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Drillchat: My el-standardo craftsman corded drill along with the rockwell clutch-activated power screwdriver:  My craftsman drill with my 1/2" chuck Van Dorn Big Drill:  My craftsman drill with my 5/8" chuck Van Dorn Really Big Drill:  Craftsman and Really Big Drill side by side:  Really Big Drill faceplate:  5/8" chuck 6 amp 450 rpm I used the Big Drill to drive a 1/2" lag screw 5" long through one 2x4 and into the end of another. Didn't bat an eye. I haven't needed the Really Big Drill yet, but I plan on owning a house some day and I figure something to mix concrete with might be nice. I bought the two older larger drills at the same time as I bought a 5 foot long by 3/4 inch drill bit. Haven't had a need for that yet either. By the way, can anyone offer any lubrication advice for my two Van Dorn Drills? They both run fine, but their gears sound a little dry. I'd love to lubricate them and I figure they're old enough that there is probably a way to do that. I don't see any external fittings, is my best bet just to open them up and see from there? Uncle Enzo fucked around with this message at 03:13 on Mar 7, 2014 |
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Mar 7, 2014 03:01
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Skimmed the OP and the last few pages, so sorry if I missed it, but does anybody have a good lawn mower recommendation? I am looking for a gas push mower with power wheels, price isn't a huge deal, but I would like to stay under $500.
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Mar 10, 2014 00:05
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bengy81 posted:Skimmed the OP and the last few pages, so sorry if I missed it, but does anybody have a good lawn mower recommendation? I am looking for a gas push mower with power wheels, price isn't a huge deal, but I would like to stay under $500. I'm a big fan of Honda motor plus whatever brand/configuration is the best deal. I have a Husqvarna self propelled, it was $329 IIRC...Honda GCV160 engine. I've had it for one season but it's been great. The motor is extremely popular model, my parents have had a mower with it for at least 5 years
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Mar 10, 2014 02:47
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I had a refurbed cub cadet I got at Lowe's 6 years ago for <$300. I used it four four years and had ZERO problems the entire time. Always started like a champ, the drive was solid, and it cut well even when I went on vacation for two weeks after ignoring my lawn for two weeks before that. This was in Iowa, so deep in the heart of "things grow well here." Worked equally well with either the bagger or the discharge chute on. Even after letting it sit all winter without putting any stabilizer in or anything, it started right back up after just a couple pulls. Only reason I sold it was because I was moving a couple states over, and into a house that necessitated a riding mower. And even then, I sold it to my neighbor, because he was tired of his mower being a piece of poo poo and was all jelly about mine. Unfortunately, I don't recall the model.
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Mar 10, 2014 02:52
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ntd posted:I'm a big fan of Honda motor plus whatever brand/configuration is the best deal. I have a Husqvarna self propelled, it was $329 IIRC...Honda GCV160 engine. I've had it for one season but it's been great. The motor is extremely popular model, my parents have had a mower with it for at least 5 years I was pretty much thinking the same thing as far as motors go. Definitely not getting another Briggs and Stratton piece of poo poo. ALl the local places have Husqvarna mowers with Kohler engines in them. Never heard of any feedback, positive or negative on them.
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Mar 10, 2014 04:17
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So I'm finally considering picking up some of my first tools (I know, I know, a man that doesn't know much about tools, I am ashamed but eager to learn) and went strolling about our local Wal-mart and Lowes as Homestead was closed today in town. Sadly as a small town we don't have much for any kind of 'specialized' tool stores besides the retail giants. Long story short, I had my eyes set on this: http://www.lowes.com/pd_493425-34252-BDCDMT120_0__?Ntt=matrix+drill&UserSearch=matrix+drill&productId=50031460&rpp=32 From the looks of it, it seems useful - drill base that you can swap out to be other tools, but I figured I'd ask online from more knowledgeable sources before I invest any kind of money into this. For all intents and purposes my tool box pretty much is a hammer and a set of screw drivers (Phillips and flat-head), and I'm going to be doing general home work/wood work with these tools. Would that tool system be a good start?
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Mar 10, 2014 06:06
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Floppy Dingo posted:So I'm finally considering picking up some of my first tools (I know, I know, a man that doesn't know much about tools, I am ashamed but eager to learn) and went strolling about our local Wal-mart and Lowes as Homestead was closed today in town. Sadly as a small town we don't have much for any kind of 'specialized' tool stores besides the retail giants. Unless I am confused, your link appears to be just a regular old drill. Maybe Lowes is redirecting incorrectly?
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Mar 10, 2014 06:20
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Slugworth posted:Unless I am confused, your link appears to be just a regular old drill. Maybe Lowes is redirecting incorrectly? http://blackanddecker.com/matrix There's their official site on it. It looks like a normal drill, but the silver button on the side releases the drill head so you can pull it off, and slide a new tool head on. My main concern is price for quality at this point, not top of the line stuff that will of course be really expensive.
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Mar 10, 2014 06:25
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Floppy Dingo posted:http://blackanddecker.com/matrix I can't say anything specifically about that one, but every time I buy a cheap power tool I regret it. Specifically the heads always end up rotating off center, which makes it impossible to drill a straight hole. I personally would start looking for tools based off what I actually need, then figure out what I am comfortable paying.
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Mar 10, 2014 13:38
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bengy81 posted:I can't say anything specifically about that one, but every time I buy a cheap power tool I regret it. Specifically the heads always end up rotating off center, which makes it impossible to drill a straight hole. I figured I would ask, because honestly if you asked me I would assume Black & Decker was a good tool brand, I'm completely clueless as for brands of tools, and what would be expensive but good, and what is just overpriced and bad. I guess I'll go look at reviews.
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Mar 10, 2014 14:13
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My understanding is that black & decker is now the walmart brand.
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Mar 10, 2014 14:16
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Bad Munki posted:My understanding is that black & decker is now the walmart brand. They always were the "Walmart Brand" but back in the 60-80's even the Walmart brands were made like a tank.
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Mar 10, 2014 16:39
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Bad Munki posted:My understanding is that black & decker is now the walmart brand. DeWalt seems to be the higher end of Black & Decker. B&D used to be good but I think they pushed their quality down and had DeWalt take the place of their decent tools? I'm just basing this off of the local DeWalt dealer/repair depot place selling B&D as well.
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Mar 10, 2014 16:40
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Floppy Dingo posted:I figured I would ask, because honestly if you asked me I would assume Black & Decker was a good tool brand, I'm completely clueless as for brands of tools, and what would be expensive but good, and what is just overpriced and bad. I guess I'll go look at reviews. They're pretty low end though I've looked at the matrix line and it seems ok. Craftsman has a very similar (perhaps identical) line as well for what it's worth. I'd put this set a step below ryobi so I'd comparison shop them. For example I just got a ryobi jig saw for $25 which is probably the same or less $ than the matrix jig saw add-on thing but is an actual dedicated tool, not a compromise. Ryobi cordless router - $50. So same thing, Ryobi dedicated tools (without the battery) are similar in price but almost certainly better quality than the comparable addon. The matrix looks like a good idea, but really it's just saving the cost of an electric motor (cheap) and a plastic handle but with the added cost and compromises of the add-on mechanism. If this actually saves money maybe it's worth a look, but I suspect not. And the Ryobi line is much larger than B&D.
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Mar 10, 2014 17:36
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Blistex posted:They always were the "Walmart Brand" but back in the 60-80's even the Walmart brands were made like a tank.  Squibbles posted:DeWalt seems to be the higher end of Black & Decker. B&D used to be good but I think they pushed their quality down and had DeWalt take the place of their decent tools? I'm just basing this off of the local DeWalt dealer/repair depot place selling B&D as well. That's possible, I know the DeWalt shop in Des Moines also split half their shop into B&D. Anyone know the actual connection there? Because my dewalt tools are all just fine and dandy, no problems at all, but the few B&D pieces I've gone through have been nothing but annoying.
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Mar 10, 2014 17:36
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Bad Munki posted:Well, by walmart brand, I don't mean cheap (that's incidental), I mean cruddy. By definition, if it's built like a tank, it's not a walmart brand. To me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeWalt quote:In 1992, Black & Decker started a major effort to rebrand its professional quality and high-end power tools to DeWalt. So they have indeed made a concious effort to devalue the B&D name in favour of DeWalt I guess. Or rather rely on the B&D name to sell low end products based on their reputation and low cost but reserve the actual good quality stuff for DeWalt.
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Mar 10, 2014 17:52
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Floppy Dingo posted:So I'm finally considering picking up some of my first tools (I know, I know, a man that doesn't know much about tools, I am ashamed but eager to learn) and went strolling about our local Wal-mart and Lowes as Homestead was closed today in town. Sadly as a small town we don't have much for any kind of 'specialized' tool stores besides the retail giants. I would really recommend that you start with a simple 12v combo kit. These will be powerful enough to handle just about any project you'll be throwing at it. 12v is generally less expensive than the 18v stuff so you can go with a bettter manufacturer and thus a better quality tool. Not to mention they are MUCH easier to handle, are lighter weight and have great battery life. This is far and away my favorite combo kit for someone who is just getting started with power tools. Makita 12v Compo. Really, for a top tier manufacture, you're not going to beet this price. http://www.cpooutlets.com/makita-lc...cgid=combo-kits If $124 is a too rich for your blood, then my 2nd pick with be the Craftsman Nextech series. I have a bunch of these tools and they work really well. I tend to use them for a lot of the grunt work jobs since they're cheap and I dont mind if thye get beat up. http://www.sears.com/craftsman-17586-nextec-12.0v-lithium-ion-drill-driver/p-00917586000P?prdNo=10&blockNo=10&blockType=G10 http://www.sears.com/craftsman-17428-nextec-12-volt-cordless-compact-1-4inch/p-00917428000P?prdNo=13&blockNo=13&blockType=G13
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Mar 10, 2014 17:55
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Floppy Dingo posted:http://blackanddecker.com/matrix I looked at the wired version of that over here and I wasn't impressed, it's only a 400W rated unit, which for sawing and drilling seems low-end to me. Around here the base unit of the MultiEvo retails for over 150 euro, plenty to buy decent entry-model dedicated corded tools and a bunch of extention cords. Factor in the cost of the tool modules, about 40 euro a pop, and you could just buy Bosch Green dedicated corded tools. And I'm not sure how relevant this is to you, but the hammer function on the drill head is mechanical and weak, it can probably get 6mm into concrete, I seriously doubt it'll do 8mm in concrete. Lastly, the drill-style handle is really unwieldy if you want to use it as a sander, also just that module is as expensive as my Bosch corded detail-sander. If I were you I'd consider if you really need everything to be cordless, because you can save a lot of money going with corded tools instead.
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Mar 11, 2014 13:23
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Wow, never realized that B&D and Craftsman were using the exact same tools now. The "Matrix" is the exact same system as the "Bolt-On".
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Mar 11, 2014 14:14
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Deedle posted:I looked at the wired version of that over here and I wasn't impressed, it's only a 400W rated unit, which for sawing and drilling seems low-end to me. Around here the base unit of the MultiEvo retails for over 150 euro, plenty to buy decent entry-model dedicated corded tools and a bunch of extention cords. Factor in the cost of the tool modules, about 40 euro a pop, and you could just buy Bosch Green dedicated corded tools. Debatable. The extra cost for cordless comes from the batteries, not the tools. If you manage your tool purchasing well (buy tool only/eBay) you can avoid building up a pile of batteries and chargers which represent significant extra cost. Granted you probably want more than one battery, but rarely do you need more than 3. I have 6 ryobi tools but only two batteries and one charger. And for example while the M12 Fuel drill kit at $200 is pricy, but tool-only it's $99. Not too bad for a high end brushless drill in my opinion. And a ryobi drill is $27 on ebay new with free shipping. Blistex posted:Wow, never realized that B&D and Craftsman were using the exact same tools now. The "Matrix" is the exact same system as the "Bolt-On". Sears is pushing dewalt hand tools recently. They may have a partnership. Craftsman is still ok on a tool by tool basis I think. They've climbed down the value latter a bit but still seem to be a decent value. But their confusing lines bother me, especially with cordless. How many seperate cordless lines do they currently sell? Seems like a lot. And they're willing to slap the craftsman name on crappy one-off door busters for Black Friday. Bad brand management in my opinion.
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Mar 11, 2014 15:38
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I just bought a 20V porter cable lithium drill/driver set on amazon for $150, should be coming today. I have an 18V Nicad porter cable hammer drill that I use for everything and I like it well enough except for the battery life, which is fairly terrible. That makita 12V stuff looks pretty cool, but I think I'll be happy with my P/C.
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Mar 11, 2014 16:25
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asdf32 posted:Debatable. The extra cost for cordless comes from the batteries, not the tools. If you manage your tool purchasing well (buy tool only/eBay) you can avoid building up a pile of batteries and chargers which represent significant extra cost. Granted you probably want more than one battery, but rarely do you need more than 3. I have 6 ryobi tools but only two batteries and one charger. I was just comparing the MultiEvo specific prices against the cost of similar corded tools. The 150 euro starter pack for 1 battery and just the drill, is more than enough to buy a corded drill/driver and a proper SDS+ drill-hammer. The detail sander attachment is 40 euro over here, I got my Bosch PSM 80 A for 35 on sale. Oscillating tool attachment is a whopping 85 euro, again well more than a corded dedicated unit of better quality would cost. And the batteries for the 14.4v MultiEvo are 90 a piece or 150 for a two pack. So to have a drill, sander and jigsaw, with 2 batteries, a B&D MultiEvo/Matrix would set you back a good 325 euro here. For what are rather basic tools. If you just want basic tools, 325 euro buys you a circular saw, jigsaw, drill/driver, detail sander, and a random orbit sander or SDS+ drill-hammer. Granted that is going by entry-level Bosch Green tools, which obviously isn't Festool quality, but in my experience it's better quality than B&D of recent years. Saillant detail is my bias against cordless tools, I bought a NiCad cordless drill once and the thing has been nothing but a pain. Ofcourse that's due to the NiCad part, but it has put me off cordless tools ever since then. The whole 'I need 4 more holes in that wall, but I have to wait 14 hours for the loving batteries to recharge' gets really old really fast. I'm probably going to build it a power brick and just gut the battery pack and make it corded, it's a perfectly fine drill/driver, its batteries just suck.
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Mar 11, 2014 16:44
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Battery question; Does the amperage of the battery affect the tools power, or just run time? My makita LXT batteries are both flaking out, and I have a robust collection of m12 tools, so looking at buying into their m18 line. I'm kind of annoyed with having to lug around 2 different chargers, so looking at the Milwaukee kits with the dual charger. Apart from the upper tier fuel line, the basic differences between the various combos appear to be 1.5 vs 3 (or 2 vs 4, I can't recall) and the drill (hammer vs non-hammer). I'll probably never use the drill (corded bull dog for actual hammer drilling, m12 drill for precision millwork), but constantly use the impact for framing/misc tasks where the m12 is too weak and I can't be bothered setting up a hose and compressor. Will I notice a significant difference in power between the two batteries with the impact (setting 3" screws into lumber 99% of the time)? Or is the power increase typically observed on cordless saws? I *might* buy into a cordless saw/grinder/oscillating tool in the future, but already have everything I need corded.
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Mar 16, 2014 04:19
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Reggie Died posted:Battery question; Amps should just affect run-time. Voltage would be tied to power. But NiCad's lose a little voltage as they are used while the Li-Ion have a much sharper drop-off of voltage at the end of their run time
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Mar 16, 2014 04:21
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Reggie Died posted:Battery question; Generally there is a smallish difference. I think if you dig into the numbers you'll notice that the specs for torque for example are quoted with the higher capacity battery. In theory there should be no difference, but in practice battery power (voltage specifically) droops under load. The larger packs have double the cells (in parallel), so each cell sees only half the load and the pack can deliver more current. This is one reason why some tools (M18 Circular saw for example) require the high capacity packs. I like what Milwaukee does with their M12 Fuel drills (maybe others) which is give you one of each battery size.
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Mar 16, 2014 05:31
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Reggie Died posted:Battery question; It's more complicated than that. Current ("amperage", but that's a term electricians look down on) is an instantaneous measure of how many electrons are passing through a wire. Current over a length of time is what affects run time. A battery pack with a capacity of 6Ah (amp-hours, usually expressed as milliamp-hours on smaller batteries) can provide 6A of current for 1 hour, or 1.5A for 4 hours, or 24A for 15 minutes, and so on. The (electrical) power rating of a motor, on the other hand, is found by multiplying the current and voltage together. A tool that draws 20 amps at 18 volts consumes 20*18 = 360 watts. The relationship between current and voltage in a variably inductive device like an electric motor is way more complex than it seems at first, but generally you can simplify it as "a given motor design has a given voltage where it is most efficient, and varying the current while keeping that voltage steady is what controls the power". So you can have it draw only 36 watts by staying at 18v and going down to 2 amps, or whatever. The current that can be provided by a battery, of course, depends on the resistance and inductance of the circuit it's connected to. As you draw more current from the battery, the battery's equivalent series resistance increases and the voltage drops. If the voltage has dropped to 10v instead of 18v because you're drawing 40A, the effective power is 10*30 = 300W even though according to the current flow you're technically capable of 540 watts at that point. As the motor speeds up, the inductance changes in a way that I don't fully remember but it decreases efficiency. It gets really complicated really fast. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Mar 16, 2014 |
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Mar 16, 2014 06:05
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Any suggestions for a decent cordless inspection camera? I'm running some cabling behind drywall and it'd make my life easier. Looking around they all seem to be more or less the same.
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Mar 21, 2014 20:41
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Mr. Apollo posted:Any suggestions for a decent cordless inspection camera? I'm running some cabling behind drywall and it'd make my life easier. Been there, done that. Fireblocks are straight up evil. That being said, seeing cable in wall cavities and and cable past obstructions are two different things. Do you have fish sticks?
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Mar 21, 2014 21:24
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Any suggestions on a ~$200 pressure washer for general home use? My father and law and are going halves on it, he suggested a craftsman 1800gph unit and just wondering if there's anything else in that range I should suggest?
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Mar 21, 2014 21:38
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GanjamonII posted:Any suggestions on a ~$200 pressure washer for general home use? gas or electric?
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Mar 21, 2014 22:05
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kid sinister posted:Do you have fish sticks? I think there's a joke here, possibly the funniest one ever. I had a Milwaukee 12 volt one briefly, it was small and decent.
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Mar 22, 2014 00:11
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sharkytm posted:I think there's a joke here, possibly the funniest one ever. It's on the tip of my tongue.
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Mar 22, 2014 00:31
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kid sinister posted:Been there, done that. Fireblocks are straight up evil. That being said, seeing cable in wall cavities and and cable past obstructions are two different things. Do you have fish sticks? I was thinking about checking out craigslist because I don't really want to drop $400 on something I'll rarely use but renting one will probably be too expensive.
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Mar 22, 2014 01:43
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Mr. Apollo posted:Any suggestions for a decent cordless inspection camera? I'm running some cabling behind drywall and it'd make my life easier. I have the older Milwaukee. The new Milwaukee has both a smaller camera and a rotating screen. The rotating screen might seem like a gimmick, until you're actually trying to maneuver the thing into the inevitably weird places you bought it to inspect and the camera is a 243 degree angle relative to the screen. It's a simple thing that's surprisingly disorienting. Perhaps with more practice you'd get used to it but I'd recommend getting one with the rotating screen (there may be others besides the Milwaukee).
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Mar 22, 2014 04:18
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Cordless inspection cameras can be had for less than £100 over here, nothing fancy but cheap enough to get on a whim & inevitable useful.
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Mar 22, 2014 09:48
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I have a harbor freight one i got for $40 on clearance a long time back. I can't see poo poo with it.
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Mar 23, 2014 02:52
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kid sinister posted:gas or electric? Electric. Also psi not gph.
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Mar 23, 2014 14:22
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I am so sick of my loving lawn mowers. I have three of the bastards and every one of them is broken in some terrible manner. (Mainly transmissions, bad starter, and blown bearings.) It's our fault for trying to use homeowner class mowers on ~2.5 acers of hilly lawn. I decided to junk two of them and I'm buying this tomorrow. http://www.hustlerturf.com/products/fastrak-sd I hope I can get at least 15 years out of it.
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Mar 23, 2014 21:26
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I've been building guitar pedals recently which means a bunch of drilling holes in aluminum enclosures. With a hand drill and a vise I can drill holes pretty well and, if I take my time, in good position. However it's a bit of a pain and making me miss having a drill press to knock these out much more quickly. I live in a condo and don't have a lot of space, so anything full size is too much. The largest hole size I cut is a 1/2", which makes it a pain to find something smaller that has a chuck to handle it. Would an adapter work okay in smaller, "desk top" drill presses? Or can someone recommend me something (max $150-200) that I could get to suit my needs?
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Mar 23, 2014 23:13
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Most benchtop drill presses I've seen take 1/2" bits, unless you're talking something even smaller? They aren't amazing quality but Ryobi and Craftsman both have 10" drill presses for under $150.
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Mar 23, 2014 23:51
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