The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest What was the last tool you bought?

I haven't bought any tools recently but I found this brand new extended reach pair of pliers on the road in front of Pull-A-Part a couple weeks ago.

Then,the very next week, I found this other pair of extended reach pliers on the street in front of my house! What are the odds of that?

I like roadkill tools I have a few myself .

That's funny -- Road kill tools.

Maybe we should start a seperate thread on that. I recently acquired a nice chrome 5th wheel/king pin release hook that way.

I like "home brew tools"- - - -ones I make myself for a specific job. I'm in the process of finishing up two fixtures that will allow mw to offset a stovebolt crankshaft in my lathe to rough out the stroke change I'm planning, which will minimize the wear and tear on the crankshaft grinding wheel. Spinning a 100 pound chunk of metal 3 feet long a couple of inches off center takes a bit of Rube Goldberg rigging!
Jerry

Have seen B&D Workmates forever but only recently bought one (on sale 1/3 off). Box sat in garage for a couple weeks till yesterday, was trying to maneuver a drill with wire wheel to de-rust a rocker cover. One hand to steady the cover and the other two hands to hold the drill was quite a challenge. So I assembled the Workmate, gave it a try. Works well for that. Oil pan is next.

Quality seems ok, think it's the medium size one. The two wood pieces are obviously some kind of Asian hardwood, but seem durable enough.

So I was down in the territory where there are Harbor Freight stores and picked up a couple of "must have" tools.
One was the riv-nut installer tool that Phil bought, and am immediately thinking of an upgrade to it to use 3/8-16 riv-nuts. A friend has a lathe to make the inserts for that. It was on sale for $40.
Another one was a set of flexible metal body filler spreaders. Getting tired of using the plastic ones.
Also a couple suction cup lifters for when I start installing windows.

klhansen, those suction cups are handy for popping out dents on newer vehicles.

Went to Home Depot and purchased the cheapest flat screwdriver available. Returned to the house, clamped it in my vise, heated it just above the end and put a 45° bend in it. Makes a great miniature pry tool. Had one in the shop I worked at back in the 70’s᠁ could’a used one a hundred times since.

Broke down and took care of it᠁ TODAY!

I just bought a vintage 1940’s Crescent 20” bandsaw. It stands 78” tall and weighs about as much as me- 700 pounds. Driving to Philadelphia 8 hours from here to get it. 3 phase. Crescent was acquired by Delta/Rockwell and this design continued into the late 70’s possibly into the 80’s. .

And two weeks later᠁ this 1946 Delta slow speed 17” drill press founds its way home. Single phase, 3/4hp. Weighs close to 400 pounds. Well taken care of. Clean up and possibly but remotely, bearing replacement ᠁ ᠁. Clean up begins.

I am now educating myself about Induction Repulsion motors. Always something to learn. For a 77 year old motor it hums perfectly.

Fella was cleaning out his Granddads machine shop. If someone is looking for an outstanding Bridgeport and table tops of cutters and accessories᠁. He has one and is needing to sell before the house is sold, garage torn down and converted to industrial zoning. But I digress at the risk of another culling. this DP runs fine as-is. Feel very fortunate.

Nice find!

I'd love a Bridgeport. But shipping 3000 miles would be prohibitive. Especially when I could source one locally.

I have been contemplating about riding my bicycle across the country. I’ll put the Bridgeport on a trailer and tow it to Southern California - but only if I can get a favorite beverage out of the deal. . It’s really nice.

You do that, and I'll feed ya, too!!

I recently picked this up ... ("You want that thing? You can take it" kind of deal ... )

Sterling 1000 sander, complete kit in original wooden box. Has two extra pads, two boxes of extra filters, tubes of bearing grease and a bottle of oil.

It's pretty neat. Works!

I just picked up an exhaust donut removal tool. A must in my line of business.

John that thing looks like a baby R2D2.
Definitely classic period styling. I like it.

I've been on a mini spree lately. Noise can be an issue around here. The compressor lives in the garage and the garage is attached to the house. I tend to work when everyone else is sleeping, so I try not to make too much noise. Most times, I'll grab an electric tool over an air tool. So, in the last two weeks, I upped my Milwaukee battery powered game. Picked up a belt sander and a disc sander/polisher. I also picked up a mini pry bar set from the tool truck because it looked cute. A 5" carbide scraper and a battery powered soldering iron. That one will come in handy with all the car wiring I need to do in the near future!

MNSmith,
I have a couple Milwaukee M12 tools that I use on a regular basis, but that belt sander/bandfile has been on the wish list for a while. Looks super handy!

--Tom

I bought a Milwaukee 18V Fuel jig saw with the D handle for a small job at home. I am impressed with the performance and weight. Feels really well built. I bought the tool only, no battery or charger, because I already have those items. All the local tool sellers in the Vancouver area were running them at $199 CDN. Pretty happy with the purchase.

That’s a nice tool

I have an air powered version. This one is quickly becoming a favorite.

I just bought a pneumatic wet sander for my boat. It's a 5in palm sander with a water pickup. The air sucks water from a bucket. I also bought wet sanding paper for it from 600 grit to 3000 grit.
Works like a charm.

Sunday I am picking up a 1914 16” jointer made by the Greenlee Bothers company back in the day. It weighs 1800 pounds and is close to 8 feet long and it comes with a 16” cutterhead. The order for this machine was placed in April, 1914. What was going on in April, 1914? WWI?

It resides in New Lebanon, NY. These old machines have style. I think of the foundry workers pouring the molten iron into the molds, sweating their keisters off, and going home at the end of the shift only to do it again the following day. Industrial America at a time when cars and trucks were just hitting the dirt roads, and many were still living in rural America without plumbing and electricity. And yet today, with a couple days investing into elbow grease, fresh paint, and applying new grease and oil; it will be going back to work - better than new- and outlast me.

Admittedly, this machine is stretching my envelope both in size and capability. I will learn how to pour and scrape Babbitt bearings to fit the cutterhead journals.

When I stretch the envelope I always feel a sense of “what am I getting myself into? ᠁” and some unease. But someone once said to me ; “it’s either guts or stupidity “. Time will tell. I typically get over the trepidation and end up in a better or maybe different; neither better or worse᠁but just a different place. Will see, I guess. LOL!

If it doesn’t work - I’ll practice RC scale airplane carrier landings and post you-tube videos to fund it. I’m calling it the Enterprise.

Impressive! From the look of some of your other equipment, this fits in well.

Have you got a overhead crane to handle the pieces of wood you plan on planning? Wow, that is awesome!

WW1 didn't start until 28 July (Hence the title of Barbara Tuchman's seminal book, "The Guns of August" ...)

Cool machine! Have you seen their history page on Vintage Machinery?

http://www.vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=403

I wonder if that was originally designed to be belt driven off a big main shaft (with other belts) from a steam engine or water wheel?

In April 1914, the Mexican revolution was going on and Pancho Villa was on the rampage. The United States Navy landed and occupied Veracruz, Mexico.

First order of business: inspect, rehabilitate the paint, cutterhead, and babitt inspection and or overhaul/replacement. . These original cutterheads were designed as safety heads᠁ but over time centrifugal force and perhaps over tightening the knife holding screws stretched the screws and the knife may not be locked in. . A knife can be thrown from the spinning head. A 16” piece of sharpened HSS thrown from a 4200 RPM spinning head can make for a bad day.

Prior to the safety heads? The knives spun on square heads rather than round heads. See photo below.

Next up - oak timber frame braces . The kid operating a low buck bandmill did a terrible job. They need truing. I found the 8” jointer limiting and was looking for a 12” jointer. But this 16” came up on CL. Jointer creep is a terrible nasty and godforbidden disease that I can only wish on my best friends.

A friend from the Vintage Machine site drove over and gave a full report. He said it was well taken care of and in great condition . The motor, as John alludes to may not be designed for this machine but a replacement for perhaps belts or a long gone 3phase motor. It is single phase᠁that saved me some money. If the pulleys are original then an3 phase electric motor graced this old machine.

Need to buy a narrow fork pallet jack to move it. Perhaps have a modern helix cutter head machined for it. Won’t be cheap.

This is going in a 24x24 room I am working on just for the large bandsaw, a smaller 14 bandsaw, two jointers, and the dust collection unit. Perhaps the planer too. The main shop will be for quieter work on the bench with hand tools, fitting, assembly, glue-ups, and depending on my mood 6 speakers of stereo surround sound.

I enjoy the machines, building and organizing a shop as much as making sawdust. I really enjoy milling logs and harvesting a tree for the bandmill. It’s exciting to see a new specie, color, grain, and defects that really can add outstanding character. The entire process from growing trees and forestry (my career and education) to producing a fine piece of furniture or historical reproduction keeps my pencil sharpened and fascinates me.

As to April, 1914 -

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_1914

goneagain If you own your tanks where do you get them filled ?? Here you have to trade them at a local welding shop,gotta watch out for junkie valves and is best to put your regulator on see if it has 2100 in it. Can drive 50 miles to the source and they will fill your contracted bottles. However acetylene fill actually takes 24 hours to attain 250 lbs. so have to trade. Been there twice and got a guided tour with the main dog,very interesting place,is open air but you still smell the acetylene. They test o2 cylinders to 4000 pounds.

Scored a full set of old SK wrenches last night for $5.

JW,

Pictures of this "score"???

Dan

Photo proof

JW,

Nice haul for a paltry $5! 👍

Dan

Made use of the Milwaukee cordless 3” sander/polisher to do some sanding prep on some trailer fenders I needed to epoxy. This tool worked out great!!

Got a new cordless drill-driver. My old 12V Black & Decker is giving up the ghost. Batteries don't last for more than 2 holes.
So picked up a new 20V Dewalt. Bonus is it has a 1/2" chuck versus 3/8" on the old drill. And it matches the 1/4" hex impact driver so I have two batteries for them. I had to offset my wife's purchase of a self propelled cordless lawnmower, but I still have a ways to go. It was worth about 5 of my drills.

Had one for several years now. A real workhorse!

I bought a Worx battery drill and a battery multi-purpose Sabor saw. Also, a small tool box to carry them around in.

I bought a 1960-70's era "Stewart" compression tester, still in the box with the Montgomery Wards price sticker with original cost of $3.95.

I paid $4.95. Gauge appears to be unused and box was intact except for a tear on the card board end flap.

Will have to wait till I get home to add a pic as I am far from there this weekend and neglected to snap a pic on my phone.

Dan

Picked up a 1 HP Craftsman floor drill press for 100 bucks.

That's a smoking deal.
I'd have been all over that even though I don't have room for one. I'd make space.