Old people tools

[zendriver]

Anybody buy a tool, that you can afford and you just don’t feel like doing it the hard way like you did when you were younger (and maybe poorer) ?

Redoing basement windows with glass block and I had to remove the metal channels from the old windows. Seems like they used to use pretty thick metal back in those days and made things pretty secure.

Got sick of whacking with a small sledgehammer or whack my hand hand trying to use a chisel.

$320 plus tax out the door with a set of chisels. It’s heavy but it busts up and clean things up pretty quick. Wish I had one years ago.

 

[yatg]

that's more of a "smart people" tool.

 

[oldmachinenut]

I have!

 

[Packard V8]

you just don’t feel like doing it the hard way like you did when you were younger (and maybe poorer) ?

Buy a Chevrolet Bolt electric car. After sixty years of lying on my back changing my own oil, filters, spark plugs, points, condensors, air filters, clutches, brakes, I bought a car which requires none of the above.

Owning it for five-and-a-half years, the Bolt has required absolutely no maintenance. Then, GM decided to replace the battery and give it another eight-year, 100,000 mile warranty.

jack vines

 

[VolvoRyan]

Having been young and poor, I absolutely do not miss those days.

As you get older, the question is how much is it worth to you not being sore for the following week?

-Ryan

 

[Rickster]

Yea buddy!.. remember all those extension cords all over the garage when doing a project??... that reminds me I have two bins of those that need to get scrapped. I'll use the money to buy a couple of new M12 batteries!

 

[Two Door]

Anybody buy a tool, that you can afford and you just don’t feel like doing it the hard way like you did when you were younger (and maybe poorer) ?

Got sick of whacking with a small sledgehammer or whack my hand hand trying to use a chisel.

$320 plus tax out the door with a set of chisels. It’s heavy but it busts up and clean things up pretty quick. Wish I had one years ago.

I spent an hour this morning using that exact HF tool to remove tile which has been on my to-do list for a couple of years. I've had the rule for a while now that if I'm going to do the labor, I get to decide how easy it will be, so I bought that tool for this job. And it was so ridiculously easy I wondered why I waited as long as I did.

 

[kbeefy]

Yup. Thats why I now own a 2 post lift, a zero turn mower, a compact tractor, a dump trailer....

 

[Wiz02]

I spent an hour this morning using that exact HF tool to remove tile which has been on my to-do list for a couple of years. I've had the rule for a while now that if I'm going to do the labor, I get to decide how easy it will be, so I bought that tool for this job. And it was so ridiculously easy I wondered why I waited as long as I did.

I too, have a HF rotary hammer, that I have used more times than expected. Bought it to knock a hole through the poured concrete foundation for a sump pump, used it to drive ground rods and remove a wet bed bathroom tile floor. It is not as powerful as a Bosch, but it got the job done 2 out of 3 times. It gave out driving the ground rods, not unexpected when you live near a quarry.

 

[afazz]

I swore I would never need a full suite of impact sockets (3/8 drive, swivel, mid length, standard and metric) since I am a hobbyist and generally not in a hurry. As I get older I would much rather squeeze a trigger than swing a ratchet, so now I have them all

 

[woody 73]

I miss being young big time, but I was so poor that I drove cars put together with bailing wire. If I put a suitcase in the trunk, it would not make down the driveway without falling out. Today I am a little better off, my car is 15 year's old and no more bailing wire, plus the luggage stays put.

 

[dnschmidt]

As Lee J. Cobb once told Clint Eastwood in Cloogan's Bluff: So a man's got to do what a man's got to do ha Tex?"

 

[Meursault74]

That's how I usually buy tools. I come across something I need to do. Maybe I make do with what I have because I don't have the right tool. Then I'll get the tool for next time.

I started a project where I had to drill many holes in brick. I got a new masonry bit and put it in my drill. After the 2nd hole I stopped, I went and purchased a selectable hammer drill for that very job. No sense in doing it the hard way. I don't use that hammer drill much, but every once in a while I do and I'm glad I have it.

I don't think I've ever regretted a tool purchase.

 

[catalytic]

Worst job of any type I ever did was make a hole in a cement basement for a sump pump system. Started with 15lb sledgehammers and stone chisels, but it had a low ceiling, so you could never get a full swing.

After 3 days of misery, I finally got smarter and rented a Hilti electric jackhammer and got the rest done in an afternoon.

I still remember every swing of that sledgehammer and how if felt on my back, and I was a 20 year old athlete at the time.

 

[rancherbill]

Anybody buy a tool, that you can afford and you just don’t feel like doing it the hard way like you did when you were younger (and maybe poorer) ?

My view is that half the money I am saving on a project goes for tools to do it. If a tool is over that, I gaze into the future and estimate what the sum of the future 50% savings will be and spend that money too.

I have lots of nice tools. Your looks really nice.

 

[Professional Tool User]

Buy a Chevrolet Bolt electric car. After sixty years of lying on my back changing my own oil, filters, spark plugs, points, condensors, air filters, clutches, brakes, I bought a car which requires none of the above.

Owning it for five-and-a-half years, the Bolt has required absolutely no maintenance. Then, GM decided to replace the battery and give it another eight-year, 100,000 mile warranty.

jack vines

Not every automaker is that charitable. There are loads of horror stories of people left with a car with no resale value after their battery failed past the 8 year warranty period.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Anybody buy a tool, that you can afford and you just don’t feel like doing it the hard way like you did when you were younger (and maybe poorer) ?

Redoing basement windows with glass block and I had to remove the metal channels from the old windows. Seems like they used to use pretty thick metal back in those days and made things pretty secure.

Got sick of whacking with a small sledgehammer or whack my hand hand trying to use a chisel.

$320 plus tax out the door with a set of chisels. It’s heavy but it busts up and clean things up pretty quick. Wish I had one years ago.

I've had a rotary hammer for ages. Come think of it, I've been old for ages, too. But, for me it has nothing to do with age, it's just getting the job done, so I can move on to the next horror. It's why I've got a Dingo, scissor lift, air tools, nail guns, power tools, cordless tools, bigger riding mower, wood chipper, chainsaws, roto tiller, etc. I have, however, resisted the urge to buy a wood splitter. I still enjoy the couple days a year I spend turning logs into little chunks. There's a satisfaction in beating the living **** out of something with an axe.

 

[Oldsmobile]

Oh yeah. I was doing shocks on the back of a 2000 Ford Explorer yesterday, and marveling at how much better life is with the Milwaukee impact guns. I wish I'd had them years ago. I see that the Quickjack 7000 is on sale at Costco now and I'm seriously tempted to get one to also improve life / shop experience.

 

[Half-fast eddie]

Not every automaker is that charitable. There are loads of horror stories of people left with a car with no resale value after their battery failed past the 8 year warranty period.

I think hybrid cars are a good idea. However, there are stories of older electric cars that need a new battery, and it’s not available at any cost.

 

[ex-x-fire]

I used to help an old guy with yard work, I always hated unwinding what seemed like 200' of cord to trim the hedges.

 

[Zeus36]

Buy a Chevrolet Bolt electric car. After sixty years of lying on my back changing my own oil, filters, spark plugs, points, condensors, air filters, clutches, brakes, I bought a car which requires none of the above.

Owning it for five-and-a-half years, the Bolt has required absolutely no maintenance. Then, GM decided to replace the battery and give it another eight-year, 100,000 mile warranty.

jack vines

Electric automobile maintenance items:

Coolant liquid

Brake fluid

Windshield washer fluid

Brake discs and pads

Tires

Air conditioning desiccant

Cabin air filter

Gas Struts and Shocks

 

[Zeus36]

Anybody buy a tool, that you can afford and you just don’t feel like doing it the hard way like you did when you were younger (and maybe poorer) ?

Leaf blower instead of a rake
Chain Saw instead of bucksaw
Log Splitter instead of a maul/sledgehammer/wedges
M12 Impact driver replaces most of my screwdrivers
Tractor instead of push mower
Chipper/Shredder replaced bagging leaves
Drill Press, Lathe, band saw, jig saw replaced hand operations
Portable Band Saw replaced my hacksaws
Air tools for wrenching on autos and motorcycles
Strip sander replaced most filing operations
Impact gun replaced the lug wrenches
Spare Tire in a can replaced changing tires on the side of the road
HF Rotary Hammer replaced floor tile scraper
Jointer and thickness Planer replaced my hand planes
Circular and Radial Arm saws replaced carpenter saws

 

[neophyte]

To be fair about older hand tools.
Back when a huge proportion of manufacturing was done by hand, the hand tools used were highly specific, and available in a huge variety of specific variations, to get the manual hand work done as quickly and/or precisely as possible.

All the older specialty vises found over in the giant vise thread were made to allow work to be done as quickly and easily as possible.
All the various quick adjust vises were designed to allow workers to adjust the vises to different size work as quickly as possible, and far fewer manufacturers offer these now.
Tilt jaw vises were designed for holding irregular objects.
Patternmaker vises such as the Emmert and Yost were designed fir holding practically any shape, at any angle.
The Sawyer NuType vise was similarly designed, and the British Swindens Vise was very similar, and was available in a verion made for machine mounting.

Files and Rasps were available in numerous varieties, in cut variation, and shape, and shize, and many of these variations just aren’t sold now.
There were a huge variety of files just made for sharpening specialty cutters and saws.
The specialty files for sharpening certain saw teeth profiles are in many cases no longer made.
Manual, and machine saw profiles were also available in a huge number of varieties, many of which are no longer available.

A lot of these hand tools give control you can’t get with power tools, and can be way safer to use.

While power tools can sometimes be way easier and quicker, there are plenty of times the reason the power tools seem far easier because the right hand tools aren’t being used, and are no longer even available.

 

[toolenthusiast]

Coolant liquid

At 150,000 miles. Most people never do this.

Brake fluid

Every 5 years. Most people never do this.

Windshield washer fluid

I guess putting gas in a regular car is “maintenance”? You’re just topping off a consumable.

Brake discs and pads

Not very often on an EV. Easily 150k.

Tires

OK.

Air conditioning desiccant

That’s not a maintenace item. That gets changed after 11 years 3 months and 4 days when a rock takes out your AC condenser.

Cabin air filter

Yup and it’s right inside the glovebox on the Bolt, you don’t even need any tools to swap it.

Gas Struts and Shocks

OK.

 

[Bubba Fett]

Electric automobile maintenance items:

Coolant liquid

Brake fluid

Windshield washer fluid

Brake discs and pads

Tires

Air conditioning desiccant

Cabin air filter

Gas Struts and Shocks

All of these are also maintenance items in dino-juice-powered cars.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

Anybody buy a tool, that you can afford and you just don’t feel like doing it the hard way like you did when you were younger (and maybe poorer) ?

All the time! Learned a long time ago that “the best way to do do something is to figure out how you don’t want to do it”. Working smart and efficient beats spinning your wheels due to inefficiency any day!

 

[RedneckWelder]

Between HF and Home Depot rental if there is a tool to make a ****** job easier I’m going to buy or rent it. Especially when I need projects to go quicker instead of dragging out.

 

[Professional Tool User]

I think hybrid cars are a good idea. However, there are stories of older electric cars that need a new battery, and it’s not available at any cost.

Hybrid cars have the same battery warranty problem, are more complex than both conventional ICE cars and EVs, and depreciate faster than conventionally powered vehicles. The data comparing the resale value of a Corolla vs a Prius has been out there for a long time.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

I went to " ZERO " about 5yrs ago, literally. Down to my pickup and dog. After getting my back on my feet, and finding a house with a shop, very first purchase was a really nice/tight Nissan forklift. For about 3 years, all Ive been doing is acquiring, and its nice to have a forklift in the shop ( for unloading things like a 2 post lift, clam shell parts washer, new tool boxes... and so on ). Near second purchase was a new Kubota Compact with USA Made 48" Forks. Next on the list is a full size Skid Loader..

Try not to lift anything over 75 pounds anymore. Im getting old.

 

[Sumboodie]

I went to " ZERO " about 5yrs ago, literally. Down to my pickup and dog. After getting my back on my feet, and finding a house with a shop, very first purchase was a really nice/tight Nissan forklift. For about 3 years, all Ive been doing is acquiring, and its nice to have a forklift in the shop ( for unloading things like a 2 post lift, clam shell parts washer, new tool boxes... and so on ). Near second purchase was a new Kubota Compact with USA Made 48" Forks. Next on the list is a full size Skid Loader..

Try not to lift anything over 75 pounds anymore. Im getting old.

Threw my back out a few weeks ago... Bent over and tugged on a pallet that had a 400lb drum on it to move it over.

Should have known better, but I move 3000lb totes everyday, figured a little drum would be cake.

Thankfully was toward the end of my stint at work, so only had to tough it out 3 or 4 days before heading home.

 

[larry_g]

As I age I find that my ratchet handle gets longer...

lg
no neat sig line

 

[AldeanFan]

For me it was putting a winch in my car trailer after pulling too many cars up the ramp with a come-along

 

[southalabama]

Recently bought a HF auger.

I hate f’n post hole diggers. Too much of my youth spent using them.

 

[Rkcubed]

Anybody buy a tool, that you can afford and you just don’t feel like doing it the hard way like you did when you were younger (and maybe poorer) ?

Redoing basement windows with glass block and I had to remove the metal channels from the old windows. Seems like they used to use pretty thick metal back in those days and made things pretty secure.

Got sick of whacking with a small sledgehammer or whack my hand hand trying to use a chisel.

$320 plus tax out the door with a set of chisels. It’s heavy but it busts up and clean things up pretty quick. Wish I had one years ago.

All the time. Work smart not harder

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I think hybrid cars are a good idea. However, there are stories of older electric cars that need a new battery, and it’s not available at any cost.

It's not really about cost overall, it's the cost vs the vehicle.

The first gen insights are off the road around here. Usually before 200k they set check engine lights for battery issues. Well the car is worth 3k tops, can't pass emissions, it really doesn't matter if honda has batteries or not. It simply isn't economically viable. In the same way of your similar era civic lost the transmission. If you're paying for a used install, you're nearly going to total the car. New unit? 100% totaled. That math won't ever change. Shitbox teslas will exist, just like shitbox prius' exist now.

Between HF and Home Depot rental if there is a tool to make a ****** job easier I’m going to buy or rent it. Especially when I need projects to go quicker instead of dragging out.

I'm all about that math. Buy a used HF cement mixer for $150, it's always worth that assuming it works properly. Use it for 1 project and it paid for itself. Everything else is gravy, AND it made the project easier.

Screw working hard, I relax hard. Get it done as quickly and easily as possible, within reason of budgetary constraints obviously. At a certain point I'll just pay somebody.

 

[Wiz02]

Recently bought a HF auger.

I hate f’n post hole diggers. Too much of my youth spent using them.

Try using one when you live down the hill from a quarry, less than a foot of topsoil (clay) and underneath that is rock. You need a digging bar to plant a tree.