Over at the ShopNGarage forum, Steve posted a project log and tutorial on how to build a blast cabinet dust separator. The separator is designed to prolong the life of a shop vacuum and increase its efficiency by filtering out fine abrasive dust that can damage the motor. Steve’s design is built with a 2 gallon bucket, PVC […]
Starrett’s New Full Line Catalog
Starrett sent us a heads-up a little while back introducing their new full line catalog (#32). The new 550+ page catalog features more than 5,000 Starrett products including precision measuring tools, metrology equipment, saw blades, granite surface plates and tools.
Johnson Bubble & Visual Level Apps for Android
Johnson Level offers two free leveling apps for Android smart phones – a bubble level and a visual level. The bubble level functionality is not anything new, but Johnson’s version offers larger visuals and angular deviation measurements. The second app, a visual level, overlays a moveable horizontal and vertical alignment crosshair over a real-time photo of […]
Home Depot Home Services Thumps Pounded Thumb
The guys over at the Pounded Thumb had a pretty frustrating experience with their local Home Depot’s Home Services Dept. when trying to purchase a patio door and arranging for its installation. Check out the full account here: Home Depot Home Services Fall Way Short.
Channellock’s Reforged Website
Channellock has redesigned their website to accommodate new features and to provide a more interactive experience. The new layout is cleancut, and the product directory looks to be very detailed yet easy to navigate.
ToolGuyd Talks About Crafting Tools
For a few weeks now I’ve been writing a series on crafting tools over at Tamdoll’s Workspace crafting blog. It’s always fun to take a break from my normal thought processes to think and write about tools with a different eye. Following is a list of tool post topics that already went up – I encourage you […]
Not Everyone is Cut Out to be a DIYer
I don’t know what is going on in this photo, but clearly someone got a little too carried away with expanding foam insulation. This is NOT how you waterproof a bathtub! Well, not everyone is cut out for DIY home improvement. Spotted on There, I Fixed It, a website that aggregates kludges and disasters like […]
Five Exotic Hand Tools Reviewed
I wrote an article over at Popular Mechanics reviewing five exotic and uncommon hand tools you’ll probably never see at your local big box hardware stores. These handy tools will likely be discussed in greater detail here on ToolGuyd in the future, but for now, check out my reviews over at PopMech! Attack of the Exotic, Off-Brand Hand Tools via […]
Is 12V Enough Power for Most Cordless Tools?
In recent years new compact 12V cordless tools – impact drivers, drills, saws, multi-tools, and so forth, have been flooding the market, and the selection of new tools keeps growing and growing. While they’re not suitable for all tasks, we have accepted that these compact tools are capable of handling many low to medium duty applications. There […]
Early April Fools Joke or Awesome Multitool?
I spotted this creatively altered image of a hammer-ratchet multitool over at the ShopNGarage forum. It may be hard to believe, but as unusual as a hammer-ratchet multitool would be, I’ve been pitched strangers tool combination ideas before. Have a neat photoshopped/GIMPed multitool of your own? Send a pic of it our way via email. […]
Craftsman Labs’ Power Tool Stress Tests
Craftsman Labs is a small microsite that features videos of Craftsman power and hand tools being subjected to grueling tests and extreme conditions. The guys over at the Craftsman Lab are ready to make new videos and obliterate more tools, and are asking for viewers to offer tool-torture video suggestions of their own. You can check out […]
Harry Epstein Launches New Online Store!
Happy Epstein, a very well known and reputable hand tool distributor, just launched their new online store! Their new storefront features a shopping cart and checkout system for easy-as-pie ordering. There’s also a search engine, country of origin info for every item, straightforward catalog navigation, and… flying tools!
Tool Trends
This morning we took a break from our usual routine and focused instead on playing around with Google’s “trend” service. Google Trends allows you to compare the search volume for different search terms with respect to time. Below are a few comparisons that we found to be interesting.
Google Sketchup – Free 3D Modeling
Google Sketchup is a free program that allows you to create and modify 3D models. Learning how to use the program is relatively quick and easy, especially if you opt to follow along some of the video tutorials. Modeling programs such as Sketchup are excellent for planning and visualizing projects, such as the tentative worktable design […]
Other Noteworthy Blogs to Check Out
We just wanted to give a brief shout out to a few other noteworthy tool blogs that you may want to take a look at.