Idk anything about Sears, but last I heard, Craftsman was now owned by Stanley Black & Decker, and I know my Lowe's and my local Ace Hardware still honor the Craftsman lifetime warranty on old and new hand tools. I'm sure bits and stuff aren't included, but screwdrivers still are.Originally Posted by rob_s
The good news is that the Craftsman plant in Texas just added a second shift!
#RESIST
I blame this thread.
#RESIST
Feel free to skip this post; it's about heavy tools, mostly. Maybe not of interest to some or maybe too long and rambly.
Just got back last night from a few days' welding in the middle of nowhere, PA. I would tell you some cool tool stories, but there really aren't any from up there. Except that apparently the one tool store in town is run by five very attractive Mennonite women who one of my 'helpers' provided by the company I'm subcontracting for kept finding excuses to go gaze upon. I never saw these women because *somebody* had to be doing the work.
Anyhow. On the way back, I made a stop in Hagerstown and bought a used Grob 4V-18 vertical bandsaw, which is an interesting piece partly because it actually has a block of factory-installed concrete bolted to the bottom of it so that it isn't top-heavy! They're about the same, reliability-wise, as Do-All bandsaws, i.e., high-quality American-made. They are all 3-phase which isn't a problem for me since I've got a phase converter, and this one's blade is about 12' long. The table can be tilted, it runs at speeds between 40 and 5000 fpm, and it's old enough to have the appropriate cutting speeds for Asbestos on the chart, among others. It weighs in at about 1600 lbs. Probably qualifies as a Tier 1 tool although not the type we've recently been discussing here.
I spent this evening verifying motor amp draw and then ordering the right plugs and connectors to make up a 20A 3-phase 250V cord (already have the cord itself) and to put the appropriate end on the existing cord.
This guy I bought it from is selling out his Dad's estate which is an old fab shop. There are a couple other things in the shop that I may be interested in. I wish the guy was closer; I'd attempt to just buy the shop out.
Also on the 3-phase front, I finally bit the bullet and pulled the covers off my 90-ton ironworker to see where all the hydraulic oil was coming from (it's the pump seal), and then rewired it from 480V to 240V which involved replacing the old cord with a heavy 6/4 cord, rewiring the motor itself, switching some jumpers on the 120V transformer, and replacing the motor heaters with appropriately rated ones. I used to use this machine on jobsites which were wired 480V; this is the first time I've had it running on my 240V phase converter. I don't think my converter is heavy enough to run it for prolonged periods; the RPC was getting hot after about 10 minutes. Converter is 15 hp and so is the ironworker; proper sizing has the RPC at twice the size of the load.
Finally on the 3-phase front, I also rewired the Rockwell Model 20 drill press I've had in the corner for a few years. That involved replacing the 480V plug with the proper 240V 20A plug, checking the heaters to be sure they were right (they were; the press was originally spec'd for 240V before someone converted it to 480V), switching the leads on the 120V transformer, and then switching two main wires when the drill ran backwards upon first power-up. That's one cool thing about 3-phase motors if you didn't know; to reverse them, you just switch any 2 of the 3 motor wires.
So for the first time I have a big drill press (probably 600 lbs or so of Morse Taper 3 goodness) and the ironworker running in my shop. And soon the vertical bandsaw. It was a good week for somebody whose main use of electricity is to melt things together.
Love these mini tools. This job would have sucked without this ratchet/bit combo.
I just used one of those to assemble a crib bed for #3 daughter, great tools and they make assembling IKEA furniture a breeze.Love these mini tools. This job would have sucked without this ratchet/bit combo.
That looks like a nice one, what brand is it?Love these mini tools. This job would have sucked without this ratchet/bit combo.
Adding nothing to the conversation since 2015....
Similar to this one, it's a Kobalt/Lowes brand. A few pages back Rob posted some higher end mini tools, for maybe another $10-20.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-35-P...B&gclsrc=aw.ds
Thanks, ten available at our local Lowes, I'll stick with them.
ETA: I kind of lol'ed at the pictures on the Lowes site:
My experiences with ratchet type screwdrivers such as this:
when working with philips screws is that unless you have enough room to press a good amount of downward pressure on the are of the bit you aren't going to loosen/tighten anything really tight due to the bit jumping out.
Nonetheless, that is a sharp little kit and will be useful.
Last edited by DDTSGM; 10-18-2021 at 09:25 PM.
Adding nothing to the conversation since 2015....
Maybe my fellow tool nerds can help me out here...
I'm looking for pretty much this exact cart
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-36...1QWK/204856169
But I need it to be deeper. At least 20, preferably 24, vs the 17.32 inches deep of this one.
Needs to be all black (the blacker the better), and be pretty close to this configuration (~36in wide, drawers up top, empty shelf space below, no opening "lid", <37 in tall)
ETA:
this is 19.8 inches deep, which sadly is still just a hair too shallow, and the flip-up lid is undesirable, as is the smaller vertical clearance on the bottom shelf
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-33...4B10/205905453
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