For us, one of the most important tools this time of year is the BBQ lighter. It has a great way of kicking off most of the important activities that will be going on this Saturday — fireworks and steaks. Around our home town, you notice two things that mark the 4th of July season: lighters of all shapes and sizes are marked down and available everywhere (even places they aren’t normally for sale), and metal-clad stands spontaneously spring from the ground and start selling legal black-powder products.

With this in mind, we normally head to the local market and pick up a 4-pack of lighters for about $2 and on the way home stop at one of the many stands and start picking up brightly packaged explosives that will “out-boom and sparkle” the neighbors’ stash.

Some things to keep in mind for those who are new to the whole experience: remember that fireworks stands will make increasingly cut-rate deals up to the cutoff time when their licenses expire for the year. Generally, if you go up to the counter and don’t know what you want, telling them “I have ‘X’ amount of cash and I want stuff that shoots” or “I want to make a lot of noise” is a valid response. These folks want to sell them to you and know you’ll be back next year if they don’t steer you wrong.

The National Council on Fireworks Safety site also has a bunch of info on regs and common-sense factors to consider when lighting up fireworks yourself. You might check it out if you plan to light up the sky this weekend.

The National Council on Fireworks Safety [Website]
Street Pricing BBQ Lighter [Google Products]

Here’s a free chance for anyone in the Wayne, NJ, area to drool and paw over Lie Nielsen’s finest hand tools and planes on June 26 & 27, 2009. Oh, and there’s interactive stuff there too. Did we mention the Lie-Nielson hand tools?

The LN folks have demos going all day at two interactive stations designed to help you learn sharpening and hand plane techniques while playing with the very best tools they have to offer — which as hand planes go, aren’t shabby at all. We find these demos are a great place to learn a few quick skills and pick the brains of the people in the know. It also goes without saying that at the show you will be able to purchase almost anything Lie-Nielsen makes.

Admission to the event is free, but be careful — these shows are a lot like a ghetto-style crack dealer. They entice you with the free product samples and no cover because they know once tool fanatics smell new tools they gotcha. Stay strong or leave the plastic at home if you’re weak/broke like me. 

Check the site for details and directions.

Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event [Site Details]

Milwaukee is currently offering a free tool with the purchase of some of the combo kits in their M12, M18, and V28 power tool lines. Depending on availability and the tool line you’re purchasing from, you can choose from such freebies as extra batteries, add-on wet/dry vacs, a Sawzall, and many more items.

This special rebate offer runs through June 30, 2009, and you can find more details on Milwaukee’s website.

Offer Details [Milwaukee]

Matco is running an online sweepstakes to promote their new line of service carts, and the grand prize is a MSC11 service cart with top chest add-on.  You can enter the sweepstakes for free — just fill out the online form and you’re entered!  Judging from the pictures on the website this cart looks pretty sweet, and it would go great in an auto shop.

Contest Info [Matco Tools]

Now until June 30, Makita is hosting an online Feel Innovation sweepstakes — the grand prize is a combo of motorcycles and quads, and first prize is an 18V fifteen-piece combo kit including every tool in Makita’s LXT Li-Ion line.

Just fill out the online form and you’re good to go. I didn’t see a clause that said you can only enter once, so it might be an enter-as-often-as-you-like affair.  Then again, I didn’t really spend a lot of time poring over the huge wall of sweeps rules.

Check out Makita’s site for the entry form.

Entry Form [Makita]

The SHOT Show is one of the world’s largest showcases of hunting and outdoor products and firearms — if not the largest. If you want to know what’s going to be on the shelves of gun and sporting goods shops in the coming year, you want to attend this show.  Especially exciting to me, Case Knives will be releasing their new lineup.

New Case patterns like the Humpback Stockman and the Case Desk Knife will be on display for everyone to paw at and take home with them, so it should be a good time.  This year’s SHOT Show happens January 15-18, 2009 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.  Check the site for details.

SHOT Show [Website]
Case [Website]

It’s officially “that time.”  If you’re reading this early enough:  Go, now, before the throng of people in the above image forms at every nearby shopping location and the carnage begins.  Today, chain stores all over the place mark down the gear you want to prices you can pull the trigger on.  It’s Black Friday.

On this day and this day only, old ladies and small children alike are imbued with superhuman strength, the ability to stiff-arm their fellow man without regard for their well-being, and an all-out sixth sense for marked-down goods.  You know — the holiday spirit.

Kidding aside, if there are any cheapskates –- like me -– out there, post up a pic or two in the Flickr pool, or let us know you scored in comments.  We always love to hear the word on the street.

Lie-Nielsen fans are going to be stoked about the upcoming Hand Tool Event that’s going down December 5-6, 2008 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, MA.  You can get your hands on some Lie-Nielsen gear and hone your skills at some of the activities they’ll have going throughout the event.

The Lie-Nielsen site says there’ll be a ton of different types of hand tools you can play with, and most likely you’ll be able to purchase anything you have your heart set on — it is a show, after all.  Even if you don’t take home a new tool, the demos and interactive stations’ll help you learn techniques to save time and build better projects, which isn’t a bad deal either.

2008 Show Schedule [Lie-Nielsen]

When most shop guys talk about Stanley tools, they’re talking about the kind you find at the local big box — some folks have never heard of the Stanley Proto industrial line of tools.  Seeing them in a picture doesn’t do them justice, either.  You need to see ‘em up close to fully appreciate their grandeur.

At their booth at the Dickies 500, Stanley was displaying a few 2-1/2” wrenches and large pipe wrenches, along with some truly massive sockets that measured eight inches in diameter on the inside with about an inch of solid steel on the socket walls.  This stuff is not for sissies.

You won’t need these for putting that big block in the garage back together — but someone on an oil rig might find ‘em very familiar.

Stanley Proto Tools [Website]

Another lesson I learned out at the race track was why aluminum jacks are a big deal.  I’ve always maintained that nobody carries around a floor jack, so why does it need to be super-light or have a bunch of handles on it?  This is why.

I couldn’t count how many crew members were walking around with a jack slung under their arm.  These guys carried them wherever the car went and even went over the wall with them.  I could see why shaving a few pounds would make a difference when seconds count on the track.

It’s foolish, but I just never put it together before.  We must also point out that this is a super-effective way to carry a jack.  We tried it when we got back, and it really does spread the load and allow good movement if you’re in a hurry.

Stanley Motorsports [Website]

Stanley hosted a popular event at their booth at the Dickies 500 this year:  lug nut racing.  Even the most cocky guys that went up against the clock wouldn’t make it in the NASCAR pit.  The best time we saw all day was eighteen seconds for one wheel.

To give you some idea how slow that is, the pros can change all four tires and give the car some fuel in close to eleven seconds.  Yeah, they’re that fast.  If they were only changing two tires, it was difficult to get the camera to focus before they were done.

Stanley Motorsports [Website]

Stanley invited us out to the Dickies 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway this past weekend, and since we rarely turn down an excuse to check out a major auto event, we accepted.  We had a fun time, and Stanley arranged a few pit tours that we also graciously accepted.

Upon seeing the cars close up, one thing struck us immediately:  the wing riding out back.  We both grew up secure in the knowledge that stock cars have spoilers, not wings.  So to actually see wings bolted prominently to the rear made us feel like dinosaurs.

The pit tour yielded some interesting info about how the crew gets things done.  Ever wonder how they secure five lug nuts so damn fast?  The correct answer:  They glue them to the rim with a tacky adhesive that gives way and stretches when the force of an air gun is applied.  The pit crew told us that you wouldn’t want to do that on a long-term basis, but since the tires are only going to be mounted to the car for 30 minutes at the longest, it’s not a big deal.

After the wheels come off the car, the crew uses a drill with a wire brush and a stud in the center to pop into the lug holes and clean the rim’s surface of any glue.  It seems to work well.

The cars run on super-high-octane fuel to keep them going, but the pit crews need a little octane boost as well.  In almost every pit we found a few empty cans of Red Bull lying about, and the guys who weren’t actively drinking had some at their feet.

Our favorite pit moment was seeing the pirate flag on the Jack Daniels tower.  Now that’s style.

Stanley Motorsports [Website]

You won’t become a master woodworker overnight just because you bought the latest gear or learned a good technique at the WoodWorking Show.  However, all those tips and tricks and shiny tools do help you along a bit — plus, shows are a great place to hang with like-minded crafters.

Their website lists shows in almost every part of the US over the next year.  They’re packed full of trinkets, workshops, appearances, gear, and all the other trimmings attendees expect from a tradeshow.  And because the shows’re about woodworking, they’re actually fun, unlike the Crapfest 2008 where stiffs go on for ages on subjects that make you sleepy –- sort of like high school.

Check out the site to find the event nearest you.

The WoodWorking Shows [Website]

If you’re in Pennsylvania this November, check out the WoodWorks show.  At this and other expos, you can build knowledge of difficult-to-master yet popular skills — plus it’s a great excuse to meet other woodcrafters and talk shop with folks who don’t get glazed-over eyes and start drooling every time you want to yak about glued vs. mechanical-lock joints.

The WoodWorks show features an imperial crap-ton of seminars and demos by people who actually dig what they’re doing and don’t treat you like cattle moving through a chute. The demos cover traditional woodworking without juice (read: hand tools) and some frontier-style woodworking to get the blood flowing the old-fashioned way -– sweat and hard work.

The deal goes down November 7-9, 2008 in York, PA at the York Expo Center. Online entry will set you back $9, or if you’re a spur-of-the-moment type it’s $12 at the door. Either way it’s a fun time that costs about the same as a movie and will most likely entertain you all day.

The WoodWorks Show [WoodWorks]

If you happen to be in the Atlanta area today through the 23rd, head down to the International Woodworking Fair at the Georgia World Congress Center and check out all the good material and gear on display and ready to buy.

For those who don’t know, the IWF is one of the largest trade shows for the furniture manufacturing, architectural woodworking, and custom and general woodworking industries. If you’re a buyer, or you’ve just got some cash to spend, you can check out tons of the latest woodworking tools on display and do a bit of woodcraft sightseeing.

This year’s guest roster sports names like Norm Abrams and Don Russell who’re doing multiple demos throughout the show. Admission costs around $15 per person.

IWF Tool Show [Website]

Just a reminder: Toolmonger will be at Make Magazine’s 2008 Bay Area Maker Faire this weekend, and we’d love to meet you and talk tools — and maybe spend some time working with you, too.

We’re assembling a large wooden dinosaur to serve as a backdrop for some dino-related kids’ activities. Just look for the big dino somewhere over by the show barn, and stop by to say hello at some point during the weekend.

Gates open at the San Mateo Fairgrounds at 10 a.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday. We hope to see you there.

Maker Faire 2008 [Make]

Learning how to weld can be a bit intimidating for some, but the best way to learn is to study with folks who know how to teach it. The Lincoln Electric Welding School in Cleveland has been doing just that since 1917 — if you want to sign up, they’ve just announced the 2008 schedule.

Courses are scheduled for May through December 2008 — the classes cover everything from Basic Plate and Sheet Metal to Advanced Submerged Arc Welding. So virtually any welder, from beginner to pro, can find something handy to increase their gray matter. Lincoln also adds that classes fill up quickly, so you need to register soon if you want to get in. Check out their site for details.

2008 Class Schedule [Lincoln Electric Welding School]

Makita’s “Experience More” Tour continues to roll around the country this year. The black and blue semi still has plenty of planned stops left to go — they’ll be doing demos in the Florida area in the near future.

The Makita website says the mobile event and training trailer is geared to professional tradesmen who use power tools to make their living. It showcases 125 trade tools along with hands-on demo stations, engineering exhibits, and touchscreen displays with interactive video. And on occasion, the Makita girls will appear at the events.

You might be asking, “What do hot chicks with power tools have to do with cordless drill performance specs?”  That’s up for debate — but if you’re into it, check out the schedules on the Makita site.

“Experience More” Tour Event Dates [Makita]

Case Knife collectors will gather in Pennsylvania this summer to gawk at rare knives and hang out with others who share a passion for collectible blades. The press release from Case promises fun.

“Attendees can look forward to many brand new, fun and exciting Case-themed activities planned throughout the weekend,” says Lisa Boser-Miller, Administrator of the Case Collectors Club, “like a Job Case look-a-like contest and a special dedication inside the Zippo/Case Museum on Friday morning.”

They’re holding the event July 18-19 in Bradford, PA. If you’re into going, hit the folks at Case up for more details.

Collector Appreciation Event In 2008 [WR Case]

If you’re in St. Paul, MN this coming Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, check out the WoodWorking Show. Tool manufacturers, woodworking publishers, and local businesses will be exhibiting their stuff at the RiverCentre. Every half hour you can catch a different seminar, with topics such as hand plane use and HVLP finishing. Admission is $6 for the day, but you can get a coupon for $2 admission at the website.

St. Paul, MN Show Feb. 29 – Mar. 2 [WoodWorking Show]

Our friends over at W.R. Case took some time out of their schedule at the 30th annual SHOT show in Las Vegas to chat with us about the upcoming year and some of the new additions in the Case lineup.

Manning the front lines at Case’s SHOT show booth was John Sullivan who was stoked to tell us about case’s newest knife pattern, the Sway Back Jack. John tells us this is a completely new pattern designed in collaboration with Case and custom knife maker, Tony Bose — his fourth new blade pattern designed for the Case lineup.

The Sway Back Jack measures 3-1/5” when closed and weighs two ounces. It features a Wharncliffe blade and a smaller Pen blade, both made of surgical steel. Other features include nickel-silver end bolsters and a Case oval script shield.

The first editions of the Sway Back Jack, in Genuine Stag and “Pocket Worn” Bermuda Green Bone, will be shipped to dealers beginning in June, so keep an eye out for dealers to start stocking them in the summer.

The Pocket Worn Bermuda Green Family also debuts this year. Case says the color is meant to emulate the hues and shades you might find on a lush, tropical island. They’re hand-finished to give them the smooth, comfortable feel the Pocket Worn line is known for.

Case will offer nine patterns in Bermuda Green: Trapper, Small Texas Toothpick, Tiny Muskrat, Medium Stockman, Peanut, Medium Congress, Mini CopperLock, Saddlehorn, and Slimline Trapper. When we get some pics of this line, we’ll be sure to pass ‘em on.

It looks like 2008 will be a good year for knives, if this latest offering is any indication.

2008 Catalog [W.R. Case]

Ridgid Tools starts the year off with an interesting promotion for cleaning your pipes — a “buy one, get one” deal with products at multiple price points. At the bottom end, when you buy a sink machine for around $300, you get a free toilet auger with a street price of around $50. If you’re in the trade, you might want to invest in some of the pricier items — buy a $4,000 water jetter and you get a free SeeSnake micro inspection camera, with a street price of around $200. With so many choices, your pipes will gleam in 2008.

2008 Spring Fling Drain Cleaning Promo [Ridgid]

Aptly named after American inventor Thomas Edison, the Edison Project is Craftsmans answer to other tool companies’ more active means of finding new ideas for hand tools, power tools or garden tools. They want you to bring your ideas right to them!

Craftman says they want to either pay you royalties for your idea or develop “it turn” make it into a Craftsman tool. They say it doesn’t matter if you’ve patented your invention or not — though we’d advise you to at least apply before showing the idea to a major tool company.

Maybe I should submit my idea for a ray gun that turns standard fasteners into metric. And maybe they’ll treat inventors right this time ’round — better than they treated the AutoWrench inventor when he first spoke with ‘em.

Project Edison [Sears/Craftsman]
Sears Policy on Submitted Ideas [Sears/Project Edision]
Terms of Submission Agreement [Sears/Project Edision]

The Irwin Ultimate Tradesman Challenge is in California next week. We normally don’t go for these kinds of things but this is a shop-style contest, and we can’t resist. Here’s how it works.

All you do is measure, mark, and drill a piece of wood as quickly and accurately as possible, using Irwin tools. Of course there are a few other people (read: untamed masses) competing against you, so you’ll have to be dead-on and wicked fast.

If you earn one of the top ten fastest times in your region, you move on to the regional final. The three regional winners compete for the title of “Ultimate Tradesman” on November 10th in Phoenix, AZ.

The grand prize: a 2007 Supercharged Ford F-150 pickup truck customized by Roush Performance, a barbecue with NASCAR driver Jamie McMurray and the #26 Irwin race team, and the chance to win $1.26 million dollars.

So if you think you have what it takes, you should sign up and go. Check Irwin’s website for place/time, entry forms and more info.

Ultimate Tradesman Challenge [Irwin]

Folks close to Pelham, Alabama can visit the Bosch Impact Tour today through Saturday.  We haven’t seen the event in person, but it looks pretty sweet.  Not only does Bosch cart out and let you play with all their new gear, they also perform demos throughout the day — like actually tossing their jobsite radio 15′ onto concrete.  You know, general tool mayhem.   (Wow, that sounds a lot like the Toolmonger shop.)

Plus they have friendly reps on hand to answer questions and talk shop.  Check out the Bosch site for details and to see when the Impact Tour swings close to your neck of the woods.

Impact Tour Info [Bosch]