What tools did you buy today?

[Altan]

15 minutes ago, fm2176 said:

 

For better or worse, we Yankees don't really have many options.  Despite having a lot of tool brands over here, most have offshored production to China.  Many of the European brands you often write about are unavailable, or at least prohibitively expensive and inconvenient to import.  

 

Like many Americans, I like convenience and instant gratification.  This is why you hear stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, and sometime Menards brought up so often.  They are big boxes that stock, and quickly sell, a lot of "Big Name" tools (DeWalt, Milwaukee, heck, even Ryobi) for relatively cheap prices.  Lowe's used to sell Metabo (pre-HPT acquisition), and still sells Bosch and Flex, while Home Depot sells Makita, but every one of those brands' tools seem to be made in China, so we get different stuff over here.

 

For the foreseeable future, I'll be using and abusing my Asian-made power tools and enjoying the US-made Snap-On and other hand tools.  As evidenced by my recent TIA activity, I've been buying some decent Austrian, Turkish, and other tools recently, though admittedly my next tool is going to be Chinese--an early '90s Norinco SKS that takes AK mags.  It might get along with the Yugoslavian M56/66.

Some of these brands that I write about are new for me as well, but I check their COO, We have Home Base stores in UK which I think could be the British version of Home Depot, in recent years they closed a few of their branches in London specially in Central London as the land is so expensive here and they have built thousands of Flats instead, it is getting so difficult to get a DIY store in London and finding material and tools and accessories is a big headache right now, everything is online almost. 

 

Not all Makita or DeWALT tools are made in China, Makita produces a lot of their expensive and quality tools in Japan, their cordless caulk gun is made in Japan and it is very quality. a lot of their tools are made in UK, their cordless planer and biscuit joiner are made in UK but they are average quality, Makita's Japanese made tools are better quality than their UK made tools. Some of DeWALT's cordless mitresaws are made in Italy, the ones with 184mm, 216mm and 250mm blades. DeWALT 12V range is entirely made in China. DeWALT makes some of their drills in Czech Rep. but moving them slowly slowly to China as well. I have their Chinese made DCS356 (bare unit) multi tool which I bought it for £110, not happy with the quality at all, the new German made Ampshare Fein multitool I bought for £117 which also comes with a case and a 2.0Ah battery which is compatible with Bosch tools and 24 other brands. Why should I stay with DeWALT then?! I did buy another Bosch 5Ah battery today and will buy some Metabo ones so any tool within Ampshare or CAS which is Western made and better price I will buy and replace with DeWALT Chinese made one. 

 

I did buy some 150mm long slotted screwdriver bits from a Turkish brand called Izeltas and I liked the quality, very similar to Wiha quality, It is not easy to find long slotted screwdriver bits. Which tools did you buy that they were made in Turkey? Austrians are good with drill bits, Fisch and Alpen are amazing. 

[fm2176]

I was humoring myself.  My Austrian tools are Glocks and the Turkish ones my Canik and the Winchester SXP.  We live in different societies, but firearms are definitely tools.  Many people use them to put food on the table, either by harvesting game or protecting crops and livestock.  Others use them to ensure the safety of themselves and others.  

 

I group a lot of the European, North American, and Asian tools (of all sorts) together in that few modern tools are truly crude.  Some are more utilitarian (think Harbor Freight) and others are a joy to look at and use (say, Snap-On or [insert German brand here]), but if they do the job with minimal injury to the user, they're better than what our predecessors worked with.  

 

Going back to power tools, I have some that were made in Mexico, Malaysia, or other countries, but the bulk of those here in the States are imported from China.  I guess it's just easier to meet that all-important price point by shipping stuff across the Pacific than it is to make it domestically or import it from countries that build the same tool for other markets.

[Altan]

17 hours ago, fm2176 said:

I was humoring myself.  My Austrian tools are Glocks and the Turkish ones my Canik and the Winchester SXP.  We live in different societies, but firearms are definitely tools.  Many people use them to put food on the table, either by harvesting game or protecting crops and livestock.  Others use them to ensure the safety of themselves and others.  

 

I group a lot of the European, North American, and Asian tools (of all sorts) together in that few modern tools are truly crude.  Some are more utilitarian (think Harbor Freight) and others are a joy to look at and use (say, Snap-On or [insert German brand here]), but if they do the job with minimal injury to the user, they're better than what our predecessors worked with.  

 

Going back to power tools, I have some that were made in Mexico, Malaysia, or other countries, but the bulk of those here in the States are imported from China.  I guess it's just easier to meet that all-important price point by shipping stuff across the Pacific than it is to make it domestically or import it from countries that build the same tool for other markets.

I got my Ampshare Fein multi tool today and it is amazing, it came with a Lbox and a battery, also with an insert for the tool, battery and charger, similar quality to Festool ones. Definitely recommend it, huge difference in vibrating also, compared to DeWALT one. 

[fyrfytr998]

Haven’t been here in a minute. Here’s my haul over the holiday season. All Craftsman V20 tools.

 

18ga Brad Nailer

23ga Pin Nailer

Brushless Jigsaw

Starett Angle Finder

 

Next on the list is gonna be the new High Torque Impact Wrench.

 

 

 

[fm2176]

19 hours ago, fyrfytr998 said:

Haven’t been here in a minute. Here’s my haul over the holiday season. All Craftsman V20 tools.

 

18ga Brad Nailer

23ga Pin Nailer

Brushless Jigsaw

Starett Angle Finder

 

Next on the list is gonna be the new High Torque Impact Wrench.

 Nice, I have the Ryobi brad and pin nailers, along with the DeWalt finish nailer.  All are bigger and heavier than their pneumatic counterparts, but for ease and quickness of use, I grab them over an air nailer and hose.

 

I'm looking to get newer vehicles for my wife and I soon, and will be putting my M18 Fuel impact wrenches in roadside kits for them.  I have the 2763 and 2767 high torque, as well as the mid-torque.  They sure beat using a lug nut wrench or breaker bar.

 

Activity here has been extremely slow, especially over the holidays.  A lot of former regulars check in only rarely or not at all, it seems.  Good seeing you post.

[Jronman]

I bought more epoxy forms from Black Forest Wood Co. They were having a boxing day sale. I already had one from a previous purchase earlier this year.It was about 18 inch x 10 inch in size. I bought 3 more of the same size.

[Jronman]

My forms came in and also my Woodpeckers One Time Tool Radius and Chamfer Jig came in. There was a slight mistake on the order but otherwise order was great. I got an extra jig by mistake instead of the Rack-it part to hang the jig on the wall for storage. I have an email in to Woodpecker support to see what I can do to get the missing piece to the rack-it and possibly send back the extra jig (or keep it. depends what they say I guess). I have not heard back from Woodpeckers support yet. I also for Christmas got one of those 4-in-1 pens with the ruler, level, bit driver, and pen and I also got a cordless light from Handy Brite model 21015. Haven't heard of this brand before.

[Altan]

I got a Fein 5"-6" 1700W angle grinder, Made in Germany, extremely solid, came with two guards and it is the same size as DeWALT 1000W 5" grinders, almost the same price, Why should I buy DeWALT Chinese made grinders then?! Look at the power difference!

[fm2176]

Preliminary post...about to head to Home Depot and see what they have.  I might pick up some wrenches despite having who knows how many spread across Louisiana, Georgia, and Virginia.  When I need that one I can never find it.  In keeping with tool memedom, the 10mm socket and/or wrench has been bought many times over.  I have Snap-On, Mac, Marco, SK, Craftsman, Craftsman Industrial, Kobalt, and who knows how many other brands, but when I need a specific tool it's missing.  Hmm...maybe I need to organize.

 

I'll be buying a new(er) vehicle before long, but the 2009 Dodge Journey I paid cash for is still going.  Fortunately, unlike Ford, their "maintenance-free" transmission has a filler hole.  I'm not a dealer, but I play one on TV, so I removed the "For Dealer Use Only" cap and added a quart of ATF +4 when my transmission started whining.

 

Today's Home Depot adventure is primarily to look at tool storage and to ensure I have that 13mm or 1/2" wrench to change the oil, but if there's a decent clearance deal or Special Buy I'll share it here.  

[fm2176]

Ended up buying a set of Husky ratcheting wrenches and a Ryobi One+ car charger (around 50% off in the clearance aisle).  

[Jronman]

On 1/31/2023 at 7:00 AM, fm2176 said:

Preliminary post...about to head to Home Depot and see what they have.  I might pick up some wrenches despite having who knows how many spread across Louisiana, Georgia, and Virginia.  When I need that one I can never find it.  In keeping with tool memedom, the 10mm socket and/or wrench has been bought many times over.  I have Snap-On, Mac, Marco, SK, Craftsman, Craftsman Industrial, Kobalt, and who knows how many other brands, but when I need a specific tool it's missing.  Hmm...maybe I need to organize.

 

I'll be buying a new(er) vehicle before long, but the 2009 Dodge Journey I paid cash for is still going.  Fortunately, unlike Ford, their "maintenance-free" transmission has a filler hole.  I'm not a dealer, but I play one on TV, so I removed the "For Dealer Use Only" cap and added a quart of ATF +4 when my transmission started whining.

 

Today's Home Depot adventure is primarily to look at tool storage and to ensure I have that 13mm or 1/2" wrench to change the oil, but if there's a decent clearance deal or Special Buy I'll share it here.  

Have you seen those 10mm only 10 piece sets. I wonder if they make them for the 1/2 inch you need?

[Jronman]

My tool crate recently arrived. It came with the Unilite neck light and a small inspection light. It also had a MIlwaukee High Leverage 7-in-1 Pliers, and it had a Wera Zyklop Ratchet. The Inspection light is all metal but it is not rechargeable. The neck light is rechargeable with type c usb. The Pliers I have not used yet. Not sure what to do with them. The Wera Zyklop I unboxed. It is fine. The rotating head feature is kinda cool. Also it can fit 1/4 hex and 3/8 drive sockets. Only catch is there is no retaining ring or detent for the sockets. It also comes with storage for 12 bits in the handle. Wasn't as exciting as some previous Tool Crates but it's still not a bad lineup of tools. I like the crates because it surprises me with tools that I wouldn't otherwise buy. There are so many items that I regularly use that I might not have ever owned if it wasn't for Tool Crate.

[fm2176]

On 2/6/2023 at 6:21 PM, Jronman said:

My tool crate recently arrived. It came with the Unilite neck light and a small inspection light. It also had a MIlwaukee High Leverage 7-in-1 Pliers, and it had a Wera Zyklop Ratchet. The Inspection light is all metal but it is not rechargeable. The neck light is rechargeable with type c usb. The Pliers I have not used yet. Not sure what to do with them. The Wera Zyklop I unboxed. It is fine. The rotating head feature is kinda cool. Also it can fit 1/4 hex and 3/8 drive sockets. Only catch is there is no retaining ring or detent for the sockets. It also comes with storage for 12 bits in the handle. Wasn't as exciting as some previous Tool Crates but it's still not a bad lineup of tools. I like the crates because it surprises me with tools that I wouldn't otherwise buy. There are so many items that I regularly use that I might not have ever owned if it wasn't for Tool Crate.

 

That looks interesting, though I'm not in the market to subscribe to such a service at the moment.  I got lured into subscriptions by Manscaped and Black Rifle Coffee.  I think I cancelled the former, or at least decreased the number of deliveries, and I definitely curtailed the latter, with one bag of coffee coming every few months now.

 

Looking at their website, it seems that Tool Crate is like some of the other subscription sites, sending quality stuff that we might not otherwise know about or consider buying.  On the flip side, it seems that some of the things they send may be wholly unusable by the individual.  Hopefully you continue getting outstanding and useful tools through them.  With my luck, I'd subscribe and get stuff I already have ten of.  🙂

[Jronman]

On 2/10/2023 at 5:24 PM, fm2176 said:

 

That looks interesting, though I'm not in the market to subscribe to such a service at the moment.  I got lured into subscriptions by Manscaped and Black Rifle Coffee.  I think I cancelled the former, or at least decreased the number of deliveries, and I definitely curtailed the latter, with one bag of coffee coming every few months now.

 

Looking at their website, it seems that Tool Crate is like some of the other subscription sites, sending quality stuff that we might not otherwise know about or consider buying.  On the flip side, it seems that some of the things they send may be wholly unusable by the individual.  Hopefully you continue getting outstanding and useful tools through them.  With my luck, I'd subscribe and get stuff I already have ten of.  🙂

You are very correct. Get a bunch of tools I wouldn't normally have known about or purchased. What I like is the stuff you get is generally "quality"/"pro grade" items. You don't get any no name junk brands that some other tool subscription attempts have given in the past. One box I got a pair of Crecent scissors/shears. I wouldn't normally have boughten a pair of scissors but they turned out to be the best pair of scissors I have ever owned. There are a number of other brands or products that were the same. Either never heard of the brand or wouldn't have normally bought the tool but turned out to be really good tools that I wish I would have gotten sooner. 

[Altan]

Got some Chinese made slotted screwdriver bits in 50mm (2") length sizes 1.5mm, 2mm and 2.5mm and I was very happy with their quality, It seems Chinese are improving their quality in producing screwdriver bits. They are very useful with small electronic devices, toys, watches and glasses. There is only one other brand (KS Tools, a brand stablished in East Germany) produces these three sizes but theirs do not have rounded body, These Chinese made ones are following the DIN 3126 standard perfectly, according to that E6.3 (1/4") hex shank should be 25mm (1") long and anything longer or shorter than that is not considered as standard. No Western brand by now has produced these slotted screwdriver bits or even in 25mm (1") length. These sizes are only available in C4 (4mm, which I hate) hex shank which are called precision screwdriver bits. 

[Altan]

Got a Bosch 12V router, made in Hungary, haven't tried it, yet. It looks well machined. 

[Altan]

Got a DeWALT DCT410 12V cordless Camera. This tool is discontinued and not easy to find it as new anymore. I liked the quality of the tool even though it is made in China! I also got the DeWALT DCT414 12V cordless Infrared Thermometer, made in China again but quality is good. It seems the only US made tools in DeWALT 12V range was the wall scanners (DCT418 and DCT419) that the brand had. 

[fm2176]

I haven't bought any tools today, but I've advantage of Ryobi Days thrice, so far this year.  I got the two-piece Verse clamp speakers and a fan with the 2-pack of 4Ah batteries and charger a few weeks ago, then went back and got the One+ HP starter kit with 2,4, and 6Ah batteries, opting for the pet vacuum.  

 

I like the Verse speakers more than the Score speakers I already owned.  I guess their clamp fan design was a prototype for a whole lineup of clamping accessories, as the speakers use a very similar design, and there is also a clamp light now.  The Score speakers relied on a primary unit and SKAA technology, allowing up to four hub speakers to be connected to the primary.  The Verse speakers are Bluetooth and each can be programmed as a primary, with 100+ (according to Ryobi) being connected at once.  

[Jronman]

I ordered two 4 packs of bessey kre clamps on sale for $193 per pack. Not a bad price for bessey clamps. Hopefully they come to the right address this time. I double and triple checked to make sure it was sold by Amazon and not some no name seller. I also decided on the router bit I wanted to order. I decided to go with the Ultra Shear from Woodpeckers compression 2+2 flute spiral router bit with the half inch shank.

[Altan]

Craftsman + Stanley Fatmax = AS Rome

 

 

 

[Altan]

16 minutes ago, Altan said:

Craftsman + Stanley Fatmax = AS Rome

 

 

 

 

Made in Vietnam 

 

 

[fm2176]

That's something we don't see in the States.  I would assume the FatMax V20 batteries are the same as Cranftsman, albeit with different colored shells?

 

IIRC, Walmart used to sell Fatmax cordless tools, and I believe Costco also had some.  Walmart's FatMax line didn't last long, though, and Bostitch 18v tools (not compatible with the 20v Bostitch line) replaced them.  

[Altan]

2 hours ago, fm2176 said:

That's something we don't see in the States.  I would assume the FatMax V20 batteries are the same as Cranftsman, albeit with different colored shells?

 

IIRC, Walmart used to sell Fatmax cordless tools, and I believe Costco also had some.  Walmart's FatMax line didn't last long, though, and Bostitch 18v tools (not compatible with the 20v Bostitch line) replaced them.  

 

Same here, Craftsman is something that we don't see in the United Queendom, oh sorry United Kingdom recently!

 

Yes, Stanley Fatmax old batteries were same as Porter Cable batteries, but they switched to Craftsman in the last two-three years I think. They made an adapter for old batteries also which would allow you to use Porter Cable batteries with Craftsman tools or Craftsman batteries with Porter Cable tools.

 

Bostitch had a 12V tool using DeWALT batteries, cardbord stapler I think!

 

 

[Jronman]

The two KREK2440 clamp kits I ordered came the other day I also got the Ultra Shear bit in. To my surprise it came with a RackBit base included. I might have to try out the full RackBit system priced a bit high though. 

[Jronman]

I picked up a set of 8 Wera Joker ratcheting wrenches in inch sizing. I already had the metric version and really liked them. I like that Wera wrenches are a brushed finish and no a chrome finish. I am not a fan of chrome