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Stercorarius' Ultimate Tool Porn/Review Thread


Stercorarius

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2 hours ago, Stercorarius said:

If I did more plumbing I would definitely seriously consider one, but right now I can't even justify buying a Ridgid pipe wrench even though I've used them and know for a fact that they are worth the premium price.

Doesn't seem that pricey. Am I missing something?

http://www.amazon.com/Ridgid-10358-RapidGrip-Wrench-Model/dp/B000CCZSR6/ref=pd_sim_469_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41y83WROJQL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0R0M61GNE12FY6AMTJNF

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Oh wow that is a lot less than I expected. I was referring to the actual pipe wrenches premium price though. Yeah they still arent that much if they see daily use.

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Episode 6: Beat it Until it Hurts

On this episode of toolporn we're going to look at man's favorite object to play with. Hammers!

DSC_0597_zpsyei8izon.jpg

This bag came from one of my dad's skilsaws. Like most of you guys, he just throws the old bags out and so I just snatched this one up.

The Contents

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Hammers

Blue Hawk Rubber Mallet: This thing is great for being $1.59 at lowes. I use it constantly when I want to beat the piss out of something without causing permanent damage. I think this is the third one I've been through

Estwing 4lb Engineers Hammer: This is easily my most used hammer. It was about 15 dollars and is one of the greatest things in my collection. Great hammer that is made in the USA.

Stanley Graphite Ball Pein Hammer: I love this little hammer. I know that most people prefer hickory handles, but I really like these new hammers. It was only about $20 and I have no regrets with this purchase.

Estwing finishing and framing hammers: I love Estwing hammers. Both of these hammers are made in the USA and are fantastic. I'm a big fan of the new style lightweight Estwing framing hammer. Don't put give my opinion too much credence with these as most guys get more use out of these in one day as I do in a month. I am not a framer.

Prying 

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From top to bottom:

Wilde Pry bar set: This set was made in the United States of America and only ran me about $25. These things are fantastic. I know that I sound like a broken record, but I am truly impressed with the quality of these for the price. They have literally held the entire weight of my honda a couple of times due to some custom jack orieentation. 

Stanley Wonder Bar: Not much to say. It works.

Estwing Nail puller: Not made in USA which is dissapointing. Made in Japan. It still is a nice nail puller. I'm not a fan of the padded grip

Kobalt Demolition Bar: It is a surpisingly decent bar. The main complaints I have are that it isn't quite curved enough at the head and the steel bends too easily.

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Dewalt Hand Saw: I haven't gotten much use out of this because I have a reciprocating saw. All I've used it on so far is PVC so I can't say much about it.

Pittsburgh Bolt Cutters: They were about $40 and are one of the gems you can find at Harbor freight. I use these all the time for grade 40 chain and steel cable. They have a nice cable cutting section in the crotch of the handle that works pretty well. They are the best cutting bolt cutters that I have ever used. Full disclosure: I've only used one or two other pair of bolt cutters.

Husky C-Clamp: It's always convenient to have one of these on hand. 

Swanson Speed Square: I don't have any speed square preference, but everyone seems to swear by the Swansons so I figured I would just go with the flow.

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These don't belong in any bag and sort of float around.

Fuller Hammer: I got this when I was about 4 or 5 years old and it has seen better days. I keep it around for the occasional hammering.

Kobalt Sledge: It is pretty mediocre, but you can still beat on stuff with it. At work I usually use a Jackson that is in the service truck.

The others: Three Estwings and two Protos. It is too early to say anything about these hammers.

 

 

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4 hours ago, Stercorarius said:

Episode 6: Beat it Until it Hurts

On this episode of toolporn we're going to look at man's favorite object to play with. Hammers!

DSC_0597_zpsyei8izon.jpg

This bag came from one of my dad's skilsaws. Like most of you guys, he just throws the old bags out and so I just snatched this one up.

The Contents

DSC_0599_zpsmnowfwyn.jpg

DSC_0601_zpsyxserxpj.jpg

Hammers

Blue Hawk Rubber Mallet: This thing is great for being $1.59 at lowes. I use it constantly when I want to beat the piss out of something without causing permanent damage. I think this is the third one I've been through

Estwing 4lb Engineers Hammer: This is easily my most used hammer. It was about 15 dollars and is one of the greatest things in my collection. Great hammer that is made in the USA.

Stanley Graphite Ball Pein Hammer: I love this little hammer. I know that most people prefer hickory handles, but I really like these new hammers. It was only about $20 and I have no regrets with this purchase.

Estwing finishing and framing hammers: I love Estwing hammers. Both of these hammers are made in the USA and are fantastic. I'm a big fan of the new style lightweight Estwing framing hammer. Don't put give my opinion too much credence with these as most guys get more use out of these in one day as I do in a month. I am not a framer.

Prying 

DSC_0604_zpsnr8tx7pd.jpg

From top to bottom:

Wilde Pry bar set: This set was made in the United States of America and only ran me about $25. These things are fantastic. I know that I sound like a broken record, but I am truly impressed with the quality of these for the price. They have literally held the entire weight of my honda a couple of times due to some custom jack orieentation. 

Stanley Wonder Bar: Not much to say. It works.

Estwing Nail puller: Not made in USA which is dissapointing. Made in Japan. It still is a nice nail puller. I'm not a fan of the padded grip

Kobalt Demolition Bar: It is a surpisingly decent bar. The main complaints I have are that it isn't quite curved enough at the head and the steel bends too easily.

DSC_0605_zpsmeoajm3e.jpg

DSC_0608_zpsnbuc225m.jpg

Dewalt Hand Saw: I haven't gotten much use out of this because I have a reciprocating saw. All I've used it on so far is PVC so I can't say much about it.

Pittsburgh Bolt Cutters: They were about $40 and are one of the gems you can find at Harbor freight. I use these all the time for grade 40 chain and steel cable. They have a nice cable cutting section in the crotch of the handle that works pretty well. They are the best cutting bolt cutters that I have ever used. Full disclosure: I've only used one or two other pair of bolt cutters.

Husky C-Clamp: It's always convenient to have one of these on hand. 

Swanson Speed Square: I don't have any speed square preference, but everyone seems to swear by the Swansons so I figured I would just go with the flow.

DSC_0634_zpsea2kncuj.jpg

These don't belong in any bag and sort of float around.

Fuller Hammer: I got this when I was about 4 or 5 years old and it has seen better days. I keep it around for the occasional hammering.

Kobalt Sledge: It is pretty mediocre, but you can still beat on stuff with it. At work I usually use a Jackson that is in the service truck.

The others: Three Estwings and two Protos. It is too early to say anything about these hammers.

 

 

Awesome collection of tools you got there man!

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Yeah man awesome stuff nice to see well these tool pics!

I have that same welding helmet, the Viking. It quit working on me, I can't get it to auto darken anymore, any ideas on what to check on?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

First thing I would do is replace the battery if you haven't already. I wish I would have taken metal shop this year because Lincoln is awesome and gave all the seniors free Viking helmets.

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Episode 7: A Big Boy's Sack

This is one of my heaviest bags and is full of wrenches. Wrenches are the best tools. I'll take hand tools over power tools any day. Don't worry guys, this isn't my complete wrench collection.

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The bag was one that my dad was throwing out from a reciprocating saw. Really high quality bag.

Inside the Bag:

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Pittsburgh Jumbo Wrenches

 

Price: $50    This is quite possibly the only way I could afford wrenches in this format. I know they aren't the highest quality, but they are only used occasionally for large hydraulic fittings. You'd easily be paying a hundred dollars for a set like this from a name brand.

DSC_0502_zpsznjluqko.jpg

Kobalt Pipe Wrench:

Price: $15

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This is one of the cheapest pipe wrenches on the market. It isn't very good quality, but it works for occasional use. Not something I would tell a plumber to buy. I mainly use it for prying on stuff or breaking pulleys loose.

Pittsburgh Pro Click Style Torque Wrench

Price: $13

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This thing actually feels really nice in your hand. The adjustment is tough to deal with. From what I have read they are actually really accurate out of the box, but then they lose calibration really quickly. I keep this one around because it is worth the few bucks to use on non-critical components like lug nuts.

Pittsburgh Metric Wrench Set and Dickies Tool Roll

Price: $20 but they are constantly on sale for around ten

Price tool roll: $15

DSC_0508_zpsmvibk9xv.jpg

These are half assed wrenches that I use in conjunction with an impact gun. They always work for me though. Really the only thing that is wrong with these wrenches how rediculously large they are. 

I love these dickies tool rools. Durable construction. You can get them off Amazon for cheap.

Big Dickies Tool Roll

Price: Less than $20

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It's durable and can be had at a reasonable price. It sure beats a bucket of loose wrenches.

Wrench Porn

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Pittsburgh Long Wrenches

Price: $20

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These are a honda owners best friend. I am interested in buying some higher end versions of these wrenches, but I have yet to find a name brand that carries wrenches this long. Love these guys. The only reason I don't have an SAE set is because they were out of stock when I made the trip.

Ratcheting Wrenches

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Husky Reversible Wrenches.

Top and bottom left.Bought these guys during a fathers day sale last year. I'm really impressed with them and suspect that they are rebranded gearwrench. Here they are compared to a Blackhawk.

DSC_0529_zpscrqlcmhy.jpg

 

Crescent Non-Reversible

I got these as part of a mechanics set that Costco sales. I got the set for christmas maybe 4 years back and have destroyed the ratcheting mechanisms on most of them. Bottom and center right sets

Husky Non-Reversible

Top right. Very unimpressed with these. They come with the universal spline. These were on sale during the holidays and I bought this set because I didn't have access to my wrenches. Large heads and loose ratcheting mechanisms.

Others

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Top to Bottom:

Blackhawk 17mm wrench: Nice wrench. 17mm is a Honda thing.

Evercraft 10mm: Average parts store quality wrench. Lots of 10mm is definitely a Honda thing.

Blackhawk 10 and 14 mm wrenches, ratcheting and reversible: These run about twenty bucks a piece and are pretty nice. Honda guys will always have several extra 10s and 14s.

Proto 9/16": I found this thing in one of the many Honda's trunks that have passed through my hands. Nice wrench.

Proto ASD Ratcheting 9/16 and 1/2": Easily the best wrenches in my collection. I love black chrome. They come with universal spline ends. They will run you $30+ per wrench. You read that correctly. The two Protos and two Blackhawks combined cost me over $100. The sizes are an every single American Thing.

Here they are side by side.

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Duralast 19mm: Honda thing again. Not a fan of duralast. In my opinion the Pittsburghs are superior and cost less.

DSC_0536_zpso2xvsiah.jpg

Stanley crescent wrench: I'm not a connesuier of adjustable wrenches. This one seems alright.

 

 

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I think torque wrenches are hit and miss. I had a friend who was using a small 1/4 drive torque wrench, and there were bolts that couldn't be tighten past I think it was 20FT pounds, well, he had it set and the sucker sheared a bolt. Maybe it depends on weather or not you buy expensive quality brands or not?

Yeah, I use calibrated protos on anything that matters.

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21 hours ago, Stercorarius said:

Proto Box End Wrench Set

Price: $200

DSC_0483_zpsfpsj14sx.jpg

I love this set of wrenches. It was on the pricey side of things but they're quality and american made. I like the weight and feel to these. They are also offered in chrome. I just like the black oxide finish because it never chips.

 

Yummy!

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7 hours ago, Stercorarius said:

Inside the Bag:

DSC_0500_zps978ywbwq.jpg

Pittsburgh Jumbo Wrenches

 

Price: $50    This is quite possibly the only way I could afford wrenches in this format. I know they aren't the highest quality, but they are only used occasionally for large hydraulic fittings. You'd easily be paying a hundred dollars for a set like this from a name brand.

DSC_0502_zpsznjluqko.jpg

 

 

One of these days I'm gonna buy me some angle wrenches. I currently have no earthly need for them, but I want them. Probably need to start haunting ebay looking for some gently used Snap Ons....

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Episode 8: Deep Impact

Today I'm going to go over the bag that serves as a companion to my Impact wrenches.

DSC_0626_zpsxqhvemsm.jpg

Contents:

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Pittsburgh Adaptors

The set of these contains every single possible adaptor. I'm not a huge fan because the tolerances are so loose that they will fall off of a hog ring anvil impact wrench.

Pittsburgh 3/8" and 1/2" Extensions

Cheap and seem to be decent enough.

Sunex Swivel 

This ran about twenty bucks, but it is a must have for difficult to reach spots.

Vise Grip Adjustable wrench:

This thing was about thirty bucks and is the most impressed I've been with an adjustable wrench. It is one of the tightest ones on the market. It is the only one I really use and I use it all the time for holding bolts while I impact nuts off or vice-versa.

Pittsburgh Deep Well Impact Sockets:

These are made out of CrV which is less than ideal for impact sockets. I'm not a fan of the cheap finish either. At $25 dollars they are cheap enough to overlook the defects. They probably won't last long before they crack.

Pittsburgh Pro Shallow Impact Sockets: 

At $25 a set these are very impressive. They are made out of CrM and seem like they will be able to hold up pretty . They have a nice finish on them too.

Performance Tool Axle Nut Socket and Craftsman Socket:

They're sockets alright.

Pittsburgh Wrench Set and Dickies Tool Roll:

DSC_0630_zpsxdziuhcv.jpg

Cheap and great for holding fasteners for the impact gun. 

Outside of the Bag

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Sunex 3/8" Drive Impact Socket Sets.

One was about 50 and the other was about 80. Sunex will replace my Pittsburghs eventually. I bought these for my M12 and love them. They have an amazing finish and feel to them. The cases are quality and the sets are comprehensive. All CrM and each set has it's own swivel

 

 

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Jimbo, did I see a bag full of Dewalt tools in your dcf887 video? And the bag was a Milwaukee bag? Lol blasphemy. Oh and by the way I can proudly say I picked up a dcf887 bare tool yesterday too.

John, Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[emoji848]

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I have a Milwaukee bag full of drill bits, I'll do I take down on it, i do have quite a few dewalt drill sets in it lol, it's a larger bag then the dewalts I have and I keep adding stuff!

Jimbo

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Nice dude, take a look at Tekton they make some nice impact aockets

Jimbo

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That's what I originally looked at but the sunex set was only like $10 more after all the sockets. I will probably be going Tekton for my 1/2" drive.

Oh my gosh, I am loving the pics of your impact sockets. I use an impact wrench quite frequently and I learned a ways back that if you don't buy quality impact socket sets, you will break them from the sure torque of the gun. I own 2 shallow Tekton socket sets which are real good quality. I'd like to eventually get some deep socket sets but the nature of the work I do, doesn't really warrant them. Great pictures man, your literally covered in tools over there, are they falling out of trees? [emoji14]

No, no trees on this side of the mountains, only sand, dust, and sagebrush.

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Episode 9: Socket To Me

In this episode we will be looking at some boxes. 

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This will be rather photo-heavy so I will have to break it up into two posts.

 

Box 1:

 

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These Husky boxes are actually rediculously high quality. They are only $35. Husky makes the least expensive boxes around but they are actually extremely durable. I chose a smaller tool box because I need to be mobile with my tools and these small guys do the trick. I highly recommend them.

Up Top

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We'll start with the everything in the little top compartment.

 

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All the compartments and drawers have Husky toolbox liner laid down in them. The stuff is awesome. If you have a toolbox without any form of liner, you need to buy the liner.

The Tools

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  • No Name Ebay Precision Screwdrivers: Not the best quality but they work. 
  • Kobalt Pick Set: $7 and they get used constantly. They work for me for now.

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  • Stanley Hook Blades and Kobalt Titaniums: Good as place as any to have some blades. Not much to say on these
  • Crane Steel Scissors: Always nice to have some old school steel scissors.
  • Kuhn Rikon Scissors: These are $15 and cut through anything, within reason

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  • Everlast Folding Slim Jim: Cheap and great for breaking into Honda's
  • Assorted Punches/Nail Setters: These just accumulate
  • Custom Center Punch: Forged and heat treated this one myself out of tool steel in my shop class's forge. It was a required project. I think it's the coolest.
  • Exacto Knife: Because Exacto knife.
  • Marking Tools: Love Inkzalls and Sharpies
  • Lock Pick: Great multi-purpose tools

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  • Lisle Feeler Gauges: These are inexpensive and get the job done. Nice set of feeler gauges.
  • OEM Tool Go-No-Go Gauges: Not the biggest fan of OEM tools or anything sold at Autozone.
  • Eklind Allen keys: These are less than ten dollars a set and haven't failed me. On top of all that, they are made in the United States of America.
  • Misc Allen Keys
  • Crescent Nut Driver Bits
  • Stanley Right Angle Screwdriver: Great for taking apart interiors of cars when you don't have a lot of clearance.

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  • 3-In-One Dry Lube: From what I can tell this is just wax dissolved in kerosene. It goes on wet and dries leaving a small protective film. I coat all my tools in this stuff so they don't rust and don't get my bags oily.
  • Proto Inspection Mirror
  • Harbor Freight Flashlight: Free is the best price. It's nice for when you can't find something in the box in the dark.

Top Compartment

 

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  • Proto Pear Head Ratchets: Cost about $60 a piece. Love these guys. They have a nice solid feel and great sound. They have a lower teeth count and the extra length handles for some serious torque.
  • Proto Round Head Ratchet: About $50. Very fine teeth for compact places. Be sure and check out Jimbo's video on these guys if you haven't already.
  • Blackhawk 3/8 Swivel Head Ratchet: Ran me about $30. This thing is great for getting threading things in quickly that you cant quite spin with your hand. The thumb wheel on the circumference of the head is really convenient.

DSC_0711_zpszkplfc10.jpg

  • Qualtool 6-in-1 Screwdriver: It seems like every supplier has a display for these guys. They run less than $10 and are made in America. They are my favorite screwdriver
  • Blue Hawk Wire Brush: I dunno why it is in here, but it is. Not bad, not good. It's just a wire brush.
  • Crescent Ratchets: These are fairly cheap. They were my first set. They are just as durable as they are bulky. I have taken seized head bolts out with the 3/8 and a cheater bar with no negative effects on the ratchet. I'm really impressed with them.

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  • Wilde Tool 5 Piece Cold Chisel Set: I picked these up at my ranch and home for $15. These are 100% American made. They have served me well. The big one has been fished out of liquid manure a few times with a magnet.
  • Grabit Pro Extractors: These easy outs come conveniently with the drill on the other side. They were inexpensive and I'm sure they won't last too long, but they have impressed me by pulling a sheared exhaust stud out of the head of a Honda.
  • Chicago Tool Dial Calipers: This isn't a HF brand. I bought this off of Summit Racing for $30 and it has served me well with the exception of the cracked glass that was my fault.

I'll get another post up for the drawers in a second. I don't want it to freak out over too many pictures.

 

 

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