Show your new tool arrivals

[neophyte]

It appears you're right, and that would make sense.

Their English page says "gunmetal sandwich". Their Japanese page when fed through Google Translate does say "bronze". Looks like the brass misconception is pretty common in English everywhere online.

The term “Bronze” nowadays just means an alloy that is a majority copper, with alloying elements to improve strength and other material properties, although usually the major alloying element is specified, ie. “aluminum bronze” or “nickel bronze”.
“Brass” is basically just “zinc bronze”.
Nomenclature wise though, the terms can get confusing when translated into other languages, because “Brass” and “Bronze” are older terminologies that have stuck around and wound up being used variously over centuries, and the terminology doesn’t always translate perfectly.

 

[neophyte]

Many of Project Farm tool failure tests represent tool abuse on uses well outside the design range. They should have little bearing on proper use. He also tests to failure in groups of one not leaving any clue on statistical significance. It is effectively more click bait. Some of the guys tests are clever and useful. But it is mixed in with wild and strange stuff. Ergonomics, balance, and long cycle wear also matter in terms of work performance.

ProjectFarm dude does occasionally try to test out long term durability, for instance, leaving tarps out for months.
Since to test long term durability on something like pliers, one would need to test items for the same number of cycles, (probably in the thousands), on the same materials, accounting for variations in material, over an extended period of time, and possibly other factors such as temperature, long term durability testing is problematic, unless you build multiple robotic testing units, to run the pliers simultaneously cutting materials while tracking specs like cutting pressure and non-cutting opening and closing friction.
Simply testing pressure while cutting more and more difficult materials is quicker, and gives fairly quick feedback on the “oh ****, I need to cut “X” material that the pliers aren’t rated for” moments most people using tools might occasionally have.

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

Another instalment of my Japan tool haul.

Mitutoyo 505-730 dial caliper 150mm (6”), 2mm/rev
Fancied one of these for a while, but not the prices in my country. Nicely made. I’d have liked a Moore & Wright but their only options nowadays are (as I found) just rebrands of $15 Temu calipers at 6x the price.


Shinwa 62081 Try & Mitre square
An unusual design. Basically seems to be a small scale sawn off speed square.


Shinwa Mini Square with Brass Base, 6cm (2.4”, 62021) & 9cm (3.5”, 62023)
Handy little sizes for marking without a big square getting in the way. They also do a 4.5cm (1.8”) and a 7.5cm (3”).


Shinwa 71005 Spring measuring tape 1.5m (5’)
Usable but not good, at least it was cheap. Scale is printed on both sides, red on one, black on the other. Only starts an inch from the tip, and beyond 10cm it's only marked every 2mm rather than each 2mm. It was clear in their product photos, for those paying attention.

 

[Houdini5150]

Picked up this Icon creeper seat. For $70, it's very solid. Frame is rigid, wheels roll nicely, even the cover is burly.

Don't worry, bought a bunch of small stuff that was on sale to make myself feel better about paying full price for anything at HF.

Did you get a free bucket or hat with your purchase?

 

[driftpin]

Craftsman V20 cordless pieces, done w/their "turn-in a dead cordless battery, and get a V20 charger, a 3 a/h battery, and a $50 credit towards any Craftsman V20 tool."

The final day to use your $50 credit is Aug. 15.



I also got a 1/2" drive cordless impact tool, and a hex shank driver drill.

 

[lund]

ProjectFarm dude does occasionally try to test out long term durability, for instance, leaving tarps out for months.
Since to test long term durability on something like pliers, one would need to test items for the same number of cycles, (probably in the thousands), on the same materials, accounting for variations in material, over an extended period of time, and possibly other factors such as temperature, long term durability testing is problematic, unless you build multiple robotic testing units, to run the pliers simultaneously cutting materials while tracking specs like cutting pressure and non-cutting opening and closing friction.
Simply testing pressure while cutting more and more difficult materials is quicker, and gives fairly quick feedback on the “oh ****, I need to cut “X” material that the pliers aren’t rated for” moments most people using tools might occasionally have.

I did not say his stuff was useless. But the failure tests that he likes so much with tools used way out of range do not have a lot of relevance. If you are using tools in ridiculously high overloads, you will be lucky if you do not end up shrapnel injured. Almost everything he is presenting needs more statistics ... including cutting tool life. I suspect people click more seeing things break and that generates more revenue. Also doing sufficient statistics to draw proper conclusions makes it MUCH more work/time/expense and I doubt would increase viewership much on his YouTube channel. So it is understandable why he does what he does. His rapid cadence is ok by me -- though it is bit repetitive (he could just summarize some examples showing trends but showing all breaks is probably more entertainment).

 

[Squankum]

Did you get a free bucket or hat with your purchase?

 

[Pinne]

Did you get a free bucket or hat with your purchase?

Got my free bucket last week, hah!!

 

[LWB]

Picked up a magnetic panel. Expensive...The magnetic pull is stronger on the narrower slats than the wider ones. The wider ones will still hold a socket on there own and it's more even than the cheap ones I have.



Ko-Ken Etorx Nut grip and a 3/8" swivel. Japan meets Germany.

 

[LXCam]

Latest eBay score!

I can’t believe all these veterans didn’t say ****. Slackers

But you ****!

That was a smoking deal

 

[SC Fly Guy]

How many pencils does a guy need? I’ll let you know when I find out?

 

[four.cycle]

I can’t believe all these veterans didn’t say ****. Slackers

It was a heck of a deal. Sometimes sellers just want to flip stuff quick. I just did it with a Proto 3/8" drive set. Realized after the sale I should have gone for another $20 or $30 bucks. Sold in like... 90 minutes of listing.
And a lot of ebay sellers simply don't know a thing about tools - look at their other listings - are they selling tools? Or Hummel figurines and old mismatched China?

How many pencils does a guy need?

Enough to the point where it doesn't matter if you are in the kitchen, bathroom, garage, back porch, or utility room, or any bedroom in the house - you will be able to find a pencil within reach.

 

[neophyte]

I did not say his stuff was useless. But the failure tests that he likes so much with tools used way out of range do not have a lot of relevance. If you are using tools in ridiculously high overloads, you will be lucky if you do not end up shrapnel injured. Almost everything he is presenting needs more statistics ... including cutting tool life. I suspect people click more seeing things break and that generates more revenue. Also doing sufficient statistics to draw proper conclusions makes it MUCH more work/time/expense and I doubt would increase viewership much on his YouTube channel. So it is understandable why he does what he does. His rapid cadence is ok by me -- though it is bit repetitive (he could just summarize some examples showing trends but showing all breaks is probably more entertainment).

The other day I had to clear a drain, and I was trying yo switch out the snake in a handheld drain snake.
The snake was wider than the opening in the housing, on either side of the snake, and the only quick option was to slice the end off the snake.
The easiest to access pliers I had on hand were dome weird high leverage pliers, that were only specified for soft steel, and specifically specified as not for hard steel.
At that point, I had been dicking with the problematic drain for a few hours, so I figured the worst that would happen was to have to replace the pliers for $25.
The pliers cut right thru the drain snake.
The same pliers then cut right thru the slightly larger diameter drain snake I was trying to switch the other one out for.
The cutting edges were still smooth when I ran my finger nail over them.
According to the specs, the pliers should have been damaged.
This didn't give information on long term fatigue, but it did give decent feedback on cutting thru tougher materials, and how easily those materials could be cut.
The most recent PF video did similar, but for other brands.
Abusive testing may not be normal use, but if the cutting edges survive when the actual plier body cracks, as a number of cutters did in the PF test, you likely have a decent value point on edge durability over a long number of use cycles, cutting softer material.

 

[Steve_P]

I don't really buy into the torque-angle specs thing, I bought my SO of the same ilk for the same reason but then seeing the differential in final torque I feel more comfortable going to final torque by the numbers.

If a spec is 30 lbf-ft + 90*, you just make it up? Or use a table even if it's TTY?

The whole point of the minor torque plus the angle is that it's more accurate because it removes friction from the vast majority of the process. But you do you because you're obviously smarter than those guys that designed the engine, or whatever you're working on. For that matter, just go by feel and get rid of the torque wrenches altogether

 

[wire]

His rapid cadence is ok by me -- though it is bit repetitive (he could just summarize some examples showing trends but showing all breaks is probably more entertainment).

You do know you can scroll to the end to cut to the chase right? You don't have to watch the entire video

 

[afazz]

Another Facom haul from @ultgar

 

[ChefRex]

If a spec is 30 lbf-ft + 90*, you just make it up? Or use a table even if it's TTY?

The whole point of the minor torque plus the angle is that it's more accurate because it removes friction from the vast majority of the process. But you do you because you're obviously smarter than those guys that designed the engine, or whatever you're working on. For that matter, just go by feel and get rid of the torque wrenches altogether

No more I am going from previous models that are very similar, I may be working on a glorified mud pump.

I question when I get a finished torque that is a 10+- foot pounds.

I've been working on these mud pumps for 30+ years, mechanics and engineers are not the same.

Yes my elbow is pretty darn good.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Picked up a few small items from my favorite hardware store in Toledo, Ohio - Bayer Hardware

 

[lund]

You do know you can scroll to the end to cut to the chase right? You don't have to watch the entire video

Yes .... I may be dumb, but not THAT dumb!

I do not usually watch a lot of them and the ones that I do not in much detail. But for ones I look at I tend to review his summaries & and concluding comments, and then watch key parts that I may have an interest in. He has an obvious formula. They all appear timed for 15 ish min with the same patterns.

 

[lund]

The other day I had to clear a drain, and I was trying yo switch out the snake in a handheld drain snake.
The snake was wider than the opening in the housing, on either side of the snake, and the only quick option was to slice the end off the snake.
The easiest to access pliers I had on hand were dome weird high leverage pliers, that were only specified for soft steel, and specifically specified as not for hard steel.
At that point, I had been dicking with the problematic drain for a few hours, so I figured the worst that would happen was to have to replace the pliers for $25.
The pliers cut right thru the drain snake.
The same pliers then cut right thru the slightly larger diameter drain snake I was trying to switch the other one out for.
The cutting edges were still smooth when I ran my finger nail over them.
According to the specs, the pliers should have been damaged.
This didn't give information on long term fatigue, but it did give decent feedback on cutting thru tougher materials, and how easily those materials could be cut.
The most recent PF video did similar, but for other brands.
Abusive testing may not be normal use, but if the cutting edges survive when the actual plier body cracks, as a number of cutters did in the PF test, you likely have a decent value point on edge durability over a long number of use cycles, cutting softer material.

Yes, and the test where he is cracking cutters in presses using far more force than can ever be applied by a human hand to cut hardened steel? Stuff like that is routine for him. In your case, I do not think a snake guard coil is going to be high grade spring steel. But a lot of the destruction tests in Project Farm are NOT normal uses and in no reasonable way measure proper use of a tool. As you point out, people sometimes sacrifice a tool to a specific task. That can certainly happen. But you should not expect or rank performance on the basis of way out of design range uses. It is not indicative of what one should be doing nor of performance in most contexts. The Project Farm guy also typically avoids wear tests and balance related issues of tools since those are harder to quantify. But they are very important in use. Also, something important: IF you measure something to material stress failure, you will typically have wide spreads of results with samples of the same tool. A sample set of one measurement will not provide proper statistics to make an informed judgement of performance in that context. It is harder and much more expensive to do such failure tests in proper statistical groups . The Project farm guy also likes to show every substep interjected with failure point drama interjections rather than summarize since it is being done (largely?) for entertainment.

The Project Farm guy has some good test ideas with useful results. So I am not saying his work is worthless. But I would recommend taking parts of his typical ranking data with some skepticism in terms of the relevance to performance. I suspect he does well in carrying out ideas/suggestions conveyed to him. Him not taking manufacturer gifts and buying his test items himself is also very good and sets him apart from many YouTube level tool performance summaries. With a few tweaks in what he does, his videos could also be a lot better. The guy is industrious!

 

[badmatt]

Impulse buy of the year!



Microtech LUDT for scale.

 

[ElectroMechTech]

Ordered online from Home Depot. Dropped shipped from Channellock.

 

[ElectroMechTech]

TOP HT-150B Angle Head. Ordered on Amazon USA, shipped from Amazon Japan. Surprisingly it only took about 5 days to get here.

 

[Pinne]

More Harbor Freight...this time a power tool drawer organizer.
I don't have an HF box so this isn't a perfect fit, but it's not bad. Secured it with a couple of screws and it'll hold my tools just fine.
May add another one for the other side.
But, if anyone knows of a more modular solution that's adjustable in length...or something to fit a 24" depth drawer, I'd love to know about it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Ordered online from Home Depot. Dropped shipped from Channellock.

I've never seen a blue dipped handle on an adjustable wrench...looks pretty awesome.

 

[wire]

Magnetic Swarf & Chip Collector Wand

 

[Twisted Sid]

Magnetic Swarf & Chip Collector Wand

Got a link?

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

Penultimate post from my Japan haul.

Lobtex B75V “B-type” (G) clamp Eco Series 75mm (3”)
Nicely made and with a hex drive on the end. The “B” refers to this shape in the JIS standards. Presumably naming anything by the shape of letters in the Japanese alphabet does not work.


Anex 158 Stainless steel tweezers 300mm (12”)
First job I have in mind for these is threading and fishing cables through confined spaces.


Anex 147 Stainless steel tweezers “for hair removal” 73mm (3")
Angled tips similar to the Merry JR60 clip pliers, for pinching under something and pulling it.


Hozan P-843 Forceps 143mm (5.5”)
Seemed like they could come in useful. I’m not sure if all forceps are like this, but the locking strip is only long enough to hold them fully closed, which doesn’t seem suited for anything except the very thinnest materials.

 

[wire]

Got a link?

Yes! I was following the trend of making folks search for it

I bought the used like new offer, theres 1 left. It works very well.

 

[Beerhippie]

Magnetic Swarf & Chip Collector Wand

Does it pick up aluminum and brass?

Seemed like they could come in useful. I’m not sure if all forceps are like this, but the locking strip is only long enough to hold them fully closed, which doesn’t seem suited for anything except the very thinnest materials.

You're supposed to grip the roach by the paper at the edge.

Seriously, these are suture needle holders. That's all they need to grip. Maybe some gauze at times.

I find 'em quite handy around the shop even with the grip limitations.

 

[MichaelP]

This is a straight hemostat, not a needleholder.

 

[Beerhippie]

This is a straight hemostat, not a needleholder.

I've seen both used in both roles. Still, clamping off a blood vessel doesn't require a wide locked position. All of the dozen or so I have around have the very short locks like yours.

Why do I have so many? Most of the time I see them for sale, they come in sets of similar length. To get one each curved and straight in a few sizes means getting a LOT of them.

 

[Chefjpd]

Second tweezers are fish bone pliers as far as I'm concerned.

 

[wire]

Does it pick up aluminum and brass?

nope

 

[ChefRex]

The other day I needed a 14mm Spark plug socket, while I made due with a standard socket why not get a set?

 

[Steel_Rain]

The other day I needed a 14mm Spark plug socket, while I made due with a standard socket why not get a set?

Now THAT is the garage journal way of thinking!

 

[Squankum]

Bought a new air tank. It's been, oh, 30 years. And I figured the missus would blow a gasket it I tried to cram my old 7 gallon tank into the car for this trip. Need to change spark plugs on a car in my remote location, also, top up some tires. I drove to HF down the highway in the next town. All they had was wee 5g things! 7g sold out. Oh well. A tank's a tank, it will do for now.



Add a Milton coil hose I had sitting in the shop for years, an old Campbell-Hausfeld chuck, some blowgun I had sitting around the shop for years, and some tire chuck I had in storage in the old C-H fittings bin.

 

[Steel_Rain]

I've never seen a blue dipped handle on an adjustable wrench...looks pretty awesome.

Credit to the OP for his new channel locks, they look nice.

Here is another blue handled adjustable:

 

[Jarhead0408]

Picked up a few small items from my favorite hardware store in Toledo, Ohio - Bayer Hardware

Man, I was just in Toledo this morning. My trucking terminal is 2.5 miles from there on Angola Road.

I will have to swing by there next time.

 

[Meursault74]

Penultimate post from my Japan haul.

Lobtex B75V “B-type” (G) clamp Eco Series 75mm (3”)
Nicely made and with a hex drive on the end. The “B” refers to this shape in the JIS standards. Presumably naming anything by the shape of letters in the Japanese alphabet does not work.


Anex 158 Stainless steel tweezers 300mm (12”)
First job I have in mind for these is threading and fishing cables through confined spaces.


Anex 147 Stainless steel tweezers “for hair removal” 73mm (3")
Angled tips similar to the Merry JR60 clip pliers, for pinching under something and pulling it.


Hozan P-843 Forceps 143mm (5.5”)
Seemed like they could come in useful. I’m not sure if all forceps are like this, but the locking strip is only long enough to hold them fully closed, which doesn’t seem suited for anything except the very thinnest materials.

For hair removal........? Are you servicing shopping cart wheels?

Pliers for Grabbing Human Hair

We've all seen that wad of hair wrapped around a shopping cart's wheel. What if you wanted to yank it out? What would you use? I've tried nose pliers and duck bill pliers. Any pliers with teeth in the jaws and the hair slips right on past in between the teeth. Maybe it's tweezers I want; I don't...

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