2021: .. Tool reviews & suggestions

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Photo of vacuum pump I bought on eBay.. 17 dollars delivered

I do not expect to last as long on the one I replaced. That one looks similar , about 30+ yrs olde.

Why is all my olde stuff breaking?  

[papastoyss]

A small discovery on my Braun LED lite..  it takes a 18650 battery that is replaceable.. The charge time on this lite is too long.  I have extra 18650 batterys from my attempts to rebuild the Craftsman C3 battery packs.

Battery is in Blue ..

I swapped out to a fresh battery on this lite and keep going.  I found this lite is very handy under a vehcile or in the wheel well of the wifes car when I did the front brakes a week ago

You'll really like this light if you have to work on a window regulator or latch inside a door.

[kb426]

New tool day at O&S! I'm excited to try this out. The pic is of the manual version that I can't operate without pain now and the new electric version. It's rated at 16 gauge. I grabbed a piece of scrap and it wizzed through it. It's cheap so the durability is suspect but it will turn shorter radiuses than the normal shear that has the wider cuttting blade.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Visited local Lowes place.  Most of the  Kobalt power tools are on massive mark down. Craftsman tools are really taking over the shelf space .

Me thinks Lowes is moving away from Kobalt as house brand.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I bought a "refurbished"  grinder :  4.5 inch , M18 volt Milwaukee tool from Northern Tool Company... I had a gift card remaining from the Holidaze in 2018 I needed to use by May 2019.

Northern had a sale recently on refub'd tools, so I bought one at 72 dollars after my gift card applied,  with ''phree shipping''

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Milwaukee grinder.  Works well.  I have 4 & 5 amp hour batterys for this.

This is not a replacement for electric grinders...  but very handy for me in tight spaces or up on a ladder where I dont want to drag a cord too.

used it a few times inside my 1962 Morris Minor lifetime project car.

Standard 1 finger push button guard adjustment

[UGLY OLDS]

You flip the little lever, the guard spins around out of the way & locks in a new position :?:  :?:
 THAT'S a neat idea  :!:    :!:


Bob..

[Crosley.In.AZ]

You flip the little lever, the guard spins around out of the way & locks in a new position :?:  :?:
 THAT'S a neat idea  :!:    :!:


Bob..

that feature has been around a little while.  Very handy

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Tools I used for the steel project for the  shape of Arizona...

The Milwaukee grinder works well.  Only dropped 1 bar on the battery for mild use cutting the rebar , some grinding on the welds.

The Chief disc cutter was great. I reversed the direction a couple times as I used this tool to grind some welds in the corners of the rebar AZ art thingy I built.

The grinder has a bolt in the head for a handle.  When you buy a "refurb" tool..  You do not necessarily receive all the tools for the unit.  The handles on my other tools are metric thread.  This Milwaukee tool is 5/16 x 18 thread

[Crosley.In.AZ]

New handle arrived for my Milwaukee M18 grinder. 10 dollars delivered for Milwaukee brand , China produced handle.

I used the grinder to cut off some gate hinges on a gate at the street on my driveway.  Dang handy to just walk out there and start cutting.  No extension cord to drag out.

You must watch how much you load the grinder up as you cut.  The battery internal system will shut off power if you load it too much.  Slight learning curve.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Of all things:  I have been watching eBay for some old Craftsman screw drivers.  The larger - longer ones from 30+ years ago

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I have beeen hunting for drill bits with 3 flats on them.  In 64th sizes..

as eggzample:  17/64 , 21/64 sizes , pluss other sizes ...  these are sizes used in drilling material when a heli coil type insert is used for thread repair.

I found a place Drills and Cutters dot com.  Very reasonable prices for each bit, which was something I had problems with. Many places were 5 dollars or more per bit plus shipping for a basic drill bit.

Most of my thread repairs is  non ferrous materials on transmission cases or related parts.

I've had problems with the drill bits spinning in the chuck when they bite into the material.. I try to tighten the snot of the keyless chuck.  I figured 3 flats on the bit may help me.  My strength in my hands is drifting away with arthritis and age.  I dont wish to go to a key type chuck..  I have lost more chuck keys in my daze than I can count.

With my luck: the bits with the flats will make things worse.  LOL

[kb426]

Tony, I believe you're headed in the right direction. I have the same scenario.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Drill bits with flats on the shank arrived...  these in photo are 1/4 inch diameter.  I ordered 4 sizes, 2 each size.

These do not look like the bottom of the quality food chain.  Test will be the use of these and how they drill or break. LOL

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Bought a new mop bucket... RubberMaid brand.  Works well.  Like a mop bucket.  

Like most things:  there is a story behind the "why" I needed a new mop bucket.. we aint going there