I think we can all pretty much agree that the Festool Domino mortiser is one cool machine. We might not all need one, but we can admire the engineering and the capabilities of the tool. So how much more impressed are we that a Russian carpenter made a similar functioning machine out of some basic shop tools.

You can spend tens of thousands of dollars and purchase a 3D milling machine, or you can do like one guy did and simply make one of Lego parts—though it probably wasn't at all simple to make. They both kind of do the same thing.

When you are working with exotic woods it is not always easy to find matching dowel stock. You might be able to find something from a specialty store online, but if you are in a hurry, good luck finding it at your local store. The best way to find dowel stock to match your project is to make your own

I was going to take a lazy day today, because it is my birthday, and not post an article, but I came across these videos over the weekend of Matthias over at WoodGears building a cool new router copy contraption and thought I would share them. His latest machine accepts a small trim router and allows the user to use a follower to duplicate an object into wood. In his first example Matthias was able to copy a wrench and get some pretty good detail.

If you want more information, be sure to watch the videos below and visit Woodgears, where you can also buy building plans for the Router Copy Carver.

Here at Tool-Rank we see a ton of really cool tools and gadgets but I never would have guessed that I would be writing about a cord or hose reel that falls under the category of cool. So what makes a cord or hose reel cool? The title might provide a hint.

There have been huge safety changes to power tools over these last few years by manufacturers, fueled by consumer demands to cut down on harmful dust particles. Manufacturers are coming out with great new dust extraction advancements each year, but the hand tool category has remained completely untouched. But that has all changed with the introduction of the Veritas hand plane dust extraction shroud.

Love tools and love technology? Then how about mixing them together with one of these cool handmade iPad docks that is made out of repurposed tools. Put one of these docks in your workshop and it will fit right in; just don't accidentally reach for one of the tools and knock your tablet to the floor. Tears might soon follow.

A couple of years ago I wrote about a new tool by Darrell Peart that allows users to drill square holes without the need for any specialized machinery. The tool was similar to a mortise chisel, but it was designed to work with a regular drill and a mallet. In reality, you can not really drill a square hole with this system, though a Tool-Rank users posted a link in the article comments that detailed the math that would be involved if you could. Today we take a look at a couple of videos that show that this type of drill bit is a reality.

We have seen a few professionally made drill powered mini bikes in the past, but it is so much cooler when you can build one yourself; like Jay from Coptool did. Jay had the idea of building a drill powered vehicle and he let his inner child take over to dream it up. Jay started out with a KickBike scooter that he purchased from Amazon for around $260, this was going to be the body of his build. He chose this particular model scooter because it uses a large front wheel that adds stability. Jay also chopped up and used parts of the drive mechanism from a kids bike in his drill powered contraption. Powering the Jaymobile is a Milwaukee M28 Right Angle Drill ($369) and a Hougen 4:1 Drill Speed Reducer ($175). This combination gave Jay the power and torque he needed to get the Scooter moving, they also happen to be tools his store Ohio Power Tool had in stock, how handy. After a bit of tinkering and welding, the Jaymobile was complete and was ready for a test run. Looks like fun. Be sure to visit Cop for more photos and information on his build

via Coptool

Need a hose clamp, but the ones you have are too big? Or maybe they are not big enough? The Clamptite might be the ideal solution to all of your custom hose clamping needs, or maybe just a cheaper solution for all hose clamping. The Clamptite is a fancy little contraption that allows its users to make custom hose clamps out of basic wire. This design also allows you to match the size and type to your needs. Needs a copper hose clamp? Use copper wire.

The Clamptite sounds like a really cool product, if it works as advertised, but how often do we really need to fix a hose. Well, the same tool can be used in other applications as well. You can used it to fix split handles on your hand tools, use it on the ends of rope to prevent fraying, use it to squeeze out the very last drop of toothpaste, etc.

For around $30 you can get the smallest Clamptite that can handle all of the tasks mentioned above. For larger needs like fixing split telephone poles, they have a model that can use wire up to 1/4" thick, and will cost you about $130.

Clamptite
[:cicn:] Clamptite - LeeValley