[00:00:00] Intro: It's

[00:00:05] Eric Goranson: around the house. Hey guys,

[00:00:07] Eric Goranson: we got a jam packed show today that I can't wait to share with you. And our number one, we are going to be talking to different manufacturers about new products. Now, these are not from your biggest companies out there. These are many small entrepreneurs and people that decided to make their own products.

[00:00:24] Eric Goranson: When they see something, they wanted to make it better, which to me is completely satisfying watching somebody remake something that we've worked with for 50 years. So we've got. so many great interviews. And if you're listening on the radio, you can always find out more information about these guys over to round the house online.

[00:00:41] Eric Goranson: com and we'll have their contact information there. Now let's get back to the show. When it comes to remodeling

[00:00:47] Eric Goranson: and renovating your home, there is a lot to know that we've

[00:00:51] Intro: got you covered. This

[00:00:54] Eric Goranson: is around the house. You know, I always get excited when I see a new product that

[00:00:58] Eric Goranson: has come out [00:01:00] that reinvents the wheel of something

[00:01:02] Eric Goranson: you've all just accepted.

[00:01:03] Eric Goranson: David Cheney, inventor of the Better Paint Roller. Welcome

[00:01:07] David Chaney: to Around the House.

[00:01:08] David Chaney: Thank you, Eric. Appreciate you bringing me on board here. Uh, so look, we, we've got a product that's designed for, uh, average painters, which is probably makes up the majority of people who get stuck painting. It's not for commercial painters.

[00:01:21] David Chaney: It's not for those hardcore painters. It's just for. That mom and dad who are converting that spare bedroom into a nursery, or maybe that newlywed couple that just purchased their first fixer upper. But what makes our product unique, Eric, is the fact that it actually comes in a package that includes a main handle, an extension handle, two arms, and it also includes a half inch nap roll cover.

[00:01:44] David Chaney: What's unique is, depending on the project, I have a lot of versatility in the way that I hold or I use the roller. If I'm doing touch ups or maybe a small project, I can actually hold it like this with the main handle, basically in a [00:02:00] parallel position with the cover, and just roll it up and down. I'm not flexing my wrist, trying to apply pressure to something that is just hard to work with.

[00:02:09] David Chaney: It comes with that extension handle, which can be screwed into the base of the main handle. It creates more of that traditional feel, so if my wife prefers to paint. The old style, then she has an extension handle and can do so. That same hole fits any standard extension pole. So if I want to reach those upper walls, the ceiling, I can do that.

[00:02:30] David Chaney: But what's unique about our roller is the fact that it attaches on both sides of the cover. Now for most average painters, the number one thing that frustrates them more than anything else is when this roller right here flexes. It leaves a thin trail on this side. It'll leave a heavy trail and possibly even a line on this side.

[00:02:52] David Chaney: So you're constantly having to go back over it again. And also, this cover sometimes will actually work its way off. [00:03:00] With our roller design, the three piece design attaches on both sides, so you're not going to get that cover sliding off, and I can apply equal pressure. I'm in control of the roller, particularly if I'm painting a deck or, again, that ceiling.

[00:03:13] David Chaney: I wouldn't imagine using this painting a ceiling with a regular wireframe roller. So, we also have, we had somebody who reached out to us a while back. One of the things that he pointed out to us was, he actually bought one of ours because of the fact that our handle tends to be fatter than a traditional wireframe roller handle.

[00:03:32] David Chaney: So, he has arthritis, he has hand issues. He bought ours so that he could hold on to it and felt more comfortable in his hand. He reached out to me about a week and a half after he had purchased one. And he said, David, I just want to bring this to your attention. The way our roller stays intact is we actually have a square on the inside of the, on the side of the main handle, a square on the arm, and they interlock to prevent it from twisting as you're painting.

[00:03:59] David Chaney: What he [00:04:00] did was he actually rotated the main handle. 90 degrees causing the handle to point straight down. And the roller to go across at 1st, I thought he was joking. I'm going, well, how would that work? But when you actually pick this up, Eric. And you start rolling this against the wall, you feel nothing on your hands, your wrist, anything.

[00:04:22] David Chaney: There's no pressure whatsoever. You're not having to fight it, press it up against the wall. So for people with hand issues, it's a great solution to them if they want to stay active and continue painting. But we also have That is wonderful.

[00:04:34] Eric Goranson: I mean, that's ergonomic one on one right there, right? I mean, you're not sitting there twisting your wrist, you're not doing weird stuff, especially if you're doing a big project.

[00:04:42] David Chaney: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And again The whole thought process behind this was, it was designed by do it yourselfers, by average painters, for average painters. Again, we're not by any means reaching out to those commercial painters. We're not reaching out to even those people who know the correct way to paint.

[00:04:57] David Chaney: Our consumer, our customers are the [00:05:00] people who get stuck painting, and they just want to get it done. And our product appeals. Even something that we kind of take for granted, Eric. Clean up with a regular roller. I'm basically stuck having to take a paper towel or or a bag and I'm pulling this off of the cage inadvertently.

[00:05:16] David Chaney: I'm getting paint somewheres, particularly for me everywhere with our roller. Basically, we unscrew 1 arm, we work it free, we tilt it sideways and most covers fall off hands free. I don't even have to pull it now. I say most covers because there's. Probably about 30 percent out there based on the manufacturer.

[00:05:35] David Chaney: Each manufacturer is different. There were about 30 percent that fit a little snug. Okay. You can still put it on our caps. It fits any standard nine inch cover, but you're not going to be able to tilt it over and have it fall off. The other 60, 70%, you do what I did. It falls off hands free. I take a little Brillo pad, soap and water, scrub it.

[00:05:56] David Chaney: It's ready to go. I don't have to worry about it getting rusty. I don't have to worry about it [00:06:00] getting all bent up. It's ready for the next project. But what's neat is this handle right here is interchangeable. So I can take this main handle off and I can purchase a 4 inch kit or an 18 inch kit. The 4 inch kit is actually going to come with a roller cover and this piece right here.

[00:06:20] David Chaney: So I change out the main handle here. And I keep the extension handle and the 2 arms and now I go from a 9 inch to basically a 4 inch for those cabinets or any tight spaces that I have to get into. I can also paint without the handle on it. If it has to get even smaller, or if, like, most do it yourselfers average painters who don't like to paint.

[00:06:44] David Chaney: I wouldn't mind possibly having the opportunity to finish in half the time, so I can replace this main handle with our 18 inch handle, and I can get twice as much coverage. Again, using the same extension handle and the 2 [00:07:00] arms, just replacing the main handle here. So, it's a real versatile tool. It's something that people can again, customize it to fit the individual needs of their project.

[00:07:10] David Chaney: We're hoping one day, we actually have in the works coming out hopefully later this year or beginning of next year, we actually have an edge arm. It's gonna be very thin and it's gonna run right along your casing, your baseboards, your crown, so that you can get it done in half the time. We also have a corner unit that is structured and it's gonna, it's gonna work off of our four inch frame.

[00:07:34] David Chaney: It'll allow you to paint all four corners of the room literally in two minutes without even getting on a ladder. Now you'll have to touch up the bottoms and the tops. But the cool thing is the material of our corner roller is going to match the same finish as the rest of the room. So what I do in the corner, it's not going to be those lines that slide down, the little V tool that slides down or that foam disk that gets all saturated.

[00:07:58] David Chaney: This year is going to be made out of a [00:08:00] material very similar to what we find on a regular cover. So your finish is going to be consistent around the whole room and you're done. And really quite two minutes, two minutes. Nice.

[00:08:12] Eric Goranson: Well, I tell you what, one thing I do love about this is one, when I am trying to take that roller cover off the wire frame and I have to go find my hammer to knock it out of there.

[00:08:20] Eric Goranson: Right. You get a little paint buildup on there. Now I'm doing major surgery to get the art into. If you're doing a bathroom or someplace, it's always typically really hard to paint. You can get into a lot of tight spaces with

[00:08:34] David Chaney: all of them. Absolutely. And like I said, this one right here is actually shown with the handle on top, but I can literally take this off.

[00:08:44] David Chaney: I can rotate the nub here to the side and I can hold it. Like this in the cabinet, so I'm even getting tighter than it would be with a regular 3, 4 inch roller. So, like I said, when we created this, we really took our time here. It [00:09:00] is made, it's a plastic product that it's durable. We took our time. We really, we spent 4 or 5 months trying to find the correct combination just so that.

[00:09:09] David Chaney: We know it could withstand anything thrown at it by your average painters. And we feel like we're there and everybody who uses it absolutely loves it. Well, like you and I were talking about earlier, when we see people, we went out to a couple of little flea markets around Christmas time, just more or less.

[00:09:25] David Chaney: Show people, we know people aren't typically in the market for a paint roller

[00:09:29] Eric Goranson: and don't go anywhere around the house. We'll be right back after these important messages. We have so many more new products heading your way. We'll be right

[00:09:36] Intro: back. Welcome back to the round the house[00:10:00]

[00:10:15] Eric Goranson: show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. Today, we are talking to a bunch of different companies about brand new products. there that you probably haven't seen nor heard. So we're going to get back to the show there. If you want to find out more about us here on the radio show or podcast, head to around the house, online.

[00:10:33] Eric Goranson: com for more information there, including our phone numbers, where you can get ahold of us with any of your home improvement questions. Now let's get back to better grip paint roller. Let's figure this out on a better way to paint. We

[00:10:47] David Chaney: took our time. We really, we spent four or five months trying to find the correct combination just so that we know it could withstand anything thrown at it by your average painters.

[00:10:56] David Chaney: And we feel like we're there and everybody who used it. Absolutely [00:11:00] loves it. Well, like you and I were talking about earlier, when we see people, we went out to a couple of little flea markets around Christmas time, just to more or less show people, we know people aren't typically in the market for a paint roller in the winter down here in the South.

[00:11:14] David Chaney: But what, what we were trying to do was more or less just kind of get the word out there, show it to people. And I wish I could have filmed their natural responses, because I can assure Everybody who looks at it, they're just like, oh, my gosh, where was this that I just painted in my house the other day? I understand completely about that frame flexing.

[00:11:33] David Chaney: So frustrating. And so where there's a need, um, we, we feel like we've filled that, um, again, for average painters. We really kind of thought of everything, and it's a great product. I've used it myself. I actually painted my mother in law's house with it. I used actually a nine inch just about a month ago to paint her ceiling.

[00:11:54] David Chaney: And again, if I used a regular wireframe roller, I would have been so frustrated. In fact, uh, [00:12:00] to be honest with you, the way I came up with the idea, uh, is I was a teacher. I was actually a teacher for 25 years. I taught PE, I coached. When it hit, it shut things down. We had to move virtually. Well, as a teacher, I didn't have a whole lot of interaction with our students throughout the week.

[00:12:17] David Chaney: We create a lesson plan at the beginning of the week. We send it out to them and then they were on their own to take care of it. And, um. It basically gave me extra time that my wife chose to give me Debbie dues, and one of them was to paint the little deck in the backyard. So I went to the store and it was probably this one right here.

[00:12:36] David Chaney: I bought this frame. I go and I get an extension pole and I'm out there just rolling back and forth. The cover's sliding off. There's a light trail on one side, heavy on the other side. I was getting frustrated. I eventually took it off of the extension pole, got on my hands and knees, and I finished the entire deck.

[00:12:54] David Chaney: By hand, like this. Well, when I was done, I'm thinking there's gotta be a better way. [00:13:00] So I ran to the store. I bought two, three inch wire frame rollers. I bent the frame. I got a closet rod, drilled holes. I even made the little hole on the top so I could screw in an extension bolt. Next morning I wake up, I'm like a kid on Christmas morning.

[00:13:14] David Chaney: I jump up, I run to the room, I grab it. And I'm just like. I'm rolling it up and down the wall. I've called my wife over Debbie and I said, Debbie, come check this out. She walks over and she goes, Oh, that's neat. I said, neat. I said, come here. I put it in her hand and I'm having to roll it up and down. She goes, you know what?

[00:13:31] David Chaney: This does feel better than a regular wireframe ruler. And then that's when we kind of realized that we might be onto something. So we, we shared it with friends and family. And of course they're telling me, man, this is cool. I'm not paying with one of these other ones ever again, but. Because we knew them because they were related or they were close friends to us.

[00:13:51] David Chaney: I figured they just didn't want to hurt my feelings, but now we're starting to get feedback from people that we don't know. We're getting orders from around the United [00:14:00] States. We actually had somebody who purchased one on our website back on December 7th. By January 12th, she turned around and ordered two more, which tells me that she used it, she loved it.

[00:14:11] David Chaney: She bought them for her friends or whoever. So it's a product, once again, that, that takes. That eliminates a lot of the frustration. It eliminates a lot of the time, the fatigue again. We're not saying to hold it 1 way or another, but it gives you the versatility to figure out what works best for you, depending on the project you have.

[00:14:30] David Chaney: And you can't get that. The 40 paint roller. So you got it.

[00:14:36] Eric Goranson: Yeah, you got it. So I'm gonna ask you, David, where's the best place for people to find 'em? Because I know people are going, our viewers out there going, I gotta get me one of these.

[00:14:43] David Chaney: How do we do that? Absolutely. Easiest way of course is our website.

[00:14:46] David Chaney: It's Better Grip Paint Roller. So www.bettergrippaintroller.com. And they can order one on there. We are offering a special, you sign up for our newsletter, which is basically letting you know when new products come in, we're not going to bombard you with [00:15:00] emails, but you sign up for our newsletter, we'll provide free shipping.

[00:15:03] David Chaney: We want to get this out there for you because we know once you use it, you're going to go ahead and share that with other people are also in a select base and true value source. So, so, depending on where you're at now, we do have a page on our website. Where you can actually go on there and find a retailer.

[00:15:21] David Chaney: There's a locator page where you type in your zip code. And it's going to let you where you can pick 1 up today, because like we told our retailers, like we've been telling our retailers, we understand that when people need a paint roller, they usually need to go into the store today, pick 1 up because they're painting this afternoon.

[00:15:39] David Chaney: Uh, they don't generally think ahead to where they're going to order 1, even if they can get it in a couple of days. So we know the value that retailers provide. So we're trying to help them out by driving traffic to their stores. But if you go on our website, just type in your zip code, your city, it's going to give you all of these stores that are carrying us right now.

[00:15:58] David Chaney: And you can drive over there, pull one [00:16:00] off the shelf and get busy and you'll love it.

[00:16:02] Eric Goranson: Awesome, David. Thanks for coming on today, man. I appreciate your innovation. I love what you're doing.

[00:16:08] David Chaney: Excited to see what's next. Thank you, Eric. Appreciate it. Thanks for coming

[00:16:11] Eric Goranson: on today, brother. Thank you, man. Have a good one.

[00:16:13] Eric Goranson: All right. That is an amazing innovation. Now coming up next here, this is a fun one. And you know, one of the biggest problems you have with using a generator outside is that it's in the weather. It's getting a rain, especially if you have a modern one with all the computer technology, you want to kind of keep the weather off of it, especially when you're in a power outage.

[00:16:32] Eric Goranson: We're We're during a storm and you don't want to have to put it under a carport or something like that and get carbon monoxide back into your house. So we're going to go out here to our friends at Jen tent and talk to them about a better way to keep your generator running good and safe. Brian from Jen tent.

[00:16:50] Eric Goranson: Welcome to around the house, my friend. Awesome, Eric, thanks for having me appreciate it. And I love what you guys are doing out there because you have created such a great [00:17:00] solution for people that are trying to not get their generator ruined or cause some other damage. When they're just trying to keep power on during a storm.

[00:17:08] Brian Thomas: Yeah, absolutely.

[00:17:08] Brian Ubel: And that's how this

[00:17:09] Brian Thomas: product was brought to market. Originally, the inventor here, Mark. Moved out from the West Coast over here to New England and experienced an ice storm that was way without power for a week and very quickly realized he can't run his generator outside. Obviously can't run it close to the home because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning or or a fire risk also.

[00:17:30] Brian Thomas: And that's 1 of the areas that I think. Was pretty genius and how he brought the product forward is everything is rated for really extreme temperatures, extreme weather events, but also overall with safety in mind. So everything is tecton for not only the generator, like you said, but also. To keep it out away from your home and keep your family

[00:17:49] Eric Goranson: safe.

[00:17:50] Eric Goranson: Yeah, that is 1 of the big things. I know some people go, oh, I just slide it under my carport. That carport's usually connected to the house. And when it is, you're just given an open invitation or that stuff to sneak back in and [00:18:00] that. Can be a serious health hazard or worse. Yeah, fortunately,

[00:18:04] Christian Reed: it's

[00:18:04] Brian Thomas: 1 of those kind of unknown risks that a lot of people face.

[00:18:07] Brian Thomas: It's that coin flip decision where carbon monoxide, you can't see it. You can't smell it. And they're more likely to take that sort of risk and running it close to their home as opposed. They know what electrocution looks like. They know what fire hazard looks like.

[00:18:21] Eric Goranson: So. All right. When we come back, we've got much more with Jen tent here, as well as so many more new products around the house.

[00:18:27] Eric Goranson: We'll be right back after these important messages. Don't go anywhere.

[00:18:54] Intro: After[00:19:00]

[00:19:10] Eric Goranson: the round the house show, this is where we hope you get the most at your home through information and education. Thanks for joining me today. We've been talking about all these different products from all these different manufacturers, new stuff that could be really cool for your home that you might not have seen before we were earlier talking.

[00:19:25] Eric Goranson: With a better grip paintbrush roller. And now we've been talking with Jen tent, that tent for your generator to keep it. So it can work in any weather condition. If you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house online. com or give us a call at 8 3 3 2 3 9 41 44. That's toll free 4 1 4 4.

[00:19:47] Eric Goranson: I'm there to help. Now let's get back to the program.

[00:19:51] Brian Thomas: carbon monoxide. You can't see it. You can't smell it. And they're more likely to take that sort of risk and running it close to their home as opposed to they know what electrocution [00:20:00] looks like. They know what fire hazard looks like. So if I run it in with in the garage with the door open, then that's a risk that Isn't really understood all that well, um, but the latest guidelines both from fire officials as well as consumer product safety commission is to try to keep it 20 feet away

[00:20:16] Eric Goranson: from your home, which is smart.

[00:20:17] Eric Goranson: I've got a really sealed up garage. It meets all the current fire code standards. If I use a spray can out in the garage in the winter time with the garage door closed, I'm smelling in the house in under 10 minutes. So that tells you that is not some super sealed up location. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:20:32] Brian Thomas: And again, with carbon monoxide.

[00:20:34] Brian Thomas: It spreads and it can spread pretty quickly. Um, it's about the same way as, as regular oxygen. So it's really hard to pin down outside of protecting the generator. One of the things we always encourage to customers is to ensure that you have updated, uh, carbon monoxide detectors and that you're checking those things

[00:20:52] Brian Ubel: as

[00:20:52] Eric Goranson: well.

[00:20:53] Eric Goranson: Nice. So how does your, uh, gen tent work? Uh, how does this whole thing go together?

[00:20:57] Brian Thomas: Yeah, so there's 2 different mounting methods. [00:21:00] Essentially, we have the open frame model that connects directly to the portable generators that have the big open legs on it uses a self attaching clamping system and we build out the frame from there.

[00:21:11] Brian Thomas: And then we also have a fully encased inverter model that uses a pressure based system fully grips around the inverter generators that are fully encased and creates a system that we can build out from there and. Creating a top down, but an umbrella watershed effect on top of it. It's important that it's sloped so that water and snow build up can fall away.

[00:21:32] Brian Thomas: But these guys, like I said, are rated for up to an 18 inch snow load, 70 mile an hour forecast winds 12 inch terrain and our someone out to yet. Hopefully you can check things out. One of the cool features, too, is once it's on there, it's very easy to take on and take off. One of my favorite features

[00:21:49] Eric Goranson: is we have

[00:21:50] Brian Thomas: a refuel bar right there, so you can just pop it open and get easy access to refuel without risking any sort of water or [00:22:00] damage to the

[00:22:00] Christian Reed: electric panel as well.

[00:22:01] Eric Goranson: Man, that is well thought out because when your days without power refueling is a big part of your daily plan because the last thing you want to do is run that thing out of gas and then have to go back and get it started back up again. And quite frankly, I hope that you get it started back up again.

[00:22:15] Eric Goranson: And again, that kind

[00:22:16] Brian Thomas: of hits on an important point of doing your generator maintenance, but 1 of the neat things with the gen 10 solution is it enables all of the protective elements, but still keeps it open and available for any sort of

[00:22:30] Eric Goranson: maintenance needs. That's great. And you guys had to do a lot of research and development thing to make that go together because.

[00:22:37] Eric Goranson: These things still have to breathe air as well. It's not like you can just encase the thing. And most of these, if not all of them are air cooled machines. And so there's got to be some kind of airflow and mixed with protection.

[00:22:48] Brian Thomas: Yeah, so that's a great point. There is a lot of intelligence in the engineering of the product.

[00:22:54] Brian Thomas: It is that top down watershed effect, but we only cover the electric panel side [00:23:00] and leave the other 3 sides open while it's running. So, it maintains that cooling profile that's set forth by the generator manufacturers. Most of these generators are running hundreds of degrees hot when the rain's coming and it's running.

[00:23:12] Brian Thomas: It's going to dissipate any sort of moisture on the engine or the exhaust, but you want to keep the intake open the events, any of the exhaust obviously, but you want to keep that generator running at its optimal performance. Not only for the generator performs. It maintains a level of safety, but also so it performs the highest output for your home and gives

[00:23:34] Eric Goranson: you the most amount of power.

[00:23:35] Eric Goranson: Nice. And then these fit most generators, right? You guys have come up with a lot of different solutions for many of the models that are on the market today. Yeah, great, great

[00:23:44] Brian Thomas: point. There are 3 different subsets of Gen 10. Like I said, we have the inverter models for fully encased inverter. We have the loop and frame models, but we also have an extra large kit.

[00:23:54] Brian Thomas: We have fit just over 3, 000 different generators now. And with that, it's, yeah, it's [00:24:00] more of a secret sauce in the engineering mounting solutions that we can adapt to so many different frame types. We also manufactured for a couple of the generator manufacturers in Champion Power Equipment in Westinghouse.

[00:24:11] Brian Thomas: And we're going to get a couple more into the mix

[00:24:13] Eric Goranson: here. And that is great. So if somebody wants to get one, how do they find you?

[00:24:17] Brian Thomas: Yeah, so super easy. Just Gen10, G E N T E N T dot com. We also sell on

[00:24:23] Christian Reed: Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe's, Power

[00:24:25] Brian Thomas: Equipment Direct, a variety of different online retailers and some local retailers as well.

[00:24:32] Brian Thomas: And then it's super easy. You give us a call too. We have a full phone staff. You can call and pick up the phone and talk to somebody if you need any help with setup or. Technical questions or anything like

[00:24:42] Eric Goranson: that. We're an open book. All right, man. Thanks for coming on today. I really appreciate it. This is a great solution for a big problem with people with generators.

[00:24:50] Eric Goranson: I appreciate

[00:24:51] Brian Thomas: the time. Thanks for having me, Eric.

[00:24:53] Eric Goranson: All right. Now let's run out to my favorite new tape measure. And I'm not kidding. They sent me one of these [00:25:00] things and it is so easy to use. Let's talk with Recon tools. This is some neat new technology for your workshop. And Recon Tools is just another one of those companies that is changing the world of home improvement and construction.

[00:25:14] Eric Goranson: Christian, welcome to Around the House. Appreciate it, Eric. Thanks for having me. Man, you guys are taking over the internet with your new T1 digital tape measure, and that is a game changer for people out there taking on projects. Absolutely,

[00:25:28] Christian Reed: Eric, I think when you address something as fundamental as a tape measure, everyone has their preconceived notions about it.

[00:25:34] Christian Reed: So to make something that is both functional to professionals who are using it every day and not a gimmick that belongs in sharper image or SkyMall. It's pretty remarkable what we come out with and certainly a fun tool to use on the job site.

[00:25:47] Eric Goranson: It is amazing what you guys have done with this. And we've all had the tape measure in our hands, but you have fixed so many problems with new tech that looks seamless to

[00:25:56] Christian Reed: me.

[00:25:57] Christian Reed: Yeah, I think that was part of the challenge. And I think the [00:26:00] uniqueness and hopefully some of this comes out on the bottom with it, but the hardest part of making digital tape measures, how do you make it accurate that if you're. Flying through measurements, nothing is worse than wasting a 50 piece of ASIC or a very expensive piece of finished molding with it.

[00:26:13] Christian Reed: So I think one of the big challenges on this was A, how to make it accurate and B, how do you make sure it's durable enough so that if I drop it on the job site, I'm not concerned that it breaks with it. So certainly led to quite the engineering challenge and very happy with where we came out at the end of the day with the T1 here.

[00:26:28] Eric Goranson: It's interesting because I've always used a laser digital tape measure for bigger projects. I've used my regular tape measure, but you guys really figured out a solution from what I can see. So, really be able to use that as both and be able to get that accuracy because. Either one that I'm using when I'm using it.

[00:26:45] Eric Goranson: I'm like, I don't really know that I got the measurement exactly correct.

[00:26:50] Christian Reed: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's the very philosophical form of the digital tape measure is not including the markings on it because it's already digitally displaying it. But I think we put the markings on it a, because [00:27:00] sometimes it's still is quicker for.

[00:27:02] Christian Reed: Going to a particular measurement to use my eyes and the digital display, but B, it really gives you the confidence that if I see a measurement on the screen, I'm like, this is actually 19 inches. All I need to do is look down at the bottom and see that I'm exactly at the 19 inch mark with it. So certainly building up that trust is a big component of leveraging a digital tape measure before you could reap all the benefits of having the measurements digitally displayed on the side, not to keep paper display as well as shared over Bluetooth to anyone else in the job site, which is more of the.

[00:27:28] Christian Reed: Hidden application of a digital tape measure is that I'm up on a roof taking measurements. I have my guy in the cops on the other side of the job sites, and he's following along versus me having to shout them all one at a time and generally messing up at least one of them in the process of completing a set of cups.

[00:27:42] Christian Reed: Let's

[00:27:43] Eric Goranson: talk about that, because that is one of the biggest things I think about this. It's almost missed by people that just see it real quick is how that can change how you take those measurements down, because myself as a kitchen designer, I would go around, take measurements and I would. I'd get measurements and I'd be writing them down and I'd be sketching them out on a piece of [00:28:00] paper and I'd get back to the office and go, what was that dimension again, just because I didn't have a good record of it, or I just wasn't writing it down correctly.

[00:28:10] Eric Goranson: This way is a foolproof method for taking on that project.

[00:28:14] Christian Reed: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's a big value of a digital tape measure that a lot of people get worked up of just displaying the measurement is a very small portion of the overall tape measure, which again may benefit someone who's not as familiar with the markings.

[00:28:25] Christian Reed: And of course, English with 30 seconds or 64th of an inch doesn't make the process easy with it. But the real value added, at least from our perspective and the customers who use it is having the measurements all saved. So the side of the T1 has an e paper display on it where Any measurement I see on the top screen, I hit the save button and it's automatically populated onto the ePaper display.

[00:28:45] Christian Reed: So don't go

[00:28:45] Eric Goranson: anywhere around the house. I'll be right back[00:29:00]

[00:29:03] Intro: to the

[00:29:03] Eric Goranson: around the house show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. I'm Eric G. Thanks for joining us today. If you're just tuning in. This is where we talk about home improvement every single weekend. So thanks for joining us. We've been talking about some of my new favorite small tool companies out there.

[00:29:21] Eric Goranson: Companies, well, could be not only tools, could be anything around the house. And so we've been featuring a bunch of different companies today. This is not paid programming right here. This is stuff that I found out there that, uh, I really enjoy. And these are some of some. Just fun products out there that I think could be great around your house.

[00:29:39] Eric Goranson: Now, if you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house online or give us a call at 833 239 4144. That number again is 833 239 4144. And if you want to find out any of these products, when you're over at the around the house online, just go to the ATH podcast. And if you look at that on your [00:30:00] podcast player, if you're listening on the radio.

[00:30:02] Eric Goranson: It will have all the different companies and their websites in that. So you'll be able to find it right there. So now let's head over to around the house, online. com for more information. Now let's get back

[00:30:11] Christian Reed: to talking tools. ePaper is a technology really popularized by Amazon Kindle and has super high contrast.

[00:30:18] Christian Reed: It needs no power to stay on. So if I pop out the battery and take it out with it, the ePaper display still retains all the measurements. So a really cool feature of this technology not used a ton. Consumer electronics and the 2nd, 1 is sending them all to your phone. So the phone has all these secondary abilities to taking a photo, dumping measurements, annotating over a photo, a PDF markup, organizing them by group.

[00:30:40] Christian Reed: So you have a lot of scaling capability, depending on your workload. Construction is very diverse. People have different needs with it. So rather than. Force people to use a clunky process. If it doesn't work for them, we try to make a very flexible ecosystem and then professionals choose how they want to use it to adapt to their workflow and make sure that it's actually delivering that value at an error reduction or

[00:30:58] Eric Goranson: speed increases.

[00:30:59] Eric Goranson: The [00:31:00] other thing I love too, is that side green laser on this when you're measuring, because so many times when you're measuring a little bit back away from something, and maybe you're measuring up to a post or a window, but you've got some kind of obstacle you're working around. And that side laser doesn't have me trying to do the guess, right?

[00:31:17] Eric Goranson: I'm like, I think that's about it. And you're only within a quarter of an inch versus something much more accurate.

[00:31:23] Christian Reed: Yeah, absolutely. I think the laser really cool because with the digital tape measure, I'm always either measuring from the front or the back reference surface, the laser, as you said, gives you a lot of ease of access to adjacent surfaces with it.

[00:31:35] Christian Reed: Sometimes I'm hooking on something, but it's not on the same plane that I'm trying to. Go on to with it, and there are extreme cases of using like a plumb bob to try to drop the level from 1 plane with it, where the laser, because it maintains its format distances up to 2030 feet with it is great for pulling on adjacent surfaces and a super high visibility with that was added bonus.

[00:31:56] Christian Reed: Once we started out with the concept of a tape measure, we realized that really. Being able to [00:32:00] extend this physical surface here, whereas measuring from with the laser was a huge value add and finding all sorts of creative applications of how people are using it and the cool surfaces and things people are picking up that otherwise would be a very clunky process with the traditional tape measure.

[00:32:14] Eric Goranson: And that is great. And Christian, you guys are not just tape measure people. You build a lot of other stuff for the shop as well.

[00:32:20] Christian Reed: Yeah, absolutely, Eric. So I think our philosophy on building products is really creating an ecosystem of digital tools that now you have all this measurements digitally. We have printers to print out labels for materials issues on the job sites as well as the M1 caliber, which is actually our first product and very straightforward how the M1 works with it that normally if I'm using a miter saw, a cut saw, wide variety of items here with it, I'd have to stop each time to make a cut with it.

[00:32:45] Christian Reed: So I'd make my cut, I'd stop, I'd throw out my tape measure, draw my second line with my square or whatever with it. With the M1, it's a much more streamlined process where all I do is touch off on the edge of the saw blade. I'll zero it out and it'll account for the blade curve because that's what's going to get blown out [00:33:00] of sawdust.

[00:33:00] Christian Reed: And very simple to go to my measurement. I just slide the material to my location. Make the cuts. And now for my second cut, rather than having to stop to use my tape measure, I zero out the M1, slide it, and then continue on with it. So you see the M1, really great when you're making repeat cuts. Maybe you don't have the space for a hard stop system and just really speed things up from having to pause each time to make a tape measure and it automatically counts for the blade curve with it.

[00:33:22] Christian Reed: So really great for continual cutting on a single piece of material and is very straightforward and compact too, right? It clamps onto any miter saw fin, so it's really. Convenient way, we find a lot of professionals who are making a lot of these repeat cuts, whether on miter saws, we see people use them on seamless gutter machines.

[00:33:38] Christian Reed: Anytime I'm measuring things in a straight line with it, the M1 works exactly as expected. It has a wheel on it, the wheel converts the rotary measurements to linear measurements, and you have them displayed on a large backlit display with it. So we found a lot of really great use cases for that and really set the precedent for what do digital tools mean on the entire job site versus just one

[00:33:55] Eric Goranson: section of it.

[00:33:56] Eric Goranson: And that is impressive because I don't know about you, but building [00:34:00] a deck, there's so many times your measure mark, set the pencil and the tape measure down cut and you're. Taking so much time, just picking a tape measure up, doing that, set it down, put it down, and then where to put it. Oh, it's behind me.

[00:34:13] Eric Goranson: Now, if you're not consistent on how you do that, it gets to be a slow process. This takes all that well, and potential error out as well.

[00:34:22] Christian Reed: Yeah, I think we, the point you highlighted, I think is a big one of just leaving your tape measure that a lot of times your saw is in a much different location than your tape measuring the number of times you walk over the saw with the three measurements, barely remembered in your head.

[00:34:34] Christian Reed: And you're scrambling around. For your tape measure and realize you left it on top of the ladder or under the deck, wherever with it. So I think that's a huge use case of that. This is always anchored to the saw. So you never need to worry about where your tape measure is. It's always connected to the saw with it and just reducing again, the general pain points of construction or those little details that add up to big problems.

[00:34:54] Christian Reed: When you cut something 48 and a half inches, when it's really 49 and a half inches, I think these problems really address those [00:35:00] little pain points that cause a cost overruns or the frustration at the end of a long day that you've cut a piece. Too short or too long and have to go back and redo it again, or potentially use a new piece of material

[00:35:09] Eric Goranson: for it.

[00:35:10] Eric Goranson: No question. No question. So the big question, how do people find this stuff if they need to add this to their tools?

[00:35:15] Christian Reed: Yeah, absolutely. So the T1 Tomahawk, we just started selling on our website, recon. tools. And the M1 has been around for about a year and a half now. You can find it at Home Depot, Lowe's, Acme tools, and across the internet.

[00:35:26] Christian Reed: I think Recon has a very big social presence. So. Any search on any platform with recon will very quickly direct you to application videos to see how our products are used as well as certainly where to purchase and try them out. These are new products. All of our storefronts come with 30 day guarantees with it.

[00:35:42] Christian Reed: So we certainly encourage customers. If you're on the edge, try it, feed it up. If it meets your expectations, great. If not, send it back and be more than happy to accept it with it. Just to really promote this new concept of digital construction and error reduction on the job site. Christian

[00:35:55] Eric Goranson: Reed. Thanks for coming on today.

[00:35:56] Eric Goranson: This is some amazing stuff. Cool. Thank you, Eric. Appreciate you [00:36:00] having me. Now let's go talk to Brian from WeHa Tools about tools you should have known about. If you don't know this brand, now you do. Today

[00:36:09] Brian Ubel: we're talking about a brand new kit that is coming out to the market. It's available for pre order now.

[00:36:14] Brian Ubel: It's going to start shipping next month. It's a 194 piece, kind of all inclusive, premium WeHa tool kit. So we can go over that with you today.

[00:36:25] Eric Goranson: Where did you guys come from?

[00:36:27] Brian Ubel: Sure. So we have tools is a family owned German company, so you have German right there that tells you super high quality in terms of where it's available.

[00:36:37] Brian Ubel: You kind of touched on that. Uh, Fastenal, Granger, MSC, Acme Tools, Northern Tools here in Minnesota, our website, WeHotTools. com, Amazon. So we're

[00:36:48] Eric Goranson: out there. Absolutely. It is a definitely a well made tool and as you and I were talking before, uh, I've seen your stuff many places around in manufacturing. So [00:37:00] that says something right there that, uh, if people can be using it every day.

[00:37:04] Eric Goranson: You might want to think about looking at

[00:37:05] David Chaney: these. Yeah. Thanks for that. Yes.

[00:37:08] Eric Goranson: So this toolkit I thought was absolutely brilliant because especially for me when I've had to travel with tools and stuff. Boy, I tell you what, having a kit like that is pretty amazing. Yeah.

[00:37:21] Brian Ubel: So what the concept for this kit was, and we'll go over it with you here.

[00:37:25] Brian Ubel: Um, we're big in aviation and motorsport. So aviation guys, you know, they love the. Very focused, self contained kits and travel ready cases. Um, and that was kind of the inspiration. Also, what we have is, we have this kit here, which we're very, very successful with. This is a similar design, but this is all of our, all of our high voltage insulated tools.

[00:37:51] Brian Ubel: So this was kind of the original concept And, uh, kind of just repurposing it for the non insulated user, the on the go [00:38:00] user, somebody that could at any chance need a little bit of everything.

[00:38:05] Eric Goranson: You know, and that's what I love is that there is a little bit of everything in here. I was looking through it and, uh, man, you have that thing jam packed full of usefulness because, uh, you can tackle a lot of different projects with what's in this fairly compact kit.

[00:38:22] Brian Ubel: Yeah. So the kind of go over it with you a little bit here. So on the bottom, um, and this one has to be on the bottom because it has the cutouts for the wheels. There are high quality wheels on this, uh, three eights, uh, socket set deep and normal, three ratchet extensions, ratchet, um, and SA and metric on both of those, and then you've got the wrench size as well.

[00:38:45] Brian Ubel: So that's going to be your basic mechanic type work. Um, so then you go to second level here. Um, this is kind of what we're known for. We have flyers and screwdrivers. This is, this is bread and butter here. So we've got [00:39:00] all of our greatest hits. Essentially, we've got our new adjustable wrench. Um, and then we also have this, I'm sure you've seen this one around.

[00:39:09] Brian Ubel: This is our auto adjustment pliers. So slides to whatever size you need. Slide it out. So we got through that in there for everybody. We got our 1 handed adjustable, uh, water pump pliers as well. Flush cuts, uh, wire cutters and we got it all in there. All the best stuff. We did not cut any corners on. You know, trying to meet a cost point.

[00:39:35] Brian Ubel: We wanted to provide the very best of what we

[00:39:38] Eric Goranson: offer. Yeah. And the hits just keep on coming. I mean, I was shocked at how many levels of stuff that you've got packed in there. Uh, just from the, the socket set, which is super complete because, you know, many kits out there, they'll give you kind of what you need.

[00:39:53] Eric Goranson: Maybe it's one size of standard depth and maybe you want extension, but man, you guys have it all jam packed [00:40:00] in there, which means you can tackle any project. Just with a kit.

[00:40:03] David Chaney: Yep,

[00:40:03] Brian Ubel: and then, so moving on, there's even more. So we've got another layer, there's four layers in total, this would be layer three. Uh, you can see, again, no cuffing corners, we give you SAE, sorry, SAE, metric, and torques, L keys here.

[00:40:19] Brian Ubel: And then, uh, all of our screwdrivers, sorry, the, uh, the left hand is really pissing me off, we can go back. Exactly, it's

[00:40:26] Eric Goranson: okay.

[00:40:29] Eric Goranson: So that's, I mean, let's just start that part over again right here, Brian, we'll just do it from the beginning. So, let's talk about that third level.

[00:40:36] Brian Ubel: So third level, so you can see no cutting corners

[00:40:39] David Chaney: here. I'll say it again. I'm looking at, yeah,

[00:40:43] Eric Goranson: sorry. Exactly. It's all good. You must want to record these, man.

[00:40:46] Eric Goranson: It's all good.

[00:40:48] David Chaney: You just don't

[00:40:49] Brian Ubel: use your hands, right? That's how you get used

[00:40:50] Eric Goranson: to them. Yeah, that's the hard part, right? Alright, so let's talk about that third level.

[00:40:57] Brian Ubel: So third level. You can see over here, we've got all [00:41:00] of the L keys that we offer. Metric, SAE, and Torx. Um, and then on this side, all of our greatest screwdrivers, uh, you know, it's going to be a seven piece set.

[00:41:10] Brian Ubel: We also throw in, um, I don't know if you've seen this one, the extra extra heavy duty, so it's got a pounding cap on top of the steel shank does go all the way through, uh, wrench, wrench bolsters on the shank as well. So, um, definitely, you know, there's nothing you aren't going to be able to tackle with that kit and then the last layer.

[00:41:34] Brian Ubel: So. Layer 4 of the 4 piece, uh, so we got our industry leading color coded nut setters, or nut drivers as, you know, some people refer to it as, a claw hammer level tape measure, and then we include also, uh, two box sets, um, So kind of zoom in a little bit there. So we've got just quarter inch impact [00:42:00] rated, uh, bits with a ratchet handle.

[00:42:04] Brian Ubel: And then we've also got, uh, precision. So very small holder, uh, four millimeter bits. This is going to be working on your RC cars, your eyeglasses. Um, you know, all that, you know, really find a remote type applications. So all of this packs into

[00:42:27] David Chaney: this case we have here.

[00:42:29] Brian Ubel: So, wow. Automatic decompression. Like you said, you've been, uh, seeing some difficulties in traveling with tools.

[00:42:37] Brian Ubel: So you put this on a flight, it has an auto decompression valve. So nothing's going to swell up or, um, distort the case as it's flying. Everything in here packed away is just under 50 pounds as well. So you're not going to get, uh, not going to get hit with that heavy bag fee.

[00:42:55] Eric Goranson: That's always been my biggest problem is trying to get through that bag fee because, uh, you know, [00:43:00] it, uh, 50 pounds of tools racks up pretty quickly, especially when they're fairly high quality.

[00:43:05] Brian Ubel: Yeah, yes, it does. So I, uh, to carry it on that one.

[00:43:08] Eric Goranson: I appreciate it. That is going to be great for people out there. So again, uh, Brian, where do people find this stuff if they're out looking for this?

[00:43:16] Brian Ubel: So again, uh, Fastenal, Granger, MSC, uh, those big main industrial

[00:43:20] David Chaney: suppliers can

[00:43:21] Brian Ubel: get it for you. Acme tools and Gnarling tool here in Minnesota have, uh, WehaTools.

[00:43:26] Brian Ubel: com, great place to order it up as well if, uh, none of those resources are available to you.

[00:43:32] Eric Goranson: All right, Brian. Thanks for coming on today. This is some great stuff and thanks for sharing it with the audience. Thank you, Eric.

[00:43:38] David Chaney: Good chatting with you. Thanks for

[00:43:40] Eric Goranson: tuning in to Around the House. We'll see you in

[00:43:42] Intro: the next episode.