Do it Best has the Stanley 10-788 for $10 online before the $5 mail-in rebate. A nice feature of the rebate — if you’re so inclined — is the ability to donate it directly to Habitat for Humanity. If you don’t want the utility knife, you can get $10 off the $20 online sale for a Stanley FatMax 1-1/4″×25′ tape, or $5 off the $10 online sale for a Stanley 16-oz. Fiberglass Rip Hammer, with the same option to donate the refund. The offer expires 10/3/09. Do it Best offers free shipping of online orders to a local store for “participating” locations.

Stanley 10-788 [Manufacturer's Site]
Do it Best [Website]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Stanley’s Digital Power Station is one of those just-in-case items people give you a hard time about buying until they’re stuck in the middle of nowhere and need it. What this unit really does is provide power from multiple taps that can get you back where you need to be — not needing it.

The Power Station features a 350-Amp jump starter at its heart along with an air compressor, 200 Watt AC power inverter, DC 12 volt outlet and the ever-present USB outlet to power tech goodies with.

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While rummaging through some of my toolboxes, I discovered I had a variety of screwstarters and screwholders as pictured above. The four on the right are true screwdrivers with a screw-holding spring clip that slides down the shaft. They work well, allowing you to start the screw, release the clip by simply pulling back on the handle and giving a little flick, and then finish tightening the screw. Two (Hold-E-Zee) are made by Upson Tools, and two “clones” by Stanley and VA; the Upson versions have a patent number, but neither the Stanley or VA do — perhaps the patent expired? I don’t know if any of these are currently available.

The next two brass-colored rods are — ta dah! — brass screwholding screwdrivers made by the H.J.J. Co. These two (one for slotted and the other for Phillips screws) are my favorites when I’m working inside a computer on a motherboard and such, as they are long and thin and do allow a reasonable amount of torque to insert or remove screws. They also make versions with vinyl handles.

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Who doesn’t have a Stanley’s Surform file or plane somewhere in their shop?  While these tools work well for some tasks that require a rasp, with Microplane’s replacement blade they might work even better.

Microplane’s Surform replacement blade fits 10″ Surform files and planes.  They claim their 400 series stainless-steel blade cuts 10x faster then similar replacement blades.

Rather than abrading the material and creating sawdust, the Microplane blade shaves the material, leaving only small shavings behind.  The blade works on wood, plastic, rubber, and other materials you might take a rasp to.

The Microplane replacement blade retails for $14.

Surform Flat File [Stanley]
Surform Blade Replacement [Microplane]
Street Pricing [Google]

A pressing machine squeezes fittings together to make solderless joints in copper, stainless and PEX tubing even with residual fluid still in the pipe. It’s wicked handy and it’s what many pros use to fix leaks in modern pipes. Stanley VIRAX now launched the first of its pressing guns into the U.S. market.

The Stanley Virax M20 Plus is a pistol-grip pressing machine about the size of a regular cordless drill. It was engineered specifically for the professional plumber and mechanical contractor who require interchangeable jaw inserts to join 1/2-inch to 1-inch copper and 3/8-inch to 1-inch PEX tubing.

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Old Stanley hand planes date back to 1870 and are highly sought after in today’s market for their solid craftsmanship and overall quality. Sadly, they were also expensive to make and Stanley discontinued the patterns, opting for planes that were cheaper to produce. Now it seems Stanley has seen the error of their ways and is bringing back the old-style planes, complete with the trademark Sweetheart logo, mechanical precision, adjustment features, and top-shelf materials to win woodworkers’ favor yet again. We can only hope.

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Here’s the lucky winner of our Stanley FatMax tape measure giveaway.  Actually, reader Zero won the FatMax, and this is the photo of his dad that he sent us, but you get the point.  Congrats to Zero, and we wish him and his dad a happy Father’s Day.  Your tape was postmarked and on its way to you as of this morning!

We’re planning a few more giveaways for the summer, so keep an eye out for those.  In the meantime you have a few weeks to shop for dear old dad.  Make ‘em count.

Stanley FatMax Giveaway [Toolmonger]

You can’t swing a hammer to save your life — is a bigger head going to help?  Stanley claims the larger sweet spot on their new hammer will reduce the number of misses and deliver more power to the blows that do hit the nail on the head.

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Just a reminder that the winner for the Stanley Fat Max tape measure will be selected in two days.

The rules are simple, since we’re bloggers and not lawyers.  You must, if picked, be able to provide picture proof that the parent in question actually has the tool in question — and no Photoshop workups of Dad standing in Norm Abram’s shop with a Stanley # 96.  We’ll select the best story/tool combo and announce the winner Wednesday, May 20th.  Then we’ll send the above box (with the tape inside) to their location posthaste.

To throw your hat into the ring, just tell us about your sweet Mother’s/Father’s Day gift in comments of the entry post, and make sure the email address you use is one we can actually contact you at.  Good luck.

Entry Post [Toolmonger]
FatMax Xtreme Tape Measure [Stanley]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

You thought the only thing missing from your layout square was lasers — well, the Stanley FatMax Laser Level square may not have all the functionality of a layout square, but it does feature two lasers attached to an aluminum 90-45-45° square with level and plumb vials to boot.

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With Mother’s Day behind us, we’re a little curious about what Toolmongers gave their dear old moms on the day dedicated to her — but since not all moms are into tools, we’ll extend it to Father’s Day as well.  So here’s the deal:  We have here, already boxed and ready to go, one Stanley 30’ FatMax Xtreme tape measure for the best Mother’s or Father’s Day present given this year or in the past.

The rules are simple, since we’re bloggers and not lawyers.  You must, if picked, be able to provide picture proof that the parent in question actually has the tool in question — and no Photoshop workups of Dad standing in Norm Abram’s shop with a Stanley # 96.  We’ll select the best story/tool combo and announce the winner Wednesday, May 20th.  Then we’ll send the above box (with the tape inside) to their location posthaste.

To throw your hat into the ring, just tell us about your sweet Mother’s/Father’s Day gift in comments, and make sure the email address you use is one we can actually contact you at.  Good luck.

FatMax Xtreme Tape Measure [Stanley]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

You know the iPhone has entered the mainstream when big brand-name companies that have nothing to do with the original product start making apps for it — like Stanley’s iPhone level.

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Trimming out a house means moving from your knees to your chop saw and back again all day — then you get to crawl around on your knees some more to set all the nails you drove or that your nail gun missed.  If you use Stanley’s cushion-grip nail set maybe your hand won’t be as sore as your knees.

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All2ools.com is selling this Stanley precision screwdriver set for $3.45, but it’s available almost everywhere so you can probably save shipping by buying at your favorite local store.

I bought this set for my six-year-old son, expecting that he’d destroy ‘em (they are made in China) as fast as the sets you can buy at the Everything’s-A-Dollar Store — but they held up so well, I bought another set for myself!  The well-made tools come in a handy folding case.

Stanley Precision Screwdriver Set [All2ools.com]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Although it looks very much like their brick set, this floor chisel from Stanley has an entirely different purpose. You use a floor chisel, sometimes called an electrician’s bolster, to remove flooring.  The long narrow blade is designed to get between floorboards, cut through tongues, and pry up the loosened boards.

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More than the big contractor mobile tool boxes, the Stanley 033023R mobile tool chest focuses on the basics of life on the jobsite — that means you can haul it easily through the mud, and it holds a bunch of gear.

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I’m often guilty of ranting on about the boneheaded policies companies enact, the products manufacturers get wrong, and the way things ought to be — I’m not really shy about it either — however I’m not enough of a snob that I won’t admit when things are right. This is my favorite tape, the rather low-rent Stanley 30-485 twelve-foot tape, and I love it.

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