patches

Between the rubbish weather and the public holiday drought, this time of year is always a little bit of a slog. Labour day long weekend can't come soon enough!

Decided to show the hand-tool collection some love, for a change. Only tested out the #2 phillips so far and I must say, one can genuinely feel the "bite" of the Wera Lasertip blades.

Boy can he ever! I know when he first moved over he was commuting from Titirangi to Mt Wellington and back each day... and it's not a flat ride.

Not the finest craftsmanship, but this weekend's assignment was some sort of "screen to stop the baby falling off the back deck" in a number of places. I looked at pre-made trellis from the local big-box hardware store and was shocked at the price (about R1500 equiv. for the smallest on that would do the job)! Like seriously, I should quit my day job and start making trellises. So I wandered over to the lumber yard, looking for inspo on an alternate option when I noticed this... And that's per length (5m), not per metre. So I bought 2, and a bunch of trellis battens, which cost twice as much per 2.4m length, but still way cheaper than the premade trellis, which I would still have to modify to fit the gaps along the deck. Some quick work with the circ saw and brad nailer and tadaah... ...the result (well one of them)... For a change, it's nice to have a project that I could start AND FINISH within 1 day (he says while glossing over all the unfinished projects) 😅

Another useful tool for your pizza oven... Infrared temperature gun. Doesn't have to be a particular colour though, any will do. This one was a Christmas prezzie from my father-in-law for use on our pizza oven, however it has spent most of its time in my office for use on site to check pipe temperatures before we do big liquid nitrogen freezes.

Oh yeah, it's definitely down to personal choice (and slight obsession in my case 😅) Performance (perceived or measured) is part of it, but my main driver to branch away from my original platform (AEG) was the need for 2 particular tools during the renovation of our house. I looked to both Makita and Milwaukee, but neither could offer both the options at the time, so I ended up on both. Unfortunately there's no single tool brand that offers ALL the tools. Some do get close though, but I just backed the wrong horse from the start. Another reason to branch out is to upgrade for performance, function, or refinement purposes. I'm no master craftsman, but a quality tool with the right features sure makes the job more enjoyable. Similar to the reason us cyclists are always upgrading our bikes. No mamil really needs to upgrade a Giant to a Pinarello, and no weekend warrior needs a SRAM AXS groupset, but it's a passion and what brings us joy. As for the battery and charger outlay, it's not as bad as it seems when purchase in kits (as dave303e said below). With the exception of the Festool stuff, ALL my other batteries and chargers were bought as parts of kits. Often large 5-10 piece kits where one gets even more free batteries (or tools) via redemption, and can sell off most of the tools making the batteries and chargers almost free. Selling batteries or chargers individually is the real scam the power tool companies are running! Avoid buying them that way at all costs! And with all the tradies here in NZ, there's a huge 2nd hand power tool market. Some real bargains to be had, often with brand new tools from people splitting out kits like I do. Quality tools also hold their value well on the second hand market. Heck I've even made money off some tools I bought 2nd hand for a specific job, then auctioned off after I didn't need them anymore. Yup! that's exactly it! Totally! It essentially comes down to "what's your favourite colour?", and kitting your garage out to look like a YouTuber in all red, yellow or teal. I was initially a loyalist. Not too much to AEG (that was just my entry into the market), but more to Makita. But when when loyalty hindered function, I said to heck with it. Best tool for the job and within budget is my motto. That said, if I HAD to pick (and stick with) just one brand, it would be Milwaukee. Quality tools, with a huge range, and they seem he most interested in meeting their customers needs by expanding that range.

Tell me about it, the Hope M4's on my slopestyle bike are kaput! Also don't know who the Hope agents in NZ are and CRC went bust, so might be a pain getting a service kit. But that's a problem for future me! Present me can't even find time to dream about riding 😅

Looking good! I have the perfect tool for your collection... it's also the cheapest cordless Festool track saw one can buy... The Festool TS 60 K Pizza Cutter

Wait, what happened to the Carnival? Or is the Model Y in addition to that?

Those little blowers are of the best things yet. Although a little on the small side for leaf blowing, they're great for shifting dust out of the workshop (or off one's person after undertaking dusty activities). The other useful teal air-shifter I recently acquired was one of their small dust blowers. Lower flow and more targeted nozzle, but higher pressure than the other. Available in 18V & 40V, and useful for blowing dust out of nooks and crannies, like an air-gun on an air compressor, but cordless. Also available in camo for outdoorsy types (or if you want to lose it in the bushes while out on an MTB ride... not sure why the heck you'd carry that on an MTB ride, maybe to cool your brakes as the ad suggests, hahaha)

Oh dear... well there was the next (current-ish) iteration of this (as seen below) that added Bosch Professional and Makita 40V, but got rid of the AEG 12V and Ryobi (althogh I still have that for my small hedge trimmer, which I don't use very often, to my neighbours frustration). Then I decided to sell a kidney and jump onto the Festool 18V platform via one of their "Energy Sets", which come nicely packaged in a Systainer... so that lives in there... until I As for trade-offs... the only major one has been money, and maybe charger organization/storage as a minor. Nearly every other aspect is positives, like: Not limited to one brand and their range when eyeing out new tools - So back when Makita didn't (and still doesn't) make a gasless framing nailer, or Milwaukee didn't make a track-saw, I could mix and match to get what I need Can buy best-in-class-and-budget - Like Festool jigsaw is head-and-shoulders above the rest for accuracy, so traded in the AEG for that, but Festool drills and impact drivers are crazy expensive with no real performance benefit, so budget dictates Milwaukee. Plenty of batteries (and chargers) to go around - with the ability to charge 10 batteries at once, and a stock of about 19 batteries for 19 tools (as seen below). My battery/tool ratios are a little off, particularly on the Milwaukee 18V and Makita 40V, but I still don't have to spend too much time swapping batteries between tools when busy on a project. The trickiest part of the whole thing is not drawing too much attention from my better-half as tools appear to reproduce and multiply 😅 The fortunate thing though, is it's easier to sell her on tool expenses as I usually couple them with the promise of some project round the house that I need them for. Can't quite to that with my MTB and dirt bike spend 😅

Nice work, keen to see the results! Speaking of labour and pizza ovens.. ...a few years ago my wife was keen on a woodfired pizza oven (I'm a simple Pizza Hut $5 pizza man). So me being me, did some googling and presented her with a the most "designer" looking option I could find. A beautiful, but pricey, Danish option from Morsoe. She went for it. I was then tasked with building the rest of the outdoor kitchen around it (including casting a concrete counter top, which as you say, minimal tools, but very rewarding). Fast forward a few years, and add living about 1km from the ocean and the cast iron went from this... to this (despite being "marine grade" and having a special coating "tested on offshore wind turbines")... I tried to hit up the importer for warranty, but they said "yeah nah mate!, you need to maintain that sucker" (which I missed when I glossed over the instructions). So then came the labour of loathing as I had to sand back the whole thing and recoat with heat treatment. I used one of those 3M rust remover pads in my drill. Was a lifesaver Here it is almost restored to its former glory. I couldn't quite get the looking like new, so I just sanded, coated with rust converter, and threw a concrete paver on top to cover evidence of my past neglect. Short-story-long, and all expenses and efforts included, this thing produces the most expensive pizzas and labour intensive I have ever eaten! 😐 But it's still worth it! Oh, and get yourself one of these little guys if you don't already have one! Super useful for fanning the flames to get that oven up to temp!

Dammit, I need to get out and about on the bike! The other day I was shuffling things around in the garage and had to move the MTB's and dirt bike out. The levels of dust and cobwebs on them is unacceptable!

😅 The charging station needs some rejigging. I've sold off most of my AEG powertools and with them one of the chargers, so a bit of space freed up. The charging station is added to the long list of garage projects, which are at the bottom of my wife's list of round-the-house projects, haha 😅

Nice! Yeah, one-handed recip saws are super useful. Like you say, a dream for trimming trees, and that's probably where mine gets 80% of it's use, so the Diablo (or equiv) pruning blades make quick work taming that foliage.

Maybe she means sokkie dancing? Is there an underground sokkie scene in Brizzie? 😅

Had an accident a few weeks ago where I slipped and ended up on ANOTHER battery platform. This time for ze Green German cutting machines. Which now brings it to 8 different battery platforms... I know, I have a problem 😶

Such a mixed bag! Mine was about a 3 month process in total: Applied for Citizenship - early August 2023 Granted Citizenship - early September 2023 Attended Ceremony - early October 2023 (and applied for passport as soon as I got home) Passport Issued - early November 2023 Possibly a quicker process as I was the only person on the application. But still, loads of variation in some of those time frames you guys are experiencing. As for SA passport renewal, after reading @davetapson,s account, I may just leave that for future me to deal with 😅

Looks awesome! Reminds me of some South Island batches (kiwi for holiday home) I've stayed in. Very cool!

Out with the old (left). In with the new (right). Now to set aside some time to actually make something 😅

Just got back from a 10 day visit to the in-laws in Aus... which means I get to go 2 varieties of tool heaven! (Total Tools and Sydney Tools) 😍 I was very restrained though and kept my haul to just these 3 items... Knipex Carpenter's Pincers (got a bunch of nail removal in my next project, so thought I would do it properly), Titebond 3 (my favourite wood glue, and no, sniffing it doesn't do anything), and some Makita splinter-guard for my 3m track saw rail... ...and therein lies a clue as to why I was so restrained in tool heaven... it was because I'd already blown my tool budget on a new track saw, and the new splinter guard is to calibrate the old track to the new saw... ...and I betrayed team teal to join ze Germans The Festool TS 60K. I decided to "upgrade" my Makita 40V cordless track saw to something with a bigger cut capacity, a little more refined, and with some extra features. Going from cordless to corded is a bit of a downgrade, but as 95% of my work happens in the garage and connected to a dust extractor, having a power cord is not a major.

My in My in-laws have a country house in the NSW Southern Highlands. Don't think I've ever visited there and NOT seen a Sydney Funnel-web or 2 😖

Also keen on one of the middle-grounders. If money magically appeared in my account today, the Fuel EXe would be my pick Either that or the new Cannondale Morterra Neo SL, which is a full power, but supposed to be the lightest.

+1 for Oakley Prizm lenses I have a set of Jade Iridium Prizms in my Oakley Airbrake MX goggles, which I use both dirt bike riding, or when I wear a full face on the MTB. My guess is the same would apply for their sunnies The way the Prizm lenses highlight the contours in the trail, is awesome. Here's a rough idea to the application of the different Prizm lenses. Based on this the Rose Iridium are the most versatile. As for actual MTB sunnies, I have some Adidas photochromatics, but I generally don't like wearing sunnies on bikes, so I use safety-squints in stead 😅

Yup, the MTB motivation struggle is real. The best option... leave Auckland! 😅 ...I kid, but there's truth in it. Places like Rotorua, Nelson, Queenstown, and my personal favourite Christchurch, have stronger MTB communities and more accessible trails. That said, my passion for MTB died when I lived in Christchurch. Not because of any issues previously stated, but because I was lazy and the port hills climbs were killer compared to my low-effort Spruit strolls 😅... so I got into dirt biking and had the time of my life. But when I moved to Auckland, that died too (and for similar reasons to AKL's MTB shortcomings). Trails were few-and-far between, often involved a 40min+ commute to them, weren't free, and riding there alone wasn't as fun. So what do I see as the solution in my case (besides convincing my wife to move to the South Island)... the "the answer may surprise you!" [Classic Clickbait Hook] ... it's an eBike! Now before you vloek and spit on the floor in disgust,.. hear me out. Woodhill is fun, but driving when my commute time there and back equates to my riding time, the effort doesn't seem worthwhile. But if I could ride them hills for 3-4hrs, and relishing the flowy descents, I may find the drive and $15/ride more palatable. Also nothing like anew toy to motivate one, haha! Sure, I could improve my fitness and ride longer on my current bike, but getting that time-in-the-saddle while life happens is not that easy, especially when Auckland lacks backyard trails... and I'm not about to go roadie!