Charles Harris
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Posts posted by Charles Harris
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That looks like a good deal.
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Here are the three that come to mind right now
1. Rigid Jobmax multi tool- I had the corded and pneumatic version. It was my first multi tool. I guess it did open the door to multi tools for me. The trigger was annoying and it never seemed like I could keep it at the right speed. I feel that it lost a lot of power through the interchangeable head. I replaced it with a Bosch MX30 and I couldn't believe how much better it was. I guess the jobmax has its place and might work ok for someone that uses the other attachments most of the time. If you are looking for a multi tool there are much better choices.
2. Dewalt DCS387 compact reciprocating saw. I can't believe how much this saw vibrates. I bought the kit with the tough box. I got it home clipped the battery on and test run it. I was seriously thinking about if the vibrations would damage batteries over time. I had a corded Sawzall at the same time. I understand reciprocating saws will inherently have vibration, but the vibration from the DCS387 is crazy.
3. Harbor Freight 18ga 2 in 1 finish nailer. I know that I should have known better, but I have got a few things from there that was ok. I was building cabinets for my kitchen. I needed a narrow crown stapler. I had stopped in Harbor Freight and I saw the nailer was marked down to $15. I didn't even get one cabinet assembled. It wouldn't sink them flush and jammed every few shots. I drove over to Lowes and picked up a Bostitch stapler. It will sink them flush every time. The $15 spent on the Harbor Freight was a waste.
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I've a PM9. You?
Yes the PM9. I've shot the CM 9 and its good also. I do still think the PM is better.
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I originally wanted the 2654 but ended up with m12 wrench fuel cus I got a good deal on it and I kinda forgot about the 2654......Thanks a lot for reminding that I wanted it lol the crazy part is if I'm correct I think the 2654 is more compact than the m12 wrench.
I have the 2654 and really like it. I had a hard time deciding between the 2454 and 2654. I'm still keeping an eye on eBay for a smoking deal on a 2454. The only thing that might be more compact on the 2654 is the length.
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Favorite EDC knife- Benchmade 904 mini axis locking folder.
Favorite EDC pistol- Kahr PM9 w/ Comp-tac Infidel holster
Favorite competition pistol- Custom STI 2011
Favorite polymer pistol- XDM 5.25 9mm
Favorite competition rifle- Custom 223 black rifle.
Favorite bolt rifle - Custom Remington 700 280cal. (Huge selection of 7mm bullets for hand loading)
Favorite deer hunting rifle- Remington model 7 7mm-08. (Right size for the job.)
Favorite 22 pistol- S&W model 41
Favorite 22 rifle- S&W M&P 15-22 magpul edition
Glocks are great guns but I don't prefer them just because of the grip angle. I have many hours of practice / competition with a 1911/2011. You get to where you can aim close from muscle memory. When I do that with a Glock the sights are way out of alignment. I know guys that compete with Glocks. I believe if you are going to shoot a Glock you should shoot nothing but a Glock.
I believe that if you are going to carry you should be responsible enough to practice. You should be able to hit what you are aiming at. I feel the Kahr is the best shooting compact pistol for me. It does very well on 6" plates at 20 yards.
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Love it!! Love it!! Love it!! C Harris I use it way more than I thought I would've, I even had to bring it home from the shop cus the guys were Fallin in love with it to much.
Lol! Bad news. I feel my wallet getting lighter.
Have you used a 2654?
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welcome aboard man
Thanks. After a month on the forums I can say I'm glad I signed up.
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Oh I am so glad that you brough that up! I need to hear personal experiences from people who own these battery operated vacuumes. Reason being, it requires a lot of suction power in order for a vacuume to be worth a dam, which is why I love shop vacs. Considering this fact, I simply do not see how you are going to get much runtime on 2AH or even 4AH battery packs. And this is where I think those new 9AH batteries will probably shine. What is your opinion on said vacuum, how is its runtime? Is it worth buying? Would you recommend the M12 vacuum or rather a M18 vacuum?
I bought her the DustBuster style M12 vac. Our house has hardwood and tile floors. We have a blue heeled that lives inside. We use Swifter and Bona mops to clean but we always end up with hair under furniture and behind doors etc. The M12 vac work great for picking up this. It seems like we can go through the whole house 4 or 5 times getting the hair balls on a 4ah battery. I think it helps that you have the trigger so you are only running it when needed. I have used it a couple times to clean up after I had drilled holes. It worked good but it's no shop vac. It also doesn't have a huge canister so if you were cleaning up much you would have to empty multiple times.
I haven't tried the M18 Vac and I'm also interested in it with the 9ah batteries. I still have my old Dewalt 18v shop vac. I was never able to use it on battery power. It seemed like it would suck those old nicd batteries flat in less than 5 min. I always just used the ac cord. I also have the Ridgid 14gal shop vac and it's awesome for clean up.
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And you made the smart move IMO! I am also like a lot of your guys's shops, you guys have a terrific work area, I like some of the things you guys have done with your setups. Now, if we can just keep the wifies away from our dam power tools, we'll be a lot happier. Raise your hand if your wife borrowed a power tool but didn't put it back where you had it? Raise your hand if your wife used a racheting screwdriver to unclog a drain, and left gunk all over it? When a wife disrespects out tools, they disrespect us. Plain and simple, so we need to start putting little ear piercing alarms on our cabinents and tool drawers. So if they get sticky fingers, they will get a scare to remember.
My wife had a little tool bag with some crappy homeowner tools when I met her. I keep that setup with what she uses.
I hear you though that drives me nuts. My wife won't hardly touch my toolbox anymore.
I did buy her the M12 Vac recently. She loves it and that gives me a good reason to buy more M12 tools. More batteries for her vac. Lol!
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Wow that's an awesome collection.This is my collection of Milwaukee tools. It acutally is missing a few tools I added like the leaf blower, 1/4 inch fuel impact wrench, M12 bluetooth radio, M18 fuel hole hawg, and M18 fuel fuel 3/8" impact wrench.
I know the feeling all of these cool tools and videos make my wallet lighter. How do you like the 2454?A Little bit more Milwaukee porn for u guys! This my Red Team so far. And once again I would like to thank DR, Chrisk and Dan and Eric!! Damn u guys!! ur the reasons why I'm so broke!!!! LOL!
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At least you can get away with one charger CH
True. That does help.
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Yeah, were battery nuts, shocking isn't it?
My wife says I'm just a nut in general.
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There was a lawsuit about patent infringement on the A123 cells. Dewalt and A123 were sued but the college that came up with that concept. Its on google if you want to know more.
I know the black & decker VPX line was discontinued as a result of the lawsuit. Walmart clearance all the VPX tools. I drove to every Walmart in the area and ended up with 40+ of the batteries. I used them for all kinds of projects. Dewalt continued to sell the 36v packs after the lawsuit. Do you know how Dewalt was affected?
Leave it to lawyers to ruin a good thing. This could be the reason we don't have LiFe powered tools today.
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Here is a couple cool videos showing what the A123 LiFe's can do.
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I haven't used any of the cordless grinders. I have a corded Dewalt.
The answer for the Reciprocating Saw is much easier. Milwaukee all the way. The Sawzall is the reason I switched over to the Milwaukee m18 line. I didn't want to have two brands of 18v batteries.
Come to think of it though I still have two lines of batteries. The M12 and the M18.
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I had a couple projects at my house where I drilled multiple holes for tapcons screws. I was using a Dewalt DCD 995. It's was awful and the holes would end up out of round.
I picked up a Milwaukee Rotary hammer and I can't believe how much better it is. When I switched over from Dewalt to Milwaukee I didn't even bother getting the 18v hammer drill. I got the non-hammer 18v drill. I have the 12V fuel hammer drill for little stuff like hanging pictures in plaster walls. Anything bigger than that and I'm going to use the rotary hammer drill.
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I don't understand why LiFe batteries haven't been used more. Dewalt used them in the 36, 28, and 18 volt lithium batteries.
They are as safe to charge as regular Li-Ions, but can be charged in 12min within factory specs. The 2.5 ah cells are rated at 70 amp discharge. I have cut up several of the DeWalt 36v packs to source the cells. I use these for my RC airplanes and Helicopters. I've even mounted them on support equipment like helicopter starters. I have abused these cells and the only way I have been able to kill one is discharge it to far. I tested the limits of the cells before trusting them in my airplane. I have even zip charged them without damage. (Connect the cell directly to a 12v car battery. Charges in less than a min)
There are a couple downsides to the A123 LiFe's. They are 3.3v nominal vs the 3.7 Li-Ion. They hold there voltage crazy flat during the discharge. This is good and bad. It's good that they are able to hold their voltage under crazy loads but it makes it all but impossible to have an accurate fuel gauge. The charger needs to balance the pack or they can get off over time.
How would you feel about having a 2.5ah battery that could be charged in 12 min?
The charger I have will graph discharge and charge cycles. This graph is of a 2s A123 LiFe pack I built from a 36v Dewalt pack. (4.6amp discharge)
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If we really wanted max performance out our tools we would use Lipo batteries.
This 5.0ah 5s (18v nominal) Lipo has a rating of 65c constant and 130c burst. That's 325amps continuous and bursts of up to 650amps.
The best Li-Ions are rated at 25amp draw for comparison. So a 2p pack like our 4 and 5 ah tools are capable of delivering ~50 amps.
The only problem is the Lipos are much more dangerous to charge. They need to be balanced every charge. The Lipo cells don't like vibration, and impacts.
Li-Ions are a great match for our tools. They are easy to maintain and have a good balance of capacity and weight.
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An impact impacting.....
Kreg bit?
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Here is a couple pics.
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Congrats.
That's an awesome deal.
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We actually used to install polybutylene. It was the Pex of the day back in the 80s. There were different grades of the pipe. The stuff my dad installed was a dull grey. There were three different kinds of fittings I remember.(plastic, copper, and brass). Only one house that my dad or grandpa installed it in had problems that I know of. This one house had well water and for whatever reason the plastic fittings deteriated from the inside out. I feel for you though if you have a manufactured house with the stuff. I remember working on a couple with my dad back in the 90's. The polybutylene in manufactured homes was a shiny almost silver looking pipe. That stuff was crazy brittle back then. I remember it would develop little hair line cracks anywhere it bent and spray water out in what looked like a spider web. The only thing you can do is replace it. I guess it was the early 90s when my dad switched to CPVC. He would only use Flowguard Gold CPVC. It had some flex to it and wasn't brittle like a lot of the lower grade pipe. I was going to use FlowGuard Gold CPVC to plumb my house. I did some research and no one in my area was stocking it. I talked to the local supply house they recommended the Zurn Pex. I remember Pex had started showing up back then. So I have known about it being installed for at least 20 years. I did some research and didn't find any real problems reported. I decided to give it a try. It's nice to be able to drive a couple miles up the road and get any fitting I need. I bought a set of Ridgid crimpers and installed it. It installs just like the polybutylene did back in the day. The fittings are all high quality brass and I was sure to check the adjustment on my crimpers. You have to be sure to keep the jaws very clean and not let any dirt get in them. The Pex is by far the easiest to install. I would use schedule 40 PVC for underground water lines and the entrance into the house and Pex after your ball valve.
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LOL!Point of sale display got me.
I was at HD and had the Roybi in the cart. Then I saw a Milwaukee m12 drill and impact driver combo with charger and two batteries for $100.
Put the Roybi back on the shelf and got the Milwaukee.
The wife's happy with the size of the drill and I get to play with the impact and m12 system. Everything else I have is dewalt.
Like selling crack. They know how to get you hooked.
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I just re plumbed my house with Zurn Pex. I'm very happy with it so far.
Ultimate Tool Bag 6
in Ultimate Tool Bag Giveaway
Posted
The posts really spiked when the Bosch giveaway was announced.
I hope I win the ultimate tool bag.