The weather was not on our side Saturday for the event but that didn’t stop those that showed up from having a good time. We had a last minute sponsor jump on board, Pabst Blue Ribbon, which helped brighten the mood and a it turned out to be great crowd that wasn’t going to let a few rain drops spoil their fun!
Continue reading "Recap – Second Annual Ohio Tool Racing Championships" »
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" »
It is official the Columbus Idea Foundry will be holding the 2nd Annual Ohio Tool Racing Championships (see www.ToolRaces.com) on Saturday, August 21st. Last year was the first time a race like this had been held in Ohio and the event saw a dozen entries with a solid group of spectators. Almost instantly after the first event however interested began to grow and this year's event looks to be bigger and even more fun!
Last year’s winner, TJ, has already begun the taunting and promises “The PIG (see above) will be returning with his head sewn back on.... Yes Believe It !!!” Many other are already committed and we should see some stiff competition with so spectacular machines.
Continue reading "Ohio Tool Racing Championships - August 21st 2010" »
If you haven’t had a chance to hear the MyFixItUpLife radio show, it’s a great 1 hour weekly show about power tools, home improvement and much more. The show is on different local stations around the country but I prefer to listen through the free podcasts channel, which has all their episodes listed with short descriptions. Most of their episodes feature celebrities & expert guests so it’s easy to find the topics that are most interesting to you. Recent celebrity guests include Mike Holmes, Christopher Lowell, Chris Grundy and many other hosts of DIY shows.
Their website also has some great articles and a library of videos which cover a wide range of different home improvement projects. The site was recently updates and am a big fan of the new format which separates all this information by topic (ie Tools, Flooring, Bathrooms) so in each topic you get a nice mix of different media. For instance when you visit the Kitchen page you will get a video on kitchen drywalling, blog posts and recent audio podcast interviews about kichen products. Mixing up the media helps me stay interested and also makes it easy to skim through.
Here is a simple little iPhone App that might come in handy when other measuring devices are out of reach. If you want to try the App for FREE email us by Wednesday!
Turn your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch into a beautiful, easy-to-use ruler. Measure stuff way larger than your device, no additional pocket space required! Ruler's like digital measuring tape. For measuring objects larger than your screen, swipe to extend your Ruler. Measuring something just a bit larger than the display? Line up the left edge of Ruler with the object, swipe to extend the Ruler by a screen, and move the device itself a screen's length. A friendly blue plastic marker follows you as you extend Ruler. Once Ruler is "long" enough, align the marker with the end of your object for a precise measurement. Carefully crafted with the highest quality digital wood, you’ll love Ruler. No trees were harmed.Website: www.rulerapp.com
Cost $0.99
Email coptool.com directly for a limited number of promotional code to download the App for FREE!!!
You may have seen something on these before and maybe, like I did, though it was a joke or at least a gimmick of some kind. If you have taken a trip to Seattle recently however you will actually see a good number of people walking around in Kilts. The Utilikilt company, based in Seattle, sells a ton of kilts everyday including their Workman’s Kilt which goes for $230. That is a fair amount more than most high quality work pants so it would seem there are some avid kilt wearers out there. Blaklader, another maker of some nice professional work gear, has the Gasglow Kilt which was admittedly created as a “trade show piece” but apparently was so popular it’s now a part of their regular product mix. Very interesting trend to keep an eye on, perhaps in a few years we will all be wearing Kilts in the summer wondering how we ever lived without their natural cooling properties...
The Garage Journal is a great blog/forum site we were introduced to several months ago by the guys from The Garage Slab Magazine. Who knew there was so much interest in garages right, to have dedicated magazines and forums? Once you dive on in however my guess is, if you are like me, you will find far too much of it extremely interesting. The “garage” encompasses so much from cars, tools, woodworking, gadgets, beer making, construction and you could probably relate anything else you are interested in without stretching too far. Here was one interesting post that caught my eye, The Bunker Garage, which goes through the whole process of building this unique garage. In the blog they always seem to have lots of posts on tools and work bench designs (see Mega Bench). Check it out it’s worth a visit!
Craig P. Dugan, 49, of Columbus, passed away Friday, April 23, 2010 at home after a brief illness. Preceded in death by mother Patricia M. Dugan. Survived by wife, Teresa; father, Patrick; beloved God son, Christian Goodknight; sisters, Susan (Terry) Klimchak, Wendy (Mike) Walls, Carolyn (Brent) Weber; nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends. Member of the St. Michael Church, graduate of Worthington High School, and employed by Ohio Power Tool. Avid NASCAR Fan.
Ohio Power Tool as part of their Annual Tool Sale on Friday, May 21st, 2010 will be setting aside a number of Tools & Accessories with 100% of the proceeds from the sales going to Craig’s family. Items will include Ingersoll Rand & Chicago Pneumatic air tools, Bosch 12V & 18V Cordless tools, Diamond Products 14” concrete saw blades, Milwaukee Sawzall & Impact Accessories among many others. If you are in the area we would encourage you to come by that day and show your support.
A special thanks to Diamond Products from their generous support in this effort, a great company with a wide range of great products.
Continue reading "Craig Dugan, 13 Years with Ohio Power Tool" »
Here are a couple April Tools Day Jokes from ToolGuyd, Thanks for doing your homework, so I can lean over your shoulder and copy the answers.
Just a few days ago this crew successfully tested the Heat-1X rocket which is slated to launch for the first time this summer. The purpose of the rocket will be eventually to launch a man into space within an incredibly confined capsule (seen above) at the tip of this rocket… You’d have to have balls like church bells to climb into that and get shot into space but I’m sure it would be a fun ride. Read all about their plans and building awesomeness at www.copenhagensuborbitals.com; also you can donate to the project if you want to support the cause. I really like the fact that a couple of buddies can build spaceships on their own with a few hundred grand of donated money and a time line of a few years. NASA on the other hand needs trillions and a few decades to put a man back on the moon. Anyway it looks like these guys are having fun.
In our endeavor to hold the first Power Tool Drag Race in Columbus Ohio I contacts several other groups across the country that either put on races or had lots of advice for us. One of the great groups we were in contact with was Team Kiss. Since then we have received a few fun emails from them, most recently this warm holiday greeting “Tan N Boom”. Checkout the email Tan-N-Boom, with tons of pictures.
Preparing for the holidays….
Decorating the tree….
Opps I skipped right to the Money Shot...
It seems like last year there were more power tool blogs and YouTubes about pumpkin carving with power tools(see the coptool post from last year). I just saw the Dremel tool for Carving Pumpkins on ToolGuyd, looks pretty similar to many of their other consumer tools but could be really handy for the once a year fun.
If you want some really creative ideas this year checkout the Pumpkin Carving Contest on ExtremePumpkin.com.
I was recently introduced to a great publication which goes by the name, The Garage Slab. This magazine is all about the American Garage. Unfortunately the website doesn’t give the full articles but I would encourage you to visit the site for more info The Garage Slab. If you want a FREE copy come into Ohio Power Tool there are a limited number of copies on the counter.
Some of the Topics you may be interested in from the Last Issue: Famous Garages (includes garage from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Visit to the Good Guys Car Show, Shameful Garages pictures, Garage Design: Thinking in Height & Dimension, Show us Your Slab (reader pics), The Motor Lounge (look at a nice lounge/garage that houses a 1956 Bel Air), Perched on Lake Erie (a garage move & restoration story), That’s One Heck of a Beer Bill (Garage Brewery), Sweet Home Chicago, Under the Hood (look at a Lamborghini Murcielago), Pluggin it In (selecting the right size extension cord for Power Tools), Loud & Out of Control (Raiders of the Lost Garage Sale), The Desert Slab (military garages in Iraq & Afghanistan) and much more!
I found this story on Make Magazine but this home is actually for sale (lots of pictures and sketches) on SiloHome.com. The $2.3 million dollar home has 20 acres, access to a runway and some 16,000 sq. ft. of potential living space underground to prepare for Armageddon. The US government built this missile silo in the 1958 for some $18 million (over $100 million by today’s standards and they built 12 of them) and recently sold it to the builder on the cheap for $100,000, that’s our government at work!
Regardless the home looks pretty sweet with 3,600 sq ft of current living space; 1,300 above ground, 2,300 below ground in the former control room. Obviously the entire underground part is reinforced and has a 2,000lb blast door that looks like a bank vault. Let’s see the zombies get through that.
A friend of Ohio Power Tool came up with this design and I laughed so hard I nearly feel out of my chair. The only thing to do was set up a CafePress store (http://www.cafepress.com/iheartpowertool) and stick the design on all the fun stuff they sell for anyone who wants one. Unfortunately, as it was pointed out by Jason on twitter, only 4 of the products are made in USA and one of them is a lady’s thong. There are plenty of styles and colors, check it out for yourself. But I think it’s pretty obvious your girlfriend/wife wants an I Heart Power Tools tee shirt.
Goodguys 12th PPG Nationals July 10, 11 & 12 Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, OH This is it! The big one for Goodguys! The PPG Nationals has become the summertime gathering for the entire hot rodding industry. The 12th edition promises to be a weekend full of awesome hot rodding action! Over 6,000 1972 & earlier rods, customs, muscle cars, tricked out trucks and street machines make the event a must-attend for any car enthusiast. Annual event traditions include the crowning of the Go... Official event website:www.goodguysnats.com
The first annual Columbus Power Tool Drag Races went off without anyone losing major limbs… Success! We also managed to have a ton of fun doing it. Typical of a first year event there was some kinks to work out and attendance wasn’t huge but overall the event went very smoothly. In total there were 10 racers and 50+ spectators but with the enthusiasm after the event you know the event is only going to grow by leaps and bounds next year and beyond.
I taught a workshop before the race on how to build one of these racers and the design I came up with was simple but actually worked very well. In just 3 hours even the most inexperienced builder had put together a racer that was able to zip down the track and even look good doing it (stock cars 1 2 3 4).
My creation “The Flying Toaster” was heavy but fast, powered by a Bosch 9” grinder motor (see video). It was 90% welded together but as build time ran out (I also helped build the track, create a stock car design & teach a class) I had to use some zip ties to hold the side guide wheels on. After the one run the ties broke and the toaster never ran the same again. Unfortunately I was unable to beat TJ’s pig and his taunting fans… I shall have my revenge next year!
There were high hopes for a few other racers including Mike’s “Little Cranky” which was definitely the most complicated design, almost 100% custom fabricated including gears and frame. The chain drive racer ended up being underpowered with the high RPM, low torque router motor.
One of the fan favorites was Alex’s “Bratzmobile Cruiser”; it actually fell apart during the first run but managed to drag its pieces parts across the finish line anyway and go on to make several more runs as is. It was a toss up weather that was the funnies run or when the Pig got Decapitated. It was a clean cut, who knew cardboard could do that.
There will be more pictures and videos coming in, check http://www.powertooldragracescolumbus.com/results.html for all the links. The local Channel 10 news was there as well and had some good coverage on TV that night, I am working to get online. Thanks you again to everyone who helped put this together from the Idea Foundry, Fuse Factory and especially to our event sponsors who donated all the fabulous prizes Ohio Power Tool, Skil Power Tools and CH Hanson.
Have you ever wondered what that Pine Wood Derby Car you built when you were 8 would look like if you feed it steroids and powered it with a circular saw...
If you will be anywhere near Columbus Ohio THIS SATURDAY I would encourage anyone and everyone to come out for the 1st Annual Power Tool Drag Races. The event will be held rain or shine and there will be plenty of food and delicious BBQ but also feel free to bring your own food and beverages of your choice. If you want to build your own racer here are The Rules and you will need to register by Friday 4:00pm. If you don’t feel comfortable building one of these awesome machines on your own but would like to give it a shot, for just a few more bucks you can sign up for The Workshop ($30). All the needed parts and instruction will be provided but you are also encouraged to bring your own parts and stylistic design elements. The Workshop includes the $15 race fee so it’s really a great deal. The deadline for the workshop is also Friday 4:00pm but space is limited so don’t wait as we will stop taking registrations when it is full.
Thank you to Skil Power Tool for donating a 4 Tool Lithium Ion Combo Kit prize ($250), CH Hanson for a variety of prizes and Ohio Power Tool for various prizes and lumber for the track. I’m thinking most everyone could easily win more than the price of admission, thanks to all our generous sponsors this year.
If you just want to enjoy the BBQ, see something totally different and possibly witness some actual bodily injuries simply show up for the actual race around 3:30-4:00pm and pay $5.
What: POWER TOOL DRAG RACING
When: Saturday June 20th, 2009
Where: Idea Foundry - 2038 Leonard Ave (directions)
Times: 1:00pm - 4:00pm Workshop & 4:00pm - 6:00pm Races
Cost: $5 watch - $15 race - $30 workshop & race
Who: The event is open to anyone and everyone.
Web: http://www.powertooldragracescolumbus.com/
You're here reading our posts and hopefully even getting some knowledge out of it. Did you know you can also promote your business? If you have a website it’s pretty simple, feel free to take advantage. See at the bottom of each post where it says comments, simply click that, put the name of your business in the “name” field, then put your web address in and add a comment that is, on topic, somewhat knowledgeable and/or entertaining. The name becomes a link to your website and if people are interested they will click it. The search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc) also pick these up as links to your website and you could actually rank higher simply by commenting on other people's blogs and forums you are already reading.
Please do not put your links directly in the comment field or try and use the comment field as a way to promote your business, that is spam. People are smart enough if your name/link is Beachy Barns & Sheds or Chesrown Cadillac GMC everyone is going to have an idea of what you do. If you don’t have a website, you could also link to a Facebook or Twitter page if you have one. Over time it should help get your name out there and build links without taking much extra time from what you are already doing, given you are already reading this blog. We really want to see your business be successful, mostly so you can buy more tools from Ohio Power Tool but none the less we will do whatever we can to help.
P.S. it can take a little while for the comment to pass through the spam filter, don't worry they will go live shortly provided it's not spam.
Most of you have probably heard about Power Tool Drag Racing before, there have been a few events on the west coast, plenty of youtube videos, news stories and other coverage of these events. On Saturday June 20th there will be an all day event in Columbus to build and race your own power tool drag racers.
This event has an optional workshop early in the day if you are interested in learning to build a racer and don’t feel comfortable doing it on your own. All building materials will be available although you are also encouraged to bring your own power tool, wheels and style elements. The actual race will start at 4:00 pm and open to everyone as spectators or racers. Racers need to register before but spectators can just show up. Check out this website for more info: www.PowerToolDragRacesColumbus.com
Stepping up as the main event sponsor Ohio Power Tool jumped in to supply power tool prize packages for the winners, materials for the tracks, advertising and other materials needed for the event. If your company is interested in also sponsoring the event I know they are open to more sponsors.
I saw this hilarious mode of transportation and couldn’t help but think the obvious… do I want one or do I want to run one over. The second thought; did we just give GM billions of dollars in bailout money so they could make a Segway car? After reading into the press release some, many of the ideas of this new vehicle “P.U.M.A.” are working to promote vehicle to vehicle communications so we can finally get our cars to drive themselves which sounds good to me. Check out the video and more images - http://www.segway.com/puma/
Continue reading "The Segway Car – GM Teams up with Segway to Spend Some Bailout Money" »
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