Tool Thread!

[mr moose]

8 minutes ago, Arange said:

I remembered about this topic when I bought a new welding. Why is the thread dead?

Unfortunately to keep it going we need content to talk about all the time,  none of use can afford to buy new tools all the time so what do we have to post?

 

I am making a sheet brake, I will post pictures of that when I am done.

[The King of the Undead]

[Ravendarat]

I didnt know this was a thing till now, when I was getting tools/ toolbox a couple months ago I just used the "new purchase" thread. But since Im here now Ill ask the question, What are you guys preferring for cordless tools? I was a Makita guy for years but in the last 6 months or so I got super heavy into Milwaukee, I now have like 3 impacts, 2 drills, a sawzall, long neck 3/8 ratchet, short neck 3/8 ratchet and a soldering gun all using m12 batteries and the stuff has been great so far. I dont do heavy mechanic work though, I do car audio and security installation work for the most part but having one battery for all the tools makes it nice and they seem to recharge relatively quickly so so far Im a believer. 

[The King of the Undead]

11 minutes ago, Ravendarat said:

I didnt know this was a thing till now, when I was getting tools/ toolbox a couple months ago I just used the "new purchase" thread. But since Im here now Ill ask the question, What are you guys preferring for cordless tools? I was a Makita guy for years but in the last 6 months or so I got super heavy into Milwaukee, I now have like 3 impacts, 2 drills, a sawzall, long neck 3/8 ratchet, short neck 3/8 ratchet and a soldering gun all using m12 batteries and the stuff has been great so far. I dont do heavy mechanic work though, I do car audio and security installation work for the most part but having one battery for all the tools makes it nice and they seem to recharge relatively quickly so so far Im a believer. 

My personal is all porter cable. preffer dewalt but grandpa didn't trust us to keep ours seperate from literally everyone I know with power tools.

[Ravendarat]

1 minute ago, The King of the Undead said:

My personal is all porter cable. preffer dewalt but grandpa didn't trust us to keep ours seperate from literally everyone I know with power tools.

I used Dewalt for about 8 years or so but I felt like they kinda fell behind tech wise, as well as the older I got and the more tradespeople I met the more they all seemed to hate on Dewalt lol

[JZStudios]

23 minutes ago, Ravendarat said:

I didnt know this was a thing till now, when I was getting tools/ toolbox a couple months ago I just used the "new purchase" thread. But since Im here now Ill ask the question, What are you guys preferring for cordless tools? I was a Makita guy for years but in the last 6 months or so I got super heavy into Milwaukee, I now have like 3 impacts, 2 drills, a sawzall, long neck 3/8 ratchet, short neck 3/8 ratchet and a soldering gun all using m12 batteries and the stuff has been great so far. I dont do heavy mechanic work though, I do car audio and security installation work for the most part but having one battery for all the tools makes it nice and they seem to recharge relatively quickly so so far Im a believer. 

My dad had a Makita drill that lasted for probably 15 years before it finally completely died. Since then I've gotten the cheapest drill on Amazon... I think it's a black and decker, that I was "required" to buy for a previous job. It's actually kind of nice because it's so shit and low power that it won't strip nails, or even drywall. My brother got a drill/driver combo that I believe is a Kobalt. It works.

I'd never get a wireless Sawzall though, what's the point? It drains batteries way too fast, and at the point where I drag it out I'm doing more than a single cut.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

9 minutes ago, Ravendarat said:

I used Dewalt for about 8 years or so but I felt like they kinda fell behind tech wise, as well as the older I got and the more tradespeople I met the more they all seemed to hate on Dewalt lol

I prefer Ryobi. When they first came out, they were suitable for home DIYers (I still have some of those antiques and they still work just fine) but they have been steadily improving over the years whereas others have been declining. They now are as good as many of the other pro grade tools, enough so that many pros have started using them. One thing going for Ryobi 18v tools is they have remained compatible with earlier batteries on the older tools will work with the newer batteries. 

[Scheer]

5 hours ago, Ravendarat said:

I didnt know this was a thing till now, when I was getting tools/ toolbox a couple months ago I just used the "new purchase" thread. But since Im here now Ill ask the question, What are you guys preferring for cordless tools? I was a Makita guy for years but in the last 6 months or so I got super heavy into Milwaukee, I now have like 3 impacts, 2 drills, a sawzall, long neck 3/8 ratchet, short neck 3/8 ratchet and a soldering gun all using m12 batteries and the stuff has been great so far. I dont do heavy mechanic work though, I do car audio and security installation work for the most part but having one battery for all the tools makes it nice and they seem to recharge relatively quickly so so far Im a believer. 

I've settled on Milwaukee, seem to hold up the best over time. My only semi-regret was getting a M18 Fuel drill and impact and then standard M12 drill and impact, I probably should have just saved some money and went with two sets of M12 Fuel, as my standard M12's can do just about everything I need. Then again, even the M18 will struggle a bit mixing 5 gallons of drywall compound so eh... As for the bigger tools, the Fuel versions aren't much more money if you are just getting bare tools, so definitely do that as the Fuel Sawzall and Grinder are WAY better than the standards, they've completely replaced my corded versions. The standard M18 circular saw and SDS drill do well enough, haven't bothered replacing them yet.

 

You also have the whole ecosystem of M12/18, so lawn trimmers, chainsaws, plumbing tools, etc... Hell I even have a M12 thermal camera. Extremely nice to only have two different batteries to worry about having charged for a giant array of tools, plus there is a 12/18 combo charger, so only one thing sitting out on the bench.

 

Ryobi does have several tools I wish Milwaukee had, and some are so much cheaper it was almost temped to add a Ryobi charger to my garage, but then I found this. So now I have all my nice Milwaukee tools I commonly use, and can buy Ryobi for the tools I'll only use once in a blue moon or the oddball stuff Milwaukee doesn't sell like the grass seed spreader I just got, but still only have to worry about two batteries. Next on the list is their hot glue gun.

 

If you don't have it yet, this is the best $40 M12 tool I've purchased. Use the crap out of it, its the perfect assembly/disassembly tool. There is a 2 speed Fuel version I'll be picking up the next time I catch it on sale. And for the high draw tools, the 4.0 M12 battery makes a noticeable difference in power.

[Ravendarat]

2 hours ago, Scheer said:

If you don't have it yet, this is the best $40 M12 tool I've purchased. Use the crap out of it, its the perfect assembly/disassembly tool. There is a 2 speed Fuel version I'll be picking up the next time I catch it on sale. And for the high draw tools, the 4.0 M12 battery makes a noticeable difference in power.

So Ive seen that but havent been able to figure out a good use case to own it yet, what would you use that for that you couldnt just use a drill thats properly set?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

27 minutes ago, Ravendarat said:

So Ive seen that but havent been able to figure out a good use case to own it yet, what would you use that for that you couldnt just use a drill thats properly set?

It has far more torque than a similar sized drill motor. The quick release 1/4" hex chuck is far more convenient to use than a three jaw check, especially when using 1/4" hex body driver bits.

 

What's nice about that on is it has a clutch to limit torque, making it less likely to strip out or break small screws. I wish my little Ryobi impact driver had a clutch (yes, I have clutch envy) but I've used it enough, by running it a slow speed, I can feel when to backoff the trigger before I can strip or break a screw, even small ones. I've never actually needed a driver with a clutch but, if I ever find myself doing a project that needs more finesse, such as driving #4 sheet metal screws into thin aluminum, my drill motor has a clutch (and even a driver setting though I wouldn't need it) so I could use it.

 

To give an example of the torque an impact driver can generate... I have a ten bit set of Irwin tri-flute Speed Bore auger bits. These bits are extremely aggressive when boring holes, so they require quite a bit of torque. My 18v 1/2 Ryobi drill motors are as powerful as a 120v direct drive drill motor (I have an old Craftsman from way back when Craftsman still made tools, not junk, say, 40 some odd years ago), if not more so, but neither cannot even come close to driving these bits. But chuck one into my little 18v impact driver, it will chew a hole through, say a 2x4 stud in nothing flat. This is especially valuable for, say, an electrician drilling umpteen studs for a long run of NM cable (aka Romex). In my case, I'm just lazy and want to drill the hole as fast as possible.

[Ravendarat]

Huh maybe ill have to pick one up, they go onsale all the time around here.

[mr moose]

This will be like the 5th or 6th time I have tried to post this.

 

This is the brake/bender I have been making mucking around with for the last few years. I have been using or recycled and scrap steels.  With isolation happening I finally found time to do some more to it.

 

It's basically a sheet bender made from two pieces of right angle building lentil (7mm thick) and steel plate with angled welded on top for support and some studs to clamp it down.

 

The base and bending bit are hinged with a gate hinge. and it is clamped tot he bench with some home made clamps:

 

 

 

[mr moose]

To clamp down the brake and hold the sheet tight I drilled and welled out a hole to weld in a  stud.  It had to welded from the top because the bottom has to remain flat to sit on the bench.

 

 

 

 

[mr moose]

To make the plate I welded down some 50x50x6mm angle.   Then using a hole saw I drilled out a section to drop in a vertical 4mm pipe.  This is where the stud will come through and allow me to clamp it down tight. The pipe sit hard on the steel plate as well as being welded to the angle.

 

 

 

All clamped down

[mr moose]

And finalizing testing with some really light (0.6mm) sheet to see how straight and clean the bend is:

 

 

 

Not bad, it's certainly clean enough for the stuff I do,  I will do some more tests later, But I would be surprised if I couldn't bend 1.2 mm sheet in this

[Windows9]

I love Aldi tools. I have the workzone : cutter, multifuntion tool, vice, screwdriver, drill, pressure washer  and lots more. Super cheap and good quality

[mr moose]

Can confirm my home made bender easily does 1.2mm sheet.

[Ravendarat]

1 hour ago, mr moose said:

Can confirm my home made bender easily does 1.2mm sheet.

Thats some nice work you did there building that tool, well done!

[Scheer]

New tool showed up yesterday, the M12 Installation Drill Driver, pretty pleased with this one. I expected it to be on par with the M12 Screwdriver, but it has quite a bit more power, and came with 24wh batteries rather than standard 16wh, which was a nice surprise. Entirely possible all M12 have moved to coming with 24wh though, I haven't bought one for a good while. Its pretty crazy the difference the battery alone makes, on a 16wh in the 2nd speed it will drive a 4" #10 GRK into a 2x4, but stall out right as the screw head is flush, on the 24wh it will drive it right down until the bit can't reach any further into the wood. The 16wh I used was a couple years old, but it is dedicated to my M12 thermal imager so it is only been through a handful of charge cycles and should still be at peak performance.

 

 

The best part is all the weird angles you can get into with the different heads, and the offset adapter will make hiding screws in corners much easier.

 

 

And then I finally finished my M18 soldering iron I found on thingiverse, just waiting for epoxy to dry on the spade connectors for the battery connection. I've never had good luck with butane irons, and lately I've been using a T12 handle wired up to a LiPo battery, but lack of heat control has been a PITA. While this will be noticeably larger, I'm much more likely to have a charged M18 laying around, and gain nice heat control, it will be worth it.

 

[Pickles von Brine]

On 5/1/2020 at 2:11 AM, mr moose said:

And finalizing testing with some really light (0.6mm) sheet to see how straight and clean the bend is:

 

*Snip*

 

Not bad, it's certainly clean enough for the stuff I do,  I will do some more tests later, But I would be surprised if I couldn't bend 1.2 mm sheet in this

Remember the welders creed:
Grinder and Paint make me the Welder I Ain't. 

And:
Bigger the gob the better the job. 

[vf1000ride]

Not so much an individual tool but the box I keep them all in.  Sometimes being a mechanic for a living costs a bunch of cash.

[mr moose]

6 hours ago, Pickles - Lord of the Jar said:

Remember the welders creed:
Grinder and Paint make me the Welder I Ain't. 

And:
Bigger the gob the better the job. 

I certainly need to grind and paint with vertical stick welds after several re welds and regrinds ,  but I'm happy with the outcome of most my other stuff.  my Fluxcore wire feed and MIG are really good,  My TIG needs more work, I just don't have steady enough hands and I keep dipping the tip. Stick is awesome except for vertical and quite acceptable in overhead.  

 

 

 

 

[Pickles von Brine]

3 hours ago, mr moose said:

I certainly need to grind and paint with vertical stick welds after several re welds and regrinds ,  but I'm happy with the outcome of most my other stuff.  my Fluxcore wire feed and MIG are really good,  My TIG needs more work, I just don't have steady enough hands and I keep dipping the tip. Stick is awesome except for vertical and quite acceptable in overhead.  

 

 

 

 

I think you can solve this with some tungstain targlide, the paragon of materials!

[mr moose]

3 minutes ago, Pickles - Lord of the Jar said:

I think you can solve this with some tungstain targlide, the paragon of materials!

never heard of it.

[Ravendarat]

6 hours ago, vf1000ride said:

Not so much an individual tool but the box I keep them all in.  Sometimes being a mechanic for a living costs a bunch of cash.

Man ain’t that the truth. I like 17 grand into my purple snap on stuff