Stanley’s new hi-vis tape line includes one significant new feature: its color. Not only will this be easy to spot around the shop, you’re also likely to be the only guy on the jobsite carrying one like this, so you’ll know when someone walks off with it. And if you drop it in the dirt, you’ll have a good chance of finding it.
Over the last few years, Stanley has worked to funnel their tools into three categories: “Stanley-branded” tools, which offer a competent basic line of features; “Fat Max” tools, which include improved materials and/or features; and “Fat Max Xtreme” tools, which usually include one significant additional feature beyond the “Fat Max” line.
So what’s the new clamp’s “significant additional feature?” It one-ups the Fat Max’s quick-moving trigger system with a spring-loaded closure mechanism that snaps the clamp closed all at once with the touch of a button.
Read on past the jump for our hands-on experiences with the Fat Max Xtreme trigger clamp along with lots of pictures.
I can’t count how many times I have heard a tool guy say, “they don’t make them like this any more” while pointing to an old hand tool hung with reverence in the shop. We talk with folks all the time who love to tell us how an old planer, level, or saw they have can cut (or measure) straighter than anything on the shelves today while simultaneously rescuing wounded dolphins from fishing nets and ending world hunger. While that sounds great — and we love old tools as much as the next guy – it’s also largely incorrect.
We’ve heard rumblings for a while now about new developments in marking chalk from Stanley, and this appears to be it: a new product that claims to “eliminate chalk clumping inside the chalk reel” and is also waterproof, avoiding fade and bleed in wet environments.
Besides its thick, durable casing and slip-resistant TPR grip, this new marker from Stanley offers something we often need on the job site: the ability to mark on wet and oily surfaces.
Today I found Stanley’s ever-popular TR-150 for $17 from Amazon and $16.53 at Hardware World. Which to patronize? I chose Amazon — but only because I bought a book there and qualified for free shipping. The TR-150 features an anti-jam mechanism, easy-slide staple loading, and lightweight aluminum construction. And because its yellow, it’s pretty hard to lose.
Stanley TR-150 [Stanley]
Via Amazon
Stanley TR-150 [Hardware World]
Street Pricing [Google's Product Search]
Douglas writes: “The Stanley multi-saw is nice to have in the tool box for quick and rough cuts. It takes any standard hacksaw or reciprocating saw blade and has a nice, large rubber grip that fills the hand.”
Michael writes: “The only time I’ve ever had to go to an emergency room was when I was cutting paper with a mat knife and a straightedge. It was late at night and I didn’t notice that my finger was just past the edge of the straightedge until I’d sliced off a piece of skin. After that I was terrified of using a mat knife and a straightedge until I found the Stanley MaxStick. On the surface, this looks like a typical ruler/straightedge. What’s hard to see from pictures is that the cross section is a “T” – there’s a large rib on the top surface. You hold on one side, the knife goes on the other side.”
You’ve probably seen the cable guy with a bag like this to carry his wire cutters, punch downs, and crimp tools. It’s called a “technician’s bag,” but it’s great for home use, too: load one up with slotted and Phillips screwdrivers, pliers, a measuring tape, a small hammer — you get the idea — and you’ve got the perfect kit for fixing stuff around the house.
Our friends over at This Old House clued us in to a gallery full of awesome old tools that we somehow missed on the first go-round. Thankfully it’s still available in their archive.
Our favorite: an 1872 “Miller’s Improved Joiner Plow Plane” (pictured) which was “manufacturerd by the Stanley Rule and Level Co. of New Britain, Connecticut, now known as StanleyWorks.” Talk about reason enough to hang on to your old “sentimental value” tools: TOH says this sold for $8 originally, but ”fetched $18,150 at auction in 2005.”
Wow.
Old Tool Gallery [This Old House]
Kor, having seen our hands-on with Stanley’s FatMax Mobile Project Center, wrote in to let us know that it’s included in a 20% “instant rebate” sale Amazon’s offering today on a variety of tools. That brings the price for the FatMax unit we tested — the one with the on-board power and the two-wheel-dolly conversion — down to the price of the base model.
BTW: Today’s Tool Talk podcast (out shortly) includes an interview where we grille Stanley’s project manager for the MPC about his material selection and design. Interesting stuff.
Stanley FatMax MPC Via Amazon
Other items in the 20% instant rebate sale:
Drill Bits and Sets
7-1/4″ Circular Saw Blades and Accessories
Miter Saw Accessories
Sawhorses and Workbenches
Stuart writes: “From Amazon’s ‘goldbox’ I saw a link to this deal. Clicking on the link brings up 304 results, so it probably only applies to certain products.”
Still, there’s some great stuff on the list ranging from screwdrivers and mechanics’ tools to pry bars and utility knives.
Some of our favorites: A sweet metal and wood mitre box for $29 (pictured), some FatMax Xtreme levels (they’re great levels), and some good deals on chisels and clamps. Good stuff.
When we first “previewed” Stanley’s FatMax Mobile Project Center – or the “MPC” as we like to call it – a number of you complained about the materials from which its made, speculating that it’s not sturdy enough for heavy use. So, we contacted Stanley with a challenge: offer up one for us to beat on.
They accepted our challenge, and we gave it our best. We used and abused the MPC for weeks in the Toolmonger shop, and we even broke out our water barrel testing rig to put 946.5 pounds of water on it — over 140% its rated capacity.
Read on for our the results along with our hands-on experiences and lots of pictures.
When we first saw these a while back, we called them “screwdrivers designed to do all the things you’re not supposed to do with a screwdriver” — like hammering, prying, and generally destroying things. We also knew that we needed to get our hands on a set to see if they’re really as sturdy as they look in pictures.
And what better way is there to test a demolition screwdriver than to break s#!% with it? That’s exactly what we did. The results: we hate to use the word “unbreakable,” but these are some tough-ass screwdrivers. Read on past the jump for some serious first hand abuse and lots of pictures.
We’d bet that everyone here already understands that metal toolboxes aren’t really new for Stanley, considering the fact that Stanleyworks encompasses a few of the most well known high-end tool brands including MAC Tools and Proto. However, the idea of selling these larger toolboxes under the Stanley name is a change, and might help to alleviate one of the big problems with buying mechanics tools at Lowe’s and the ‘Depot — the lack of proper storage.
We haven’t seen these in person yet, but we’d be willing to bet that they’re competitive quality-wise with others in their price range. We hear from Stanley that there are more to come and that we’ll be seeing even more impressive stainless-steel versions widely available in the near future.
Here’s something we stumbled across, but wasn’t aware of — maybe some of you’ve had experience with one of these. From GarrettWade’s page:
“We understand that ‘old timers’ used to say, ‘All you needed was a #1 Odd Job, a hammer, and a saw, and you could build anything.’ Made by Stanley from 1888 to the early 1930’s, it seems as useful today as it was then. [...] It’s an inside mitre and try square, a depth gauge, a scribing tool for arcs and circles, a T-square, a depth marking scribe (excellent for marking out mortises), a plumb level, and the 6″ maple, brass-edged rule (also now marked in mm), which is standard with every #1 Odd Job.”
Stuart writes: “This Stanley organizer is of fantastic utility. Its 25 individual compartments are removable so you can take what you need with you to the worktable. The unit is portable enough that I often take the entire unit to the worktable anyways. I remove the compartments I need and close the lid to protect the others from contamination from debris. Even fully loaded, the handle provides a comfortable carrying experience. I now have five units serving my organizational needs! Oh yes, I forgot to mention - the individual compartments can be swapped between units and reorganized in almost any position or orientation.”
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