When you need to measure the diameter of a hole or the width of a slot, reach for a taper gauge. Named for their tapered shape, taper gauges measure hole and slot sizes quickly and accurately. With the Starrett No. 267 taper gauge, you can measure hole and slot sizes from 1/16″ to 1-1/16″, to the nearest 1/64″.

Made from spring-tempered steel and measuring 1″ wide by 5-1/4″ long, the gauge features four different leafs for measuring progressively larger dimensions. Look to pay between $90 and $110.

Taper Gauge [Starrett]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon(B0006J4DSK) [What’s This?]

Remember that time you asked your algebra teacher when you’d ever need to solve for X in real life? There’s a good chance you still haven’t found a use for your higher math skills, but Toolmongers will likely encounter plenty of practical math issues during a project. This handy book’ll show you how to calculate roof pitch, lay out stairs, make sense of a scientific calculator, and lots of other stuff.

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The nail gun revolutionized carpentry, but at the expense of tying the carpenter to a stationary compressor. Companies have devised some ingenious solutions to this problem — but battery-powered or battery-and-gas-powered nail guns can be heavy, awkward, and costly; and CO2-powered belt packs can only drive so many nails before you have to buy a new canister. Palmgren devised another solution: a portable, tank-less compressor that weighs just 6.6 lbs including the battery, so you can carry it easily over the shoulder or around the waist.

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If you work construction or renovation, you often need to straighten a twisted stud or joist.  Tools such as Stanley’s Fubar will do the trick, but what if you don’t want to carry a separate tool to get the job done?  Estwing adds board-tweaking ability to a tool already in your hand: the hammer.  The patented Hammertooth hammer can straighten any 2x board — just place the tooth and claw on either side of a board, and twist.

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If you want to make full use of your drill press or milling machine table, Palmgren makes a kit with just about everything you’d ever need, including a steel storage rack to neatly organize all the pieces.

Here’s the complete list of what’s included:

• Four 9⁄16″ T-slot nuts
• Four 5⁄8″ T-slot nuts
• Six flange nuts
• Four coupling nuts
• Six step block pairs
• Six step clamps
• 24 studs — four each 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″, 7″, and 8″ lengths
• Two 1-3⁄4″ wide U-clamp sets — each U-clamp set contains a 5″ stud, a flange nut, a ball joint, a U-clamp, and a 9⁄16″ T-slot nut
• Steel storage rack

At $140, this kit isn’t cheap, and it weighs 28 lbs, so shipping will definitely cost you — but you’ll never be lacking for ways to hold down your work.  Sears sells what appears to be the identical kit, rebranded as Craftsman, for $100.

Clamping Kit [Palmgren]
Clamping Kit [Grainger]
Clamping Kit [Sears]
Via Amazon(B0007ZFK0S) [What’s This?]

To drill angled holes, you can tilt your drill press table, but sometimes it’s easier and more precise to use a cradle-style angle vise instead. The head of this particular vise from Palmgren locks at preset stops every 15° from 0° to 90°, simply by inserting an alignment pin.  Set any other angle by removing the alignment pin and hand-tightening the locking mechanism.

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Sensgard claims the ZEM hearing protection device dampens the loud noise of machinery yet allows you to hear people talking to you, so you don’t have to remove your hearing protection. Instead of using foam or other material to attenuate sound waves, the ZEM directs sound away from the ear.

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When biscuits came out in 1956, they changed woodworkers’ approach to butt joinery. Simply by lining up two separate slots and inserting a glue-covered biscuit, you could join panels easily. Now Lamello, the company that brought us the biscuit, has come out with a new way to join wood: the Fixo biscuit.

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If you’ve ever spent 20 minutes fiddling with a watch band, trying to seat the spring pin before throwing it against the wall, then check out this little watch-band spring tool. It belongs to that class of tool that’s pretty useless 99% of the time — and totally worth the few bucks you paid for it 1% of the time.

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This set probably won’t replace any of your other tools, but it’s definitely worth grabbing one to keep in the trunk or on the boat. The set includes a universal ratchet driver, 12 SAE drive sockets, 12 metric drive sockets, 20 hex drive sockets, 17 slotted drive bits, seven star drive bits, four pozi drive bits, four Phillips drive bits, four square drive bits, a 42-piece picture-hanging kit, and a carrying case.

You can get it from ToolsNow, via Amazon, for $5 — add $7 for shipping and handling, for a total of $12.

130-Piece Screwdriver Set [DealNews]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If your tin snips start feeling a little heavy, check out a pair of Wiss lightweight aluminum snips. They’ll make straight or curved cuts in light metal, flash, vinyl siding, or rubber. The 3-1/2″ rust-resistant blades will handle materials as tough as 23-gauge, low-carbon steel.

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Needlenose pliers excel at precision work: those times you want to grab that small screw, bend that wire, or pick up that button from the small hole in the floor. Any old pair of needlenose will work for those tasks, but what if you need to grab wires so fine you can barely see ‘em? You don’t want some clonky pair of needlenose pliers whose jaws don’t even touch — you want the strength of pliers, plus the precision of a pair of tweezers. Xuron’s Tweezernose pliers give you just that.

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Archimedes once said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” Most people don’t need to move the world, but occasionally they might need to replace their alternator. This indexable pry bar from Innovative Products makes it easier to get a lever into the ever more-packed engine compartment.

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Although Innovative Products of America designed this tool especially for oil drain plugs, you’ll find plenty of uses for the eight sockets sized from 12mm to 19mm on the Multi-Wrench — especially after you pay about $35 for the tool.

To fit eight sockets on the Multi-Wrench, IPA designed the tool with a rotating head sporting four sockets on each end of the wrench. The laser-etched sockets click into place as you rotate the heads.

Made from drop-forged steel and finished with chrome, the Multi-Wrench also features a built-in rare-earth magnet with 11-lbs of holding force that allows you to stick the Multi-Wrench to your oil pan and accidentally leave it there.

Multi-Wrench [IPA]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon(B000Q6RZSS) [What’s This?]

Who wouldn’t want a five-ton hydraulic bench vise in their shop? With Posi Lock’s model PHV859A hydraulic vise, you can clamp anything that fits into its 8″ jaws hands-free. It also pulls double duty as a hydraulic press capable of forming steel.

Posi Lock casts its hydraulic vise from steel — the finished product has a tensile strength of 52,600 PSI. The vise derives it’s power from an air-over-hydraulic 10,000 PSI foot pump. The foot pump sports a 10,000 PSI gauge, an air control valve, and a foot switch to control the vise jaw. A 10′ hydraulic hose connects the foot pump to the vise head.

The vise’s jaws open to a maximum width of eight inches, and a spring returns the jaws to the open position when hydraulic power’s removed. The vise comes with replaceable magnetic jaw plates.

The PHV859A retails anywhere from $900 to $1,000 — a sweet, if expensive, addition to any Toolmonger’s shop.

Hydraulic Bench Vise [Posi Lock]
Hydraulic Bench Vise [Granger]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon(B000B45AXM) [What’s This?]

What do you mean you don’t own a miter saw? Well, it’s hard not to own one now, with this steal/deal over at Amazon on Hitachi’s C10FCE2 10″ compound miter saw: $100 with free shipping. The 15A motor pumps out 1,950 watts of power for a top speed of 5,000 RPM.  Sporting that “aggressive” green Hitachi coloring, the saw features a 4″ tall pivoting fence, rubberized grip for reduced vibration, clamping vice to lock down your material, dust bag, and a carbide blade.

If you want even further savings on this model, check out the refurbed link where you can pick this up for $64 plus shipping.

C10FCE2 10″ Saw [Hitachi]
Via Amazon (B000V5Z6RG) [What’s This?]
C10FCE2 Refurb [Reconditioned Sales]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

My dad always asked me, “Why are you looking for a solution when there was never a problem in the first place?” Many companies tackle tool “problems” by re-inventing products — some of their solutions end up being useless, and some end up being revolutionary. But whether it’s useless or revolutionary, one thing’s for sure: the Worx Rolabit drill and driver bit dispenser looks like granny’s recipe rolodex on steroids.

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