BuffaloFeeds » Toolmonger » October 22, 2009

Toolmonger (7 unread)

Wood Science & Design DVDs

Posted: October 22nd, 2009, 11:14am MDT by Gordon DeWitte

Noted on Fine Woodworking’s web site, this set of three DVDs by Canadian woodworker Hendrik Varju has a total of almost six hours of videos. The videos cover a host of things about wood and its use, including wood’s basic structure, different cuts of lumber, wood movement and a formula for it, orienting growth rings, cross-grain construction, breadboard ends, and examples of wood and furniture pieces. The videos’ table of contents can be seen by using the pdf link below. Price for the set is $80 CDN plus shipping, handling, and applicable taxes (that would be $76+ using 10/21/09 conversion rates).

Wood Science & Design [Manufacturer's Site]
Wood Science & Design Table of Contents [PDF]
Resistor Lead Bending Tools

Posted: October 22nd, 2009, 11:06am MDT by Benjamen Johnson

Looking at a printed circuit board (PCB), ever wonder how they bend every one of those resistor leads perfectly every time? Depending on how many PCB’s are in a production run, you’d use different tools. For a run of one or two boards, you could always try a pair of pliers and a keen eye, or you could use a plastic lead former. If you’re running a ton of boards at once, a better solution would be a lead forming machine from a company like PEI.

Slots for radial lead resistors run along the length of the high impact ABS plastic former. Each slot is .05″ longer than the next and has radiused edges to make perfect bends without stressing the leads. It can be used to bend the leads of 1/2 watt resistors, 1/4 watt resistors, and diodes.

The lead forming machines, on the other hand, can take a strip of taped axial components and spit out components ready to be stuffed onto a PCB board. The machines cut the leads and bend them to a variety of different shapes depending on what you need. They can be motorized or hand-powered to save some dough.

Pricing for the plastic lead former starts at $5 before shipping. If you don’t have a PCB stuffing house, you probably can’t afford a PEI lead forming machine — if you do run a production house you can’t afford not to have a tool like it.

Lead Forming Tool [Jameco]
Lead Forming Tool [Wassco]
Lead Forming Tool [Evil Mad Scientist]
Axial Machines [Olamef]
A Chip Off The ‘Ole Block

Posted: October 22nd, 2009, 11:03am MDT by Audra Heaslip

Want to get the kids involved in handiwork but not ready to hand over your power drill to a first-grader? Arizona Tools offers a cool gift idea for kids aged around 6-10: Allied’s Junior Cruiser Assortment Tool Set. Aside from giving them a chance to spend time with Dad or Mom or Grandpa Joe, it goes a long way toward developing dexterity and a sense of independence (read: when they’re thirty they won’t still be calling you to help them put air in a tire).

The kit is made with heat-treated, likely inexpensive materials (the whole set retails for under $30) including a flashlight (batteries not included), tire gauge, Phillips and flathead screwdrivers, 18 hex keys (SAE/Metric with holders), a 10′ tape measure, 6″ slip joint pliers, a 1/4″ spinner handle, and 20 1/4″ drive sockets of various SAE and metric sizes. Customer reviews at Arizona Tools are positive, though many folks wish that it included a hammer. Then again, when you’re eight, everything’s a hammer.

Allied Junior Cruiser Assortment Tool Set [Arizona Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Allied Junior Tool Sets Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Dealmonger: Dremel 220-01 Workstation

Posted: October 22nd, 2009, 10:53am MDT by Nick Carter

Right now Total Tool and Home has the Dremel 220-01 Workstation for $33.39.

Basically an updated version of Dremel’s old drill press stand for the Dremel rotary tool, the workstation allows regular drill press use of the Dremel as well as positioning it up to 90 degrees for angled drilling (in our opinion it’s always better to angle the work not the head) and for holding the Dremel for controlled work while holding the workpiece with both hands. It also will hold the flexible shaft attachment, and telescopes up to 29″ for hanging the Dremel out of the way. Of course, a dedicated drill press is always a better solution, but if space and budget are a factor this may be what you need.

It’s worth noting that Amazon has it for $39.63 with super saver shipping, so that may be a better deal.

Dremel 220-01 Workstation [totaltoolandhome.com]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Put Those Tool Batteries To Work — Vacuuming

Posted: October 22nd, 2009, 10:48am MDT by Chuck Cage

Ever since we launched Toolmonger and started letting hundreds of thousands of other tool folks in on our tool-related conversations, we’ve tried to excise our habits of calling all tools by one manufacturer’s brand name. Just like people down here in the South call all soft drinks “a Coke” (No, really. We do), we used to call all circ saws Skilsaws, all portable band saws Porta-Bands, and all adjustable wrenches Crescent wrenches.

So you’ll have to forgive me when I think of every small, elongated, cordless vacuum as a Dustbuster. They’re not — especially when they’re completely different, like this model from Makita. This one’s clearly designed as a floor sweeper, kind of like the cheap-o model I have at home for sucking up stray cat litter in the utility room or peppercorns in the kitchen. But more importantly, it’s powered by Makita’s 10.8V tool batteries.

The specifics: Makita says you get 12 minutes of use from a single li-ion battery and if you twist it open in the middle you’ll find a two-stage cleanable cloth filter. It’s bagless, too, so you just open it and dump it.

Makita offers an 18V model as well, in case you’re invested in the 18V line but not the 10.8V line. (Which, incidentally, we could see. Makita’s 18V tools seem quite popular among our readers, especially on the West coast. But Makita’s 10.8V line meets some pretty serious challengers from Bosch, Milwaukee, and others.) But Makita says you’ll only get 10 minutes out of the 18V battery. Maybe it sucks harder.

Regardless, they run between $70 and $100 online.

By the way, Sean, being the ever-stubborn bastard* that he is (bless his heart), solved the “don’t use the brand name” rule in his usual creative way: He just buys the brand-name tools so I can’t give him crap about it. Yes, his “Skilsaw” was made by Skil. And it’s more famous than we are.

10.8V Compact Li-Ion Cordless Vacuum [Makita]
18V Compact Li-Ion Cordless Vacuum [Makita]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
18V Model [What’s This?]

* Note for non-Southerners. “Bless his heart” is a special phrase that serves to cancel out any negativity related to the preceding epithet.
Only Protect What You Want To Keep

Posted: October 22nd, 2009, 10:46am MDT by Audra Heaslip

I always heard this saying applied to your melon when talking about, say, riding a motorcycle. In this case, it’s something almost as important: your ears. You can pick up a pack of 200 Howard Leight LL1 Laser Lite cordless earplugs at Amazon for $20. Made of expandable foam and resembling stylish red-and-yellow rocket ships (hey, it’s cool), it’s worth 20 cents a pair for long-term hearing protection.

Research suggests you subject your tubes to no more than a maximum of 85 decibels for eight hours a day: that’s about the level of busy street traffic. But what about those who work in factories or warehouses, in construction or demolition, or in elementary teaching? Power tools easily run at 100-110 db; jack hammers at 120; a lawn mower at 90 db. (By the way, a sound 100 times louder than 10 db is 20 db. A sound 1,000 times louder than 10 db is 30 db, and so on.) I bet an elementary school kid can do at least 100 db.

With a maximum of 32 db noise reduction rating (NRR), these little plugs can turn your growling John Deere rider into a gentle purr — so you can enjoy sweet engine sounds into your golden years.

Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
TV Tonight: The 411 on the 911

Posted: October 22nd, 2009, 7:42am MDT by Nick Carter
(TV Tonight, Thursday, October 22nd, 2009) We get a bonanza of new episodes tonight, with a new Ultimate Factories tour of the Porsche plant and the making of the 911, then a new American Chopper builds a bike for the Saginaw Chippewa. At the same time a new episode of How Do They Do It? looks at some luxury items.

All times are central
- Junkyard Wars: Portable Bridge (Science, 5:00 pm)
- Ask This Old House: Low Voltage Landscape Lighting, Replacing Old Faucet (DIY, 5:30 pm)
- Cool Tools: Unplugged (DIY, 6:00 pm)
- American Chopper: Pilot Pen Bike and Ducati Bike (TLC, 6:00 pm)
- Junkyard Wars: Heavy Artillery (Science, 6:00 pm)
- American Chopper: Chesapeake Energy Bike (TLC, 7:00 pm)
- Ultimate Factories: Porsche (National Geographic, 7:00 pm) NEW
- Some Assembly Required: Distilling whiskey, making a cat’s-eye marble, trying to build an unsinkable boat (Science, 7:00 pm)
- American Chopper: Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal Theme Bike (TLC, 8:00 pm) NEW
- How Do They Do It?: Aquarium, Sapphire, Bentleys (Science, 8:00 pm) NEW
- How Do They Do It?: Heat, Champagne, Port Expansion (Science, 8:30 pm)