Pipe Cutter

Can you help me find this tool? It has no number on it. I used to use it on 1/2-inch polypropylene and schedule 40 pipe. It cuts pipe very easily.

-- Garry Shirts

I am looking for this tool and can't find it anywhere. JC Whitney no longer seems to carry it. It was called an Instant Fan Belt Tensioner. I spotted it here.

It’s used to force two pulleys on the face of an engine apart to tighten the belt around them. Modern engines have tightener devices built in. Older engines don't. Marine engines like mine (and the gent's on the link above) don't. Yes you can use a long screwdriver to lever it out but it is a two-handed job that ends in skinned knuckles, cursing and bent screwdrivers.

Having a reputation as a note-taker, I was given by a co-worker two notebooks made by a Canadian company, Think In Ink, Inc. The 100 substantial pages are 3.5" x 5.5", and alternate between blank and lined (genius!). It's bound with a doubled plastic spiral that allows you to remove pages without ripping, and fits a standard ballpoint pen. There's also a plastic sleeve at the back to store loose bits and papers, and a laminated/plasticky cover that can withstand years of sweaty palmed abuse, or being carried in a back pocket. I brought the second notebook with me to Europe this year, and carried it everywhere. I started to get worried as it filled up. Despite Europe's plentiful stationery offerings, there didn't seem to be a replacement that had all -- or even some -- of the Think In Ink's admirable features.

Efforts to contact the company since I've returned have been fruitless -- the website (pocketthinkinink.com) has expired, and the only phone listing I can find for them goes unanswered. Since the business seems to be shuttered, I'm wondering if Cool Tools' readers could recommend a replacement?

-- Erin

[Follow-up entry here]

I have a number of jobs to do on the roof of my house. In my younger years I had no trouble working high, and even spent time caving and some rock climbing. However when I hit sixty my comfort level working high vanished, and now I am quite insecure over a few feet above ground. Roofing was not one of my many earlier stints, so I really do not know where to begin in setting up a securing system for working safely at height. Surely there must be some easy-to-use "cool tool" for people working high. If anyone can help me with a recommendation on this, I would appreciate it.

-- Mike Saunders