Projects

The Atomic S/MC

I like mobile mechanic carts… Or, I like the idea of them. In practice, however, I’ve found that most suck for my use case. Either they have a lid that doubles as a bench top (why?!), or they have tiny casters that can’t roll over extension cables and air lines (drives me mad), or they are just too damn big – making it impossible to get them in spots where I really need them. An example of this was recently when I was changing out a shifter in an old race car. Lots of tiny hardware to keep sorted, but …
Reviews & Features

OLFA Hobby Blades

Years ago, my sister passed away and left me a box of her art supplies. I’m no artist, but as I was packing the stuff away I did note that the haul included some kind of an off-brand X-Acto knife. I grabbed it and threw it in my blade drawer without giving it much thought. A few months back, I was helping a friend wrap a car and we ran out of sharp X-Acto blades in the middle of the night. I remembered my sister’s old hobby knife and went for it… The blade was at least ten years old, …
Reviews & Features

Upgraded Craftsman Bandsaw Guides

I’d be willing to be that a good percentage of us started our bandsaw journey with a Craftsman 137.224320. It’s sort of the Toyota Corolla of bandsaws – cheap, durable, and reasonably effective at getting you from point A to point B with no thrills and zero embellishments. It’s the bare minimum. The only real downfall with these machines has been the lack of an upgrade path. Once you’ve outgrown its capabilities, you’ve really had no options other than to sell it and re-enter the market for something more capable. And this predicament often came sooner rather than later due …
Deals

Found: 1945 Kent Moore Work Station

A while back, my brother Keith gotta call from someone looking to unload some furniture from an old car dealership somewhere in Texas. It didn’t take long for the guy to mention part of the haul was a Kent Moore Work Station believed to be from 1945. It took even less time for Keith to come to terms with the asking price. But now, reality has set in… Neither of us have the space for this setup and it would be a shame to part it out. So, here I am… hat in hand… wondering if anyone has a scratch …
Projects

Bonbon Scale Model

Last week I discovered Bobby Fingers – an Irish savant with a sense of humor only challenged by his mastery of multiple skill sets. The algorithm has since decided I needed to discover another obscure modeling channel – Bonbon Scale Model. I can’t imagine I’m ever gonna model with clay or even build a 1/43 scale 750 Monza, but the skills sets and tools these guys use fascinate me. As someone that spends a lot of time in his own shop, there’s just something so fun about seeing other guys work in different mediums, using tools I know nothing about, …