Like a lot of people, I often forget to drain my air compressor.  It’s not a big enough problem that I’m gonna shell out for a high-tech, high-dollar automatic compressor drain, but I’m willing to give this low-buck Harbor Freight version a look.

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If you only use a pry bar occasionally or don’t have the room for a full-out pry bar, this pry bar head attachment from OTC Tools fits onto a 3/8″-drive breaker bar or ratchet and turns it into a rolling-head pry bar.  Even though OTC specifically says ratchet, we wouldn’t risk a good one.

Measuring 2″ long by 2-13/16″ wide by 5/8″ thick and weighing about 3oz., this little tool is surprisingly expensive.  Most places charge $50 or more — but not good old Harbor Freight.  For $7 they sell a tool that matches OTC’s description and picture almost identically.  We’d be willing to bet it’s the same tool.

Pry Bar Head [OTC Tools]
Street Pricing [Google]
Pry Bar Head [Harbor Freight]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you’re not a professional transmission shop and don’t have the money for a full-time transmission jack, you might appreciate this more economical solution, Harbor Freight’s Transmission Adapter.  The adapter is meant to work with a Harbor Freight jack with a 1-1/4″ saddle, but mine fit on my Craftsman two-and-a-half-ton floor jack — and no parallel universes opened when the two tools met.

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Harbor Freight is selling this non-contact thermometer for only $8 with coupon until December 20th, 2008.  Unless you’re the world’s biggest cheap-ass, there’s no excuse not to get one to play with.

Cen-Tech’s non-contact pocket thermometer reads temperatures from -27° to 230°F or -33° to 110°C.  Get readings in less than one second to quickly locate hot and cold spots.  The thermometer also includes a real-time clock and stopwatch.

The included 3V CR2032 lithium battery provides 40 hours of battery life.

Non-Contact Thermometer [Harbor Freight]
Street Pricing [Google]

A few years ago, before we’d figured out how the shop would actually work, we would experience a curious phenomenon which Chuck half-jokingly referred to as “Tool Explosion” — tools would be everywhere, out of order and difficult to find on cue, especially when I was working an automotive project.  Then, thankfully, the tool cart came into play.

This simple Harbor Freight cart has helped contain tool explosion so much, it’s become the central hub of the shop.  If you want to know which tools we prefer over any other, look in the cart — we don’t put away our favorites.

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A funnel can help you put gas in your tank without spilling it all over the place — and if you’re using a funnel, why not one that filters the gas to get rid of contaminants?  That’s exactly what the fuel filters from Mr. Funnel do.

Mr. Funnel fuel filters combine a heavy-duty, fast-flow fuel filter with an anti-static, polypropylene funnel.  They designed the fluoropolymer-coated stainless steel fuel filter to remove water, dirt, and debris from gasoline, diesel, and kerosene.  The contaminants collect in the sump area for easy inspection and cleaning.

Mr. Funnel sells four different models of their fuel-filtering funnel.  The funnels range in price from $20 to $40 and support flow rates of 2.7gpm to 15gpm respectively.

We all want to take care of our gasoline-powered tools and toys as best we can, but is filtering the gas really necessary?  Is Mr. Funnel a useful tool, or is it just a gimmick?  If it is useful, what exactly are you doing to your fuel to contaminate it before you pour it in the tank?  Let us know in the comments.

Mr. Funnel [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

On the side of the road in the middle of the night isn’t the best time to find out you can’t manage to wrench the lugs off that flat tire.  This torque-multiplying removal tool from Harbor Freight claims to give you a 30-to-1 advantage over those with muscle-power-only solutions.

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Running through the latest Harbor Freight ads is always worth your time.  You’ll find great deals on stuff you’d like to have and low prices on future garage-sale fodder.  This time around we found a solid oak workbench for $160 — right below it was an ad for a set of decorative bird reflectors.

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Most everybody agreed that nitrile gloves were a hot item — now here’s a great way to keep them in sight and available when you need them.  US General and Lisle sell competing magnetic glove dispensers that you can attach to any metal surface.

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Welding isn’t the cheapest hobby to pick up and start fooling around with, and some of the high-end gear can cost you more than a shiny new 60” HD TV. But there are ways to get your weld on without crossing into budget-killing territory — the Chicago Electric 90A flux-core welder comes to mind.

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Try to rip a long piece of tape from that crappy little dispenser that comes with a roll of Scotch tape and you’ll realize why you use a tape gun with packing tape. Harbor Freight sells a cheap solution to your taping woes — a micro tape gun for standard tape rolls.

This compact (2-3/4″x 1-1/4″x 4-1/4″) tape gun uses tape rolls with the 1″ diameter hole in the center. It can accommodate tape rolls up to 3/4″ wide and 2-3/4″ in diameter.

Is this a tool or just a toy? We’re not sure, but for only $2 it might be worth a try next time you hit your local Harbor Freight.

Micro Tape Gun [Harbor Freight]

You own enough hammers to outfit a construction crew, so you really don’t need one more — except occasionally you might need a rubber mallet for an odd job. Instead of buying yet another hand tool, you might consider today’s featured Cheap-Ass Tool: the MalletHead.

The MalletHead turns your regular claw hammer into a rubber mallet — just slip one of three different density rubber heads over the head of the hammer. Use the soft red head for delicate jobs, the medium white head for woodworking, and the hard blue head for metals and stone.

The corporate site asks $10 plus $8 shipping and handling for a set of MalletHeads.  Harbor Freight offers a coupon (expiring August 23) that discounts a set of MalletHeads to $10 — but notice this isn’t really a deal, since $10 is the retail price.

MalletHead [Corporate Site]
MalletHead [Harbor Freight]

Everybody loves lasers, but sometimes they’re more of a gimmick than a useful guide. Miter saw laser guides help out a lot if the laser shows the edge of the blade — and they’re worse than nothing if the blade and laser aren’t aligned. If your miter saw isn’t fitted with a laser-site guide, chances are you can cheaply retrofit it with Harbor Freight’s laser arbor disc.

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Having bought pretty much the identical kit for $25 last time I put down some laminate flooring, I think this $6 flooring installation kit from Harbor Freight is a much better deal.

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In the past few years, the price of ultrasonic cleaning technology has dropped so low that a cleaner costs less than most power tools. Nowadays, you can buy an ultrasonic cleaner like the Sonic Wave CD-2800 for just $20 — and while it’s billed as a jewelery cleaner, you could just as easily clean small parts with it.  Just drop the parts in the one-pint stainless steel tank; the Sonic Wave’ll blast ‘em for three minutes with 42kHz waves, then automatically shut off.
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While doing the yearly maintenance on your lawnmower like a good Toolmonger, you pull the spark plug and discover it’s covered in crud. While replacing the plug is a fine idea, you might save a little dough and a trip to the store by cleaning it and using it for another year. And though you could clean the plug with a little elbow grease, why do it the hard way when this cheap-ass pneumatic spark plug cleaner’ll do the job for you?

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With Harbor Freight’s micro die grinder, you can grind or sand in hard to reach places, carve something intricate, or just polish the scratches out of your iPod.  The 1/8″ collet will accept most Dremel bits for all sorts of jobs. It’s definitely worth grabbing one, even if you only use it a couple times a year to sand down the burs on your safety glasses.

The variable-speed micro grinder can spin up to 56,000 RPM, which is 20,000 RPM higher than your average Dremel. Rear exhaust keeps the air out of your work. The grinder set includes a 47″ air hose, inline oiler, brass coupler, and two collet wrenches. It all comes in a crappy nice plastic case, too.

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times: keep your cheap-ass HF pneumatic tools oiled, and they’ll last you a long time.  Pick one up at Harbor Freight for $15.

Micro Die Grinder [Harbor Freight]