I was reading through Google Reader last night, catching up on the latest posts on a handful of gun blogs, when I stumbled onto a knife meme. It was pretty simple, take your knife out of your pocket, snap a photo, and share it on the internet.

As simple as it was, I thought I’d join in. The knife that I have on me fairly regularly is a Xikar 744 Cigar Cut Knife. I know what you’re thinking, Dude, is there anything in your life that doesn’t incorporate cigars in one form or another?

I picked up four of these knives a few years ago. I needed a couple of groomsman’s gifts for when I got married. Being a cigar guy, I wanted to give at least one gift to my groomsmen that had a little personal flare. Since I was the only cigar smoker in the wedding party, a cigar cutter wouldn’t have been very useful. When I saw the Xikar 744, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. So I picked up a knife for each of my groomsmen and one for myself.

The small size makes this knife easy to carry around. The downside is that it doesn’t work very well on cigars (the purpose of the hole in the handle is to clip cigars) and it doesn’t hold an edge for an extended period of time (even in fairly light use). A few swipes with a diamond sharpening stone and the knife is good as new.

For more on this meme, check out the following:

• Knife Meme from Gun Nuts Media
• Knife Meme from Say Uncle
• A Sharp Meme from MArooned
• Whip Out from Weer’d World
• Whip It Out from Neanderpundit
• If all the cool kids are jumping off a bridge… from View From The Porch

Post from: Walt in PA

The Knife That Rides in My Pocket

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photo credit: lrargerich

As you may already know from reading previous posts, for several years I worked as a cabinetmaker building various types of furniture and cabinets. Just like any job, you have a tendency to collect a variety of tools for a variety of situations. You may just have a tool in your collection that you picked up knowing that you would only use it once or twice in your lifetime, but made the purchase anyway.

I’ve done this for the past few years and my basement makes that very apparent. I used to suck it up and purchase quality tools for these rare occasions, but I have since changed my thought process. When I became a home owner, I quickly realized that my money needed to be conserved and spread out among all of my needs, in addition to the monthly mortgage payment.

Over the years I came to know a place called Harbor Freight. They have always had the reputation of carrying throw-away quality tools. These types of tools were used once or twice, then tossed in the trash when they broke. I never paid much attention to this retailer until becoming a home owner. With a retail store being less than two miles away, I’ve found myself looking there more often than not when I need an oddball tool.

A couple of weeks ago my father and I were contracted to make four rolling tables for Sam Leccia’s Nub Cigar. Not having a large enough air compressor to use a High Volume Low Pressure spray gun, I needed a cheap airless paint sprayer to apply about a dozen coats of paint in a short period of time. Rather than drop the coin on a Wagner Power Painter, I headed to Harbor Freight and took a look at the tools they had to offer.

To my delight, I found an airless paint sprayer for a whopping $16.00 (in store). I made the purchase without batting an eye and it has worked great in applying the various coats of paint. Knowing that I’ll probably never use it again, I have no problem tossing it in the trash if/when it breaks in the near future.

Post from: Walt in PA

My Take On Throw-Away Tools

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Over the years I have managed to acquire a solid collection of woodworking tools. Like the typical man, I got a kick out of buying a new tool for a special situation. It all started off with simple things such as hammers and screwdrivers. Later it became a little more involved and turned into different types of measuring devices and clamps. In the latest stage it was specialty planes that would be used for a single project then shelved for months at a time, until needed again.

Ever since purchasing my home last year, I’ve been putting more and more of these tools to use. Since changing careers and becoming a drafter/designer, many of my tools have spent a whole lot of time packed in boxes.

The more involved my work around the house (and side-work) has become, the more I see the need for different types of tools. Throughout my career as a cabinetmaker, the one genre of tool that I did not invest in has been power tools.

While on twitter I have come to find the Rockler account. Each day someone posts a new deal and knocks a few dollars off of a particular product. If you are familiar with Cigar Monster, Joe Cigar, and Woot, you are familiar with the concept.

One of the Rockler Deals of the Day finally caught my eye and I made a purchase. The deal was a Bosch Jigsaw with oscillating blade and dust blower for $69.99. I’ve used a variety of Bosch tools in the past, including jigsaws, and I’ve always found them to be a solid tool all around. Between my past experience and the low cost, I bit on the deal and ponied up my credit card information.

Since having received my new tool, I’ve already started looking at other power tools I’ll be needing for around the house. The next item I have my eye on is a DeWalt 10” Compound Miter Box, although it is considerably more expensive that my previous purchase.

Post from: Walt in PA

Bitten By The Tool Bug

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