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March 8, 2010
Acme Tools Launches New Retail Website
In 1999, Acme Tools sold their online department to Amazon and since then, they've apparently been concentrating on expanding their brick and mortar stores in Iowa and Minnesota. But now it seems that they're back in action.
We checked their prices and they're in the range of most other online retailers. The site does have a couple cool features like a 'what's new' area and a standing gift guide. You can also 'shop by trade,' which is nice.
Acme Tools
March 3, 2010
And the Winners Are.....
We've done our random drawing and have come up with the grand prize winner of the Craftsman MiterMate. First, we took all of your comments and gave each one a number and wrote those numbers on little pieces of paper and spread them out on the floor. Then, we plopped Tool Snob Jr. in the middle of it and the piece of paper he selected was the winner. Although he was momentarily distracted by Sullivan, the giant teddy bear, he soon got down to business and picked a winner. To make sure that the whole event was on the up and up, the drawing was monitored closely by Marlowe, the official sweepstakes observer.
And so the winner of the MiterMate is Beth who wrote in with this entry:
I absolutely need this. I currently have to borrow my cousin's husbands mitre saw, and granted he doesn't use it, neither do I, because it's broke, and I can't just go around returning broken miter saws to people, and saying things like 'it was this way when I found it', and by found it I mean dropped it.
Mostly I need to finished the molding and trim in the front room of my mothers house, before she gets back and sees that I ripped out all the old stuff.
So when I think do I need a mitersaw? The question is really do I wish to continue to be a member of this family and have a roof over my head?
Both answers are yes.
Thanks Toolsnob, I keep you in the heart of my toolbar, in the web browser of my life.
When we initiated the contest, we said we would choose another winner based on originality and creativity. As it turns out we chose two. These guys will be getting a random tool from the shop.
The first runner-up was David, who, if he won the saw, offered to devote 1-3 minutes each day to world peace. We're sorry that you didn't win the grand prize, David. It looks like Bono will just have to carry a little more weight on his shoulders.
The second runner-up was Bobby, who delivered his entry in the form of a haiku. We were stunned with his evocative words and are in the process of nominating him for the Bollingen Prize. Dim the lights and read the poem for yourself:
a mitermate saw!
while rebuilding my old shed
in spring would help much.
Simple. Elegant. Beautiful.
And while those were the winners, we do want to say that we were immensely impressed with the quality of all the entries. With very few exceptions, they were great fun to read and we're honored to have such clever and crafty people visit our website. We also feel 100% of your pain with your old houses, in-progress renovations, and angry spouses. If we could, we would have given a MiterMate to each one of you. Honestly.
We would also like to thank Craftsman for suggesting the give-away in the first place.
February 18, 2010
Win a Craftsman MiterMate from Tool Snob and Sears
Yesterday we reviewed the Craftsman MiterMate, and today we're giving it away. It's out in the shop and all boxed up, waiting to be sent out to one of you. To enter the contest, drop a comment at this post telling us what makes you so special and why you should be the one to win the tool. The winner will be decided by random drawing next Friday (Feb 26th).
Because it's a random drawing, the content of your answer doesn't affect your chances of winning, but for our sake, put at least 2 minutes of thought into it. The one and two word answers just don't cut it. In fact, we'll add in a second prize for the most original entry.
Because the box is crazy heavy, we're only accepting entries from the contiguous United States. The postage rates for any place beyond that will cause us to start digging into Tool Snob Jr.'s college fund and we don't want to do that.
A big thanks to the people at Sears for suggesting the give-away. Check out the entire line of Craftsman tools here.
Our review of the MiterMate is here.
February 16, 2010
World of Concrete 2010
CopTool was there so you didn't have to be. Tons of photos and all the details on what went down here.
February 14, 2010
Sears Blue Crew Woodworker's Sweepstakes
Sears has just kicked off a new sweepstakes, the end result of which is a massive load of tools going to one lucky person. In order to enter the sweepstakes all you have to do is to set up a Twitter account and follow the Sears Blue Tool Crew (http://twitter.com/BlueToolCrew). One winner will be randomly selected February 26th. The eligibility period runs from Feb 11th to Feb 18th. It looks like only new followers during that time will be entered, so if you're already following, you're out of luck.
The big momma prize consists of:
- One (1) Craftsman 10" Laser Miter Saw( # 21236). Approximate retail value ("ARV") of $129.99
- One (1) Craftsman Digital Miter Gauge (# 929939). ARV of $79.99.
- One (1) Craftsman 30 pc Router Bit Set (#926366). ARV of $109.99.
- One (1) Craftsman Bar Clamp (#31484). ARV of $19.99.
- One (1) Craftsman Base Plunge Router (#17540). ARV of $89.99.
- One (1) Craftsman 10" Table Saw (#21807). ARV $299.99
ARV of all prizes is $729.94.
We love the all or nothing vibe of this contest...no second place, no runner-up, just one completely dominant winner laughing at everyone else. Sort of like Thunderdome.
If there ever was a reason to join Twitter, this is it.
Official rules are here.
January 22, 2010
Sears Blue Tool Crew at IBS
Since the Tool Snob travel budget only covers trips to the liquor store, we couldn't make it to this year's International Builder's Show out in Vegas. Thankfully, though, the Sears Blue Tool Crew is there with video cameras and they'll be releasing videos of the event in the upcoming days. So far there are three, one of which is an introduction, and the other two talk exclusively about (you'll never guess) Craftsman Tools. According to their Sears, they are going to branch out into other brands in the upcoming videos. But as far as the Craftsman tools go, there are some interesting items featured in the video, including the MiterMate (which we're currently testing out and so far have A LOT of thoughts on, our review will be up soon) and the Versatrack storage system. Actually, it's funny but with all the big budget items on display, one thing that really caught our eye was the Edge Utility Cutter, which is a set of snips that uses a standard utility blade.
So check out the videos here and make sure to check back throughout the week for more.
January 15, 2010
Grizzly Industrial 2010 Catalog
The new Grizzly catalog showed up the other day brightening up an otherwise cold and gray week. It's currently sitting on our desk and in about a week it will migrate to the nearest bathroom where it will likely spend the year.
If you've never looked through one of these things, you're missing out big time. This year's offering is a full 675 pages of tools, accessories, milling machines, router bits, guitar making materials and every other tool related item under the sun. The prices are generally good and there are some real steals with the Grizzly tools.
The crazy part is that the catalogs are free. All you have to do to get one is go here and sign up.
January 7, 2010
Home Fixated Gets a Make Over
Home Fixated, one of our daily stops in the DIY/tool blogging world has recently undergone a full site redesign. The new look is much easier to navigate through and since they're always giving stuff away, we suggest you taking a look for yourself.
Aside from the monthly giveaways and great tool reviews there are also sections for coupons, videos and how-to.
Check out Home Fixated here.
January 4, 2010
Win a Snowblower from Craftsman
At our last house we had this massive snowblower that was actually more of a "snow cannon." We really loved the thing and always enjoyed blasting snow onto our neighbor's yard. But, because of the tricky driveway, we sold it with the house and now we're left with a much smaller hand-me-down blower that works fine, but it takes a little longer and our chest doesn't hardly puff up at all when we're using it.
So here comes Sears with a chance to win a Craftsman snowblower. To enter to win, you need a Twitter account (which immediately disqualifies anyone over 35 years old). First, you need to go to Craftsman's Snowblower Finder in order to find the right model for your needs, and then you log on to Twitter and follow @BlueLGCrew and tweet in the following:
Following @BlueLGCrew and went to http://bit.ly/6KxG5t to find my ideal #searssnowblower - model XXXXX - I'm entered for a chance to win it!
Don't forget to replace the "XXXXX" with your model number AND follow @BlueLGCrew. Once you've done that, you'll be entered for a chance to win the model number you tweeted.
The contest is ending on Jan. 13th.
Small print official contest rules are here and the press release is posted after the jump, if you're interested.
Continue reading: "Win a Snowblower from Craftsman"
December 7, 2009
Ready Wrench Winners Announced!
The Ready Wrench contest is over and we've picked our winners. Like we said in the contest rules, of the five Ready Wrenches that we're giving away, three of them were being decided by random drawing. Those winners are readers Mark, Ben, and Jim. Congrats.
The other two winners were chosen based on the content of their entry and they are readers Paul and Todd. Paul because he dropped the line, "The back of the house was pretty much made of sawdust and wishes," and Todd because he has somehow gotten away with depriving his wife of a kitchen for over a year of renovations. We've posted their entries after the jump. They're worth checking out, particularly if you're in the middle of a project and it feels like it can't get any worse.
Again we'd like to thank Black & Decker for assisting with the contest and providing the prizes. If you didn't win but are interested in a Ready Wrench, they can be had at Amazon for about $25. We would also like to thank all of the readers who entered. We enjoyed looking through the entries and we hope to give you more chances to win stuff with more contests like this in the future.
Continue reading: "Ready Wrench Winners Announced!"
December 3, 2009
Gift Ideas Over at Amazon
If you're struggling for tool-oriented gift ideas and you've already deemed our own gift guide as worthless, Amazon has a 'most wished for' and a 'most gifted' list, so you can see what other people out there are thinking about. They're pretty handy if you're having trouble with the Mr. or Mrs. Fixit of your life.
Amazon's Most Wished For List
Amazon's Most Gifted List
One Last Chance to Win a B&D Ready Wrench
We're doing the drawing tomorrow, so get your entries in now. Details here.
December 2, 2009
Craftsman's 25 Days of Holiday Deals
Craftsman just started up an interesting promotion that will last from now until Christmas. Each day, they'll be offering a different item at a drastically reduced price (up to 70%). There's no telling what the next day's deal is going to be, but Craftsman sent out the head's up on a few enticing ones:
- December 2: GearWrench Reversible Wrench Set, inch or metric (44003/4) for $39.99 (regular price $79.99), ideal for getting into confined work areas, 100 limited quantity each sku
- December 6: Craftsman 192 pc. Mechanics Tool Set (33192) for $129.99 (regular price $199.99), a perfect gift for anyone looking to build their hand tool collection, 150 limited quantity
- December 12: Racor Pro Ceiling Mount Bike Rack (59535) for $7.99 (regular $29.99), a terrific way to store bikes in unused space, while supplies last
- December 17: Craftsman ½ in. Impact Wrench for $19.99 (regular $39.99), a must have for any DIY auto enthusiast to remove nuts and bolts with ease, 100 limited quantity
- December 18: GM Performance Parts 2 Ton Hydraulic Trolley Jack (50113) for $19.99 (regular $29.99), a portable automotive lifting device manufactured to strict industry specifications, 200 limited quantity
- December 21: Craftsman Cordless Rechargeable LED Work Light (73904) for $16.99 (regular $33.99), for lighting a dim workspace, while supplies last
We've got our eye on the LED and the bike rack. As you can see quantities are pretty limited, so it's best to investigate this earlier in the day as opposed to later. You West coast people are screwed. No deals for you.
Craftsman has set up a micro-site just for this promotion, where you can go and and see what the day's deal is. Check it out, it sort of feels like you're playing Monopoly at McDonald's.
More information at www.sears.com/toolsbusters
November 30, 2009
Tool Snob Cyber Monday Deals 2009
Why bother get crushed against the sliding doors at Target when you can do all of your shopping online? Today, Cyber Monday, is the largest i-shopping day of the year and there are a lot of retailers vying for your attention (read: credit card number). Here are a few that we found that were offering some pretty nice deals.
Amazon: Amazon must have ordered a billion Stanley Tri-Pod Lights and now, they're desperately trying to get rid of them. It's been the lead item on their sale page all weekend and it's down to just over $10. We've got one of these and it's a great light, perfect for the workshop or the glove compartment. They've also got a countdown on a number of other deals that will go live all throughout the day. Check out their Cyber Monday page here.
Tool Barn: These guys are offering 20% off on 10 select brands (Bosch, Skil, Hitachi, Dremel, just to name a few) and 15% off on others (Jet and Powermatic). They've also got free shipping on a bunch of brands. More details here.
Ohio Power Tools: OPT has a lot going on. First, there's free shipping (code: TURKEY), then there's a straight-up deal page, and finally, they've called out a lot of manufacturers coupons. Their deal page is here and information on the other stuff is here.
Tool King: TK is doing the free shipping thing as well as a number of other deals. They also say they'll give you a $100 gift card if you can find anyone with a lower price, but the fine print says that sales don't apply, so don't get too excited. Info on what they've got is here.
Sears: There's a lot here.
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Craftsman 10" MiterMate - Review
