- 40,997
- 174,548
Power Tools
- Thread starter Falstaff
- Start date
Eomer
Trakanon Raider
- 5,472
- 272
Yeah, we've had numerous guys throw shoulders out, a couple knock teeth out, and at least one guy outright break his arm. Generally it's from inexperience or doing something stupid, if you're using them properly braced you shouldn't hurt yourself, but it's a bit of an art when you're squeezed up in a joist space between studs trying to drill a 5-3/8" hole with a 20lb drill on top of an 8' ladder. When I worked summers as a teenager generally that was my job: drill holes 8 hours a day. They scared the shit out of me at first, but after awhile you get the hang of it. Banged my fingers, hands and arms up pretty good but never actually injured myself.Julian_sl said:
chaos
Buzzfeed Editor
- 17,324
- 4,839
I have a porter cable compressor and nailgun set, shit makes my dick hard. Probably the best tool purchase I have made.
- 40,997
- 174,548
Julian The Apostate
Vyemm Raider
- 2,316
- 2,412
Hitachi makes the best roofing coil nail guns. Bostich aint got shit on hitachi.
my guys put on thousands of roofs with this bad boy
my guys put on thousands of roofs with this bad boy
Hitachi Framing Nailers are the gold standard here, I have one that is almost 20 yrs old looks like it's been to hell, operates like the day I bought it.. Any carpenter worth his salt has one. But I fucking LOVE my Paslode, no compressor no hoses, but much more expensive to operate. Milwaukee Porta-Bands are pure awesome, but you gotta be nice to em, once to drop it too many times and the back arm twists, the blade will always jump track and it goes into the trash can. Since we finally have some pro tools users in the thread, I'll add that the best 'ramset' (powder actuated) tools are made by Hilti.
Erronius
Macho Ma'am
- 16,464
- 42,380
I haven't ever seen that, but I can't imagine any employer not flipping their shit if that were to happen. I mean, I've had noobs kink blades before because they didn't have the arm strength to hold the bandsaw square, and that was bad enough.
I was always meh on their powder stuff, but that's probably because a lot of people misused them. Wrong loads, never cleaned or lubricated them, etc. I had one old gun on a van that had a collet that was completely cracked through. I have tried their newer gas guns and they seemed to work a bajillion times better though.
I don't know why but I've always preferred drop in or expanding anchors, even if Hilti is many times faster.
yeah wedge anchors are awesome, but spendy in SS, and some idiots can't set em right and they spin-out. My fav is to drill and epoxy threaded rod if you are going whole hog 25+ years builds, that will never spin out. powder I use for banging down track the newer Hilti auto-feed ones excel at that. best ever was a couple idiots I watched ramset cabinets to a wall to find out they hung em 3 inches too low. oops!
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
- 14,441
- 2,224
Aamry
Blackwing Lair Raider
- 2,259
- 1,906
As said previously, when buying tools, buy them as you need them. I've always felt there is a right tool for the job, unfortunately I work for a small roofing company, so most of the time our motto is "Make it work".
Hammers - Estwing. I've used a handful of hammers in the past 5 years, and my Estwing framer has lasted the longest. The shaft on mine rings when I hit something with it, though, gets a tad annoying sometimes.
Grinders - I definitely don't recommend Ridgid. We cut a lot of stucco, and the powder gets in the vents and just eats them up. Ours are getting sent in for repairs every week or so, that's why my company owns 4 for just two crews.
Mixing Drills - Here I definitely recommend Ridgid. We own 3 of them, never had any problems with them. Mixing buckets of cement, stucco, mortar, waterproofing product, whatever. Almost never even get warm.
also +1 for Porter Cable, we have a mixture of battery tools and air tools from them, and have zero problems with everything, except maybe the battery circular saw. The guide plate is misaligned now after a fall off the roof.
And Paslode are the shit, but damn if they aren't expensive. Contractor on a job let me borrow one to lay out some decking, made me lazy the rest of the day.
Hammers - Estwing. I've used a handful of hammers in the past 5 years, and my Estwing framer has lasted the longest. The shaft on mine rings when I hit something with it, though, gets a tad annoying sometimes.
Grinders - I definitely don't recommend Ridgid. We cut a lot of stucco, and the powder gets in the vents and just eats them up. Ours are getting sent in for repairs every week or so, that's why my company owns 4 for just two crews.
Mixing Drills - Here I definitely recommend Ridgid. We own 3 of them, never had any problems with them. Mixing buckets of cement, stucco, mortar, waterproofing product, whatever. Almost never even get warm.
also +1 for Porter Cable, we have a mixture of battery tools and air tools from them, and have zero problems with everything, except maybe the battery circular saw. The guide plate is misaligned now after a fall off the roof.
And Paslode are the shit, but damn if they aren't expensive. Contractor on a job let me borrow one to lay out some decking, made me lazy the rest of the day.
That right there is how you know the show was as true to RL as possible, the sales guy dialog was correct, none of the typical hollywood gun with a 100 rounds clip failure nonsense.
I have to say, two solid weekends putting up crown molding in 4 rooms with the Craftsman 12" single bevel miter that I got for $250 is amazing.
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-12inc...p-00921239000P
This shit is amazing. So glad I opted for the sliding version for cleaner cuts.
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-12inc...p-00921239000P
This shit is amazing. So glad I opted for the sliding version for cleaner cuts.
- 40,997
- 174,548
I'd choose reputable brands regardless of where they've been manufactured. I'd avoid unknown/OEM brands from anywhere.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
- 24,628
- 31,981
You can get power tools not made in China if you want to spend money. Most of the job sites we work have it in their contract that if you don't buy made in the USA tools you have to submit where you looked etc...to get a waiver. But sometimes the prices you pay you could buy 50 of another name brand tool for the same price.
That's another thing I like about the petro chemical industry. No none USA tools "just cause" you have to show why you don't have one. No non domestically rolled stell without a waiver and proof you tried to source it first in the US (and our 2nd largest importer was normally Belgium for some alloys).
You don't see it much anymore in most places.
Now in the shop is a different story. I used to buy Harbor Freight grinders by the pallet load for the shop. They will last just as long as a name brand grinder that cost 4x or more. Just long enough till someone drops it off a cherry picker, runs over it with something else, drops a couple ton something on it, cuts the cord by accident etc...lol. Crude but effective.
That's another thing I like about the petro chemical industry. No none USA tools "just cause" you have to show why you don't have one. No non domestically rolled stell without a waiver and proof you tried to source it first in the US (and our 2nd largest importer was normally Belgium for some alloys).
You don't see it much anymore in most places.
Now in the shop is a different story. I used to buy Harbor Freight grinders by the pallet load for the shop. They will last just as long as a name brand grinder that cost 4x or more. Just long enough till someone drops it off a cherry picker, runs over it with something else, drops a couple ton something on it, cuts the cord by accident etc...lol. Crude but effective.