TOOLS/HARDWARE

Paul went out to the warehouse and almost picked up a pallet jack with this monster 2” square 100-lb pull retrieving magnet from Magnet Source®. Painted red it stands 2-3/4” high with a 1” dia (5/8” ID) eyebolt screwed and bolted into the top, and has welded steel construction to protect and focus the ceramic magnets inside. Includes (2) magnetic shields that you remove before use. Attach a rope or chain to the eyebolt to retrieve or hang heavy items, or use to hold/position hoses or wiring temporarily. Also good for plucking stuff out of rivers and other waterways when the fish aren’t biting.

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.

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.

Silent movie star—came to a bad end. Also this 38-piece stubby handled driver and bit set in an easy-to-tote case. Forward, reverse and lock settings. Includes 3mm, 4mm, 4.5mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm slotted; #0, #1(2), #2(2), #3(2) Phillips; #0, #1(2), #2(2), #3(2) Pozi; T8, T10, T15, T20, T25, T30, T35, T40 torx; 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm hex; and #0, #1, #2, #3 square. Whole shebang in a 3.5" x 6.5"x 1.25" case. Get ratcheting.

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.

This approx 5-1/2” long x 1-1/2" wide plane from Great Neck® feels great in the hand (but not on the neck!). Made entirely of metal, it sort of resembles a stapler. Allows you to shape, trim, shave and plane wood and soft metal. Blade needs no adjusting, and it won’t clog. This is a handy, compact tool for your collection.

Everything from Tolsen Tools is solid, and that includes this 8" long end cutting pincer tool with 1-3/16" jaws. It’s made of chrome vanadium steel, and you should get one for that reason alone. Not to mention the soft and grippy rubber-coated handles. Damn, we love quality tools.

You’ll never feel like a hack with this 16” quick-refill tension hacksaw from Great Neck. It’s all metal with a rubber handle grip, and it includes a standard 1/2” fine-tooth blade. (replacements available at any hardware store) A thumb release on the handle swings it open to quickly discharge the old blade for replacement. No screwing around here! Celebration cake not included, but you won’t even need a separate knife.

You say your ex locked your bike to a fence just to be cruel? We’ve been there. Worry no more. From Tolsen Tools, this 8" long mini bolt cutter is compact and ready to slice through steel. Has a CRV steel blade which opens to 1/4" max., a steel-plated handle with a soft grip and a wire lock to keep them closed. Tolsen makes good stuff. After you free your bike, go find something else to cut.

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.

We’re not sure why that saying never caught on, because it sounds really dismissive. But actually, it’s really satisfying to bend a tube, especially when you have a quality, lever-style tube bender like this one. This tool from HDX™ makes going on a bending bender a pleasure. Has (3) channels of different diameters to perfectly curve 1/4", 5/16" and 3/8" tubes at angles up to 90 degrees.

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.

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.

Call it the best paint (and label and putty) scraper ever made. Great big nonslip padded grip, a blade holder with a thumbscrew (reverse the blade when not in use), and a 4-draw, push-button extension that takes it from 6-1/2" to 9-1/2" long. Comes with one blade installed and two extra in the handle. The scraper to have when you're scraping more than one window. From IIT®.

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.

There are plain ol’ planes and there’s the 42000 Plane from Tolsen Tools. This hand-held, steel-bodied wood plane has a carefully sharpened, adjustable blade that can be used for smoothing and removing soft or hard wood. Also has an anti-slip comfort PVC grip and knob. Blade is 1-3/4” wide x 3-1/8" long, and the whole shebang measures a compact 9-1/4” long. Though not numbered, we believe this is a No. 3 bench plane despite being a smidge longer than normal. Tolsen means quality, which sounds like an ad slogan, but it’s true. 

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.

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.