Recent content by norry

Tchotchke magnetic flashlight: FAIL for needing to basically be taken apart and rebuilt before it makes it all the way to "dim flashlight with inefficient, dim LEDs that chew through AAA batteries." Factory batteries are junk but replacing them doesn't fix that the rest of the unit is just...

It's way easier and cheaper to add things like extra 110/220 outlets while designing and building it than it is later, and it looks better too. Have you ever worked in a room where you said, "Huh! I wish there were less electrical outlets in here!" Nuff said =)

PM Hiball. He's the resident jack expert and has seal kits available for a LOT of different jacks.

Yeah, I heard the HF pins are no good. But here's the thing... I'm trying to put in 5/8-thick molding, and even if it's directly against the wall with no air space at all, a 1 inch pin is only 3/8 into the wall. That's not very far, especially for a 23g fastener. For a 1 3/8 pin, you're at 3/4 -...

I'd contemplated that before I got the Grex, but I really wanted to use longer pins than the HF pinner can shoot. It tops out at 1". Actually, I'd thought about getting the other Grex model, which goes all the way up to 2", but figured 1 3/8 would be enough for me. Thanks for the tip though!

Picked up a Grex 23g recently, used, looked decent. On trying to use it, though, I found that the recoil doesn't seem to work. It fires one pin perfectly, then the driver stays 'down' (extended) until I unload the pins and remove the front of the driver assembly... at which point it will return...

IMHO any air tool not designed for 'normal' full line pressure should be marked to that effect, whether it's HF or Snappy. And yeah, when I read about tools bursting into flames or flying apart at high speed, I do wonder how HF manages to steer clear of the lawyers sometimes!

Three sweet scores! Let me know if you ever want to unload the Stihl tacho, I picked up an old Stihl on craigslist and I've been working to tune it up.

This was a great suggestion, thanks! Do It Best had the little end-links that go on the beaded chain, and they have a hole in the middle. You put one on the chain sideways, then another one on the end. Cut the chain to fit. This seems to be working great so far, and it cost me a princely 20...

That was the latest of the can't-miss ideas I tried, but it didn't seem to work nearly as well as I'd hoped. It stayed attached, but it seemed to want to get tangled. Yours is working well? Maybe I should just try rearranging it.

Eljer. It's a type called a Touch Flush, which means it uses a special flapper that they don't sell at HD or Lowe's. There's a local plumbing shop I used in the past when fixing a Kohler toilet at my mom's house - ugh, I do not miss working on that toilet, but at least they were able to get the...

Oh, is it possible to get one of those by itself? I've never tried to buy just the little hook.

Grr! This has been bugging me for years now, and it just occurred to me to ask GJ. The flush handle just has your basic holes in it. The flapper chain is made of those little linked balls - it's sturdy enough for the job, but doesn't meet well with the handle. Usually, you get some little...

Cleared out the entire inventory of Knipex at the Lowe's nearest me today. Sounds much cooler than saying I bought the one solitary, lonely wrench left on the shelf!

The little Snappy keyring with a miniature version of the box is my favorite part! Was $50 marked way down from the original price? Or did this box somehow manage to sit out all day at under 1/10th of its value, and nobody else noticed it?