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?]

Do you know what a good pair of fabric shears costs? It surprised the heck out of me the first time I borrowed my wife’s pair. I might have to pick up a pair of Fiskar’s titanium nitride Shop Shears for my shop so I won’t have to listen to that tirade again.

When you think Fiskars you don’t immediately think shop tool, but they’ve actually sold their Shop Shear for a few years now. They match ergonomic handles to TiN coated stainless steel blades which resist wear, scratches, and chemicals. The resulting shears will cut through fabric, cardboard, rope, wire, plastic strapping, Kevlar, and thin sheet metal, to name a few.

You can pick up the 8″ in pair starting at $11 and the 9-1/2″ pair starting at $16.

Fiskars [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Wobble Wedges® are small (1″ × 1 ¼” × ¼”) tapered (4°) wedges made from hard clear (there’s also a black version for photographers) polypropylene or soft white vinyl, which is easily trimmed. They have interlocking ridge teeth to prevent slipping when stacked. The manufacturer lists a myriad of uses for these shims, including plumbers, installers, cabinet makers, homeowners, and even restaurants — for leveling those tippy tables.

They’re available in a variety of package sizes and from many stores (Lowe’s, for example, sells them in a eight-pack under the Plumb Pak label as “soft-ribbed shims”; other stores list them as “toilet shims”). A variety pack of 16 assorted wedges will cost you about $5. A six-pack is around $2, and, if you just need a couple, you can usually find a store with a display jar and get a wedge or two for less than $1 each.

Has anyone used these very much? What’s your opinion? I once trimmed one of the hard shims to wedge a battery holder and stop it from rattling around in some electronic equipment, but have no experience beyond that.

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

Lex’s recent post on captive nuts reminded me of some other nuts I’ve been using a lot lately while doing some volunteer work on a search-and-rescue van: nylon-insert hex nuts. Depending on which big box you shop at, and whom you ask when there, they’re also called stop nuts, locknuts, or nyloks (although NYLOK® is a nylon material typically applied to bolts and screws), or nylocks. I like them because they resist vibration and loosening, they’re reusable, they don’t damage threads, and they’re readily available. McMaster-Carr has a large variety in their catalog, and many of the big boxes carry Hillman versions.

For higher vibration, temperature, or safety applications (like motorcycle and automobile racing or aviation), safety-wired nuts, or nuts with cotter pins are the preferred — if not required — choice. Other alternatives include two-piece thread-clamping locknuts and distorted-thread locknuts.

A 100-piece package of 1/4″-20 nylon-insert nuts will cost you around $5.

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

Got a pile of bungee cords that are the wrong size or the hook at the end just doesn’t quite fit the application? The Joubert Smart Bungee System lets you connect bungee cords together, swap ends, create a three ended bungee, or create complex combinations you may’ve never imagined.

The system is comprised of bungee cords with the patented end tips and the accessories that attach to the tips like steel hooks, carabiner hooks, adjustable hooks, wall mounts, and single and double connectors.

You can buy 10pc and 22pc kits or individual components in pairs. The 22pc Smart Bungee System runs about $20.

Smart Bungee System [Corporate Site]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Klein Depthfinder™ steel fish tapes have permanent laser-etched marks at 1′ increments and a polypropylene case and handle. The $10 Model 56005’s tape is 25′ long and ¼” wide (other models are available, including stainless steel, lengths up to 240′, and 1/8″ widths). When I first saw one at Home Depot, I thought “What’s the big deal with the marks? You push the fish tape through wherever you want wire to run, connect wire to the end, and pull the wire back through. Who needs marks?”

Their claim is that you can now measure the length of wire runs, or see how much fish tape is left. I’m neither a professional electrician nor a cable installer, and maybe that’s why I don’t see the need for measuring capabilities. Is this something from their marketing department to differentiate the products, or are the marks really helpful?

On the other hand, the model 56005 seems reasonably priced, and does look a whole lot nicer than my beat-up, old, rusty, metal-cased fish tape.

Klein [Manufacturer's Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Home Depot

I’ll freely admit I laughed at this recently when I saw the ad for sample 8 oz. cans of paint for just under $3 at the Depot. I should have known better; every time I scoff at something like that it winds up biting me in the rear.

What could you possibly do with that? It’s not enough to really accomplish anything. I mean it’s not as if you could try out a few colors you were having a hard time deciding between in the room you wanted to paint. Oh wait, that’s just what my other half did this weekend — and spent less than ten bucks putting actual paint on actual walls — worked pretty well on the whole.

Also, you have some touch-up paint afterwards for pesky nicks and holes to be fixed. So let me just point out: sample paint, The Depot, 8.oz — don’t laugh.

Sample Paint [The Home Depot]

There are times when I’m very glad I don’t own a gas grill. I’m sure many people use them without issue, but I’ve heard of folks’ houses burning down after faulty shutdowns and any number of other issues after a summer or so of operation. Most of that is hearsay of course, but it seems Fiesta Grills has a real tale of woe with the voluntary recall of around 88,000 of their Blue Ember Gas Grills.

Fiesta has received 161 reports of malfunctions resulting in 9 incidents that produced major burns and one case of temporary hearing loss. The recall states the cause of all this mess is that the gas hose can get too close to the firebox. Once it does, it gets bad.

The recall notice had this to say on what to do if your unit is one of the affected models.

Consumers should immediately stop using the grill and call Fiesta Gas Grills to obtain a free replacement grease pan assembly and instructions for installing the part and the gas tank. The grill should not be used until the new grease pan assembly and the gas tank have been installed correctly. Consumers should also inspect the gas burner hose and regulator, which will be replaced free of charge if there are signs of damage.

Check out the CPSC site for more info on how to identify which grills are included in the recall. And should your grill be one of the guilty parties don’t just ignore the notice and light up anyway. The way this recall reads, it’s only a matter of time.

Recall Information [CPSC.gov]

While TM has noted attic decking before, Infinite Attic is another contender in the race to make use of all that space you have in the attic. The structural aluminum Infinite Attic Saddles fit over 2×4 attic roof trusses; 2×2 rails (customer-supplied) fit in the saddles, and sections of 19/32″ plywood or OSB (customer-supplied) are attached to the rails using 6D nails or 1¼” long #8 screws. The $30 18-saddle kit will cover 32 square feet (lumber not included).

Unless your house is WAY bigger than mine, Infinite Attic is either hyperbole or a misnomer. I told them a billion times not to exaggerate.

Do you need more storage space in your attic? Or do you just need a way to prevent putting your foot through the ceiling?

Infinite Attic [Manufacturer's Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

The Fiskars Micro-Tip pruners are great for precision trimming jobs on small plants, flowers, and even vegetable gardens where a larger pruner would be unwieldy. The non-slip handles, blade cover, and blade lock also keep the sharp parts away from your soft parts. Looking at the 1-1/2″ blade, I can also imagine a host of uses in the shop where larger snips or cutters would be too big or clumsy for intricate cutting or trimming work – feel free to share your ideas in comments!

Street pricing runs about $10 from your local Home Depot.

Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruners [Home Depot]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Do you have loose outlets in your home — you know, the ones where the receptacle wiggles every time you plug or unplug a cord?  More than likely the drywall guys cut the hole too big, and the ears on the receptacle don’t land on the drywall.  In the past I’ve used small washers or nuts to space the outlet far enough out from the wall so the cover plate fits correctly, but I noticed these Caterpillar spacers from Buchanan (Ideal) the other day when I was walking through Home Depot and decided to give ‘em a try.

The 3/4″ by 3/8″ Caterpillar spacer/shims are designed to support loose outlets.  They’re small enough to fit behind the receptacle, yet large enough to stabilize the outlet. You can choose as many or as few as you need.  The spacers stack and interlock in a way that creates a slot that can slip over #6, #8, or #10 screws.  This means you don’t have to completely remove the screw to install them. The picture above is a composite of two diagrams I scanned from the bag — it does a better job explaining visually how they work.

The Caterpillars come in a strip with eight interlocking spacers.  You can buy packages containing 5, 25, or 500 strips.  Home Depot sells the packs of 5 and 25 strips for $2 or $6 respectively.

The above picture is from one of the outlets in my shoddily built addition.  The drywall for every outlet was cut too big, so the ears miss the drywall completely.  This outlet was a perfect candidate for trying the Caterpillar shims, as the receptacle moved quite a bit whenever I plugged any cords into it.

Getting started, I looked at the depth that the box was recessed, and I judged that I’d need three spacers.  So I clipped off three spacers from the strip and locked them together.  I backed the receptacle screws out to the point where I could slip the spacers over the screw, but with three spacers I ended up pulling the screw out completely anyway to get enough room to install them.

When I screwed both screws back into place with the spacers, I realized the three spacers made the outlet stand proud of the wall, so the cover didn’t fit flush.  I ended up removing a spacer from the top and bottom and screwing the receptacle back into place.  This time the cover plate fit correctly.  I tested the outlet by plugging and unplugging a cord, and there was very little wiggle.

The Caterpillar spacers worked well for my application.  If you have experience with these spacers, or if you have your own method of securing loose outlets and switches, let us know in the comments.

Caterpillars [Galesburg Electric]

BEHR has defied the convention of laying a coat of primer before a coat of paint by combining both these products in one can.  BEHR’s new Premium Plus Ultra paint supposedly cuts your painting time in half by eliminating the priming and drying stage.

You can choose a flat, satin, eggshell, or semi-gloss finish, for interior or exterior, and you can tint it to all colors just like their standard paint.  BEHR claims that by combining the paint and primer into one product, the color lasts longer without fading, and it provides a better foundation for touch-ups.

Home Depot sells BEHR Premium Plus Ultra Paints for $23 to $40, depending on the finish and whether it’s interior or exterior.

BEHR Paint Products [Home Depot]
BEHR Process Corporation [Corporate Site]

These days, a lot of manufacturers and retailers are trying to appeal to the eco-conscious consumer by selling products that make a minimal impact on the environment — it also doesn’t hurt if they save you some money. The new propane-powered string trimmer from LEHR promises to do both.

This trimmer runs on a 25cc 4-stroke engine powered entirely by propane.  A small 16.2oz propane canister, just like the one you use on your portable camping stove or grill, will fuel the engine for about two hours.  Because it’s a 4-stroke engine, it requires no mixing or oil injection, just a small reservoir of 30-weight oil for lubrication and cooling.

While burning propane is slightly more expensive by volume than burning gas, the manufacturer points out that this trimmer requires no oil mixing and no regular maintenance outside of changing the oil reservoir once a year — and due to the engine design, it’s far less likely to need repairing, so it saves you money in the long run.

You can find the trimmer under the LEHR brand name at Home Depot and Ace Hardware, and Craftsman has licensed the same models to be sold under their brand name at Sears.  Before the Craftsman model appeared on shelves a few months ago, we were lucky enough to get our hands on one to play around with, and a few things stood out to me:

1. It’s extremely easy to start — it requires considerably less compression to start it than a standard 4-stroke or 2-stroke engine, and because of the propane injection system there’s no prime and no choke. Just pull and go.

2. The power transfer from engine to drive shaft is very consistent. There’s none of that odd jerking of the cutting head if the idle screw isn’t placed at exactly the right level. This also cuts back on vibration considerably.

3. As a direct result of the consistent power transference, it also idles very quietly. We were able to have a regular conversation without raising our voices while standing over the idling machine. You almost don’t know it’s running.

If you’re interested in seeing this item in action, check out the videos on LEHR’s site or stop by your local Sears. Most stores will demo the trimmer for customers upon request.

Expect to pay $200 for the curved-shaft and $220 for the straight-shaft models.  For $20 extra you can get a model that takes the optional universal attachment.  And if you like this tool, the website says to look for a propane-powered blower by fall of 2009.

Propane-Powered String Trimmers [LEHR]
Propane-Powered String Trimmers [Sears]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

For the very first time this weekend I had to return something to the local Home Depot.  I hate returning things to the store — the entire process depresses me.  First, for whatever reason, you realize that the item you spent precious time shopping for isn’t going to work.  Then you have to go all the way back to the same store you left not an hour ago.  And finally, after waiting for what seems like forever, you get to the cashier who interrogates you as if you’ve just smuggled something illegal into the country.  It’s a sad series of events most of the time;  however that wasn’t the case this weekend at the Depot.

Not only was there no line on a Saturday afternoon at the return counter, but I was not interrogated, and after the cashier verified that the box was indeed what it said it was, she popped a drawer, gave me my cash back, smiled, and sent me on my way.  I was shocked.  I had prepared for a battle — what I got was service.

It was like getting a scratch-off win:  You don’t really have any more money than you did five minutes ago, but you’re happy.  I’m curious if this was a fluke or a common occurrence for the tool-returning masses. What say you, consumers?  Is the Home Depot return counter a bastion of sanity, or did I just catch the rare upside of a normally Grinch-like system?  Let us know in comments.

Home Depot [Website]

Home Depot is selling this Ridgid Top-Screw Bench Chain Vise for $93.  It’ll grip 1/8″ to 2-1/2″ diameter pipe for threading, as well as odd-profile workpieces.  The vise also features posts for bending pipe — it’s worth looking for on eBay and your other used tool sources.

Ridgid Top-Screw Bench Chain Vise [Home Depot]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Recently I was shopping for a drill press, and I probably could’ve gotten away with a benchtop model if it was just for woodworking, but I also do metal fabrication so I wanted a stationary model that stands on the floor. I wound up going with this Ridgid drill press.

It performs great.  The speed is changed via moving belts, which I prefer to the more automated methods. There was plenty of grease on the unit to keep it rust-free in its journey overseas. The press is perfectly square, and there’s no vibration to speak of. The depth stop was easy enough to figure out without reading the manual.

I think this tool will serve me fine, and I recommend it if you want something larger than a bench unit but not too expensive.  The press sells for $300 at Home Depot.

Drill Press [Ridgid]
Street Pricing [Google]

In setting up a woodshop, I always thought I’d end up with the standard Norm setup — a belt/disk sander combo and a separate oscillating spindle sander — but I’ve read that the motors on the lower-end spindle units can stall out when sanding, and I can’t afford the $1,000+ high-end shop sanders.  I read the reviews of this Ridgid oscillating edge belt/spindle sander and I had doubts about the belt sander part, but I figured at worst I’d end up with an affordable oscillating spindle sander.

The unit assembled easily.  The sanders are square to the base at the 90 and 45 degree stops. A hand nut with a left-handed thread holds the spindle sander and the belt sander on — both units oscillate when running.  Once I adjusted it, the tracking of the belt was true. 

In operation I sanded some 3/4 and 12/4 oak. On the smaller stock I used both sanding units, and the performance was great, but you’ll need to hook up a shop vacuum or a dust collection system to keep the unit free of sawdust.

With the larger stock I was sanding down four identical 3/4″ pieces to the same dimensions;  I taped the parts together with double-sided tape to get the 12/4 part. The sander would stall with very firm pressure, but these were pieces with a large contact area on the sander. The sanding job for the larger piece ran about 30 minutes with no problems that a belt cleaner couldn’t take care of.

I hear that it’s hard to find the sanding material.  I found the spindle refills at Home Depot, but I didn’t see the belts there. I did find a 4×24 belt, but the joint feels like a speed bump when sanding. All parts fit neatly on the tool.

The sander sells for $200 at Home Depot.

Oscillating Edge Belt/Spindle Sander [Ridgid]
Street Pricing [Google]

Makita’s compact driver set includes a two-speed drill driver, an impact driver, two lithium-ion batteries, and a 50-minute charger, all packed in a hard case.  The impact driver can deliver 800 inch-pounds of torque at up to 3,000 impacts per minute, and the two-speed drill driver spins up to 350 RPM at the lower speed setting and up to 1,300 RPM on the higher speed setting.

I tried these out at my local Home Depot with good results. The coolest thing:  After you release the trigger on these, the built-in LED stays on for a few more seconds.

I’d just picked up the Bosch PS-20 and PS-40 set, but if I’d known about this deal I would’ve held out. Performance on both units seemed comparable to the Bosch units, but after about five minutes the HD folks started giving me weird looks, so I had to stop in the middle of my long-term endurance testing.

They were priced at $129 in the Ohio Home Depots — average street pricing is around $155.

LCT203W [Makita]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

A while back I thought about posting on the Wheaton tread template linked below, but the tool looked like more trouble than it was worth.  Then the other day I saw the above tread template on Hometime and thought, “Now this is something I can post.”

Why do you need a tread template?  If you’re carpeting the stairs or have an open staircase, you probably don’t have to scribe both sides of the tread to fit in place — but if you’re working on an enclosed staircase, you either need to take a bunch of measurements, make a cardboard template, or use a tread template like this one, because you know there ain’t ever been a wall built perfectly straight.

Collins Tool’s tread template is a simple and very portable jig consisting of two 12″ plates and a scrap piece of 1×4.  You slide the plates on either end of the 1×4 after cutting it a few inches shy of the final tread width.  Then you simply push the plates so they touch the back of the riser, adjust them so they butt against the wall, and tighten the clamps — you have an exact template of the tread you need.

This isn’t a tool you’d use every day, but the $54 it costs will probably save you a few headaches.

Tread Template [Collins Tool Company]
Tread Template [Home Depot]
Wheaton Template Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Depending on your climate, covering your attic insulation may lead to moisture problems.  But Metro Products’ Attic Dek allows the insulation to breathe while still providing solid and durable decking to store your boxes and other junk.

They make tiles in two sizes, either 16″x16″ or 24″x16″, to accommodate the most common joist spacing.  Each panel supports up to 250lbs and removes easily with a few screws so you can access duct work, wires, or pipes underneath.

You secure the lightweight interlocking panels to the attic floor joists with five 2″ flathead screws.  Since they’re sized to fit the floor joists exactly, there’s no measuring and cutting involved.  Besides storage areas, you can also use Attic Dek panels to create walkways or crawl-ways.

The 16″x16″ tiles come in packs of eight and cover about 14 sq. ft., and the 24″x16″ tiles come in packs of four and cover about 10 sq. ft.  You’ll pay somewhere around $30 to $45 for packs of either type.

Attic Dek [Metro Products]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Here we see our Ridgid twin-tank aluminum air compressor in its native environment — its central position right under the miter saw is no accident.  This compressor is a slightly dusty star of the show, and the shop wouldn’t be able to function correctly without it.

The aluminum 5-gallon twin-stack air compressor is neither overlooked nor underrated in the Toolmonger wood shop.  Much like a finely tuned muscle car, the Ridgid is loud, powerful, and impressive to see in action -– for tool guys anyway.  The 5-gallon tank setup provides enough air to power any tool we’ve hooked up to it, and it doesn’t run all day even though we often do.

It’s much lighter than other units of the same size — but, to be honest, we don’t really move it that much except to empty the valve every week and drain the moisture from the tanks.  Because they’re aluminum, we suspect these tanks won’t rust nearly as quick as steel tanks.

The best feature is the second hose outlet — two of us can run finish nailers at the same time off the same tank without much difference and never run out of air.  It’s a small thing, but it adds up to a bunch more flexibility in the shop.

Though it’s not for everyone, put it on your short list if you’re considering a small twin-stack compressor.

5-Gallon Twin-Stack Compressor [Ridgid]
Street Pricing [Google]

The 12V sub-compact-drill category is growing — literally.  As you can see with this 3/8” chuck on the Ridgid R82007, the basic sub-compact shape may still be there, but manufacturers are finding ways to stuff the old into the new.

Ridgid’s new snub-nosed drill may look a bit odd for a “small drill” — it measures around 5″ from front to back and boasts 120 inch-pounds of torque — but the addition of a 3/8” chuck on the sub-compact platform seems to be a lethal combination.  With its slightly bloated dimensions, this is a great half-step between a normal-sized rig and a sub.

Its $100 price point puts it in contention with the subs for those guys who want a small drill but don’t want to give up a 3/8” chuck.  Yes, it’s a bit on the chunky side, but the versatility of the 3/8” drive might win out in the end.

R82007 3/8″ Drill [Home Depot]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

An interesting thing occurs around the time of the first freeze:  Before the Weather Channel guy can say, “The temperature’s going to drop below freezing tonight,” all the faucet covers everywhere disappear around you.  The picture above shows a rare full box of them — not often seen in the wild.

I often wonder where the ones from last year ran off to.  I remember taking them off, but it’s like they migrate to the Land of Lost Socks.  Luckily they’re not expensive — $2 or $3 a pop for the really nice ones, and you’re set.

Now that I’m taken care of, I feel safe reminding everyone else.  Stock up, before you have to get creative and bust out the insulation and zip ties.

Home Depot [Website]
Lowe’s [Website]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Home Depot is offering $10 off any $100 order placed online at homedepot.com.  Yeah, it’s not much more than lunch on the way back to the shop — but if you’re spending anyway, you get enough gas to make it home.

The offer expires November 1, so this is a quick-turn type of thing.  Enter code FALLSAVE1 at checkout to redeem.

Home Depot [Official Site]

Home Depot has dropped the price on this RIDGID 3/8″ drill to $79, through August 25, 2008. The cordless drill features a 24-position clutch, variable-speed 12V motor with High and Low settings, and the Rapid Max Charger which charges the battery in 20 minutes. The offer’s available online only, with shipping costs running around $7.

3/8″ Drill [Home Depot]
3/8″ Drill [RIDGID]
Street Pricing [Google Products]