Putting up Halloween decorations today reminded me it won’t be long before I’ll be struggling with hanging the Christmas lights. I’m always looking for a better way to hang lights, and I think these stainless-steel loop hooks from Lee Valley look promising — a lot more promising than plastic gutter S-hooks that can pinch your cold fingers.

Think of an eye hook — now bend the tag end perpendicularly away from the shaft and squish the loop so the tag end overlaps the loop. The hook that’s left completely captures the wire, yet you can easily remove the it without backing the entire string through the eye. The loop hook can accommodate wires up to 5/16″ in diameter.

A package of 20 loop hooks will run you $13 before shipping.

Loop Hooks [Lee Valley]

How many times do you run back and forth setting up sprinklers before you get the coverage just right? Normally, if you’re not looking for a soaking, you can go all the way back to the spigot on the house, try kinking the hose, or try to outguess where the sprinkler is spraying next. A better way might be to use the Floa Constrictor.

Made in Canada from PVC, the Floa Constrictor clips over any 1/2″ or 3/4″ garden hose and uses a wide screw which squeezes the hose to restrict or stop the flow altogether. It’s easily placed, moved, or removed anywhere on the garden hose.

You’ll pay $7 for the Floa Constrictor before shipping charges.

Floa Constrictor [Corporate Site]
Floa Constrictor [Lee Valley]

Lee Valley has four discontinued books on sale (they bought remaindered stock) for $6 or less each. The two that I find most interesting, pictured above, cover building workshop workstations and power-tool joinery (the other two are about garden design and orchids). Stock is limited.

Building Workshop Workstations [Lee Valley]
Building Workshop Workstation Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Power-Tool Joinery [Lee Valley]
Power-Tool Joinery Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Veritas® flush-cutting saws have teeth that are set only on one side of a thin flexible blade. This allows them to trim protruding plugs and dowels without damaging the surface. They cut on the pull stroke. (more…)

I’ve had a Radi-Plane (similar, if not identical to, the picture on the left) for many years*, and found it very handy for easing edges. I recently added — following a “suggestion” from the home project coordinator, a.k.a. my lovely wife — a couple of extra shelves to a cabinet above the oven. I used MDF for the shelves and my Radi-Plane did a great job rounding the edges (and was easier and quicker than digging out the router).

While checking options, I found Benjamen’s post on the Veritas Cornering Tool Set (shown on the right above; $33 for 2 tools with 4 different radii and a sharpening kit), and was wondering how these compare to the Radi-Plane (or the apparent equivalents, Woodstock’s W1100 Slickplane [What’s This?], available for $13, and the Rockler radius plane, available for $22). Has anyone had experience with both? Any other good suggestions for quickly and consistently easing edges?

*15? 20? I found a Radi-Plane reference in the Aug. 1990 issue of American Woodworker [Google Books]. My versions are branded “RADI-PLANE, L.A. Mathers Co., Stockton, Calif.”

Street Pricing [Google Products]
Radius Plane [Rockler]

Meteor’s Spark Doctor is yet another multi-tool, but this time they’ve specialized it for working with spark plugs. This multi-tool boasts eight different tools for removing, tuning, and cleaning your plugs.

As always, we’re skeptical about the number of tools a multi-tool packs — sometimes marketing departments like to be sneaky and claim a lanyard hole or carrying case as a tool or function. So let’s enumerate the tools, shall we?

• 5/8″ socket
• 3/4″ socket
• 13/16″ socket
• Brass brush
• Metal file
• Metal pick
• Gap gage
• Gapping tool

The metal file and metal pick are part of the same tool, kind of like the wire stripper is part of the flat screwdriver blade on Leatherman and Swiss Army Knives. If they can get away with it, why not Meteor? All these tools fold into a soft-grip handle.

The Spark Doctor can be had for less than $20 before somebody tries to gouge you with shipping.

Spark Doctor [Meteor]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Spark Doctor [Sears]

We’re seeing more and more dust collection devices aimed at the home woodworker. For instance, you wouldn’t think a flexible shaft tool would kick out much sawdust, but then again it doesn’t take much sawdust to make a huge mess. Enter the Flexible Shaft & Dust Extractor, sold by Lee Valley.

Connect the 6mm flexible shaft to any tool with a chuck — just don’t try to run the shaft in reverse or over 10,000 RPM — and connect a vacuum to the dust collection port, and you’re ready to do some shaping, sanding, grinding, or whatever rotary operation you choose with less mess.

On the end of the 46″ flexible shaft is a handle with a three-jaw 3/8″ Jacobs style chuck surrounded by the dust collecting shroud. You connect the vacuum via a 1-1/4″ diameter, 54″ long hose that comes off the rear of the handle.

Not only does this $105 tool look a lot like an attachment for King Arthur’s Tools Guinevere total sanding system, but the optional dust extractor extender is also identical, so we’re guessing King Arthur’s is the supplier of this flexible shaft tool.

Flex Shaft and Dust Extractor [Lee Valley]
Guinevere Accessories [King Arthur's Tools]

Scrapers are great tools for finishing projects or even removing the finish from projects, but if you have a lot of material, scraping can get tiring. Give your thumbs a rest — the Veritas scraper holder both holds the scraper and flexes it just the right amount.

The scraper holder holds any 6″ long scraper with clamping plugs on either side and you can set the amount the scraper bows with the center screw. Veritas makes the scraper body from glass-filled nylon and uses all brass hardware.

The holder comes with a milled-edge, super-hard scraper. Pricing starts at $40 before shipping.

Scraper Holder [Veritas]
Scraper Holder [Lee Valley Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

I’ve used nails, pencils, dowels, and even packing tape to try to keep my glue nozzles clear, and none consistently work; when I try to use them again, the tube is soft but the nozzle is solid. The Twist-n-Seal Stopper forms an air-tight seal on plastic nozzles by tapping threads in the malleable plastic. The threads will withstand 40 lbs of axial force so it won’t pop out. The glass-reinforced plastic plug is non-stick and is removed by unscrewing from the tube. The top is flattened to stand upright when removed, keeping things clean on your workspace. You can find the Twist-n-Seal at Lee Valley for $3.20/pkg of five.

Twist-n-Seal Stopper [Lee Valley]

Sometimes a bit extension will get you where you want to go, but it only works with limited shank sizes.  If you’re working with an incompatible shank, this chuck extender sold by Lee Valley Tools might just come in handy.

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Create more space in your garage, shop, basement, or other room by getting your bins off the floor and hanging them on the wall with the Enviro Stacker.

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Here’s one for the woodworker who has everything:  a Variable Gang Saw from Veritas.  They sent out the release today, which made me pause and doubt the tool’s reality — but I hope it’s not an April Fools prank because I see dovetails in my future with this tool.

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A few years ago when Chuck wrote about the Snap-on magnetic flashlight holder, he asked, “Have any of you seen something like this on the market for less?”  Well, Lee Valley recently started retailing a flashlight/trouble light holder that’s not only cheaper but looks to be a lot more versatile.

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The edge of regular sanding discs can dig into your prized work, but New Wave sanding discs have wavy edges that curl over the side of the sanding pad, so the edge doesn’t come in contact with the workpiece.

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We covered clips to help you hang crown molding already, but these crown molding hangers look like a better tool — they’re more substantial and adjustable.  The downside of these additional features:  You’ll pay $10 for just one hanger, and you’re probably going to need at least two of them.

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This patent-pending paint can holder from Lee Valley fits both the flat rungs of a stepladder and the D-rungs of an extension ladder.  It holds either a quart or gallon can steady, and you can easily pick it up and move it to the next set of rungs.

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While similar in design to a common nail set, this 6″ double-ended Japanese nail set also features a 1-1/4″ set built into the striking end.  This second shorter set is handy for setting nails in tight or awkward spaces.  The long shank gives you excellent control no matter which end you use.

In a pinch this tool can also function as a punch, a drift pin, a tack hammer, or a small anvil.  Both Lee Valley and the Japan Woodworker’s Catalog sell a similar forged-steel Japanese nail set for about $9.

Japanese Nail Set [Lee Valley]
Japanese Nail Set [The Japan Woodworker]