Fireball Tools - Anyone use them ?

[jblnut]

I’m looking at investing in a set of fixtures to make settings things up a whole lot faster and more accurate and keep running across the Fireball Tools brand. I’ve watched a ton of their YouTube videos and the stuff seems legit. I figured I’d ask the GJ collective mind before emptying one of my kids college funds on some fixtures.

I’m not looking at a fixture table but more along the lines of the portable tools. The squares of all shapes and sizes interest me more as I have a nice welding table already. Plus I couldn’t see myself spending $10k+ on a fixture table only to beat the **** out of it in the farm shop.

EDIT: I’m not dead set on the Fireball tool brand and an open to suggestions for other brands that do similar things.

 

[LeeG]

This is an older photo. I have more of their stuff now.

I use some of it on almost every welding project and some woodworking projects. I have been very happy with the stuff Jason has made.

Lee

 

[jblnut]

This is an older photo. I have more of their stuff now.

I use some of it on almost every welding project and some woodworking projects. I have been very happy with the stuff Jason has made.

Lee

Nice set of stuff !!

Looks like you have a mix of Al and Cast items. Is the cast worth the extra $$$ ?

I know I’d use the stuff but it’s more $$$ than just some simple stuff so I’m trying to do the sensible thing and ask around first lol.

 

[niget2002]

I have some of the aluminum stuff. It's worked well for me.

 

[Gutman]

C'mon man, this is GJ!

Agree they're pricier than I'd prefer, and I'd resisted for a long time as my welding instructor did show us many techniques for fabrication, but often they're time-consuming.

I do light fabrication work in my one-man shop and I had a job coming up where they would really make squaring stuff up easy for welding so I bought them. I picked up 6 of his squares, don't recall the names, 2 each of 3 different styles. Aluminum. I bought them for a job I was doing, shortly before thanksgiving. I should have bought in sets of 4.

He had a black friday sale, a couple weeks later (stupid me), but I called them and they refunded me the difference.

Since then, I've used them a bunch and I see where they'd have made previous jobs easier.

I also don't have a fixture table; just a table I made as a fabrication project when I took some welding classes a a local community college some years ago.

I'll probably pick up a couple more at this year's black friday sale. They came with removeable/adjustable tabs and that increases their functionality. I'm still learning different ways to use them, only limited by my lack of thinking on how to configure them.

They're quality tools IMO.

 

[LeeG]

Looks like you have a mix of Al and Cast items. Is the cast worth the extra $$$ ?

For what I do, the AL stuff is really all I need. The CI stuff is handy on occasion, mainly for use with the magnetic shims they sell - which I use all the time. I have both mostly because I can.

 

[jblnut]

I have some of the aluminum stuff. It's worked well for me.

I’m leaning Al as well. Should hold up to the use I’ll give them.

C'mon man, this is GJ!

Don’t worry I’m not opposed to a pallet of tools showing up lol

Agree they're pricier than I'd prefer, and I'd resisted for a long time as my welding instructor did show us many techniques for fabrication, but often they're time-consuming.

Quality stuff is pricy and I just wanted some feedback that they’re what they seem to be before dropping some coin.

I do light fabrication work in my one-man shop and I had a job coming up where they would really make squaring stuff up easy for welding so I bought them. I picked up 6 of his squares, don't recall the names, 2 each of 3 different styles. Aluminum. I bought them for a job I was doing, shortly before thanksgiving. I should have bought in sets of 4.

I’ll be building out a drone flight trailer soon and these things will likely save me a hundred hours of layout time if they’re what they seem to be.

He had a black friday sale, a couple weeks later (stupid me), but I called them and they refunded me the difference.

Since then, I've used them a bunch and I see where they'd have made previous jobs easier.

I also don't have a fixture table; just a table I made as a fabrication project when I took some welding classes a a local community college some years ago.

I'll probably pick up a couple more at this year's black friday sale. They came with removeable/adjustable tabs and that increases their functionality. I'm still learning different ways to use them, only limited by my lack of thinking on how to configure them.

They're quality tools IMO.

Didn’t think of the Black Friday sale deal. We’re really not all that far from that. I may just wait as I won’t “need” them until mid December anyway. Good tip.

For what I do, the AL stuff is really all I need. The CI stuff is handy on occasion, mainly for use with the magnetic shims they sell - which I use all the time. I have both mostly because I can.

Didn’t think of the shims going onto the cast stuff. I may have to get a mix of al and cast. Thanks.

 

[dr_clyde]

I have quite a few Fireball tools. They’re nice and well made, but their tools aren’t 100% bangers.

The cast squares are far and away the best thing they make. They’re durable, sized well, extremely handy and priced fairly. I would absolutely buy these again. I have both cast iron and cast aluminum. In general I prefer the aluminum due to weight.

I also think their bar clamps that go over tubing or flat bar are extremely nice. They’re heavy duty and are very well made. Easy to adjust, smooth and way, way stronger than a regular pipe clamp. I would recommend these.

I have a fair amount of experience with welding fixture tables and would say that Fireball’s tables are very good, but not so good that I would buy one over a Weldsale. The clamps and top fixtures are either rebadged Valtra (stronghand) or just something similar to what else is available for less money. I absolutely love my Acorn, and would NOT buy a Fireball table if a Weldsale/Acorn was an option.

Fireball has some stinkers IMO. The blades they source for their combination squares are cheap and not nearly as nice as the hard chrome versions you get with Starrett and Mitutoyo. The heavy, huge heads are cool, but the blades are trash.

They have a lot of stuff that is “nifty” but not necessarily a good value or worth the premium. A lot of fireballs offerings are just machinists tools that have been reimagined for a welder, and if you have any access to the old machinist version you can save a LOT of money. Angle plates, 123 and 246 blocks, squares, shims, parallel bars, vises, this is all stuff that has existed for decades. Fireball makes a nice angle block, but not so incredible that I’d get rid of my cast iron toolmakers knees or setup angles that I already have and use.

I personally don’t care for anything with a magnet in the welding shop. Grit and debris stick to it and piss me off more than they help. Some people love their magnetic shims, I wouldn’t use them if they were free.

Fireball’s vise is a thing you either love or hate IMO. I initially thought they were really cool, then I realized they weren’t really all that and am much happier with my Wilton vises.

TL;DR Fireball sells a good quality tool in general. Their price isn’t the cheapest, but for some things it’s worth it. If you just got the cast squares and the bar clamps, I think you’d be very happy.

 

[jblnut]

I have quite a few Fireball tools. They’re nice and well made, but their tools aren’t 100% bangers.

The cast squares are far and away the best thing they make. They’re durable, sized well, extremely handy and priced fairly. I would absolutely buy these again. I have both cast iron and cast aluminum. In general I prefer the aluminum due to weight.

I also think their bar clamps that go over tubing or flat bar are extremely nice. They’re heavy duty and are very well made. Easy to adjust, smooth and way, way stronger than a regular pipe clamp. I would recommend these.

I have a fair amount of experience with welding fixture tables and would say that Fireball’s tables are very good, but not so good that I would buy one over a Weldsale. The clamps and top fixtures are either rebadged Valtra (stronghand) or just something similar to what else is available for less money. I absolutely love my Acorn, and would NOT buy a Fireball table if a Weldsale/Acorn was an option.

Fireball has some stinkers IMO. The blades they source for their combination squares are cheap and not nearly as nice as the hard chrome versions you get with Starrett and Mitutoyo. The heavy, huge heads are cool, but the blades are trash.

They have a lot of stuff that is “nifty” but not necessarily a good value or worth the premium. A lot of fireballs offerings are just machinists tools that have been reimagined for a welder, and if you have any access to the old machinist version you can save a LOT of money. Angle plates, 123 and 246 blocks, squares, shims, parallel bars, vises, this is all stuff that has existed for decades. Fireball makes a nice angle block, but not so incredible that I’d get rid of my cast iron toolmakers knees or setup angles that I already have and use.

I personally don’t care for anything with a magnet in the welding shop. Grit and debris stick to it and piss me off more than they help. Some people love their magnetic shims, I wouldn’t use them if they were free.

Fireball’s vise is a thing you either love or hate IMO. I initially thought they were really cool, then I realized they weren’t really all that and am much happier with my Wilton vises.

TL;DR Fireball sells a good quality tool in general. Their price isn’t the cheapest, but for some things it’s worth it. If you just got the cast squares and the bar clamps, I think you’d be very happy.

Great feedback thank you !! Do you have a “favorite” square shape of theirs ? There are a number of different ones. I’m thinking a mix of sizes and shapes would of course be best. I’ve got $1000 budgeted for this but am not opposed to spending more. They will be things I have for a looooong time.

I’m primarily looking at the squares, bar clamps and those mantis clamps. The long side/short side is intriguing.

 

[dr_clyde]

Great feedback thank you !! Do you have a “favorite” square shape of theirs ? There are a number of different ones. I’m thinking a mix of sizes and shapes would of course be best. I’ve got $1000 budgeted for this but am not opposed to spending more. They will be things I have for a looooong time.

I’m primarily looking at the squares, bar clamps and those mantis clamps. The long side/short side is intriguing.

These are the ones I use the most.

I am considering buying another matched set, as they’re quite useful in pairs.



Truthfully, my most used setup blocks and tools aren’t made by fireball.


I have a matched set of 4 of these cast iron box parallels, and they’re incredibly useful.

I also have like, 8 of these corner jigs from StrongHand. They’re so much easier to use than the Fireball when you’re making a frame or a 90 corner with common sizes of tubing. They’re lighter, cheaper and just better designed for making tube frames.

The fireball are great for heavier clamping, but I mostly use them for table mounted jigs. I just clamp them down right to the table and jig off them like a fence.

By far my favorite setup tool is just a plain corner angle or “toolmaker’s knee”. You can clamp in far more places and with more depth than on the fireball tools. I have some up to 14” x 16” x 1” thick, and a pair that are quite large 6” x 48” x 36” that I snagged off a boring mill that was being scrapped.



So, while the fireball squares are really nice and worth having, they’re for sure not the most used or my favorite clamping or fixture tools in my collection.

 

[Farmall450]

If you just got the cast squares and the bar clamps, I think you’d be very happy.

Ironically those are the 2 items I'm interested in.

Might have to pull the trigger on the cast square kit this black friday.

 

[KwikFab]

Great ideas, terrible owner.

I do have some of their tools I bought years ago, but refuse to support them.

For me a commonly used tool for setting things up are stops, and spacers.

 

[dr_clyde]

Great ideas, terrible owner.

I do have some of their tools I bought years ago, but refuse to support them.

For me a commonly used tool for setting things up are stops, and spacers.

Jason has unfortunately become a lot more insufferable within the last few years.

What started out as “check out my cool products” has largely become “look at how bad all these other products/companies ****”. I’m all for comparison and testing, but when your entire persona has become just shitting on the competition and being unwilling to admit when you’re wrong or when you screwed up it rubs a lot of people wrong.

They did NOT handle the COO of their vise debacle well, and they’ve been extremely quiet when it’s been shown they are not right or are not being very straightforward in their statements/dealings with others.

I have a few of their tools that are truly innovative or useful, but I am not the fan I used to be.

That said, most companies are not very ethical/honest/straightforward either. If you apply the same principle to other companies we’d be in a tight spot availability wise.

I can’t stand most corporate executives or figureheads. The only reason we are able to buy things without feeling guilty is because most companies have the smarts to keep their CEOs out of the limelight and they hire competent marketing people.

 

[General Geoff]

I pre-ordered and received the full-fat Hardtail vise from Fireball, back in 2023. Been very happy with it.




It is so large, heavy, and overbuilt that it's almost comical. But the attention to detail is there. Fit and finish are the best of any bench vise I've ever laid hands on. Spinning the handle to open and close it is a one finger effort.

If I were to make any modifications it would be to add a notch inside the meatball, and a ball detent to center of the handle so it clicks into the notch, then you could just spin handle real fast and let momentum open and close the jaws. It opens really wide so it does take some time to spin it all the way open and closed, as it is.


I also bought iron smooth jaws and smooth aluminum soft jaws from Fireball. They all fit absolutely perfectly and do their job well. These days I usually keep the aluminum soft jaws on there, but do switch to the serrated iron and smooth iron ones from time to time.

 

[dnschmidt]

If Jason makes it it's quality stuff. DON'T LIKE THE PRICE! Too bad. Quality tools cost significant money. Snap-On and Stahlwille don't give away their tools either. It seems that every other post on the board is how to do something cheaper and sometimes there are ways of doing it cheaper and sometimes there isn't. Until HF Icon starts making welding squares there simply isn't a cheaper alternative. A simple case of if you want to play you've got to pay.

 

[jblnut]

Quality tools cost significant money.

A simple case of if you want to play you've got to pay.

100% agreed. I'm not opposed to paying, just wanted to ask here first if the squares were worth the investment.

I ordered a pack that was on sale so I'll have a few smaller ones to mess around with. I think I'm going to order more if they have a Black Friday sale.

I ordered a kit with all 6" stuff. A mega, monster and minion set. Maybe these little guys will be enough .... I doubt it, but maybe

 

[gatewaysysop]

Jason has unfortunately become a lot more insufferable within the last few years.

What started out as “check out my cool products” has largely become “look at how bad all these other products/companies ****”. I’m all for comparison and testing, but when your entire persona has become just shitting on the competition and being unwilling to admit when you’re wrong or when you screwed up it rubs a lot of people wrong.

They did NOT handle the COO of their vise debacle well, and they’ve been extremely quiet when it’s been shown they are not right or are not being very straightforward in their statements/dealings with others.

On all of the above.

 

[jblnut]

Although I care about this stuff please keep it to actual product info please. Lots of companies have less than desirable tactics to gain business but their products are fantastic.

 

[txvwnut]

I’ve got several of the welding squares and the magnetic spacer block kit. The spacer blocks are well made and measure exactly what the say they are. The welding squares are well thought out and the bolt on tabs are handier than pockets on a shirt. Fireballs stuff is pricey but you get what you pay for and Jason puts a ton of time and effort into the products the carry the Fireball name.

 

[danielbuck]

I have several sizes/shapes of squares, (the 3 axis squares I use the most) and some odds and ends from them, all seem very high quality. And actually square. I use them on an inexpensive fixture table (3/8" thick, certi-flat), for the space I have and my needs, it all works very well.

if/when I ever have a room for a real fixture table, I'll be highly considering a fireball, based on the quality of the other items I have from them.

Doesn't seem like the type of company to start cheaping out once they get big, but who knows. hopefully the quality stays high.

 

[whateg01]

I have 3 different pairs of squares and use them often. I considered making my own, or welding some from a kit, but these are machined square and being cast iron, spatter doesn't stick to them. I like them. Not cheap but they are a good addition to my tools.

 

[GeoBruin]

I've got quite a few squares (all cast iron), a couple combo squares, and a few of the smaller bar clamps. I was in a single car garage so I had a small (24 x 36) langmuir fixture table and some stronghand 5/8" clamps and a few fixtures, but I just moved to a 3 car garage so the first thing I ordered was the 30 x 54 Dragon Wagon and a starter kit of 3/4" clamps and fixtures.

Before the order even shipped, I added the 18 x 24 "drill press" fixture plate so I could get it on the same truck. The plan is to use it for my roll in bandsaw and take advantage of being able to use the same clamps and fixtures.

I just got a shipping notification, so I'm hoping to have it all within a week. Needless to say I'm pretty stoked.

I was a little apprehensive about abandoning the well established 5/8" system for the 3/4" system, but the size and build of the Dragon Wagon are going to be perfect for me, and I just can't see Fireball going away any time soon, so hopefully I won't regret it. Everything I've ordered from them has been great, and the customer service experience when I called to add the fixture plate to the order was fantastic, so I will continue to lean in until given a reason not to.

 

[drokihazan]

I have an 8" cast iron Mega square, and four cast iron Minion squares.
The Minion squares are my absolute favorite fabrication tool, ever. They are my #1 welding and fabrication square. I even use them for woodworking.
I also have a bunch of those Mantis pliers too, and they're great vise grips for fabrication, I really like the direction of the flipper in the handle and the opening to reach around stuff.
I've given a lot of thought to building my own compact welding table (like 24x40) and I'm thinking about converting to a 3/4" system, and I will probably use Fireball's prefabbed template to drill my holes in 1" plate. I watched Jason on youtube many years ago when he was just kind of starting, building his original squares and his monster belt grinder up until he first built the hardtail vise for his own needs. I don't watch the channel anymore, but think he seems like a decent dude who builds really thoughtful high quality products. I'd recommend them.
If I wasn't so deep into giant Parker vises, I'd absolutely buy a Hardtail, and I really don't think you'll find a better set of squares than his. That dragon scale coating is sick too, weld spatter *never* sticks to my squares, they just get some dark splotches sometimes but those become invisible since I oil them with CRC 3-36 pretty often.

You will love Minion squares if you do a lot of fab.

 

[GeoBruin]

I have an 8" cast iron Mega square, and four cast iron Minion squares.
The Minion squares are my absolute favorite fabrication tool, ever. They are my #1 welding and fabrication square. I even use them for woodworking.
I also have a bunch of those Mantis pliers too, and they're great vise grips for fabrication, I really like the direction of the flipper in the handle and the opening to reach around stuff.
I've given a lot of thought to building my own compact welding table (like 24x40) and I'm thinking about converting to a 3/4" system, and I will probably use Fireball's prefabbed template to drill my holes in 1" plate. I watched Jason on youtube many years ago when he was just kind of starting, building his original squares and his monster belt grinder up until he first built the hardtail vise for his own needs. I don't watch the channel anymore, but think he seems like a decent dude who builds really thoughtful high quality products. I'd recommend them.
If I wasn't so deep into giant Parker vises, I'd absolutely buy a Hardtail, and I really don't think you'll find a better set of squares than his. That dragon scale coating is sick too, weld spatter *never* sticks to my squares, they just get some dark splotches sometimes but those become invisible since I oil them with CRC 3-36 pretty often.

You will love Minion squares if you do a lot of fab.

It's funny you mentioned using the minion squares for woodworking. Just today I had to cut down a door and replace the stile and I was using the minion squares to clamp my router guide.

 

[drokihazan]

Best squares ever made, the Minion square is pretty much perfect for my needs.