Toolfreaks Anonymous

[bantam5s]

Free is good....
I inherited this 12" DeWalt chop saw with stand and tripod support when my BIL passed. Recently bought a new DeWalt blade for it at $30.

I'll bet that's a good deal better than the little delta I bought at goodwill.
I expect that my delta is definitely better than a cheap HF special or on par with the best one they offer but I don't expect it to be anything special.

[Novagun]

I left the lights on in the car too long and got a flat battery . No big deal. Charger in the shed so off we go.
I haven't used the charger for donkey's years. Got out. It has a steel pressed steel body with crinkled Grey paint. Rust forming under the paint. The glue holding the manufacturers label has long since given up . I think it was made in Lower Hutt in the late fifties. I recall it is a 4 Amp charger.  Plugged it in and off it went "  did exactly what it was made to do  no fancy dodas, just charged the battery.
Projector and Repco can,t make anything like that that would last all that time . Mind you the manufacturers make very sure they don't last long

[Sqrl Klr]

Nice to have something that old and working. I have a old one but hardly use it now that I carry this small handheld jumper which can also charge cell phones ect and has a flashlight. Used it to start my mower recently when the battery went kaput out by the road since I didn't have a new battery to replace it with at the time.

[bantam5s]

I have an old Schumacher from my grandfather that still works great.

[bantam5s]

The local hardware had these V&B half hatchets on sale.




Btw a good well sharpened / honed card scraper is an amazing tool.

[bantam5s]

I have a thing for 1/4dr ratchets and bit ratchets.
When it comes to regular 1/4dr ratchets I only buy / collect American made, but Taiwan pretty much has the market cornered on good quality very small 1/4 ratchets and bit ratchets so I don't mind buying them when something comes along that really gets things right.


I just received thi Titan 11335 set in the mail, they're brand new and there's little discussion of them online yet.

You get the 11334 micro series/4 ratchet, and the 11333 micro series bit ratchet.

You can get them individually and the bit ratchet will come with 2 stubby bits instead of just one, but for $20 I just bought the pair.
These things are definitely small, 4" long with a tiny 14mm head.

They make the PROTO 4749XL look huge, and they're the smallest headed ratchet made in the USA today aside from the Chapman and the WFMC bit ratchets.


These I would say are so far one of the best out there, they're very small, have a comfortable grip, moderate backdrag, and a built in thumb wheel on the back.
There is one company in Taiwan called HI-FIVE  who makes bit ratchets with a built in thumb wheel, if you've seen the ICON WERA FACOM USAG BLACKHAWK MAC GM POWERTORQUE VIM and many many more you'll know their bit ratchets.
They make countless variants for everybody under the sun, including too many bicycle tool companies to keep track of.
They're great quality and definitely tiny ( the flex heads are bigger) but those are all bit ratchets that require the included low profile socket adapter.
The Titan 11334 is the 1st example this small that is a dedicated 1/4 ratchet.

I also have the Titan 11313 micro series roto head which is quite nice, it's the same handle size / shape but of course a roto head mechanism.
Small but not as small because the yoke that the cradles the head adds bulk.

[bantam5s]

The handle on that Vaughan cross peen tinners hammer that I recently bought felt just fine in hand but was just a little thick for it's size, it obsorbed shock less and added more weight where it doesn't need to be.
I just had to thin it out and naturally I octagonalized it.
There was a time when the thought of octagonalizing a handle kind of intimidating, but I eventually learned that it's actually easier than doing a consistent oval profile.

[bantam5s]

Another one of my favorite long standing American tool manufacturers is WILDE tool out of Hiawatha Kansas.
They make great pliers, great punches and great handle pry bars all 100% here in the USA.

I just received this order in the mail.


With this pair of mini pry bars, I now have their entire size range all the way up to 36".
These actually have shanks made by Mayhew, but that's fine because I have multiple sets of those which I like and I'm happy that I can support 2 American tool manufacturers when buying them.
Same goes for when I buy the Channellock rebrands of the excellent little Mayhew hook & pick sets.

[bantam5s]

An American made tool order from HJE just arrived in the mail.
3 of the items are gifts.



The Thorsen Beam Style wrenches were great quality and quite attractive,  these particular NOS wrenches were rebranded for the HWI CO-OP / chain now known as Do-it-best hardware stores.



I'm a huge sucker for Lufkin tapes and rules, I have one of these somewhete that I bought used but the spring was worn out.
This one absolutely mint NOS with great return.


Made in Saginaw Michigan before Cooper Tools bought them out and cheapened things up.

[bantam5s]

An American made tool order from HJE just arrived in the mail.
3 of the items are gifts.



The Thorsen Beam Style wrenches were great quality and quite attractive,  these particular NOS wrenches were rebranded for the HWI CO-OP / chain now known as Do-it-best hardware stores.



I'm a huge sucker for Lufkin tapes and rules, I have one of these somewhete that I bought used but the spring was worn out.
This one absolutely mint NOS with great return.


Made in Saginaw Michigan before Cooper Tools bought them out and cheapened things up.

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

I don't think I posted a pic of my son's tool boxes yet. Years ago he came across 20 of these tall industrial drawer cabinets that were left behind when a company went under. The drawers are rated at 500lbs for each. He bought all 20 for $200 each and flipped the rest but kept these three. They have a safety feature that only allows one drawer to open at a time. He got some great tool boxes made a lot of money on the deal too. I could have bought some of them but didn't have a good place to put any so I  passed on them.

[avator]

I don't think I posted a pic of my son's tool boxes yet. Years ago he came across 20 of these tall industrial drawer cabinets that were left behind when a company went under. The drawers are rated at 500lbs for each. He bought all 20 for $200 each and flipped the rest but kept these three. They have a safety feature that only allows one drawer to open at a time. He got some great tool boxes made a lot of money on the deal too. I could have bought some of them but didn't have a good place to put any so I  passed on them.

WOW.. If that company valued things like that so low it's no wonder they went under.

[Sqrl Klr]

Bantam I hate when a punch breaks before the job is done and it's the only one of that size which will fit. 

Nice Dan. Mine are industrial steel file cabinets somewhat similar to these below and I like that I can have more than 1 open at a time and place each cabinet adjuster according to needed space so tools don't slide around when cabinet opened/closed. No locks or wheels though.

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

I don't think I posted a pic of my son's tool boxes yet. Years ago he came across 20 of these tall industrial drawer cabinets that were left behind when a company went under. The drawers are rated at 500lbs for each. He bought all 20 for $200 each and flipped the rest but kept these three. They have a safety feature that only allows one drawer to open at a time. He got some great tool boxes made a lot of money on the deal too. I could have bought some of them but didn't have a good place to put any so I  passed on them.

WOW.. If that company valued things like that so low it's no wonder they went under.

 It was fairly shocking that they didn't make arrangements to sell them or move them out of the leased space. The landlord was happy to sell them to my son on the cheap to get rid of them all at once. His job at the time here had him going Auto Body shop to Auto Body shop so he was able to sell them quickly and easily, while he was working.

[bantam5s]

It absolutely pays to buy good quality punches.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Your son did well Dan!
 I would have snagged up several for my Crew here at work!

[avator]

Newest addition to my tool kit... been wanting one of these ever since we moved to the woods.

[Methuselah]

I have a thing for 1/4dr ratchets and bit ratchets.
When it comes to regular 1/4dr ratchets I only buy / collect American made, but Taiwan pretty much has the market cornered on good quality very small 1/4 ratchets and bit ratchets so I don't mind buying them when something comes along that really gets things right.


I just received thi Titan 11335 set in the mail, they're brand new and there's little discussion of them online yet.

You get the 11334 micro series/4 ratchet, and the 11333 micro series bit ratchet.

You can get them individually and the bit ratchet will come with 2 stubby bits instead of just one, but for $20 I just bought the pair.
These things are definitely small, 4" long with a tiny 14mm head.

They make the PROTO 4749XL look huge, and they're the smallest headed ratchet made in the USA today aside from the Chapman and the WFMC bit ratchets.


These I would say are so far one of the best out there, they're very small, have a comfortable grip, moderate backdrag, and a built in thumb wheel on the back.
There is one company in Taiwan called HI-FIVE  who makes bit ratchets with a built in thumb wheel, if you've seen the ICON WERA FACOM USAG BLACKHAWK MAC GM POWERTORQUE VIM and many many more you'll know their bit ratchets.
They make countless variants for everybody under the sun, including too many bicycle tool companies to keep track of.
They're great quality and definitely tiny ( the flex heads are bigger) but those are all bit ratchets that require the included low profile socket adapter.
The Titan 11334 is the 1st example this small that is a dedicated 1/4 ratchet.

I also have the Titan 11313 micro series roto head which is quite nice, it's the same handle size / shape but of course a roto head mechanism.
Small but not as small because the yoke that the cradles the head adds bulk.

Handiest thin I ever recall seeing in a 4" tool was a friend’s 4" pipe wrench. It really was a working tool. He got it as a give-away, perhaps he said trade show (I no longer remember, it's been over 50 years).

It was perfect for breaking loose rounded or frozen brake bleeder screws.

[bantam5s]

Are you sure it was a pipe wrench and not just a " bicycle wrench " ? Like the common Frank mossberg wrenches ?
If it was an actual pipe wrench is it possible it was actually 6".

Rigid makes a 6" pipe wrench which I have, but I've never seen a smaller pipe wrench than that.
Even going back to the old Stilson pattern that was the standard before Ridge introduced their RIGID design that took over I think 6" was the smallest anybody ever made.
Marx toys had their Pocket tools which were fully functional miniatures, but the only truly real tool from the collection was a tape measure.
The pipe wrench was a plated die cast .

[Back_Roads]

 Menards has a 4 foot pipe wrench, I am tempted to get, it would be impressive throwing it across the shop LOL