Show your new tool arrivals

[Shadowdog500]

They don't play like that around here, unfortunately. Whoever is in charge of discounting open box items follows a strict percentage calculation.

If a 10-piece set is missing one tool, it's priced 10% off. Two tools missing, 20% off. Makes zero difference if the largest tool (highest value) is missing.

I'm pretty sure I've seen open boxed items priced at full price, or like $1 off, even if clearly used and dirty. Ridiculous.

Mike

The 8mm socket showed up yesterday, and I decided to peel the 35% discount sticker off to see what the first markdown was. It was originally 20% off with a note that the 8mm socket was missing. Wish they transferred the note to the new sticker.

 

[Jarhead0408]

I agree the 8 point was for a breaker bar, I lm just surprised they broach for both configurations. I’ll know how strong they are next week. I need to deal with a 600lb door operator issue and I’ve tried before with various pry bars with a **** angle. Going in 6” at a 90 degree angle should work out way better.

And ya, I was so impressed with the edge finish @lilscorpion was getting from his collection I got jealous and had to see for myself. I’m actually a little blown away at its construction, it’s a stout little bit piece for the $40 I paid.

Hopefully it'll get the job done. I didn't spend a ton of time looking for the highest quality option. OTC offers one, but sometimes these cheap tools get it done too.

10-4 on the chamfering tool. I'll look into it.

 

[kyrbz]

I have an upcoming soffit project where I have to attach a lot of small wooden strips to the sides of joist. Planning on doing it with a brad nailer, but I was thinking about how it would be a lot less hassle if I didn't have to drag around a compressor and hose. HF had their battery powered Bauer one for $40 off this week so I decided to give it a whirl. My first impression is it's heavy. Add a 5AH battery and I might need a Festool exo skeleton by the end of the day. Seriously its as heavy or heavier than my largest framing nailer. The other thing that might take a little getting use to is there is a 1-2 second delay from when you pull the trigger until it fires. When you pull the trigger, it sounds like its motor is winding up before it fires. Not that I'm going to be doing any speed nailing, but the box says 60 nails per minute which I would find hard to believe. Things I do like, it has LED lights. My first nailer with lights and its kind of a nice feature. You also don't have to oil it. I like that it shoots 3/4" - 2" 18ga. brads. It has no problem sinking 2" brads in softer construction lumber or even LVL's. It did have a hard time sinking 2" brads in harder woods like oak or walnut. Not a deal breaker for what I need to use it for.










Couldn't quit sink 2" brads in this oak though it did in softer woods

 

[lund]

My friend ( Brad ) had some tools locked up in his truck

someone wanted them really bad …

He went to the swap meet and found his tool bags & skill saw

put his bags on & then asked the guy if he had a hammer the seller point to a bucket - BINGO all his other stuff !

he grabbed his saw and the bucket put his hammer in the holder on his bags then walked away …

The guy yelled pretty loud. Hey your stealing my tools!

Brad turned around and said to the guy, “Do YOU Want ME To Call the Cops ? “



Funny and True story !!
this was 15 -18 years ago in San Diego

Great.

But i think the people selling in flea markets often buy in bulk from thieves. I am not sure if they always know they are buying hot stuff. Probably so for the most part, but they will claim not and I doubt they ask where the stuff is from or the thieves will give a lie they are happy to accept.

I do not mark tools either, so i would be hard for me to prove ownership. But my collection is specific enough I could easily identify it, or whatever parts of it, if it were looted.

I am glad that it worked for your friend though! It is nice whenever these bad characters get some comeuppance. I would be curious though what the police would do if the flea market guy pushed the police threat. My sense is not much or they might protect the market guy and even threaten/arrest your friend. When I first moved to Cali, I was rebuilding a home and got burgled ... likely by a prior tenant. I did not have much at the time but lost everything. I was upset and called the police to file a report. A police woman showed up clearly indifferent. Out of curiosity, I checked later and she did not even bother to file the report in spite of my specific ask to do so. This was also in a suburb town without so much heavy crime. Meanwhile there was much attention on very high value traffic tickets (right on red without a complete stop or modest speeding could cost you $300+ a decade ago in cali) on offenses that are arguable whether they risk public safety. So the police departments appeared more fixated on revenue than crime.

 

[mikeinri]

One of my grandfathers was a tool maker for Brown & Sharpe (yes, that B&S). He engraved all of his tools with...

"Stolen from E.O." (his initials)

He did that to his tools at work and home. He didn't lose another tool at work after doing that.

I believe his garage was broken into and he lost tools, but I don't know if those were marked (thieves likely didn't take the time to check).

Unfortunately, I was too young when he died, and none of his tools came to me or my Mom (they went to my uncles and / or other relatives).

I've resisted marking my tools at home, but have marked stuff at work (usually just the department name is sufficient).

But, if a thief is breaking into your house / car / garage, I'm sure they'll take the stuff fast, and maybe check it later. If they're unable to sell it, they'd probably throw it away and you'd never see it again anyway.

Mike

 

[Kasal]

The Wurth 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 tool kit consists of 169 pieces and was on sale for €199.

 

[Kasal]

Battery cap screwdriver, KS tools

 

[lund]

One of my grandfathers was a tool maker for Brown & Sharpe (yes, that B&S). He engraved all of his tools with...

"Stolen from E.O." (his initials)

He did that to his tools at work and home. He didn't lose another tool at work after doing that.

I believe his garage was broken into and he lost tools, but I don't know if those were marked (thieves likely didn't take the time to check).

Unfortunately, I was too young when he died, and none of his tools came to me or my Mom (they went to my uncles and / or other relatives).

I've resisted marking my tools at home, but have marked stuff at work (usually just the department name is sufficient).

But, if a thief is breaking into your house / car / garage, I'm sure they'll take the stuff fast, and maybe check it later. If they're unable to sell it, they'd probably throw it away and you'd never see it again anyway.

Mike

People sell marked tools. But it drops the price and usually (if the buying person is ethical at least) requires some reasonably believable explanation on why the marks.

I carefully try to keep things from getting stolen (lock up etc) after some early bad experiences, but do not put owner marks on my tools. First, I doubt that the marks would stop thieves as you point out. Plus it complicates selling the tools if I no longer want them. Plus I am now planning to give most to my sons at some point. Depending how marked, that might be awkward for them at some point or inhibiting them from selling them if they are not going to make use of them. So I have not been doing markings. I also bought a LOT of used tools over the years. I bought almost nothing marked due to general suspicions on whether they were stolen or not. The marks would need to come with a good, believable explanation (like initials of the guy selling). I like good deals, but I do not want to contribute to crime. So I generally only ended up with marked stuff when I did not notice.

My worst case of something similar to the owner mark issue linked to a lack of usual marks. I bought a used Honda generator from a construction business closing down off Craigslist. After getting it home, after a week or so I was changing the oil and tuning it up and noticed that serial numbers were removed. I called the prior owner up and she knew nothing about it and expressed surprise, but did not want to take it back. Was that a lie, something odd like an employee preparing it to steal and not yet stealing it, them having bought it stolen, or what? Who knows. But BS like that is going to happen. Even when you try to be ethical, you can get caught up in underhanded stuff.

 

[Kurt4440]

I splurged today and spent $5 on cotton swabs to get some free Icon sockets.



You can call me a Q-Tip connoisseur.

If you enjoyed my joke about being a Q-Tip connoisseur, you might see the humor in this photograph.



Apologies in advance for the distraction.

 

[wandrur]

Dial indicator to check my Harley's brake discs. And surely other uses down the line.

 

[Professor Gascan]

The Wurth 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 tool kit consists of 169 pieces and was on sale for €199.

It's too bad that more sets like this aren't available in the states. All metric sockets with the most common bit sockets and barely an l-key in sight. I even see E torx sockets and ribe bits in there... nice.

 

[Kurt4440]

The Wurth 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 tool kit consists of 169 pieces and was on sale for €199.

It's too bad that more sets like this aren't available in the states. All metric sockets with the most common bit sockets and barely an l-key in sight. I even see E torx sockets and ribe bits in there... nice.

When I noticed that set this morning, I immediately looked on the Wurth site to see if it was available to purchase. Unfortunately, we don't get metric sets like that. It would be a great start to a tool kit to keep in the vehicle, and that sale price is terrific.

 

[terrific]

September of last year I put in a rather large order for zephyr bits (well mostly bits and mostly zephyr). They took long enough that they finally ship me probably 3/4 of my order this month; I expect the rest in May.

Where did you order the bits? I wanted to buy their 3.5" bits, which are not very widely available.

These sites seem to be run by the same company. Same layout, different colors, but the minimum quantities and prices for each SKU vary. Kind of bizarre.
mrotools.com
zephyrtool.info
omegatec.com
driverbits.com

I suspect that brown aviation sells their 1" bits, based on the description, but I don't know for certain.
browntool.com
Brownells sells 1" bits as well, mostly in sets.

Zoro sells packs of 5. SKU availability pretty hit or miss.
Grainger has everything, if your budget is unlimited.

 

[T45]

These sites seem to be run by the same company...Kind of bizarre...

 

[Ohio Andy]

My order was from mro tools but the last couple of times I hit the site it was not available. I have been communicating with them on the Omega site or at least that's the email address they use to respond. And the shipping paperwork says Omega.

 

[rword]

Nice little drawer organizer from the dollar store.

 

[Jgaz]

Nice little drawer organizer from the dollar store.

Can’t beat those dollar store trays for the price.

 

[rword]

Can’t beat those dollar store trays for the price.

I was shocked how nice they were. Feel sturdy and got the rubber in the center.

 

[KnurledNut]

Strike two…I installed the bit holder into the driver but it couldn’t easily be removed. Like, you couldn’t remove it. I had to use a pick to move the hog ring around while trying to pull it free. It appears like it was bent from the factory:



I can fix this but shouldn’t have to.

Definitely not impressed with the bit stamping either:

Come on man, surely you knew better than putting a power bit shank in a circlip retention insert bit holder. Thats not the tools fault, thats user error. How does a rookie mistake constitute a strike?
No hate, just spitting facts...

 

[Jarhead0408]

Every so often we'll have a small leak under the house and have to slice and splice a new section in. So rather than using my larger, ratcheting style pvc cutters, I decided to try out the smaller, non-ratcheting style. Whichever one I like least will go to one of my sons.



I decided to buy a self-igniting head for my torch. Matches are **** nowdays, and sometimes a lighter is not handy. Going by old threads here on the GJ, the quality of the Bernzomatic TS-4000 has gone down hill, but the TS-8000 is still up to snuff, so I picked one up. It works great.


And last but not least, sticking with the melting things theme, It gets old having to add the fan attachment to my
Portasol soldering iron so I figured it was time to buy a standalone butane torch. Again, mulling over options mentioned in past GJ threads, this Blazer Big Shot GT8000 seemed to be well regarded. I'm pleased to say it worked great! Bonus shot of the flame haha. It sure beats using a lighter on heatshrink.

 

[Steel_Rain]

Come on man, surely you knew better than putting a power bit shank in a circlip retention insert bit holder. Thats not the tools fault, thats user error. How does a rookie mistake constitute a strike?
No hate, just spitting facts...

The bits have nearly the same problem and the hog ring is distorted (as shown in the picture).

 

[LXCam]

Come on man, surely you knew better than putting a power bit shank in a circlip retention insert bit holder. Thats not the tools fault, thats user error. How does a rookie mistake constitute a strike?
No hate, just spitting facts...

The bits have nearly the same problem and the hog ring is distorted (as shown in the picture).

I don’t know about you SR, but I’m pretty sure we just got scolded.

@KnurledNut, I’m sorry dad but the bits came with the handle, it’s not our fault 🥹

 

[KnurledNut]

The bits have nearly the same problem and the hog ring is distorted (as shown in the picture).

Apex bit retention is notoriously strong. These are manufacturing tools. Bits falling out on an assembly line is less than ideal. I have to use pliers to remove them sometimes. This is a good thing IMO. I can’t stand weak bit holders.

Your C-clip may have got damaged fighting to remove that power adaptor.

I don’t know about you SR, but I’m pretty sure we just got scolded.

@KnurledNut, I’m sorry dad but the bits came with the handle, it’s not our fault 🥹

Damn right, Cam. Rule #101 of Advanced Bit Training clearly states no mixing of power ball bearing grooves with C-rings. Both of you are smarter than this! I expected more, son.

 

[Steel_Rain]

Your C-clip may have got damaged fighting to remove that power adaptor.

No, I looked at the ring before I inserted anything, it was like that prior, my photo was just there to explain what I saw.

Damn right, Cam. Rule #101 of Advanced Bit Training clearly states no mixing of power ball bearing grooves with C-rings. Both of you are smarter than this! I expected more, son.

I actually own this shirt:

 

[T45]

The whole thing that makes that driver handle great is it locks the bits in so tight. It basically feels like a 1 piece screwdriver, which is helpful if you have tasks that benefit from that. If you have other tasks, you should be using a different handle.

To put this another way, this circlip+magnet vs magnet only bit rention (like snap-on ratcheting driver, etc) = same thing as pin-detent vs ball detent on impact guns. The pin detent needs a tool to eject the socket, but the socket has positive retention. The ball detent swaps out without tools, but lacks positive retention.

Industrial applications typically like/require positive retention.

Whether you have the right tool for the job is a selection decision whey you pull the tool out of your box. Its not a manufacturing error or even an error in the buying decision. Nobody is forcing you to use the circlip retention tools you now own in a situation where they are not needed/appropriate.

I'm guessing you have more than one bit-handled screwdriver handle...?

 

[Steel_Rain]

The whole thing that makes that driver handle great is it locks the bits in so tight. It basically feels like a 1 piece screwdriver, which is helpful if you have tasks that benefit from that. If you have other tasks, you should be using a different handle.

To put this another way, this circlip+magnet vs magnet only bit rention (like snap-on ratcheting driver, etc) = same thing as pin-detent vs ball detent on impact guns. The pin detent needs a tool to eject the socket, but the socket has positive retention. The ball detent swaps out without tools, but lacks positive retention.

Industrial applications typically like/require positive retention.

Whether you have the right tool for the job is a selection decision whey you pull the tool out of your box. Its not a manufacturing error or even an error in the buying decision. Nobody is forcing you to use the circlip retention tools you now own in a situation where they are not needed/appropriate.

I'm guessing you have more than one bit-handled screwdriver handle...?

This all makes sense. I'm not working in industrial applications daily (I do work on industrial / heavy equipment, sometimes monthly) so the need isn't there often.

I know about retention in the heavy equipment space, and I pin my 3/4" impact when I use it for that reason.

I have have many bit driver screwdrivers, yes.

 

[Mr. Tool]

Delivered today in this morning’s mail.

A couple of FACOM tools from Harry J. Epstein’s.

One 13mm Nut Driver and one 4mm Ball Driver

 

[Ohio Andy]

No, I looked at the ring before I inserted anything, it was like that prior, my photo was just there to explain what I saw.



I actually own this shirt:

Showed this to my wife, poor things is ill, and she started laughing uncontrollably, which then caused a coughing fit; but it put her in a good mood

 

[captain14]

Picked up an assortment of USA Craftsman tools from CL today. Hip roof tool box, some 1/2 and 3/8 ratchets, extensions and sockets. Seller was nearby (6-7 miles)

What’s the best way to clean the exterior of this box? It’s definitely had some weather exposure since the Craftsman label has faded completely. This maybe patina or starting a surface rust.

Thanks

 

[captain14]

Picked up an assortment of USA Craftsman tools from CL today. Hip roof tool box, some 1/2 and 3/8 ratchets, extensions and sockets. Seller was nearby (6-7 miles)

And a photo of the tools inside the toolbox.

 

[Winterborne]

Small Proto socket kit in Milwaukee compact case

 

[wandrur]

For no practical reason other than it being on sale for $40 from Northern Tool last month. 100 pieces.

 

[Car hobby]

Picked up an assortment of USA Craftsman tools from CL today. Hip roof tool box, some 1/2 and 3/8 ratchets, extensions and sockets. Seller was nearby (6-7 miles)

What’s the best way to clean the exterior of this box? It’s definitely had some weather exposure since the Craftsman label has faded completely. This maybe patina or starting a surface rust.

Thanks

You might try a light rubbing compound or a paint cleaner wax. It might remove the rust and expose enough of the paint to keep it original looking. Great find!

 

[bugnut]

When I saw that shirt I purchased a hoodie for myself. Wearing it to a car show I got stopped by a couple wives, who had to make sure hubby saw it!

I actually own this shirt:

Showed this to my wife, poor things is ill, and she started laughing uncontrollably, which then caused a coughing fit; but it put her in a good mood

 

[Stridercondor]

Dial indicator to check my Harley's brake discs. And surely other uses down the line.

This is precisely what I need and I didn't know that HF had these!

 

[shakenfake]

Snap-On Monday. New dealer at one of the shops in my region. Socket is TLE80A

 

[noid]

Not sure why it took me so long to try these disposable funnels, but dang its nice not to have to clean funnels, deal with dripping or worry about cross contamination.

Under a 0.40c a pop.

 

[larry4406]

Not sure why it took me so long to try these disposable funnels, but dang its nice not to have to clean funnels, deal with dripping or worry about cross contamination.

Under a 0.40c a pop.

Interesting....

Made me think of the solo cups and a pair of scissors...

 

[noid]

Interesting....

Made me think of the solo cups and a pair of scissors...

Disposable paint funnels work too. The style I posted, under different branding, seems to be very popular in aviation.

Im sure a 100 or 500 pack prices drop even more, I can live with 40 cents and a smaller pack.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

A trick a dirt bike desert racer taught me was to smash up an empty water bottle and tighten the cap. Then zip tie or tape it somewhere on your bike/ATV/UTV/Jeep/Buggy. That way you always have a funnel on hand or a container that helps you transfer fluids (drinking water, coolant, gas, etc) if you get in a pinch. When I'm racing I always do this, on my other vehicles I'll do this and keep a DEF jug nozzle on hand as they work with most automotive fluid bottles.