Attach one of these variable angle swivels to an air tool or air hose and it’ll allow it to move more freely, or so Milton claims. The fitting allows the hose to both swivel and bend farther than a rigid coupling without kinking. It’s not mentioned in the available information, but presumably there’s a ball fitting of some type under the flexible rubber boot.

Besides 1/4″ MNPT to 1/4″ M-style plug, the swivels come in 1/4″ MNTP to MNTP, 1/4″ MNTP to FNTP, and 3/8″ MNTP to 1/4″ M-Style plug.  Any of these chrome-plated variable angle swivels will run you $6 before tax or shipping.

Milton [Website]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

You wire your shop for electricity and run ducting for your dust collection system, so why not outfit your shop with compressed air outlets where you’ll need them rather than dragging the air hose around?

RapidAir makes running air lines throughout the shop as easy as running PEX water line. You don’t have to cut and thread pipe or mess with pipe dope at the fittings. The system can handle pressures up to 150 PSI using just flexible 1/2″ nylon tubing and simple push-on fittings.

Pricing for the master kit starts at $140; it includes one compressor manifold, two outlets, and 100′ of 1/2″ blue nylon tubing. Outlets, tubing, and fittings are also available separately.

Master Kit [RapidAir]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

The Smart-Holder holds log firmly off the ground so you can safely saw them without rolling, bending, or burying your chainsaw blade in the dirt.

AMGA in Sweden designed the Smart-Holder to assemble and break down quickly. Once it’s set up you just push the end of log through the swinging jaw of the Smart-Holder and push down on the log to wedge it in place.

The 27 pound Smart-Holder measures 47″ long by 15″ wide and will hold any log 1/2″ to 9″ thick.  When it’s set up it stands 38″ tall and when it collapses it’s just 2″ high. Stihl and Remington also market the Smart-Holder under their own branding. No matter which company sells it, pricing starts at $100.

Smart Holder [Corporate Site]
Smart Holder [Remington]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

A few day ago some commenters expressed concerns about how you’d load and unload the Fatmax Portable Truck Box if all 42 gallons of stage space was filled with tools. One way would be to use a lift cart like this one from Northern Tool.

This lift cart will raise 300 lbs from 8-1/4″ to 28-3/4″ by pumping a foot pedal. To lower the load there’s a handle-mounted pressure release. The platform measures 27-1/2″ by 17-3/4″ and is 1-3/8″ thick.

Northern has several inexpensive hydraulic table carts that can handle from 300 to 1000 lbs in the $200 to $300 price range. The pictured lift cart runs about $190, but it’ll cost you $75 to ship so I’d recommend going to one of Northern’s brick and mortar stores if there’s one close to you or find a different source.

Lift Cart [Northern Tools]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

The companies that make new and improved utility knives must think that millions of dollars in labor are lost each year when workers stop to change blades. Either that or they just need to make a better profit margin on blades. Not to be left out, Clauss manufactured yet another “next generation” utility knife that uses a cartridge-based system to hold and replace blades.

(more…)

You’ve seen magnetic levels before, but how about a level where you can turn the magnet on and off like a Magswitch™? Strong Hand Tools incorporates a switchable magnet in their Mag-Level with 50 lbs. of holding force. You get a level with a magnet strong enough to securely hold the tool, yet you don’t have to brace yourself with your foot to pry it off the surface.

Strong Hand Tools built three bubble vials into the Mag-Level: one each for level, plumb, and 45°. The magnet turns on and off with the flick of a switch. The 2 lb. level measures 16″ long by 1″ deep and is 4″ wide at the widest point.

Pricing for the Mag-Level starts at $30. I did see these at Harbor Freight a few weeks ago for $20, although their website doesn’t confirm the price.

Mag-Level [Strong Hand Tools]
Mag-Level [Northern Tool]

We’ve covered a way to turn your reciprocating saw into a power rasp, but that was just a single use tool.  With the Reciprotools adapter chucked into your Recip saw, you can power accessories like stainless steel or nylon brushes, a cleaning pad, rasps, and files.

The the double tang adapter works with most reciprocating saws. Once you’ve inserted the adapter into the saw’s chuck, the adapter provides a quick-change hex chuck for holding the accessories. The hex-shaped shank on the accessories allows you to position each tool in six different orientations.

Pricing for the adapter starts at $16 and accessories start at $6 a piece.

Reciprotools [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Almost like training wheels for hooking up trailers, the Couple Mate helps guide your trailer hitch over the ball as you back up, so you don’t have to constantly get out and check.

Made from steel and double-dipped in zinc to help withstand the rigors of use, the Couple Mate fits most receiver hitch and ball combos. Slide the base over your trailer hitch and then install the ball through it and the hitch to hold it in place. The wings then slip into the base when you want to hook up the trailer and slip out again after you’re done, so nobody need ever know.

You’ll pay about $50 for the Couple Mate after shipping.  If you visit the homepage, watch out for the annoying self-starting video.

Couple Mate [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you need a portable or temporary ramp but don’t have the room to store it, maybe you should check out the Roll-A-Ramp, a lightweight and portable ramp system made from 6061 Anodized Aluminum that can be used in many applications. When you’re done with it you can just roll it up for easy storage.

Roll-A-Ramps come in 36″, 30″, and 26″ widths or in 12″ wide pairs. Each section or link connects to the next section with two bolts so you can add or subtract links to get the perfect-sized ramp. Depending on the configuration and how the weight is distributed they can support from 1,000 to 2,000 lbs. Special end links are tapered to make it easy to roll on and off the ramp, and all ramps have a built-in safety rail.

The fixed length ramps listed on Amazon and Northern Tool sites run somewhere between $500 and $1,600 depending on the width and length. You can also purchase custom-length ramps from a local dealer.

Roll-A-Ramp [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Ever have an air line or tool go shooting off accidentally when you disconnect it? Besides being dangerous, it could damage the connector as it whacks the ground. To prevent this uncontrolled reaction, safety couplers like this one from Milton Industries make connection and disconnection a two-stage process.

Several retailers of the safety coupler describe the operation as follows: “First click locks coupler and plug; second click engages air pressure. When disconnecting, first click will relieve air pressure; second click allows coupler and plug to be safely disengaged.” Not having laid our hands on one yet, this sounds a little vague. Has anyone used one that could provide a better explanation of how the coupler works?

This 1/4″ M-style safety coupler comes in either male and female 1/4″ NPT threads. Milton retails the safety couplers for $10.

Milton Industries [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Northern Tool offers this $30 propane torch kit for burning weeds and melting snow and ice. With a six-foot hose and a two-foot handle, you’ll need to figure out a way to haul around the (minimum) 20lb propane cylinder.

The torch kit has a manual igniter, so be sure to pick up a proper ignition source as well. Your cigarette lighter is not recommended.

The trick to getting these work right is to singe the weeds, boiling the moisture in the plant cells above ground to dehydrate the weed to a point of no return. It doesn’t take much to terminate — just a second or two — and you must absolutely be careful when using this in drier fields to prevent flare-ups.

In the winter, once you’ve melted all your snow, make sure to sweep the water off the driveway. Otherwise it’ll just end up refreezing, forming your new skate rink, which will amuse your kids but won’t make the 6:00 am departure for work any easier.

Propane Torch Kit [Northern Tool]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

We can see why Mayhew Tools thought it would be cool to name this tool the Cats Paw Deck Wrecker. The Cats Paw part is obvious, especially since they own the trademark, but the “Deck Wrecker” part of the name doesn’t really describe the tool. It’s designed to lift deck boards with little damage and without damaging the joists underneath, allowing you to resurface the deck with as little repair to the structure as possible.

Mayhew manufactures the 44″ long Cats Paw Deck Wrecker from steel and powder coats it for corrosion resistance. The tool’s double Cats Paw head straddles the joist, while the curved rocker sits on top of the joist. Pulling back on the handle pries the deck board off the joist. Once the board is out of the way you can use one of the Cats Paw heads to pry up remaining nails and screws.

You can purchase the Cats Paw Deck Wrecker from Amazon for $100 shipped. Other online retailers also sell it for $100, but you’ll take your chances with their shipping charges.

New Tools [Mayhew]
CatsPaw Deck Wrecker [Northern Tool]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you want to remove paint, rust, dirt, or welding slag without damaging the metal surface, you may need an air needle scaler.  This air-powered tool has a piston that drives a number of needles or small chisels back and forth very quickly.

(more…)

If you just have a lawn mower, a Gas Caddy like the one pictured above might be a little overkill — but if you maintain a bunch of gas-powered equipment, you might appreciate this simple solution for transferring and storing all that fuel.

(more…)

You may have seen optical tables on TV or in a lab somewhere — thick metal-topped tables with threaded 1/4″ holes spaced every inch or so.  They’re very flat and stable, and the grid of holes allows you to precisely place equipment.

Strong Hand Tools’ BuildPro Welding Table is reminiscent of this design, but instead of threaded holes, the ground-steel 5/8″-thick plates have CNC-machined 5/8″ through-holes spaced in a grid every 2″ apart.  The table is flat to within 0.004” per foot, and the hole spacing is accurate to ±0.0015″.

(more…)

Northern Tool is selling these Channellock 8″ Snap Ring Pliers for only $19.  The tool comes with five pairs of interchangeable tips, and you can convert it so it works with inside or outside retaining rings by sliding a tab on the tool.

Channellock Snap Ring Pliers [Northern Tool]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

You thought the only thing missing from your layout square was lasers — well, the Stanley FatMax Laser Level square may not have all the functionality of a layout square, but it does feature two lasers attached to an aluminum 90-45-45° square with level and plumb vials to boot.

(more…)