The stuff some people build is amazing. You’ve got to have a great imagination – like Mike Stamps from San Clemente, CA — and a sense of humor, too, to create something like this. He devised this contraption to help him with a daily task of which he’d tired: kicking ass.

The Spanish inquisitors — or at least Mel Brooks’ interpretation of them — would be proud. And he’s looking for victims volunteers to work for him and get paid to get their asses kicked. Really.

Ass-Kicking Machine from the Best of Craigslist [Craigslist]

Hilltop Design, an engineering firm in New Hampshire, has a 21st-century solution for moving around big shop equipment: the hoverpad. Instead of hoping your sorry-ass friends will show up and your dolly and steel toes will make it through one more move without injury, you can use hover technology to get the job done quickly and safely.

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Thankfully, today’s railroad workers don’t have to drive spikes John Henry style.  Tools like this dual railroad clip installer save time — and help prevent repetitive stress injuries — by automatically driving in clips to hold rails in place on modern concrete ties.  It takes an incredible amount of force to install these clips quickly, which this device receives from a separate hydraulic power unit.  The power units come in electric, diesel, and gas-powered versions.

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Long-time TM reader and photo pool member Tracy posted this interesting photo of an unusual tool used on muzzle-loading rifles: a nipple wrench.  He writes: “You can see in the photo how the wrench fits over the “firing nipple” to turn it for removal or installation.”

Check out the pool for other photos of this (and other) interesting tools.  And if you get a chance, sign up for a free account with Flickr, join the Toolmonger group, and post some pics of your own cool tools, projects, or shop.  We’ll be watching.

Toolmonger’s Photo Pool [Flickr]

Want a toe-kick saw like the Crain No. 795 featured yesterday, but don’t want to shell out serious dough?  For the hobbyist who may only use it once or twice over the course of a kitchen and/or bath remodel, the Harbor Freight model might work great — especially since (as reader Evan pointed out) it’s marked down to $40 right now.

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The name says it all: it’s a driver set that looks like a tank.  Sold as a promotional item primarily, the Tank Tool is pretty functional, too.  The tank’s turret and cannon make up a detachable screwdriver handle, and the treads pull double duty as socket and bit storage.  There’s even a tray built into the center body of the tank to hold loose screws and other fasteners –plus a mini screwdriver.  Hell, this “tank” is better equipped than some household “tool kits.”

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Ever want to turn your car, house, couch, computer–hell, pretty much anything–into small, easy-to-dispose-of junk?  Meet the PRI-MAX.  According to manufacturer SSI, the PRI-MAX is king of the shredder world, measuring output capability in tons per hour.

And just to prove its capability, they shred something new and unusual each month for your viewing pleasure.  Forget internet darling Will It Blend?  Can they blend a freakin’ BMW?  A couch?  How ’bout a pile of Macs all at the same time?

We link the full list of shred videos below.  Check it out only if you’re in the mood to see destruction (and have some spare time).

(Thanks for the tip, PutnamEco!)

The PRI-MAX [SSI]
Monthly Shreds [SSI]

An anonymous TM reader tipped us off to these Flickr photos of some awesome custom-made miniature tools.  In the photo above you see both an original brace and this guy’s miniature version.  Incredibly, this isn’t even the most interesting of his tools.  Follow the link below to see the rest of his Flickr photo stream.

Sadly, all we know about these tools is that they belong to Flickr user Minitool.  Our tipster says he found them via Sherline’s Yahoo discussion group — Sherline makes miniature computer-controlled lathes and mills.  Maybe he’ll stop by and tell us a bit more about them!

Minitool’s Miniature Tool Photos [Flickr]

Your arm power pushes this “sewing awl” through even heavy materials — like canvas and leather — to make lockstitches just like a sewing machine.  Except unlike a machine, the ‘Stitcher is portable and really, really cheap.

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This weekend I met “Chainsaw,” an artist from the Austin area who carves wood with… well, you get the idea.  He’s a super nice guy, and he turned me on to the chainsaw artist’s secret weapon: a chainsaw blade designed to mount in your 4-1/2″ angle grinder.  He says it works great for creating curved surfaces. 

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What do you do if you’re Mandy Moore — yeah, that Mandy Moore — and you need to carry a flashlight?  You need something durable enough to beat away the paparazzi, but you simply can’t abide that nasty utilitarian look.  You pick up a Mini-Maglite wrapped in supple leather by handbag manufacturer Coach, of course!

Seriously, though, TM reader Stuey found this two-AA model light-couture at an outlet mall and laughed so hard that he snapped the above pic to share with us.  He writes: “With an original price of $68 and an outlet-store price of $50, it’s no wonder it’s not selling well.”

We’re not advocating that you practice home dentistry — though we recommend good dental hygiene, of course —  but you’ll easily find uses for dental tools around the shop.  As a lifelong home renovator, I’ve used my old flea-market-find dental tools for scraping the last bit of paint from the details in stripped woodwork, removing a century of crud from various corners and crevices, cleaning out clogged gas burners, and picking out little stuck things from places I can’t reach with any other tool. 

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Mister Jalopy — of Hoopty Rides and MAKE fame — posted pics of this interesting clamp he found at a garage sale.  It’s similar to a modern F-clamp (like this one from Stanley), but the one in the photo applies final clamping force with a lever-actuated eccentric instead of a screw-type mechanism.  It’s a great find, and looks quite useful.

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I spent most of Monday morning at the dentist’s office having a crown put in place, but it turns out that time wasn’t entirely lost work-wise — dentists have some seriously cool tools, many of which you’ll actually recognize.  After we were done with the paying work, the dentist gave me a little tour and consented to let me shoot a few pics of some of her favorite tools.  (And no, the tool pictured above isn’t a toothbrush.)

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