The Tool-Hunter blogs are moving!

I can't believe how many years I've been ranting here on Blogger and what started as a simple blog has mushroomed into a dozen "Tool-Hunter" blogs! While that may sound impressive it really isn't. Many of my other blogs are simply digital file cabinets where I store my tool stuff. If I'm feeling inspired I may make an entry or two. To make matters worse, whenever I want to make a change in several of my blogs it's a total pain to move from one site to the other.

With all that said, I've decided to mash all my tool blogs into one site: www.Tool-Hunter.com

This site will allow me to break my blogs up a bit so that they aren't just one long page that takes forever to load. Additionally this new site will allow you to easily interact with comments and posts of your own!

I'll give you plenty of warning before I pull the plug on this URL, but in the mean time I invite you to drop by the new site to look around and let me know what you think.

Please note that as of this post I've only added Shopsmith content, so please be patient as we begin this migration. Scott

What or Who is a "Tool Hunter"?

I'm Scott, and I'm a Tool Hunter, and the fact that you are reading this I suspect you are too. So what is a Tool Hunter? We are primarily craftsmen, both professional and hobbyists, who enjoy working with tools. In fact, for many of us the project at hand is simply an excuse to buy or use a tool!

This blog is actually a hub for several blogs that are designed to connect Tool Hunters with tools. Each Tool Hunter Blog covers a separate tool brand or theme. Check them all out and make sure to save this site as a favorite as we tend to find more and more tools to hunt!
Delta and Rockwell Tool Hunter Blog
Powermatic Tool Hunter Blog
Steel City Tool Works Tool Hunter Blog
Shopsmith Tool Hunter Blog
Grizzly, Jet & Shop Fox Tool Hunter
The Dovetail Joint Tool Hunter Blog
Dewalt Tool Hunter Blog
Sawsmith Radial Arm Saw Tool-Hunter Blog
Gilliom-Gil-Bilt-Tool-Hunter Blog
www.Aristocob.com
www.PatentPlaceUSA.com
Belt Sander Racer Build Blog
MAC Tool Hunter Blog
Snap-On Tool Hunter Blog
And our newest crazy blog:
Six Cheese Macho Cheese Fountain Build Blog

We've Welcomed A New Woodworker In The Family!

The young man in the center of this photo is my new grandson, Jensen aka: Smuckers. He was born on August 3rd, and this photo was taken on August 5th at one of our local Mexican restaurants. He is rather upset at me because moments before I gave him his first power tool, a multi-purpose tool called "Real Power ToolShop". I thought it was kind of cool. It's a jigsaw, a drill press, a disc sander and a wood lathe. Apparently Smuckers was hoping for a genuine Shopsmith tool because the moment this was revealed he burst into tears. I like this kid!

(Click the pic to see Smucker's lungs!)

Are you looking for great tools at a great price? Think "Tool Hunter"

We were looking over some of the nerd-level analytical data that we get for our blogs and have noticed an interesting trend: When folks find tools on our blogs, and bid, they run a good chance of winning the item! Take a look at the info at right (Click on it to Biggie-size).
This is from the dashboard that eBay gives us to track the traffic from our Tool-Hunter blogs, and what it shows is the number of bids placed by our readers and the success rate of their bids. Now, not everyone is successful, but what this shows is a trend that has been improving over the past two years that we've been blogging. Granted, our blogs aren't traditional "blogs", in that we don't feel the need to post when we have nothing fresh to say. No, our goal is connecting lovers of fine tools with , well, more fine tools! We hope this describes you and if so we encourage you to check-out all of our "Tool-Hunter" blogs. You'll find them listed on our launch page at this link: http://tool-hunter.blogspot.com

Thanks for joining us, and please drop us a line if anything comes to mind that you'd like to see on these blogs; or if you have a tool to promote.

Scott

Buying woodworking tools on eBay

We started selling on eBay way back in 1996, even before it was called eBay. Back then it was called AuctionWeb and we got interested because several of our computer-nerd friends wouldn't stop talking about it. They were all into PC's, Macs, and all things Star Trek. These friends were also woodworking buddies and they knew that my interests were mostly tool related. In fact, one of these friends back in 1988 used to visit my shop to ask me questions that were posted on the internet. What the heck is the internet? It didn't matter because there were woodworkers chatting on it! Anyway, I was into buying worn-out woodworking tools and after restoring them selling them in the local Tradin' Post paper.

So when these friends mentioned that in addition to Phasers, Tricorders and PEZ dispensers AuctionWeb was loaded with woodworking tools. Sweet, I'm in!

Since then we have purchased and sold over 1700 items and have tried to buy hundreds more. As for tools I am mainly a Shopsmith tool buyer and seller, but I'm a fan of all well-made tools. I own tools from Delta, Powermatic, Jet, Grizzly, Hitachi, DeWalt, Porter-Cable, Milwaukee and even a few things from Harbor Freight.

For some reason I'm a sucker for orphan tool brands and shop-built tools. Gil-Built, PortaShop, any shop-made jig and fixture, and long as it works.

Woodworkers are cool, and their tools are even cooler, and in the end that's what the Tool Hunter is all about. Check in from time to time and if you like add a comment or two. To leave a comment you'll need to first click on the header of the post that interests you, then at the bottom of the post click on the comment link.

Thanks for stopping by and check-out all the Tool Hunter blogs. Scott

Here's a great FREE site that will keep you informed if anything new gets posted!

You can be the first to know if something new is added to this blog (Or any other site of interest for that matter). Visit http://www.watchthatpage.com/ and sign up for a free account. You can then add any url to your personal list and you'll be emailed should anything change. I've used this site for several years to keep track of changes on one of my favorite sites: http://www.woodshopdemos.com/ which is a site that rarely changes. Test it out with our blog and you'll be the first to know if anything changes!

A recent mistake dropped my Shopsmith blog from Google's sight

I've been blogging about shopsmith tools for the past few years at http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com and recently while trying to make it a bit more user friendly I turned on the archive option. This action moved the older posts off the front page so it was now opening lightning fast. So far so good.

But then we noticed that unless you happened to know what date a post was archived you'd have no idea how to find a post on the Shopsmith bandsaw, for example. What to do? I know.

I copied the url for each of the individual posts and added them all to a list that would appear at the bottom of every page. (There are over 65 of them) This made a lot of sense, seeing that you never know what post a person will land on when they find the blog through a search engine.

And that's when the problems started. Over night our posts dropped from the first page of results on Google, to the 10th page and beyond! What's with that!?!

A quick Google search uncovered my error. Apparently whenever Google's wed crawlers see several pages with identical content, especially lists of hyperlinks, they flag the pages as SPAM and dump them like a hot potato!

So, it's back to square one with all my SEO efforts. That said, if you have a blog or are a member of a news group, please do me a favor and post a link to my poor blog. Thanks, and please come again. Scott

About The Tool Hunter Blogs

The Tool Hunter Blogs are a place for fellow woodworkers can come and learn about woodworking tools, either before they make a purchase of their own, or buy a tool as a gift for the woodworker in their life. We encourage all visitors to help us provide the best possible information, by submitting their own reviews to our contact address, and we will gladly include your opinions in the review sections.

In addition to Tool Reviews, we try to provide useful guides for readers, hopefully helping them improve their tool enjoyment. If you or someone you know would like to submit a guide to our site, please follow the instructions below.

How to Buy the Products on Our Site

All products represented on our website are sourced through the eBay shopping system. We chose eBay to source our products due to the wide selection of tools, as well as the buyer protections and security through the eBay system.

If you are already an eBay account holder, buying through our blog is easy... Find the product you are interested in purchasing through our Tool Review sections, browse through the reviews to locate the exact item you need, and simply click on the items to purchase or bid on them on eBay.

If you are not an eBay account holder, you can setup an account for free, during the checkout process of the item you are buying.

If you do not see a product you we looking for, please contact us at mrtoolhunter@gmail.com and we will source the product and provide a review for you on our blog.

To Provide a Tool Review or Guide
Please send an email to mrtoolhunter@gmail.com and include the following information:

• Your Name
• Website Address if Applicable
• Date of Review
• Tool Being Reviewed
• Your Review

Reviews should be no more than 400 words in length, and provide a basic understanding of the tool you are reviewing.

If you are providing a Guide, please try to be as clear as possible in your article, explaining the features and benefits of using the guide article.

All tool reviews and guides are subject to editorial approval by our editors, (Me and my bride Jandy) and you will be notified as soon as your review or guide is published.

Contact Us

If you need to contact us, please use the following email address:
mrtoolhunter@gmail.com

Brand and Logo Disclaimer

Content of this site is copyrighted by Tool-Hunter.com unless otherwise protected by copyright. All Rights Reserved. Trademarks, registered or otherwise, brands, and manufacturer names used and displayed on this Web site are property of the individual owners and the use is intended only for identifications purposes.

Tool-Hunter.com is no way affiliated with or representing itself as the manufacturers or owner of these brands, and should not be considered so. Our website provides reviews, buying guides, tips and advice, about woodworking tools which have been manufactured by Magna Engineering, Yuba Consolidated, Magna American, Shopsmith Inc., RLF Shop LLC., TFC Corporation, Delta, Rockwell, DeWalt, Grizzly, Steel City, Powermatic, Jet, Festool, Leigh, WMH Tool Group, and others.