The toolbox thread

[mazambaan]

18 hours ago, ChrisF said:

A "toolbox" question ...

 

Few years back you could buy a toolbox in the shape of a briefcase.

 

Once opened, tools would be in straps in the bottom and the top.  Sometimes with a mid-flap for more tool space.

 

 

Any idea if these are still available, and where ?

 

 

 

Adendorff says they have not been able to get this for a long while.

 

 

 

PS .... Looking for empty cases.  Want to put cycling tools in it.

Maybe RS Components but keep a firm grip on your credit card; bad things have been known to happen when perusing their website.

[patches]

On 11/25/2022 at 10:22 PM, The Ouzo said:

As mentioned before, was eyeing this deal and it was tempting me. They did not drop the price today but I decided WTH, its a good deal let me go get it. 

Then whilst browsing their site this morning I noticed this leaf blower. I've been wanting to get a new one since my old corded one was holding on with its last legs, decided I'll try my luck when I'm there and see if they can knock some more off the price. They dropped an extra R100 off. As it was an already good deal decided to take it too.

 

These are direct from the SA distributor. Apparently the clearance sale is because WORX is changing distributors in SA so they are clearing out stock.

They had a fair amount of stock in the warehouse, so I'll keep checking I'm sure they will push more deals as time goes on.

That's a great deal for a cordless leaf blower! Good buy!

[patches]

On 11/26/2022 at 10:52 PM, The Ouzo said:

A brief test of the blower last night and I suspect it may be a little underpowered for my needs, will try and give it a proper test this weekend.

(although even if its underpowered for the big jobs, it could still be a useful tool for the smaller more frequent jobs, so it wont be a total waste)

For sure! One of THE MOST used tools in my garage is a little dust blower. Whether it's to send sawdust from the workbench out the door, dust off a dust off a piece I've just sanded, or even (and often) dust myself off, particularly after the nasty ceiling demolition I was doing.

Edited November 27, 2022 by patches

[patches]

Time to try out the new-ish XGT track saw

On the left, Makita XGT 40V plunge/track saw (although 40V is it's max rating, it's actually 36V nominal).

On the right, Makita LXT 36V (2x 18V) plunge/track saw.

 

The 40V is a fair bit narrower than it's 36V counterpart. Might be handy in tight spaces.

 

One battery is more convenient than 2! Especially when it comes to having spares!

 

The single battery and lower centre of gravity should make bevelled cuts a lot more pleasant. Although the Makita track saws have an anti-tip washer in the base, they still have the potential to flip the whole track if not careful.

 

With great power comes... slower top speeds?!?! 🤨. The 40V version has 1400 less rippums than the 36V. I'm interested to see how that translates into performance. I'm guessing the science-people at Makita did it to focus on torque and perhaps lean more towards a tool that can hold a constant speed through tough material, more than outright pace.

Whilst I'd love to do a head-to-head shootout between the 2, I'll be selling the 36V ASAP to try recoup some clams.

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by patches

[The Ouzo]

So as suspected, the leaf blower is a bit on the underpowered side for the bigger jobs, it does an ok job on it, but I've got the crappest paving ever (they call is cobblestone, but its just broken bricks layed in a rough pattern with huge gaps between).

For the light to medium duty stuff its wonderful. And being cordless is such a pleasure.

The lower power though makes it great for places like the courtyard where the high powered blowers just send stuff flying in all directions.

 

I'll probably keep a close eye on the higher powered blower and look to buy one further down the line.

[dave303e]

10 hours ago, patches said:

Time to try out the new-ish XGT track saw

On the left, Makita XGT 40V plunge/track saw (although 40V is it's max rating, it's actually 36V nominal).

On the right, Makita LXT 36V (2x 18V) plunge/track saw.

 

The 40V is a fair bit narrower than it's 36V counterpart. Might be handy in tight spaces.

 

One battery is more convenient than 2! Especially when it comes to having spares!

 

The single battery and lower centre of gravity should make bevelled cuts a lot more pleasant. Although the Makita track saws have an anti-tip washer in the base, they still have the potential to flip the whole track if not careful.

 

With great power comes... slower top speeds?!?! 🤨. The 40V version has 1400 less rippums than the 36V. I'm interested to see how that translates into performance. I'm guessing the science-people at Makita did it to focus on torque and perhaps lean more towards a tool that can hold a constant speed through tough material, more than outright pace.

Whilst I'd love to do a head-to-head shootout between the 2, I'll be selling the 36V ASAP to try recoup some clams.

 

Let us know how the 40V goes. I am very keen to test that.

Fridday night our power went out, it was off till late Sat afternoon. I am on a tight deadline building the shed. If it weren't for Makita, it would have been a disaster. I can quite literally say that with 2 5ah batteries a makita impact driver will drive pozi drives till the cows come home. We are on a dairy farm so this is quite literally.

I off chance bought a makita circular saw that was on special a few months back. It also saved the day. I was able to continue framing walls and putting up sheets of corrugated steel without any added delay.

If I had bought a circular or track saw a few years back. For my general work. I would never have bought a table saw. 

Back to your topic- I was drooling over the 36v sliding miter saw the other day. Wondering if I should hold out for the 40v stuff. 

[The Ouzo]

For those looking for deal also check out topdogtoolshop.co.za

They appear to be having some decent specials, although I dont know the regular prices of the stuff so cant really say if its good or not

[patches]

13 hours ago, dave303e said:

Let us know how the 40V goes. I am very keen to test that.

Fridday night our power went out, it was off till late Sat afternoon. I am on a tight deadline building the shed. If it weren't for Makita, it would have been a disaster. I can quite literally say that with 2 5ah batteries a makita impact driver will drive pozi drives till the cows come home. We are on a dairy farm so this is quite literally.

I off chance bought a makita circular saw that was on special a few months back. It also saved the day. I was able to continue framing walls and putting up sheets of corrugated steel without any added delay.

If I had bought a circular or track saw a few years back. For my general work. I would never have bought a table saw. 

Back to your topic- I was drooling over the 36v sliding miter saw the other day. Wondering if I should hold out for the 40v stuff. 

I'm almost completely cordless. Just the table saw and my big Festool router left. Very convenient, but at times also not.

The 36V track saw coupled with the cordless dust extractor meant 4 batteries were in use at any given time (I only have 5). If 2 go flat, I'm snookered.

As for sliding mitre saws, I really like the Makita's with forward facing rails. The only other options (off the top of my head) with that system are Festool's Kapex and certain Hikoki models. (Bosch glide system is also great if you want a mitre saw that doesn't require space for sliding rails).

I nearly went the Makita 36V route (think I was looking at the 260mm), but I decided to go for the small 40V (216mm, LS002G), as it was more compact and the 40V saws use shadow lines in stead of laser.

 

For what I do the 70 x 312mm cut capacity is sufficient. For it's compact size and weight (16.4kg), the saw is dynamite in a small package.

I possibly should have waited and saved for the 260mm or 305mm version, but the 260mm version is less convenient for what I do (deeper but shorter cut capacity @91 x 279mm) and the 305mm was about R5000 (equiv) more expensive.

Very happy with my little 216mm 40V, so if the cut capacity will suit your needs, I'd go with that. Otherwise go big (305mm), either 36V (DLS211) or 40V (LS003G) as the differences are mostly the laser and some other minor things.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by patches

[dave303e]

I still have not seen Makita 40v in stores in SA unfortunately.

I am moving towards less corded tools, just makes life easier around the farm. I agree with you on the 216 blade, I have the metabo corded with a 216 blade. You can do so much with it. I have only needed a deeper cut twice and then I just flipped it and cut from the back. For most framing, roofing and general work you don't need much more. 

[patches]

On 11/29/2022 at 7:10 PM, dave303e said:

I still have not seen Makita 40v in stores in SA unfortunately.

I am moving towards less corded tools, just makes life easier around the farm. I agree with you on the 216 blade, I have the metabo corded with a 216 blade. You can do so much with it. I have only needed a deeper cut twice and then I just flipped it and cut from the back. For most framing, roofing and general work you don't need much more. 

Was cutting some walnut and maple on the little mitre saw the other day.

Super clean cuts, even when taking off millimetre thin slices.

The Makita Efficut blades are awesome, which is surprising for an OEM blade. Often manufacturers put their cheap and nasty blades on new tools to save money. Makita seems to understand that good blades (out the box) help their tool shine from day 1

[michaelbiker]

Some new blue for the toolbox that doesn’t require batteries… 🙈

[patches]

Stumbled across a bargain on a second hand table saw (the little Dewalt DW745).

As far as jobsite table saws go, Dewalt probably has the best fence (apart from the big money ones like Sawstop and Festool). Although rack-n-pinion fences are not unique to Dewalt, they are definitely the smoothest with the least play, of any that I have tested.

Gave it a clean and tuning

Put a new 10" 40T Diablo General Purpose blade on, and ripped some hard maple and walnut, no sweat, with pretty smooth results

Here you can see it dwarfed next to my Makita jobsite saw (which I have never really loved)

 

Threw the Makita up on a $1 reserve auction, and with any luck I'll even make money for upgrading 😅

[ChrisF]

Question for the Parktools experts ....

 

 

The instructions says to only tinghten clockwise ... then carries on to say not to use it in the opposite direction.

 

 

Anybody know why not ?

 

My older T-wrenches works perfectly in both directions ....

[patches]

We're in Sydney at the moment (Christmas with the in-laws) and yesterday my wife had girls lunch with her cousins.

I was left to my own devices for about 2 hours, so went to visit Total Tools.

It ended badly and now I need to explain to my wife why I have barely any room in my bag for my clothes 🙈

(Domino DF 500 set)

This is exactly what happens when I'm left unsupervised!

 

[patches]

A new/old addition to the toolbox...

For Christmas, my father-in-law gave me an old Record No. 4-1/2 smoothing plane that belonged to his dad. He said his father bought it shortly after WWII as buying new furniture in Aus was a challenge, so many people resorted to making their own.

The plane was in decent functioning condition, mostly just some cosmetic issues, so I undertook a little holiday project that was pretty rewarding.

Before

After

 

And she works too...

[madmarc]

9 hours ago, patches said:

A new/old addition to the toolbox...

For Christmas, my father-in-law gave me an old Record No. 4-1/2 smoothing plane that belonged to his dad. He said his father bought it shortly after WWII as buying new furniture in Aus was a challenge, so many people resorted to making their own.

The plane was in decent functioning condition, mostly just some cosmetic issues, so I undertook a little holiday project that was pretty rewarding.

Before

After

 

And she works too...

In school woodwork class - that was called a "Jack Plane" if you left it sitting on the blade and not on its side, you'd get jacked with a 2 X 4 😁