posted Fri, 11/06/2015 - 01:18
8083
Tools thread.
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After myself, Tony and Viking amongst others hijacked another thread Viking rightly suggested starting a tool oriented thread. We were talking about cordless and pneumatic tools primarily but we can talk heavy equipment or whatever.
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Machinist? Thought i was the only machinist in the house lol.
RustyhookerIts a dying trade bro. Machined heads, blocks etc half a lifetime. Our engines were all blueprinted and dyno tested. Scored a 36 in bed, 9 inch swing atlas lathe with fast change gear switches instead of belts. Old piece too so its dead on with micrometer. Haven't used it in a while though :( .
kinchrome is what i use, cars, bikes, boats, anything mechanical i always use kinchrome!
I thought this was going to be about "who's the biggest tool on eroids" not actual tools. I've been robbed;)
lol... it had to happen, we completely took over bolts thread... like two pages worth, i bet hes thinking WTF went on here then...... still a good thread though its all fun
That thread was pretty much dried up, you guys revived it haha! All my brothers are welcome to shoot the shit about whatever as far as I'm concerned! As far as tools go...my Snap-On box only has Snap-On tools in it. My father always told me, "if you want to do the job right, you need the right tools to do the job!"
Let's talk chainsaws. Holy shit, I love. Good chain saw. I prefer a higher end saw and own both Stihl and Husquavarna. I'm actually partial to the Husky. I have a higher end Stihl Ms 88r and a lower end Husqvarna 455 Rancher. Love them both use the rancher more though.
I will probably look into a higher end Husky if my MS88 ever takes a shit..which is doubtful. I still have my old mans 041 farm boss from when I was a kid and that bastard still runs like a champ.
Years ago there were a lot of good saw manufactures. Most of them that are still around are just crap. Poulan is a good ex. Home depot and lowes have ruined a lot of good tool co. by forcing them to come up with cheaper idiot proof tools, such as the tooless bar adjustment ( the damn gear inside the housing for the thumbwheel is nylon. Wtf) Hell, even Sthil has one of those out now. As far as chainsaws go, I prefer husky and sthil, but you better get the pro saws if you buy one now. A few yrs ago sthil quit making their saws in germany except for the pro saws.
Don't have a husky anymore but I have a sthil ms 200 top handle, 290 farmboss, ms361 magnum, ms441magnum and a ms660 magnum w/ a 36"bar. All preceeding the new epa regs that keep coming out, which is another thing that keeps screwing everything up. All pro saws except the farmboss but it's a helluva saw.
FInally broke down and bought an elec bench sharpener, a chain break and a spinner. So now I can by chain by the rolls.
RustyhookerI used to go yearly to the logging olympics. Was an awesome time! I remember the hot saws with 80 cc suzuki motor ripping thru logs like butter
I love the hot saw competitions. That's some crazy shit.
I have had a Stihl 260 pro for several years. It is a great saw but better on the pruning side than for falling tree's I have found out. I just put a carbide blade on it tho and I am liking that. I also bought a 455 Husky last winter and I can honestly say for a non pro model that sucker cuts just as well as that Stihl. I would imagine differences would appear over the long haul tho. I have been considering picking up a 036 Stihl or a pro Husky for bigger trees but damn, I don't like the idea of dropping another 800 bucks.
Man, I've abused my Husky 455 and have since 2005 and that bastArd still runs like a champ. I think the only thing I've had to replace is the bar and of course the chains.
I like to use those skip chains. Ever use those? Man they can throw some chips like the old school chains.
For the money..the Rancher is tough to beat.
I have a farm boss i believe its about 8 years old. Still starts on the 3rd pull and cuts great and compared to most its size its LIGHT
I think you might have the newer version of the farm boss. Back in the day Probably 30 years ago..Stihl came out with the 041 farm boss, and it was a bad mother effer.
My family 30's ago always had the red ones i believe homelite.
Home lite used to be really nice back in the day.
All joking aside, what is everyone's preference for cordless drills?
I had a Makita but wore it out. Just bought a new Milwaukee. It came with an impact drill with the quick release and holy shit I love that. I use it for everything. Almost never use my drill. It was a tough decision between a new Makita, Dewalt, or the Milwaukee.
What's the best?
I have a dewalt set hammer drill reg drill sawsall impact driver..at work my company provided a Milwaukee set those are nice too
Been abusing the hell out of all our dewalt tools for about a year now and never had a minutes trouble.
RustyhookerDewalts are tough. We've got all the brands listed above but the dewalt lasted longest. The new drill we got it 18v bulky shit tool imo. Can't fit tight spots when fabricating
i cant seem to break em either.... ergonomics are just right for me, feels good in the hand and i like tactile things.
I have a nice collection of axes. Not the axes that hang on the wall looking all pretty . Im talking about the ones you take outside and split some firewood.. And if you guys cut your own firewood we all know about a need for a good wedge. its great excersise and helps keep the heating bills down
The best cordless drill ever is the Ryobi 2.6 volt dainty edition. Really works well for unscrewing light socket covers.
One day on a full charge, I unscrewed all the socket covers in my bedroom and still almost had enough battery to unscrew one cover in my bathroom. It was amazing. I totally recommend if you have small hands.
As a mechanic I love tools. I have abOut 30k worth of hand and power tools. Mostly snap on. But some others.
I have a 20 pound sledge in the garage .. That was my go to for 20 years when I would demolish old buildings
I like it. I could talk for days about tools.
JCB........... luvverly stuff, stated making hand tools too and they are pretty decent, i havnt managed to break anything yet and thats a first for me when it comes to Masonry equipment,,,, not sure if its hit you guys shelves yet but if it has/does its a worth a look.
Also who still prefers old fashioned wood handled things over modern fibreglass, hammers, axes, sledges and picks etc.
I also love and highly rate the American Gorilla tapes and epoxys ... best gear on the planet, our brands of duct tape just dont come close.
7lbs Fibreglass shaft sledgehammer and a casted Demolition bar in my hands and im one happy MoFo
I used a gorilla glue concoction last spring to repair (as best I could) an old piece of rotted crown molding that was basically unmatchable. It worked.
Do you guys use slate for roofing or is it all pre-cast concrete tiles and the like?... some of our really old buildings are built like bomb shelters and really take some hammering to level, or even repair for that matter.... stone that melts drill bits and blunts chisels etc... we even have bricks that spark when you hit them, due to be so hard.
Alot of asphalt shingles
I have worked with real quarry slate on a couple churches, but most of the slate we have used is that fake plastic slate that was supposed to last forever but instead fails about six years in. It is funny too, the price on these plastic slates is right on par with real quarry slate material wise.
Up here we actually use more composition and steel.
Ive just used metal stud work (first time) that you guys invented, fkn superb! never had stud walls up that fast ever before...... i am a convert, never will i use timber studding again...... soon learnt its nigh impossible without a good Impact drill though, drill driver was useless with the tech screws.
All I use is metal down where I'm at. Personally I don't like it. Its quickers but isn't sturdy and doesn't have much meat to it. Depends on residential metal or commercial. A lot of shity work in the region I'm at tbh couldn't hold a candle to the quality of work where I'm from.
I was a late comer to impacts but now it is all we use. My old favorite was me deck driver (clutched) dewalt cordless but these M18's blow it away in every regard. We can cover large barns with steel in a day and never have to swap out a battery one.
Impacts are my favorite ..ever put a paddle bit in one you rip a whole through a joist in half time of a drill
PallMallI strongly dislike cordless saws of any kind. They just dont work like their corded counterpart. Doesnt matter what brand either...
The M18s are workhorses.
Have you tried the M18 (milwaukee) ones? I don't own that saw myself but I know a few carpenters that do and they love it.
Of course tho, they are never going to replace the corded saw, but if you had to run up and trim a piece of plywood high up on a gable, it beats the hell out of dragging a hundred foot of cord behind you,lol
Without going into too much detail I had an incident yesterday that put the fear in me. I was tensed up all day afterward. Anyway, we are working on a project and on this project we have my tele-handler that is a smaller unit that only has 25' of stick and an old 42' that was given to this business by another contractor buddy of mine. The 42 is well past is prime, the controls stick, so you have really be wary of every move with it.
Yesterday I have my lifelong friend and employee up probably 30ft pulling jacks and planks down, we are probably half way across the building and all is well when all of a sudden I get this vertigo like feeling that we are tilting over even tho I am not touching any controls. So when I look up I see it, we are tilting left and I just hit the roof and damaged it, my mind is racing! I don't know what the fuck is going on, then my FIL who is on the jobsite as well starts yelling, and points to the front left tire which is now off the ground. Panicking a bit but doing the only thing I could I hit the level stick right, it stops tilting that way but we are still unstable as hell and he is yelling now the back right tire is off the ground, FUCK! So I stick back left until they both are touching the pavement and start sticking back down to get my bro out of that goddamn box. We get back down and start testing it and could not get it to repeat the incident again. I think it was just another hydraulic glitch. We did carry on and finish but I will be glad to be done with this project and that sky trak.
I went to work out yesterday afternoon (this happened early in the morning) and I was still rock hard tensed up. Fucking scary shit guys..
Sounds like the control valves are worn out and fluid is creeping past them while in the neutral position and slowly activating the cylinders or if its electronic over hydraulic controlled the solenoids that activate the valves could be going bad.
How hard a fix is that?
Not to bad. I been doing hydraulic work for years. The time consuming part is actually trouble shooting it to pinpoint the exact problem. Its hard to trouble a problem when its something that comes and goes and isn't constantly fucking up every time you hit the controls. Its also probably a pretty pricey fix but its hard to put a price on someone's safety. Itprobably has two sets of control valves. One in tge bucket and one on the ground. The problem could be in either valve.
Fuck that!... even high ladders put the shits up me, has ive got older heights just dont work with me anymore...... one mistake and bang its a world of pain.
I used to be straight up mountain goat. Not so much the last few years. There is just no good reason for it. I used to climb right up on 12/12 pitched, two story roofs to measure them, now I just make my best guessing from the ground and google maps. If I am a little heavy on material, so be it. That is the nice thing about tele-handlers is they really do make for a safer install most of the time, but we have a tendency to get complacent and that is when disaster starts a stalking. The one I own is a 99 unit but has barely 1500 hours on it, that thing has super tight controls and you can feather it in no problem, that 42 has well over 6000 and is really unfit for duty and we all know it.
I have a picture of me painting an old colonial style house all the exterior dental molding on the outside eve. Had a 40 footer fully extended in the back of the pickup , two guys footing it and a shingle hook on the peak painting.
If I get up much past 8 feet off the ground I turn white lol
Not sure which is scarier, that thing tumbling down on you or having to repair a destroyed roof lol
The repair took all of five minutes, I was more worried about my bro in that man basket. The retained energy that thing would have sent through him when he hit the ground would have killed him dead and orphaned three kids. Plus there were four 16'2x6 up there on the basket as well.
Those milwaukee brand power tools are pretty good.I have a few and my sawzall i dropped from 30 feet, dropped in water, flew off my buddies truck and still works like new.
I also have the Milwaukee sawzall, the original! Mine is probably twenty years old and still rocks like hell.