ManMade Essential Toolbox: How to Assemble the Perfect Set of Driver Bits

Here's our pick for the best impact driver bits. With this collection, you'll never be at a loss for the right bit for the job. 

When is a drill not a drill? When it's a driver, used for securing hardware into material, rather than simply boring a hole into it. If you're anything like us, your cordless drill gets pressed into service much more often as a way to drive or remove fasteners than making holes with twist bits. And to get the most out of this versatile tool, you've gotta have the right bit for the job. Here's how to build a complete set of the best impact driver bits to allow you to take on any task.

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How to: Make This Leather Roll Wallet

I've always been a big fan of the leather roll for personal tools, so it wasn't a big leap to for me to fall in love with this DIY Leather Roll Wallet from Shauna Wightman. It's got room for all your cards and cash, plus it's meant to be able to hold your phone as well.   

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Video: Take a Quick and Fascinating Tour of the Leatherman Multitool Factory

Fun fact of the day: the Leatherman multitool company is actually named for its founder, Tim Leatherman. I'd always imagined it being a vision of some hardcore Platonic ideal of a rugged tinkerer with everything at the ready. Kat Bauman and Outlier Solutions took this totally engaging look at the Leatherman factory in Portland, Oregon, and the production and design process of its eponymous tools.

Check out the video below for some history and a look at how these tools are conceived and manufactured:   

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How to: Hammer Nails Like a Pro

Even in the days of impact drivers, cordless, battery-powered nailers , and more kinds of screw heads that one can name, sometimes a hammer is still the best tool for the job. And while the process seems simple, anyone who's ever used will tell you: there's a lot to go wrong.   

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Things Come Apart: Amazing Exploded Photographs by Todd McLellan

As a Manmade reader, I know how much you love to learn about how things work, so I'm certain sure you'll love this series by Todd McLellan.

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How To: Make a DIY Grilling and BBQ Tool Belt

Overheard most during my back patio grilling sessions? "Where'd I put those tongs?" Seriously, I misplace/don't put back/leave in the sink/who knows these things at least five or six times while the charcoal glows.   

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Beautifully Crafted Miniature 18th Century Toolchest with Tiny, Working Tools

Artist William Robertson just completed this "astounding" miniature replica of the 18th century Hewitt Tool Chest, on display in Colonial Williamsburg. It includes tiny, functional tools - you can see the handplane shaving away the pencil in the photo above.  

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How to: Sharpen an Axe (A Step-by-Step Guide)

Like kitchen knives, scissors, and most things designed to cut solid material into smaller pieces, an axe is only as good as its edge.  

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The Hermetus Bottle Opener & Resealer Can, Um...Open a Bottle and Reseal It

I'm totally digging on this tiny little piece of brilliant design. First, it's a classic, perfectly-sized chrome bottle opener that'll easily slip into a pocket, backpack on the handle of a cooler. But more interestingly, it also allows you to reseal a beer bottle to preserve its freshness, fragrance, and taste.  

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Roundup: 20+ Ways to Use a Pocketknife

I am not a regular pocket knife carrier. I own one; it's in a dresser drawer and I get it out whenever I go camping, or I manage to take a package or box upstairs and need to open it. So, like twice a year.

But, I imagine I reach for something sharp and/or pointy and/or thin and stiff at least three times a day. And after reading this list, I'm thinking maybe I might need to add a small pocketknife to my watch, keys, and other daily carries.  

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DIY Idea: Make a Wrench Bottle Opener

There are all sorts of ways to open a bottle, but dare we say, none as stylish as opening one with a homemade combination wrench bottle opener.    

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A Look at Tool Rolls

Core77 takes a in depth peek at tool rolls, that time-proven storage solution of craftsmen everywhere. The roll protects your tools, keeps them organized, and can be a safe and convenient way to store tools with sharp edges, such as carving or turning tools.  

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Quickly Identify that Typeface with this Handy Bookmarklet

Yesterday, designer and developer Jason Santa Maria tweeted this awesome little bookmarklet, and I've already used it a good ten times in less than 24 hours. You just drop WhatFont into your bookmarks bar, then, whenever you're cruising a web page and want to know what type they used, click it and it'll let you know.

HTMLers and other smart guys could probably figure this out with style sheets and their fancy tools, but this is a gem for the rest of us. 

It works! See?    

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Cooking with Power Tools: How to Make Stuffed Zucchinis

Of course, I've thought of it. Standing at the counter, in the midst of dicing some veg, and I muse "Wow, this would be so much faster and accurate with the bandsaw!"

Prolly not safer, but of course, I love the idea of fusing my two favorite rooms in the house - the kitchen and the workshop.    

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ManMade Giveaway: Win One of Two Craftsman Impact Drivers

This week, I'm excited to be giving away two impact drivers from Craftsman! I've been playing with both of these models for the past few weeks, and have been plenty impressed.

A powerful cordless drill/driver is an essential tool for basically everyone, and this latest generation of dedicated drivers compliment them perfectly. They're more lightweight than a drill, and are able to focus all their power on the torque needed to drive fasteners, rather than sharing it with another function like drilling holes. Plus, it's great to have two tools so you don't have to keep switching out bits. Your drill bit or counter sink can stay in the

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Completely Awesome Wooden Wall Treatment from Upcycled Shipping Pallets

"Mom and Her Drill" is just that: Katy's a cool mom of three who works as an engineer during the day, and builds and paints all kinds of cool stuff by night.

She recently completed this amazing wall treatment made from recycled shipping pallets, and the results are outstanding:  

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How To: Make a DIY Nakashima-Inspired Coffee Table

George Nakashima was a Japanese-American craftsman and furniture maker who was a powerhouse influence in 20th century furniture design. I've been fortunate enough to sit on and explore many of his actual pieces;the Boston Museum of Fine Arts has several, and you're welcome to actually use them. His mastery of fine joinery mixed with rustic unfinished edges are as good as handbuilt furniture can get, and he's by far the my woodworking idol. (Sorry, Norm...)

Nakashima's signature coffee tables feature flat, finely finished tops with raw or "live" edges, resulting in a natural modern look that's pretty much as awesome

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This Weekend I Made: DIY Limoncello and Wooden Eames Arrows

It was a productive weekend at my house. We had our first thaw since mid-December, so I emptied all the dead potted herbs that were too frozen to come out, cleaned out the garage, got my bike and Vespa back in order, vacuumed out my car, and had a make-your-own pizza party with my niece and nephew.

And, seeing as it's citrus season, I wanted to have another go at homemade limoncello. I had a half bottle of grain alcohol left from the vanilla extracting I did for Christmas presents, and filled it with the zest of 12 lemons (there's about 1000ml of spirits in the bottle). I'm amazed by how yellow it is, even after only a few minutes. Next step: wait 45 days, then dilute and sweeten it up!

I also installed a new bandsaw blade, and to test it, I decided I needed some wooded arrows. Not the kind you shoot, but the ones that point out stuff. (Which, of course, recalls a favorite Mitch Hedberg joke... "Imagine being killed by a bow and arrow. That would suck, an arrow killed you? They would never solve the crime. "Look at that dead guy. Let's go that way." Get it?)

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Fastener Category Chart

ManMade reader Sean sent in this cool link from Bolt Depot: an exhaustive chart of every type of fastener, including bolts, screws, nuts, and washers. It also includes a helpful description of drive and head types for screws and bolts.

This should be quite useful for anyone who regularly sorts through there hardware bins, looking for just the right piece, and especially helpful for folks who

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How To: Make a Woodgrain Magnetic Tool Holder

Whether they're your fancy German chef's knives, your perfectly honed chisels, that Xacto blade you wield so well, or your razor-sharp, never-touch-paper fabric scissors, the DIY lifestyle most always entails sharp cutting tools. And the best way to protect these tools, keep their edges straight and nick-free, and store them safely?

A magnetic block. Which are, thankfully, quite inexpensive at a spot such as IKEA, but they're looks are a bit cold, and the metal surface can actually scratch your tools.

So, we're gonna give one a quick faux bois makeover.   

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