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I see Lowe's is selling these USA-made Cle-Line drill bit sets: https://www.lowes.com/pd/CLE-LINE-High-Speed-Steel-Twist-Drill-Bit-Set/1000043335 https://www.lowes.com/pd/CLE-LINE-60-Piece-Cobalt-Twist-Drill-Bit-Set/999902205 I have no experience with this brand. Can any of you guys offer an...

Lately all sorts of weird brand names have been appearing for Chinese products. It's like they just pick random English syllables out of a hat; Minwind, Xinway, Bearbro, Homitt, Hiraly, OneBom, and thousands of others like that. But this one is especially hilarious: I predict everyone is...

Here's a great article about why China and USA tool manufacturing differ the way they do: What's In A Tool? A Case For Made In USA. Be sure to read the comments; there are a lot of smart people with interesting things to say.

A few years ago, I was tightening something and torqued off a socket extension. Looking at it, I realized it was the last remaining piece of the cheap-*** socket set I'd bought at KMart in 1979, when I was young, piss-poor, and newly out on my own. Anyone of a certain age remembers those...

I know there's a general thread for funny cartoons, but I can't find it right now, so I might as well post this here for a Friday evening chuckle:

I ordered something from online vendor Abstract Tool. This is the first time I've ordered from them. After I got through the checkout process, I was shown this: That seemed a little fishy to me. My card is good. I went to the bank website and saw the charge in pending status, indicating...

You see combination screw heads a lot on electrical devices: When installing these, do you prefer to use Phillips or slotted drivers? For most of my life I've used Phillips, because they self-center, but lately I've been leaning towards slotted because you can use the same screwdriver to...

I recently wrote to Channellock with this question: Today they replied: So now I know. I imagine anyone here who's a plumber already knew this, but not being a plumber, I didn't. I'm trying to picture how that curved end gets used as a reamer; I imagine you set the pliers wide, so that the...

Here's an eBay seller offering Channellock 317 in bulk packaging. At first look, the pictures do not appear to be Channellocks. The handle color is way wrong: But the UPC is right for the product, and from what I can tell through the plastic, they have the same proportions as genuine 317...

My dad was a dedicated amateur carpenter, and if he bent a nail, he would put it on a brick or whatever, pound it straight, and reuse it. Sometimes he would also do that to old nails pulled from whatever he was taking apart. For myself, I don't do that because a) it doesn't seem like it's...

I glommed onto an excellent Channellock deal at Menards (courtesy of user measuredtwice, thanks man). So now that I have a shiny new pair of 9.5" Channellock 420, it seems like a good time to compare them to what's already in my toolbox in that general size. Here we see two pair of Kobalt...

I have a real problem with overpreparedness. If I let my subconscious decide what to keep in my car, I'd be carrying torque wrenches and brake spring pliers. So before I get too carried away with what tools to keep in the car, I'm curious what you guys have.

In this recent screwdriver thread, several people mentioned they like multi-bit drivers, and seemed sheepish about it. I like the convenience of carrying one tool, so I use them and like them. I have several around the house and cars. Of course that means that right away I had to buy...

The other day the wife and I were streaming episodes of Mad About You. For those who have not seen it, it's a 90s sitcom about Paul and Jamie, a pair of mildly mismatched 30-something newlyweds in a New York City apartment. In the episode we were watching, Jamie's parents come over to visit...

I use canned pre-mix in my chainsaws. The saws get used relatively infrequently, so I don't need much fuel, and it's nice to have something stable in storage for long periods, plus I don't have a local source for ethanol-free gas. But I have been wondering what this stuff is made of. TruFuel...

I have two 15" stainless steel rulers. One of them starts right at the 0" line, like this: Whereas the other doesn't: This renders it useless for measuring into a corner. Is there a word for the first kind of ruler that differentiates it from the second? It would be useful as a search term.

Looking at 10" 40-tooth general purpose blades. The candidates at the moment: Diablo D1040X, $30. I've been using Diablo blades for ages with no complaints, so this would be the default choice. Made in Italy. Irwin Marples 1807367, $36. Reviews seem good on it but I've never used an...

I ordered a set of jack stands mentioned in another thread. That was March 20. The day after they were due to arrive I got an email saying they were "delayed." Okay, no big deal. I waited. Seven days later I decided to see what was going on. Went to their site, no update on the order...

I've always just used regular red-label Titebond, but the guy over at Project Farm tested out a bunch of glues and recommended Titebond 2, Titebond 3, or Elmer's Max. So it's got me considering switching to a "better" glue, but I figure there's got to be a tradeoff besides cost here. Open...

She came home from work with these impact-rated Bosch driver bit sets for me: They were on sale for $5 each at Lowe's and she grabbed them. Not a big purchase, but it's still nice. Isn't she awesome?