2021: .. Tool reviews & suggestions

[kb426]

I bought a H.F. 20 ton press a couple of days ago. I bolted it together and stripped out a few on the bolts that are inbetween 3/8" and 7/16" in size with almost no force at all. I bought grade 5 7/16" bolts for the bottom frame and 4 grade 8 5/8" x 5" for the top plate that holds the pressure while pressing. With tax, $19. The grade 8's were $4 each. That caught me by surprise. I think the press will do what I usually do but the bolts were a real disappointment. The supplied 5/8" bolts might have been ok but I didn't trust them after the other's appearing to be made out of way less than grade 2 material.

[58 Yeoman]

Years ago when I had my GoldWing, I bought a HF motorcycle lift. The two different websites I visited recommended replacing the bolts on the lift, as some had failed. I did just that.

In December 2009, I bought a 6500 watt HF generator. The only problem that I had with it was the oil level switch went bad. We just replaced it a couple weeks ago with a slightly larger gennie from HF. You know, the 10 year rule for all newer appliances.

[chimp koose]

A buddy came over and wired in my turn signal switch today . Everything worked until I put the steering wheel back on .Horn wouldnt work . Took the relay wires off and green and rust . Ordered a new relay . Meanwhile I could not get power to the relay. I end up finding out I need to put a wire across the rag joint at the steering box to complete the ground circuit . Never would have guessed . Jumper across the rag joint and the horn relay will click when the horn button pushed  

[chimp koose]

meant to put this in what did you do today  

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Bought another cordless drill.  Dewalt brand this time.  Basic 1/2  inch drill kit. Charger, 2 battery of 1.5 ah design. And: another tool bag with the kit.

I took many of my tools back to my work place since we came to terms on pay and hours.  After I retired:  I sold off most of my extra doubles and triples of hand power  tools..

Then I discover I do not have a usable drill at home. I  Found my electric drill.  No drill chuck key. I've never been able to find a chuck key that fits a drill after the OE is lost.. my electric drill is about 35+ years olde.  maybe I need to look for a keyless chuck for the drill?

Home Depot had a 99 dollar deal on the Dewalt  drill kit, I bought that. It is a  20 volt Atomic brushless drill motor...  It works well.  Basic ol drill

[58 Yeoman]

I've got a Craftsman electric keyless chuck drill, one Makita cordless keyless chuck drill, and two DeWalt cordless drills, and every one of them won't hold a bit as well as a key chuck. The C-man and 12v DeWalt are 3/8" and the other two are 1/2". The Makita chuck is a bit wonky also. I guess I should replace the chuck.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I tried to remove the chuck from my corded 3/8  electric drill.  Used the same method as I have over the years on other drills.  Then I hear this "snap" and then the chuck spun very easily in either direction.

Gear box is broken on the drill.  I guess it was handy that I bought the Dewalt cordless drill?

[kb426]

What I wanted was a laser jet or water jet cutter. They start around 60 grand. You need a building to put them in. You need to be competent with solidworks or some form of cad-cam program. I failed at all the above so I broke down and purchased a 50 amp plasma cutter. This is a Prime Weld unit, the same company that I purchased my last tig from. It is their middle priced machine. It has pilot start, some extra cooling feature inside the machine and a spare set of consumables. I unboxed it , assembled and plugged it in. I let it run for a while and it didn't catch on fire. It will be a while before I get metal to cut so I can find out if I did well or should have spent more money. It's rated to cut 1/2" steel. Most of my work ranges from 3/16's to 3/8's so I'm not expecting to be unhappy. I have some ideas for parts that won't be easy to cut out with a saw or abrasive cut off tools.

[chimp koose]

I once made a fixture to use a plasma to cut all the arcs and holes and bolt holes in the sheet metal for a chaff spreader for behind the combine . It worked well and was way faster than laying them out and doing all the drilling etc. We have a cnc plasma table at work but i have never tried to do a program on it . The last program i fed into a cnc machine was on a paper roll with a bunch of holes punched in it ! around 1984

[chimp koose]

Oh yeah I got my new threading tool holders the other day . If you want a nice threading tool with resharpenable inserts look up IFANGER K/0 or k/1  they are made for a smaller lathe and will tolerate student abuse so should be more than adequate for home shop use. I have used them in the school for 15 years and would not want any other . tool height is easily adjustable , I would recommend them to anyone.

[kb426]

I purchased a 12" press brake tool from ebay for my H.F. 20 ton press. $160 with shipping. There are many kits and do it yourselfs that use 2" angle iron for the bottom die. I wanted something narrower that would allow bends close to the end of the material. This has a 1" die. The die is removable so it is feasible for me to machine a die from solid stock that would have a wider jaw. I saw pics of this on the internet and they all had a spacer put on top of the upper die. Without that, the die won't clear the eye bolts that hold the return springs for the jack. I bent a piece of 3/8" and 1/4" material and it will do 90* on both of them. I always wanted an iron worker but have no space for one at all. This will keep me from running to the machine shop and renting theirs on occasion.

[chimp koose]

How long until you make it punch louvers ?

[kb426]

Not soon, C.K. I watched several videos of small punches. But unless you are going to make small plates and then weld them into a larger panel, they are useless. Because of my lack of space for a press as large as a pullmax, I'm out of business on that one before starting.

[enjenjo]

It's not exactly a tool, but at the NAPA store today they had a dye that goes in the cooling system. If you are losing coolant to the oil, this dye fluoresces in black light and shows any coolant in the oil. It will also show external coolant leaks.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Bought couple cordless tools.  Will need to get a photo or two.  Lighter weight Dewalt stuff.  

Will be buying a circular saw too.  Probably corded type.  My basic 7 and 1/4 saw took a dump last year.