BuffaloFeeds » Toolmonger » April 30, 2010

Toolmonger (7 unread)

Preview: Hobart Puts The Gloves On

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 12:36pm MDT by Sean O'Hara

Let’s pretend for a minute that you are Hobart. You make fine welding equipment as well as some great safety gear-like gloves. For years you’ve watched other companies take multi-purpose gloves and make a killing. What do you do? Well, Hobart decided to enter the ring themselves with the mantra “more is more.” They’re now rocking three new sets of gloves including multi-use (Mechanics gloves). This is the newest multi-pack of Hobart gloves for around $23.

The pack contains two pairs of Welding Gloves and one pair of the Work/Multi-Use gloves. We don’t know much about them yet, but as soon as we can get a set in the shop we’ll start the torture testing all gloves seem to get around here. We’re excited to see how they hold up against other work gloves like Mechanix.

They’re also coming out with a new set of heavier welding gloves that feature flame-retardant cotton fleece and canvas duck cuffs; plus they’re sewn using Kevlar thread. We’ve had a few pair of Hobart welding gloves in the shop for years — they’re Chuck’s favorite — so we’re stoked to get our hands on these as well.

The Value Pack retails for $22.99, which breaks down to a little over $7.50 per pair. Hobart says the packs are shipping very soon, so you will be seeing them on the racks at the local farm/ranch or hardware store in the very near future. If nothing else it’s another solid alternative to cheap no-name gloves.

Hobart Welding [Website]
Get Your Paws ON That Chicken

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 11:32am MDT by Benjamen Johnson

Use Bear Paws to handle the heavy roast or grab that slippery ham. These plastic claws allow you to lift, move, and carve turkeys, hams, roasts and other large food without touching them, and since you’re grabbing the heavy food items closer than with a fork, you have more control.

The “super sharp” Bear Paws can be used to shred meats or to keep your fingers out of harm’s way while you’re carving the turkey. The slip-free plastic handles won’t transfer heat, so you won’t be paying hot potato, or roast for that matter. The paws won’t scratch coated surfaces, and when you’re done you can throw them in the dishwasher.

Made in the USA, Bear Paws come in ivory (the color) and brown. You can pick up a pair for about $10.

Bear Paws [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Resetting Your OBD-II Before A Smog Check

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 10:50am MDT by Chuck Cage

So you’ve performed a code erase on your OBD-II-equipped vehicle, and now you’re due for an emissions check. But your code reader shows you’re not ready because some of the OBD-II emissions-related tests haven’t completed yet — specifically that the “HAS RUN” flag remains unset. What to do?

Well, you can drive around on your expired inspection sticker for a few weeks, checking until the flag goes away. But there’s a better solution: perform the manufacturer’s recommended drive cycle.

The drive cycle is a series of actions which, when performed correctly, will offer an opportunity for all the OBD-II tests to complete, leaving you with a fresh, ready-for-emissions-check computer. Cycles vary among manufacturers, but most take an hour or two to complete.

If you own the factory repair manual for your vehicle, you can find the correct cycle there. Or you can find them online. The folks who manufacture and sell the AutoTap OBD-II Diagnostic Scanner maintain a page that includes the GM and Ford cycles along with some helpful notations as to which part of the cycle activates which tests (link below). And if neither of these sources works for you, you can always resort to Googling “[insert manufacturer here] OBD-II drive cycle” for decent results. (As an optional variant, try adding the actual model to your search terms. That’ll help include model-specific forums, which often contain information of this type.)

For those of you interested, it looks like the personal issue with my trusty F150 involves the cat and evaporative emissions tests.

So it seems I need to drive a bit more. The EVAP section seems simple, though I’ll need to put some gas in to assure I’m between 15% and 85%. Sadly, my reader doesn’t allow me to directly monitor the FLI and EVAPOC sensors, so I’ll just have to hope. The second part seems a bit more tricky. Wish me luck!

(Thanks, mroach, for the great CC-licensed photo.)

The OBD-II Homepage [AutoTap]
Tiny Workshop For Your Tiny House

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 10:05am MDT by Gordon DeWitte

So after you’ve converted your garage into a tiny house (TM 4/28/10), you decide that you still want to do some woodworking. If you’ve got a storage space of around 5′ × 5′, you can follow this neat Instructable by steliart from Nicosia — Cyprus, and cleverly craft everything so that it fits in the small storage space. In his case, the storage space was near his open-air parking space. His 59″ × 20″ multi-tool bench, shown above, has five major tools (drill press, sander, jigsaw, circular saw, and router with a lift), a vise, five small drawers, storage space on the bottom, and eight electrical outlets. It rides on five casters with brakes. The angled cut on the left corner above is to allow room to get into the storage space when the bench is inside it.

He used SketchUp to design his setup. The placement of everything in his storage space is shown in the SketchUp drawing above.

The Smallest Workshop in the World [Instructables]
Harbor Freight’s New Look

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 9:18am MDT by Chuck Cage

Admittedly, we’ve always kind of enjoyed the low-rent look of Harbor Freight’s website. To me, it always felt appropriate, matching the store’s awesome cheap-ass tool vibe. But alas, everything changes with time. They’ve now joined the modern web world with an entirely new look.

One big positive, though: It’s now much easier to find things. A list down the left-hand side of the page now allows quick access to various tool categories. And now each product includes a much larger, much more high-res image on which you can zoom and pan to see detail. Maybe it’s just me, but the site seems a little faster, too.

Anyway, enjoy. I wonder if they’re going to spruce up the stores, too. Of course, I hope they don’t. While I enjoy the new site, I love the feeling of strolling through the store on a Sunday morning with tool buddies — something that requires neither carpet nor “helpful” salespeople.

The New Site [Harbor Freight]
Fork It Over

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 8:39am MDT by Benjamen Johnson

If you were a Klingon, the Fork It Over from Backyard Warriors would be your grill fork. This mean-looking utensil lets you grab steaks without contorting your hand, and flip them by simply turning your wrist.

They make their patented barbecue fork from food-grade stainless steel and solid hardwood, and it works in either the left or right hand. You can purchase one for $15 or two for $24, including shipping.

If you watch the video over on their homepage, there’s at least two things wrong with it. First, whatever happened to the 5 second rule? Second, if you don’t beat the dog to the meat, you don’t deserve it.

Fork It Over [Backyard Warriors]
Fork It Over [Awesome Tools]
Dealmonger: Delta $100 Rebate Offer

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 8:14am MDT by Sean O'Hara

Large machine purchases are not as common as they were a few years ago — to try to combat this issue, the folks at Delta are bringing the rebates. From now until May 31st Delta is offering a $100 mail-in rebate if you purchase select woodworking machines and the base for it.

A C-note isn’t really the greatest windfall that’s ever going to happen to you, but it could get the choosey shoppers off the fence or get someone who was going to take the plunge anyway a set of bits, blades, or belts and perhaps some stock to run through their spotless new hardware.

To get your rebate, just buy the correct equipment shown in the PDF download of the rebate form, and mail in the required info. If you were going Delta anyway this is a fine way to make your cash stretch a little further.

Delta Machinery [Website]
$100 Rebate Offer [Delta]