Sold by Woods under the YellowJacket brand, this little gizmo is the pinnacle of cube-tap evolution, plain and simple. It turns a single extension cord outlet into five, and locks itself onto the cord that feeds it. There’s one lock for the inlet and a second lock for one outlet, so you can insert this at the junction of two cords and they won’t come apart.
Look for more pics after the jump.
There are tons of different jigsaws lining the shelf at your local big-box, and every one of them is at least twice as expensive as the Task Force Orbital Action Jigsaw. When we saw the Task Force at the local big box proudly wearing its “under $20” tag, we decided to find out whether or not it could get through some hardwood on a typical project, and we shelled out a few bucks to find out.
The result: surprising. Read on past the jump for our experiences with the Task Force Orbital Action Jigsaw — and lots of pictures.
You may have heard Chuck mention that I’m, well, somewhat frugal. That’s an understatement. I’m cheap-ass Toolmonger. For me, shelling out the green is like parting with children; I just can’t bring myself to do it. So when I saw the Task Force jigsaw at Lowe’s the other day for just $19.97, even the inner cheapness in me said… maybe.
Just from looking at the box, I’d say that I’ve seen more menacing looking bread slicers, but at this price point we’re not exactly interested in looks, are we? The truth lies in the stats: a four amp motor, 800 to 3,000 strokes per minute, a keyless blade clamp, and a max wood cutting capacity of almost three inches. Not so bad.
Randy writes: “Basically, this is just a high quality, heavy-duty extension cord with a separate plastic reel. It’s not fancy, but I use it all the time, and I’m very happy that I bought the good one — the 12-gauge, 3-conductor, which I found at Lowe’s. I paid about $36 for 50′. I don’t really need more than that. The cord reel was another $6. The cord reel is nothing special, either, but it keeps the cord compact and orderly.”
A few years back my pipes froze on Christmas Eve. It was a magical time of constant swearing and throngs of family members giving me advice — that would have been useful 48 hours earlier. To help you avoid duplicating this experience, I give you this piece of advice: put faucet covers on your outside faucets.
Such covers are made mainly from an insulating styrofoam cup that slips over your valve knob and secures via a draw-tight plastic cable. Like the M.I.B. they are often times your first, last and only line of defense against freezing wind and frosty fallings from old man winter.
It’s time to stock up! Oh yes, Toolmongers, it is indeed time to get out there to your local big-box store and pick over the bargain bins and clearance racks. Your target is not the plethora of turkey day supplies and wicker-mania, nor even freshly laid out Christmas madness that’s now being shoved out in the middle of October. Nay, these are not the goodies we were picking over this week like a pair of starving lions on the savanna.
Your target is all the discarded summer merchandise – the hoards of local big-box summer goodness that have been living in the overhead storage racks like so much Fonzy. Just this week alone our local big-box store had an entire makeshift aisle full of things like patio furniture, ceiling fans, grills and lighting for more than half off. We picked up a nice 52″ ceiling fan w/remote for $25, a 22″ charcoal grill w/side supports for $50, and way too much more to go into here.
Note: This stuff isn’t in the circulars or ads because they don’t need to advertise to move it. So if you’re a shrewd bargain hunter (like we are), it’s time to leap upon on the deals and reap the rewards.
Does your sprinkler system normally take care of keeping the dirt around your home’s concrete foundation moist? If so, beware: Cutting back your weekly watering periods as required by the severe water restrictions in many Midwest locales may have more side effects than just leaving your grass brown. It can crack your foundation.
When the ground around the foundation dries up, it begins to “recess,” or pull away from the foundation. With the loss of that support, cracking can occur.
However, most cities offer exceptions for the use of soaker hoses around your foundation, often allowing up to an hour of “soaking” each day. Combine them with a $40 digital timer, and you’re good to go.
Having recently reviewed both the Skil iXO and the Black & Decker SmartDriver, we couldn’t help but noticed the Kobalt version on the shelves at Lowes today.
It appears similar to the others externally in terms of form factor, and it features a top-mounted switch like the Black & Decker. Interestingly, Kobalt does print a torque specification on the packaging: 43 in-lbs.
Where the Kobalt really differs from the others is in terms of packaged accessories. While both the iXO and the SmartDriver come with a charging stand, the Kobalt uses a simpler wall-wart with a cord that plugs into the tool. It also ships with just two bits — a standard and Phillips.
This is reflected in the price, which at $29.97 is about $10-$15 less than the Skil and Black & Decker tools. We haven’t yet held or used one, but we’ll let you know more when we get the chance. Of course, Lowe’s sells all three, so if you’re in the market you can do your own on-site comparison.
There are times when brute force wins out, and lot of those times seem to come up during masonry work. When you’re swinging a five pound hammer at a target the size of a dime — like, for example, a chisel — it’s nice to have a bit of reassurance that your hand isn’t in the line of fire.
The Target Guard Mason’s Chisel provides such assurance. It starts out as any other chisel, made from forged, high impact steel. The twist on the design arrives in the form of its most obvious (bright yellow) oversized features: a molded, hard, rubberized grip that extends from the top of the tool down to make a firm grip good for gloved hands and a four inch protective disc near the striking face that shields the hand underneath from stray blows.
The Target Guard is widely available at most home and garden centers in an array of sizes for purchase prices ranging from $8 to $12 — which doesn’t sound like a bad investment to save a few valued digits.
Target Guard Mason’s Chisel [Lowes]
We ran across this bit of kit on a trip to the store this morning. It’s a spring-loaded, ammo-style clip loaded with 15 of Bosch’s titanium-coated Phillips driver bits. When you pull one out, another one pops right into place.
If you’re a weekend fastener warrior, you’re probably wondering right now why anyone would want to carry around 15 bits with them. Trust us: pros can go through bits like water on a hot day. Imagine screwing together a 20′x46′ deck. That’s a lot of screws.
Bosch says their “Titanium Tough Grip Coating” combines a slightly rough surface to better grip the fastener with a thin titanium coating to harden the gripping points, preventing them from deforming after massive repetitve use. These titanium bits are also sold in smaller quantities for those who’d like the quality but don’t need the Rambo-action accessory as well.
We found this one at Lowe’s, though we imagine they’re available elsewhere as well. Sorry, we couldn’t find you a direct link, so you’ll have to hoof it to pick one up. We did, however, include a link to some information on Bosch’s titanium bits below.
Lowe’s is giving away a hundred $100 gift cards each day between now and the 17th. The entry for it (link below) is the standard trade-your-personal-info-for-a-chance-to-win type.
The giveaway/contest is valid 6/5/06 through 6/17/06. Plus, visit a Lowe’s store on June 17 and you could be the lucky winner of a $10,000 Lowes gift card to be given away on the spot in a Lowe’s store somewhere in America.
Lowe’s is also offering a $49 free shipping option on their online site till fathers day. So if you’re going to order something for you or Dad, there you go.
Note: You’ll have to excuse the recent (and upcoming) “hit parade” of deals, sales, and give aways as we’re shopping for Father’s day and therefore running across quite a few this week.
Lowe’s Contest Entry Form [Lowe’s.com]
According to Lowe’s:
There are some tools that are just too essential for anyone or any home to do without. Some of these tools are obvious, like a hammer, others are tools that you don’t really think of until the first time you need them. Of course, “the first time you need them” is often late at night or right before a big function, when you don’t have time to run out and get the tool you need. Make sure you have the basics covered with our DIY beginner’s toolbox.
What do they recommend? Look just after the jump.
This weekend we found ourselves hanging some pictures and such, including a pretty-darn-heavy piece of Egyptian brass art. As most of you know, the days of knocking on the wall to find a stud are (thankfully) over, and electronic “stud finders” are now available.
What you may not know is that some of them are also incredibly cheap. We found this one for $8.99 in our local Lowes, but there are a number of sources for them online as well. And if you’re into Craftsman tools, Sears offers this one for $14.99. Sure, you can spend $40 for one, but if you don’t have that to spend, at least you’re not back to knocking.
Stud Finders [Lowes]
Stud Finders [Harbor Freight]
Stud Finders [Sears]
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