Author Topic: Confessions of a tool junkie  (Read 121449 times)

Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #150 on: 18 June, 2019, 03:17:35 pm »
I still find mine really useful as a big FO screwdriver to shift recalcitrant screws.  You really can get loads of torque with one and there are not many screws that refuse to budge.  Just don't do it with the spiral extended though.

ElyDave

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #151 on: 18 June, 2019, 03:39:12 pm »


I don't need it. I don't need it. I don't need it. I don't need it. I don't need it.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOJOOMT/jobsworth-outdoor-multi-tool
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The more you make use of the hammer and the axe, the less your wire cutters will cut wire.

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Cudzoziemiec

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #152 on: 18 June, 2019, 03:44:55 pm »
It does look like the type of gadget that does lots of things not quite well enough. In fact it screams to be made in a camo version.
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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #153 on: 19 June, 2019, 10:05:23 am »
<snip>

That axe is good enough for cheese and that's about all, I wouldn't worry

I suspect that cheese is what the pivot for the pliers/cutters is fashioned from.

robgul

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #154 on: 19 June, 2019, 11:01:40 am »
I still find mine really useful as a big FO screwdriver to shift recalcitrant screws.  You really can get loads of torque with one and there are not many screws that refuse to budge.  Just don't do it with the spiral extended though.

Yep - I've got the full-size Yankee and smaller one about 10" long - both still in frequent use although I have some newish battery tools too.  The advent of Pozidriv screws has made a big difference to screwing with the Yankee spiral ... and the smaller one has a couple of bits like an old-style Rawlplug tool (the fluted ones that had a holder that you hit with a hammer) that you can drill into plasterboard/soft material.

Latest purchases are a cheapie table saw from Aldi and a Bosch cordless glue-pen/gun .... and a cordless sabre-saw.

.... and one of these is a recent acquisition - pure indulgence but creates a neater crimp than just pliers.   [I believe that you can get a similar tool that stamps initials into the cable end crimp!!]

Rob

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #155 on: 19 June, 2019, 11:27:37 am »
Lt. Col. Larrington (retd.) has a spiral screwkidiser wrought from finest Chinesium which is still functional after 45 of your Earth years.  I hope to inherit it, along with his Rolex.  But the grandfather clock can go for firewood.
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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #156 on: 19 June, 2019, 02:48:31 pm »
Latest purchases are a cheapie table saw from Aldi and a Bosch cordless glue-pen/gun .... and a cordless sabre-saw.

Rob

MrsT is fond of intoning that cheap stuff is more expensive in the long run, but my credo is that if you buy cheaper stuff you can get more - and you're not so worried about breaking it, come to that.  In any case it's 90% Chinesium these days.
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robgul

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #157 on: 19 June, 2019, 04:30:34 pm »
Latest purchases are a cheapie table saw from Aldi and a Bosch cordless glue-pen/gun .... and a cordless sabre-saw.

Rob

MrsT is fond of intoning that cheap stuff is more expensive in the long run, but my credo is that if you buy cheaper stuff you can get more - and you're not so worried about breaking it, come to that.  In any case it's 90% Chinesium these days.

Although it's Aldi the machine is a rebadged version of the same saw sold by Screwfix at twice the price.   Agree in principle on "cheap is expensive" but my usage is pretty minimal and not mission critical for woodworking stuff ... cycle tools are another matter, virtually all Park Tool in my workshop.

Rob

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #158 on: 19 June, 2019, 04:34:42 pm »
My take on that is that it's fine to buy cheap if you're not sure it's going to get a lot of use, but to always replace a broken / worn out tool with a good quality one.

Cudzoziemiec

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #159 on: 20 June, 2019, 08:15:22 am »
When I recently bought  drill, I deliberately bought the cheapest I could find; £15 from Argos. The only reason I bought it was that I didn't want to have to wait till Thursday evenings when I can use one at Bike Kitchen or borrow friends', with the inevitable carting of stuff to be drilled or drill. I figure if it lasts ten drillings that'll be a several of years for me and if I do find I end up using it regularly, I can buy something from Black & Decker or even Bosch.
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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #160 on: 20 June, 2019, 09:13:09 am »
When I recently bought  drill, I deliberately bought the cheapest I could find; £15 from Argos. The only reason I bought it was that I didn't want to have to wait till Thursday evenings when I can use one at Bike Kitchen or borrow friends', with the inevitable carting of stuff to be drilled or drill. I figure if it lasts ten drillings that'll be a several of years for me and if I do find I end up using it regularly, I can buy something from Black & Decker or even Bosch.


I read somewhere that the average home DIY drill is used (presumably meaning switched on and under load) for a total of only ten hours.
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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #161 on: 20 June, 2019, 11:00:40 am »
probably ten minutes, not ten hours!

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #162 on: 20 June, 2019, 12:19:07 pm »
About one set of shelves worth, surely?

T42

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #163 on: 20 June, 2019, 01:12:11 pm »
Latest purchases are a cheapie table saw from Aldi and a Bosch cordless glue-pen/gun .... and a cordless sabre-saw.

Rob

MrsT is fond of intoning that cheap stuff is more expensive in the long run, but my credo is that if you buy cheaper stuff you can get more - and you're not so worried about breaking it, come to that.  In any case it's 90% Chinesium these days.

Although it's Aldi the machine is a rebadged version of the same saw sold by Screwfix at twice the price.   Agree in principle on "cheap is expensive" but my usage is pretty minimal and not mission critical for woodworking stuff ... cycle tools are another matter, virtually all Park Tool in my workshop.

Rob

Trouble is that given the ebb'n'flood manner in which Aldi/Lidl replenish stock you're only likely to see them once or twice a year. The quality, probably at Screwfix too, is likely to be less than consistent.
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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #164 on: 24 June, 2019, 09:20:28 am »
Finally got to try the Makita Red belt sander on Saturday. Its a beast! Sanded down the garden table top in about 15 minutes, highly recommended as long as you don't need variable speed. Did the legs and the grooves between the slats with a Lidl sending attachment for an angle grinder. That worked well also but the quality of the hook and loop disk for attaching the pads to wasnt up to much. Plastic and melted when used continuously, mind you at £3.00 for the disk and six sanding disks I cant complain, did the job. 3/4 of a tin of Danish Oil and the table doesn't look 20 years old any-more.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

robgul

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #165 on: 11 July, 2019, 08:12:07 pm »
A pillar drill for my home workshop - from Screwfix's "finest" range - cheap-ish and cheerful but does what I want it to - downside is finding bench-space for it.   Also ordered a couple of sets of blades for my Ryobi jig-saw - in particular the wide-blade ones to cut sheet material more easily.

AND  a big treat at the shop today was to purchase a Shimano press-fit bottom bracket removal tool (we already had a press to put them in) - very satisfying using the BIG Park Tool hammer with it :thumbsup:

Rob

T42

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #166 on: 12 July, 2019, 09:09:13 am »
That the big Titan?  Quite pleased with mine. Grumbles: table wobbles a bit from side to side while cranking so you have to line up the work afterwards. A bit of a pain if you have work clamped down and have to drill a hole of varying diameters, e.g. to seat a T-nut in a 10mm hole.  Also, the laser is nice but would be nicer if the beams intersected at a less acute angle.

OTOH watching the beast chew 34mm holes as if the workpiece were blancmange is rather impressive. With this fleamarket article at that:



That's not the workpiece, BTW, it's sacrificial scrap.

I want to get a proper adjustable fly cutter but all the translations into French I can find refer to insects and sadism*.

Meanwhile, I toddled into the local Leroy Merlin (motto: We have everything you don't need) with MrsT yesterday to get a set of router bits, so of course had a gander at battery-operated circular saws and a serious look at mitre saws, since mine dates from the era when Real Men® didn't extract dust, and anyway the angle stops are inaccurate and there's no way to adjust them.  Lingered long over a nice Redstone then of course came out with just a set of router bits.

I'm going to have to actually produce something one of these days.

*ETA: Hah!  I just did a search on "fly cutter" instead of "... in French" and got trépan.  Shades of Maturin's brain surgery.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

robgul

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #167 on: 12 July, 2019, 10:18:55 am »
That the big Titan?  Quite pleased with mine. Grumbles: table wobbles a bit from side to side while cranking so you have to line up the work afterwards. A bit of a pain if you have work clamped down and have to drill a hole of varying diameters, e.g. to seat a T-nut in a 10mm hole.  Also, the laser is nice but would be nicer if the beams intersected at a less acute angle.

OTOH watching the beast chew 34mm holes as if the workpiece were blancmange is rather impressive. With this fleamarket article at that:



That's not the workpiece, BTW, it's sacrificial scrap.
 >> SNIP

Meanwhile, I toddled into the local Leroy Merlin (motto: We have everything you don't need) with MrsT yesterday to get a set of router bits, so of course had a gander at battery-operated circular saws and a serious look at mitre saws, since mine dates from the era when Real Men® didn't extract dust, and anyway the angle stops are inaccurate and there's no way to adjust them.  Lingered long over a nice Redstone then of course came out with just a set of router bits.

I'm going to have to actually produce something one of these days.

*ETA: Hah!  I just did a search on "fly cutter" instead of "... in French" and got trépan.  Shades of Maturin's brain surgery.

Ah - Leroy Merlin .... paradise in France .... makes UK outfits look amateur.  It's the go-to every time I'm in France ..... and it's owned by the same people as Decathlon (and Auchan) which if you ignore most of the cycle stuff has some great clothing and shoes.

Rob

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #168 on: 12 July, 2019, 10:51:55 am »
Oh, they're definitely not amateur.  They've whittled their wood stock (sorry) down to fast-moving items only, plus 47 kinds of composite.  Even their battens are made up of 30cm chunks (of scrap, most likely) glued end to end - just the thing for a handyman who'll be painting it anyway and doesn't care.

Our local LM took over from a German chain called Obi, who in turn took over from a locally-owned business called Bricker. Back when Bricker had it they had a great stock of wood that you could pick through: I panelled a chunk of our lounge & built a 7-meter bookcase just with wood from their stock, ditto half-a-dozen other bits of furniture. This is a timber-growing region, after all, and we have everything from oak to epicea, but if you want a planed oak board from LM you'll order two weeks ahead and take what you get: no checking for shakes or warp, or picking out the best figure.

When I go there now I come out wishing there was somewhere adequate to shop.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

robgul

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #169 on: 12 July, 2019, 09:26:17 pm »
.... I'm thinking about buying an £80 Aldi Bandsaw . . .

Rob

T42

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #170 on: 13 July, 2019, 07:52:38 am »
It'll probably be better than the Metabo I bought two years back.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #171 on: 22 July, 2019, 10:07:30 pm »
Time to own up. In a moment of madness last year I bought the Festool track saw. It has transformed my life. I love it. So many projects. So much fun. Can't recommend track saws highly enough.

In conjunction with a Paulk style workbench (mine is smaller to fit in  single garage) that I built I am now a very happy wannabe chippy.
Stropping rocks

robgul

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #172 on: 23 July, 2019, 10:13:05 am »
Succumbed to an Aldi bench combination belt/disc sander machine ..... running out of bench space!

Rob

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Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #173 on: 23 July, 2019, 03:43:49 pm »
Dusty efforts.  My Scheppach one has an excuse for a dust extraction port that I hooked up religiously to the vacuum when I first had it, but the dust went everywhere notwithstanding.  Nowadays I don't bother.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Reply #174 on: 04 November, 2019, 09:03:27 pm »
Yankee screwdrivers - why the hell did these fall out of fashion !

I have picked up a couple of small ones at carboots over the last couple of years but never really used one in anger. This summer I picked up a big one with a hex but adaptor for a couple of quid.
I cleaned and lubed it and left it on the workbench.

I was putting up a hammer rack (that's another story I have far too many hammers) and the electric screwdriver had a flat battery so I tried the big Yankee, oh wow what a revelation !
So much torque and controllable torque at that, you can feel it and the screw never cams out. Much much better than an electric driver plus its long and narrow so gets into places that you can't get an electric screwdriver. Since then I have used it on a couple of other projects and now its my go to tool for screwing thing into rawlpugs in walls or into wood.

I would still use an electric screwdriver for non torque applications like computer cases where there are loads of machine screws that need removing or screwing in, much faster but for screwing stuff in against resistance Yankee screwdrivers are the dog danglees..
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.