BuffaloFeeds » Toolmonger

Toolmonger (4 unread)

Reproducing A Badger Plane

Posted: May 27th, 2010, 2:26pm MDT by Gordon DeWitte

The latest Lee Valley Woodworking Newsletter (Vol. 4, Issue 5, May 2010) has a great article on how Konrad Sauer reproduced a handled badger plane. Badger planes, “generally considered to be Scottish in origin,” have a blade that is both skewed and rotated (about 10°) so the blade exits out of one side of the plane allowing it to cut rebates.

The original, from Ken Roberts (author of books on woodworking and planes), is shown above. It has a cast plane body that was damaged where the blade exits on the side, and also had a broken front bun.

Although it’s difficult to see in the above pictures, the completed reproduction is a metal dovetailed version. The Lee Valley link has many more pictures of the processes and mock-ups Konrad used. He also details his thinking and trade-offs as he worked on this project.

Lee Valley Woodworking Newsletter May 2010
Insulated Angled Nut Driver

Posted: May 27th, 2010, 1:59pm MDT by Benjamen Johnson

Today, in this third, and last, installment of uncommon nut drivers, we have the insulated and angled nut driver from Cementex. It’s not articulated — it’s a fixed right angle, so it’s not bent to get into odd spaces. My best guess is that the shaft is bent to apply more torque.

Made in the USA, the double-insulated drivers are rated for 1000VAC and 1500VDC. The driver’s bent shank measures 4-3/4″ by 5″ and is sold in 7/16″, 1/2″, 9/16″, 5/8″, 3/4″ sizes. Cementex also sells angled short-barrel nut drivers in the same sizes. All the angled drivers retail from $52 to $56, but you can find them as low as $37 if you shop around.

Angled Nut Drivers [Mitchell]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Alden ProGrabit Screw Extractors

Posted: May 27th, 2010, 1:42pm MDT by Gordon DeWitte

I’ve had two occasions recently to use my set of Alden proGrabit® broken screw extractors, and both times it worked like a champ. The first time was on some — apparently cheap — 6-32 Phillips screws in an outdoor electrical box where the heads were quite dinged up (probably during installation). A quick touch with the drill bit side while reversing the drill created a cavity in the top of the screw. Then, with the bit flipped around to the extractor side and continuing to run the drill in reverse, I easily removed the screws. The second time was on a broken 5/16″-18 brass air-release screw in a pneumatic telescoping mast, and the process went just as smoothly.

The 8430P three-piece set pictured above can be found for a bit more than $14. Two-piece and four-piece sets are also available along with single units.

Was I just lucky, or are these bits as good as advertised? What have other Toolmongers experienced?

proGrabit® Pro-Grade Extractors [Manufacturer's Site]
Alden 8430P Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Hot Or Not? CRKT Flux

Posted: May 27th, 2010, 12:24pm MDT by Gordon DeWitte

CRKT has a new multi-tool “chassis” that consists of a dual-carabiner center section to which you can add various tools. For example, shown above is their $59.99 GoWork Pack comprising the chassis, a knife, and a hex driver. The various components slide onto the center chassis as shown below.

Two other Packs are available: the $69.99 GoNerd Pack (center chassis, hex driver, and 2GB flash drive), and the $59.99 GoPlay Pack (center chassis, LED light, and wine tool with corkscrew, foil knife, and bottle opener). A $26.99 hex driver/LED light combination component is also available. The dual-carabiner chassis is available by itself for $9.99.

What do you think? Would you want a multi-tool like this that you can customize?

New Multi-Tools [CRKT]

As a Father’s Day Special, CRKT is offering free UPS ground shipping for all orders made from May 25th to June 14th.