(Saturday, May 31st, 2008) This night of reruns includes an oldie of Junkyard Wars. Why don’t they just bring it back?

All times are central.

• Junkyard Wars: Mechanical Mole (Science, 5:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Jacking the Box (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: The Folding Screen (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: The Flower Stand (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Egyptian-Inspired Mahogany Dresser (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• Hammered With John & Jimmy DiResta: The Toy Chest (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

Starting a screw in an awkward place can vex even a veteran Toolmonger. If you can hold the screw with one hand and use a driver with the other, you’ve got a chance. Otherwise you’ve got a problem on your hands. Greenlee’s screw-holding drivers hold screws in place with a spring-loaded sleeve that makes for easy, one-handed driving.

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Before handheld can openers, getting to the food inside a tin can required a hammer and chisel — or, for many soldiers, bayonets, knives, or even rifle fire. The first claw-shape, lever-type openers were developed in Britain and America in the 1850s by cutler Robert Yates in Middlesex in 1855, and by Ezra J. Warner of Waterbury, CT, in 1858. The U.S. Army adopted Warner’s design for the Civil War and issued the bull’s head can opener (above) with its rations of canned “bully beef,” or shredded corned beef mixed with gravy. (British and Australian soldiers regularly consumed bully beef, too, usually with hard tack crackers and, on Christmas Day, whiskey.)

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The Tiger Claw reciprocating saw features a “3-D” joint that rotates at two different points, making it extremely flexible. It allows you to get at your work more easily, even if it’s between or behind a bunch of studs, pipes, or cables. It’s made by a company called Flex Power Tools, so what else would you expect?

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When you’re working in tight quarters, you can never have too many options — one tool you might want in your arsenal is the CalVan gearless 90-degree socket adapter. Available in both 1/4″ and 3/8″ square drives, the patented gearless drive turns smoothly while exceeding the ANSI torque specs for universal socket adapters.  You can find either the 1/4″ or 3/8″ right-angle drive adapter for as low as $10.

From the supplied picture, we’re not exactly sure how the mechanism works. If you have one of these adapters, or if you have any insight into its inner workings, we’d be interested to hear about it in the comments.

Street Pricing [Google Products]
1/4″ Drive Via Amazon [What's This?]
3/8″ Drive Via Amazon [What's This?]

Maybe I’m missing something — I don’t do much plumbing work, but this seems over-specialized to me. I know that, at least for residential, most pipe at this point is PVC, but I’ve always used a plain old pipe cutter regardless of what kind of pipe I’m working with.

I like specialty tools, because when they’re not too expensive they save my butt. This Black Rhino PVC cutter comes up at about $13, so it’s not too expensive, but do I need it? It seems to me this is like my left-handed board-stretcher — it’s the same as the right-handed one, and only worth a good laugh.

Is a PVC-only pipe cutter a hot item, or is this a board-stretcher? Let us know in comments.

PVC Cutter [Black Rhino]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

It’s been a busy week here at Toolmonger. If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — and you haven’t had a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select:

Turf Core Aerator
If a full drum aerator is overkill for your yard and you have some time on your hands, you can step on the Yard Butler Core Aerator to get air down to those roots. It may take all day, but it’s cheap and doesn’t take up much room in the garage.

Mend Your Fences With A Fence Stretcher
When you need to stretch, splice, staple, or reposition high-tensile, barbed, or smooth wire in the back forty, you’ll probably want to bring along a fence stretcher. Goldenrod’s #405 fence stretcher will keep those cows where they belong and save you some knuckle-busting in the process.

Carnauba Lathe Wax
We went looking for some nice carnauba wax, and Toolmonger readers responded with a ton of recommendations and places to find good deals.  They also came through with a few sweet tips and recipes on wax paste and how to apply it.

What Do You Get When You Cross A Phillips And A Slotted Screwdriver?
The terminal-block screw can be driven with either a slotted or Phillips screwdriver — but there are drawbacks to both. Wiha designed these cross-slotted screwdrivers that offer the best of both worlds. The slotted portion transfers lots of torque, and the cross point doesn’t slip off of the screw head.

McCulloch Chipper/Shredder
If your yard doesn’t need a shredder that’ll tear an old refrigerator in half, a smaller, friendlier version like the McCulloch electric shredder might be the way to go. It can handle small lawn waste, like dead bushes or branches too small for an axe, without much trouble.

Help us choose next week’s Top 5!

We’d appreciate your help in choosing next week’s Top 5, which’ll be featured here, elsewhere, and in the podcast as well. While you’re reading TM this week, look out for the “Interesting Post” button at the bottom of the article:

When you see an article that piques your interest, click the button once. You’ll return to the same page, but TM’s software’ll score your click for future reference. We’ll check in on the totals before selecting next week’s Top 5.

This portable job site desk hangs from two nails pounded into any stud wall. It folds up and out of the way when it’s not needed, and you can carry it off the site by the handles like a portfolio when you’re done.

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(Friday, May 30th, 2008) So Home is running more reruns of Holmes, and DIY is trotting out the same old shows. Hammered may be the only show that’s still in production. So, is the DIY movement dead? Probably not, but it seems like the network enthusiasm has waned.

All times are central.

• Holmes on Homes: Country Kitchen (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Ceramic Tiles, Nuts, Steel Forgings, Skateboards (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Car Engines, Flour, Recliners, Envelopes (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Modern Marvels: Axes (History, 7:00 p.m.)
• Cool Stuff: How It Works (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Clean Slate (Home, 7:00 p.m.)
• Cool Stuff: How It Works: Maximum Protection (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• Hammered With John & Jimmy DiResta: The Adirondack Outdoor Bed (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Stainless Steel, Football Helmets, Resin Figurines, Laboratory Glassware (Science, 8:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Frozen Assets (Home, 8:00 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Frame-and-Panel Door (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Fire Extinguishers, Doughnuts, Shock Absorbers, Banjos (Science, 8:30 p.m.)
• Wood Works: Tool Cabinet (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• Holmes on Homes: Due Date (Home, 9:00 p.m.)
• New Yankee Workshop: Mailbox (DIY, 9:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Brushes and push brooms, blackboards, smoked salmon, zippers (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Mattresses, 3-D Commercial Signs, Hardwood Floors, Corrugated Polyethylene Pipe (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)
• Forge and Anvil: Blacksmith Conference. Episode 111 (RFD-TV, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

Unless you’re a racing fan with really great vision, you probably haven’t seen this miracle in a can. Great Stuff spray foam expands as it cures — and, when cured, it’s tough, weatherproof, and bugproof.  You can fill foundation cracks in old houses with this stuff, or just about any crack or crevice that needs filling.  Just keep it in the back of your mind; you’ll know when you need it.

A 12oz. can runs about $5, and a 20oz. can goes for $8.

Great Stuff [Dow]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

You might want to change the chuck on your drill for any number of reasons. If you own an older drill, you may want to add a keyless chuck for convenience or replace a broken or rusted chuck. If you have a newer drill, you could add a keyed chuck for extra bit-gripping strength. These guidelines’ll help you replace your drill chuck.

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I’m not into wood turning, but I know a cool looking tool when I see one. The Gage’T may look like a deformed plastic C-clamp, but really this tool measures the wall thickness of turned bowls. Designed by Keith Tompkins, the offset design of the Gage’T allows you to measure to the center of bowls up to 18″ in diameter.

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When I was six, my family awoke in our Yellowstone campsite to see a buffalo the size of a Ford Ranger standing right outside our tent. Luckily, it wandered off before causing any serious damage. Now Nite Guard makes a solar-powered deterrent to ward off the nocturnal riffraff of the wilderness. Its red LEDs blink in the darkness, mimicking the reflections of animal eyes and discouraging other creatures from getting too close.

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There was a time in the US when the dream of every post-WWII suburban Dad was to have his very own backyard BBQ pit/grill — a monolith of brick and asbestos that he would work nights and weekend to construct, an atomic-age hearth to gather his family around. That trend seems to have passed, and now most people opt for a cheap disposable grill or a high-dollar stainless steel leviathan. But you have to admire something as solid and reliable as built-in masonry, made by hand, that can grill the living hell out of darn near anything.

So what do you think? Is this a relic that should stay in the past or a forgotten DIY treasure that deserves a resurrection? Tell us in the comments.

Free Backyard Grill Plans [Backyard Spaces]

Why clutter your drawers with specialized square drive bits for your ratchet, when you probably already have a complete set of 1/4″ hex insert bits? This socket adapter from Vermont American allows you to use those 1/4″ hex insert bits with your 1/4″ square drive ratchet.

You can find the 1/4″ insert bit adapter for as low as $4, but Amazon lists it for $7.

Note: We know the adapter in the picture says 3/8 – 5/16, but this is the picture on Vermont American’s site — obviously an oversight on their part.

Insert Adapter [Vermont American]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon(B000YY6ACO) [What’s This?] [What's This?]

Home Depot is gearing up for Father’s Day, June 15th, with this online coupon for $5 off any purchase of $50 or more. You can’t apply it to windows or siding, and there are other exclusions. To get your $5, enter the coupon code DAD2008 at checkout — as usual, orders over $49 qualify for free shipping. The coupon expires June 4, 2008.

Home Depot [Corporate Site]

(Thursday, May 29th, 2008) Remember when it seemed like all the car/bike shows were money in the bank for Discovery/TLC? What happened? Now they just trot out one or two new episodes a month and call it good. Today, they just give us reruns.

All times are central.

• Holmes on Homes: Wheelchair Bathroom (Home, 5:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Brushes and push brooms, blackboards, smoked salmon, zippers (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• Rides: Joe Rogan’s Sick Fish (TLC, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Mattresses, 3-D Commercial Signs, Hardwood Floors, Corrugated Polyethylene Pipe (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Overhaulin’: Family Truckster (TLC, 7:00 p.m.)
• Ultimate Factories: Apache Helicopter (National Geographic, 7:00 p.m.)
• Classic Tractor Show (RFD-TV, 7:00 p.m.)
• Cool Tools: Speciality (DIY, 8:00 p.m.)
• American Chopper: Craftsman, Diehard 1 (TLC, 8:00 p.m.)
• Cool Tools: On the Surface (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Conga Drums, Metal Plating, Buttons (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Grinding Wheels, Compost, Window Blinds, Milk (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.