TOOLS/HARDWARE

If you can find a slimmer toolkit for your bicycle, we’d really love to see it. Our 30-in-1 tool is 5” long when closed (a touch over 8-1/2” when open), 1-1/2” wide and a half-inch deep. Always a half-inch deep—and it’s made of black Titanium-coated steel! The Cycle-On’s (30) different essential bike tools include (12) wrenches (5mm-17mm), (5) Allen wrenches (3mm-8mm), (2) spoke clips and (2) tire levers, a cutter/stripper/crimper, a file, a ¼” bit driver, magnetic bit driver, medium Phillips driver, bottle opener and a ruler in both inches and centimeters. Even includes a case. Don’t ride without one!

Look, Ma, one hand! These 10" Powerbuilt® wrenches have spring-loaded, self-adjusting jaws made to bite, hold and turn virtually anything--round, flat, hex or oddly shaped--that will fit. The jaws open to 2-3/8" apart and remain parallel. Designed so the jaws will generate 4X the clamping power of the ANSI pliers standard. Unlike you, its jaws have hardened steel teeth. Good to have a few in the garage, workshop and camper.

Our thinner picker-upper, but with a powerful 5-lb-pull, 9/16" dia magnet on the business end (for spilled nails, the screw that rolled under the stove, or the heavy wrench you dropped into the sump). The 5/16" dia x 5-1/4" long 4-draw barrel extends to a full two feet. Has a convenient pocket clip.

This 16-piece set of watchmaker's tools are just as handy for jewelry-makers, crafters, or anyone else working with small parts. The professional watch-repair kit Includes (2) tiny Phillips-head screwdrivers, (3) diminutive flat-heads, a case knife, non-magnetic tweezers, case wrench, metal/plastic watch hammer, link-pin remover, double-head pin pusher, (3) pin-punches, small needle-nose pliers, and a watchband holding block. Just changing bands and batteries? Get these tools to make it a lot easier, and order a brand-new pack of 30 popular-size button batteries-(6) AG1, (6) AG3, (6) AG4, (3) AG5, (3) AG12, and (6) AG13.

See saw, buy saw. Then go on a camping trip and saw some firewood so you don’t freeze your tuchas off in the woods. This folding steel crosscut saw opens to 10-1/2" long with a 5” blade, but folds to a tote-able 6-1/4” long. Has an easy-grip contoured handle and a locking blade with teeth designed to cut through tree bark.

Then better check your bore. This tiny bore light, made for looking into barrels or other tight spots, measures 3-1/4" long x approx 5/8” dia with a single white LED. Includes a slide on right-angle fiber-optic head and a pocket clip. Take off the head and it’s a nice mini flashlight. You add (1) “AAA” battery.

These 10" Tolsen Tools chrome-moly beauties are aviation snips, right-cutters with a compound action and 1-1/2” long fine saw-tooth cutting blades. Will cut up to 1.5mm cold-rolled steel, 1.8mm aluminum, or 1.0mm stainless steel. Coated handles and a blade lock. Our Whs manager John, uses them around the shop to cut steel banding cable on pallets. If they’re Tolsen, you know they’re tough.

This Stansport product is called the Finger-Tip Saw (although all you really need to cut off fingertips is a good garden pruner). This is actually a survival/hunter's wire saw, a 20" long, thin and sharp serrated wire with a 1-1/8" slip-ring at each end (for your fingertips). Coil it up and you can store it in a shirt pocket. Cuts "wood, plastic, bone, etc." and includes instructions for making a one-handed saw with a short tree branch.

On a stick. This 6-draw telescoping tool has a 1" steel alligator clip on the business end. Extends from 8-1/2" (with a pocket clip) to 36" long. Use it to light pilot lights and over-primed grills, to hold a magnet and grab lost screws, to fish wires, or to deliver stuff to the guy in the next cell. Unscrew the gator and it's a simple pointer, or you can put anything else with a 5/32"-36 thread on the end.

This sturdy steel punch for leather goods has a coiled-steel spring, and (6) screw-in punches. Make 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4 and 5mm holes, even in heavy leather. 8-1/2" long OA.

You might know these as “diagonal cutters,” which is what electricians sometimes call them because “wire cutters” is too easy. These are 6" long, nickel-plated high-carbon steel with dipped handles so you don’t electrocutionate yourself.

This little handheld tubing cutter is made for cutting thin-wall brass, copper, aluminum and the like. Adjusts from 1/8” to 7/8” via a thumbscrew and has dual slotted 7/16” x 1/4” dia rollers, and an 11/16” cutting wheel. The whole shebang measures 1-3/4" x 4-1/2" x 3/4".

This 6” long wire stripper/crimping tool has (7) positions to strip wire between 10 and 22 AWG, with a 3/8” cutting edge, serrated ends and a lock. Also has plastic-coated handles. Pat says they’re better quality than your average pair.

Beader Tweezer sounds like the leader of a boy band, but it’s really an indispensible tool for stringing beads, as you beaders out there know. Ours is steel and measures 7" long, tapers to 1/16” at the business end and has a 3/4” wide bead scoop at the other.

Our 5" long glass cutter comes in a package that says it’s 6” long, and who cares. (Surplus is our surname.) Has a heat-treated 3/16” dia cutting wheel, and 1/8” and 3/16” slots for breaking thin strips of glass. And like all glass cutters, it works best with a little light oil. Instructions on the back.

Traditionalist alert: If you use a folding rule, you need the Sure-Mark™, a handy adapter that slips on the end and lets you mark, scribe or cut accurately without destroying the rule. Fits standard 5/8" wide folding rules. Made in Germany.

Drop stuff in the dark much? Under other stuff? Behind even other stuff? Your prayers are answered with this set of (2) extra long pick-up tools. Both 24” long on flexible shafts with plunger-driven metal claws and bright white LEDs so you can see what you’re picking up. One also has a 3-lb pull magnet, for added picker-up-ability. Powered by (3) button-cell batteries, included. In anodized aluminum, one red and one blue so they’ll match your outfits.

The flying saucer meets the screwdriver in this compact driver set. The 2-7/8" dia x 1" thick gray-plastic case with a pocket clip holds #3 and #4 flathead, #2 and #3 Phillips, #1 and #2 pozi, and #2 and #3 hex bits, plus a 2-1/4" long driver. The driver fits into a port in the housing for leverage. At this price, they're perfect for replacement bits, glove compartment, desk drawer, etc. Do handle them carefully, because the cases break easily.