impressive nonetheless.

Wooden Machine [YouTube]

Ever since computer modeling started transforming the future of manufacturing, we’ve dreamed of being able to do it ourselves, without having to pony up millions of dollars.  The folks at Shapeways.com are bringing us a step closer to that dream of home tool design and creation — they put you in the designer’s seat, and they’ll crank out whatever you can dream up.

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As the lawn-care season nears its end, many folks think ahead to storing their mower in the shed and not giving it a second thought until spring rears its grass-growing head — but not these guys. No, these gents took a look at their mower and thought a set of knobbies and a Grave Digger paint job would be just the thing.

Sure, it doesn’t cut grass anymore, and the neighbors think you’re a loon — but offer ‘em a turn on the Mini-Digger and they’ll come around. I mean, seriously, the thing’s amphibious and can roll over cars — it’s difficult to say no.

Monster Lawnmower [YouTube]

And you thought taper gauges were an expensive way to measure hole diameters — these internal micrometers from Brown & Sharpe offer a whole new perspective on “expensive.” They start at $450 a tool, but you’re probably going to need a bunch of ‘em because they only measure diameter within a narrow range, i.e. you need a separate micrometer for 5-6 inches, 6-7 inches, etc…

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MNPCTech’s Bill Owen has laid out the steps for a great mirror-finish paint job, complete with video tutorials, tips, and tricks.  I’ve no idea how many Toolmongers would want to go through all this work for a computer case, but I’d bet a quarter that there are a few projects out there that could use a perfect finish like this!

Maybe Chuck and Sean will go for this on the shop truck…

Mirror-Finish Paint [MNPCTech]

We love large builds, like this family of wooden brachiosaurs that seems to be taking over a courtyard. Reader dbthetd built them, and he breaks the build down for us like a fraction:

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If you thought the hoverboard was the coolest thing about the Back to the Future sequels, you’ll agree that the Airboard, though bigger, is the coolest ride around. You might have seen it in the Sydney Olympics’ opening ceremonies, but you may not have known that the Airboard is another example of a tool company stepping out of its normal routine and doing something fun. Thank goodness the Arbortech Toolmongers took some time off from making Allsaws and power chisels in order to make awesome toys!

Pricing on the Airboard is a telephone call away, and there’s an authorized dealer in New York. (The Perth, WA location is in Western Australia, for any fellow Yanks out there who are confused.)

Airboard [Arbortech]

One thing leads to another: First you want to race cars, then you want to modify and maintain your racecar yourself — maybe because you’re broke — and then you already have the welding equipment and the garage and you need a worktable, and before you know it you’re building Truckosaurus, bane of garden equipment and eater of fences. Things just happen. With me, I started out to build a recumbent bike, and now this cool video of a personal blimp lands in my inbox — enjoy!

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Most of us will never need a single clamp that holds seven tons — hell, most of us will never need a combination of clamps that collectively hold seven tons — but if you’re supposed to move some big equipment at highway speeds or across stormy seas, or if you just need to hold down a tarp in a tornado, then you may need the Flash Clamp.

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How’s this for a drill attachment? Just in case you missed this DPX Systems drive unit when it was featured on ThisOldHouse.com, I’ve included video links and the link to buy if you want. It’s a bit steep at $630, but if you really do have one too many cordless drills, it could be fun for the kids or grandkids — maybe even better than a barrel full of monkeys.

It’s certainly going to be less mess than a bunch of poo-flinging monkeys.

Drill-Powered Mini Bike [DPX Systems]
Drill-Powered Mini Bike [ThisOldHouse.com]

My recent post of a new nailgun, with only the information that I’d received in my e-mail, drew the attention of the DeWalt-16’s creator David Wiggins. Dave graciously provided us with more pictures and the story behind his cool tool-themed M-16.

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I’m pretty sure these guys come from the Lord Humongous School of Vehicle Design. I looked carefully for the loudspeaker system and harpoon rack, but this one must be in the early stages of development. The beer-keg gas tank is a quality touch, though.

When it gets cranked up it’s got to be scary to roll around on, but the look on people’s faces would be worth the risk of instant death.

V8 Go-Kart [You Tube]

When tool companies apply their expertise to develop stuff outside of their core product line, they can come up with some pretty cool results. Alumicolor makes precision measurement and drafting tools out of extruded aluminum; we’ve posted about their scales in the past. With that same manufacturing process they’ve made message clips that’re interesting, different, and quirky — we have to hand it to ‘em though, it’s a great Toolmonger overkill. And with these extruded aluminum dominoes with photo-anodized dots, they’ve tipped the scale!

Street pricing on the dominoes is $44.

Double Six Dominoes [Alumicolor]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Sometimes Toolmonger news just rolls into my e-mail! Rod sent the following “press release” along with the picture above:

Just thought I would show you a picture of the new nail gun DeWalt just came out with…this baby is a Man’s Tool!

It can drive a 6-D nail thru a 2 X 4 at 200 yards.

This makes construction a real breeze — you can sit in your lawn chair and build a fence.

Just get the wife and kids to hold the fence boards in place while you sit back, relax with a cold drink — when they have the board in the right place, just fire away.

With the hundred-round magazine, you can build a fence with a minimum of reloading.

After a day of fence-building with the new DeWalt rapid-fire nail gun, the wife won’t ask you fix or build anything else.

We likey. Just make sure the fam is wearing safety goggles, and some Kevlar.

Powerful magnets are cool — powerful magnets that switch on and off are even cooler — and magnets powerful enough to lift a manhole cover rank way up there on the coolness scale. This Magswitch manhole-lifting magnet can lift manhole covers up to 400 lbs!

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