In the modern machine-built age most people have forgotten the art of leathercrafting, but a few hardworking people still practice and support it.  This set of starter tools provides a solid entry point for those rugged folks who’d like to give it a go.

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Free-handing a straight cut with a reciprocating saw isn’t the easiest task, but why freehand when you can attach the Mighty-Miter from Seatek?  Make right-angle miters in tubing, wood or plastic molding, angle iron, EMT, allthread, or just about any material your reciprocating saw can cut, as long as it’s between 3/16″ and 2″.

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Aircraft Spruce and Specialty is selling the Center It hole-drilling jig for $12.90.  The jig allows you to align a drill bit with the center of the vee-block jig, then place tubing or round stock in the jig and drill a cross-hole exactly on center — a pretty handy tool for work like this.

Center It Hole-Drilling Jig [Aircraft Spruce and Specialty]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

This might shock clean freaks and guys who must put each tool back in place every time it’s moved, but a lot of contractors don’t work that way. They have work to do and no time to worry about cleaning each tool and replacing it in carefully arranged drawers.  Reader ghb624 talks us through this great example of a contractor’s toolbox.

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Sure, you can buy cheapo portable plastic sawhorses, but they’re no match for these knockdown plywood sawhorses from Burro Brand.  Made in the USA from 5/8″, 11-ply birch and poplar plywood, a pair of these KD sawhorses can hold up to 3,000 pounds.

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If the regular Fubar is the schoolyard bully, the new Fire/Rescue Stanley Fubar is the guy who beats him up and steals his lunch money — it’s a bruiser, beefier and pumped up in almost every area.  First responders (police/fire/EMT’s) designed this new member of the Fubar fold for forcible entry, vehicle extrication, and extreme demolition.

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If you do any kind of engraving on glass, metal, or ceramic you might want to head over to Sears and check out this Craftsman engraver set that’s currently selling for $25.  Armed with a carbide stylus, the engraving pen features a variable-speed throttle, perfect for security engraving or maybe even a spot of home dentistry.

Craftsman Engraver Set [Sears]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

(Tuesday, September 30th, 2008)  It’s total deconstructionality TV tonight with Science’s new show Deconstructed followed later by a rerun of Deconstruction on DIY.  Looks like another interesting show about stuff taken apart, or made — hey, that would be a good idea for a show.

All times are central.

• Machinery of the Past (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Travertine Patio (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Golf Balls, Furniture Handles, Parking Meters, Room Dividers (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Suits of Armor, Street Light Poles, Bent Hardwood, Membrane Switches (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Ask This Old House (DIY, 7:00 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Snake Wrangler (Discovery, 7:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Solid Tires, Cheesecake, Canoe Paddles, Globes (Science, 7:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Boomerangs, Barbecues, Pinball Machines, Strobe Lights (Science, 7:30 p.m.)
• Dirty Jobs: Mud Mineral Excavator (Discovery, 8:00 p.m.)
• Deconstructed: Episode 1, Catalytic converter, toilet, bathroom scale, barbecue (Science, 8:00 p.m.) NEW
• Rock Solid: Outdoor Bar and Grill (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Deconstructed: Episode 2, Toaster, lawn mower, transformer, speaker (Science, 9:00 p.m.) NEW
• Dirty Jobs: Leather Tanner (Discovery, 9:00 p.m.)
• Deconstruction: Pressure Treated Wood (DIY, 10:00 p.m.)

Enjoy.

You can try to chuck a #61 bit in a 1/2″ chuck, but it’s probably an exercise in futility — the chucks just aren’t designed to hold such small bits.  To make centering their (and other companies’) micro drill bits a lot easier, Gyros makes a mini drill bit adapter.  This adapter’s 1/8″ shank also allows you to chuck these micro bits in a rotary tool like a Dremel.

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All2ools is selling the 6″ Klein Rapi-Drive #2 Phillips screwdriver for $4.87. The Rapi-Drive offset-crank-style screwdriver allows rapid fastening, somewhat like a bit brace, with one hand.

Klein Rapi-Drive #2 Phillips Screwdriver [all2ools.com]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Here in the Toolmonger shop we have little patience for working bolts out, and if at first we don’t succeed we just pile on more grunt.  On occasion this leads to rounding off a few corners — you know, like all of them. This nine-piece extractor set from Garret Wade offers some help in that department.

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How would you choose to finish a giant slab of concrete — by hand with conventional tools, or with Bartell Morrison’s ride-on power trowel?  I think if you visit Toolmonger on a regular basis, you know which method we’d pick.

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I can honestly say I’ve never skinned anything in my entire life, but I love what Buck has done to their skinning blade.  I grew up with an old-school black-handled, silver-trimmed model, and the Gen-3 was a step in the right direction — but the Gen-5 looks gorgeous.

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Reader MikeTerry wrote in to steer our attention to the Chimney Balloon.  We thought it sounded a bit silly at first — but when you tell a Texan that this device keeps cool air in the house where it belongs, you have their complete and undivided attention.

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Amazon is currently offering this twin-pack of Stanley folding sawhorses for $30 — which, using my amazing math skill, comes to $15 a horse!  Rated for a maximum load weight of 1,000lbs, the sawhorses feature two sawing grooves and a built-in ruler on top.  Rubber anti-slip feet on the bottom keep the unit stable.  They fold flat for easy transportation and storage.

Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Folding Sawhorses [Stanley]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

(Monday, September 29th, 2008) It’s back to reruns, for a lackluster start to the week.

All times are central.

• Trains & Locomotives (RFD-TV, 5:00 p.m.)
• Rock Solid: Stone Columns (DIY, 5:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Ambulances, Dining Room Tables, Diatonic Accordions, Acrylic Awards (Discovery, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Alkaline Batteries, Wheelchairs, Flutes, Cowboy Boots (Discovery, 6:30 p.m.)
• Ask This Old House (DIY, 7:00 p.m.)
• Top Gear: Episode 1 (BBC America, 7:00 p.m.)
• Top Gear: Episode 11 (BBC America, 8:00 p.m.)
• How Do They Do It?: Recycling, plasma TV, fireworks, railroad tracks, ink (Science, 9:00 p.m.)
• How Do They Do It?: salt mines, ships, watches, wind farms (Science, 9:30 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Robotic Arms, Tattoos, Sanitary Napkins, Concrete Pipes (Discovery, 10:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: Hockey Gloves, Snack Cakes, Remolded Tires, Wastewater Treatment (Discovery, 10:30 p.m.)

Enjoy.

(Sunday, September 28th, 2008)  We’ve got a smorgasbord of shows tonight, with Sandhogs (possibly?) and new episodes of World’s Toughest Fixes and Weapon Masters providing some entertainment.

All times are central.

• Cool Tools: Transformers (DIY, 5:00 p.m.)
• Celebrity Rides: Dillon and the Rebel (DIY, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: robotic arms, concrete pipes, tattoos, and sanitary napkins (Science, 6:00 p.m.)
• Ultimate Factories: Corvette (National Geographic, 6:00 p.m.)
• How It’s Made: CO2 Cartridges, Pretzels, Scissor Lifts, Skating Rinks (Science, 6:30 p.m.)
• Weapon Masters: Chariot Bow (Military, 8:00 p.m.) NEW
• World’s Toughest Fixes: Nuclear Turbine (National Geographic, 8:00 p.m.) NEW
• Cool Tools: Lost and Found (DIY, 8:30 p.m.)
• Under Construction: You Can Count on Palanca (DIY, 9:00 p.m.)
• Sandhogs (History, 9:00 p.m.)
• World’s Toughest Fixes: Boeing 767 (National Geographic, 9:00 p.m.) NEW

Enjoy.