New Tools Help You Power Through Projects

The hand tools I have for working around the house are contained in a rusty old toolbox sitting on a wooden table in the garage. There are also some screwdrivers and a pair of wire cutters in the kitchen junk drawer, and one of those foldable plastic tool kits that I received as a Christmas present several years ago hidden somewhere in the basement. I have an ancient hammer with a wood handle that leaves a permanent black mark on your hand when you pick it up and one of those drills that you have to crank by hand that belonged to my grandfather. He also left me a small set of wood-handled screwdrivers that leave splinters in your fingers when you grip them, and some other type of tool that looks like a miniature pair of ice tongs that I haven’t quite figured out a use for yet. Hand me down tools can be worse than hand me clothes. Recently I went through the house on a treasure hunt, gathered up all of the tools that I could find, and dumped them out on the floor. After taking a careful inventory, I decided to update my toolbox.

The first thing that I did was to order the Mansfield Power Tool’s Dual-Drill. This two-headed freak of the tool world has a quick charge battery and eighteen watts of power. It also has two, single sleeve, all metal ratcheting chucks that make this monster two drills in one. It’s a real time saver when you have a lot of holes to drill and a lot of screws to set. Just put a drill bit in one head and the screwdriver bit in the other and off you go, flipping them back and forth with a flip of the wrist instead of messing with a chuck key.

The other innovative new product that caught my eye was a Cold Heat Soldering Tool. The tip of this thing heats up to 500 degrees F in less than one second and cools off almost as fast so you don’t burn your fingers. It features a pen-like design and a pocket clip and carrying case.

The other “multi-tool” that I bought was the Bit Shooter Screwdriver. The Bit Shooter is a spin and load multi-driver with a multi-cartridge speed loading system. It has magnetized speed loader cylinders that hold a number of common tool bits that easily snap on for quick tool changes.

The next thing I needed was a set of pliers. The 3in1 Multi-Plier has long nose, diagonal cutting, and combination plier heads. The heads lock into place so they won’t slip when you apply a lot of pressure. The pliers come with a rip stop nylon holster and a Velcro closure.

The new and improved Utility Knife has an easy to use thumb lever to let you change and release blades with ease. This utility knife uses double-notched standard and contractor-grade blades and is available from Innovative Tools.

The latest innovation in the plumbing field is the ratcheting pipe wrench. The wrench features ratcheting action so you don’t have to reposition between turns. The jaw design also tightens as you push down to prevent slipping. It also has a 360-degree swivel head for full leverage in tight spots.

Of course I’ve kept all of the old broken tools for sentimental reasons. Maybe I’ll put them in a glass case and hang it on the wall of my garage. The only downside to having these new and improved gadget-tools is that now I may have to actually put them to use.