2021: .. Tool reviews & suggestions

Beck · December 07, 2020, 11:03:49 AM

Quote from: "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.

I'm really interested in this stuff. I am expecting cylinder head coolant sealing problems in my big 4 cylinder before it gets started for the 1st time.

enjenjo · December 07, 2020, 08:34:54 PM

Quote from: "Beck"
Quote from: "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.
I'm really interested in this stuff. I am expecting cylinder head coolant sealing problems in my big 4 cylinder before it gets started for the 1st time.

You need a part number?

Beck · December 07, 2020, 10:35:12 PM

Quote from: "enjenjo"
Quote from: "Beck"
Quote from: "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.
I'm really interested in this stuff. I am expecting cylinder head coolant sealing problems in my big 4 cylinder before it gets started for the 1st time.

You need a part number?

Don't make a special trip or call. But if your there any way and see it sure. My nearest NAPA is 14 miles away not. The one nearby was bought out a few years ago and dropped the NAPA line.

Scratch that I found it online BK 7652663

Crosley.In.AZ · December 11, 2020, 01:24:18 PM

new tool purchases.

Lowes had a deal on the 20volt impact. You purchase a 2 battery kit , 5ah batteries with charger and receive a free tool choice: ( 20v impact , 3/8 drive).

I already had the 20v drill kit with 2x 1.5ah batteries from Home Depot a while back after my corded drill motor broke.

Dewalt 3/8 drive Impact tool has progressive throttle control. No power settings. All power controlled thru the trigger. Not ideal setup , but it works. Lighter tool with 1.5 ah battery than Milwaukee I was using. Milwaukee 12V stubby 3/8 drive has more power. Milwaukee handle is thicker too.

Crosley.In.AZ · December 31, 2020, 10:50:43 AM

Well: I did not like the Dewalt 20v impact gun enough to keep it. I sold it on eBay.

I bought a 18v Ridgid tool kit deal That had a drill and impact driver which included a phree compact 3/8 drive impact gun, batterys , charger. This impact was reviewed well on Youtube guy Project Farm.

So far I like the Ridgid gun for my work use. Power is good. I like the 3 power setting that the Dewalt gun did not have.

The Ridgid gun does not have the goofy upward angle on the gun as the Milwaukee does. The 12v Milwaukee 3/8 drive gun has better max power though

chimp koose · December 31, 2020, 02:35:35 PM

I am pretty new to the battery powered tools in an auto shop . Just so used to air . We have a new mechanics instructor at work and he has swapped everything to battery power . Now that it is my only option I find that they are quite handy! I remember the old ones that were just so bulky and under powered , air was the hands down fave back then , but the stuff now is just too handy . I have not coiled up or tripped over any air lines in the mech lab since the switch!

Crosley.In.AZ · January 03, 2021, 11:43:15 AM

I bumped up this thread to 2021 year... We can keep the former tool reviews in place.

CK: I was new to the battery power tools till just 2 yrs ago. I had watched guys use the ni-cad stuff and not be happy.

I did have a Craftsman 19.2v drill for years. It functioned well, a bit bulky to use. The Snap-On tools battery stuff was (still is) silly expensive in the early days.

My eyes must be open , the way I have been buying cordless tools the past 1.5 yrs..

I have developed problems in my hands (go figure) with the joints and tendons. Lighter tools help me work easier. the lack of an attached air hose helps too

RipVW · January 10, 2021, 12:23:58 AM

Quote from: "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.

I have that press brake. Picked up mine about 5 years ago from a local manufacture here in Worshington State. It looks identical except mine is Red. I also have a Formost(Chinese) hydraulic press. I converted my press to air/Hydraulic with a HF air/Hydraulic Jack. I hook it up to air and away you go and I have bent 3/16 and 1/4 inch plate like it was Butter!!! The Air/Hydraulic jack is an awesome improvement and worth the money. I think I bought mine during a parking lot sale for like $69.00.

kb426 · January 10, 2021, 05:34:22 PM

Ripvw, I have thought about that. There are some videos where they take it apart and flip it upside down and reinstall it. I may do that down the road. Right now, I'm waiting for that jack to go on sale.

RipVW · January 10, 2021, 09:35:03 PM

Quote from: "kb426"Ripvw, I have thought about that. There are some videos where they take it apart and flip it upside down and reinstall it. I may do that down the road. Right now, I'm waiting for that jack to go on sale.

Yeah My jack sets upright like normal but I could see some various advantages of it operating inverted. I had to replace the center ram on my press as the original ram was hollow with a plug welded in the bottom to give the illusion of a solid rod but it bent when I had a bit of a angle on a part and tried to press. I got out the lathe out and made a solid ram out of some old farming implement. I also added casters under mine so I could just roll it out of the way when not in use. It was interesting slowly reworking my shop so that everything is on rollers and easily accessed from my wheelchair. The biggest improvement in the shop was getting air and power lines up off the floor and suspended from the ceiling on reels. There are unique situations where I need to set in a chair or on a barstool to work but so far I am getting er done! I can stand up with a little help and take 2 or 3 steps when needed but my body takes a beating when I over do it.

enjenjo · January 10, 2021, 11:45:39 PM

I fired up the Husky compressor today, I have a check valve stuck, should be an easy fix. I did run it long enough to break it in.

enjenjo · January 18, 2021, 06:53:07 PM

I have been living with the HF Vulcan 220 welder for about a year now, and have gotten used to it. I have nothing bad to say about it. It has done whatever I asked of it with no problem. I have not done a big job with it yet so I don't know if I will be bumping the duty cycle so we'll have to see on that.

kb426 · January 19, 2021, 06:59:47 PM

Today was the 1st big test of the Prime Weld welder that I bought last year. In my past, I used transformer based welders to weld alum. I have done just a little with inverter machines. This machine has more settings than a transformer based machine. I was using 200 amps to weld cast alum. and it did it without complaint. It sure would be nice to have a water cooled torch. I had to stop and let the torch cool. The duty cycle of the machine did well.

RipVW · January 20, 2021, 11:39:35 PM

Today I had to bend a little flange on a piece of 3/16 crs plate. I drug me out my hydraulic press and the 12 inch brake. Mine is very similar to the one posted above. Mine is a bit aged but has a lot of cycles of making all kinds of stuff. The pieces I made today was just a simple bend on the end of some 1.5 inch by 10" strips of 3/16 crs for the frame patches. This brake is almost a must have to fab type work. My Press I have is an old 10 ton Foremost (Chinese) with an air over hydraulic 12 ton Jack operated on compressed air. I figured I would post a pic or 2 so if your curious about upgrades to your hydraulic press check it out....

This is my aged 12+ inch brake.

Here we have a shot of the front of my Air/Hydraulic jack mounted on the press frame.

Here is a rear view of the jack showing the air assist can.

And just a photo showing the jack mounted.

RipVW · January 26, 2021, 12:55:50 AM

Gantry Crane for next to nothin.

I designed and built a shop Gantry Crane back in 2015 for lifting the body on and off my TCoupe project. I built this on the Low cost or Frugal method. I believe I spent a total of $350.00 to build the basic crane. After i finished it I got a smokin deal on a Jet electric hoist. It needed a new brake so for less than $50.00 I had the hoist operational and it hangs from the crane as I now speak. I picked up the hoist for $150.00. The basic frame is Doug Fir 4X4's for the uprights and 4X6's for the feet. I used some 500lb rated 4 inch industrial casters with brakes for the portability. The most expensive part was the 8ft I Beam I had to order cut. I think the I-beam was around a hunnert bucks. One item that made construction easier was the 4X4 connectors I used on the top and bottom of the 4X4's It is a box like structure that slips over the 4X4 and uses a steel plate like device to make the joint. I found them in my local big box store and they made assembly a snap. The Truck that runs along the I-beam is rated 1/2 ton or 1000 Lbs. I do not have an idea what maximum load this thing will carry but I figure 1,000 Lbs. is good enough for what I need it to do. So far I have used it quite a bit and it works just fine. There are some improvement mods I want to make but not needed at this time. So here are some detail photos as follows: