Confessions of a tool junkie

[SoreTween]

Signed up today for the use of another workshop.

Enjoy you lucky thing. On this festering isle you're not allowed to hurt yourself. Maker spaces I've seen here abouts (brizzle, glozter) seem to have little more than a 3D printer set to painfully slow and a soldering iron limited to 50C.  The local FoD (wo)mans shed seems to be flying under the radar so far and long may that last.

[hatler]

My recent revelation is the carbide scraper.  Cuts through old layers of paint and varnish like butter and makes prepping surfaces for finishing so much easier.  Carefully used you can feather areas from sound paint to bare wood that would have taken ages by sanding (even with the appropriate machine).

Amazing things. We used to use those to scrape the underside of the boat we sailed on. Removed the old anti-fouling without touching the gel coat. Still hard work mind, working over your head.

[Mr Larrington]

Signed up today for the use of another workshop.

Enjoy you lucky thing. On this festering isle you're not allowed to hurt yourself. Maker spaces I've seen here abouts (brizzle, glozter) seem to have little more than a 3D printer set to painfully slow and a soldering iron limited to 50C.  The local FoD (wo)mans shed seems to be flying under the radar so far and long may that last.

My grate frend Mr Woolrich has in the past been a member of $MODEL_ENGINEERING_CLUB in order to machine bits for Funny Bicycles.

[robgul]

My recent revelation is the carbide scraper.  Cuts through old layers of paint and varnish like butter and makes prepping surfaces for finishing so much easier.  Carefully used you can feather areas from sound paint to bare wood that would have taken ages by sanding (even with the appropriate machine).

Amazing things. We used to use those to scrape the underside of the boat we sailed on. Removed the old anti-fouling without touching the gel coat. Still hard work mind, working over your head.

+1 - Father Christmas (pre-ordered) brought me a pair of Bahco scrapers last year - a wide blade + the small one with several shaped interchangeable blades (a bit like an old-skool shave-hook)  Superb . .  although replacement blades are a bit pricey.

This was on YT the other day   https://www.youtube.com/shorts/X1KEkenh3rg

[T42]

Observed to MrsT at breakfast that the strongest fixing I might have used on the barn door would have been clenched-over nails, like the original, but it would take either a hell of a lot of hammering or a heavy-duty nail gun to plant them.

MrsT: "More tools?"

She's got my number. But then she's had it for the last 53 years.

[Jurek]

Signed up today for the use of another workshop.

I'd be happy in there.

[quixoticgeek]

What are you planning to make?

A mess...

more seriously, i have various projects I want to work on. The work bench for home, some custom shelves, etc...

On the lathe, I just want to relearn how to use them properly.

J

[T42]

On the lathe, I just want to relearn how to use them properly.

J

Lord yes. I haven't done any turning in 30 years.  Clunky old GDR lathe is in the barn under polythene.

[rogerzilla]

I have finally bought a Campag peanut butter wrench.

[Tim Hall]

What are you planning to make?

A mess...

more seriously, i have various projects I want to work on. The work bench for home, some custom shelves, etc...

On the lathe, I just want to relearn how to use them properly.

J

<click><click><click>
"Hello internet. My name is J and this
<fx:waves fingers> is quixoticgeekhacks.

[hubner]

I have finally bought a Campag peanut butter wrench.

Campy peanut butter wrench.

[quixoticgeek]

<click><click><click>
"Hello internet. My name is J and this
<fx:waves fingers> is quixoticgeekhacks.

Yeah, Quinn may have been my inspiration to seek out a lathe. I will be going through her intro to lathe videos one by one.

J

[TheLurker]

And at the err... less sophisticated end of the spectrum.  Home bodged sharps for cutting tissue lettering.  Swann-Morton no. 15 scalpel blade for scale.

[Ham]

I honestly didn't start off with the intention of buying it, but then, how many of you know about PEI grade 5? See? They're tiles. Very hard tiles. I found out about them when fitting a shower screen into Miss Ham's new downstairs shower (there's a separate story about how I recovered from serious transit damage, discovered several weeks after it arrived). A job which should have taken about an hour, tops. Three holes requiring drilling through the wall tiles. No problem, eh? 15 minutes, 2 bits and 3 mm through the first hole, I decide these tiles are made of stronger stuff. Try just for the lolz on a a scrap in hammer drill mode, tile does NOT break, hole is NOT drilled.

So, I'm now the proud owner of one of these and while I was at it, one of these, which I recommend to the house for hole drilling with diamond bits. 3 holes, 6 minutes.

[T42]

Nifty, especially the wax cooling system.

Three holes requiring drilling through the wall tiles. No problem, eh? 15 minutes, 2 bits and 3 mm through the first hole, I decide these tiles are made of stronger stuff. Try just for the lolz on a a scrap in hammer drill mode, tile does NOT break, hole is NOT drilled.

Reminds me of a crack in a 1950's radio programme: you've made a hole in the wallpaper, now make a hole in the wall. BTDT.

[robgul]

I honestly didn't start off with the intention of buying it, but then, how many of you know about PEI grade 5? See? They're tiles. Very hard tiles. I found out about them when fitting a shower screen into Miss Ham's new downstairs shower (there's a separate story about how I recovered from serious transit damage, discovered several weeks after it arrived). A job which should have taken about an hour, tops. Three holes requiring drilling through the wall tiles. No problem, eh? 15 minutes, 2 bits and 3 mm through the first hole, I decide these tiles are made of stronger stuff. Try just for the lolz on a a scrap in hammer drill mode, tile does NOT break, hole is NOT drilled.

So, I'm now the proud owner of one of these and while I was at it, one of these, which I recommend to the house for hole drilling with diamond bits. 3 holes, 6 minutes.

Yep they work - the diamond thing I have is a hollow bit to drill a 35mm hole in 40mm granite (for plumbing for a coffee machine) - the recommendation was to make a "reservoir" with a ring of plasticine, fill with water and then drill through that - worked a treat at fairly slow speed with a corded drill and my wife with a squezy bottle keeping the water level up.  A bit tricky to get the drill started but once it had bitten t was simple (I have subsequently acquired a "portable drill press" that takes a corded drill and turns a drill into a tool akin to a plunge router.

And the tiles - dunno what they were but my daughter bought some tiles from Wickes for her bathroom wall - again several drill bits worn out for just one 15mm hole . . .  and they could only be cut with an angle grinder.

[T42]

Latest acquisition is a 19.99€ laser thermometer, really a collimated infra-red sensor with a laser to show what you're pointing it at.  Bought it for roasting coffee, sort-of calibrated it with a pan of boiling water: 99.N°C, near enough. Measured the hot water coming out of our taps: 57°C so thermostat set to 60°.  This morning our garden averaged 11°C and the ridge of the barn was around 8.5°. Great fun.

[T42]

Picked up a set comprising eyelet punch and press-stud pliers plus studs for 7€ in Aldi.  Had one that gave up the ghost ~20 years ago, never needed one since, but still...

[Mrs Pingu]

Should get a bit extra dough this month and I've had a hankering for some Japanese type snips.
What I fancy them for is a quick trip out the back door to trim some rosemary off the bush, and maybe something for trimming lavender and thyme that's less unwieldy than my bog standard hedge shears but a bit snippier than my cheap secateurs. At the moment my herb cutting is using a pair of knackered cheapo IKEA scissors
Is this just wasteful tool pron hankering or are they really good?
Something like these or maybe a bit bigger if they exist.
https://www.niwaki.com/mini-snips/#P00061

[Jurek]

Should get a bit extra dough this month and I've had a hankering for some Japanese type snips.
What I fancy them for is a quick trip out the back door to trim some rosemary off the bush, and maybe something for trimming lavender and thyme that's less unwieldy than my bog standard hedge shears but a bit snippier than my cheap secateurs. At the moment my herb cutting is using a pair of knackered cheapo IKEA scissors
Is this just wasteful tool pron hankering or are they really good?
Something like these or maybe a bit bigger if they exist.
https://www.niwaki.com/mini-snips/#P00061

Before I'd finished reading your post, Niwaki was the word which came into my head.

[Mrs Pingu]

You planted it there to begin with. 
You don't think they might be too lightweight then?

[Jurek]

I've a several of Niwaki stuffs.
None has ever disappointed.

[Mrs Pingu]

There's a lot to choose from...

[robgul]

There's a lot to choose from...

Our predecessor in this house must have had some Niwaki tools as we get the odd leaflet/catalogue in the post . . . . nice but eye-wateringly expensive (my wife is the gardener here, I have to shred the leaflets in case she sees them!)

[Slave To The Viking]

This winter saw the arrival of a Makita lecky chainsaw - identical to the pricier Husqvarna one (apart from being blue instead of orange) despite the advertised spec reckoning it's 200w less powerful. Plug-in jobber as it's just for firewood in the garden, and it's been great. But what's been really great is yet more Fiskars gear. I have to admit, I much prefer the look of traditional wooden-shafted tools and find black and orange plastic a bit...well, it's not as nice, but the XXL splitting axe is an absolute pleasure to use, and the thing I've been umming and ahhing about - the sappie - is wondrous. It seemed so silly: axes are fair enough, as I can't split logs with my hands, but a spiky hook thing just for shifting them around? I can do that by bending and lifting! What's the point?

Well, the point is, dear heart, that you don't have to bend and lift.