BuffaloFeeds » Toolmonger » November 24, 2010

Toolmonger (4 unread)

Black Friday Is Here Again

Posted: November 24th, 2010, 10:48am MST by Sean O'Hara

*Cue Dracula-like organ music with howling theremin*

Once again the horror is upon us, and there’s nothing you can do to stop its reign of holiday terror. Retail chains and brick and motor establishments are gearing up this week for the single darkest shopping day of the year — Black Friday. It’s just a few days hence.

*Music ends* Which, other than the huge crowds and panic, means awesome savings for us in most cases. However we have noticed the trend now seems to be to hold on to releasing those deals till the last second (like Home Depot), though in other cases it still seems an open book.

A great place to start looking for gear to score on the the dark day is tgiblackfriday.com. They seem to have the latest on many of the chain store releases. The retail market is still in the hole this year and counts on the crowds coming through with buyers’ greed, so watch for deals that aren’t deals and don’t be afraid to pounce on the ones that are.

TGI Black Friday [Lowe's Ad 2010]
Recall: Bosch Hammer Drills

Posted: November 24th, 2010, 10:47am MST by Chuck Cage

Bosch announced the recall of approximately 20,000 hammer drills. According to the CPSC “the models have a grounding system and trigger switch that could cause ground wire abrasion and/or ground connector failure posing a shock hazard. In addition, the switch could become stuck in the on position posing an injury hazard to the user.” So far no one’s reported any actual incidents.

Affected drills are the 1/2″ 2-speed variety with model numbers HD19-2, HD19-2D, HD19-2L, and HD 21-2. They were sold between September 2009 and August 2010. If you own one of these, you should immediately stop using the drill and return it to Bosch directly for repair. You can contact Bosch toll-free at 866-244-2110 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Bosch Recalls Hammer Drills Due To Electrical Shock Hazard [CPSC]
This Torque Wrench Won’t Shock You

Posted: November 24th, 2010, 10:16am MST by Benjamen Johnson

When you think of insulated tools, a torque wrench isn’t the first tool that comes to mind. Yet there must be a need for them, because several companies sell insulated torque wrenches. Knipex has sold their model 98 43 for a while, but is obsoleting it in favor of two new models.

Besides now making both a 1/2″ drive and a 3/8″ drive, the only real differences seem to be a slightly tweaked handle design, a 10 oz. weight increase to 43 oz., and a torque range change from 8-54 Nm to 5-50 Nm. All the models are reversible to tighten both right-handed and left-handed threads.

The torque wrenches are made from chrome vanadium steel and safe to 1000V following IEC 60900 DIN and EN 60900 certifications. You adjust the torque using the transparent insulated scale and can lock sockets in place with the black screw lock.

Including the calibration certificate, look at spending at least $400 for one of these insulated torque wrenches, but it’s likely you could spend more than $500.

Torque Wrenches [Knipex]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Guilt, Reconciled

Posted: November 24th, 2010, 9:43am MST by Chuck Cage

TM reader Jason tipped us off to this awesome piece of holiday news from CantonRep.com:

Mel Yoder didn’t know what to make of the box that recently showed up outside his home. The package — cardboard held together with tape — had his name repeatedly scrawled across the sides. [...] It turns out that the package was dropped off by a snake of sorts, a thief who long ago stole Yoder’s circular saw. It took five decades for the guilt-ridden party to return it.

The circ saw — a Porter-Cable, by the way — was stolen from Yoder’s truck when he stopped for coffee after a job back in 1959 or 1960. He told CantonRep that “the loss hurt, but he never bothered to file a police report; he just moved on.”

Be sure to check out the article for the full story. It’s so nice to hear this kind of story around Christmas time, isn’t it? I love that Yoder’s so forgiving about the whole thing. That’s worth thinking about if you ever consider helping yourself to something in the back of a contractor’s truck: Just picture the hard-working guy shrugging and heading to the store to hand over that measly profit for a replacement.

Or think about the time Sean and I saw some landscapers just about beat the living crap out of a guy who considered kiping tools from the back of some other guy’s truck. You never know who’s watching.

50 Years Later, Thief Returns Stolen Saw [CantonRep.com]