dwasifar

All finished and ready to work:

Today I got a dado set that actually fits my table saw: And, because of that, I also got an electrician's caddy: It's just fitted together at this point. I'm going to cut a few grooves for movable dividers before final assembly.

Well, from what I'm seeing it looks like the Hitachi has a 1" arbor. I've emailed Hitachi to verify, but I don't think I'd want a saw that's harder to get blades for. So let me know how your dad likes the Kobalt.

Now I know how to compliment you. You bought him this, right? I was in Lowe's yesterday looking at table saws for no good reason. I have a bad reason: I discovered my adjustable dado is too thick for the arbor of my Porter Cable table saw. I've had the P-C for several years but this is the first time I needed to dado on it. I ordered a more conventional dado set, and if it fits, that's good, but if it doesn't, I may need to change saws. The Porter Cable table saw Lowe's sells now looks like a toy compared to the one I have, but they have a really nice Hitachi: For $350 it seems to have all the features of the $500 DeWalt that was sitting next to it. The downside of both the DeWalt and the Hitachi is the stand. I leave my saw set up all the time and just roll it under the workbench when I'm not using it; the workbench is designed with a spot for the saw. But that only works with a stand that has wheels on the ground like my current saw or your dad's new Kobalt.

The Craftsman sale at Ace was still going on, so I snagged one of the magnetic torpedo levels for $2.99: I don't know when I'll need it, but for three bucks why not have it. I also built myself an industrial strength power strip out of spare parts: 14/3 computer power cord garbage-picked at work, other components scrounged out of a junk drawer.

Another day, another wrench rack: Why do I have five crescent wrenches? I don't know. It just sort of happened.

Of course you bought one to test for us, right?

I have gone to the dark side: I've always wanted a set of box end ratchets but never quite enough to shell out the green. HF is having one of their 20% coupon deals, and the set was under $20 with tax, so let's see how they are. The chroming is good, but they're awfully thin, and the 12mm is larger than the 13mm. Whaddya expect, I guess. We'll see how they do. Of course where there's a wrench set, there's another one of these: Not as nice as the others. The piece of firewood I picked out that I thought was ash turned out to be something softer, maybe silver maple. But it gets the job done, I guess. The 12mm and 13mm look funny together. Speaking of toolbox organization, the rest of my Goliath socket rails arrived today, so now I have my sockets drawer organized: Metric on the left, SAE on the right.

Another handmade wrench rack:

The Tekton elf came again today: This time I actually might have something to complain about. I think there's a plating flaw on the 18mm socket. See it? Also there's this. It's not a tool I bought, per se, but it is new: In this case I can literally say I did not buy this wrench rack. I made it out of a piece of firewood: This is part of the toolchest organization project. All the commercial wrench racks would have left empty slots. Now I have two more to make for my other two wrench sets. I'm pleased with how it came out, though. It's oak, nice and heavy, so it doesn't shift around in the drawer when I pick up a wrench.

One more thing I noticed is that the Tekton "points" are not as sharp as the Craftsman. You can see it in the pictures. So there's that. I don't know if that makes a difference, though, and it looks to me like a Snap-on socket's points are more like the Tekton than the Craftsman:

Might as well do this again. Today we're comparing new Tekton 1/2" drive sockets to vintage Craftsman. I have the Tekton set in metric and the Craftsman in SAE, so I'm choosing the closest match in size, and comparing 3/4" to 19mm and 5/8" to 16mm. The pairs are pretty much the same size, except that the 19mm Tekton is step-sided whereas the Craftsman is straight: In the smaller pair, the depth is about the same: But in the larger pair, the Craftsman is definitely deeper: This is probably possible in the Craftsman because of the straight sides. So that seems like a cut corner on Tekton's part. The finish and chrome quality seem pretty comparable. There are no visible external imperfections. But the smooth chrome extends partway into the inside of the socket on the Tekton pieces, which I think is a nice touch. Same on the bottom. In each pair, the Tekton socket is distinctly heavier: Craftsman 5/8" 52g Tekton 16mm 64g Craftsman 3/4" 72g Tekton 19mm 78g I'm not sure where the extra weight comes from. Different kind of steel? I don't know, I'm not a materials expert. On the surface, the Tekton looks like a comparable quality product to the USA Craftsman. I don't see any visible evidence of cutting corners, except for the stepped sides on the larger sockets, and there might be a good reason for that besides saving a few pennies. The only thing I can't test for you is break strength. Well, I probably could, but I'm not going to. I wish I could report some major differences favoring the USA Craftsman over the Tekton from Taiwan. But I really just can't. They look good.

Today I bought a bunch of Horror Fright tent sale stuff that doesn't warrant photos: a hose sprayer, a set of grinding stones, a three-plug outlet strip, a magnetic tool storage bar, a bucket organizer, and one of their better-than-it-should-be digital calipers. I also indulged a stupid OCD thing. You will recall the screwdriver set rack: Well, now it looks like this: Yes, I actually went to Sears and bought a new clear handle #3 Phillips so it would match. There was nothing wrong with the old one except that it didn't match. OCD. Of course, with what's going on between Sears and Western Forge, it might be my last chance to get a WF USA driver. That's my rationalization and I'm sticking to it.

Here's a USA Craftsman 42793 3/8" flex head quick release ratchet handle for you guys who like the older USA Craftsman tools. This one is probably late 1970s, early 1980s vintage. The reason I replaced it was that the flex head detents are a little sloppy by now. Annoying to me, might not be a problem for you. So you can buy it and live with that, or you can fix the detent if you know how to get in there and replace that spring (I don't), or you can swap it for a new non-USA one at Sears and still be ahead of the game price-wise. I don't know what to ask for it, so let's say $10 or best offer. I'm in the northwest Chicago burbs.

Hi folks, I have this Channellock screwdriver set that I changed my mind about. It's new and factory-sealed: For a better look, here's Channellock's pic of what's in the set: These are made in USA with clear acetate handles, chrome shafts, vapor blasted tips. Lifetime Channellock warranty. Set includes:#1 x 3" Phillips#1 x 6" Phillips#2 x 4" Phillips#2 x 6" Phillips#3 x 6" Phillips3/16" x 3" slotted3/16" x 6" slotted1/4" x 4" slotted1/4" x 6" slotted5/16" x 6" slotted List for this set is $68.18. I've got $50 into it. Make me an offer. I'm in the Chicago NW suburbs if anyone is close enough to pick them up.

The other day I was drilling through some tough jatoba wood with a large twist drill, using the cordless 3/8" DeWalt, and the bit got stuck good and proper. Couldn't drill it through, couldn't back it out. The drill would strain but not move. Eventually I had to break out the corded 1/2" to break the bit loose. But after I removed the DeWalt from the stuck bit, I detected that distinctive electrical overheat smell from it. Do I need to do anything? Check the brushes or something? Did I shorten the tool's life?

I have a big one of those from Swanson, but I never had a little one like this. For three bucks it was a no-brainer.

Today I picked up the things BMack pointed me to at Ace. I got the same USA screwdriver sets and USA framing square he did, plus these spring clamps: I adapted the screwdriver rack originally built to hold the Channelock screwdrivers to hold the Craftsman drivers instead: This means I'm not going to keep the Channellock set, for which a replacement is already on the way to me. If anyone's interested in a sealed new 10-piece set of USA Channellock acetate drivers, PM me.

I might sell the replacement set of Channellock screwdrivers instead of opening them, and build a Craftsman set instead around these purchases to go in that custom rack I made.

Lookee lookee what I got today: You're probably thinking, so what? It's a basic angle grinder. But the thing is I have never owned one before, and for a stupid, stupid reason: I thought they were expensive. I had never priced one. This one was stupid cheap: $36 at Lowe's. I don't have a particular use for it right now but for that price it's nice to have it on hand. And it has a case, which is a big deal for me. Even if I burn this one out, I will have a box to put the next one in.

Jumped on this deal. I got what you got, except I got the spring clamps instead of the torpedo level. Thanks for the tip.

Yeah, I think we're spent.

I trust you don't have too many bent shaft problems with those woodies.

I hope you're wearing your protective gear while you're using your tool.

Well, yeah. You don't want to get the wrong kind of head.