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Nevermind—missed the lack of a quick release. Can’t find that one in a search just yet. Rick “still looking” Denney

Yes if there is a difference in diameter, but fine threads are stronger than coarse threads simply because there is more sheer area and a larger root diameter for a given nominal size and alloy. I think people are mistaking ultimate clamp load and clamping efficiency--which is the clamping...

My experience probably doesn't transfer. In my rural property, the power company installed a transformer box to step down their feedline to 240 VAC single-phase. (I think they are 17 KV on the other side of that transformer). Rather than run power the hundred feet or so to the house, when that...

I have a couple of sets of Vessel bits in JIS 0-4, but I’ve never seen or owned their full screwdrivers. I’ll have to look into them. McMaster sells the bits, but of course with them the brand isn’t known until they arrive. Rick “owns two vintage Toyota trucks and needs real JIS drivers” Denney

In my main box, I have Wright Phillips drivers, old hard-handled Proto straight-blade drivers, and a Snap-On kit with replaceable tips. At my clean bench that I use for fixing things, I have Wera, Wiha, Wiha Precision (in the black cloth roll), and Wiha insulated drivers. And in my...

I use a magnet base with adjustable arm. The Nogas are really nice but really expensive and we are not chasing tenths here. I have a magnet base from McMaster-Carr that they call "Economy Jointed-Arm Magnetic Base Indicator Holder" for $36 (even including McM's usual markup), and I'm quite happy...

My pliers drawer in my main (SAE) box has a lot of Utica pliers in it, at least a dozen. I can make closeups if any are particularly interesting. Nevermind the HF specials at upper left. My “clean” bench tool drawer has a range of small Utica pliers, and these please me every time I hold one...

If you stack lumber vertically and buy 12-foot lengths, anything shorter will show up pretty quick. :) And it depends on how you heat it. If you use radiant heating in the floor, extra ceiling height isn't as big of an issue. You can use a lower thermostat setting and still be comfortable...

Finally getting around to rehafting axes in the new shop. Here's a Council Tool 4-pound axe in the Jersey pattern from a couple of decades ago. Council Tool is still making quality axes in North Carolina. I used a Beaver Tooth handle for it, but the head is a little too toed in (not bad, just...

Take a look at this thread: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/wilton-early-744-materials-question.496075/ Rick “not wanting to **** on the OP’s thread further” Denney

The fireball test considered resistance to destruction, and maximum clamping force. Neither of those dimensions is all that important to me—I’ve never managed to break a vise even using it as a bending brake for steel flat bar. But here’s what I do notice: vises that spin when I’m really...

The 16' recommendation is perhaps their ideal, but they work fine lower down. The issue is that they are too bright if they are too low, but I view that as a feature not a bug, and mine at 14 feet are certainly not too bright for doing the things I do in the shop. But that's why I would want a...

If the lights are at 12 feet, the crane is a non-issue. I don’t thing you need to put them higher, and I bet four of them would abundantly light your 30x40 shop. The fixtures I used are designed to be hung from a chain as an option—hanging them at future ceiling height would be no problem. I...

Be careful if pattern. Residential down lights might work in a 12-foot ceiling, but I would also look into bay lights. I installed only 8 of these “high-bay” lights in my 40x60 shop, at 14 feet. It’s like daylight in there. The pattern made by these overlaps without hot spots. It would have...

I got one of those as a freebie add-on to a screwdriver order. It looks okay to me at its price point, and better than similar switch-tip drivers I have littered around the house. I know own screwdrivers from Proto, Snap-On, Craftsman (Made in USA era), Wiha, Wera, Xcelite, and several cheapie...

Thank God for Virginia's agricultural building laws. But I did have to get a zoning permit in my rural area to put up an ag building. My builder was not a GC--that was me. I hired the foundation/earthwork contractor, and I hired the building erector, who hired the Amish building crew, who...

You fill it with plain water and bleed it as best you can. Pressurize it and check for leaks. (Do that with air first, to maybe 50 psi--much higher than you'll see in heating operation). Once you are sure there are no leaks (because antifreeze is expensive)--use a cheapie Harbor Freight pump...

Yes, a low-pressure cutoff switch would be sensible. That's the one thing not in this kit. I added 15 gallons of hydronic antifreeze, but I couldn't use the pump that filled the system (which was the well pump). I did buy a cheapie HF pump that worked just fine, however. Rick "antifreeze is...

I turned mine on last September after getting the system into operation and it's still on. Getting it bled was just the initial ordeal--since then it's been completely hands-off. I leave it on--the thermal mass of that slab is easier to sustain than it is to heat from nothing. In the summer...

This is a very old thread, but it's still a relevant topic. I do not agree that overhead heat is just as effective. My wife's uncle has a shop near here that uses overhead radiant heat, and invariably, I'm too hot on the side being radiated on, and cold elsewhere, when I'm working in his shop...