der5er » For the Love of Tools

For the Love of Tools: Third Hand Screwdriver

der5er — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:32:36 +0000

: Black and Decker LI4000

Amazon.com: Black & Decker LI4000 3.6-Volt Lithium-Ion SmartDriver with Exclusive Magnetic Screw Holder

Of course, Amazon is out of stock. So you probably can’t get one in time for Christmas. But this little gadget is pretty cool.

The SmartDriver from Black and Decker has a pretty neat Screw Holder that extends from the front of the driver. Now, I know most of you will say that a magnetic bit will accomplish the same thing, and you’re right, but sometimes magnetic bits don’t hold very well. In this case, the screw holder has more contact area with the screw than a magnetic bit would have, so I think it would hold a little better.

Add this to the fact that the tool’s battery is Lithium-Ion and you’ve got my vote for Best Christmas present. Though, like I said before, Amazon’s out of stock (and I’m sure other retailers are as well), so it might be Best Father’s day present. Either way, this one’s on my WANT list!

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For the Love of Tools: Gecko Grip Level

der5er — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:15:56 +0000

Black and Decker Gecko Grip

Wow! I had a mirror hanging project this past week, which I’m going to have to re-do because I hung it too low. The short little 18 inch level that came with my tool kit wasn’t going to cut it, because the hangers on the mirror were too far apart. What’s a tool guy to do? Head to Lowes, of course! I had another levelling project that needed a longer, more accurate level also. So, this was a two-in-one purchase. Two projects crossed off my list for the price of one! Yes, Christi, your washing machine is level.

The Gecko Grip level from Black and Decker makes hanging things on the wall easier than any level I’ve ever had. In the past, there have been calculations, measuring, more calculations, more measuring, etc… all just to get the holes in exactly the right spot. Well, no more. The Accu Mark targets (that small circle in the picture) slide to allow you to mark perfectly where the holes need to be. No more complex calculations to find the center of the picture or frame and then measuring out to whatever fasteners are used for hanging. Plus, the Gecko Grips virtually provide an extra hand, using friction to hold the level against the wall (with one hand) while using the other hand to make your mark. Normally, without Gecko Grips, my level would slide all over the place while I tried to mark the wall with a pencil.

I’ll definitely give this tool a thumbs up, and I’m glad I’ve added it to my arsenal.

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For the Love of Tools: Fire fighter’s FUBAR

der5er — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:55:29 +0000

Now, thanks to Stanley, Firefighters can have their very own FUBAR. As you know, I’ve written about the FUBAR quite a bit. I love mine, and I’m sure Firefighters would love to have one as well. They call it the FUBAR Forcible Entry Tool and, at 30 inches and 9 lbs, is nearly double the size of my FUBAR FatMax Extreme (18 inches and 4 lbs). It also includes a wider pry bar mouth for shutting off gas lines, a hydrant wrench, carabiner holes to attach a shoulder strap, and Hi-visibility 3M™ Scotchlite™ strips down the side, ensuring you’ll never lose it. Any firefighters out there have opinions on this tool?

For those wondering what the original FUBAR is, and what it can do, here’s a FUBAR commercial complete with the destruction of a shed piñata:

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For the Love of Tools: Grabbing Rounded Fasteners

der5er — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:51:21 +0000

Better Tools & Fasteners mission is to make your life easier. That’s it. That’s their sole mission. I have to say I think they’ve accomplished it with the Grip-Tite system. You can purchase Grip-Tite sockets in the der5er Store!

The key to the Grip-Tite system is ACT. Advanced Camming Technology. You can see in the end view of the socket that the cams (of the “ACT”) are really like 3 little pairs of pliers grabbing on the sides of the bolt. This is what enables the Grip-Tite to grab onto the sides of your bolt and hold it. I think the company should also do a side cut-a-way view when explaining these, because I’m not sure the picture at the right can fully describe how those cams are different from normal flat sides.

These sockets actually grab the nut or bolt on the sides to keep you from rounding it off! Now, I’m sure I’ve heard of other products that do the same thing, but this looks to me like it would really work.

What’s more, they really grab the nut or bolt–holding it for you. I think this is an even bigger benefit than not rounding things off. The tool can be used to place the nut or bolt where you need it to go. This is a blessing in the tight spaces that you frequently find under the hood of a car where your hand does not always fit.

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I Don’t Buy Gentle Tools

der5er — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:49:01 +0000

This morning we (Christi, SAO, and I) were discussing power washing driveways and decks. SAO, my wonderful mother-in-law, thought she might borrow my pressure washer to power wash her deck and house across the street. Without a moment’s thought, my answer was “no.”

My power washer is gas powered, and, while it’s not truly a professional model…it’s not far away from the pro-models as far as pressure delivered goes. And, well, lets just say that I can’t picture my mother-in-law using anything gas powered besides her car.

We were discussing the dangers of using a gas-powered appliance such as this: tearing up the wood on the deck, accidentally injecting water into your skin (perhaps I was a little over dramatic on that one). I even think I’ve heard of people removing the mortar from between bricks on accident.

SAO, dear old Grandma Shirley, my mother-in-law mentioned that she thought my power washer would be gentler than a professional model. My response:

I don’t buy gentle tools.

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For the Love of Tools: Wrench Turning Concerto

der5er — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:36:37 +0000

Last night, one of my employees, Donnie, and I swapped out a cell site that’s been giving us trouble. We did not do this the easy way. The easy way would be to hire a couple of electricians to run and connect all the power cables. The easy way would be to have a crane standing by to lift the old cabinets out of the way, and put the new cabinet in places. We did not have a budget for this project, so we could not do it the easy way.

What was the most fun part for me? I got to use many of my recently acquired tools!

First up was the GearWrench Ratcheting Wrenches that I got for my birthday. With these I was truly able to get into some tight spaces and make quick work of bolts we would have otherwise had a lot of trouble with. Awesome!

Next, I found the lighted mechanics gloves (also birthday) came in very handy at 3 AM trying to connect the earth grounds to the back of the cabinets. Yes, the LED drop light was there also and I was glad to have it. When you’re searching the grass for dropped tools, flashlights just don’t cut it.

What tool got the most use last night? The FUBAR!!!! We used the FUBAR to lift the cabinets, to pry the cabinets, and, in one case, to beat the cabinet into submission. Those two bolts coming up out of the concrete in the way? No problem for the FUBAR! Need to get the cabinet a couple inches in the air to shove something under it? No problem! Need to flatten that protruding piece of metal on the front of the cabinet? No problema! Need to shove the cabinet a couple inches sideways? Forget about it. That ain’t happening. Even with the FUBAR.

Well, we got it moved, but it was definitely a problem. We took a tip from, I think, from the ancient Egyptians for moving the cabinets last night. Now, you have to understand, these cabinets are a little smaller than a small refrigerator (not the little dorm fridge, I’m talking about the top-freezer model you had in your first apartment) and lot heavier than a big one. I don’t know the exact weight, but I’ll tell you that when the two cabinets were separated, two grown men couldn’t shove them around on the concrete. So, we used 4 pieces of conduit as rollers and managed to roll the old cabinets right up to the trailer. This method even made moving the new cabinets–which were attached to each other, picture moving two refrigerators at the same time–much easier. The first 10 feet was super easy and probably only took us 15 to 20 minutes. When we got with in two inches of where we needed the cabinets, we took the conduit out from under and no longer had our rollers. That last two inches probably took us close to an hour, and we ended up putting the rollers back under it.

That was my fun night last night. What did you do?

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For the Love of Tools: The Cat in the Corners

der5er — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:57:30 +0000

No, this post is not about Cuddles, the new cat in our household. I would not take a tool anywhere near a kitten.

This is about the Ryobi Corner Cat. The Corner Cat is my newest acquisition, and helped me (and Sarah) with the digital picture frame project.

Since I last wrote about the frame, I’ve actually purchased the wood–’select pine’ from Lowes because I’m cheap. I’ve cut the pieces and assembled the main body of the frame. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to sand it because I’m lazy and hate sanding. But, the pine (as I should have known) wasn’t taking the stain evenly, and I wasn’t getting a finish that was as dark as I wanted. So, Monday night I headed off to Home Depot with the remnants of a gift card and a plan to buy sand-paper. My plans were foiled by all the pretty lights and tool displays. Instead, I walked out with the Ryobi Corner Cat.

The Corner Cat was inexpensive and came with a selection of sand papers that I thought would at least get me through this job without having to buy more paper. I liked the “LiveTool Indicator” which is really just a light that glows on the top of the tool when it’s plugged in. This is a handy little feature. When looking at the Corner Cat in the store, I thought (and was correct) that the dust collection port would be easily adaptable to the central vacuum in the house.

Tip for all you aspiring wood workers out there: If you can’t justify a full fledged ‘dust collection’ system for your shop–talk your wife into a central vac and make sure there’s a port in your wood shop! If your wood shop is in your garage, you’ll be able to further justify this addition by promising to vacuum the family car!

The Corner Cat has lots of other features, but all I really cared about was the dust collection. You can ask Christi and she’ll verify this next statement: I hate cleaning up after myself in the garage. I prefer to leave it messy, and this usually leaves us at odds over the state of cleanliness in the garage.

The last nice thing I’ll mention about the Corner Cat is actually applicable to all detail and random-orbit sanders. They don’t have too many moving parts and no blades for an 8 year old to hurt themselves on! I felt confident letting Sarah take the first passes with it, even using the aggressive 60-grit paper. Sarah moved the Corner Cat around the frame like she’d been sanding for years, staying with the grain and not once losing control. Of course, this isn’t the first time she’s used a sander. She helped in the past sanding old finish off a desk for Leanna. But it has been a while. The only noise she complained about was the central vac, which is better than my last sander. Of course, that may only have been because the vac was so loud you couldn’t hear the sander. Sarah stayed with it until the front of the frame was finished and worked on a couple of the sides. I could tell that she felt a little nervous here on the sides, but she didn’t give up until I told her to knock the corners down a bit. She didn’t feel comfortable with that task, so I finished everything from there.

The Corner Cat did it’s job well, and-true to it’s name-worked perfectly on the inside corners, getting right up to the very smallest parts of the corners and leaving nothing for lazy me to sand by hand! I did not try the little dust bag that came with it, I actually had the central vac hooked up and running before the first time we turned it on! Those dust bags, in my experience, don’t hold more than 5 minutes worth of dust anyway.

All-in-all, I think the Corner Cat is a good value, and I’m glad I purchased it!

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For the Love of Tools: FUBAR vs. Crow Bar

der5er — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:28:34 +0000

We have a pile of pallets in the parking lot at work. They keep accumulating and we can’t seem to get rid of them. So, this week we decided to throw them in the dumpster. This led me to bring Stanley’s FUBAR to work!

I brought it in on Tuesday, carried it around to show it off, and displayed it proudly on my desk. For some unknown (and possibly unrelated) reason, all of my employees began finishing projects prior to deadline. I highly recommend this method of motivation to all supervisors and managers!

Today was the first chance we had to try it out. Charlie had a crow bar and I had the FUBAR. I felt bad watching Charlie pry at pallets while I was simply twisting them apart with the FUBAR. I’m not going to tell you that the FUBAR did all the work for me, but I will say that Charlie finished the job today wishing he had used my FUBAR. At the end of the session, I had completely finished tearing apart 4 pallets while Charlie only pried apart 2 with his crow bar.

Operation of the FUBAR is straight-forward and simple. I’ve also got to say that it was a little fun, but then, who doesn’t like demolition! For tearing apart pallets I used the FUBAR’s open jaw to hook the pallet and drag it near the dumpster, then I grabbed each board on top with the jaw and, with a couple of twists, lifted each board away from it’s nails. For the last 3 boards and 3 2×4′s on the bottom, a few quick whacks with the hammer face dislodged these and they were soon flying into the dumpster. I’ll grant that this whole job was easier because the wood was well soaked from yesterdays ‘wintry mix’ of precipitation, but I still had a much easier time of it than Charlie had with the crow bar.

Unfortunately, no one had a camera on hand, so there are no action shots. Maybe next time.

I think Charlie is going to buy a FUBAR after today! I recommend you buy one too! I think I want to find a house to demolish!

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For the Love of Tools: Ratcheting in Tight Spaces

der5er — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:16:12 +0000

These ratcheting wrenches from Gear Wrench are simply one of the greatest designs I’ve seen for box or open ended wrenches. I’ve wanted ratcheting wrenches for quite a while, and now I think this is the type of set I’ll save my pennies for.

The ratcheting head allows you to get into tighter spaces than a socket set. That would have been helpful replacing the thermostat housing on a BMW 528i this past weekend. While I did have an appropriate box or open end wrench that could get into the space, every time I did get it on the bolts I needed to turn, I could only turn a little bit before I had to remove the wrench and again search for the bolt I could not see.

The head of these wrenches have another additional feature that makes them great. The “flex head” on these wrenches allows you to adjust the offset. What does that mean? It means that if you have a really tight space to get into, you can try different angles for sending the wrench in.

I’ll still keep a set of non-ratcheting wrenches around for really high torque situations, but these would definitely save some time working on the BMW or Dodge Caravan. Both vehicles have seriously cramped engine compartments where these wrenches would come in handy.

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Home for the Holidays AND For the Love of Tools

der5er — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 22:37:33 +0000

You’ve undoubtedly seen novelty Christmas lights in just about every shape and size. There are Cars lights, Hawaiian lights and poinsettia lights.

Well, here are some Christmas tree lights that will probably never hang at my house. I’d really like them, but they would probably not pass the “Holly, Jolly” test.

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For the Love of Tools: Hands-on Looj Review + Robot Carnage!

der5er — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:16:05 +0000

I received my iRobot Looj just before Thanksgiving. So, while I was on a ladder to hang Christmas lights, I tried it out.

When I received it, I immediately opened it. The Looj was well packaged, no extra rattling or shaking. I was a little disappointed to find that the battery ships uncharged, but all batteries do, so I shouldn’t be surprised. Wait 15 hours for a full charge on the battery. Minimal assembly was required. Just attach the 3 stage auger, charge and insert the battery, and you’re ready to go. So far, so good.

This past Saturday I climbed the ladder to place the Looj in my gutter for the first time. The shingles on the new house seem to hang quite a ways into the gutter, so it takes a little maneuvering to get the Looj into the gutter past the shingle. Detach the remote/handle, turn on the auger, and press ‘FWD’ to start the Looj on it’s way. There are two directions the auger can spin. I’ll define these as throws-stuff-on-the-ground and throws-stuff-on-the-roof. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned installation of my shingles, the throws-stuff-on-the-ground direction did not get enough lift to actually throw stuff on the ground. The large flap on the auger never gets any lift before it contacts the outside of the gutter, the shingles hold it down and most of the debris stays in the gutter.

Add to this the fact that if a pine cone happens to be directly under a gutter support bracket, the Looj gets stuck. About halfway down the gutter I ran into this problem. I tried backing it up and ramming it forward a couple times, but I eventually had to climb up on the roof (or move my ladder) and manually remove the pine cone.

The Looj did clean my gutter about half the length of our 50 foot porch before I gave up on it. In reverse, it looked like the Looj was going to run over it’s own antenna and get stuck, but it did not. I ended up cleaning this gutter manually as I hung the Christmas lights (more on those later).

After giving up on the Looj and setting it neatly in the driveway, I continued hanging lights. Grandma Shirley needed to leave, but her car was parked in front of my truck. Wanting to show off some un-parking skills, I proceeded to move her car without moving my truck. This would prove fateful for the Looj, as it was sitting (forgotten) in the driveway directly in front of Grandma Shirley’s car! The main body of the Looj survived being run over by a BMW e39, but the handle suffered some scarring. It’s only a flesh wound, but now I cannot return my Looj as planned.

I received a comment on my last Looj post about the Gutter Sense, and now the Tool Snob has posted about it as well. When I initially saw this product, I thought that having to pay $19.95 (plus shipping) and then having to find an extension pole long enough was too much hassle. After this experience with the Looj, I may look into getting the Gutter Sense in the future.

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Happy Birthday to der5er!

der5er — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:31:27 +0000

No, it’s not my birthday, it’s the birthday for this blog. Yes, der5er is 2 years old today. I posted 18 articles in the first 9 days. Hmm…seems things have slowed down a bit. I like to think I’m writing a little better quality than I was then. I was originally inspired by 2 monkeys and a yoyo, who wrote about his (soon to be sold) e28 535is. I pledged to write about:

…my e28 535is, other things I’ve read and seen at mye28.com, and other things that interest me. Maybe even some funny stories about family.

Things have expanded a bit since then. Now, I’ll write about almost anything! Recently, it’s mostly about Tools and Family.

In that 2 years, I’ve changed the address of this blog twice, and I now know that’s not a good thing to do, as you lose readership that way. I’ve also changed web hosts, to make things run better, and that’s not a bad thing to do. A lot has happened in the 2 years since I started this blog. Take a look at November 2005 and see how things were going for der5er.

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Shop the der5er Store!

der5er — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:39:39 +0000

der5er > Shop der5er

That’s right! For those who haven’t noticed, der5er has partnered with Amazon and opened up his own little store on the internet! If you’ve ever craved one of the items from one of my For the Love of Tools posts, most of them are there. There’s even a For the Love of Tools category page, to make finding those tools even easier. Of course, anything you can buy at Amazon that’s tool related, you’ll find in the der5er store!

You can click the link at the top of this post to go to the store, or at www.der5er.com, right under my chin a the top of the page.

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For the Love of Tools: Stopped in My Tracks!

der5er — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:27:44 +0000

Crescent brand R2 RapidRench – Official Site

Ever since the Robo-Grip replaced the Channel Lock for all but the highest torque jobs, I’ve had my eye out for the next big improvement in tool design. Of course, you run across gadgety type tools all the time. But it’s very rare that a tool actually stops you in your tracks at the Home Depot when you’re not even looking in the direction of the tool corral!

That’s what happened to me today when I took the picture at the top right. Of course, I only had my camera phone with me, and it doesn’t take very good pictures. So, in case you can’t see, I’ll tell you, that’s the Crescent R2 RapidRench.

This thing is amazing. What really caught my eye was the fact that this thing can effectively grip, and still ratchet, eye bolts, wing nuts, hooks, and thumb screws! The only other tool I can think of that can grap those is a standard pair of pliers, and they don’t ratchet. Of course, it still grabs hold of any socket 1/4″ to 7/8″ (4.8mm to 22.2mm).

Now, the head of this thing is a little large (just like the original Crescent Wrench). So, it won’t get to that 1/4 inch nut in a tight spot. But it’ll fit on most anything that you’ve got good clearance on. The thumbwheel used for adjusting the jaws is good and rough. So, you can get a good grip on adjusting it when you’re wearing gloves.

There are several other reviews out on the internet (even Bob Vila), so I’m a little slow with this one cause I didn’t even hear about it until today! I’m glad I finally heard about it, though. And I’m glad you’re hearing about it before Christmas!

I’m thinking that this should be included in everyone’s trunk tool kit!

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For the Love of Tools: Power Pumpkin Carving

der5er — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:54:17 +0000

Would Halloween be complete without some pumpkin carving tools? I don’t think so! So, I’m adding these tools to my list for next year’s pumpkin carving arsenal. We didn’t carve any of our pumpkins this year, but next year I want to be ready!

First up is the Pumpkin Gutter. Kindly reviewed at Toolmonger. The Pumpkin Gutter quickly removes all the strings and seeds from inside the pumpkin. This is just great, because I hate trowelling out the seeds and strings with a spoon. It takes forever, and the kids usually get bored and move on to other things while you’re gutting the pumpkin. According to Toolmonger and Pumpkin Gutter, this little tool doesn’t damage the seeds, so you can still roast them! The Pumpkin Gutter is just a bit that attaches to your drill, which (depending on your drill) can give you infinitely variable speeds when thinning out the walls of the pumpkin. And thinner walls means easier carving! Also, it’s dishwasher safe for easy cleanup!!! What could be better?

Next, we have Dremel’s answer to pumpkin carving – The Dremel 764-04 Pumpkin Carving Kit. This specialty tool from Dremel rotates at either 7000 rpm or 14000 rpm to quickly carve away the face of your pumpkin. I think this is great, but if you’ve already got a Dremel, I’m thinking you could get a bit that would carve a pumpkin just as well, and cheaper. You would also gain more control, since most Dremel tools vary their speeds anywhere from 5000 to 25000 rpm. As a matter of fact, this bit looks a lot like what’s on the end of the Dremel in the Pumpkin Carving Kit! Though, that would be better for carving away the outside of the pumpkin like R2D2 below (or read about the R2D2 pumpkin). Carving away the outside of the pumpkin to achieve more depth of color seems to be a trend this year among pumpkin carvers. I think one of the spiral cutting bits would be even better for cutting out holes. So, if you’ve already got a Dremel (or think you’ll need one for other projects), just buy a bit and download free pumpkin carving templates from the internet.

Do you have any pumpkin carving tips?UPDATE: Merriweather shows off the tools used to carve R2D2! I think I just found a new blog to read!

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