Sometimes we find better uses for our tools than the manufacturer had in mind when the design specs were originally laid out. Loading up this toolbox with tools made it too heavy for a second floor apartment — so we filled it with toys that needed a bit of organization which turned it into ultimate mobile toybox.

It might not be the most macho use of the 4 in 1 toolbox but for the household it sits in this is noble work indeed. The best part is the wheels and travel luggage handle that lets this rolling fun-time box go wherever needed.

4-in-1 Mobile Workstation [Stanley]
Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Some Toolmongers can open a bottle with practically anything: this Appalachian Trail pocket knife, for instance, or the edge of a bar. For myself, the choice of tool is critical — so I opt for a pope bottle opener, which makes a great conversation piece as well as a functional answer to my need for refreshment. If you want a popener for yourself or for your favorite beer drinker, you can find at least one online.

Street Pricing [Google Products]

Craftsman has thrown down the gauntlet. OK, maybe more like a dish glove. Or a used latex work glove. Here’s the deal: if you can find “a better value at the same or lower price” with all the features of various Craftsman lawn mowers and tractors, they’ll “give it to you free.” Before you go diving for Google, here’s the fine print:

You’ll also find a few kicker requirements in the flyer, such as a “Die Hard battery” (so the mower you find has to be made by Sears) and a “free trip charge for in-home warranty service during the first year**.” What do the asterisks mean? “See sales associate for details.” This whole game reminds me a bit of the prizes Steve Martin offered as a carnie in The Jerk.

Oh yeah, you’ve only got until the 26th. And you can’t participate if you live in California. Unlucky you.

The Fine Print [Sears/PDF]

CNN’s running video of some clueless guy in a white truck — dragging a trailer with a zero-turn lawn mower on it, no less — leading police on a merry chase. Toolmongers will note that though the trailer fishtails pretty badly, the guy doesn’t lose control until the mower comes loose and slides to the back of the trailer, rendering it un-drivable.

Not to spoil it for everyone, but it ends, um, badly. The trailer jackknifes, the mower hops off and smacks into the truck, and the whole mess grinds to a halt on an overpass. Predictably, the guy runs and is chased down (and arrested) by police.

Lesson learned: Don’t run from the cops — especially in a crappy truck while towing a trailer. But if you do, make sure your mower is tied down firmly. And try to go a little easier on the wheel, yeah?

Truck Towing Mower Leads Chase [CNN Video]

C’mon — tell me you can’t think of a fun application for this $10 old-timey “oooga” horn from Harbor Freight! Think about it: it’s a 12V horn, so you could probably swap it into your car without too much hassle — or maybe into your significant other’s car, if you’re brave enough. If your ATV has a 12V system, it’d work great for clearing drunk dunderheads at your next back-woods booze-up.

And it’s way more interesting and useful than HF’s vaunted electronic fly swatter. No, really.

12V “OOOGA” Air Horn [Harbor Freight]

Starrett combines two tools that you’d think were incompatible: a hammer and a magnifying glass. They say they integrate a magnifying lens into their No. 815 toolmakers’ hammer so you don’t have to look away from your work to find either tool.

Starrett hardens both the flat and ball-peen heads, and they chromium-plate the entire hammer for protection and an attractive finish.  A rubber mounting protects the lens from the impact of hammering.  The steel hammer weighs 133 grams, and Starrett will personalize it with a message, if you’re giving it as a gift.

Street pricing starts around $50.

Toolmakers’ Hammer [Starrett]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you’ve ever punched the clock for a living, you know what it means to feel like a tiny cog in a much larger machine. Next time you feel that sensation rushing over you, think of these Chinese factory workers who ARE part of the machine.

Place-Duck-Grab, all day long. The management cautions against daydreaming or zoning out, and bathroom breaks are as much about timing as scheduling. Safety regulations are pretty lax, so the likelihood that you’ll get a cool nickname like “Lefty”, “The Stump”, or “Mr. Screams Like A Girl” are pretty high.

Are you tired of lifting and pouring five-gallon pails all day? Morse’s Model 83 Pail Handler might be the answer to your aching back. This 125-pound machine can lift a five-gallon pail that weighs up to 150 lbs. We’re not exactly sure what material weighs 30 lbs per gallon, but maybe you need to move a pail of iron filings.

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A former drywall professional invented Erase-A-Hole to take care of small patch jobs around the house. As an added bonus, the deodorant-like applicator and the suggestive name might make you crack a grin.

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At last, say goodbye to the days on the job site when you could only express your team loyalty with mere words. Now you can beat in the message — literally. No one will dare mess with your team after seeing you cling tightly to the simulated football grip — complete with front-facing laces — of this construction-grade, “all-purpose” hammer. Now who’s ready for some football? You are!

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Making fun of Harbor Freight’s non-tool items is sorta like laughing at Pat in Something About Mary — in so many ways it’s wrong, but you just can’t stop. So yet again, we feature an item that we’re surprised to find on the front page of the HF site today: a coffee mug.

That’s not to say that we’re not fans of coffee mugs — or more seriously of the life-giving elixir within. It’s just that when I think about buying beverage containers, I think, say, Target. Or maybe the grocery store. For those of you with newly-purchased class, maybe Crate and Barrel or Williams-Sonoma pops into your mind.

BS aside, we present for your consideration one 14 oz. stainless steel travel mug. Certainly from China and probably not coated in anything that’ll kill you (any faster than coffee), this 5″ high, PVC-lined cup with non-slip rubber base can be yours for the princely sum of $2. Maybe the Chinese tool manufacturers make the ‘Freightster take a few of these (and a few four-piece decorative frog sets) for every good cheap-but-decent toolbox they deliver.

Oh yeah, and they have an English wheel on sale for $249 again. Be sure to watch that shipping cost.

Travel Mug [Harbor Freight]

Video game blog 1up (among others) noted that Bill Gates’ recent Consumer Electronics Show keynote included a demonstration of the very cool Microsoft Surface, a multi-touch display panel sorta like the one you saw in Minority Report. The funny part: we hear that Bill used the surface to customize a snowboard, commenting on how cool it was to apply the customizations with one’s hands.

Incredibly, we’ve been doing things like customizing snowboards with our hands for quite some time. Now that you’re spending a little more time away from the office, Bill, why not take a stab at the old-fashioned way? If you’re stumped for projects, we’d be happy to recommend a few to get you started.

2008 CES Keynote Coverage [1up]

We thought you’d appreciate this great construction site sign, supposedly from Australia. I wonder if Todd gets a lot of calls.

Aussie Construction Sign [The Place to Blog]

This season, give your little girl a chainsaw – a chainsaw ornament, that is — with pink Swarovski crystals and a pink ribbon to match.  Or, if a chainsaw doesn’t seem just right, maybe a circ saw or a power drill are more her thing. 

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The twilight of modern man is upon us. Yes, Toolmongers, for just $20 you can have your very own laser-guided hand saw. How did you ever live without this? How could you go on living now that you’ve seen it and still don’t have one? Steal from the kids collage fund – shank someone if you must — but be sure not to miss this beauty.

Seriously – does someone honestly think this is a good idea? Of course now that I’ve tipped my hand and called it stupid, it’ll surely sell 10 million this holiday season. Personally, I’m holding out for a laser guided screwdriver.

Laser Guided Hand Saw [Collections Etc.]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

If you’re looking for some quick and easy entertainment, check out this new Home Improvement flash game over at addictinggames.com. There are three short stages in which you must complete tasks as quickly and flawlessly as possible.

Hopefully my new status as Master Toolman won’t lead to any broken bones or spoiled projects in the near future! Have you got what it takes to beat my score?

Home Improvement Game [Addictinggames.com]

So some guys are sitting around their gas stove one day thinking, “You know what this fire needs? Some crackle!” Then some down-home American ingenuity kicked in, and they probably sank their life savings into a company to bring us the Cracklebox — a digital recording of “real country fires in southwest Virginia” contained in a tiny box. According to the Kracklebox site “What Kracklebox provides, in a word, is realism.”

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