Yes just one day away is the 2nd annual Ohio Tool Racing Championship (www.toolraces.com) and things are getting pretty exciting around the Columbus Idea Foundry this week. Lots of people are piling in this week to get their projects finish. It will probably be a very late night at the shop tonight for some but we’d expect nothing less.

Our Coptool racer is 95% complete and a fairly menacing looking creation; after all there are some pretty big expectations on us. "The Reaver" is welded out of 1” steel tubes, powered by a 9” Bosch grinder pushing a 10” Milwaukee saw blade. See more pics in this Facebook Album. We are pretty confident she will smoke down the track and take any hits that come her way (although pretty inexperienced welder so watch out).

Continue reading "Power Tool Drag Racing Tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio" »

Posted by Jay A. at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This year on August 21st Irwin Tools is sponsoring possibly the greatest event in the 2010 racing season  Ohio Tool Racing Championship … on that same day they are also sponsoring another great event in racing the Bristol Night Race. One event will probably have 160,000 people more than the other but very impressive to see Irwin Tools involved in two world class events on the same day.

As if that wasn’t enough, Irwin will be holding their annual Ultimate Tradesman Competition the day before, August 20th, at the Bristol Speedway. This year the event will be televised so if you are not going to be there you can still watch Live on Speed Channel’s NASCAR trackside starting at 7:00pm EST.

You can also vote right now for your favorite Tradesman and automatically enter to win a $250 irwin prize pack. It looks like we got 2 of the top 4 times from the Buckeye State: Jonathan Smith (Delaware, Ohio) & Mark Martin (Ostrander, Ohio) so our state is well represented. Maybe Ohio just makes a better tradesman?

Posted by Jay A. at 05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Everyone needs a good driver bit set in the arsenal even if you aren’t a professional or serious DIYer it’s always a good idea to have a few extra bits handy. When you start looking at bits sets however you’ll realize pretty quick they all fairly different as far as what’s included. First you have several types of screwdriver bits Phillips, Slotted, Square & Torx. Then you have 1”, 2” & 2 sided 2”. There are also “Impact Bits” for all these options as well. In addition to just the screwdriver bits some kits include nutsetters, socket adaptors, hex drill bits and quick change adaptors.

Continue reading "Quick Guide to Selecting a Driver Bit Set" »

Posted by Jay A. at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Over the weekend in Las Vegas the winner of the Irwin “Tell Us Your VISE-GRIP Story” was announced. The winner was Dr. Bryan Fax a US Navy Surgeon. Read the full story below or visit the IRWIN Contest Site:

Continue reading "And We Have A Winner… Irwin Vise-Grip Contest" »

Posted by Jay A. at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

48-32-1500 Milwaukee 38 Piece Quik-Loc Kit - $30.94
This Milwaukee Bit Set is critical to get the most out of your hex shank driver. Many of the new 10.8V-12V compact tools use the hex bit system which can limit the tools use without the right accessories. This kit not only has a wide range of driver bits but also several sizes of drills and impact bits.   

For those of you that might be in or around Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday, October 22^nd I would like to invite you to Ohio Power Tool for the Annual Tent Sale & Tool Expo. This year it’s a little later than usual so it would correspond with the launch of so many new lines of tools including: Milwaukee M12, Milwaukee M18, Bosch 12V Max, Bosch 18V Lithium, Ridgid Explorer & New Seesnakes, plus many other exciting product. All of these new tools will be at the show ready for you to demo, so if you want to try out the new Dremel Multi-Max or anything else come on down. Each vendor will be there in full force including the Bosch Big Blue Trailer. Milwaukee, Ingersoll Rand, Ridgid, Chicago Pneumatic, Hougen, Power Team and many others will have tents and tables set up as well. The event runs from 10:00am – 5:00pm or when people finally leave.

This is a great event for any one buying tools or just wanting to test out the new tools! Ohio Power Tool, already known for low internet competitive pricing, really blows it out for the tent sale. Lots of existing products are discounted for that day in addition to overall discounts given on all in-store orders. On top of the Ohio Power Tool discounts the vendors on hand have even more discounts in the form of promotions, instant rebates, free tools, tool trade-ins, etc. For instance, Bosch is offering $75 trade-in on any 18 volt, working or not, to upgrade to their new 18v lithium. That would put the new Bosch 18V compact drill at $129 and on top of that you would still get off an additional discount from Ohio Power Tool.

I’m sounding like a used car salesman now but it is definitely worth checking out if you want to get some really good deals on power tools or just get your hands on some of the new tools.      

Posted by Jay A. at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Irwin has been sponsoring a “Tell Us Your Story” Contest since July 1^st, if you were not aware. The contest itself will end at the end of this month (October 31^st) so there is still some time to enter if you haven’t had a chance yet. The stories are basically 100 words or less about how your Irwin Vise Grip tools have saved the day. Each story includes an image which you can upload your own image or use one of theirs. It’s really pretty simple and there are many great prizes including Irwin tools, trips to New York, Cabela’s gift cards and a grand prize of either a Custom Chopper or $25,000 cash.

If you are worried your vise grip stories are not that good don’t worry there are still two other chances to win through the sweepstake you can enter until November 15^th, the 5 winners are drawn at random. Also you can win instant prizes by voting for the stories from November 16^th – December 19^th.

See Full Details Here: http://irwin.eprize.net/visegripstory/index.tbapp      

Posted by Jay A. at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

 Irwin Industrial Tool is holding the Ultimate Tradesman Competition again for 2008. This is a skill competition which measures your speed and accuracy for measuring, marking and drilling. Irwin is well known for their high quality hand tools and power tool accessories so this competition is a great way to showcases several of their products. The competition is easy to enter, simply attend one of the upcoming events (View Schedules Here) and compete. For complete information, to see standing, see a video of the time trial, information on prizes and more; visit www.irwinchallenge.com.

Prizes include Cash, Irwin & Dickies clothing, Irwin Tools, race tickets & VIP packages, Ultimate Irwin garage, Roush Ford F150 and a chance to win $1.26 million. The top 20 regional winners get to attend the semi finals at the Texas Motor Speedway. The top 4 finalist will then attend the Phoenix International Raceway and compete for the Grand Prize and a chance to win $1.26 million. For more information on Jamie McMurray, Irwin Racing and the Number 26 Car you can visit www.irwinracing.com.

Ohio Power Tool is proud to offer a wide variety of Irwin Tools including their locking tool Vise-Grips, Marathon saw blades, Strait-Line chalk reels, tap & die sets and much more. For more information on Irwin Industrial Tools call 800-242-4424.