TOOLS/HARDWARE

Stop wrapping duct tape around your vise, and protect delicate material the right way with this pair of hard-rubber, ribbed pads made to cover the jaws. The pads have (2) rare earth magnets embedded inside the rubber. Made for a 4" vise, they measure 4" long x 1-1/8" high x 3/8" thick with a lip along one long side. The rubber is 3/32" thick.

It’s not all swinging hammers and sawing wood for carpenters. They do a lot of measuring and marking, which is why they have their own style of pencil. Ours has a built-in, removable sharpener hidden in the top and (2) kinds of lead (2B and yellow), allowing for clear marks on light or dark surfaces. Body is orange, with a pocket clip. You’ll also get a total of (6) refills in a slim, see-through storage case.

Sucking, of course, is the syringe bulb’s raison d’etre, and this one’s insatiable! Got a baby? Baby got snot? This little nose-vacuum will do the trick. Ear wax building up? Bring it on! Kitchen spill? Get a mop already—there are limits. But the 2.25" ridged rubber bulb and 2” tapered tip, 0.2" at the end, feel so good in your hand, you’ll happily agree next time someone tells you how much you suck.

Handy 3-pack of syringes, 10ml, 20ml and 60ml, perfect for squirting glues, greases, lubes, paint, whatever you need to squirt. And if you use them as squirt guns, you didn't get the idea from us. Small ones are graduated in 1ml increments; the big one in 2ml. All come with caps, so you don't dribble.

Got an inadequate hose? Nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve been there. Well, some people we know have. This little pressure-washer gizmo might do the trick when you’re cleaning up your Benz. Connects to a standard hose to create a powerful jet spray. Measures 18” long and has a 12” flex extension with a double-sided soap dispenser. Also comes with a car wash mitt and a towel. Pays for itself after a single wash.

Hang on to your widgets, screws, bolts, pins and assorted teeny tinies while you're taking things apart. This indispensable 6" dia x 1-1/8" deep magnetic stainless steel dish from Omaha Tools holds all those parts and saves you from crawling around on the floor later, when you're putting things back together.

Shove these down the throat of your bigger bottles or tubes and clean up. Measure 16" long over all, with 4" long x 1-1/2" dia spiral nylon bristles on a stainless steel handle and a small, but bendable, metal nub on the bottom.

What you torch is up to you, but we suggest you do it with this extra-high temperature 2300F refillable butane Torch Blue. It’s handheld, in a pistol-grip style, with a blue cylindrical body/handle, a wide black plastic base, a silver nozzle up top and a blue sliding lever control. Measures 6-1/2" x 5" x 2-1/2" comes empty but takes standard butane canisters. Creme brule anyone? 

A 2-1/2" x 1-5/8" plastic-framed mirror swivels on a ball-joint mount at the end of telescoping handle that stores at 8" long and extends to 31". The contoured rubber-coated handle makes those double-shift inspection days a little easier.

Everyone knows sawing is hard work (even just saying “sawing is hard work” feels like an old saw!), so give yourself a break with this comfy yet aggressive 15” coarse-cut handsaw. The anti-slip black and orange handle with rubber grip reduces hand fatigue (comfy) while the alloy steel blade with tri-bevel teeth makes for fast cutting (aggressive). Has (10) points per inch.

Translucent plastic, no-needle syringes. You pick! (8-pack of 1ml/cc, 4" long in .01 increments) or (6-pack of 5ml/cc, 3" long in 1ml increments) or (30cc / 1 oz. Measures 5-1/2” long compressed x 3/4” dia with an offset 1/16” ID outlet) or the assorted (8-Pack 2-each of 1,2,3,5 ml w/varying increments) Handy in the lab, workshop, kitchen and craft room, but you could also attach one of these to the head of your favorite teddy bear and have a furry with a syringe on top. (We’re sorry. We couldn’t stop ourselves.)

Hell of a tool bag here. Measures 15” x 10” x 10” with (18) slip-in pockets on the outside, a double-zippered top and (2) carry handles with a hook’n’loop sleeve to hold them together. Easy-access main compartment pops open like a breadbasket, and the hard bottom (with grippy feet) holds that shape. Mostly black, with forest green panels and a see-through ID card holder. This bag is so nice, and so sturdy, we wish we had more tools to put in it. Also great for gardening, camping, picknicking and road-tripping. Collapses down to just about flat with nothing in it. Canvas type material. 

There was a day when you just slid your hammer inside the belt that held up your pants. Those were the days before you got serious about tools. We know—we’ve been there. Now you (and we) need a serious tool apron. Ours is made of heavy-duty canvas, in worker’s tan, 19-1/2” wide x 10-1/2” tall with (4) front pockets that are about 8” wide and either 5” or 7-1/2” deep. Also has (2) front slots for marking devices or slim tools. Strap is 1-1/2” wide with a molle buckle in back, a canvas loop (for that hammer of yours), a metal tape measure clip and fits waists 30"-54".

Permanently mark soft metals, plastics, leather and wooden items with this excellent 38-piece punch set. Imprint 1/8" characters -- 26 uppercase letters, numbers 0-9, a period and an ampersand, and a spring-loaded 6-1/2" long punch , all stowed in a permanent, molded-plastic storage case.

Could be what you do if you’re buried alive, or if you want to dance your life away, but most likely it’s a description of the machinist’s friend. This tap & die set cuts straight, clean threads and includes a 1/8” to ¼” tap wrench, and a tap & die in 6-32 NC, 8-32 NC, 10-24 NC, 10-32 NF, 1/4 – 20 NC and 5/16 – 18 NC. In drop-forged, heat-treated steel coated with titanium nitride. Titanium tools!

Small, but mighty useful if you need a tiny tap and die set for threading wire or stripped screws. The micro set has a 3-1/4" long die plate and 14 taps (sizes 7 through 20 -- read 0.7 mm through 2.0 mm), and a mighty attractive price. A little oily in its vinyl storage pouch -- but it's all steel, after all, and has to safeguard its complexion.

It’s easy with this pair of focusable, 3-mode mini-flashlights. Slide to focus the beam on both, or push the bottom button to switch from max power to strobe to 300-lumen COB LED floodlight from the side. Each runs 5 hours on an included rechargeable battery, and comes with (2) mini-USB charging cords. Flashlights measure 3-5/8” long x 1” dia at the adjustable head. In black plastic, with a non-replaceable battery, but you'll proba-bly lose both lights before the rechargeable batteries die for good.

You don’t, huh? They’re called acid brushes because once upon a plumber they were used to apply acid flux to pipes for soldering. Now they’re just the cheap, disposable brushes with hollow aluminum handles you see in glue pots and everywhere else folks need to slather on goopy stuff. Measure 6" long with 5/8” wide bristles.