If you’ve been itching for a cheap digital miter gauge/fence and didn’t want to pay uber bucks for one, Craftsman may have the cure for what ails you in the Digital Miter Gauge Model 29939 — an un-sexy name for what could prove to be a handy edition around the shop.

It features -50 to +50 degree miter/bevel/angle range, three adjustable expansion points for a precise fit in standard 3/4″ slots, and a 15″ aluminum miter fence. The backlit LCD screen reads right side up, even when it’s upside down. And Craftsman throws in a few other goodies that make the gauge look rather interesting to us. We don’t have one in the shop yet, but it has made the list.

The price is also rather attractive, hovering right around $80 for all this potential digital hotness.

Digital Miter Gauge Model 29939 [Craftsman]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Sears is holding a “buy one, get one free” sale this week on a few select items, including their durable hydraulic stool. With a padded and adjustable seat and backrest, it’ll keep you comfortable and productive during your longest projects.

This stool is all about the details — even the feet are adjustable to compensate for uneven surfaces. For $80, less cash than for a task chair, you get two stools appropriately sized for the garage or shop.

This deal would be a lot better if the stool was discounted by 50%, but with two for the price of one, now might be a good time to start shopping for Father’s Day. You can also get the two-for-one deal on a few other items: a 10″ steel saw blade, a five piece Companion screwdriver set, and a 13″ tool bag. Since I have nothing nice to say about those items, I’ll leave it at that.

To check out this week’s promotions, take a look at the Sears Book flier, linked below. If the link doesn’t work at first, enter your zip code and try again.

Weekly Ad Pg 16 [Sears]
Hydraulic Stool [Sears]

You can now get the 2008 Craftsman Club calendar at most Sears locations nationwide. Along with the joy of a free calendar, you get 24 coupons, two per month — some great, others lousy, but for the price, one can hardly complain.

Some of the better coupons offer $5 off $25 purchases, $10 off $50 purchases, 25% off a regular-priced stick tool (whatever that may be), and $25 off any tool storage combo, regular or sale-priced. If you’re a Craftsman Club member, you can collect your calendar for free. Non-members can either pay $10 or find a cashier who’ll punch in their numbers for you.

In a previous post I said you can never have enough toolboxes, but how about tool chests? Sears is selling this 13 drawer 80th Anniversary ball bearing combo chest for $288 — pick-up only for that price. The combo chest includes a 26″ chest, 26″ rolling chest, and a 26″ intermediate chest. The black full extension drawers with aluminum draw pulls slide on ball bearings and lock with an internal locking system. A platinum baked enamel shell holds it all together. You also get “customer applied” 80th anniversary decals.

Craftsman 13 Drawer Toolbox [Sears]

Can you ever have too many toolboxes? Probably not. Sears is selling this Craftsman 20 inch plastic toolbox — red and black, with latches and a handle — for $10. I have a number of boxes this size — I store orphaned power tools and accessories in ‘em, and I like that they’re stackable.  You can store your roadside emergency equipment in it, or it makes a fantastic first aid kit.

Craftsman Toolbox [Sears]

The newest Craftsman Club flier includes a few great deals. If you’re not a Craftsman Club member, check out the registration link below — if you join now, you should receive your card before February’s promotional period.

If you are already a member and haven’t yet seen the flier, just enter your member ID number in the sign-in box on the home page. They’re offering a few exclusive “online only” deals, like their 12 piece nut driver set and case for $20 with a free 11″ tool bag. The set typically retails for $30-$40 — or separately at over $6 a piece. To take advantage of online-only deals, you must enter your card number into your account profile.

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This 1949 Craftsman catalog brings us back to the days of zoot suits, the jitterbug, explosive shop tools, guiltless gasoline consumption — and the good ole’ gasoline blowtorch.

Even before the modern technology of propane and butane cartridges, amateurs as well as professionals commonly used blowtorches for stubborn household problems like thawing frozen pipes, loosening jammed bolts, and even detecting freon leaks (due to the changing color of the flame). Plumbers used the torches to liquefy lead for sealing pipe joints, electricians used them for soldering wires, and painters for stripping paint from walls.

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Sears is ending their “We overstocked this stuff for Christmas and didn’t sell it” sale tomorrow, so if you’re jonesing for that gear your family didn’t manage to get you, now is the time. Specifically, the Craftsman 263 piece Mechanic’s Tool Sets, Craftsman 10-drawer, 27 in. combo toolboxes, and Craftsman 20 piece socket wrench sets are all 20 to 25 percent off, which might actually put some of them this side of “never gonna pay that.”

Sears is also giving away .5A, three-disc grinders with purchases over $75 dollars, while supplies last. We’re betting supplies are plentiful on the Norelco looking sanders, because we don’t know anyone who wanted or got one for Christmas.

Craftsman Sale [Sears]
Craftsman 263 pc. Mechanics Tool Set [Sears]
Craftsman 10 Drawer, 27 in. Combo [Sears]
Craftsman 20 pc. Socket Wrench Set [Sears]

Toolmonger photo pool member greenturtles002 posted this great pic of his X-mas loot — a sweet Craftsman mini-jack, with a red stapler behind it to show the scale. Now all he needs is a working Nascar model to lift with it. Sure, the desk would be a little crowded at that point, but anything worth doing is worth doing big!

Did you get any cool, tool-related loot this year? Post it up to the photo pool — we’d love to see it!

Toolmonger’s Photo Pool [Flickr]

Though we’re generally not fans of most Craftsman power tools, the C3 line has been a perennial best-bargain buy since its release, often selling for under $100 — with a free light. If you’re one of the many who invested in the 19.2V series to get started, you’ll be as pleased as I was to hear that Sears plans to offer a C3-compatible 19.2V lithium-ion pack for $70 starting in 2008.

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Sears is selling a five-piece slotted screwdriver set for half price at $5. The set includes the following sizes: 3/32 x 1-1/2 in., 3/16 x 1-1/2 in., 1/8 x 4 in., 3/16 x 4 in., and 1/4 x 4 in. Serrated tips provide better biting grip. And of course, they come with Craftsman’s lifetime warranty.

Craftman 5-Piece Screwdriver Set [Sears]

Can’t afford a new aluminum racing jack? Maybe you can swing Craftsman’s $25 miniature version. It’s only 8-1/4″ long, but it’s a fully-functional model of Craftsman’s full-size version. And although this mini jack is only intended for display, we’ve heard of it crazy people employing it to lift various light objects like toy carts and desks.

But whether you set this on display or play with it until it breaks, this “collectible” is sure to stand out at home or in the workplace. Sporting a $25 pricetag, this would make a great late holiday gift — for yourself. Don’t forget that Sears has posted a $5 coupon to make the price a bit sweeter.

Mini Model Racing Jack [Sears]

Ooooh, fancy! Sears is offering this 2007 Limited Edition Craftsman 8-piece socket set with cap wrench in a wooden display case list for $60 (regularly $140).  The 8-piece socket set is from Craftsmans “Titanium Blue” line of tools and includes a thin profile drive ratchet with quick-release button and reversing lever, six 3/8-inch drive sockets in sizes 9/16″, 5/8″, 11/16″, 3/4″, 13/16″, and 7/8″ and comes in a wooden display box.  Also included is a Titanium Blue bottle cap wrench.

8-Piece Socket Set and Cap Wrench [Sears]

Everybody hates clamshell packaging, and with the holiday season fast approaching we’re going to see a lot of it shortly. Many companies market tools make opening this viscious packaging easier, but Zibra’s Open It! has me intrigued.

The Open it! is more diagonal cutter than scissors, delivering the leverage to cut through those nasty clamshell packages — and to snip strapping, too. Built in to one of its handles is a retractable utility knife for cutting boxes and slicing through DVD packaging. And for opening battery compartments and minor assembly, the other handle hides a built in screwdriver with interchangeable Phillips and slotted heads.

The Open It! sells for about $12 at Amazon, Target, Walgreens, and other stores, so it’s a tempting buy right now. But is this $12 tool the solution to my clamshell woes, or is this a piece of junk that belongs only in As Seen On TV store?

More specifically, have you tried one? And if it sucks, can you recommend a good one? Let us know in comments.

Open It! [Manufacturer]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s this?]

Since previous Dealmonger feedback about these gloves has been generally positive, we thought you’d like to know that Sears is offering them on sale again. Through Veteran’s Day you can can pick up a pair of these Craftsman Mechanic’s gloves for $10. (They’re regularly $20.) Sears sells Mechanic’s gloves in sizes medium to extra large and in colors red and black.

Medium, Black [Sears]
Medium, Red [Sears]
Large, Black [Sears]
Large, Red [Sears]
XLarge, Black [Sears]
XLarge, Red [Sears]

Details about Craftsman’s new storage system, the AXS, were scarce when we introduced it to you almost 8 weeks ago as digital bling. But now that it’s officially released, the full specs are out — and the AXS storage units are making appearances at many Sears locations. I think that this storage system offers a number of cool features, but whether or not it has earned its description as the “cutting edge of tool storage” remains to be seen.

To refresh your memory, the 6-drawer chest comes with a 12V car-style adapter plug – which really can be handy at times. There’s also an LCD display on the chest which seems to provide radio controls, calendar information, and the temperature. Sears calls this display a multi-functional LCD digital information center, so hopefully it provides more information than can be found on a $15 travel clock radio.

The 7-drawer roll-away, on the other hand, is somewhat more appealing, with a load capacity of 1200 pounds, a slide-out lighted worksurface, and a 6-outlet 120V power strip.

Both the chest and roll-away come with 27″ wide self-closing ball-bearing drawers which can hold 75 pounds each. In addition, you get a Master Lock One-Key Locking System, which allows one to adjust the lock to accept the same key – or most standard house keys – for both chest and cabinet. Finally, you get the option to choose among many different color combinations and patterns, though some color schemes will drive up the price.

The AXS combo is on sale this week for a cool $1,000, or available separately for $430 (chest) and $570 (roll-away).

Personally, I think this storage system screams “gimmick”, and would rather get a lot more bang for my buck. But quite a few of you chimed in when we first posted about the AXS, and now that further details have been released and display models are available for firsthand evaluation, we’d love to hear your opinion in comments.

Craftsman ALX [Sears]
Press Release [Business Wire]

Sears is offering a deal right now on this Craftsman digital multimeter with auto-ranging and non-contact voltage detector.  It’s listed at $40 but when you add it to your shopping cart the price drops to $25, a handsome $15 savings. Besides auto-ranging, the multimeter features non-contact voltage measurement from 100 to 600 VAC, AC/DC voltage measurement with a 0.5% accuracy, resistance measurement, diode and continuity testing, and a back-lit LCD screen. It also comes with test stand, rubber holster and test leads.

82314 Digital Multimeter [Sears]