Toolfreaks Anonymous

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

Hopefully his pets haven't chewed the cord

Yep that happened so no more lending tools to him long term either. Good thing is he's paying me back for the new saw I'm having to buy.

When my dog Hank chewed the vacuum cleaner cord into 1'-1 1/2' pieces when he was a teething puppy, I just replaced the cord. I already had a cord from some other failed item since I always salvaged the good stuff that could be used for future repairs. The cord I put on it was 10' longer than the original which we were happy about too. It was a hard wired cord so I had to take the vacuum apart to install it. I do think it's great that he is paying for the new saw though, because it was in his care.

[bantam5s]

I bought this on Black Friday a few years ago. I did not use it for over a year.
Since then I have used it at least once a week.

I have the rotorazor saw that my dad foolishly bought off TV last year for my birthday, I would never have bought such a thing but I forced myself to give it a real chance and will say that it has proven pretty handy.

These mini circ saws are better than a corded jigsaw for straight cuts , and more convenient that my old Skillsaw circ for quick minor stuff.

These small circs are kind of a hobbyists saw that should be well received by anyone who appreciates a dremel or any other electric rotary tool, but they can be useful if someone doesn't just write them off.

[Sqrl Klr]

Yep I keep those dremel cutting wheels stocked up because they can wear out quick, plus they have saved my bacon more than once where nothing else would have worked.

[brewbear]

I must confess, I did it again!
What did I do, you will ask... Well, a couple of months ago I wanted to change the seals on my newly acquired Ted Williams Crosman 150. In the process of extracting the valve - without previously removing the little plug/stop ring - I figured if I tap the opposite end, the valve will slide out. Initially I had the compression tube cap threaded in and using a delrin mallot I gently hit it. The valve started to slide out so I was feeling pretty good about the entire process. I took the cap off, looked down the tube and the valve was indeed sliding off, only an inch or so and it was out! Granted, I was tired after a double shift in the "salt mines" and I wasn't thinking straight so I continued tapping the threaded end but this time without the cap on. As you would expect, I bent the holy bejesus out of the threads, part of them were rolled over... In a brief moment of clarity I contacted @nervoustrigger (Jason) and asked him if he could help. He graciously agreed to give it a try and indeed he did a wonderful job in restoring the threads.
 I am telling you folks this story because recently I had an attack of stupid and did it again with another Cr150. This time I stopped after I messed up the threads just enough to stop the cap from threading onto the compression tube. And now the reason I am posting my story in this thread! I went searching for a thread file, an item Jason mentioned when I contacted him initially. I found a most wonderful tool instead, more expensive than a thread file, true, but something even I can use without causing too much damage - I found a Universal Thread Chaser! I just received it today curtesy of Amazon Prime and within ten minutes the threads are restored and life is good again. Here is a link to this most excellent tool

[bantam5s]

I've been waiting for Tekton to release this pick set since I got the notification a couple weeks back,  they just released them today and I have a set on the way to me for a grand total of $18.03 shipped ( they're $20 but i had some Tekton rewards points )


You can spend under $5 for Chinese garbage all the way up to Snap-on and everywhere in between.
These are extremely affordable,  American made,  and have great handles.

You can also go with the 4pc Channellock set for as little as $11+ shipping, I'm probably going to get some to go with my Channellock driver set.

[bantam5s]

The handle steel on the older  Bernard parallel jaw pliers is a mild steel of some kind that rusts much easier than the very good steel used for the jaws.
They got a thorough covering of some brown surfaces rust so cleaned them up and threw on some spray paint I had laying around.

[Ronno6]

i made my own tool for opening Crosman pumper valves.
I used a 2 piece 5/8" flat-sided shaft collar with a 3/8 dog point set screw thru 1 side.
The nose of the set screw locates into the exhaust port, while the nose is held in a 5/8: collet on my lathe.
The flat sides make wrenching the collar easy to unscrew the valve body.
Not too shabby.........

[bantam5s]

I needed a standard 10" long handle 3/8 ratchet since currently my only long handle 3/8 is a PROTO flex head my dad gave me as a teenager , it's great but flex heads aren't appropriate for everything.

It absolutely had to be American made no exceptions, and I didn't want to spend more than $75 new or used.

I thought about the PROTO 75250 for $45, I thought about the WILLIAMS B-52EHLA for $45, But settled on the WRIGHT 3425 for $70.

It was more, but their contour grip is my absolute favorite and I really like their dual pawl 42 tooth 84 position mechanism.


I've been looking to try a modern William's ratchet,  but I'll probably just add one to my 1/4 ratchet collection.

[anti-squirrel]

Proto ranks up there with my ES Tools.  Very nice hand-feel and durable.  It meets Mil-Spec and my main tool bag on the sub was nothing but ES and Proto.


I've been using the bejesus out of one of my older draw-knives.  Older meaning 1880s- one of my ancestors forged it on his farm    I used it for fitting a couple axe heads to spare handles over the last few days.  I also seem to use my new Svord knife non-stop.  I recently bought a Ryobi inflator that uses 18v batteries.  I've already used it a number of times- it means I don't have to drag out the generator first thing when we arrive out on our property.  Also got the other type of inflator- used for blowing up floats, rafts etc- we use it on our Bote and it works superb.  Instead of 10 minutes with a handpump, it's a minute and some change.

[bantam5s]

Proto ranks up there with my ES Tools.  Very nice hand-feel and durable.  It meets Mil-Spec and my main tool bag on the sub was nothing but ES and Proto.


I've been using the bejesus out of one of my older draw-knives.  Older meaning 1880s- one of my ancestors forged it on his farm    I used it for fitting a couple axe heads to spare handles over the last few days.  I also seem to use my new Svord knife non-stop.  I recently bought a Ryobi inflator that uses 18v batteries.  I've already used it a number of times- it means I don't have to drag out the generator first thing when we arrive out on our property.  Also got the other type of inflator- used for blowing up floats, rafts etc- we use it on our Bote and it works superb.  Instead of 10 minutes with a handpump, it's a minute and some change.

I quite like PROTO too, their recent XL series " premium pear head ratchets " are so dang nice.

Not the highest tooth count unless you buy the more expensive versions, but the teeth a very fine the ratchets are buttery smooth and the backdrag is very light.

[anti-squirrel]

I like ES and Proto for the same reasons I love my very first combination wrench set (made by Montgomery Ward)- no sharp edges to bite into oil-slick hands.  No corners to dig into cold palms.  Unlike several very popular brands of wrenches.

David, they're legacy-grade tools.  My father was going to give me a Proto set of nut-drivers and I used them frequently whenever I'd visit- then ended up given them to my brother-in-law (sister's husband) when I said I had more tools than I can possibly use.  They're superlative- I'd say every bit as good as my Excelite nut-drivers though the Excelite set has longer handles and a deeper throat (hence why I passed on the Proto).

Dunno if you've worked with any ES tools- the combination wrenches are what I reach for when I have a stubborn bolt or nut.  A phat flange, robust shoulders, smooth finish and no sharp edges, they have a superlative fit on hardware.  The only trade-off is they are not good for tight spaces.

[bantam5s]

I like ES and Proto for the same reasons I love my very first combination wrench set (made by Montgomery Ward)- no sharp edges to bite into oil-slick hands.  No corners to dig into cold palms.  Unlike several very popular brands of wrenches.

David, they're legacy-grade tools.  My father was going to give me a Proto set of nut-drivers and I used them frequently whenever I'd visit- then ended up given them to my brother-in-law (sister's husband) when I said I had more tools than I can possibly use.  They're superlative- I'd say every bit as good as my Excelite nut-drivers though the Excelite set has longer handles and a deeper throat (hence why I passed on the Proto).

Dunno if you've worked with any ES tools- the combination wrenches are what I reach for when I have a stubborn bolt or nut.  A phat flange, robust shoulders, smooth finish and no sharp edges, they have a superlative fit on hardware.  The only trade-off is they are not good for tight spaces.

Many of the monkey wards Powr-Kraft ratchets were made by WRIGHT,  but they also had many made by Duro/Indestro like their top of the line 100 series.
I believe most of the wrenches were Duro/indestro but Thorsen also made some.
Thorsen made some very nice wrenches that are often underrated today.

I'm not particularly familiar with ES tools, but for some reason I have it in my head that they were made by Enderes who's claim to fame was making the Roughest screwdrivers you could buy.

[bantam5s]

Btw the Enderes screwdrivers were thr toughest, not the roughest.
They often had hardware displays with one of their screwdrivers that was driven through a piece of steel.

The early Stanley 100 plus had a good reputation as well with the boron steel.

[anti-squirrel]

You're describing most of the tools in my toolboxes.  Sure, I have some Snap-On, Matco, Craftsman... even some Pittsburgh stuff (HFT)... but when I'm putting some torque on fasteners (like I was today putting the truck's bed back on) I want tools I can yoink on without busting my knuckles.

I have favorites for each type... like Wico for high-voltage screwdrivers, Excelite for nut-drivers, ES Tools for combinations wrenches, Matco for service wrenches (short-handle for a cheater pipe), Channellock for slip-joint pliers, Bondhus and Park for Allen wrenches, Klein for electrician pliers (and the knife-scissor combo).  I also have a number of onesy-twosy combination wrenches from Duro/Indestro, Thorsen (especially 8-point sockets) from DRMO auctions back when I was active duty- it was BRAC Commission time and a number of nearby bases were getting shut down- tools sold at pennies to the hundreds-of-dollars.

[bantam5s]

You're describing most of the tools in my toolboxes.  Sure, I have some Snap-On, Matco, Craftsman... even some Pittsburgh stuff (HFT)... but when I'm putting some torque on fasteners (like I was today putting the truck's bed back on) I want tools I can yoink on without busting my knuckles.

I have favorites for each type... like Wico for high-voltage screwdrivers, Excelite for nut-drivers, ES Tools for combinations wrenches, Matco for service wrenches (short-handle for a cheater pipe), Channellock for slip-joint pliers, Bondhus and Park for Allen wrenches, Klein for electrician pliers (and the knife-scissor combo).  I also have a number of onesy-twosy combination wrenches from Duro/Indestro, Thorsen (especially 8-point sockets) from DRMO auctions back when I was active duty- it was BRAC Commission time and a number of nearby bases were getting shut down- tools sold at pennies to the hundreds-of-dollars.

Most of my wrenches are Proamerica GOV'T surplus.
Great wrenches , they feel good in hand and are tough, but like your ES wrenches they aren't that good for tight spaces.
I bought 2 large sets off Ebay a couple years back and they're great.
I wish I could find some metric combo's if they made them, but I'm happy enough with the DOE's I have.
The SAE combo's are great.

Proamerica was the GOV'T contract stuff, and KAL was consumer with some made here and some in Japan.
Now I'm not quite sure what the story currently is with Proamerica.

They offer a fairly large array of pliers on their website,  available to the consumer market of course, and the company is listed as a tool manufacturer in Baldwin park California.
That doesn't mean they make the pliers themselves though , even if many of them don't exactly look like dead wringers for anybody else and they look pretty well finished .
If they aren't making the pliers themselves, they might just still be making wrenches exclusively for Gov't contracts.

[bantam5s]

I've already got a set of US made Tekton picks in the main shop that I really like, but decided I should get a set for the airgun workspace so I ordered a Channellock set.


For under $20 many places you just can't beat 'em, the Tektons are about the same price and can't be beat either.

I get that some people want the cheapest they can find, and I know there are sets for $5 or less but $20 shipped isn't much at all and well worth it for a significant upgrade in quality.

[Ronno6]

I'm gonna make a new spring compressor, as my current apparatus only has about 2-1/2" of travel.
I will cut off the jaw of a 6" C-clamp and bolt the remaining leg w/screw onto a piece of hardwood.
and make stops and chamber supports out of oak.
I have seen this design elsewhere...

[buellm2]

Please post pictures when completed.   I'm always thinking I should have one.

[bantam5s]

Just received and finished working on this vintage ( 70's I think ) Armstrong for the 1/4 ratchet collection.

As expected from Armstrong  it's a pretty nice ratchet, uses a copy of the PROTO flapper pawl mechanism but the head is a little smaller than a Proto 4749.
The selecter is of course different,  and it adds that ball detent.
I've never known the Plomb / Proto mechanism to self reverse,  but that detent also provides a way to get some oil into the mechanism without having to take it apart.

[Ronno6]

Please post pictures when completed.   I'm always thinking I should have one.

Something like this:

https://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-air-gun-spring-compressor-5