Irwin has just kicked off a cool contest. All you have to do to enter is send in a little story concerning some experience you had with one of their Vise-Grip tools. Since every one of you should own at least one item in this amazing line, it shouldn't be too hard.
The prizes are where this contest gets impressive. Grand prize is your choice of an Irwin custom motorcycle or $25,000 cash. The runner up gets a $1000 Cabela's gift card, and second runner up gets a $500 gift card. On top of that, all three top winners get a trip to NYC to present their stories. There are also 10 semi-finalists who each walk away with $500 worth of Vise-Grip tools.
Entries will be accepted until October 31st (so if you don't own any Vise-Grip tools there's still time to pick one up), and winners will be announced around December 19th.
At their website, Irwin has some stories up already and they range from the interesting to the...well....not so interesting ("Love my Irwin vise-grip tool - use it at least once a week for something").
A fella named Robert wrote in with our second winning entry in the Dremel contest. His story follows the old question, "what's heavier: a pound of lead or a pound of contact lenses?" It's a heartwarming tale of someone who spends time planning and executing a project, only to realize that it was all for nothing.
Congrats Robert, we'll be shipping out your Dremel Tool shortly. Here's his story:
Reader David wrote in with the following story and we'll be shipping him a new Dremel Series 300 Kit. Nice work David. We're going to announce the second winner tomorrow, so we'll still take entries all day today. Details on the contest here.
We liked David's story for two reasons; first, we did the same thing once, and second, it reminds us of that creepy guy from Raider's of the Lost Ark.
Nothing says, "Dad, you're the best," like free merchandise. And that's why we're giving away three brand new Dremel kits for Father's Day. There are two ways to enter, both of which are quick and painless. So what are you waiting for?
Wagner, makers of the PaintEater and the Paint Crew Plus are running a pretty serious contest over at their site. The grand prize is "$3000 towards home improvements," which according to the small print is simply a check made out to you, the winner. There will be five second place winners who will take home the Wagner Deluxe package, which includes:
Paint Crew Plus
Roll-N-Go
PaintMate Plus
PaintEater
Control Spray
10 third place winners will get the Wagner Dual Package, which includes:
DeckMate
Control Spray
And 10 fourth place winners will each get a PaintEater. The rest of you will have to buy all of your Wagner tools.
To enter, just go to the Wagner website and register. The contest will end September 30th and winners will be randomly chosen about a week later.
Register for the contest here.
Wagner tools at Amazon
Here are four that we think he might like in ascending order of price.
Prazi Monster Hook - This little guy is invaluable for any ladder work involving a cordless drill. It just clicks onto the belt and the cordless drill just falls right into it. If you love your father, don't make him hold the drill between his knees anymore. Our review is here. $6 at Amazon.
Renovating Old Houses - We're big fans of this book. It covers a lot of territory and although it's focused on old houses, there are things in it for any homeowner. We constantly find ourselves referencing the sections on the various house systems. Our review is here. $21 at Amazon.
Dremel Screwdriver - Ever since we got our hands on this tool, it's become the go-to screwdriver for small around the house repairs. It's little, cool-looking, and the 7.2 volts are way more powerful than you think. It's perfect for picture hanging, hinge adjusting, electrical work, and everything else that doesn't require a ton of power. The screwdriver costs $70, but for an extra $10, you can get it with a battery-powered rotary tool (which by itself costs $55. Huh?). Our review is here. At Amazon.This is not to be confused with Dremel's 300 Series, which we're currently giving away. Details here.
Wagner PaintEater - If painting the house is on the list, then do pops a favor and get him a PaintEater. It will make the tedious scraping phase go a lot faster. Our review is here. $75 at Amazon.
For more ideas, we still have last year's guide posted up. It's divided into five parts: one ($1-$20), Two ($20-$50), Three ($50-$100), Four ($100-$150), and Five ($150 and up).
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.
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.
DeWalt is running one of their sweepstakes and this time the prize is your choice of either the VSR Mid-Handle Drill or the VSR Pistol Grip Drill. To enter the contest, all you have to do is register here at DeWalt.com. Entries are accepted until May 7th and the drawing will be held on May 14th.
If you aren't into games of chance, you can just buy the drills at Amazon.
Last Friday we locked up the shop and headed out to the JLC Live show in Rhode Island. It's always a good time and it gives us a chance to put our hands on some new tools, see what new building products are out there, and to bump into some old friends.
There's no doubt that this year's event was dominated by the Festool Kapex. Everyone was talking about it and there were a few on display. Festool, once a small booth way over in the corner, is now a major sponsor and had some prime real estate in the direct center of the conference hall. Anyway, the Kapex, is indeed a very nice tool, but $1300...
JLC Rhode Island This Weekend - Great Deal at Tool King
We're heading off to the JLC Rhode Island trade show today. We're hoping to bump into some old friends and see what the deal is on all of this year's new tools. Festool is also debuting the Kapex miter saw, so we're going to make sure to check that out too (if we can get past the crowd). Stay tuned early next week for photos and our thoughts on the event - and while you're waiting, here's what we had to say about last year's event.
But before we head into the weekend, we wanted to give you the head's up on a great deal that Tool King has going on through Sunday. It's $5 off any purchase over $25 with free shipping. It boils down to free money, so get there and get shopping.
To activate the deal, enter promotion code SS0327 when you check out. Limit one per customer and the free shipping only goes to the lower 48.
Northern Tool Spring/Summer 08 Master Catalog is Here
We just got ours in the mail on Saturday. If you're not familiar with it, you're missing out. It's got everything from hand tools to the Off-Road Commode (and who doesn't need an Off-Road Commode?). Storage supplies, farm equipment, generators, security equipment, and on and on... We think it ranks right up there with the Grizzly catalog.
So if you were looking for a reason to go to the JLC show, this is it. Well, maybe. Last year, the Festool table was an unapproachable mob scene with the news of their Domino Joiner, and that was just one tool. But there are a lot of other reasons to go to the show. Here's our coverage of last year's event.
The JLC show is held in Providence, RI this March 28th and 29th. Information on the event is here. You can buy tickets at the JLC site or it looks like Festool has a way to get them free here.
We just noticed that some of C.H Hanson's tools are now being sold at Amazon. Previously, the only place we could find them was at C.H. Hanson Direct, but now, not only does Amazon stock them, but they've got them at great prices too. The $80 something Pivot Square is now in the $50 range!
Got a Vise-Grip Story....Win a Custom Chopper
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