Tools

Gloves are an important safety aspect of every hobbyist’s tasks. They not only protect your hands from typical injuries like cuts and scrapes, but the appropriate gloves can protect you from burns, UV rays and more. For those of us who enjoy turning wrenches, a good set of gloves will offer a combination of dexterity, grip and protection. For those …

There’s an old adage… “A man is only as good as his tools”. And brother, ain’t that the truth. In my nearly 40 years on this earth, I’ve used good tools and I’ve used crap tools. Generally speaking, I try to stay away from the $5 bargain bin tools as they either fail me after a use or two, or …

Most novice welders will slip on a pair of standard leather work gloves and call it good – heck, I used to be that guy back when I had more hair on my head and less on my chest. However, after only a few welding sessions with short leather gloves, your wrists and forearms will tell you that there has …

   Trailside Repairs – Fixing a Flat With Safety Seal’s Off Road Tire Repair Kit   Flat tires suck. But, there’s no reason to fret the problem if you have the right tools. Safety Seal’s tire repair kits are quite different from most other’s in the market and here’s what sets them apart. Aside from their quality tools, the sturdy carrying …

A Homemade Quick and Easy Plasma Cutting Table For About $20 It all started when I was visiting Jody, our Tech Editor, in Tucson, AZ and we were working on a few projects for the magazine. As we were hammering and welding away, he mentioned that if we had time that he wanted to make some American flags using his …

Floor jacks are one of the most common tools that can be found in just about every do-it-yourselfer’s garage. They are a tool that you almost can’t do without. Whether simply rotating your tires or perhaps installing a full suspension kit on your truck or SUV, you will almost certainly use a floor jack. I’ve been through just three jacks …

Like most off-roaders, you’ve probably gone to your local store and purchased small 12-volt (cigarette lighter) powered air pumps promising to deliver 100 plus p.s.i. Maybe you’ve even purchased the bulky red air tank that you can fill at your local gas station that holds a whopping 80 or 90 pounds of air pressure. After a full  day of wheelin’ …

About two years ago my aged, entry-level Craftsman MIG welder, finally up and died on me. Of course, as Murphy would have it, it happened right in the middle of a project I was working on and it was late afternoon on a Sunday – no welding supply shops would be open. Thus, my options were limited. Begrudgingly, I jumped …

Cheap, fun, and easy – yup it’s what I shopped for in a prom date, unfortunately I never got all three. In the case of the Miller Spectrum 375 X-treme plasma cutter you get exactly that. While cheap is a relative term, the cost of owning a plasma cutter has dropped by about 50% in the last few years. As …

For those of us that either can’t afford, or don’t have space for large metal machinery, we will often find ourselves using small, cost-effective, modular tools to take their place. One such project came up, where I needed to build several aluminum templates for a recent steel project I was working on, which required that I drill about 20 or …