Quantcast

Tool Nerds, Questions and Tool Snobbery

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,627
5,442
Last I looked, any torque wrench could be presumed accurate only for 20-80% of its nominal range.
All mine excluding one are 100% of range, but the ones that came with test sheets showed them being a bit more accurate in the CW direction compared to CCW.
I'd hope the Wera is with such a narrow range but couldn't see it listed.

EDIT- I checked the ranges on mine, my traditional style wrench is 3-20Nm and the screwdriver type is 1-5Nm but clicking off 5Nm takes a bit of muscle, the Wera looks nice and fast to use compared to mine though.
 
Last edited:

Leafy

Monkey
Sep 13, 2019
542
350
We’ve got a ton of those at work. They’re pure magic. 84in-lbs in a pistol grip within 10% every time that doesn’t hurt your wrist, ability to limit the amount of turns in either direction to prevent operator from backing bolts off too far. They’re great. They basically work by having very strong brushless motors that they pulse to keep the jerk on your wrist to a minimum, similar to an impact gun, but have a transducer on the output drive to measure the torque and stop at the required torque.

they’re expensiver than frig but way cheaper than putting hydraulics on a tombstone.
 

CrabJoe StretchPants

Reincarnated Crab Walking Head Spinning Bruce Dick
Nov 30, 2003
14,163
2,484
Groton, MA
I was absolutely blown away by all the drive settings you can set through the app, in both directions. Torque, speed, revolutions, degrees....you name it. Insanely versatile.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,627
5,442
DHL deliver on Sundays, that's messed up!
This one looks the goods, should have bought it in the first place.
I can leave it in place, use the machine and my phone will log the data, yay technology.
PXL_20230115_092713545.jpg

BUT- If you can't zero the meter it is connected to it would be a pain in the ass as the clamp has no zero button.

A little while back my old man asked if he could borrow my blowtorch, he said he was going to cast a new backplate for his mulcher. I laughed at him and wished him luck, he ground a brick out and cast himself a new one, shaped it with a flapper wheel and said it works fine.
614567484330444350.jpg
 
Last edited:

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,695
Champery, Switzerland
A little while back my old man asked if he could borrow my blowtorch, he said he was going to cast a new backplate for his mulcher. I laughed at him and wished him luck, he ground a brick out and cast himself a new one, shaped it with a flapper wheel and said it works fine.
View attachment 187798
That’s cool. I wanna see the final result. Blowtorch brick casting? Yes Dad!
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,627
5,442
That’s cool. I wanna see the final result. Blowtorch brick casting? Yes Dad!
Haha, he's a funny old dude, he remembers mechanical things and the way the worked from the age of like five or six, it's really odd.
He had to make this because Ryobi couldn't supply parts, and oddly it is a freaking awesome mulcher.
I'll pull it apart some time to inspect it and upload a pic.
 

Leafy

Monkey
Sep 13, 2019
542
350
Qnx, no display no button no wireless 24nm pistol driver is about $1300, 20v batteries are $120 each, charger is $100. 80nm right angle drivers are about $2600, 40v batteries are about 220, charger is about $150. That’s ballpark if you’re buying a few, they’re more expensive for 1 and if you’re not a company.

No they don’t make a case, the batteries break if you drop the tool from chest height. But you can glue them back together most of the time.
 

FlipSide

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,375
803
just took a look at mine out of curiosity. only have 3 after all. one thing that would be nice is if they were stamped/makred what size they are. it's easy enough to figure out and isn't a deal breaker for me. but given how good their bearing presses are (i have 2 of them) it would be a nice touch and really make them top notch.
Just received my Wheels EX0002 kit (15, 17, 20 and 25mm). Very nice, but I agree it would have been nice to have the size written on the extractors. I solved the issue right away with some mad P-touch action! :)
 

CrabJoe StretchPants

Reincarnated Crab Walking Head Spinning Bruce Dick
Nov 30, 2003
14,163
2,484
Groton, MA
Not sure if you're joking or not. :)

No shit, I'm actually p-touching myself right now
IMG_20230117_150333875_resize_84.jpg


My dad giving me shit for my toolbox over-crowdedness and (dis)organization was the last straw to finally address it. Re-organizing and labeling my main box, and going to be laser cutting some custom tool hangers/organizers to move a lot of it to the wall for easy access and free up space in said box.
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
Thanks, was not joking.

Would they work for making up plant labels, or will the go weird from UV and heat?
You can get all sorts of label rolls that are suited for different environments.

I've used some nice nylon ones in our manufacturing plants and they haven't faded or pealed off after years. Even oily fingers are good.
 

junkyard

You might feel a little prick.
Sep 1, 2015
2,601
2,303
San Diego
92920EC1-96EE-43BF-A246-18646526B6CD.jpeg


The handee clamp saved me a few hours today. Of course reading all the instructions first would have too. Added the crescent wrench vise grip combo because it’s a similar idea.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,627
5,442
Two shit expensive things I've bought.
Flir One Pro has a thermal and optical camera and overlays the images, thing is the optical camera doesn't line up with the thermal so if you are looking for something like a hot fuse it will show up the wrong one as hot.
You could remove the image overlay in previous versions of the app but not the later ones.
So I cover the camera with tape.
IMG_20230121_181613.jpg


Speedglas something something helmet, I bought this mostly because it wasn't Chinese made but my casual racism fucked me over.
This thing is so front heavy that it sucks to wear, and the adjusters adjust themselves and if the welding arc is even slightly obscured it will Chuck a wobbly and flash you, should have bought the Miller.
IMG_20230121_181620.jpg

*I am only a mechanic and welders seem to like this helmet.
 

DaveW

Space Monkey
Jul 2, 2001
11,160
2,685
The bunker at parliament

Leafy

Monkey
Sep 13, 2019
542
350
You should have bought the Lincoln. It has the largest viewing area, at last years ago when I bought mine. I thought the whole selling point on the speed glass was that it used voltage detection to darken and not light detection.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,627
5,442
You should have bought the Lincoln. It has the largest viewing area, at last years ago when I bought mine. I thought the whole selling point on the speed glass was that it used voltage detection to darken and not light detection.
I thought the selling point was the name.
From memory the sun still sets it off, I'll have to test that again.
Pretty sure this was what I was looking at but, Made in China and they all had stupid graphics put me off.

We have a cheap Lincoln at work, it's great for what it cost and it's nice and light.
 

junkyard

You might feel a little prick.
Sep 1, 2015
2,601
2,303
San Diego
I got 20 years out of my speedglass. Then got a miller and am way happier with it but I’m sure technology has come a long way. Changing out the front plastic shield always helps it work better.
 

StiHacka

Compensating for something
Jan 4, 2013
21,560
12,504
In hell. Welcome!
Two shit expensive things I've bought.
Flir One Pro has a thermal and optical camera and overlays the images, thing is the optical camera doesn't line up with the thermal so if you are looking for something like a hot fuse it will show up the wrong one as hot.
You could remove the image overlay in previous versions of the app but not the later ones.
So I cover the camera with tape.
View attachment 188110

Speedglas something something helmet, I bought this mostly because it wasn't Chinese made but my casual racism fucked me over.
This thing is so front heavy that it sucks to wear, and the adjusters adjust themselves and if the welding arc is even slightly obscured it will Chuck a wobbly and flash you, should have bought the Miller.
View attachment 188111
*I am only a mechanic and welders seem to like this helmet.
1674347054832.png
 

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,259
8,765
Crawlorado
Anyone know of competitors saws to the Festool HK/HKC? I've already got a Makita track saw, but I'll be damned if the ability to retain the track on the saw isn't the handiest feature for a lot of the work that I do.

ZC576173-hkc-55-ebi-f-circular-saw-plus-set-f-0003.jpg
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,259
8,765
Crawlorado
Love my Makita track saw. The only saw similar to that Festool that I know of off hand is the Mafell:

If that's the case, I may just buy a second rail (I've got the 55"), chop it down and use my current saw. The 55" is pretty unwieldy when cutting stuff that's only 12" wide, but I need that precision for cutting stair treads/risers.

If I was doing more than 1 or 2 staircases in my house, I could probably justify the $800, but its a tough sell when I already own the Makita.
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
If that's the case, I may just buy a second rail (I've got the 55"), chop it down and use my current saw. The 55" is pretty unwieldy when cutting stuff that's only 12" wide, but I need that precision for cutting stair treads/risers.

If I was doing more than 1 or 2 staircases in my house, I could probably justify the $800, but its a tough sell when I already own the Makita.
There are 32" Festool and 39" Makita rails, but they aren't much cheaper (or at all cheaper) than the 55" Makita rail. Definitely agree that the 55" rail is a pain when working on smaller stuff. Guess you could cut it to something like 24"/31" or maybe 18"/27" and then have a couple of options. I've considered doing the same.
 
Last edited:

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,259
8,765
Crawlorado
There are 32" Festool and 39" Makita rails, but they aren't much cheaper (or at all cheaper) than the 55" Makita rail. Definitely agree that the 55" rail is a pain when working on smaller stuff. Guess you could cut it to something like 24"/31" or maybe 18"/27" and then have a couple of options. I've considered doing the same.
Thats what I keep coming back to. $60 or $90 for a new Makita rail is enticing compared to the cost of the HK/HKC, all for something that is largely redundant.

But I'll be Goddamned if the attached track isn't an enticing feature, beats using a square + circular saw any day.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,627
5,442
Anyone know of competitors saws to the Festool HK/HKC? I've already got a Makita track saw, but I'll be damned if the ability to retain the track on the saw isn't the handiest feature for a lot of the work that I do.

View attachment 188214
I bought a Metabo plunge/circ thingy, was a bit cheaper than a Festool but feels like it should have been less than half the price of the Festy, it's feels horrible in the hand but makes a nice cut.
I can't remember which Festool track saw it was and if it was a 110 or 220V model but they had motor issues and the battery ones were supposedly more powerful.
A friend bought a Makita track saw but said he also wished he'd gone for the Festool.
1674561693559.png