Tools! - Crimpin ain't easy but it is necessary.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Tools! - Crimpin ain't easy but it is necessary.

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

RealKyleH posted:

Also, not that it matters to most here, but many crimpers use .500" diesets which allows you to have one tool frame that can do many different types of crimps, crescent, hex and in some cases indent. These use .535" diesets IIRC and unless some other company uses them you lose the option to put in other diesets. Although almost everything I do is R/B/Y.

That's actually good to know, since I have been thinking about buying a set of HF crimps and using a different set of dies. I guess I'll spring for a decent crimper.

# ¿ Apr 16, 2010 21:56

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 03:07

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Black88GTA posted:

I currently have at my disposal a Harbor Freight 1500W heat gun, a no-name soldering iron of unknown wattage, a 17w Weller soldering iron, and a 100w Radio Shack solder gun, none of which have temperature control of any sort. Everything I've been reading online says that you need something with adjustable temperature or a solder station, but I'd rather not drop a bunch of money on a solder station that I would hardly ever use. I found this while I was looking, and it seems like it may fit the bill. I know this is cheap China poo poo and probably won't hold up too long, but it seems like it may do the trick this one time, and it has the fine tip I'd need.

Just buy a replacement needle tip for the Weller pencil iron you already own, no real point in buying yet another iron. A freestanding magnifying glass would probably help, too, but you could get by without one.

Just remember to take your time, make sure the solder joint is shiny when you're finished, and that ROHS solder melts at a higher temperature than traditional solder so you'll have to keep the iron on the joint a little longer than you're used to before it flows.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2010 09:05

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

geegee posted:

Has anyone here had experience with Harbor Freight's Chicago Electric Generator Sets?

If it's electrical, and cheap, a ham radio operator has bought and abused it to death. This thread on eHam is about smaller cheap generators, but should still have some good info for you.

# ¿ Aug 28, 2010 22:17

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

InitialDave posted:

Says a lot about AI that we have bug-out bag toolkits...

Last year I finally got off my rear end and got a tool roll from Amazon and filled it (mostly) with Harbor Freight tools... Haven't had to use it much but it's better to have something "just in case" rather than nothing.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2011 00:32

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Nothing to see here!

# ¿ Jun 23, 2011 08:23

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

IOwnCalculus posted:

I had the exact same thought, I was just too lazy to find a screencap.

The Cubelodyte posted:

Oh poo poo.

Harbor Freight just opened a store where I live. They used to be a 45-minute drive.

I'm afraid for my wallet.

It's kind of like Homer eating the canned plankton at the 33� store-- "But it's sooo cheap!"

# ¿ Aug 25, 2011 07:45

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

grover posted:

Guess AFCIs just run hot?

I wouldn't consider 106�F to be all that hot, but v :shobon:

# ¿ Sep 30, 2011 03:53

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Sockington posted:

Tile adhesives from the 50s/60s? Asbestos?

That was the first thing I thought of, too. (I think they put it in the tiles, too, and not just the mastic.) There's no way I'd be messing with linoleum from that era without getting it tested first.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2011 06:49

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Delivery McGee posted:

Warning: will put a dent in drat near every finish known to man, so don't try it on the edge of a friend's fancy table/countertop.

This is the absolute truth, and my friend's dining room table has the bottle-cap-ridged dents to prove it :gonk:

# ¿ Nov 26, 2011 20:26

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Uthor posted:

I have this set of precision screw drivers and I hate it.

I can never get a good grip and use enough torque (why are all the tiny screw I encounter stuck?). I find the handles both too small to hold comfortable and too slick to grip. Does anyone (HF, Sears, or Lowes? I'll be near those tomorrow.) make a decent set with bigger handles?

I have a set of Companions sort of like these from Sears that are pretty nice. I also have this Stanley set (as well as the HF knockoff) that's pretty nice too.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2012 05:30

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Geoj posted:

Anyone have a suggestion for a decent power/air caulk gun?

McMaster-Carr has a battery operated unit for $300 and an air-powered one for about half of that.

Both Milwaukee and DeWalt make battery-powered caulk guns so if he already has any tools in those ecosystems it would make more sense to me to get one of those rather than having to drag an air hose around everywhere.

stevobob posted:

I had been using this Princess Auto piece of poo poo and the handle snapped off while I was pulling on it, yesterday, resulting in me falling on my rear end. Nobody saw it.

That means it didn't happen :ssh:

_{_{_{Just like I never went flying onto my rear end while pulling the ball adapter out of my Draw-Tite once}}}

# ¿ Nov 30, 2012 01:45

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

grover posted:

Just don't try and measure starting current and you're most likely gonna be fine. Worst case, you're out a $5 multimeter.

The fuse on that multimeter is 10A; AFAIK the only thing that's going to be too much is the starter, although I'm sure I'll get a dozen other things on an auto that routinely draw more.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2013 09:18

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

VanNuys posted:

When it comes to multimeters does splurging on an expensive one really matter? As long as it works I don't see the purpose.

IIRC a lot of people in this thread use the free one from Harbor Freight for doing ballpark/"is it hot?" measurements, and it works well enough.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2013 21:00

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

BrokenKnucklez posted:

In other news, lets bring this over to the Misc Chat thread, I would like to see some of your stuff and possibly some good recipes for a good pilsner.

I think you're looking for The Homebrewing Thread.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2013 02:13

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Something that I've noticed is that companies (e.g. Plano) that make both tackle boxes and toolboxes will charge more for one version of otherwise identical models than the other, so it pays to shop around.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2014 01:58

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Cakefool posted:

£Oxford

Is this actually A Thing? From what I've learned from Top Gear I would have guessed it would be £Midlands or something.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2014 02:09

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

kastein posted:

Bought these magical pliers a while ago and forgot to post them.

I thought they were neat as hell and figured I'd rather have every weird pair of pliers at my disposal for really strange situations. Turns out they are absolutely indispensable when you need them at all. Worth buying.

I bought the straight and bent combo set on Amazon; they paid for themselves a week later when I went to change out the batteries in my 6D MagLite and discovered a battery decided to expand a little too much at the far end.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2015 01:30

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

literally a fish posted:

They look like a decent quality mitutoyo clone. As usual, AvE has a couple videos on how to spot the ones that suck and the ones that don't.

The Gadget Class calls the Neikos crap for reasons that make sense to me, and for a cheap calipers recommends the iCal EZCal at $30.

In fact, while writing this post I pulled the trigger on the EZCal because the numbers wore off my lovely HF plastic calipers and I'm tired of trying to read the stupid thing.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2016 08:10

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Qmass posted:

All of his videos are like this, they are loving great. The tool teardowns are awesome too. No bullshit, just straight up examining the insides, mechanics and electronics and figuring where they'll fail.

Also, his newfangled voice-activated camera focusing system is truly something to behold.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2016 23:24

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

El Jebus posted:

What is everyone's favorite work flashlight? I'd like something I can slip in the pocket of my dickies shirt but I'm not tied to the idea. Thinking about this:

http://smile.amazon.com/Streamlight...words=Pen+light

Streamlights are nice, and I've had that one for years. My only complaint is that the retaining ring for the switch boot likes to strip its threads if you play with it too much, so... don't do that, I guess? Otherwise mine have been great.

Another option, especially if you're looking for more firepower, would be a BLF-348 paired with an Eneloop AAA; with the NiMH mine is brighter than my Streamlights. You could also use a 10440 lithium battery with this light- it's bright as hell, but you have to be careful about heat (it will seriously get hot enough to burn you if you leave it turned on long enough). I prefer this light to my Streamlights because it's smaller, it's brighter, and the Nichia 219B LED just plain looks nicer owing to its 90+ CRI. (If you do get this one, don't forget to use the coupon code to get it at the lowest price.)

Another suggestion would be the Coast HP1 when it comes back below $10. It's thicker than the Streamlights (but is still pretty small), takes AA or 14500 lithium batteries, and can be zoomed to either a flood light or a spotlight. (Don't bother with anything in between, the pattern is terrible.)

# ¿ Apr 13, 2016 06:50

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

literally a fish posted:

one of the flashlight forum crazies (Vinh Nguyen)

Vinh is a total flashlight nutjob, and I love his creations.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2016 20:44

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

literally a fish posted:

Almost none of these chinese tech sites like banggood and gearbest and the like are out to scam you, they're usually just really busy and bad at communicating.

Also, spring for the upgraded shipping. Even if it's just a $1 tracking number, the chances of things getting "lost" in the mail drops dramatically.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2016 01:28

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

SNiPER_Magnum posted:

I discovered today that a lady at my local HF remembers my address and knows me as "Whiskers".

Could be worse, she could know you as "Finger Cuffs".

# ¿ Apr 30, 2016 23:58

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Ferremit posted:

That looks like the most unfun game of Jenga ever.

# ¿ Aug 28, 2016 23:54

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Safety Dance posted:

Back when I lived in Atlanta, we got a mobile sharpening service to come by and sharpen every knife in our kitchen for about $20 (it was $1/inch, I think). Professional knife sharpening is surprisingly inexpensive.

Was it this guy?

edit: I'm surrounded by assholes. Go to 6 minutes 50 seconds in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_mKtAVTxlQ

# ¿ Oct 23, 2016 09:20

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Powershift posted:

A whole bunch of metric and imperial sockets are interchangeable depending on the size of your hammer.

The Something Awful Forums � Discussion � Automotive Insanity � The Tool Thread: Metric & SAE Socket Interchangeability Depends on the Size of Your Hammer

-or-

spog posted:

Hammering the poo poo out of them too good for you?

The Something Awful Forums � Discussion � Automotive Insanity � The Tool Thread: Hammering the poo poo out of Them too Good for You?

# ¿ Nov 18, 2016 20:59

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Uthor posted:

My folks are asking me to repaint an iron railing in their house. Need to get the old chipped paint off. What's the least manual labor intensive solution?

CitriStrip seems to work pretty well and doesn't entail a ton of manual work.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2017 02:40

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

the spyder posted:

Just needs propane and a Arduino controlled track system.

I smell the next AvE project!

# ¿ Mar 10, 2017 00:44

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

CarForumPoster posted:

Is that a compaq presario keyboard? Is this post from 2001?

internet

# ¿ Mar 28, 2017 04:26

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

CarForumPoster posted:

i n t e r n e t

Whats the check mark do?

oh, my friend, what won't it do???

# ¿ Mar 29, 2017 01:50

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

OSU_Matthew posted:

I can't believe I've never heard that before, that's amazing

# ¿ May 2, 2017 06:26

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

n0tqu1tesane posted:

Honestly, if you're going to get some from Harbor Freight, step up to the 6" instead, if only for the thumb wheel.

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-Digital-Caliper-with-SAE-and-Metric-Fractional-Readings-68304.html

If you're going to get a set from HF, you might as well spend $8 more and get the iGaging set from Amazon. I have these and they're way better than anything you'll find at HF.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2017 15:14

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

R-Type posted:

loving home wrecker ya got there

"womb shifter"

# ¿ Aug 4, 2018 07:16

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

um excuse me posted:

Oscilloscopes. Something I last used about a decade ago with equipment from the 80s or 90s. I remember the one I had was a Tektronox 2 MHz analog. I used to use it with a signal generator and a logic tester. Is the market pretty much the same? I saw there are some USB based ones, are those useful? What about the multimeter ones? Are ones under $100 trash? Are there combination scope/signal generator/logic testers out there? I'm super out of touch but want to be able to test ICs.

Short answer: Rigol 1054

Longer answer: ask in the Electronics Thread.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2019 19:24

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Now that I'm at an actual computer, I'll follow up the Rigol 1054 talk with a link to the Saelig Discount Thread on the EEVBlog forums; I don't know what the exact discount they're offering is, but it's probably going to be the cheapest offer on the Internet.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2019 22:19

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Colostomy Bag posted:

Can't wait for Harbor Freight to enter the hot air balloon market.

I assume they would call that product line "Icarus International" or something of the sort.

They won't be filled with hot air, they'll use the cheaper and more effective hydrogen instead.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2019 19:02

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Colostomy Bag posted:

I figured they would sell the "air" from their stores. There has to be a lot of combustibles that give them the unique smell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8mD2hsxrhQ

# ¿ Aug 5, 2019 04:26

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

That's a really good idea.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2019 01:30

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 03:07

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

bolind posted:

15k IKEA-kopeks, hot drat!

IKEApeks?

# ¿ Nov 24, 2019 23:17

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Tools! - Crimpin ain't easy but it is necessary.