Tool Thread!

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, vetali said:

/update bump

 

Aforementioned Milwaukee m12 rotary tool went tits up today. Its stuck on mid speed, on off switch does nothing, slight burning smell after running it a few seconds, have to unplug battery to get it to turn off. 

 

Time to see how their warranty process is, given I've only used it 3 times. 

Nice one... Milwaukee's return process is pretty good, don't see why you shouldn't get another one.

[vetali]

5 minutes ago, Netivity said:

Nice one... Milwaukee's return process is pretty good, don't see why you shouldn't get another one.

Thats good, I asked around with friends and none of them have had to warranty anything yet. So I guess I was just unlucky. 

[Guest]

Just now, vetali said:

Thats good, I asked around with friends and none of them have had to warranty anything yet. So I guess I was just unlucky. 

It happens.

 

I personally use everything RYOBI, which has a brilliant warranty system imo. Had to replace my non-brushless drill once and then a battery but it is something that I have used EVERY single day for 3 years now.

 

For my few Milwaukee tools I had to only replace something once after purchase, I just returned it to the hardware store, showed receipt, got a new one again.

[Pickles von Brine]

 

 

Okay but seriously, one of the best tools I have ever bought has been these:

https://www.amazon.com/bangdan-GUITAR-PICKS-RED-50/dp/B00WQ249XY/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550629548&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=dunlop+guitar+picks+.5mm

.5mm guitar picks. These things are super handy when repairing machines, opening iMacs, using as shims, scraping things, etc. Durable and hold up to heat okay. 

[Lord Mirdalan]

On 2/1/2019 at 12:23 PM, Lady Fitzgerald said:

I've had these for a couple of weeks or so but I finally got around to digging out the bag today so I could put them away. I was at Ace Hardware to pick up a few screws and saw these on sale ($9.95/pr, normally around $30) and couldn't resist (I never pass up discounted clamps; a girl just can't have too many clamps).

 

 

I had to cut them loose from the cards (they were zip tied together) and spread out the blob of thick oil on the bar so I could clamp them to a piece of scrap plywood.

 

 

 

I wish they had had more of them but I suspect that was a closeout price.

Nice catch. What are your thoughts on plastic vs metal clamps?

 

Prefer metal myself, but why do some of you like plastic?

 

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

5 hours ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

Nice catch. What are your thoughts on plastic vs metal clamps?

 

Prefer metal myself, but why do some of you like plastic?

 

 

I also prefer metal over plastc but the Irwin Quick Grips use metal bars and metal parts inside the plastic heads plus the plastic heads are pretty beefy and the plastic itself will be reasonably durable if not abused (keep in mind today's plastics are often far better than they used to be). Screw clamps can be tightened more than the quick grips and aren't as bulky but need two hands to install. The quick grips can be installed with one hand and are easy to snug up but can't be tightened as much as screw clamps can (especially with my old, arthritic hands; I once finished tightening one with another clamp on the tightening lever). Another advantage the quick grips have over screw clamps is they have a far wider grip range than screw type bar clamps, whose range at any one position on the bar is limited to the screw length. The quick grips advance on the entire bar itself instead of using a range limiting screw.

 

If I had to settle for only one kind of clamp, it would would be a variety of screw type bar clamps and C-clamps but both types-- metal screw clamps and plastic headed squeeze handled bar clamps--have their own advantages and it's well worth having a variety of both.

 

My Daddy had a variety of pipe type bar clamp heads and cut and threaded his own lengths of pipe so he had a huge variety of clamp lengths I would have loved to have had but we have no idea what happened to them or the pipe dies I bought for him (a lot of his tools disappeared between when he developed dementia from a series of strokes and my sister, her husband, and I went through them before the estate sale after he and my Mama had to be hospitalized). I wouldn't minded having a bunch of those.

 

Then there are the spring clamps. They are the ones that use springs tp provide the holding pressure. Metal ones with plastic coated tips are the least bulky but there are also excellent ones made of glass fiber reinforced plastic (the cheap ones are garbage) but they are much bulkier. Both are the easiest and fastest to apply one handed and can be very versatile but they have a very limited grip range. I don't like them because the ones that have strong enough springs to be any good are usually too stiff for my hands. I did look at some plastic ones at the Ace I scored the Imp from that looked pretty good at a very good price but the springs were just too strong for me; I had to use two hands to open them which negated their use to me.

 

All styles of clamps have their advantages and disadvantages. C-clamps are usually stronger than bar clamps but the ones that are built well enough to be worth having are far more expensive; the cheap ones are garbage, usually slip due to the screw cocking over when tightened. Strap clamps are great for clamping irregular shapes, such as picture frames. Clamping pliers (so called vise grips) come in a huge variety of stiles and are extremely useful (I have a large variety) but the ones worth having are also expensive (they also have a limited grip range).

 

Hog rings originally were for crimping to a pig's snout (ouch!) so they couldn't root a hole under a pen's fence. They were popular in upholstery, especially automotive, for clamping fabric stretched over a metal frame.

 

Similar to hog rings, one kind of clamp most, if not all, of you have never encountered (I'm giving my age away here) that I will never use due to the damage they inflict is called a clinch clamp. These are a semicircular piece of spring wire with sharpened ends.

 

 

Back when glues were much slower setting than they are now, they were used in the mass production of painted picture frames (and, sometmes, paneled door and paneled cabinet door construction). A pair of pliers that opened instead of closing when the handles were squeezed was used to apply them to the mitered corners of a picture frame. The ends would dig into the wood and the spring metal would squeeze the joint together. After the glue dried and the clamps were removed, the holes were filled (usually) and wouldn't show after the frame was painted (usually, if filled). They were cheap as dirt so hundreds, if not thousands, could be used while each frame's glue was drying. This shows some in use that were designed to be applied by hand instead of using special pliers.

 

 

Clinch clamps (the term is rarely used now) were very fast to apply and were very effective but there are much better clamps available for clamping picture frames now, such as strap clamps. In mass production, nearly instant glues, often hot melt, and a fixture is used to clamp the frames until the glue set, then the frame is removed, or the frames are just nailed or stapled together. Some DIYers make their own clinch clamps by cutting them from coil springs and grinding a point on the cut ends.

 

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I'm a big believer in making jigs and fixtures to make projects, easier, faster, and/or more acccurate. I bought these little jewels a while back to put on a couple of simple jigs I made to make cutting out holes in a wall for an oldwork outlet box using a multi-tool with a saw blade in it (I got my inspiration from a boobtube Youtube video). I ordered a couple of these from McMaster-Carr to make positioning the jigs on the wall easier.

 

 

This is a picture of the single gang jig before installing the level on it.

 

 

The jig works by putting a small piece of double sided tape on the back of the block of wood, stick it to the wall, using the level to make sure it's vertical or horizontal, then shoot in a couple of #8 sheet metal screws through the holes into the wall. I can then use the jig to guide a muti-tool blade around the outside of the jig. It's much easier than trying to lay out a hole on the wall, then cut it out using just the lines on the wall, especially in tight quarters. I later made a jig for double gang boxes.

 

Today, I got ambitious and screwed the T-levels to the jigs. That turned out to be a chore because the levels were really sensitive and the vertical levels weren't perfectly perpendicular to the horizontal levels (mutter, mutter, mumble mumble). It didn't help that the blocks weren't perfectly square (although I could barely see that when checking them with a square). I picked which sides I was going to reference to when aligning the T-levels by drawing arrows on the blocks showing which way was up when mounting a box horizontally or vetically (although I have no idea when I'll ever mount a two gang box horizontally). I aligned the T-levels by placing a two foot level on my desk and shimming one end slightly to get to dead level, placed each jig on it and rotated the T-levels ever so slightly to get them level, then finished tightening the screws.

 

The jigs aren't perfect but they will give far results that are closer than I usually would have gotten without them and it makes the job much easier. Here are the two jigs.

 

 

I have a Pelican case I customised to store my multi-tool body, multi-tool and other heads, and attachments. I made room in the case to store the jigs.

 

 

 

I doubt I'll bother to make a jig for triple gang boxes.

[Lord Mirdalan]

How did you cut the foam so cleanly? Mine typically looks like I chewed the holes out.

 

 

[Real_PhillBert]

13 hours ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

How did you cut the foam so cleanly? Mine typically looks like I chewed the holes out.

 

 

That looks like the Pelican pick and pluck foam. It's pre-cut into small squares, so you just remove the squares you dont want. 

[Lord Mirdalan]

Modern hand-held power tools seem (to me) to be heading in the direction of semi-disposable mostly-plastic sadness. Now, I love me some cordless tools, but I miss the old aesthetic of tools with cast-metal bodies.

 

What brings this to mind is, I recently rebuilt an old Hole Hawg, and in the process took a look at the newer "Super Hawg". I just don't see the newer models being around in 40 years, being made of compressed dinosaurs as they are.

 

What are your thoughts?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

On 2/20/2019 at 8:58 PM, Lord Mirdalan said:

How did you cut the foam so cleanly? Mine typically looks like I chewed the holes out.

 

 

 

On 2/21/2019 at 10:23 AM, Real_PhillBert said:

That looks like the Pelican pick and pluck foam. It's pre-cut into small squares, so you just remove the squares you dont want. 

Asked and answered. The foam is Pelican's Pick N Pluck. It comes with many of their cases and can also be purchased separately. I have also cut curves in the foam, using a serrated steak knife (Pelican recommends an electric knife but a serrated knife will work just as well if using gentle, sawing stokes). In deep cases like this one, the foam is in two layers, making adjusting the depth of a pocket easier. Otherwise, to adjust pocket depth, one can remove the pieces in a single block, cut down the thickness of the block, then reinsert the block into the pocket.

 

 

6 hours ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

Modern hand-held power tools seem (to me) to be heading in the direction of semi-disposable mostly-plastic sadness. Now, I love me some cordless tools, but I miss the old aesthetic of tools with cast-metal bodies.

 

What brings this to mind is, I recently rebuilt an old Hole Hawg, and in the process took a look at the newer "Super Hawg". I just don't see the newer models being around in 40 years, being made of compressed dinosaurs as they are.

 

What are your thoughts?

Modern day plastics are often far more durable than the older ones. I have twenty year old Ryobi power tools with plastic housings that are still in excellent condition. Many older tools had die cast zinc or sintered aluminum housings that just didn't hold up well (zinc is soft and sintered alumninum is brittle). I (and my old carcass) generally prefer the lighter weight of the plastic housings over the heavier metal housings.

 

[Drak3]

9 hours ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

What are your thoughts?

There are plastic AR mags that are stronger than steel ones. There is a plastic AR15 lower that can be ran over and is exponentially more likely to survive than the standard aluminum counterpart.

 

Don't be so quick to judge plastic as being inferior.

[Dash Lambda]

17 hours ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

What are your thoughts?

It really does depend on the specific materials. AvE gives a lot of great commentary on material choice and whatnot when he tears things apart.

 

In terms of raw longevity, plastic will generally beat metal. Metals are more reactive and will corrode far faster than plastic will decompose, with a few exceptions.

In terms of structural properties, both plastics and metals vary quite a lot. In cheaper modern tools, they'll generally use straight ABS, which isn't very good for housings and whatnot -Nicer tools will use glass-fiber reinforced nylon, which is strong, hard-wearing, and light. Sometimes they'll even use carbon fiber reinforcing, generally for small mechanical components. Cost-saving isn't all that big a reason to use the better plastics, instead they're usually used for the sake of comfort, weight, and/or chemical/electrical properties.

 

That's not to say modern tools are just as good as they used to be, 'cause that's too broad a statement for the whole industry. Most of the brands you'll find in Home-Depot are definitely sacrificing quality for cost savings, but that's just because they're optimizing for their market. The vast majority of their customers need something that will stand up to a 'lifetime' of occasional, light use. Making those people an expensive tool that'll stick around for their grandchildren just doesn't make sense. The companies that do make those sorts of tools don't even care about normal consumers because their money is in stuff like heavy industry, where the tools need to stand up to constant abuse.

 

I'd argue that modern tools are actually way better engineered than most of the vintage ones people compare them to, 'cause engineering is working within constraints. It takes a lot more work to balance cost and quality for a particular purpose than it does to make something as robust as possible.

[KhandakeF]

On 1/27/2019 at 6:29 PM, Drak3 said:

Nearly everything is a tool.

Truck? Tool to carry heavy things long distances.

Fork? Tool to transport food from plate to mouth.

Gun? Tool to kill that which is actively trying to kill you.

damn, I need a tool for my life

[Lady Fitzgerald]

36 minutes ago, Dash Lambda said:

...electrical properties...

That brings up an excellent point about plastic used for tool housings. That allows tools to be double insulated, which is safer than metal bodied tools, even if they use a three pronged plug.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Just picked this up in the mail today.

 

 

 

The table on my bandsaw is pretty small (12" x 12") and the miter gauge is a bit of a joke (small and a bit sloppy) so I'm going to make a bigger table (probably 18" x 18" or maybe a bit bigger) from built-up aluminum plate to replace the old one. I did make a wooden sled for cutting stock too large for the miter gauge but the fit of the oak runner would get tight when the humidity was high or get loose when it was low and the sled itself eventually warped.

 

I can make the miter gauge slot by using two 3/8" plates over another plate, leaving a gap between them. I will have to mill a 1/16" x 1/8" rabbit on the bottom edge of each top plate that will form the slot for the disk on the end of the miter gauge bar that keeps the miter gauge from tipping when it overhangs the front edge of the table. I can probably use my Daddy's home made router table for his 1/2 HP router to make the rabbit by using a 1/4" shank straight carbide bit and taking really light passes.

 

I'm debating on whether to make the fence for the new miter gauge from oak or aluminum bar stock. Either one will take about the same amount of work.

 

I'm still debating on how to make a rip fence. I could just use a piece of aluminum bar or angle stock for it and use small bar clamps to secure it or get some 1/16" x 1" x 2" aluminum tube and dismantle the old fence, move the "innards" from the old fence to the new one, and extend the clamp screw. I would have to use a piece of heavy sheet or light plate on the blade side of the fence since the old fence "innards" has a plastic piece on the bottom at each end that leaves a gap at the bottom of the fence that thin stock can slip under (I currently have a piece of 1/16" aluminum sheet fastened to the old fence to fill that gap). Decisions, decisions!

 

When I get around to making the new table, I'll document it here.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I'm trying to find an old timey center finder used to position a piece under a drill press with a center punch dimple precisely positioned in line with a chuck in, say, a drill press or vertical mill. I'm not talking about the center finder head on a combination square that is used to find the center of the end of a piece of round bar stock.

 

The only ones I have been able to find are either part of an edge finder, which are a pain to use for this purpose, or are part of a wiggler set, which is easier to use but still a bit awkward since it has to be reset every time it's used. The ones I remember using 50 years ago in school had a 1/4" to 3/8" with a small collet chuck on one end that a pointer rod of smaller diameter went into. You would chuck the shank into the machine's chuck, chuck the pointer into the collet chuck, then maneuver the work so the pointer would drop neatly into a center punch dimple, then lock the work into place.  You would then swap the finder out for a drill bit. In use, it looks like a wiggler with the pointed attachment butt it doen't have to be aligned every time.

 

Anther type that would work for me is a simple, precision ground or turned rod that has a cone shape on the end and one would align the pointed end with the center punch dimple. This one could also be used to quickly align a smaller drill bit inside a larger hole by burying the cone into the hole (it can also be doen with the ball end attachment of a wiggler but it's trickier to do).

 

I'm posting this here to see if any of you tool enthusiasts might know where to find one or the other before I have to resort to getting a (gasp) wiggler.

[BetterThanLife]

I am a tool so does that count?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Well, at least someone read my post.

[BetterThanLife]

5 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Well, at least someone read my post.

I am sorry.

 

Makes me and you a coffee awaiting someone to answer.

[Lord Mirdalan]

On 2/23/2019 at 5:14 PM, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Just picked this up in the mail today.

[images redacted]

 

The table on my bandsaw is pretty small (12" x 12") and the miter gauge is a bit of a joke (small and a bit sloppy) so I'm going to make a bigger table (probably 18" x 18" or maybe a bit bigger) from built-up aluminum plate to replace the old one. I did make a wooden sled for cutting stock too large for the miter gauge but the fit of the oak runner would get tight when the humidity was high or get loose when it was low and the sled itself eventually warped.

 

I can make the miter gauge slot by using two 3/8" plates over another plate, leaving a gap between them. I will have to mill a 1/16" x 1/8" rabbit on the bottom edge of each top plate that will form the slot for the disk on the end of the miter gauge bar that keeps the miter gauge from tipping when it overhangs the front edge of the table. I can probably use my Daddy's home made router table for his 1/2 HP router to make the rabbit by using a 1/4" shank straight carbide bit and taking really light passes.

 

I'm debating on whether to make the fence for the new miter gauge from oak or aluminum bar stock. Either one will take about the same amount of work.

 

I'm still debating on how to make a rip fence. I could just use a piece of aluminum bar or angle stock for it and use small bar clamps to secure it or get some 1/16" x 1" x 2" aluminum tube and dismantle the old fence, move the "innards" from the old fence to the new one, and extend the clamp screw. I would have to use a piece of heavy sheet or light plate on the blade side of the fence since the old fence "innards" has a plastic piece on the bottom at each end that leaves a gap at the bottom of the fence that thin stock can slip under (I currently have a piece of 1/16" aluminum sheet fastened to the old fence to fill that gap). Decisions, decisions!

 

When I get around to making the new table, I'll document it here.

I'd like to see how it turns out... 

 

Who makes that miter gauge? 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

5 minutes ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

I'd like to see how it turns out... 

 

Who makes that miter gauge? 

Wnew (w-new.taobao.com), according to what's printed on it. I found it on Fleabay. Fleabay has a huge selection of miter gauges. I selected this one based on reviews I found elsewhere.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I picked these goodies up from my mail service today. First:

 

 

This (not so) little jewel can cut iron pipe up to 2". Considering how cheap it was, I'll be happy if it can cut six 10' joints of black iron pipe in half. Why do I want to do that? These:

 

 

 

Buying 10' joints of pipe and cutting them down to 5' (only one end needs to be threaded) will save far more than the cost of the cutter.

 

These are clamps designed to be used with 3/4" iron pipe, much like a bar clamp. I was disappointed with these. First, I ordered eight sets of these but the idiot vendor (Harbor "Fright") had only six on hand so they shipped six and back ordered two without consulting me first. When I found out and called them to cancel the order, I was told it had already shipped. It didn't actually ship until the next day. Then, they screwed up my address and, after arriving in my home town, it was returned to CA. I called Harbor Fright (they spell it Freight) again and they agreed to cancel the order and give me a full refund. Then the lying *&^%$#@!s shipped it again (and no refund!

 

The castings are not the greatest quality on Earth. What really bites my ample asset is one jaw face is flat but the other one was not (the face is on the bottom).

 

 

Another shot of the less than flat face.

 

 

These were designed to have wooden pads screwed to them. I don't need to worry about the other, flat space. I'll just cut some half inch poplar and secure them with screws and 3M VHB tape. I'm thinkin' I can grind some of the high spots off the bad face. Before screwing the pads on that face, I'll assemble the clamp on its pipe, then soak the remaining face in water for a day or two. Just before screwing on the face, I'll gently nuke the pad in the reactor a bit (microwave it) to help soften it up some more, screw it to the clamp face, cover the good face pad with packing tape to keep it dry, clamp it together tight enough to force the irregularities of the face into the wood, then let dry, cinching up the clamp and screws every now and then. The wood should compress enough to conform to the irregularities of the face and hold its shape once dry. Once dry, I can unscrew the pad, add some VHB tape, then screw it back on. Those pads shouldn't go anywhere until I want them to.

[Boarder]

I'm a retired mechanic. When I left the shop I sold all my roll about boxes but put together a 3 drawer rally box with sets of tools to take home. Comes very handy but as I got older it's getting too heavy to tote so I put together a Husky 3 drawer rally box and stock it with Harbor Freight tools to keep in my car.

[vetali]

Forgot to post I got my rotary tool back from milwaukee. Pretty good warranty service, just I wish there was a way to track that they've received your tool on the site... and pay for any repairs on there if the tool is out of warranty.