Recently, one of the mechanics at my local shop got himself a brand new Snap-on box with a top hutch, and I got a little jealous — ok, a lot jealous. It’s big, blue, shiny, and completely lust-worthy.

The five thousand dollar buy-in is steep for most, but you’re really buying the Snap-on name and quality. A box like this will last through many moves from house to house, from shop to shop — and all the while it’ll hold a ton of tools without sagging or faltering like a few department store toolboxes might. Plus, you can always expand or adapt this versatile box to suit your circumstances.

Only the buyer can say whether the Snap-on box is worth the uber price difference. But most of us can agree, this box is mighty good looking — even with all the drool stains on it.

Rolling Toolbox And Top Hutch [Snap-on]

When NASA’s astronauts need a power tool to use in orbit, they can’t just head down to Lowe’s and pick up a DeWalt. Vacuum, radiation, and extreme temperatures make for a difficult environment, to say the least, so NASA started looking into a tool — half drill-driver, half ratcheting torque wrench — that could be used on spacewalks to maintain the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station in the mid ’90s. Alliant Techsystems filled that order with the Pistol Grip Tool or PGT: it’s a self-contained, computer-controlled, and battery-operated tool that can torque down fasteners very precisely while being operated by an astronaut with the dexterity of someone wearing pressurized hockey gloves.

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Who in their right mind is going to take a $100+ plumb bob to the job site when they can bring a perfectly serviceable $10 one? If you showed up on the job site with the PB-9 plumb bob from Bridge City Tool Works, you’d either get laughed off the lot, or all work would stop while everyone came over to admire this beautiful tool.

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Most woodworking workbenches make some provision for bench dogs — and if they don’t, a few minutes with a 3/4″ drill bit can fix that oversight.  You can use the holes not only for bench dogs, but also for hold-downs and other specialized clamps, such as this very well thought-out and elegant clamp from Veritas.

You can clamp materials as thick as 3-3/4″ with this brass, steel, and anodized aluminum clamp. A brass knob on the top of the clamp post controls the simple wedging mechanism, which makes inserting and removing the clamp quick and easy.

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Porsche has partnered with Wenger to create this reinterpretation of the basic SAK design. The handle is curved to not cut up your driving gloves. The handle scales are made with the element ruthenium, just because ruthenium sounds cool. Street pricing is around $160 bucks, but you can probably get Porsche to cut you a break when you buy that new 911.

Porsche Knife [Porsche Design]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

The AMPCO 7920 German-type sledge hammer will run you $900 on Amazon. Believe it or not, this 23.79 pound — when you pay almost $40 a pound you want to be accurate – German-type sledge serves a practical purpose. Its non-sparking, non-magnetic, corrosion-resistant, beryllium free head meets OSHA and NFPA requirements for use in hazardous, flammable, or combustible environment. So you can break s#!$ just about anywhere.

If that isn’t enough to make you run out and buy one right now, AMPCO’s offers a lifetime warranty. (They don’t specify whether that lifetime is the tools or yours, though. We hear toxic waste can sting.)

Don’t forget to read the reviews on Amazon as you rush to purchase this sledge — they’re quite amusing.

AMPCO 7920 [Manufacturer]
Via Amazon [What’s this?]

Can you afford one of these?  No.  But you can get a big kick out of watching one in action.  This video shows an edited clip of the killer mill turning a solid block of metal into a fully-finished V8 engine block.

Sean says he saw this exact sort of thing on How It’s Made a few weeks ago, with the engine blocks destined for GM vehicles.  Sweet.

(Thanks, Vito, for the tip!)

TM reader and photo pool member TallDarkandWeirdo posted a whole series of “Tool Pr0n” recently — artfully posed photos of his tool gear, like the one above.  Don’t worry: these are all totally safe for work.  Check out the pool for the rest.

Toolmonger’s Photo Pool [Flickr]

Above, you’ll find an artfully-posed photo Festool’s entry into the miter saw world: a $1,758 monster loaded with all sorts of kick-ass features you wish you had.  We’ll write more about this when we have time to digest the spec sheet that’s as long as my, um, arm.  But in the meantime, drool away.

It seems that Metabo’s “Porsche Design” P’7911 Multihammer is becoming a press darling again, most recently featured on Engadget and Sybarites – not to mention about a thousand spam blogs who ripped off the post from the them.  It is an interesting tool, though it seems that none of us can really figure out who qualifies as its target market.  But remember: you saw it first back in December here on TM!

No matter how much you may think otherwise, you don’t need a gold-plated ratchet.  Really.  Even if it does come in a “handsomely engraved walnut display box.

Want, yes.  Need, no.  It’s $60.

Craftsman 1945 Collectible 22k Gold-Plated Ratchet [Sears]

Other Tool Pr0n:

• The Porsche Design/Metabo MultiHammer
• GearWrench’s Cushion-Grip Ratchets
• GearWrench’s New Screwdrivers

Apparently Metabo got together with Porsche Design (yes, that Porsche) to create “a perfect rotary hammer, reduced to its key functions: hammer drilling in stone, chiseling, drilling in wood and metal, screwing.”

The housing’s made of aluminum and carbon fibre, for chrissake.  I can’t imagine what this costs, and I can’t find anyone selling it readily, so it’s today’s tool pr0n.

Check out the video.

Porsche Design MultiHammer (Model P’7911) [Metabo Warning: Video w/Sound]

Here’s the last of GearWrench’s SEMA releases: some new cushion-grip ratchets.  I don’t know if you can see it clearly on the photo above, but I like the fact that the label on the directon switch says “on” and “off.”  It’ll save you from checking each time you pick it up.

As some readers have commented regarding “soft-grip” tools in general, they do tend to get dirty and stay dirty.  They also tend to prevent you from sticking a pipe on the end of the ratchet, which is a good thing in general, but bad if you need to do it.  Then again, comfort is comfort.

What say y’all?

Remember how we told you GearWrench announced at SEMA that they’re expanding into non-ratcheting tools?  Here’s one of their new screwdrivers.  We don’t know much about them yet, but we thought we’d share the pix.

I guess there’s not much to say about them except that they look like nice screwdrivers.  In fact, they look a lot like the ‘drivers in MAC’s Foose kit.  (Hint: That’s a good thing.)

There’s another photo of the mini screwdrivers after the jump.

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