King Arthur’s Tools claims that being able to see what you’re sanding means you’ll work faster because you don’t have to keep removing the tool to see your progress. With their Holey Galahad carving discs, you can actually see through the disc to the surface you’re cutting. The discs can be used on wood, fiberglass, plastic, foam core, soapstone, and other materials.

Made in the USA, the discs will fit most 4-1/2″ and 125mm angle grinders — just be sure to keep the speed under 14,000RPM. The 4″ diameter steel discs have sharp conical tungsten carbide teeth bonded over the cutting surface and can be used on both the face and the edge

(more…)

Not many people are going to need a stainless steel pipe polisher, but the tool just looks really cool.  You can use Fein’s RS 12-70 to grind pipe welds, sand pipes to a satin finish, or polish pipes to a mirror finish and anywhere in between.

The variable-speed sander can drive the belt to speeds up to 22 m/s.  The belts rides on what I’m assuming are spring-loaded arms that allow the belt to flex around the pipe so you can surface all 360° of the pipe in only two passes.

(more…)

Starrett designed the almost 4″ jaws and 3mm diameter tips of their new 5006BZ-14/350 electronic groove calipers to measure the width of internal and external grooves. The caliper will measure outside grooves from 0″ to 12.5″ and inside grooves from 1.654″ to 15″.

They manufacture the calipers from hardened stainless steel and the tips can be installed facing in or out or to measure either outside or inside grooves respectively. The calipers read with a resolution of .0005 of an inch or 0.01mm.

(more…)

No one’s ever accused Zippo of making flimsy, insubstantial products — quite the opposite. They make heavy, mechanical, downright bad-ass devices which also happen to be bloody practical. Since the flame burns without holding down a button, you can set these on your workbench and use both hands to maneuver your work in the fire, so everyone from mafiosos to mechanics uses them. But Armor Zippos add something worthwhile to a product lineup worryingly populated with gothic crosses and opal inlays.

(more…)

Starrett is arriving late into the digital inspection scope arena with their recently-introduced inspection scope. Made in the USA, the scope features an auto-focus digital camera with a full-color resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. The camera can focus on object anywhere from 0.4″ to infinity and displays the image on a 2.5″ LCD with a 55° degree viewing angle.

Powered by 4 AA batteries, the device lasts 4 hours on average. Dual LED’s give can be set to three different intensity levels. The inspection scope comes with either a 3′ or a 6′ water-resistant shaft that measures .42″ in diameter at its widest point and can be bent in a 2.5″ radius circle. It also has an RCA output that will connect to an NTSC monitor.

(more…)

We previously covered Trend’s Routabout jig for cutting replaceable access hole covers, but recently they revealed a new system that looks much simpler to use because it utilizes a 1/2″ drill instead of a router. You simply drill a 102mm (4″) hole into 18mm (.0708″) or 22mm (7/8″) chipboard, plywood, OSB, or plasterboard and cover it with either a metal or mesh plate.

The Cavity Access System comes with a 102mm hole saw with a heavy duty arbor and pilot drill, a 120mm (4-3/4″) rebate cutter for cutting the cover plate recess, five steel covers, and a waste removal tool all packaged in a plastic case. The system will run you 65 pounds or about $105, not including shipping and taxes.

Cavity Access System [TRT]
Cavity Access System [Miles Tool & Machinery]

While the name of M-Power’s Tri-Scribe may be from one of those we-like-hyphens-too-much marketing sessions, this seems to be a pretty clever little tool. I stumbled across it while browsing drafting implements and it’s an innovation I wish I’d had on hand in the past.

(more…)

The normal order of most low- to mid-grade “multi” products is a great number of tools Frankensteined onto a familiar platform. The 13-Piece DIY Utility Knife Kit from Garrett Wade is no exception. The problem here is it looks pretty handy.

Here’s the thing — it’s a standard folding utility blade that comes with variously shaped blades that can be swapped in and out and are suitable for cutting all sorts of material you might run into like wood, leather, paper, cardboard, linoleum, or carpet.

(more…)

The General No. 142 6-inch dial caliper does direct reading of .01″ (outer scale) and 1/64″ (inner scale) on its dial (plus mm readings on the bar scale, but — without getting into that whole metric thing — I don’t find this “feature” very convenient). It can do inside, outside, depth, and step measurements. Its fiberglass-reinforced plastic body makes it a good choice for damp/wet environments. You can pick one up for around $24.

There are many alternatives (TM has covered calipers a few times: in 2006 and 2007, for example) and some are less expensive (HF or the General 141), but I especially like this model for woodworking.

General Tools [Manufacturer's Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Wearing safety glasses with a dust mask can be a bummer. Many times you end up fogging the glasses, so you either choose to risk your eyesight by forgoing the glasses or fill your lungs with crap. There are a few safety glasses with anti-fog coatings on the market, but this set of glasses from Milwaukee goes one step further — they have a channel for ventilation between the lens and the frame that supposedly reduces fogging.

(more…)

JessEm has created a featherboard that lets you adjust its height (or width) independently of position. What’s more, while positioning the height, guides keep the featherboard parallel to the fence or table.

(more…)

The bigger the tire, the harder it is to remove and replace a wheel on the vehicle. At some point the wheel gets larger than you can safely handle — that’s when you pull out the Wheel Mate from OTC Tools.

OTC constructs the Wheel Mate from structural steel tubing, and its U-shaped base gives it clearance to fit around the wheel and under the vehicle. It moves freely on heavy-duty ball bearing casters and locks with a foot-operated lever so it won’t go rolling about.

(more…)

Mechanix gloves are a popular topic here at Toolmonger. We like their excellent protection, improved grip, and Robocop aesthetic, but there’s an offering coming that’s more up Spiderman’s alley. The spiny knuckle ribbing and web-like hex grid over the heavy fabric of their soon-to-be-released MRT 0.5 M-Pact gloves wouldn’t be out of place on a Marvel villain’s hands, but there are some new tricks beyond looks built into these gloves.

(more…)

I’ve had a Radi-Plane (similar, if not identical to, the picture on the left) for many years*, and found it very handy for easing edges. I recently added — following a “suggestion” from the home project coordinator, a.k.a. my lovely wife — a couple of extra shelves to a cabinet above the oven. I used MDF for the shelves and my Radi-Plane did a great job rounding the edges (and was easier and quicker than digging out the router).

While checking options, I found Benjamen’s post on the Veritas Cornering Tool Set (shown on the right above; $33 for 2 tools with 4 different radii and a sharpening kit), and was wondering how these compare to the Radi-Plane (or the apparent equivalents, Woodstock’s W1100 Slickplane [What’s This?], available for $13, and the Rockler radius plane, available for $22). Has anyone had experience with both? Any other good suggestions for quickly and consistently easing edges?

*15? 20? I found a Radi-Plane reference in the Aug. 1990 issue of American Woodworker [Google Books]. My versions are branded “RADI-PLANE, L.A. Mathers Co., Stockton, Calif.”

Street Pricing [Google Products]
Radius Plane [Rockler]

Kevin covered Makita’s hypoid 7 1/4″ circular saw back in June, but there’s another feature in the range worth noting. That model, the 5477NB, has the same internals as the 5377MG pictured above, so you get the 15A motor, carbide-tipped blade, 2 3/8″ cut depth at 90°, and wear-resistant hypoid gears, but they’re contained in a magnesium casing. The result is a weight drop from 13.9 pounds to 13.0 pounds, and Makita claims the balance is improved as well.

(more…)

CH Hanson sells two low-cost accessories to protect and enhance your marking tools: Pencil Armor and Crayon Armor. Although I find it hard to justify spending a few bucks to protect a ten-cent pencil, I’ve held the pencil armor and it does look pretty cool. Armor for crayons, on the other hand, might make more sense since they’re a bit more expensive and fragile.

CH Hanson designed the aluminum Pencil Armor to work with rectangular carpenter’s pencils. The armor only exposes as much of the pencil as you need. You advance the pencil by sticking your thumb into the slot and pressing forward. The Armor also has a clip so you can keep the pencil in you shirt pocket.

The plastic Crayon Armor securely holds one of CH Hanson’s crayons and protects it from breaking since it only exposes enough crayon for marking. There’s a thumb slot for exposing more crayon and a lanyard strap.

The Crayon Armor will cost you about $4 and the Pencil Armor will run you $2 before shipping. Before paying double the product’s worth in shipping charges, check out your local Home Depot; mine carries the Pencil Armor, so maybe yours does too.

C.H. Hanson [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Crayon Armor Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Pencil Armor Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Cordless electric impact drivers allow everyday mechanics to access the power of air tools at a fraction of the blah, blah, you’ve heard it before.

But — DeWalt’s thrown a doozy into the works by adding another 18V to the usual power rating for battery impact wrenches. Gentlemen, meet the DC800KL, a 36V 1/2″ impact driver with DeWalt’s latest and greatest battery technology on board. It’ll deliver 325 foot-pounds of torque, and ships with two batteries and a 60-minute charger for $479. Keen observers of the DeWalt range will notice that this is only 25 foot-pounds more than a cheaper 18V model, but the 36V battery has nearly 3 times the life of an 18V equivalent.

DeWalt DC800KL Via Amazon [What’s This?]
DeWalt DC800KL [DeWalt]