The toolbox thread

[patches]

I may be slow to the party, but eventually I get there...

I recently discovered these:

Bosch dual head, double sided impact bit.

Dual head does Phillips 2 and Robinson 2 (square) in 1 tip. Also double sided so double the longevity. 

I tested it on phillips and square and it works pretty well. Sure it'll likely cam-out on higher torque applications, but for 90% of the time it's great, and handy not to have to keep swapping bits.

[dave303e]

On 1/21/2022 at 9:49 AM, patches said:

Been a little too trigger-happy with the drill purchases of late.

Found the Makita brushless hammer drill and impact driver kit for a great price (338 NZD, by playing the 2 main big-box hardware stores off each other).

I didn't neeeed it, as they were similar spec to my AEG ones. I just gave in to the temptation of a sweet deal. So I sold the charger, drill and driver, but kept the battery. In the end the 5Ah battery only cost me about 9 NZD.

But my addiction didn't stop there. I had a hankering for a new drill and decided if I was going to get one, it should at least be a significant upgrade on my AEG brushless.

Enter the Milwaukee Fuel 18V. Nice and compact and at 135Nm it has more than double the torque of the Makita.

This thing is a beast. Hard to believe how they cram that much power into such a compact tool!

The AEG brushless with 5Ah battery compared to the (nearly twice as torquey) Milwaukee with same size battery.

 

On the Makita LXT front. These tools( and likely the milwauke/aeg/dewald similar) are worth their weight in gold.

Heaven knows how we lived pre impact drivers and battery drills. 

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, dave303e said:

On the Makita LXT front. These tools( and likely the milwauke/aeg/dewald similar) are worth their weight in gold.

Heaven knows how we lived pre impact drivers and battery drills. 

 

I had a new pre-paid meter installed at home.

 

Step ONE ... shut down the power on the street corner ....  few steps down the line they have to drill holes to mount the new box.

 

Not that long ago that would have meant starting up a generator.   It was such a seamless install thanks to the battery operated equipment.

 

 

 

 

Okay .... the "tradesman" still managed to mount the box skew ....   But no battery can help for that ...

[patches]

12 hours ago, dave303e said:

On the Makita LXT front. These tools( and likely the milwauke/aeg/dewald similar) are worth their weight in gold.

Heaven knows how we lived pre impact drivers and battery drills. 

 

10 hours ago, ChrisF said:

I had a new pre-paid meter installed at home.

Step ONE ... shut down the power on the street corner ....  few steps down the line they have to drill holes to mount the new box.

Not that long ago that would have meant starting up a generator.   It was such a seamless install thanks to the battery operated equipment.

Okay .... the "tradesman" still managed to mount the box skew ....   But no battery can help for that ...

Our contractors on site opt for cordless power tools as much as possible. Not only is there the convenience of no dangling cord, no reliance on mains power, but another one is that our sites require a 3-monthly tagging and testing (for electrical safety) of any tools utilised, and that becomes a lot simpler when it's just a charger or 2 and maybe a dust-extractor (the Festool ones are the most popular and haven't gone cordless quite yet).

Also, once one is on a battery platform for a contractor grade tool, often the tool skins themselves are the same price (or sometimes cheaper) than the corded equivalents.

The battery platforms being the catch, and as mentioned before, it can get out of hand. A quick tally of cordless contraptions in the garage and shed indicates some 18 power tools, 3 powered garden tools, 15 batteries, 6 chargers, and 5 different battery platforms. The only corded varieties I have are a table saw, mitre saw and drywall sander. I do have plans to replace the mitre saw with a cordless, but that means going on to yet another battery platform and the associated charger! Damn you Makita for making the XGT 40V so desirable!

[BuffsVintageBikes]

I bought myself one of these little units just before Xmas on a 72% less takealot special for R1090 and I've been blown away with the punch it packs for its size. I've just used it to to build a 3x3m pergola (holes and setting screws) and it's handled everything with ease (and on a single charge). They've certainly come a long way with these battery powered tools.

I've now added a small Schultz Polisher to the toolbox as well for polishing up the frames I respray. It's only 12V though and I've yet to put it to the test but it appears to be pretty decent quality for the price.

Edited February 8, 2022 by BuffsVintageBikes

[Hairy]

11 minutes ago, BuffsVintageBikes said:

I bought myself one of these little units just before Xmas on a 72% takealot special for R1090 and I've been blow away with the punch it packs for its size. I've just used to to build a 3x3m pergola and it's handled everything with ease (and on a single charge). They've certainly come a long way with these battery powered tools.

I've now added a small Schultz Polisher to the toolbox as well for polishing up the frames I respray. It's only 12V though and I've yet to put it to the test but it appears to be pretty decent quality.

I am struggling to find those "foam cone and ball type" polishing pads that are on extension's that you can fit in your drill.

The motorbike has raw alum wheels that are really difficult to get one's hand into and to polish up.

Any ideas please?

[Long Wheel Base]

On 2/2/2022 at 8:05 AM, dave303e said:

On the Makita LXT front. These tools( and likely the milwauke/aeg/dewald similar) are worth their weight in gold.

Heaven knows how we lived pre impact drivers and battery drills. 

My Makita 18V LXT range is growing all the time as funds allow. Recently just got a 36V leaf blower. Now my batteries(I have 2 and they both 3.0ah) have lasted years(will be 8 years this may) and have never missed a beat. I have noticed with my hammer drill they don't last as long of late but they still do the job perfectly. Put them both onto the new leaf blower and I get like 5min out of them and for the first time ever my charger cools them down a bit before charging. So now I'm saving for 2 new batteries. Will probably stick with the 3.0ah

[BuffsVintageBikes]

1 hour ago, Hairy said:

I am struggling to find those "foam cone and ball type" polishing pads that are on extension's that you can fit in your drill.

The motorbike has raw alum wheels that are really difficult to get one's hand into and to polish up.

Any ideas please?

The guy I bought the polisher from said he had a contact for the smaller 2 and 3' foam pads, I'll try get hold of him and see what he stocks 🤙

[dave303e]

2 minutes ago, Long Wheel Base said:

My Makita 18V LXT range is growing all the time as funds allow. Recently just got a 36V leaf blower. Now my batteries(I have 2 and they both 3.0ah) have lasted years(will be 8 years this may) and have never missed a beat. I have noticed with my hammer drill they don't last as long of late but they still do the job perfectly. Put them both onto the new leaf blower and I get like 5min out of them and for the first time ever my charger cools them down a bit before charging. So now I'm saving for 2 new batteries. Will probably stick with the 3.0ah

My old man bought a few of the 18v tools back in 2008. Drill, grinder 1.2 inch impact driver(amazing for 4x4 trips where you will have to remove a tyre at some stage).

He actually had 2 of his original batteries repacked by a guy a few weeks ago and has been fairly happy so far.

We just bought a few 5ah batteries, makes a massive difference. We did a roof the other day. So it was a full day driving 90mm pozi's to anchor the roof, Battery was a beast.

[BuffsVintageBikes]

@Hairy Try www.detailersemporium.co.za 🤙

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by BuffsVintageBikes

[Hairy]

3 hours ago, BuffsVintageBikes said:

@Hairy Try www.detailersemporium.co.za 🤙

 

Shotto Otto

[Jewbacca]

7 minutes ago, Hairy said:

Shotto Otto

Takealot and Builders warehouse also stock all the torque craft stuff.

IN FACT! I have a drill peg foam pad with velcro bottom in my shaping shed I will never use...........

(Yes, I inadvertently used the words 'peg' and 'bottom' in an innocent sentence)

[The Ouzo]

1 minute ago, Jewbacca said:

....

(Yes, I inadvertently used the words 'peg' and 'bottom' in an innocent sentence)

what are you pegging at here ?  🤣

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, Jewbacca said:

Takealot and Builders warehouse also stock all the torque craft stuff.

IN FACT! I have a drill peg foam pad with velcro bottom in my shaping shed I will never use...........

(Yes, I inadvertently used the words 'peg' and 'bottom' in an innocent sentence)

Been to my builders a few times, and every time I ask them they have a perplexed look on their face.

[BigDL]

6 hours ago, Long Wheel Base said:

My Makita 18V LXT range is growing all the time as funds allow. Recently just got a 36V leaf blower. Now my batteries(I have 2 and they both 3.0ah) have lasted years(will be 8 years this may) and have never missed a beat. I have noticed with my hammer drill they don't last as long of late but they still do the job perfectly. Put them both onto the new leaf blower and I get like 5min out of them and for the first time ever my charger cools them down a bit before charging. So now I'm saving for 2 new batteries. Will probably stick with the 3.0ah

My collection is ever growing as well. I have 6 5AH batteries and have now got brush-cutter, chainsaw, hedge cutter, sander and a jigsaw. Nearly bought a battery post hole digger, but the petrol option was a third of the price (not a makita but I don't dig enough holes to justify £500). Have really enjoyed each of the tools and they really are faultless. 

[Long Wheel Base]

7 minutes ago, BigDL said:

My collection is ever growing as well. I have 6 5AH batteries and have now got brush-cutter, chainsaw, hedge cutter, sander and a jigsaw. Nearly bought a battery post hole digger, but the petrol option was a third of the price (not a makita but I don't dig enough holes to justify £500). Have really enjoyed each of the tools and they really are faultless. 

Have you used the 3.0ah batteries? I'm now wondering if I should rather go for the 5.0ah.