Nuts, bolts, Screws and Hardware for your Workshop.

Most guys I know love their tools. In fact most guys that like tools, like the way their tools look on the wall of their shop. If you go up and down the street in my neighborhood you are sure to see two things. The first is a garage that is either full of stuff (junk) or, a small section of "man land" that has the "man" toys that men need.

Most men are wired to fix stuff or maintain stuff, its part of being a guy. In order to do that you need a decent set of tool's. I really enjoy having little bits of everything on hand so that I can come to the rescue of something that needs rescuing. If you are father, there is always the phrase "some assembly required" that will become part of your life. Besides having tools, I find that a good assortment of parts is essential.

Did you ever see those parts bins that sell so well at Home Depot or Lowes? How cool is it to have like a zillion wood screws or a bin full of hex nuts at your disposal? Yeah they look awesome sitting on your toolbox waiting to be pressed into service. The problem is figuring out which size is which and where it goes. We all know men do not read the directions to ANYTHING.

So you need this screw, and off you go to Lowes, Ace or the Depot to find it. When you get there , you look for this goofy little tool that you can put your screw in and it tells you what size to buy. I always have a problem with that thing. They should make the person who designed it, use it, because it does not work very well. I like the one that you can actually screw your screw or bolt into and its printed right on the selection and tells you what you need.

Recently I found such an animal and immediately snatched it up and added it to my collection. Gone are the days where I am putting screws, bolts and nuts in my pocket to take to the store. I now have a much better version to hang on my shop wall for reference anytime I want. This is one of those tools that you don't think you would use too much until you have it in your workshop. The problem is my neighbors found out I have one, and now everyone comes over to use it as well.

The top third of the unit allows you to find the correct size and the correct thread for machine screws. Metric sizes are also available which comes in handy. The threadchecker works excellent for this job.

Threaded extensions of standard and metric sizes protrude from the jig so you can find the correct size nut for the job. This comes in handy since I always seem to get 19 nuts when I was supposed to get 20. (ceiling fans are famous for this)

The bottom half of the unit has a wood screw section that allows you to take the screw and insert it into the proper hole to find the size. Handy scales on either side of the unit are there for reference as well.

If you like to tinker in your house, this is one of those things that makes life pretty easy. If you have an assortment of screws and bolts, this jig can put some order into your junk draw. It also looks pretty darn cool on the wall.