Tool Thread!

[Lord Mirdalan]

On 7/12/2019 at 9:59 PM, Lady Fitzgerald said:

I took the blasted thing to my bandsaw. That chewed through the welded plastic like a hot knife through melted butter. 

Ahh, opening a box AVE style. Good times.

 

You have to wonder about those plastic blister packs, sometimes. More engineering went into the packaging than the tool.

[mr moose]

2 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Hi, from one tool whore fan to another!

 

Dool! If only I had that kind of space!

I am pretty lucky, I live on a decent size block (for urban living).  

 

EDIT: though the more space you have the harder it is to keep clean, Most of that space is taken up with the junk from about 5 projects i can't seem to find the time to finish.

 

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

2 hours ago, mr moose said:

...Most of that space is taken up with the junk from about 5 projects i can't seem to find the time to finish.

 

That sounds like my house.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

A while back, I showed off a couple of carbide Forstner bits sets. The boxes they came in were fairly nice but didn't hold the bits in place securely. Today, I fixed that problem. I installed 1" long brads to better secure the bits in place.

 

 

 

It was tedious work. I drew a line on each rabbit, replaced the bits, marked the brad locations, then removed the bits. I used a scriber as a center punch to make a divot for each hole. To drill the holes, I opted to use my Dremel in my hybrid "drill press" stand. The Dremel drill press stand (they call it a Work Station) has a nice base and column but the head is a piece of junk, the Milescraft equvalent has a much better head but the base and column are junk, so I combined the best features of both of them.

 

I used a three jaw chuck instead of a collet chuck in the Dremel and cut the head off a brad to use for a bit. I drilled the holes around 1/2" deep, then started driving the brads. I had to adjust the depth and angle of each brad individually (that was the tedious part; it took over three hours to do the job).

 

This was my set that has alternating 16th inch sizes. The three smallest bits--5/16", 7/16", and 9/16"--are not true Forstner bits; they are more like carbide edged spade bits (often called paddle bits). I had the same problem with the three smallest sizes in my 8th inch sizes set--1/4", 3/8", and 1/2"--but I was able to find three proper bits (made by Freud) and have them on order (I'll do the brad treatment on that set once I get the new bits).

 

However, I have not been able to find replacements for the three bogus forstner bits in 16th inch set (which is why I haven't done the brads for those bits yet). I'm considering just getting HSS (High Speed Steel) Forstner bits to replace the bogus carbide bits but, being the stubborn old bi...broad I am, I'm still trying to find carbide replacements. If anyone knows where I can find some 5/16", 7/16", and 9/16" true Forstner bits, I would appreciate it if you could clue me in.

 

Btw, Roman Carbide bits in those sizes are actually carbide spade bits (I suspect the bits I have are made by Roman Carbide but without Roman Carbide's funky paint job). Some vendors list Freud Precision Shear bits as being carbide but they are not (Freud itself does not make that false claim).

[Lord Mirdalan]

Pondering buying an impact driver, and I'd appreciate some input here.

 

These are the two models in the running currently:

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Power-Tools/Fastening/Impact-Drivers/2850-20

https://www.dewalt.com/products/power-tools/impact-drivers-and-wrenches/20v-max-xr-14-3speed-impact-driver-bare/dcf887b

 

I like that the Dewalt has a "variable speed" selector, other than that, I don't have strong feelings here.

Edit: Formatting

[Drak3]

6 minutes ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

Pondering buying an impact driver, and I'd appreciate some input here.

 

These are the two models in the running currently:

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Power-Tools/Fastening/Impact-Drivers/2850-20

https://www.dewalt.com/products/power-tools/impact-drivers-and-wrenches/20v-max-xr-14-3speed-impact-driver-bare/dcf887b

 

I like that the Dewalt has a "variable speed" selector, other than that, I don't have strong feelings here.

Edit: Formatting

I vote Milwaukee, but you should try to upgrade to a Fuel model. More power and a speed/Torque select.

[Lord Mirdalan]

16 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

I vote Milwaukee, but you should try to upgrade to a Fuel model. More power and a speed/Torque select.

More like these?

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Power-Tools/Fastening/Impact-Drivers/2653-22

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Power-Tools/Fastening/Impact-Drivers/2760-20

Worth considering, thanks. Do you find those features useful, or just a gimmick?

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, Lord Mirdalan said:

Do you find those features useful, or just a gimmick?

The Fuel brand is Milwaukee's higher power brushless stuff. It's not a gimmick.

 

The Hydraulic 'Surge' driver, on the other hand, is purely personal preference. It's also new so I don't know about longevity. But my old Fuel withstood more abuse than a Dewalt could.

[Lord Mirdalan]

6 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

The Fuel brand is Milwaukee's higher power brushless stuff. It's not a gimmick.

 

The Hydraulic 'Surge' driver, on the other hand, is purely personal preference. It's also new so I don't know about longevity. But my old Fuel withstood more abuse than a Dewalt could.

I'm not arguing that the "Fuel" branding denotes a higher-performance tool, that's without a doubt.

 

I wondered if you used the "selectable speed" option?

[Drak3]

Just now, Lord Mirdalan said:

I wondered if you used the "selectable speed" option?

Yes, though I use it largely for low torque on concrete anchors.

[Lord Mirdalan]

2 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Yes, though I use it largely for low torque on concrete anchors.

Thanks! Good to know.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I picked up some more goodies from my mail service today. I needed some 8mm T-bolts but was able to find only one vendor who sold the darned things; Banggood.com in China. I hate buying from Chinese vendors since so many of them are crooked as a dog's hind leg (Banggood doesn't have the best reputation) and it takes a long time to get shipments to the SSA.

 

 

Fortunately, the shipment arrived OK although it took the scenic route getting here (China to Chicago area to Indiana to the Lake Tahoe area before finally making it to the Phoenix area. I need these for a router table I'm going to build later this year.

 

Earlier, I showed a couple of sets of carbide Forstner bits, each of which had the smallest three bits not being true Forstner bits. I found some Freud (aka expensive) replacement 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" carbide bits.

 

 

For the life of me, I could not find any carbide Forstner bits in 5/16", 7/16", and 9/16" so I caved and bought replacements in HSS steel. Even then, I had trouble finding decent ones in those sizes. I got these Fisch bits (also expensive; Freud and Fisch are high end companies). They won't be as durable as carbide bits but the beat the holy, hairy heck out of the alternative. I was going to put the replacements in the two sets but I decided to keep the bogus bits in the sets for drilling routine holes and keep the good ones in a separate case for when I need to drill overlapping holes.

 

Fisch is made in Austria. However, despite their reputation, I'm not as impressed as I could have been. Wavecutter refers to the rim of the bit having a wavy pattern. Wavy pattern rims run cooler than smooth rims and both are accurate when drilling overlapping holes (mulipoint or saw toothed rims run cooler and cut faster but are not a s accurate. Sadly, only the 9/16" is actutally a wavy rim. The other two just have spurs (not even an actual rim) but, at least, they are far better than the overglorified spade/bradpoint bits that came in the sets. Sigh!

 

Also, they were rage wrapped (plastic packaging welded shut). Even worse, the heads of the bits were in a bubble that stuck out on both sides of the packaging, making it impossible to lay them flat on my bandsaw table. I had to shim the *&^%$#@ things so I could cut off the *&^%$#@! welds without endangering my fingers (I've grown attached to them and prefer keeping them intact). Stupid Austrians!

 

This is the case I put the replacement bits into. It's the same kind of case that I keep my impact driver bits in (I still have three more cases).

 

 

I added scraps of foam from another case that came with pluck and pull blocks. It looks a bit redneck but it keeps the cutting edges safe. The foam is a bit oversized (not by plan) so, when I close the case, the foam compresses around the bits holding them securely.

 

I need to make some labels for these cases. The surface is texture so I can't just stick a label to the case. I have plenty of scrap 1/6" aluminum sheet so I'll need to cut some strips to glue onto a side and end of each case so I'll have a place to put the labels.

[mr moose]

Here's a small drill powered jigsaw I restored.  Not sure how old it is.

 

 

 

 

[mr moose]

And these are my girls,  the blue is a transmig135, setup for aluminium and stainless steel. The yellow is a Genreic gas/gasless mig setup for fluxcore.

 

 

I don't have any pictures of my evo140 stick/tig or my plasma cutter.   Tool trolley at back is all my welding tools bar clamps (they live under my bench)

[Lady Fitzgerald]

4 hours ago, mr moose said:

And these are my girls,  the blue is a transmig135, setup for aluminium and stainless steel. The yellow is a Genreic gas/gasless mig setup for fluxcore.

 

 

I don't have any pictures of my evo140 stick/tig or my plasma cutter.   Tool trolley at back is all my welding tools bar clamps (they live under my bench)

Well, darn! I'm getting drool all over my keyboard and the eth key thopt working.

 

I learned gas and stick arc weldfing (AC and DC) back in college but we didn't have any TIG or MIG machines to work with. Plasma cutting? Heck, that was just getting its start back in the late '60s and most people didn't know it existed.

[mr moose]

32 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Well, darn! I'm getting drool all over my keyboard and the eth key thopt working.

 

I learned gas and stick arc weldfing (AC and DC) back in college but we didn't have any TIG or MIG machines to work with. Plasma cutting? Heck, that was just getting its start back in the late '60s and most people didn't know it existed.

I love my welding, it is one hobby that has kept me sane over the last few years. 

[peger]

If we're at the welding . My Mig

 

And my cave.

 

[mr moose]

3 hours ago, peger said:

If we're at the welding . My Mig

 

snip

And my cave

Sweet.   

[Lady Fitzgerald]

5 hours ago, peger said:

If we're at the welding . My Mig

 

And my cave.

 

I'm doing some serious drooling at all that space.

[msknight]

OK - so we start off with my boring works tool bag...

 

The middle section contains some of the go-to items such as my Fluke network tester, my iFixit Pro toolkit, (this is the un-modified version... more on that later.) anti-static gloves, some electrical insulting tape and a nice invention called Sergeant Clip. I have enough clips to handle a stack of five 48 port switches in both single and dual clip modes. Working in IT, I got a little bit of a discount with a bulk order.  ... you don't ask, you don't get.

 

 

One side contains the everyday assortment of screwdrivers, punch down tool, clips, snips, cage nut inserters/deinserters, knife, tape measure, etc.

 

 

The obligatory multimeter.

 

 

The other side contains the usual torx drivers for insertion/removal of rack mount servers, along with some alan keys and spudgers for good measure.

 

 

 

I did, at home, create the iFixit Behemoth Mk 2, and Brett Hartt, Product Development Lead at  iFixit, decided to dare me to add some more layers...

 

 

...so I obliged him with the Mk 3... jump into this video at 17:26 to avoid my utter boring ramble about how the tools I've carried have changed through my techie life...  (non-monetised video)

 

 

[mr moose]

Whilst not exactly a tool, this is a fix I did with tools:

 

Here is a caravan door that needed it's door handle hole filled in:

 

Start by cutting out some shapes that fill the hole:

 

And here they are with some bars to support them:

 

Using  pick through the hole to support the bar I hold it in place while I weld it:

 

Like this:

 

 

Whoops, the tacks are too big had to cutout some of the plate:

 

 

Weld her up using the transmig:

 

And grind them flat with a flap disc:

 

 

And of course the other side of the door:

 

All in all a few lines and dips but for an aluminium repair on an old van not too shaby.

Now I just need to straighten out that bent edge.

 

 

 

[peger]

7 hours ago, mr moose said:

Whilst not exactly a tool, this is a fix I did with tools:

Here is a caravan door that needed it's door handle hole filled in:

Good job .

[mr moose]

10 hours ago, peger said:

Good job .

thank you.

[mr moose]

Couldn't help myself, this toolbox came on special and even though I am not a fanatic about VW, I do like the whole herbie thing and might get a bandit tool box as well.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Rockler has been having a tool sale (ends in four days) so I stocked up on T-track stops, hold downs, and some tracks (PowerTec has less expensive tracks if you buy them in pairs) for the workbench, router table, and drill press table I'm going to build (I need to get a new shed but that won't happen until the trailer court I live in gets rid of a dead palm tree as they have promised to do). I also got some feather boards to use on a router table and table saw and some router bits for my new router (and, eventually, the router table).

 

I'm building up a sizable wish list on Rockler hoping they will put some of what's on it on sale.