Like may of you, I find Craftsman’s “lifetime satisfaction guaranteed” warranty policy to be hugely influential when shopping for new tools. I’ve heard of cases where obviously abused tools were not replaced, but there are also other exclusions to be aware of. For example, certain cutting tools are considered consumables and are not eligible for replacement.

You might be able to get around some of these exclusions, but that likely depends on the mood, authority and warranty awareness of the Sears associate you deal with.

You can find Craftsman’s full warranty policy on their webpage. Just in case the warranty terms and conditions are taken down or are grossly modified, we’ve copied them to the second page of this for future reference.

After we mention a new Sears or Craftsman tool catalog, emails typically pour in asking about how to sign up for direct home mailings. I figure that for every person that asks there are 5 that don’t.

So for future reference, here is the link where you can sign up to receive Sears Tool Catalogs via mail.

While browsing Amazon’s power & hand tool section, I spotted the above “free expert advice” info on the left-hand side of the webpage. I plan to call them up with a few technical questions to gauge how helpful they might actually be. If anyone else wants to give it a try, please let us know about your own experience!

Okay, so calling the Pocket Ref an ultimate guide to everything may be an exaggeration, but not by as much as you might think. The Pocket Ref is packed full of indispensable information for construction workers, engineers, scientists, travelers, and pretty much everyone else.

While a majority of the book offers technical details, there are also many useful general-interest tidbits such as a chili pepper hotness scale, worldwide and USA telephone area codes, and a chart of average climate conditions for select US cities, just to name a few. Heck, it even gives you the keyboard codes for typing out σ, ☼, and ♫.

The Pocket Ref is one of my favorite gift ideas since it is as entertaining as it is affordable (about $10). I bought my first Pocket Ref several years ago and still learn something new everytime I flip through it.

You can browse parts of the book (mainly the Table of Contents and Index) via Amazon.

Pocket Ref via Amazon
Pocket Ref via Small Parts on Amazon

Despite mostly catering towards avid woodworkers, Rockler’s catalog also features many useful general purpose tools and accessories. It may also be worth mentioning that photos in the most recent catalog gave me some great ideas for a DIY toolchest project I had in mind. Did I mention that I love tool catalogs?

Fill out the following form to sign up for Rockler’s free catalog, or click this link to be taken to their request page.

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