M.Power, the makers of the inventive and effective little scribing tool that we reviewed a bit ago, have a new trammel set that can be used for more than just marking circles and arcs.
These trammel heads can accept both a pencil or an included steel pivot point (or a razor knife). The cool thing about this set-up is that they attach to a ruler with the ruler on the flat, so the center of gravity is lower than normal, making the system easier to use. The trammels can also be used in conjunction with a combo square to mark out a line parallel to the board edge.
The heads can be attached to any metal ruler (up to 3/32" thick and less than 2" wide), which means that your standard equipment should be compatible.
As for price, the M.Power seems to be selling for around twenty something dollars, which seems like a good price if this is an item that you see yourself using.
Judging by how much we use our Milwaukee 12 volt right angle drill, we'd assume that if we had one one of these new Bosch tools, we'd give it a pretty good workout on a weekly basis. We're not plumbers or electricians, so we don't need a high-powered tight angle drill for chewing 2" holes through 2x4s. We're carpenters, so we need them for hinge tightening, small awkward duct adjustments, and working up on top of door casings and other strange places.
The Bosch takes the right angle concept but, like one of their older 12V tools, adds an articulating head to the mix. The head has five locking positions, which should be enough for whatever it is you want to do. We're down with the whole articulating head idea seeing as there have been a few times when the straight-up right angle drill has been a tad limiting in a constrained space.
This fella is sold with two batteries and is going to set you back about $150-$160.
Earlier in the year we got all in a tizzy over the Hardcore Hammer. It's a framing hammer with a two part face that solves some of the issues associated with the general wear and tear on a framing hammer. We really liked the thing, but it does get up into that "nearing $100 range for a hammer," which, no doubt, is pretty extreme. Our review is here. So Hardcore Hammer has recently come out with another model that has a little less bling and comes with a price tag that's much easier to swallow. That new item has the appealing name of "Blunt Force." How can you go wrong with a name like that? They sent us one so we could find out for ourselves.
We're fully aware that BBQ grills don't fall under the typical umbrella that this site covers, but the Stok Quattro has a significant connection to the tool world: it's made by Ridgid.
Yeah, that Ridgid. Sorta funny, isn't it. They've chosen Stok as the name they're going to make their grills under and at first glance, we thought it was some Nordic company founded by vikings (the 'o' in Stok has an accent line over it, giving it the pronunciation 'Stoke').
Familial heritage aside, this looks like a pretty cool grill. The distinguishing feature of it is the removable inserts that are actually built into the grill surface. The way it works is that the grilling surface has two circular areas that can pulled up and swapped out with either a vegetable tray, a pizza stone, or a griddle. All of the parts fit in nicely and add quite a bit of functionality to the grill. It's sort of like the JobMax of the grilling world.
If we're not making any sense, here's a video:
The Quattro works on propane and goes for $250 and is available only at Home Depot. There are also charcoal versions available
Yes, it's true. The second one went to Reader Mike, who said that Roofing is as brutal as...
...momentarily forgetting your wife's name while
introducing her to a former high school sweetheart.
Yikes.
So yeah, one more chance to win one of these badass tools. In order to get your name in the hat, leave a comment at this site finishing the following sentence:
"This roofing gun looks cooler than..."
Cooler than what? you tell us.
If you want additional chances to win the gun, make sure to 'like' Duo-Fast on Facebook. That gets you five more chances at the random drawing.
OK, it's official. We're totally inundated in levels. It feels like this is the 50th one we've reviewed this year, and it's getting tough to come up with interesting things to say. This one, made by Swanson, is the torpedo version of their Lightning Level that we reviewed a while back.
This one has all of the same features; an aluminum body, a little button that lights up the vials and a timed shut-off (10 minutes), so you won't drain your battery dead the first time you leave it on in your tool bag. It also has a groove along the top, so you can work with pipes.
We generally liked the larger version, but feel that the technology is actually more practical in the smaller format. A lighted 2' level is OK, but how often are you going to be using a 2' level in the dark? A torpedo, on the other hand, gets used in wall cavities, under sinks, in crawl spaces, and plenty of other areas where visibility blows.
We used it a bunch at the site and we liked it quite a bit. So yeah, this one falls in the positive side of the ledger book. It's going to cost about $25.
So there you have it, yet another review of a torpedo level! Huzzah!
This is what's left of The White Cottage, my childhood ice cream stand. It was whacked on the forehead by Irene this past Sunday. When I was little I'd go there with my family and after devouring a vanilla soft serve cone, I'd run down the hillside so I could throw rocks in the lazy river that gurgled along behind it. That lazy river seems to have gotten the last laugh.
One of our homies deep inside the tool world just gave us a tip on the Rolair JC10. It's a small 1HP, 2-1/2 gallon compressor which is no big deal, but the fact that it's the quietest compressor we've ever heard warrants a little publicity.
If you're familiar with compressors (and if you're reading this website, it's likely that you are), you've got to check out this video. It's like the thing is whispering. As the video proves, it also has some stones too, which is always good. While the small compressors are ideal for finish nailers and pinners, it's nice if you can partner one with a framer if you need to.
Channellock, known specifically for things like pliers and wrenches have recently made a leap and expanded their line to include levels. Their first release in this area consists of three torpedo levels. One of each of them showed up on the doorstep, courtesy of Channellock, and we brought them to the site and handed them out in order to get some feedback. Here's what we got....
There are a couple of ways to scribe something. Most people seem to use dividers, but we gave those up years ago in favor of any little scrap of wood that's handy. M.Power has a new method and it's a really clever idea. Best of all, it's called the "Perfect Butt," so we can't wait to see what kind of perverts google sends our way after posting this one up. M.Power sent us a sample so we could check out the item ourselves.
RainDog: I do a lot of stained glass work and go read more DaveP: Mostly use my soldering iron for melting ptex to repair read more Dave: I think this is a good iron for larger stuff, read more Steve Cecil: I have a very old soldering iron, that I use read more Philippe Jegues: I do the usual with soldering irons, soldering electrical connections. read more
M-Power Flat Lying Trammel Head Set
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