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the spyder posted:Protip- crack open the front housing and clean out the nasty grease + replace with some supermoly- we have a half dozen of these kicking around and one has yet to die. Standard HF advice and I forgot to mention that. I always consider HF purchases to be kit builds. They get stripped and various swarf/casting flash/etc is removed and they are properly finished and lubricated.
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Jul 26, 2014 22:09
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My Makita angle grinder has been going strong for the last 15 or so years. But hell, if you can get a serviceable angle grinder for less than a couple of happy meals go for it!
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Jul 26, 2014 22:38
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Protip: Skip HF abrasives. They contain some really nasty stuff (cancer warnings on every package) that good name-brand abrasives don't, and they either cut OK, but don't last for poo poo, or don't cut, and last forever. Either way, their grinders aren't awful, but their abrasives are. I'd stick to Norton, Sait, DeWalt, Metabo, or someone else that you've heard of in the past. Check out the vendor forum over on pirate4x4 for some really good package deals, too. I've been buying from Amazon, my LWS, Heleta (generic discs, but good quality), roarksupply.com, http://www.wylaco.com/, and many others. I stocked up on flapdiscs when Amazon had Norton RedHeat's on sale for like $10/box. I've got a Makita 4", a Makita 4.5" (old beater), a Metabo 4.5", and a Milwaukee 5"/6". They all get used, and it's certainly nice to be able to keep a flapdisc on the 4", a coarse wheel on the Metabo, a cutoff on the Makita 4.5, and a 6" aggressive wheel on the Milwaukee. Swapping wheels every 5 minutes is annoying as hell.
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Jul 28, 2014 20:05
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sharkytm posted:Protip: Skip HF abrasives. They contain some really nasty stuff (cancer warnings on every package) that good name-brand abrasives don't, and they either cut OK, but don't last for poo poo, or don't cut, and last forever. Either way, their grinders aren't awful, but their abrasives are. I'd stick to Norton, Sait, DeWalt, Metabo, or someone else that you've heard of in the past. Check out the vendor forum over on pirate4x4 for some really good package deals, too. I've been buying from Amazon, my LWS, Heleta (generic discs, but good quality), roarksupply.com, http://www.wylaco.com/, and many others. I stocked up on flapdiscs when Amazon had Norton RedHeat's on sale for like $10/box. Agreed. I used HF abrasives for a long time and kinda wonder how many cancers I'm going to get as a result. Oh well. They're made in Russia and I wouldn't be surprised if the carcinogenic compounds involved are either silica abrasives (silicosis, and fine silica dusts are increasibly being implicated in occupational lung cancer...) or asbestos. Most good abrasives with no cancer warnings are alumina based - alumina hasn't been classed as carcinogenic... yet. I almost exclusively use swapmeet-purchased grinding wheels (because $1 grinding wheels have me convinced, and they work pretty well) and Heleta cutoffs. Most of my knotted wire wheels come from HF simply because Heleta stopped making flat ones, they only do cups now, and Home Depot wants like loving $25 for a wire wheel, which is ridiculous. I've got a craftsman grinder for grinding wheels that I hate because it's like holding a soupcan, but it was free since I found it abandoned in a junkyard. 2 Ryobi grinders that I like, except after a few years the threads for the side handle stripped out, mostly due to me using them without fully tightening the handle. And one newer Craftsman grinder that is actually the first one I bought. It's kinda beat, but still works. All 4.5". Honestly I prefer the Ryobi ones. If I had to choose one to buy four of, that's what I'd go with - I'd just get a helicoil kit for the thread size the side handle uses. Having more than one grinder is great for fabricating, because I can keep a grinding wheel, cutoff wheel, knotted wire wheel, and flap wheel on grinders all at once and just grab whichever I need at the moment instead of wasting time changing discs. Oh, and if you get an HF grinder, make sure you take it apart, clean it up, regrease, retighten and loctite bolts, etc. I was using one at Fart Pipe's shop a couple years ago and it was making a sorta funny noise, I assumed the gears were about to strip. Then it tried to steal my nuts by firing a cooling fan blade at me through a vent. Apparently one of the screws inside backed out a bit more than it should and interfered with the blades... so we tore it down, broke the blade opposite the missing one off to "balance" it, reassembled it, and kept working  (that was a really bad idea, in retrospect) kastein fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Jul 28, 2014 |
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Jul 28, 2014 21:09
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You should have broke off two on the perpendicular axis as well.
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Jul 28, 2014 21:18
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I'm a sucker for Metabo. I have three of their grinders (W7 4.5", W8 5", and the amazing WEPBA14-150 - http://www.amazon.com/Metabo-WEPBA14-150-Quick-12-2-Amp-Mechanical/dp/B009ATG27W/) I've been buying their abrasives off ebay in lots of ~10, 25, and 50 as they pop up quite often for 1/2 the price Amazon or Zoro wants- at this point I'm never running out of cut off discs. I have yet to actually buy a grinder disc for any of them, mainly using flap discs and cut off discs. They seem to pop up on CL pretty often for ~ $50-60 and are well worth it if you want a grinder that will take years of abuse.
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Jul 29, 2014 00:06
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Thanks for the angle grinder suggestions. I've got my eye on this Metabo W8-115. But a follow-up question. I wanted to buy an angle grinder for multi-purpose applications. The first thing I'd use it for is cutting this rusted, metal bracket off of our vanity mirror:  Is an angle grinder overkill for this? Or am I better off getting a dremel rotary tool for now? I was really hoping to just get an angle grinder for all of my metal-cutting needs. melon cat fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Jul 29, 2014 |
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Jul 29, 2014 07:03
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melon cat posted:Thanks for the angle grinder suggestions. I've got my eye on this Metabo W8-115. If you go at that bracket with an angle grinder, you have roughly a 117% chance of shattering the mirror; a Dremel won't be that much better either. Best do the job properly and slide the mirror out of the brackets.
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Jul 29, 2014 07:22
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MrChips posted:If you go at that bracket with an angle grinder, you have roughly a 117% chance of shattering the mirror; a Dremel won't be that much better either. Best do the job properly and slide the mirror out of the brackets. So, I'm not entirely sad about the mirror getting obliterated. I'm re-doing the entire bathroom. melon cat fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Jul 29, 2014 |
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Jul 29, 2014 07:27
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Just get a small cut-off wheel for a dremmel. attack it from the bottom, but just weaken it to the point where you can bend it rather than cutting it right off. edit: Also, hold the dremmel in a fashion so if it catches and jumps, it jumps away from the mirror.
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Jul 29, 2014 07:29
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Or throw poo poo at the mirror until it shatters and remove the pieces.
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Jul 29, 2014 15:33
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oxbrain posted:Or throw poo poo at the mirror until it shatters and remove the pieces. Seconding this, tape the mirror and go hog wild with some stress relief.
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Jul 29, 2014 18:13
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Just bend the bracket down?
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Jul 29, 2014 18:48
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I need to smooth out chips in a transmission gear. What type of Dremel and stone dremel wheel would be best for this job, assuming I'd like to keep the Dremel for various smaller steel metal jobs later?
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Jul 29, 2014 19:27
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Can anyone recommend a good vacuum leak tester (for car work, the smoke machine kind), or steer me away from garbage?  My budget is Kobalt/Husky/Craftsman money, not Snap-On money.
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Jul 29, 2014 23:24
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Splizwarf posted:Can anyone recommend a good vacuum leak tester (for car work, the smoke machine kind), or steer me away from garbage? Dude just spray carb cleaner or brake clean over your intake, if the car hicups you found it.
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Jul 29, 2014 23:38
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Splizwarf posted:Can anyone recommend a good vacuum leak tester (for car work, the smoke machine kind), or steer me away from garbage? Depending on what i'm drinking, i either go with a cuban montecristo, or a gurkha titan.
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Jul 30, 2014 00:40
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Splizwarf posted:Can anyone recommend a good vacuum leak tester (for car work, the smoke machine kind), or steer me away from garbage? Are you looking for a leak down tester? http://www.harborfreight.com/cylinder-leak-down-tester-94190.html Where do you think you have a vacuum leak?
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Jul 30, 2014 00:52
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Tamir Lenk posted:Are you looking for a leak down tester? No, I am looking for a pressurized smoke-producing tester for air leaks. All I am finding is $700+ kits, which drives me nuts because until last Christmas I thought I had 4 different ones around $100 bookmarked on Amazon.
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Jul 30, 2014 06:04
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Splizwarf posted:No, I am looking for a pressurized smoke-producing tester for air leaks. All I am finding is $700+ kits, which drives me nuts because until last Christmas I thought I had 4 different ones around $100 bookmarked on Amazon. The only cheap solution I've ever seen is a DIY involving a tin can, a glowplug, and some hobby store smoke solution for model trains, along with some form of air to propel it into whatever you are smoke testing.
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Jul 30, 2014 06:10
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Splizwarf posted:No, I am looking for a pressurized smoke-producing tester for air leaks. All I am finding is $700+ kits, which drives me nuts because until last Christmas I thought I had 4 different ones around $100 bookmarked on Amazon. We used this to test fuming chambers: http://www.amazon.com/American-Science-Surplus-Wizard-Stick/dp/B000FIN0V8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406748422&sr=8-1&keywords=smoke+wizard It produces some smoke, but may be trouble in an engine bay with a lot of air moving from the fan. Also it's like $20.
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Jul 30, 2014 20:29
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Splizwarf posted:No, I am looking for a pressurized smoke-producing tester for air leaks. All I am finding is $700+ kits, which drives me nuts because until last Christmas I thought I had 4 different ones around $100 bookmarked on Amazon. Super cheap but not pressurized = incense stick (useful for spot checking leaks in doors and windows anyway; have not tried in auto applications….yet).
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Jul 31, 2014 06:25
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Splizwarf posted:No, I am looking for a pressurized smoke-producing tester for air leaks. All I am finding is $700+ kits, which drives me nuts because until last Christmas I thought I had 4 different ones around $100 bookmarked on Amazon. Where do you think you have an air leak?
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Jul 31, 2014 15:44
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Used a 25% off orders over 300 at Zoro (valid today only code: delicious) to get the Hobart 140 welder I've been looking at. So. Excited.
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Jul 31, 2014 16:14
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Tamir Lenk posted:Where do you think you have an air leak? Various places, various vehicles. One I suspect behind a welded heat shield on an exhaust manifold. Another in the (ridiculously inaccessible) PCV junction on a Passat 1.8T. My own car responds to the "spray starter fluid/gum cutter/etc" technique around the manifold but only once in a while, hot or cold. I have never had a lot of luck with that method in general, whereas the smoke machine at work gives good results every single time. There's been dozens of moments over the past couple years where a smoke tester was the quickest and most accurate tool for the job. So that's what I'm shopping for. v  v
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Aug 1, 2014 19:53
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Do you have any way of pressurizing your intake? I use a boost leak tester with dawn dish soap in a spray bottle and it works perfectly.
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Aug 1, 2014 21:43
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Apropos of nothing, Tanga is running a big sale on mechanic's gloves from Mechanix, Snap-On, and a couple other brands. Average prices are around half-off or so. https://www.tanga.com/deals/heavy-duty-work-gloves-6-17?internal_campaign=front_event_sales No idea when it ends.
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Aug 2, 2014 00:35
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Splizwarf posted:Various places, various vehicles. One I suspect behind a welded heat shield on an exhaust manifold. Another in the (ridiculously inaccessible) PCV junction on a Passat 1.8T. My own car responds to the "spray starter fluid/gum cutter/etc" technique around the manifold but only once in a while, hot or cold. 9v battery, 40mm computer fan, momentary switch, incense cone or stick, chopped up coke can for a housing, make your own.
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Aug 2, 2014 17:15
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Splizwarf posted:Various places, various vehicles. One I suspect behind a welded heat shield on an exhaust manifold. Another in the (ridiculously inaccessible) PCV junction on a Passat 1.8T. My own car responds to the "spray starter fluid/gum cutter/etc" technique around the manifold but only once in a while, hot or cold. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&pf_rd_i=507846 ? 
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Aug 3, 2014 03:46
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Is anyone really familiar with Proto ratchets? I'm trying to find a rebuild kit for my 5450 but everyone I see online has a screw on cover, but I need one with a snap ring cover.
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Aug 9, 2014 19:01
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fps_bill posted:Is anyone really familiar with Proto ratchets? I'm trying to find a rebuild kit for my 5450 but everyone I see online has a screw on cover, but I need one with a snap ring cover. Ask or search on garage journal... they know all of that stuff.
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Aug 9, 2014 20:03
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UK special offer from Halfords: Original price is £160, currently £80 - £60 is a bloody good price.
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Aug 10, 2014 18:53
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Ah, I'd jump on that but I think I already own everything in it piecemeal. 
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Aug 10, 2014 20:14
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spog posted:UK special offer from Halfords: I keep clicking on the banner on their site which says £60 but it's showing up at £80 in the checkout I have the largest set already but have been thinking of a smaller set to keep in the car, and this would be perfect.
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Aug 11, 2014 00:46
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Can anyone recommend a quality tap and die set to keep around for when you really need to chase that dragon? Preferably metric, but I'll take a combination set too.
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Aug 11, 2014 04:50
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McSpatula posted:Can anyone recommend a quality tap and die set to keep around for when you really need to chase that dragon? Preferably metric, but I'll take a combination set too. I have had surprisingly good luck with the cheapo Canadian Tire set. I bought it wanting to check it off my list, thinking that I wouldn't use it often enough for it to matter. Turns out I use it all the time, and they work great. Speaking of taps, having a set of these on hand has saved me so much trouble. Another thing I kind of bought on a whim because I was looking to buy something, and had it turn out to be super useful.
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Aug 11, 2014 05:18
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McSpatula posted:Can anyone recommend a quality tap and die set to keep around for when you really need to chase that dragon? Preferably metric, but I'll take a combination set too. Do you want a thread chase kit or a tap and die set? For tap and die sets, check out this: http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Tools-26376-Machine-Fractional For a thread chase kit: http://www.amazon.com/Lang-972-Fractional-Metric-Restorer Both are USA made. Both have held up to years of abuse.
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Aug 11, 2014 05:46
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McSpatula posted:Can anyone recommend a quality tap and die set to keep around for when you really need to chase that dragon? Preferably metric, but I'll take a combination set too. http://www.amazon.com/Combination-Thread-Repair-Set-External/dp/B003YGWPYQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1407732442&sr=1-3
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Aug 11, 2014 05:48
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ShittyPostmakerPro posted:I keep clicking on the banner on their site which says £60 but it's showing up at £80 in the checkout You're a day too early.
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Aug 11, 2014 07:12
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spog posted:You're a day too early. It was after midnight in my time zone! Edit: It's up there now though. Thanks Halfords for being on EST or whatever. Pomp and Circumcized fucked around with this message at 08:20 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Aug 11, 2014 08:12
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