Tool Snob Father's Day Dremel Giveaway - Win A Dremel 300 Series
Have a good 'do-it-yourself' story that you'd like to share? If you do, you just might walk away with a brand new Dremel 300 Series Kit for Father's Day.
Dremel has supplied us with three kits to give away for Father's Day. We would describe the 300 Series as the basic Dremel tool, but the word basic just doesn't do it justice. The 1.15 amp tool has a variable speed between 5000 and 35000 rpm and like all Dremel tools, it is absurdly ergonomic and durable. The kit comes with a carrying case and 55 accessories, which is more than enough to get you started on any number of projects. The kit has a retail value of over $60.
There are two ways to win a kit.
1. Submit a funny DIY story - Have you ever been involved in a self-made home improvement catastrophe? Have you ever watched as someone else's project spiraled terribly out of control? These are the kinds of stories that we're looking for. For example, one time our friend wanted to get at his shower's malfunctioning mixing valve from the hallway side of the wall. A few bad measurements later, he ended up with nine feel of hallway demolished before he finally found the valve (and at that point he realized that the valve was working correctly). Your story doesn't even have to do specifically with you actually working on your house, anything tool or around-the-house related works too. Like the time our friend's dad decided to plow his frozen pond with his brand new John Deere tractor. You know how that one ends. We'll be posting up the winners, so photos are a plus. Send stories to
2. The second way to win is to simply subscribe to our feed. If you're already subscribed, you're already entered. When the contest is over, we'll just randomly pick a name and all of a sudden, you'll be a big winner. To subscribe to our feed, just fill out the form below.
We'll be giving away two kits for good stories and one in the random drawing. Signing up for the feed and sending in a story only increases your chances of winning. We'll be taking entries until June 13th.
If you'd rather skip the contest and just purchase a 300 Series Dremel Kit, they are available at Amazon.
Laughing Squid has some great photos and videos of a recent power tool drag race. From the looks of it, the event was held in some sort of post-apocalyptic Road Warrior compound, but on further investigation, it's just San Francisco. We're not sure what Bondage Barbie has to do with anything, but.....
Paslode has always been on the edge of air gun advancements, so it's no shocker that they're one of the first companies to release a 16 gauge angled finish nailer. Combining the smaller sized nails with the compact "fit anywhere" principals of the angled magazine, they've produced a gun that is, well, small. Very small. But is it powerful? Who cares how compact a gun is if it can't shoot a nail into mahogany? We've been testing out this gun for a few weeks now, and here's what we thought.
At first we were a bit surprised at how much plastic is on the gun. The entire nail magazine is plastic and a good portion of the handle as well. This serves to make the gun lighter and, as we found with a few test drops, the plastic is quite durable. There is also a metal bar that runs along the front edge of the cartridge for added strength.
Campbell Hausfeld to Release New Line of Air Tools
Campbell Hausfeld, one of the juggernauts of the pneumatic world, is getting set to release a new line of air tools to be sold exclusively at Home Depot. Not only are the tools reasonably priced, but they each come with a few accessories as well as a storage case.
The tools are:
1/2" Impact Wrench
3/8" Air Ratchet
1-5/8" Air Hammer
Air Die Grinder
Cut Off Tool
The wrench and the ratchet will be sold for $25 and the other tools will be about $20. Considering these prices and the Campbell Hausfeld name, our guess is that they'll be solid tools, but probably not up for daily use by a mechanic. In other words, they'll likely be perfect for the DIYer, the part-time user, or the contractor who will only need them from time to time.
The tools are going to be available in July and, like we said, exclusively at Home Depot.
Sanding joint compound can get pretty messy. We recently did some work in a small bathroom and even with the Shop Vac right up next to the sandpaper, the room still ended up looking like someone had walked in and detonated a bag of flour. This experience, which we've had about 1,000 times, led us to do some research on dustless hand sanding and as a result, we discovered Mirka's Abranet Sheet Sanding System.
Essentially, it's a sanding block with a vacuum port. The abrasive sheets are made of a mesh with thousands of small holes, meaning for easier sanding and far more efficient dust collection, not to mention a longer life for the sheet.
The kit, which looks like it comes with three sizes of sanding blocks, some abrasive sheets, and a vacuum hose costs about $150. A high price, but if it actually works, it might be worth not having to deal with the mess that sanding makes.
The whole concept sounds to us like a great idea, but we really couldn't find much more information on the product. It appears that the abrasive pads are available in stores, but as far as the sanding blocks go, we couldn't find anything other than a .pdf file on their website. We even tried calling them earlier in the week, but haven't heard back.
We just got word about Blog Cabin, a DIY Network project that has a really cool concept behind it. The deal is that you, the internet savvy viewers, go to the DIY website and vote on the various aspects of construction and the cabin gets built according to popular vote. At the moment, the voting is open for paint colors and the landscaping.
There are all sorts of other cool things over at the website; videos, updates, the cabin cam and of course, the voting.
Klein Tools, makers of some great hand tools (mostly geared towards electricians), turns 150 this year. It's quite a milestone and to mark the event, they're selling a t-shirt that reads, "My Tool is 150 years old...and still works!" You'd think that with a century and a half to think about it, they'd come up with something better, but apparently not.
It sure doesn't beat the guy we once saw on a paving crew with a shirt that read, "I'm the man from Nantucket."
Regardless of their t-shirt writing abilities, it's worth checking out their line of tools. They're on the expensive side, but they're worth it.
Recently Festool launched a number of new tools and among them is a new trim router called the MFK 700. We've used the Bosch Colt quite a bit and we're interested to see how the Festool compares. We're willing to bet that the Festool is one seriously precise machine. The basic kit (with just the vertical base) goes for over $500 while a fully-equipped Colt (with 4 bases) isn't even $175. We're pretty interested to see where that extra $325 is going. We're going to start playing around with it this week and we'll post up a review as soon as we can.
Our pals over at Extreme How-To have a great article on how to remodel your attic space. Writer Mark Clement takes you through the entire process from design to painting, giving a solid overview of each phase (and its complications). Although the project is an attic, most of the information is transferable to any remodeling job, and therefore, the article is useful to just about anyone getting involved in a medium-sized home improvement project. Everything from dealing with an ancient, uneven floor to trimming out skylights is covered. There is also an overview of the major tools used in the project.
We just heard about this little garden tool and thought it was worth a mention. It's called the Cultivator and it looks like a nice item for someone with a small garden and no interest in hand-tilling.
The 18-Volt tool is setup like a string trimmer, but instead of a cutter at the end, it has two oscillating tines that are capable of turning soil and rooting up weeds. The tines can be removed if you find yourself in a cramped space where only one can fit. The Cultivator can turn soil up to four inches in depth and is capable of cutting a path seven inches wide. It also has a telescoping handle.
The reviews over at Amazon are all very positive. People seem to agree that the tool is lightweight, powerful, and has a long lasting battery.
The Cultivator comes with a battery and a charger and sells for just a hair under $100.
We first met Joe Skach a couple years ago at a JLC Trade Show. Back then, he was displaying his Artillery Pry Bar System with such enthusiasm and glee that it was hard not to like the guy and be curious about the tool. At the time, the Joe was still working out the details for manufacturing and distributing the tool, so he didn't have any for sale. Now, well over a year later, he's finally gotten all the kinks worked out and the tool is available. We got the opportunity to try one out and for the past month we have abused the hell out of the thing. We have to say that not only is it by far the finest demolition tool we've ever used, it very well may be the coolest thing we have ever put our hands on.
Swanson, makers of one of the most popular SPEED® Squares, a registered trademark of Swanson Tool Co., Inc. out there, has just recently released the Wood Magnet, an interesting looking level that is capable of attaching itself to any piece of 2x stock. This eliminates the need to clamp, duct tape, or balance your level on your lumber.
The Wood Magnet can slide right on to any 2x stock, grabbing on to it with the pressure fit wings. There are also small hooks on the side of the Wood Magnet, so you can strap it around a 4x4 with the help of a rubber band or a wire. Holding up a 2x8 with one hand and trying to deal with a level in the other hand is tedious work at best and the kind of thing that can waste a lot of time.
If you're thinking about building a deck this summer and it's likely that you'll be doing most of the work by yourself, this might not be a bad purchase. It's not going to replace your 4' level, but there's no doubt that it will come in handy from time to time. Swanson also makes the good point that it can be clamped onto a 2x8 and used for screeding. Also, it only costs about $11, so even if it doesn't work out, you're not losing a lot of money in the process.
People who cut crown molding all the time make it look easy, and after you commit a few tricks to memory, it pretty much is. But if you're not familiar with the concepts behind it, it can get frustrating. And it's that particular type of frustration that really gets to the center of your head. Sort of like when your lawnmower won't start.
To help head-off this unique form of deep-seated rage, Bench Dog has released the Crown-Cut, a cool looking crown molding jig that fits on any miter saw 10" and larger. There are two main components to it; the crown stabilizers and the guide. The stabilizers are adjustable pieces that hold the crown in the correct position for the cut, and the guide, printed on the vertical face of the Crown-Cut, is nothing less than a one-stop reference for cutting crown. With helpful diagrams for cutting inside and outside corners, and likely eliminates the first 30 minutes of mistakes and mock-ups. The vertical face also has three adjustable risers that can give support to crown up to 6" wide
There are two models available; one made of polymer plastic and one made of Baltic Birch. The wood version is $40 and the plastic one is $30. There might be some durability differences, but it probably comes down to aesthetic preference.
Wood Crown-Cut at Amazon
Plastic Crown-Cut at Amazon
Based on the great success of last year's Ridgid SeeSnake Micro (our review here), we've been wondering how long it would be before someone else followed suit with a similar tool. Well it turns out that it's Milwaukee and they've added a number of nice features, making their Digital Inspection Camera an across the boards improvement on the SeeSnake.
The basics of the tool are the same; there's a three foot long flexible hose with a camera lens on one end and a hand-held screen on the other. The lens end has a light and, like the Ridgid, hose extensions are available if 3' isn't enough length.
If you've always wanted a circular saw that could not only cut through wood, but your neighbor's car as well, the Evolution Rage might be perfect for you.
At first glance, the saw looks like normal circular saw (although slightly more influenced by Tron). It shares a lot of the same basic characteristics with it's brethren; 7-1/4" blade, 45 degree bevel, and a dust port, but unlike other circular saws, this one can apparently cut through wood, steel, aluminum, and plastics. Essentially, it can do the duty of a reciprocating saw, but it can do it with a nice straight line. Also, Evolution claims that when the Rage cuts metal, it makes no sparks, leaves no burrs, and somehow does not heat up the metal as it cuts. There is no coolant used in the tool, so our guess is that this has something to do with the blade design as well as the steroid-addled gearbox and motor.
Lately Skil has been showing a good eye for innovation. They jumped right into the li-ion market with tools like last year's Power Wrench and the new Power Cutter, and now they're on the verge of releasing a whole new line of benchtop tools created specifically for the casual and first-time user.
Late last week, we had the opportunity to check out these new tools, and we have to say that we were very impressed. There are ten tools in all; two table saws, two miter saws, a miter saw stand, a scroll saw, a band saw, a drill press, a bench grinder, and a belt disc sander. Like all Skil tools, they're durable (but not indestructible), and priced at a very reasonable level. Because they are all designed for the beginner there is an added emphasis on safety as well as ease-of use. Although they did have more features, they are similar to Delta's Shopmaster Series.
The bad news is that you're going to have to wait until September to see them in stores. They will be available exclusively at Lowes and, with a few exceptions, they're going to cost about $100 (one of the table saws and one of the miter saws will be in the $150-160 range and the bench grinder is somewhere around $40).
In the days and weeks ahead we'll be looking at each tool individually, but for now, we'll just say that for the price, these are going to be tough to beat.
April is over and the summer projects are in the planning phase. Judging from the traffic to our review of the Wagner Paint Crew Plus, a lot of you are thinking about painting the house. Good luck with that one.
Our tool of the month goes to the C.H. Hanson Chalk Hog. The Paslode Framer is a great tool and the two TKTools that we looked at were also cool, but once again, C.H. Hanson shows that even the most mundane of tools can be redesigned and improved.
Tool Snob Father's Day Dremel Giveaway - Win A Dremel 300 Series
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Craftsman 10" MiterMate - Review
