By Sam Barer

Sound Classics

Sometimes it just plain amazes me how such an inexpensive tool can totally change my life. Today I’ve discovered a new best friend: the helping hands.

The love affair started with my last trip to Harbor Freight Tools (aka the store chock-to-the-ceiling with nifty tools and supplies priced so low you’ll buy things you’ll only use once). After filling my basket with a $2 rubber mallet, $4 set of cutoff wheels, $1 package of foam paint brushes, and $2 bag of fine steel wool, I noticed the end-cap rack filled with magnified helping hands units for a price equal to a McDonald’s milkshake. Although I had never used one, I’ve been told for years that it’s a must-have for any DYIer, so it was a no-brainer impulse buy.

Continue reading "What’s Your Favorite Cheap But Life-Changing Tool?" »

By Mike Bumbeck

Clunkbucket

From the Large Hadron Collider department of Tool of the Week comes the telescoping magnet, or magnetic pickup tool. Regardless of automobile make or model, there is always at least one fastener in a difficult if not ridiculous location. Getting to that bugger often requires ingenuity in action. After putting a box-end wrench into a vise and using a sledge hammer to bend it into a crow’s foot, pegging the swear-o-meter, twisting a screwdriver into a 73-degree angle with a set of vise-grips, and cursing whoever or whatever company was responsible for putting the fastener in such a ludicrous location, you finally crack that nut or bolt loose. But then what? You still have to get it back in, right? Read more on the miracle of the telescoping magnet pickup Tool over at Clunkbucket.

By Mike Bumbeck

Clunkbucket

Direct from the Van Nuys desk of the Tool of the Week aptly-named Hammers Division comes the dead-blow hammer, or mallet. There are many hammer-mallets, but none have the unique functionality of the dead-blow hammer. Inside the hollow plastic or steel center of the dead blow hammer head is a measure of sand or steel pellet shot. The pellets are similar to those found inside a shotgun shell. The shot dampens the rebound or bouncing associated with lesser hammers, while also softening the hammer blow to your wrist and hand. The quick-shifting shot even adds bonus power the hammer blow. The shot delivers its mass and inertia to the inside of the hammer face a split-second after contact with the frame rail, steel shelving, 55-gallon drum lid, or whatever else is being hammered. Bonus double hit! More about how the dead blow hammer is punk rock over at Clunkbucket!

By Katherine Helmetag

Atomicalex

I got to work on Monday, and this was on my desk. My co-worker found it in his toolbox—it’s one of those special tools it seems you always need half-way into a job. It’s used to tighten the fan pulley on an air-cooled VW engine, and it’s left over from the guy’s Squareback days. I’d love to see the rest of his toolbox—he’s owned quite a few interesting cars over the years.

By Katherine Helmetag

AKA atomicalex

Let’s face it: SEMA is all about swag. So far, the swag competition has a clear winner: Sears Craftsman. We got these cool tool bags full of Craftsman stuff—tshirt, work gloves, sticker, cards, and best of all, a cap wrench. Yes, you know what that is for. Jen and I agree—the toolbags are going to be perfect for our junkyard forays. Thank you, Mr. Craftsman!

By Katherine Helmetag

AKA atomicalex

Chip Foose is everywhere you look here at SEMA. I popped into Lincoln Electric to check out their new Precision TIG 225—the TIG welder for the rest of us—and spotted Foose on Lincoln’s new lightweight full-screen welding hood. I tried it on—it’s lighter than a regular full-screen auto-dimmer, and it’s way lighter than my old glass helmet. It’s also tricked out with the Hemisfear color scheme.

Continue reading "Foose is everywhere" »

By Katherine Helmetag

AKA atomicalex

What? Black isn’t good enough for you when it comes to toolboxes? Sears appears to be admitting that their stock color selection leaves a little excitement to be desired (where’s the purple metalflake, people?) and are inviting SEMA attendees to select a new color. The palette includes Sunburst Orange, Cranberry, Deep Indigo, Royal Blue, Electric Blue, Forest Green, Lime Green, and Orange Metallic. I want to do a write-in.

The Vise-Grips plant in DeWitt, Nebraska, which has assembled the locking pliers for the last 80 years, will be moving its operations to China. It strikes kind of a note with me because only yesterday I was discussing some ways to free up a frozen and rounded-off brake-line fitting with some people at the parts counter, and a local mechanic recommended the method of last resort: get some Vise-Grips on the fitting, "nuke ‘em" real tight, and just go for it. "Only make sure you’re using real ones, not that fake crap from China," he added. It turned out to be really good advice.

Vise-Grips employs around 300 people in a town with a population of 572—so over half the town got the bad news directly from the management yesterday. The pliers have been manufactured in Nebraska since 1924, when Danish immigrant and DeWitt blacksmith William Petersen obtained the patent for them. Read more at msnbc.

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing works out the way you planned it? It happened to me on Sunday, which happened to be the day I turned 40. I decided to treat myself to a long drive in the countryside, to hell with petrol prices. But I hadn’t gone very far before the Plymouth lost all power and refused to restart. I glumly remembered my father’s words of wisdom: “Even if you’re only going on a short trip, never leave home without a basic set of tools.” Because I’d been cleaning the Plymouth for my upcoming roadtrip to the Wintersun festival, all my tools were at home. Lucky for me, a fellow car enthusiast with a set of tools stopped by and offered his assistance. A quick diagnosis determined that it was a distributor problem and nothing but a tow truck was going to help. My mechanic subsequently found that the timing chain and associated gears were toast. Even though my basic tools wouldn’t have done me much good in this situation, and even though the number of people who stopped to offer help really did amaze me, getting stranded with no tools with which to even investigate the situation was pretty uncomfortable. I won’t be leaving home without the toolbox again any time soon.

How about you? What’s the worst you’ve ever been stranded? And were you able to do anything about it with the tools you had on hand?

When talking to some friends about our favorite car-related tools recently, everyone seemed a bit surprised when I said my current favorite is a cement mixer. Perhaps I should explain. Since I’m on holidays, I have lots of spare time on my hands, and the job at the top of my to-do list is concreting the garage floor. Sure, I could have paid someone else to do it, but according to the quotes I got, doing it myself would save me about $1800—and that’s $1800 I can spend on the Dodge. I know it’s not going to look quite as good as a professional job, but if it saves me from rolling around in the dirt, I’ll be happy. Obviously, I don’t actually use the cement mixer to work on my cars, and my favorite piece of equipment for actual wrenching is my air compressor. I bought it a few years ago to help me with my wood working, but quickly realized that a decent set of air tools could save me a lot of time. Compressors have really dropped in price in the past few years, so if you don’t have one, you should give it some consideration. What’s your favorite tool?