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BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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I have lots of Craftsman hand tools. It's fine and lifetime guaranteed and you don't feel too bad about it if you lose it. Some of the fancy stuff is a little nicer in that it has a better finish and feels better in your hand, but if you're not using them every day you pay a lot for a little difference. Gearwrench makes some pretty good stuff as well, comparable to Craftsman and better for some items. No experience with Husky.

I like to buy the brands that the tools are named for just because I know their reputation is based on that tool. Channel-lock brand Channel locks, Crescent brand crescent wrenches, Irwin Vice Grip brand vice grips, etc. Speaking of Crescent wrenches though, if you want an upgrade, check out Knipex Pliers Wrenches.

Amazon product ASIN B005EXNT2Y
Very expensive but unlike crescent wrenches they actually stay the size you set them at and since you can open the pliers you get kind of a ratchet action that makes taking the nut off way faster. Crescent wrenches are so handy but they are infuriating when you're trying to work on something in an awkward position and they won't stay set correctly and you wind up getting pissed off and then rounding the corners off of your bolt or it slips off and bloodies your knuckles. These things have all the convenience of a crescent wrench with none of the frustrations. Only downside is the price but they will last forever.

I have this tool bag.

Amazon product ASIN B00ES8KVMC
May not be available anymore. It's big and weighs about 100lbs if you fill it up with tools, but it's totally bulletproof. If you want smaller bags, Custom Leathercraft (aka CLC) has some nice smaller tool bags. If you don't care about portability, I've heard good things about the Harbor Freight rolling tool boxes.
 
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Intrinsic

Intrinsic

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There are as many answers to that question as there are stars in the universe. Everyone has an opinion and a preference about what it best and way too many people are overly passionate about it. I just go with whatever is tested on Project Farm :p

Tool chest I went with Husky because there was a stupid good open box deal. I had also looked at a ton of others and watched YouTube reviews of the U.S. General from Harbor Freight as well as Craftsman, Seville, and ones I can no longer remember. At the end the deal was too good to pass up and it holds tools. For a professional or production level shop it'd matter more of course. Husky had good drawer slides, thickness, and supported enough weight per drawer that I'd need. There's so much crap around tool chests and their specifications it is almost impossible to compare apples to apples. Internal storage of an 12 drawer Husky may say 21,000 cubic inches but that is not the same way a Craftsman may measure internal storage that says 21,000 cubic inches. So who knows!

I would look at:
- Drawer weight
- Soft close / auto close if you want to make sure they stay shut
- Locking drawers if you need it
- USB ports / Power outlets built in if you need them
- Lights
- 2 or 4 rotating casters for mobility

Do you want one to only hold tools or do you need one that also includes a work surface? Extension table?

ugh, gonna get me started and I won't shut up... can you tell that I just recently went down this rabbit hole? Then I found a 60% off floor model and every other decision point pretty much went out the window.
 
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Lanx

Lanx

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TheNozz said:
I’m looking to finally start accumulating a set of tools that are “the last tools you’ll ever need to buy”

I need tools basically for routine car maintenance and home repairs and minor fixes

which brand is considered to have the best warranty? I’ve heard good things about both Craftsman and Husky.

best tool cabinets, boxes or bags for that matter?
Click to expand...

since i moved and have less storage i've been using bucket bags for my tools
22e7262950a3ee8df84afcdbbdcfeaec.png


buckets are cheap $3 and the bags cost anywhere from 10$ to whatever

i have been buying different colored bags, for instance i have blue bucket and bag dediated only to plumbing, it holds all blue pipe cutters, copper debur, pvc glue, pipe wrenches, emergency sharkbites, etc

then i have a separate electrical bag with wires, wire cutter, testers linesman tools, etc

i used to have a general purpose toolbag
27d9805dee51cdf0889de956f3e66ab7.png

that i would put tools in when i had to redo the sink or whatever, then my tools would be everywhere, now that i just have dedicated buckets for a job (plumbing only, electrical only) kinda keeps everything nice and tidy.
 
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Lanx

Lanx

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Intrinsic said:
I just go with whatever is tested on Project Farm :p
Click to expand...
actually you should buy whatever project farm tested the day he releases videos, b/c within a week his top recommendations jump up in price.

i have a set of rounded off bolt removers that i believe was 20 then it jumped to 30 just cuz they were featured on his videos, amazon basics oil is no longer cheap and costs more than penzoil, which is silly cuz you can wait until they have penzoil sales where the oil is free after rebate, or they give you a shell gift card.
 
Intrinsic

Intrinsic

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Lanx said:
actually you should buy whatever project farm tested the day he releases videos, b/c within a week his top recommendations jump up in price.

i have a set of rounded off bolt removers that i believe was 20 then it jumped to 30 just cuz they were featured on his videos, amazon basics oil is no longer cheap and costs more than penzoil, which is silly cuz you can wait until they have penzoil sales where the oil is free after rebate, or they give you a shell gift card.
Click to expand...

Hah, I can see that happening. I appreciate his channel and all his tests. Some of them are ridiculous and you’d never use a tool in the way he tests it but at least he tries to point out the absurdity of some of it. But sometimes I think people take that seriously and are like “Well I’m not buying those linesman pliers bc they couldn’t cut through that piece of adamantium!”
 
Hateyou

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Here’s a simple thing to make a cheap mirror look a lot better. Costs like $12 in wood.

E04E89C3-2D78-4BE0-ABC6-DDA18704F059.jpeg7022E9F5-C354-4A76-A05C-FC9E06830A02.jpeg
 
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Falstaff

Falstaff

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Winter is coming and at 37 years old I’ve vowed to never shovel my driveway again, so I need recommendations on snow blowers.
 
Hateyou

Hateyou

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Falstaff said:
Winter is coming and at 37 years old I’ve vowed to never shovel my driveway again, so I need recommendations on snow blowers.
Click to expand...
Just go with a brand your recognize. Gas is the best if you have room to store it. Battery is nice and light and can hang on the wall, but it’s not great if you have deep heavy snow. Works awesome for light snow though. My battery one gets me through 90% of our snow, in Indiana. Heavy snows I have to go out and do it multiple times as it snows though, it just doesn’t have the staying power to do it once it’s too deep.
 
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lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

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Hateyou said:
Here’s a simple thing to make a cheap mirror look a lot better. Costs like $12 in wood.

View attachment 369591View attachment 369592
Click to expand...

Did you just mount that to the wall, or did you take the mirror of and make it the frame, then mount the whole thing? I'm looking to do something similar very soon.

And it looks great, by the way. A real upgrade.

Falstaff said:
Gas it is, will take a look at brands I know. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Get a two stage. That's the best advice there is for snow blowers.
 
Hateyou

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lurkingdirk said:
Did you just mount that to the wall, or did you take the mirror of and make it the frame, then mount the whole thing? I'm looking to do something similar very soon.

And it looks great, by the way. A real upgrade.



Get a two stage. That's the best advice there is for snow blowers.
Click to expand...
It’s already mounted. Just cut the pieces then mark where the brackets are on the backside of the board and notch the back out with a rotary tool / sanding wheel.

CDF7F730-1406-4D25-9B45-155933D53FE6.jpeg

I used sticky tack to mount it just for the picture for my wife because she has zero ability to picture what something is going to look like when it’s done.

Keep in mind when you glue the wood to the mirror to keep the glue on the outside 3/4 of the wood. Mirrors have depth to them before they reflect so you can actually see about 1/4”-1/2” inch of the backside of the wood. So paint/stain it just like the front, and keep the glue at least that far away from the inside edge or you will see the glue in the reflection.

There’s no glue in this pic but you can see what I’m talking about here.

FA613705-055B-484B-97AE-FE7BB546C7C5.jpeg

I’ve done several mirrors while mounted and haven’t ever had any fall off but if you’re worried about adhesion you could take it off and use clamps. I just hold it up there for a few minutes. Just make sure that you have the newer style of mirror brackets where the top is spring loaded so you can put the mirror back in by popping it in. Some older style clamps it has to be slid into place and you wouldn’t be able to do that unless you notch the entire backside of the board instead of the small notch I showed earlier.
 
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lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

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Hateyou said:
It’s already mounted. Just cut the pieces then mark where the brackets are on the backside of the board and notch the back out with a rotary tool / sanding wheel.

View attachment 369608

I used sticky tack to mount it just for the picture for my wife because she has zero ability to picture what something is going to look like when it’s done.

Keep in mind when you glue the wood to the mirror to keep the glue on the outside 3/4 of the wood. Mirrors have depth to them before they reflect so you can actually see about 1/4”-1/2” inch of the backside of the wood. So paint/stain it just like the front, and keep the glue at least that far away from the inside edge or you will see the glue in the reflection.

There’s no glue in this pic but you can see what I’m talking about here.

View attachment 369609

I’ve done several mirrors while mounted and haven’t ever had any fall off but if you’re worried about adhesion you could take it off and use clamps. I just hold it up there for a few minutes. Just make sure that you have the newer style of mirror brackets where the top is spring loaded so you can put the mirror back in by popping it in. Some older style clamps it has to be slid into place and you wouldn’t be able to do that unless you notch the entire backside of the board instead of the small notch I showed earlier.
Click to expand...

You're awesome.
 
LachiusTZ

LachiusTZ

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Used to have a wood burning stove in another house that was really low and long. Would burn for 10hrs at a time.

Any ideas on name / title / search boolean to find something similar?

Or recs for a long burning, wood stove? Going to put one in the basement, hopefully soonish. Lol
 
Burren

Burren

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We had a large cast iron, free standing wood stove when I was a kid. Very efficient at heating a room and the air control could keep it going a while. But, I don't think it would burn that long, maybe 6 hours. You'd need an exceptional amount of wood. I'll try to remember the name, but in all likelihood that thing was 30 years old in the 80s.
 
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BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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That's a deep rabbit hole. There's a wide range of prices and varied opinions on catalyst vs. no catalyst etc. Surprisingly complicated for a metal box with a chimney coming out the top.
 
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LachiusTZ

LachiusTZ

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This was just a really old one.

Barely above knee height, but deep. Maybe 2.5-3ft? Maybe 12" wide.

Could fill that fucker up, go get in bed for 10 hours, and still have coals when you woke up. Had to get it all set right, but once I figured it out it was amazing

Most of the ones now seem to be for looks, or ultra efficient models (not talking about big whole house ones etc)
 
LachiusTZ

LachiusTZ

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Andi know this is a dumb time to ask...

But how long have generators and invertors been so expensive?

Looked at a small Honda, that I thought was 600? a few months ago, now 1400?

Is that just Ida or have they been that expensive for a while?
 
Dandai

Dandai

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LachiusTZ said:
Andi know this is a dumb time to ask...

But how long have generators and invertors been so expensive?

Looked at a small Honda, that I thought was 600? a few months ago, now 1400?

Is that just Ida or have they been that expensive for a while?
Click to expand...
Even generators from Harbor Freight are/have been $500+ for years now. Inverters are similarly priced. The more generation/load capacity, the more you're gonna pay. Arguably, you don't need an inverter on your generator unless you're planning on running something that requires a clean sinewave (if its main function is to read/write 1s and 0s, you'll want an inverter). Also, some UPSs and battery chargers won't output if it detects a dirty electric input.
 
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