The Tools and Toys page.
Welcome to my Tools and Toys page.
On
this page I will display my new tools, toys and other gizmos that I
buy or fabricate. Yeah, I know it
might be considered a little
”show off”, but I think it can be useful for people
looking for ideas for stuff,
or want a review on stuff they think
about buying.
Remember, all opinions expressed here are mine.
This is how I do things, how I feel about things, and
what I think
about stuff. Your mileage may vary.
All pictures are clickable
for a larger version of them.
So
far this page contains the following:
1. Welder.
2. Workbench.
3. Welding helmet.
4. Hole saw set.
5. A Creeper.
6. Engine leveler.
7. Hammers and dollies.
8. Body jack.
9. Bending brake.
10. Slide hammer.
11. Some air tools.
12. A new vise.
1.
A new welder.
At
last I got myself a new welder. Well, not a new one, a second or
third hand one. It was
practically given away so I just couldn't
resist it as it was of my favorite brand ESAB. It's a 200A
three
phase machine, model Power Compact 200. Pics below.
The
new welder. Weight about 170 pounds and I loaded/unloaded it by my
self. Ouch!!
I
did a short test run with it as soon as I got a bottle of gas for it,
just to make sure it was okay,
and thought it ran quite well.
Now,
after welding a bit with it, I must say that this is the best welder
I ever used!
It welds very smoothly with almost no spatter and
the burn-in is just perfect. Nice even welds
that look perfect,
even when seam preparation isn't perfect. Wow!
This
welder beats everything I worked with earlier and that includes but
is not limited to all the
welders listed below.
Kemppi Kempomat
150 – This one is simply too weak. Had problems even with sheet
metal.
Kemppi Kempomat 163 – Better than the one above but
too “hard” in its characteristic.
Kemppi Kempomat 253
– Pretty good welder, fairly smooth but likes to burn through
material.
Miller MillerMatic 250 – A really nice welder.
Almost as good as the Esab PC200. But not quite.
Esab LDM 300 +
A10 – This is an industrial welder. Very nice, but too big for
the stuff I do now.
Esab Smashweld 180 – Good welder for up
to 1/4” and sheet metal. A little rough characteristic.
So, if you're shopping for a welder, take a close look on the Esab Power Compact 200!
2.
A new workbench.
I've
also cleaned up a bit in the garage and built a new work bench today,
including a new vise.
This is a thing I've wanted to do for a long
time as I have felt the need for a place to do slightly
heavier
stuff than fixi'n up a fender or two... Now, if I only could figure
out how to double the floor
space everything would be
honky-dory...
My new workbench. Had to keep it small, just
2' by 6'. Bolted to wall and floor.
I built
the workbench from 3x2” wood, and it's put together with screws
and steel brackets. Maybe
not the most beautiful workbench but
plenty sturdy and will do the job all right.
It came out a little
too high, but that's better than too low. Easier to fix anyway.
3.
A new welding helmet. As
I got the new welder I thought a bit about getting one of those new,
shiny, bright thingies for
eye protection that automagically get
dark when you start to weld. The ones I have seen before
have
been extremely expensive so I did hesitate a little. Good thing I did
that, because now I found
one at a very fair price, and I bought
it of course...
The
Optech S-998 that I got is actually very good when you get it dialed
in right. It's quite easy to
adjust and works like a charm. The
only thing I find a bit annoying is the adjustment for force needed
to tilt the helmet up and down. It has a little ”made in
China” feeling, but at the price it is going for I can
live
with that. Just the feeling of having both hands
free makes this a good buy!
4.
A hole saw kit.
This
is a must have for any one doing metal work. I found this kit on sale
at 50% off, and I can tell you
that it really mattered... I would
never have bought it at full price. Bahco tools are top of the line
quality
and they don't come cheap!
The
hole saw kit. The empty slots are supposed to be there...
5.
A Creeper.
I
dont know how I managed without one before... But that can be said
for all of the stuff on this page.
No more freezing my butt off on
that cold concrete floor. No more throwing blankets on that dirty
concrete floor either.
This
”Big Red” creeper is very soft and comfy to lay down on
and really invites you to fall asleep. It also
folds up to a nice
comfy shop chair right when you need one, so that's a big plus also.
The only things I
think is a little ”el cheapo” are
the wheels as they want a flawlessly smooth floor to roll easy.
Anyhow, I like it!
6.
Engine leveler
This
is a tool I considered a pure luxury and a bit of a ”sissy
tool” before. No more so. I recommend it
to anyone that will
do an engine and tranny swap more than once in a life time.
This
is also a ”Big Red” tool, and the quality is quite okay
for the price of it. A really great helper to
get an egine and
tranny combo angled right to get them in smoothly without damage to
either the
engine compartment or your back.
7.
Hammers and dollies.
These
are just a must when working with sheet metal! There's no way around
it, a set of hammers
and dollies pays for them selves at least
one time every dent you use them on. This set was cheap
and of a
little suspicious quality, but they have saved the day more than
once.
As you can see in the picture these have been used extensively both
on my own rigs and others.
Actually I prefer hammers with a
wooden handle, but considered the difference in price I can live
with
the slightly off-balanced fiberglass handles.
8.
Body jack.
A
body jack is a good thing to have when dealing with a little larger
sheet metal damages. Like
when I rear-ended a cop car with my old
ambulance... If you know how to use it, and know how
sheet metal
behaves under preassure, you can do almost anything you'll need with
this one.
This
is a 4 ton unit which is enough for about anything except to
straighten a frame. For that there
is a 10 ton unit which is much
heavier and thus much harder to handle. When I need a 10 tonner
I'll
get one. I've worked this one pretty hard and it has help up well.
9.
Bending brake.
A
bending brake is a good thing to have when working with sheet metal.
I just got one and it has
already been in use quite a lot. This
thing saves time when making body panels. Capacity of the
brake
is 0.6 mm at full width according to the spec sheet, but I bent
double that thickness at not
quite
full width more than once without any problems. Maximun width is 710
mm.
Yes, it was cheap. But it works pretty well and
the quality is pretty good for the price price I paid.
The only
thing I don't like about it is that the handles are just pushed in
and not secured in any way.
The possibility of the handles
slipping out while bending is not that big, but you have to make sure
they're seated well every time you use it.
But as I always
say, you get what you pay for, so I shouldn't complain. The better
version of this
brake is three times the cost, and not worth it
considering how often I use it.
10.
Slide hammer.
The
perfect tool for pulling dents. Well, hand tool that is. The ultimate
tool would be a body jig with
lazer measurments and hydraulic
pullers, but that's a bit out of my league (yet).
Another
cheap, made in China, tool that I got. But hey, it does the job it's
supposed to do and there
isn't many things that can break on a
thing like this. It comes with a one year warrantee and if it
breaks
within that time I get a new one. If it breaks after that, I guess I
have to shell out another $12.50
for a new one.
It comes with
a two soft sheet metal hooks (they suck, too soft), two round steel
hooks that are some
what useful, and two screws (one straight and
one tapered). The two soft sheet metal hooks are best
used as
”weld on” and pull dent. That's the way I use this tool
anyway so it's not a big deal.
11. Air tools.
Some air tools are never a wrong thing to have. A half inch impact gun, a 3/8 inch air wrench, and a disc sander is
what's in the picture. Missing in the picture are the jackhammer, the sheet metal shears, and the paint guns.
I would have preferred to get Ingersoll & Rand air tools, they're the best, but they're also too expensive. So, I
had to go for the cheaper line. Not the cheapest though, I've got one real cheap impact gun and it blows. Never use
it anymore as I got a better one too...
12. New vise.
Had to get a new vise as the old one cracked. This time I got one that is of forged and heat treated steel, not
just cast iron. I'll see if I can find the receipt of the old one and get a refund. If not I'll try to weld it
with some nickle rod and use it for light duty work.
So far I'm very happy with this new one, it has done all I ever wanted of it. Though, the price was three times
the old ones. You get what you pay for...
That does it for this update.... More to come soon!!