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Once again, I am blown away by Sears' seemingly retarded (from a business standpoint) liquidation processes. Picked up a brand new craftsman 10" miter saw w/stand for $36, normal retail price was $179. They ought to just sell like this all the time, then maybe I would buy more stuff from them.
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Feb 23, 2009 22:48
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ASSTASTIC posted:Can someone recommend me a good hand truck? I'd like to get one that won't just break on me. I've been using this at work for several years now. 900lbs capacity. Large enough to carry other, lesser hand-trucks (really nice if you work with a lot of handtrucks). Shovel nose is easier to slide under things imo. Bottom of shovel is completely level with the bottom of the wheels, which helps too (also lets you slide around on it like a jackass on a skateboard). It's pretty hefty though. Mine is the solid wheel style. I think there is a pneumatic wheel option (probably what you'll want unless you only use it on flat concrete). Avoid hand trucks with small wheels. They are terrible for leverage, getting over obstacles, etc. 700-900 is a great capacity range; Generally means it can stand up to any beating you throw at it. Don't buy hand trucks from Sears. And this is just anecdotal, but I have noticed that the higher quality hand trucks generally have a smooth enamel coating, and the low quality ones have a sandpaper-like matte coating. If you are looking for an appliance type hand truck, try and find one with a ratcheting strap, and those deployable rear wheels which let the hand-truck sit, tilted and fully loaded on its own. Very nice for moving around the really heavy and unwieldy stuff ($6k refrigerators for example).
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Nov 6, 2009 20:24
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RealKyleH posted:I just went to Ace. Ill check walmart I know in my area, Napa and Autozone are the only ones that stock 1500 grit etc. I think I have only ever seen 2000 grit at Napa though.
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Mar 23, 2010 06:27
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Just Another XY posted:I've been slowly acquiring new tools to work on my car and I think I want to purchase torque wrenches (3/8" and 1/4"), a set of jackstands and floor jack (been making do with ramps/chocks since), and a set of deep-socket wrench for taking off/replacing my lugnuts on my wheels. AFAIK Autozone tools are basically overpriced HF tools. The HF torque wrenches are okay if you don't expect precision. If you want precision (money grows on trees!), I recommend Cornwell or Snapon (or Mac, Matco, S-K.. etc). You'll also want a 1/2" drive torque wrench if you plan on torquing down your lug nuts. The HF aluminium floor jacks are great. Their jack stands are okay. Sears has a set with a jack, stands and a creeper that occasionally goes on sale for pretty cheap, that is worth looking up. Also want to echo other sentiments in this thread: A new tool megathread with a huge set of FAQs would be great.
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Apr 26, 2010 22:24
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As far as Sears goes, avoid the aluminum and the 4-ton Craftsman Pro jack at all costs. Their 3-Ton service jack is probably their only decent jack. Their 4-Ton pro jackstands are pretty good. A lot of their lower capacity stands are absolutely terrifying (like 9 pieces spot welded together).
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Apr 27, 2010 02:56
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Landshark posted:I own one and it has worked flawlessly for 5+ years now. It's one of the few floor jacks you can buy that will get the wheels of a higher sitting SUV off the ground. "At all costs.." may have been a bit too drastic. My experience with them only goes back to the 2008 and up models, of which I've seen 5 completely blown. They probably are okay with good maintenance. Speaking of weeping fluid, I need to get a new bottle jack. Anyone have recommendations?
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Apr 29, 2010 08:01
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I'm about to buy my first air compressor and am looking for some opinions/advice. It's a Craftsman 25 gal compressor. 2 cylinder, oil lubricated, 150 max psi, SCFM Delivery At 40 psi: 7.4 SCFM, SCFM Delivery At 90 psi: 5.8 SCFM, and it's 120V. I can get it from my local Sears for $387 after tax ($435 if I buy the 2-year extended warranty). I want it so I can use an impact gun and air ratchet. My house isn't set up for 240V which is why I have been looking at 120V compressors. Another deciding factor is that I can't really afford more than $500. What do you guys think? Am I about to make a huge mistake? 
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May 1, 2010 00:45
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PeaceFrog posted:Look on craigslist for a while. Might have to sacrifice a little "performance" as most of the 120 units suck balls, but you can get an ok compressor for less than 200 bucks. Those things are throwaway, a lot of people unload them after a project. Trust me I've had my phone set up to alert me whenever the words "air compressor" are used in craigslist ads in my areas. So far mostly pancake compressors. All the verticals have looked like poo poo or have been way too expensive. I guess I am just starting to get discouraged and am compromising. After ctrl+fing through about 40 pages of this thread though, I am convinced that I will be unhappy with anything below 60 gallons (thanks sharkytm, catbus, oxbrain and others for all the advice given in this thread). And so, here's my plan: I'm going to bunker down and save my money until the right compressor shows up. In the mean time I am going to work on getting 240v to my garage (don't think housemates would appreciate me rewiring the hot tub breaker for my air compressor). Huge mistake averted this time, thanks guys.
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May 2, 2010 11:45
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A compression tester is a pretty good tool to have around. I have this set: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947089000P MightyVac has an identical kit for about the same price: http://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-5530-Professional-Compression-Tester/dp/B0002WSC0G
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May 17, 2010 07:48
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My neighbor used to own a local parts store that recently went out of business. He's moving and had a yard sale today: Mostly a combination of SK and and Blackhawk tools with some KAL stuff and a few random cheapo taiwan/china/japan made tools. Got it all for $30. The torque wrench looks pretty bad, but he gave it to me for free so I figured why not.  Click here for the full 1280x848 image. He also gave me this cool deck of playing cards:  Click here for the full 1280x848 image. Sorry for the poor quality pictures. Forgot I set my phone's camera to the low setting.
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May 22, 2010 07:15
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Rhyno posted:Would it be possible for me to have a keyless chuck installed on my old drill? Does such a service exist? I'd imagine you could do it yourself pretty easily if you could find a replacement chuck that fits. As far as removing the old one, if it is attached to a tapered spindle you could remove it with a wedge similar to (but thinner than) a ball joint separator. I don't know the exact process for removing a chuck from a threaded spindle (if that's what your drill has), but I doubt it is much more difficult. If you end up doing this, I'd be interested in seeing the results.
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May 31, 2010 07:51
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grover posted:Wow, that's perfect! I'll pick one up tomorrow If you have ratcheting wrenches, be sure to buy this while you are there.
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Jun 2, 2010 05:28
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Thin enough that'll it'll save me the trouble of grinding, too.
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Blackdawgg posted:Disappointment in my Craftsman tools today. I took my 3/8 ratchet in because it was ratcheting pretty rough and skipping teeth. They handed me a refurb one from behind the counter that was beat to hell and had grease spots all over it. Not to mention it only works marginally better than my old one. I don't mind getting a refurb unit as long as it's in decent condition. If they hand you a greasy/dirty refurb for a Full Forever Warranty replacement, you should refuse it right away and demand another one, if they say no, ask to speak with a manager (preferably the hardware or store manager). If the manager refuses, call or email customer care (can find the contact info on their website, just click the "customer service" link at the top). There are a lot of ways to make sears bend to your will, they just don't advertise them. If you don't feel like dealing with all the red tape, you could always pop the ratchet open and attack the gear or pawl with a file, put it back together, and then try and return it.  You used to be able to buy refurb kits from PartsDirect for mere cents, but it looks like they aren't available online anymore. I wonder if the service centers carry them now..
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Jun 3, 2010 05:13
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Raluek posted:Now that I've got a hoist of my own, it's about time I look for a load leveler. I can't for the life of me find the harbor freight one, but I don't want a lovely one that I can barely turn with weight on it. There are a couple that look good, one is Summit brand and the other is OTC. I wouldn't be surprised if the Summit one is just a re-packaged OTC, I was wondering what you guys use. I have that OTC leveler, and I like it. Makes it easy to pull an engine/trans out by yourself (of course, if you can get help, you may as well). It's very easy to turn the lever under load.
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Jun 4, 2010 15:42
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PBCrunch posted:The Skil POWER RATCHET came today and is pretty cool. I will definitely be getting a set of 1/4" drive metric deep sockets to extend its usefulness. It was very helpful in removing and installing some bolts that hold on the spark plug valley covers on my Lexus and some brackets that hold some wires in place on my Integra. You do need to break the bolts loose with hand tools and then follow up with this tool, but I expected that. It has the potential to make tedious jobs like valve cover removals go a lot faster. I used to have one of those when I was working on my very first project car. Battery life was pretty good iirc. Made taking apart body panels and interior bits a breeze. Course, I didn't know anything about anything back then, and learned the hard way about why you don't break things loose with 1/4" drive.
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Jun 7, 2010 04:37
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50-250 ft. lbs. is a common 1/2" drive range, and useful. Other than that I would say get a smaller torque wrench that covers at least 10 ft. lbs.. Torque wrenches are expensive, so you want the few that you get to cover as much different range as possible. For less than 50 ft. lbs. stuff I have a 1/4" in lb torque wrench. It doesn't see much action aside from spark plugs, but its still nice to have around. I think the general consensus on HF torque wrenches is that they are okay for tasks that don't require utmost precision (imo, nothing you would use a torque wrench for in the first place). I have no idea what the current line of Craftsman torque wrenches are like, but a few years ago they had a pretty dogged reputation. Usually can't go wrong with tool truck brands!
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Jun 26, 2010 05:29
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I used that harbor freight stripper a few times before at a friends house. It was pretty loose and took a few attempts to strip the wire. I have also used a vise-grip branded version of what Bulk Vanderhuge posted and can confirm that they are pretty good.
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Jul 4, 2010 00:49
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PBCrunch posted:I assisted my neighbor with getting a Subaru STi ready for clutch replacement and I am sold on the awesomeness of wobbly sockets. They are far superior to u-joints in flexibility and power (torque, whatever) transfer. I have an SK set that I got at a yardsale. Love the things to death. As for u-joints, I find they are pretty useful for certain wacko jobs (serpentine belt on a 2001 Intrepid etc). The HF u-joints are absolute garbage. They bind up way too easily and are just way too loose in general. I have found the c-man u-joints to be much more manageable.
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Jul 29, 2010 18:20
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Dolphin posted:Don't those Craftsman's have a lifetime no-questions-asked store replacement warranty? It's true, but c-man ratchets have gone downhill in quality pretty badly since Danaher took the reins. The Craftsman standard 1/4" ratchet is easily one of the worst ratchets money can buy; after a little while, the pawl mechanism just stops working (sometimes it doesn't work right on a brand new one). Their 3/4" ratchets are still pretty cool  but what the hell are you going to use that for?
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Jul 30, 2010 06:52
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Geoj posted:I've heard good things about Tractor Supply's in-house brand's ("Masterhand") tool cabinets. From what I understand they buy cabinets from the same supplier that builds them for Craftsman Craftsman's tool chests are built by Waterloo Industries. From what I have heard they also build every other brand's tool chests, including high end brands like Snap-on, but I can't confirm this. They sell their own tool chests under the Waterloo name, and I think you can order directly from them, but their website is down so I am not sure (they do have a catalog though). Their media site is still up and showcases a lot of familiar looking tool chests. quote:The drawers rolled all right, and the top seemed sturdy enough to bolt a vise to. Of course putting it together sounds like a nightmare. Also never trust the drawer slides until you have tested them with a lot of weight inside. Ericadia fucked around with this message at 08:43 on Sep 11, 2010 |
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Sep 11, 2010 08:39
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