Ignition wrenches are one of those tools you’ll never need until that one moment when Murphy’s messing with you, and then nothing else will do. Normal wrenches have a 30-degree offset in the head to allow for rotating hex bolts by thirty degrees at a time, but that’s too much for some very tight situations. That’s where ignition wrenches come in. With a 15-degree offset on one side and an 80-degree offset on the other, you only need five degrees of rotation to spin a bolt. Tedious, yes, but sometimes those small increments are all you can manage.

Pricing is reasonable from Craftsman, at $20 for a set of eight metric wrenches, and the same price for eight inch wrenches. Snap-On, naturally, has similar options at the stratospheric price of $224. Personally, I’ll take 91% off and go for the Craftsman set.

8-piece ignition wrench set, inches [Craftsman]
8-piece ignition wrench set, millimeters [Craftsman]

You would think that with my collection of purchased and inherited tools and overall tool hang-up, I would have at least seen one of these before. I have some old Craftsman double-ended ratchet wrenches that are dog-bone shaped, but this version is new to me; I don’t know how I overlooked this.

Sears has their DOG BONE wrench in both SAE and metric for $20 each. Thorsen seems to have an equivalent for $15, although their version does not have the all upper-case name.

This could either be super handy to have around, sparing you trips back and forth to the tool box to find the right socket — or the bone ends would get in the way left, right, and backwards.

Sears [Manufacturer's Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

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]

Ever notice how you never have to sharpen your steak knives? The serrated edge keeps its ability to cut much longer than a straight edge, but some of the trade-offs are you don’t get as clean a cut and it’s not fun to sharpen. Neither of these disadvantages matter for many tasks you’d use a utility knife for, as you’d probably rather work longer without stopping to change blades.

Rapid Tools manufactures Rapid Edge blades for your utility knife. They claim the blades last longer because the serrated edge has three to five times the cutting surface of a straight blade. This reduces friction, keeping the blade sharper longer. While you might not want to use the Rapid edge for cutting drywall it supposedly works well on materials like carpet, wire, rope, and asphalt shingles.

Rapid Edge Blades fit all standard utility knives. They come in packs of 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 blades and start around $4 for a five-pack.

Rapid Edge Blades [Rapid Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Meteor’s Spark Doctor is yet another multi-tool, but this time they’ve specialized it for working with spark plugs. This multi-tool boasts eight different tools for removing, tuning, and cleaning your plugs.

As always, we’re skeptical about the number of tools a multi-tool packs — sometimes marketing departments like to be sneaky and claim a lanyard hole or carrying case as a tool or function. So let’s enumerate the tools, shall we?

• 5/8″ socket
• 3/4″ socket
• 13/16″ socket
• Brass brush
• Metal file
• Metal pick
• Gap gage
• Gapping tool

The metal file and metal pick are part of the same tool, kind of like the wire stripper is part of the flat screwdriver blade on Leatherman and Swiss Army Knives. If they can get away with it, why not Meteor? All these tools fold into a soft-grip handle.

The Spark Doctor can be had for less than $20 before somebody tries to gouge you with shipping.

Spark Doctor [Meteor]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Spark Doctor [Sears]

Cavemen still living without the magic of air power (and I’m one of them) will find a neat workaround in the form of hammer-actuated impact drivers. They’re old-school, clever little devices which turn the force of a hammer blow into torque, and plenty of it. Hit the casing with a metal-faced hammer, and a cam inside gives you a strong twist, exactly like a pneumatic impact wrench.

Though not quite as user-friendly or useful as an impact gun, they can still get stubborn bolts in or out. $25 is pretty cheap considering that it’s a Craftsman set. Even if you can find a pneumatic impact gun at that price, no one in their right mind would trust it, and these let you skip the compressor, too.

Impact Driver Set [Craftsman]

Sears launched their new green website earlier this month — they’ve dedicated a section of Sears.com to tips, ideas, and products designed to help their customers live “greener” and more eco-friendly.  More information after the jump.

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Yes, ladies and gents, this is a preview of the upcoming Craftsman C3 cordless chainsaw — they’ll add it to the existing C3 line in late July.  Craftsman recently released this information to Sears associates only, and just as of today it’s cleared for public consumption. On with the show! (more…)

Legacy Manufacturing, not to be confused with Legacy Woodworking, claims their MEGABOOST grease gun is the most powerful pistol-style grease gun out there.  If you set the gun for boost, it’s able to deliver 10,000 PSI — or, if you set if for volume, it’ll pump out more grease per stroke than other similar grease guns.

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A couple days ago Benjamen previewed the upcoming Tow-N-Stow trailer. However, the $2,500 price tag and the odd choice of pairing it with a stationary storage unit got some lukewarm responses from Toolmongers. In light of that, I’d like to see what y’all think of this new fold-up utility trailer from Craftsman.

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In a struggling economy retailers come up with creative ways to move more products, even if it means cutting their profit margins.  You’ll see Sears’ latest marketing effort in the main aisles of their tool department — Craftsman Value display boxes, containing special versions of their best-selling products: tool bags, utility knives, tape measures, levels, and socket sets, to name a few.

The tool sets in the Value boxes come packaged with extra items, for the same price as the standard sets found elsewhere in the store. The 48″ level includes a free 10″ torpedo level;  the 16″ tool bag includes a free 12″ tool bag;  and the 18pc. socket set includes a free 4pc. wrench set.

These prices may not be the best you’ll ever find, but if you need a new socket set or a couple of tool bags, or you’re looking for some nice gifts for Father’s Day, take a look at the in-aisle displays at your local Sears for a pretty decent deal.  All items are available as long as quantities last locally, and no two stores will have the same selection.  Approximately 37 different value boxes have shipped out, and they’ll be replenished randomly over the next six months, so you’ll find a wide selection to choose from.

Sears [Corporate Site]

I really hate cleaning out my hot tub.  Here in Florida, even if you overdose your tub with chemicals, you’re bound to see algae and scale buildup when you get close to the six-month cleaning.  I especially hate trying to remove that 10-15 gallons at the bottom, below the drain pipe. Today, instead of my classic method of bucket removal and swearing, I broke out my Craftsman two-gallon portable wet/dry vac.

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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.

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For any sort of carpentry, woodworking, or masonry project, you want to measure your angles accurately.  If it’s time to replace that antiquated adjustable angle finder with a newer, shinier model, take a look at Craftsman’s new 4-in-1 digital angle finder.

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There are lots of ways to store multiple insert bits in a multi-bit screwdriver, but Wiha might have the neatest.  As the eight-bit tray flips out of the ergonomic cushion-grip handle, the internal drawer rotates so you can easily access the bits.

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For some time now Sears has marketed their top-of-the-line hand tools under the name Craftsman Professional, attempting to set them apart from and above the standard Craftsman line.  Now, that distinct black and marigold color scheme has found its way to their lawn and garden department as well, on an assortment of commercial-grade powered lawn equipment.

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With Father’s Day about a month away, I’m sure many of us are scrambling to find this year’s present.  We’ve already exhausted the pocket knife, cigar cutter, homemade picture frame, beer gift basket, necktie, and personal coupon books in past years, and we’re running short on ideas — but if your dad’s a sports fan and a Toolmonger, you might want to check out these sports-themed tool belts from Fantasia Memorabilia.

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