Lasers just keep getting cheaper — Rockler cut the price of the Infiniter RS-1 Laser Cutting Guide in half. That’s right, it’s on sale for just $13, cheaper than the Harbor Freight version is currently listed!
Northern Tools is selling this Titan 3-piece seam splitter set for $40. Designed to separate spot-welded panels in autobody work, they look like the sort of tools that could be repurposed for all sorts of weird prying jobs.
3-Piece Titan Seam Splitter Set [Northern Tool]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
As the snow starts to melt, you notice that the snowplow driver took some liberty guessing where the road ended and your yard began. Don’t be too hard on him — it’s pretty tough to tell at 2 in the morning. Next time give him a break and mark your driveway or curb with a lighted solar driveway marker from SunForce.
Richpower Industries recently introduced their Maglithion PowerSmith cordless tool system which sells in second-tier big box stores like Bi-Mart, Northern, Fleet Farm, Rural King, and Zellers. The system uses a single universal lithium-ion 12V battery for the entire platform — somewhat like Ryobi’s One+ or Black & Decker’s VPX. Richpower claims their lithium-ion batteries last twice as long as NiCads and hold their charge for a year.
Right now they sell a drill/driver, impact driver, handsaw, portable fan, circular saw, rotary tool, screwdriver, flashlight, and vacuum. They claim to be coming out with a sander, ratchet, inflator, jigsaw, grinder, and nailer next.
Pricing is about $40 for a battery and charger, $25 to $30 for the workhorse tools, and $10 to $17 for vacuums and other accessories. They also offer value-priced combo kits.
Has anybody tried these new cordless tools? Let us know what you think of them in the comments.
Maglithion [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
You can magnetize a screwdriver to keep screws in place, so why not magnetize your sockets, too? These Brocket magnetic socket inserts hold nuts and bolts captive so you don’t have to worry about them falling out and rolling into hard-to-reach places.
Northern Tool is selling the Milescraft WheelEzze grinding wheel dressing tool for $8. Used to dress bench grinding wheels (you do dress your wheels, don’t you?), it’s a little less brutal than star wheel-type dressers.
WheelEzze Dressing Tool [Northern Tool]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Northern Tool is selling this drive chain breaker for $10. A drive chain breaker (or roller chain breaker) helps you remove the pin that holds the links of roller chain together — much easier than using a pin punch!
Drive Chain Breaker [Northern Tool]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
We don’t experience the blood-freezing temperatures here in the South that they do further north, but it does get cold enough that we start looking for heating options in the shop during the winter. Talk of halogen heaters starts making the rounds as soon as the first frost hits — but are they effective in the shop?
You can bag a cheap electric halogen heater for less than a C-note, and they come in a dizzying array of sizes and shapes. The concept of no-flame heating seems appropriate for the shop, but how well do these things work? How much area do they cover? Will the person standing five feet from the unit be sweating while the guy on the other side of the garage is experiencing a modern Ice Age?
In short, are these good units to place in the shop, or is this technology only suited for the small heaters you find under old people’s desks? Let us know in comments.
Airworks Garage Heater [Northern Tool and Equipment]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Few things can highlight a lack of basic tools like moving into a house from an apartment. Now that you have a yard, your sweetheart wants to plant some bulbs under the big tree out front, which seems reasonable — until you remember that your only digging implements are a hatchet and a spoon. You need a tool like this Seymour round-point shovel from Northern Tool and Equipment.
Get into tight corners where your old die grinder can’t reach with AirCat’s inside-corner die grinder. With its 4″ wheel you can access angles as shallow as 30°. The tool’s 17″ length also allows you to reach into confined spaces.
Northern Tool is offering a great deal on Empire’s Heavy-Duty Magnum Rafter Square, at $5. Rafter squares, also known as layout squares, help you lay out cuts for rafter joints and make square cuts on dimensional lumber.
Empire Heavy-Duty Magnum Rafter Square [Northern Tool]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Seju, the company that brought you the Safe Drive personal alcohol detector and the Kiss Me bad-breath detector, also sells the EZ Gas Check portable gas detector. It detects propane gas at levels as low as 1/10 of the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) and natural gas at 1/5 of the LEL.
The spring-loaded arm and adjustable magnetic pad give the MagSpring clamp its name, but fast clamping and one-handed operation set the clamp apart from other sliding bar clamps.
When I was I little boy, I thought the pallet trucks they used around the grocery store were the coolest toys. Now that I’m older and my dreams of being a stock boy have been crushed, I still think they’re pretty neat. You can buy your aspiring little stock boy or girl his or her very own pallet truck from Northern Tool for $190.
Next time you’re changing your duallies, you might find that a wrench-support stand comes in handy. It helps you apply more torque and keeps the tool squarely on the lug nuts when removing or replacing a tire — especially when using a longer tool like a double-end truck wrench, a four-way lug wrench, or a torque wrench with an extension.
This commercial-duty wrench-support stand from Ken-Tool adjusts from 14-1/2″ to 22-1/2″ high and runs about $40.
Wrench-Support Stand [Ken-Tool]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon(B000TXVMX2) [What’s This?] [What's This?]
It seems like everybody has an idea for a new and better clamp — now Strong Hand Tools has come out with the shark clamp, which distinguishes itself by being fast to use. Holding the quick-acting button you can open and close the scissor-action jaws quickly and finish tightening them with a few turns — instead of turning and turning and turning the handle. But do you really need another type of clamp to add to your collection? Keep reading to find out.
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Next time you’re repairing fence in the back forty, you’ll probably want to bring along a fence stretcher. Whether you need to stretch, splice, staple, or reposition high-tensile, barbed, or smooth wire, Goldenrod’s #405 fence stretcher will do the job.
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What's In Your Kitchen Tool Drawer?
Tool Talk #53: Old Hardware Stores & Pocket Knives
Tool Talk #52: Listener Calls & Reader Projects
Tool Talk #51: DIY Wedding Rings & Heirloom Shopsmiths
Tool Talk #50: Router Safety & Pointless Tools
Tool Talk #49: Bookcases & Ending Laziness
Tool Talk #48: Christmas & (Paint) Strippers
One Beer Projects: Repairing Wood Surfaces
One Beer Projects: Fixing Simple Problems With Your Dryer
One Beer Projects: Winterizing/Storing Your Bike
One Beer Projects: De-Badging Your Truck
One Beer Projects: Staining Your Fence
One Beer Projects: Doing Your Own Brakes
One Beer Projects: Balancing Your A/C For The Summer
One Beer Projects: Installing A Dimmer Switch
Hands-On: Milwaukee M12 Power Port
Hands-On: Caterpillars Fix Wiggly Outlets For Good
Head 2 Head Hands-On: Bosch SPS10 vs LI3000 SmartDriver
Hands-On: Striker Magnetic LED Light
Hands-On: Dremel Duo Kit -- Dremel Driver
Hands-On: Elmer's ProBond Wood Filler
Hands-On: Duo-Fast DF350S Framing Nailer
Hands-On: Watco Danish Oil - Cherry Finish
Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 5: Engine Teardown
Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 4: A New Transmission
Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 3: Building An Engine Stand
Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 2: Pulling The Engine
Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 1: The Truck
How-To: Cut Angles With A Circular Saw
Project Garage: Yukon Engine Swap (Part 5) -- Complete!
Project Garage: Yukon Engine Swap (Part 4) -- Installation!
Project Garage: Yukon Engine Swap (Part 3) -- Fabricating Engine Brackets
Project Garage: Yukon Engine Swap (Part 2) -- GM Performance Parts
