I stumbled across Kathryn Hake’s Vocational Information Center when searching for some ifnormation on plastic welding, and let me just say this: if you don’t have some spare time over the next few weeks, don’t look at it.  This is easily the single largest gathering of links — good, active, well-managed, informational, and educational links — about welding, machining, landscaping, and about two-dozen other vocational areas that I’ve ever seen.  Whether you’re interested in one of these fields as a vocation — or just want to learn a bit about them from a technical standpoint — this resource is for you.

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Mister Jalopy — of Hoopty Rides and MAKE fame — posted pics of this interesting clamp he found at a garage sale.  It’s similar to a modern F-clamp (like this one from Stanley), but the one in the photo applies final clamping force with a lever-actuated eccentric instead of a screw-type mechanism.  It’s a great find, and looks quite useful.

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My carpet is getting a bit old, and while searching for some information about installation — I’ve never done it before — I came across this post by Matt Weber over at Extreme How-To.  Unlike most articles which feature lots of pictures — but very few that actually show the work in progress – Matt’s post includes very descriptive drawings that give you the low-down on everything from installing the underlay to cutting carpet properly, forming quality seams, and using a carpet stretcher.

If you’ve been thinking about maybe saving a few bucks by installing your own next time, it’s worth a look.

Covering Your Ground: Carpet Installation [Extreme How-To]

Our friends over at This Old House’s Hardware Isle blog made it out to the National Hardware Show this year — we had other obligations — and ran across some interesting pegboard solutions like the StuckOnTools magnetic board pictured above.

We know how much some of you love (and hate) pegboard, so you’ll definitely want to give their post a read.

Putting Pegboard In Its Place [This Old House/The Hardware Isle]
The Pegboard Archive [Toolmonger]

Stuey writes: “I just read this brief article about color coding one’s tools.  The method described in the article is meant for wrenches, but it can probably be adapted for other tool types — any that are hard to read.”

While I found the article interesting, I have to admit that I’m a little lukewarm to the idea of a rainbow toolbox.  I keep my wrenches in an organizer, so it’s not that tough for me to find the proper size.  Of course, in a tool bag, this could be a lifesaver as you often end up rummaging around quite a bit to find what you need.

Either way, it’s an interesting read.

Color Coding Your Tools by Sheldon Brown [Harris Cyclery]

We always enjoy TOH’s photo galleries, and this one caught our eye today: it’s titled (quite pithily) “Drill Bits Are Boring” and it covers a wide variety of bits that see everyday use around the house and shop including twist bits, brad points, boring bits, spades, and more.

If you’re new to the drill game, this’ll help you catch up and understand what each type of bit looks like, what materials it’s meant for, and how to use it.

Drill Bits Are Boring [This Old House]

Our friends over at This Old House compiled a great list of ten ways to re-use a worn out garden hose.  Our favorites: slitting a piece open to serve as a cover for the teeth on a handsaw and sliding short sections over wire bucket handles to make soft grips.  Check out the link below for the rest.

10 Uses For A Garden Hose [This Old House]

Rick sent us this link to an interesting history of nails compiled by the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association.  My first experience blacksmithing was making square nails — much like some of those in the picture above — and I found this to be a great read.

If you’d like to hear more about this kind of blacksmithing, zip back and check out Tool Talk Podcast #3 where we’re joined by our friend (and artisan blacksmith) Ray Robinson.

All About Nails [Appalachian Blacksmiths Association]

Our friend Joel over at Dethroner posted a cool bit today about how to wash your car properly at those high-pressure self-serve car washes.  From the post:

“For [Joel's friend] Mike, washing cars is therapy.  Hell, he’d wash yours if it needed it.  I asked him to explain his technique, honed as it has been through hundreds of washes.  After the jump: his system for a ‘quick wash’ — a sort of pock-me-up for a dirty ride, but something less that a full-blown clay-and-Q-tip makeover.”

First of all, I totally understand where Mike’s coming from.  Back when I had more time to myself, I used to spend a good chunk of the day washing my cars.  The apartment complex I lived in had a “free” high-pressure wash, and it was almost always abandoned in the middle of the day.  So I spent a good bit of time there getting my own therapy.

Anyway, this is a cool post and you should check it out.

Car Wash: The Pinoy Power Shower Hour [Dethroner]

When I first ran across the “solar powered hand tools by Steve Lucas” site, I didn’t picture what he created in my mind.  But the rig he built does look like it will work.  It’s a pretty interesting project idea really.  Steve describes the materials you will need to begin the project: 

You will need to have a 12 volt dc or higher system, such as a Solar Panel setup with a 12 volt battery.  You will also need at least one VersaPak Cordless Tool with charger from Black & Decker.  It must be the kind that has a charger cradle with the power pack (transformer) wired separate from the charger.  I’ve noticed that a lot of the new VersaPak Tools come with a new style charger that just plugs into the wall, we want the old style that has a cord.

He goes on to walk you through the connections needed to start benifeting from solar powered Black and Decker tools. 

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Sizod pointed us to another great post over on This Old House about how handy common stuff from your medicine cabinet can be in project work.  Not only is this a great post, we can’t possibly pass on anything with MacGyver in the title. 

Some of our favorites:

• Using dental floss to work glue into splits and cracks in woodwork
• De-burring hacksaw cuts with emory boards
• Fixing scratches in stained wood with eyeliner pencils — which even come in lots of shades and colors
• And lubing sliding drawers with beeswax balm

There are lots more; check out the article for all of ‘em and great pictures to boot.  Is anyone else here addicted to the This Old House site?

Medicine Cabinet MacGyver [This Old House]

There’s a great post over on This Old House by Norm Abrams covering the proper care of common power tools, including a great description of how to clean motor brushes.  An excerpt:

“Most small power tools have two “brushes,” solid blocks of carbon graphite that conduct electricity to the motor’s spinning armature.  Friction gradually wears these brushes away, and if they’re not replaced, the motor loses power and eventually quits.  You can tell it’s time for new brushes when you see lots of arcing — small, harmelss sparks inside the motor housing as the tool is running.”

Easily accessible brushes are a prime feature on high-end power tools as the manufacturer expects the tool to see a long and productive life.  If you’re not already familiar with this kind of maintenance, be sure and give this a read.  It’s complete with drawings explaining the whole process.

TLC for Power Tools [This Old House]

We ran across this on Boing Boing yesterday and spent way too much of the day watching the four-part videos.  As most of you are aware, owning, building, or even just experiencing a tank is high on Seans list of things-to-do-before-he-dies.  So he wants to jump on this right away.

Anyway, this is a really great watch, and all the videos are available via YouTube.  The first is embedded above, but here are links to all four:

Part 1: Intro, Body Shell, Suspension
Part 2: Tracks
Part 3: Engine, Controls, Weapons
Part 4: Transmission

I came across this story recently over on The Consumerist:

Lowes Steals Money From Old Lady’s House, Threatens to Sue Her For Slander
Subcontractors working for Lowes stole money hidden in a reader’s elderly mother’s bedroom.  When the mother complained, Lowe’s threatened to sue her for slander.

[...]

Yet another story about home-improvement warehouse subcontractors behaving criminally.  This industry needs to be reigned in.

Ouch.  I feel for the woman who was victimized, but what really pisses me off about this is the fact that it calls into question the honesty of thousands of hard-working contractors around the country.  All it takes is one set of dicks to do soemthing like this to make the public forget all the honest work that goes down.

I remember reading recently about a group of contractors that found a wad of cash in the attic of an elderly couple — some “stash” for a rainy day long forgotten — which they promptly returned.  (I tried to find a link, but couldn’t quickly.  If any of your remember this and know where to find it, post the link in comments please.)  Or how ’bout the guys working in the post-Katrina south pulling bodies out of attics?  That’s not the kind of work you think of when you think “roofing contractor,” but hey, they’re doing it.

I’ve run into many really incredible people via Toolmonger — honest, knowledgable, and hard-working people who I’d guess all take this kind of event very personally.  It reflects on us all.

Why do people do this?

Original Article [The Consumerist]

Ok, fair notice: I saw this on Gizmodo this morning.  As you’ll see in the video, the table’s legs are attached to a cam to allow them to rotate a little bit and “walk” to help you move the table — yet stay firm when the table’s sitting in place.

Actually, this looks like a great idea, and something that wouldn’t be that difficult to build yourself.  Hmm…

Lakeland, Florida’s Ledger ran an article today about T.J. Baker — a man who’s converting his own “50-year-old tract home into a bona fide King Arthur-style castle.”  My favorite part from the article:

“He built his version of a parapet, or fortress wall.  To the roof, he added crenulations — the technical name for notches like those found in a king’s crown.  Eventually, he hopes to add a second story with a Romeo-and-Juliet inspired balcony.  He also wants to turn his garage doors into drawbridges and build a moat around the house.”

Some neighbors object, but Baker — an architect by trade — seems to have done his code homework, and there’s no homeowner’s association in his neighborhood.  Best of all, the local kids love it!

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This article in The Detroit News this morning helped explain to me a bit of why some U.S.-based tool businesses are angrier than others when it comes to Chinese outsourcing.  I always thought it was the inexpensive labor, but tool and die manufacturers are particularly peeved about China’s currency manipulation.  From the article: 

That manipulation is among the factors ravaging tool and die businesses — one in three automotive tooling shops in Michigan has gone under in the past decade. The toolmakers charge the Chinese are allowed to vastly undercut their prices, forcing many American shops to go out of business.  [...]

The Chinese fix the value of their currency, the yuan, a system that lets them offer lower prices for their goods here and makes U.S. goods in China more expensive.

As you can imagine, this his the tool and die folks especially hard since they sell to China as well.  Not only can Chinese companies produce tooling at lower cost than U.S. equivalents, Chinese companies must pay extra for tooling made in the U.S. – effectively cutting U.S. tooling manufacturers off from the largest growing market in the world.

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