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standardtoaster posted:
oh my god, I love mine. I've used it to suck up piles of horsehair plaster, old lime mortar, gravel, sand, nails, cement blocks, bricks, children... you get the idea. It's the honey badger of shopvacs. Hell, I left it sitting out in the yard for an entire winter while off in another city for work, and it still works (though the bearings are a bit loud now) just as well. It literally will suck up anything that will fit through the hose. ANYTHING. Some others: * Dewalt DW087 laser level - expensive, but worth it if you will be using it a lot. I got mine as a Christmas gift. * Delta 10" benchtop table saw - traded a homeowner grade air compressor I had no more need of for it. Does the job, though all I really do is rip 2x lumber down to the right size for fireblocks in my house. * MAASDAM 12 ton hydraulic bottle jack - I use it to jack up all manner of things, including corners of my house to replace sill plates, the axles on my 20 thousand pound surplus military truck to change the tires, etc. * Dead On framing hammer - don't buy. I use mine now that I have it, but they're not accurately ground, so they like to bend nails rather than driving them in (since the head face isn't perpendicular to the handle) and worse, the shank isn't tempered well enough to resist bending, so if you aren't careful it'll get more tweaked and you'll wonder why you suddenly suck at driving nails. Whacking it on something solid with the side of the head may straighten it back out. * Stanley "panel carrier" - the fluorescent orange plastic ones hanging on racks in the sheetrock/plywood aisles at Home Depot. Worth its weight in gold if you end up carrying around 4x8s of sheet goods a lot. * Milwaukee 0299-20 1/2" heavy duty corded drill. Gives not one single gently caress about anything. I've drilled 7/8" holes through century old 6" oak beams with nails in them without even really noticing. Comes with a second hand grip that can be attached at various angles so it won't sprain your wrist. * Speaking of which, Irwin Speedbor ship augurs are amazing. They go through anything and don't dull easily. * If you do a lot of electrical work, the Channel-Loc conduit/cable clamp ring nut tightening pliers are awesome. No more trying to drive those ring nuts onto the fitting with a hammer and a screwdriver. http://www.channellock.com/960-Locknut-Plier.aspx * Also good for electrical work - needle nose pliers that have a 12ga wire stripper built into the cutting jaw. I use them every time I do wiring in my house. http://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-D203-8N-8-Inch-Stripping/dp/B000CEORW6 e: Ryobi 4.5" angle grinders are good. I've been abusing two of them (I also have a Craftsman I made the mistake of buying a few years ago) for years and haven't killed them yet - including occasionally using them in the rain, outside, and/or forgetting them on the porch in the rain. Still work great. kastein fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Oct 11, 2012 |
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Oct 11, 2012 07:27
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I've always built my workbenches from 2x4s, 4x4s, carriage bolts, and 3/4 ply, though you could put any kind of top over it that you want to.
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Oct 20, 2012 22:09
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I use a circular saw and it takes me longer to measure and mark than it does to cut. I started doing the roof decking on my house hand-nailing it with 16d twist shank nails every 6" but quickly decided a framing nailer was in my best interest. I got enough of a workout hauling an entire roof worth of 3/4 ply, ice/water shield, tarpaper, and architectural shingles up to the roof alone, didn't need to make it any worse by nailing it by hand too.
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Dec 19, 2012 19:28
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I'd kill for a decent lathe for metal (preferably capable of turning hardened 4340 and objects up to approx. 8" diameter, but the former is more of a tooling question than a lathe question I guess) but I have very little use for a wood turning lathe.
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Jan 9, 2013 23:47
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There are a few school-used old iron ones on ebay in Erie for 3-500 with like 4-5 days left to go right now. A Colchester and a South Bend. If I had a truck that would haul 2500lbs of cast iron home... dammit! And if I had the money, that's money I need to spend on fixing my house right now. Any goons looking for a hell of a lathe in that area should probably grab those before someone else does.
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Jan 11, 2013 06:20
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Add "not precision" to the list too. 8mm socket? gently caress that noise, I'm buying something made by a real company because I want to unscrew things, not turn 8mm hex heads into 8mm round heads. 30mm socket? It takes a god drat idiot to make a 30mm socket that will actually round something off due to sloppy tolerances, so yeah, I'll use one. Engine hoist and hydraulic jack? Jackstands? Sure.
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Feb 12, 2013 01:57
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Don't forget, those super adjustable ratcheting flex full polish cross force wrenches also have a direction toggle, fit 8 different types of bolts (square, hex, 12 point, e-torx, spline...) and round them all off equally well in both directions! 
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Feb 15, 2013 04:23
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iForge posted:HDX seems to be Home Depot's new "Store Brand." The tools they are selling under the HDX brand are identical in design to the Workforce brand tools they used to/currently sell, just with a slightly different color scheme... Great priced tools for occasional use, but do not expect them to be a long lasting with frequent use. My impression was that they were the same as the Husky line - could be wrong, might be Workforce too, I haven't bought any Workforce products IIRC.
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Feb 25, 2013 08:15
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I keep a few lovely cheap flat blade screwdrivers around for that reason exactly. Though a phillips and a framing hammer will get knockouts started no problem (go from the inside out) too. Flat blade screwdrivers are great for getting u-joint cap retention clips out of rusted axleshafts and driveshafts, too. Good solid whack from a BFH to loosen the cap and give the clip some space to move, then pry it out and you're done. And yeah, it turns out I do own a set of workforce screwdrivers and pliers. I completely forgot about those till you mentioned the gray/yellow theme.
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Feb 27, 2013 18:11
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As usual, the great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from.
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Mar 10, 2013 18:26
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I've felt like craftsman ratchets are going downhill for a while now. I tend to break a few every couple months. Husky ratchets are junk though, I can break them on command, and even if I don't try to, they generally break within 3-4 uses.
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Mar 11, 2013 22:16
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I generally don't turn in tools I bought at a yard sale / found at the junkyard until they are actually broken. When they finally break, in they go for replacement. Not going to waste their money replacing a socket I found in the mud because it's rusty, though.
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Mar 12, 2013 06:38
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My issue with the whole thing is the definition of "break" - in my view, as long as the tool is performing as it's supposed to, it's not broken. Bringing used tools in for warranty that are just scratched up / worn / well used? That sorta seems skeezy. That's why I use em till they break (and that doesn't include intentionally breaking them) before exchanging stuff I didn't buy new. Either way, I won't contribute further to this derail, as I've said my part... question. Where would one go to find 2" per foot automotive taper reamers for a reasonable price? I know of XKUT already, I just don't feel like dropping $100 on one cutting tool that I will likely use 4 times.
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Mar 12, 2013 23:07
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Figure I should put a notice here... If you buy Ryobi or Ridgid power tools, make sure you keep your receipt till you get home, and make sure you register them within the 90 day store warranty period. Once you have registered them, KEEP THE RECEIPT! You will need it if you want that 2 or 3 year warranty to be worth anything. This probably goes for other brands too.
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Mar 22, 2013 04:17
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Splizwarf posted:Sounds like somebody just got hosed out of a warranty. Not quite yet I didn't. There's some question as to whether or not my warranty will be honored on my Ridgid tools as they were gifts and as such I never got the receipts. One of my Ryobi nicad batteries croaked for absolutely no reason a few weeks ago, the returns desk person at home depot moved heaven and earth to try and get it warrantied for me but couldn't work anything out. She offered me a set of a few tools and a battery on discounted clearance for $20... I have my own plans as to how I'm going to warranty this battery and it involves that set and creative serial number switching when registering them. Basically, if they're going to try and gently caress me out of a warranty, I lose all semblance of conscience when it comes to loving them into not loving me out of a warranty. So I'm going to buy the discount clearance set, register it with serial numbers and such but put in the serial number for the battery that croaked on me, then return the battery that came with the kit within 90 days and register the one I get. Then return the one that croaked on me under the extended warranty now that it's registered. Try and gently caress me out of a warranty that I rightfully paid for, over stupid bullshit paperwork that 99% of owners will never realize they need to fill out? drat right I'll do everything in my power to get that poo poo honored even if it means creativity.
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Mar 22, 2013 04:35
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I'm rather sad that heleta (the company I buy all my welding abrasives from) stopped carrying standard 1/4" shank carbide die grinder bits, they had some amazing prices. Everyone else I can find is literally selling for double or triple the price.
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Apr 13, 2013 17:46
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dyne posted:They're great for putting holes through joists/studs when you can't put a lot of axial force on the drill. Hell yes they are. I love my self feeding 3/4" ship augur, it's got hardened cutting edges and is advertised as being capable of drilling right through embedded nails. It's true, I put a hole straight through a 6" oak beam with a couple nails into it in one spot, neither it nor my 1/2" milwaukee drill even paused.
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Apr 29, 2013 12:37
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stubblyhead posted:
I think he was basically saying that it's the cheesiest, crumbly-est pot metal tool part he's ever had the displeasure of attempting to use.
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Jun 8, 2013 17:40
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Hardness and brittleness are different material properties, though they are somewhat related! Hardness is a measure of a material's resistance to deformation in general, while brittleness is measures a material's resistance specifically to plastic deformation. Think of peanut brittle and polyethylene for example. Peanut brittle isn't hard at all, but it snaps into pieces instead of stretching first like polyethylene would.
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kid sinister posted:One thing to keep in mind for taps is that the recommended hole diameters are weird and all over the place: imperial, metric, lettered, you name it. I dunno about metric, but I have definitely seen fractional, numeric, and lettered drills in the tap charts I've used. It all has to do with the minor diameter of the threads being tapped along with the amount of thread height required.
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Jun 17, 2013 00:55
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Agreed... might want to take some very fine crocus cloth or polishing compound to the commutator bars, but be sure to leave no residue behind and don't take any more off than you need to. I might even suggest a cloth buffing wheel on a bench grinder and toothpaste. Some new brushes wouldn't hurt either.
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Jun 17, 2013 04:12
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Sagebrush posted:My general rule for Harbor Freight is (1) nothing electric and (2) nothing that can kill you if it breaks. So no power tools, no jacks, no welders, nothing with hydraulics or high-pressure pneumatics or gasoline in it. However tire irons, zip ties, cheap workgloves, sockets, tape, all that kind of stuff is fine. no power tools I agree with, especially after a friend's HF angle grinder fired a loving cooling fin out a vent slot at my face at like warp 9. Never again. How the gently caress do you make an angle grinder that throws fins? I'm glad they don't make jet engines for planes because that poo poo doesn't fly, literally. Jacks: I have been dragging their steel one around for years, and leaving it outside, and it works great. Their engine hoist is ok too, I have been abusing mine since 2010 and it's still working. Welders: I sure wouldn't buy their consumables, heard of nothing but trouble with weld quality, and their wirefeed welders are something I want nothing to do with, but it's kinda hard to gently caress up an inverter welder. I played with a friend's 50 amp inverter stick welder from HF and it was decent with 1/16 rods. Not sure I'd pay for a welder that small but hey, it works. tire irons: I bought theirs. I bent the poo poo out of them trying to use them. I said they were total poo poo. A friend of mine made fun of me for not knowing how to use tire irons without bending them. 6 months later he borrowed them from me. He bent the poo poo out of them too. I made fun of him for not knowing how to use tire irons without bending them.  Their zip ties loving suck, their electrical tape really loving sucks, and their cheap workgloves really really loving suck. Spend 14 whole dollars and get a bucket of 650 good quality zip ties AND 10 rolls of 3M Tartan 1710 electrical tape at home depot, thank me later. I own 6 of their larger jackstands, too, and they do the job just fine. kastein fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Jun 24, 2013 |
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Jun 24, 2013 16:19
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Agreed, and if you catch it before the bearings spin and turn it into an unrecognizable, unrepairable mass of metal, it's likely that you can just order a handful of bearings off the internet by part number (almost everyone uses the same part numbers, or similar ones, for their bearings, just with different company prefixes, and those who don't usually have a crossref tool) and put it back together and it'll last another ten years.
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Jul 1, 2013 07:01
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Mr. Yuk posted:Even better, get the number stamped into the seal side of the bearing (6000Z, for example) and go down to a bearing and drive house and get them even cheaper than at an authorized parts house. Yup. Reminds me of a project for work a year or so ago. I needed to design an az/el antenna rotator assembly for aiming 3 and 4 foot microwave dishes. Started out speccing the bearings on mcmaster, they ended up being Timken parts, races 3" OD (iirc) and cones 1.5" ID. It was costing around $35 per cone/race pair. The next time I was ordering replacement parts for my jeep I had a flash of brilliance when I recognized a part number format and remembered Timken makes auto bearings too. Guess what? The bearings I'd specced were extremely commonly used on various chevy passenger vehicles as front wheel bearings throughout most of the 60s, 70s, and into the 80s. They came to ~$12 per cone/race pair on RockAuto.com  leaving only the custom turned and welded bearing housing assembly to gently caress with the per-unit pricing.... on the next revision of the product design I ended up redesigning it to quite literally use mid 90s Jeep front wheel bearing assemblies, because they were $36 each and could be made to bolt right into the design with minor changes. If I did it again today, I'd likely use 90s/00s Ford Focus rear wheel bearing assemblies as they have more convenient flange patterns to mount to things and are cheaper, I believe. Those part numbers can be used to buy parts drat near anywhere, it's great. I've ended up finding bearings I needed for a project/repair for cheaper on RC/hobby/roller skating sites than anywhere else, especially the manufacturer/authorized repair parts source.
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Jul 2, 2013 01:13
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Add "nothing precision" AKA no digital electronics of significance or small precision sockets, etc... I forget if I mentioned this but I had a friend's harbor freight angle grinder fire a cooling fan blade out a vent slot AT ME. Never again. My Ryobi angle grinders have been great though, after 3-4 years of beating on them I just finally damaged one. The threaded hole for the guide handle on one stripped out since it's threaded directly into aluminum, I'm probably just going to tap it out for a steel threaded plug and loctite it in place.
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Jul 2, 2013 15:23
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I love my milwaukee 1/2" gear reduction drill. This one: http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100026...la#.UdehQG3JLG4 I had the temerity to attempt to wallow out a hole I'd already drilled in a piece of heavy steel channel stock (without the second handgrip because I am occasionally stupid) and it grabbed, tried to break my wrist, and did this:  That is a 1/2" drill bit. It broke it in a fraction of a second before I could even react. And I've been beating the poo poo out of this drill for 3 years already, it doesn't give a gently caress. If you need a good high power corded drill, this is the only one that I recommend these days.
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Jul 6, 2013 05:49
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Delivery McGee posted:There are ways to cordify your cordless tools. Basically gut a dead battery pack and solder some wires from it to the charger. A plug somewhere along the line is nice but not essential. There's an Instructable for it. Cordless angle grinders are awesome. When I go to the junkyard to pull a truck axle I don't even bother touching a wrench until I've run all my batteries for it flat. Hell with unscrewing rusty ubolts, all I have to do is cut them right at the apex of the U and then wrestle the halves 90-180 degrees with a pair of vise grips and the axle is out. It took me 20-30 minutes to pull the rearend out of a ford explorer on Monday and that included jacking it up off the ground. Used maybe 1/4 or 1/2 of a single battery charge, too. They cut e-brake cables and swaybar links quite nicely as well. You really need two batteries to put in series if you're going to ghetto stick weld offroad. One isn't enough voltage unless you bring like 1/16" 6011 or something. I completely agree on the drilling hammer, except I'm a fan of the 4lb blacksmiths hammer with one chisel point and one flat face. And yes, I completely demolished a 14mm gearwrench last time I did that... I need to find out where to return those. kastein fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Jul 21, 2013 |
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Jul 21, 2013 14:41
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Splizwarf posted:Sears, done it; they sell the Gear Wrench branded ones online alongside the Craftsman ones. They told me they didn't handle gearwrench returns last time I was there. I just checked the gearwrench website and it says they should if I bought it there... this is probably going to turn into a he-said she-said "where is your receipt" slapfest  I guess I will find out if I'm going to keep buying my tools at that Sears or not when I try exchanging it again with a copy of the gearwrench returns policy in hand. (weasels who try and get out of lifetime or extended warranties based on bullshit gotchas in the terms really piss me off)
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Jul 21, 2013 15:22
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Splizwarf posted:How's that Ridgid stuff working out for you, anyway? I haven't had to put in any claims on the ridgid stuff yet. I'm not looking forward to the day when I do... Ryobi basically told me to go gently caress myself concerning those nicads. So I'm not buying any more of their tools, which is a real shame because I rather like them. One of the batteries is getting gutted and combined with a 12 volt and 6 volt 7Ah lead acid gelcell in series on my next paycheck, at which point I should be able to run my angle grinder for approximately 89 years at the junkyard without a recharge. So I won't be buying any more of their batteries, either. Kinda disappointing really, especially since I'd had the drat tool for less than a year and was planning on buying another corded angle grinder or two, a drill press, and probably some other stuff, all Ryobi because I've had good experiences with their angle grinders and drill presses in the past. Oh well, you gently caress me over on warranty and I don't buy your poo poo anymore! End of story.
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Jul 21, 2013 15:49
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thegasman2000, a 4.5" angle grinder will go a long long way. I have cut up to 1/2" plate with mine and probably could have cut 3/4" but at that point it becomes worth my time to bring it down to the steel suppliers shop and have them run it through the massive bandsaw in 5 minutes for $20 instead. I usually use Heleta cutoff wheels because I can buy them in 100 quantity for 56 cents each on their website, I just stock up every 6-12 months. You can't even get HF wheels for that cheap and HF wheels warn you about cancer. Wear your fuckin' welding gloves when you are using the grinders, BTW. And a full face shield or birth control goggles. And be mindful of where you're shooting the sparks. I can't find it now, but I have a gnarly picture of my left index finger cut about 1/4 of the way through (I could see the bone!) because I was a dumbass and "just needed to cut two bolts" so I didn't bother with gloves. kastein fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Aug 27, 2013 |
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Aug 27, 2013 19:47
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Wormil, that is a steal for that tap. Where did you get it? I'm always looking to expand my tap collection. Speaking of which I need to find out what size dana 60 spindle nuts and kingpin bolts and studs are and 1. order some then 2. buy a tap to clean the threads out on the steering knuckles. SWAG/eyeball says 1/2-20 or 9/16-18 UNF... time to google. e: google says a 3/4" hex nut would be a 1/2" bolt, so I guess it's probably 1/2-20. Excellent, I already have that tap. Anyone know where I can get a 2" receiver mount for a bench vise? I can weld one up myself, but if I can find one for cheap I'd rather do that. Harbor Freight has one for $23 but it looks like it's made out of 1/8" sheetmetal, which is somewhere in between comical and woefully underbuilt for what I'll be doing to it. I'm looking for at least 1/4" gusseted or 3/8" or 1/2" ungusseted construction because this thing is going to get beaten on. kastein fucked around with this message at 17:30 on Sep 9, 2013 |
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Sep 9, 2013 17:27
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I'll trust the Bosch name for this I think.
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Sep 9, 2013 19:08
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Keeping it straight is going to be annoying but you can do it with a steady hand. A hand drill is a very different thing from a cordless - depends on the cordless, really. Also, do not buy harbor freight taps. You are better off filing slots in a grade 8 or ISO PC 10.9 grade bolt than you are trying to use a harbor freight tap.
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Sep 17, 2013 01:32
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WD40 is mostly stoddard solvent as I recall. Stoddard solvent = close to turpentine. It's basically a thin low sulfur mineral oil though, which is what's important.
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Sep 17, 2013 18:16
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Mine leaks too, even after replacing the pump because it was hosed, previously it didn't let any oil out even when it was supposed to. I just store it on the kitchen floor for now because I haven't torn it out yet and know I'm going to need to. I'll have to remember the frisbee idea for when I actually have floors I care about 
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Oct 24, 2013 19:13
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That is a hell of a deal, those center punches are pretty awesome. You just put the tip where you want a punch mark and then push down till it breaks over and automatically punches the mark for you.
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Oct 28, 2013 02:53
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Splizwarf posted:That thing is loving brutal and on alignments it holds up long after even a Snap-On wrench open-end will flex and slip. It's hands-down the best tool this thread ever showed me. That thing is loving amazing and I knew I needed to buy one the first time I saw one in a friends toolbag. I'm not surprised at all that it holds up that well under pressure - a hell of a lot of preload on the jaws will do that, even the most finely machined, strongest box wrench doesn't have that going for it.
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Nov 17, 2013 00:03
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asdf32 posted:Ryobi's strength is value. Compare to Dewalt/Milwaukee/Makita/Bosch which are higher quality but more money. Don't buy from Amazon, that set is $179 from Home Depot. Home Depot has an exclusive on Ryobi I believe, it looks like someone is just reselling on Amazon. Also if you're willing to spend $250 consider spending $50 more as there are a lot of $299 6 tool Ryobi combo kits on Home Depot's website right now. Their other strength is weaseling out of their warranty by any means necessary, if you buy something from them, read all the fine print and register your poo poo on their website by serial number within days of buying it. And keep your receipt and packaging. Don't just assume that if the package says 3 year extended warranty, they'll give it to you if you prove purchase date etc, because they'll tell you to get hosed. In my case it was less than a year. I'm a little sour about those fuckers still. And I haven't caused enough damage to their sales numbers yet to consider my retribution for their lovely warranty weaseling complete
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Nov 18, 2013 03:24
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Depending on the shape you need to cut I'd recommend one or the other. If you need to cut tight inside corners, the dremel wins. Also an angle grinder is something you should practice with rather than doing your first cut on the piece you want to come out right, they can eat up a lot of metal really fast. After having a friend's harbor freight angle grinder fire a cooling fan blade out of the motor housing AT ME, I will never, ever buy one. Up to you though, maybe you like eating fan blades. I can get 4.5" angle grinder cutoff wheels for 50odd cents each off heleta.com; fiber reinforced dremel wheels are around $1 a pop unless you go with a no name chinese brand off ebay.
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Nov 29, 2013 00:51
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I always use the guard unless I absolutely can't make a cut without it. I try to remember to wear gloves especially when doing a lot of work. Cost me $1300 last time I didn't - 3 stitches and 3 xrays because I cut my finger to the bone. Got lucky and didn't sever any tendons or nerves. Face shield I wear when I remember. Honestly, if you aren't an idiot you won't have your face anywhere near the plane of the cutting wheel, unless grinding/cutting overhead, in which case goddamnit, wear your goggles and face shield.
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Nov 29, 2013 02:28
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Interesting. I usec a magnet out of an old hard drive to lift a piece of metal out of my eye last time, actually. Stuffed it in a rubber glove, disinfected with peroxide, let it dry, and carefully touched my eye with it. Straight in/out, no scrubbing... picked the filing right up and was better in hours. It wouldn't come out with a moistened qtip and I didn't want to scrub it further in.
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Nov 29, 2013 16:07
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