Confessions of a tool junkie

[Kim]

Then found myself looking on Amazon looking for a portable jump starter battery that could start a tractor...

Makita 18V tool battery and some wires fitted with spade connectors found ratting around at the bottom of the toolbox is traditional.  Optional squirt of Start Ya Bastard into the intake.

[quixoticgeek]

Package arrived from the states with a pair of Suizan folding japanese saws. One is a Dozuki dovetail saw, and the other is a Ryoba. They are very nice. Obviously haven't had a chance to use them yet, but they feel lovely in the hand. Nicely balanced.

J

[quixoticgeek]

Much shiny. Many sharp.

J

[Ashaman42]

I've just ordered a pocket hole jig and some associated bits and pieces. To make a desk that I don't entirely need and that's going to cost far too much in wood to be actually worth it.

But eh, I'll learn some new skills. And it'll be something I made all by myself.

[robgul]

Birthday gift today (as requested from Mrs robgul) - an electric pencil sharpener for the workshop!

AND I had ordered one of these which was delivered today .... says it's made in Germany, but as it's from Aliexpress that may be from a province in China that they've called Germany, and Meter not Metre



Mini vernier - probably not pinpoint accurate but adequate for measuring screws/bolts/drills etc.

[quixoticgeek]

More toys arrived today from Germany.

The bronze nut arrived weeks ago from the UK. Am very pleased that it fits.

J

[Jurek]

More toys arrived today from Germany.

The bronze nut arrived weeks ago from the UK. Am very pleased that it fits.

J

Woss the top one for?

[Little Jim]

More toys arrived today from Germany.

The bronze nut arrived weeks ago from the UK. Am very pleased that it fits.

J

Woss the top one for?

I think it is a make-your-own-vice

[quixoticgeek]

Woss the top one for?

I think it is a make-your-own-vice

Correct!

J

[Jurek]

Woss the top one for?

I think it is a make-your-own-vice

Correct!

J

Intrigued.....

[quixoticgeek]

Intrigued.....

I am making a workbench, that will live on my balcony. It will be primarily used for wood working. I have been thinking from the beginning that I would like a vice on my workbench, but the outdoor location means that any off the shelf, unmodified vice isn't going to work.

Then I noticed a vice screw on https://fine-tools.com/ which listed a 24x5 thread... The pictures showed a trapezoid thread. 24 x 5mm trapezoid thread is a standard metric thread... Maybe I could get a stainless steel nut for the screw...

Well I couldn't find a suitable nut in stainless, but I was able to find one in bronze. Studying the materials datasheet showed that the bronze has reasonable corrosion resistance. Let's see if that works.

The nut alone cost more than the vice screw... then I got stung for €21 in import fees...



It's a beefy lump of bronze. Very beautifully machined...

Today a package arrived from Germany, with my Czechia made vice screw. I opened it, and with breath held, tried to fit the nut to the thread.

It works!



I have a Bronze nut, that fits the vice screw assembly! My plan is that the bronze nut is permanently attached to the work bench, then the screw and chop can be removed, and stored indoors.

This was quite a gamble, as well as the nut, I had also ordered the 32mm and 25mm auger drill bits to go with it. If it hadn't fitted I could have ended up with €50+ euro of nut I couldn't use, and two drill bits I didn't strictly need. But it fits!

The vice will be a leg vice.

J

[Jurek]

Awesome 

[Kim]

...two drill bits I didn't strictly need...

At risk of being philosophical, I'm wondering whether drill bits don't come in "don't need" so much as "the wrong size"...

(How do leftpondians cope?  They have so many more wrong sizes to choose from.)

[quixoticgeek]

At risk of being philosophical, I'm wondering whether drill bits don't come in "don't need" so much as "the wrong size"...

(How do leftpondians cope?  They have so many more wrong sizes to choose from.)

True. There is wrong size, and there is also wrong type. After all, I can't use these auger bits on concrete... or steel...

I cannot get my head round why anyone would think imperial units are a sensible way of doing things...

J

[Kim]

I finally remembered to buy a 13mm^[1] drill bit recently.  That's usual size for which all the ones I have are wrong.  I'm looking forward to discovering what will take its place as the most "I was sure I had one of those" sworn-about.


_{[1] 12-and-a-bit-mm is a popular size for panel-mount switches, lights and knobs, and if there's a decent flange, can usually be achieved to a just-about-acceptable standard by getting wiggly with a hand-held 12mm drill.}

[nuttycyclist]

_{[1] 12-and-a-bit-mm is a popular size for panel-mount switches, lights and knobs, and if there's a decent flange, can usually be achieved to a just-about-acceptable standard by getting wiggly with a hand-held 12mm drill.}

It's too late at night for me to think, or find an online converter, but if I needed a 12-and-a-bit-mm drill bit then I know I'd be heading to my late grandfather's toolbox of imperial bits instead of the metric ones from the hardware store at the end of the road.

[pcolbeck]

You could use a reamer to make the hole a tad bigger. That's what reamers are for.

[Beardy]

J, you are Get Hands Dirty, AICMFPs

[Kim]

_{[1] 12-and-a-bit-mm is a popular size for panel-mount switches, lights and knobs, and if there's a decent flange, can usually be achieved to a just-about-acceptable standard by getting wiggly with a hand-held 12mm drill.}

It's too late at night for me to think, or find an online converter, but if I needed a 12-and-a-bit-mm drill bit then I know I'd be heading to my late grandfather's toolbox of imperial bits instead of the metric ones from the hardware store at the end of the road.

I was disowned by my parents.  The only thing I managed to keep from my late grandfather's toolbox was a hand drill that happened to be in a box of stuff that had come with me to university.

Anyway, the whole point in 12.7mm diameter fuse holders or whatever is that they fit neatly in 13mm holes.  Electronics loves metric for mounting things, and decimal imperial for pin pitches.

[Wobbly John]

Birthday gift today (as requested from Mrs robgul) - an electric pencil sharpener for the workshop!

AND I had ordered one of these which was delivered today .... says it's made in Germany, but as it's from Aliexpress that may be from a province in China that they've called Germany, and Meter not Metre



Mini vernier - probably not pinpoint accurate but adequate for measuring screws/bolts/drills etc.

I believe I have a ver ver old one of they in a box of measuring instruments somewhere.

[quixoticgeek]

J, you are Get Hands Dirty, AICMFPs

Now that is a complement! I wish I had Cristiana's talent, and workshop.

J

[Jurek]

Birthday gift today (as requested from Mrs robgul) - an electric pencil sharpener for the workshop!

AND I had ordered one of these which was delivered today .... says it's made in Germany, but as it's from Aliexpress that may be from a province in China that they've called Germany, and Meter not Metre



Mini vernier - probably not pinpoint accurate but adequate for measuring screws/bolts/drills etc.

I believe I have a ver ver old one of they in a box of measuring instruments somewhere.

I also, the same.

[Beardy]

J, you are Get Hands Dirty, AICMFPs

Now that is a complement! I wish I had Cristiana's talent, and workshop.

J

you and me both J, you and me both.

[pcolbeck]

Birthday gift today (as requested from Mrs robgul) - an electric pencil sharpener for the workshop!

AND I had ordered one of these which was delivered today .... says it's made in Germany, but as it's from Aliexpress that may be from a province in China that they've called Germany, and Meter not Metre



Mini vernier - probably not pinpoint accurate but adequate for measuring screws/bolts/drills etc.

I remember having to make one at secondary school out of cardboard and sellotape. It was either part of maths or science cant remember what they were trying to teach us by making one, Anyway the point is that as long as you were reasonably careful marking out your lines it was actually incredibly accurate. I think we had some samples things to measure that were of a known size to within a thousandth of a millimetre.

[Tim Hall]

Birthday gift today (as requested from Mrs robgul) - an electric pencil sharpener for the workshop!

AND I had ordered one of these which was delivered today .... says it's made in Germany, but as it's from Aliexpress that may be from a province in China that they've called Germany, and Meter not Metre



Mini vernier - probably not pinpoint accurate but adequate for measuring screws/bolts/drills etc.

I believe I have a ver ver old one of they in a box of measuring instruments somewhere.

I also, the same.

One of my customers, some years ago, had those as promotional give aways. A bit better than a coffee mug or a mousemat.