The Tools and Workshop Thread

3M i See more of in industrial applications.
 
N95 or better
 
N95 or better
Oh, for sure! P100, or bust.

We're going to be hosting concrete planter making workshops, and we want to provide all of the necessary PPE. I don't want to have to go through cleaning and sanitizing our reuseable respirators, and frankly most people wouldn't want to re-use them. So we were looking at the disposable ones, but they would for sure, in all cases, still have to have the same P100 rating as the filter canisters we use with out own 3M half-face respirator. Also, in our response template to our "contact us for more details!" email, we include a link to an OSHA page about fascial hair and respirators.
 
Damn, I didn't read the rules. Wait...then why did it let me pick my country from a drop-down? Those sneaky, emailing-list-expanding bastards...
 
Only UK residents, just in case anyone ends up disappointed in the end :)
here's the german equivalent.
Arseholes. As it offered the country selection and was on the .com site I thought it was worldwide. :(

I don't know if visiting the site from the US makes any difference, seems really odd to use a .com address for a UK only competition with no US equivalent. :-?
 
The "Ridgid" tool brand has seemingly, permanently, ruined my ability to spell "rigid" and "rigidity" correctly on a first pass, every single time.
 
I decided that I needed to look at my hand tools as a kind of new years resolution. In 2010 or 2011 I bought a big 150-piece socket set that included metric and AF sockets, ideal for the Series III I had at the time. I can't find a full picture of this set for some reason, this is the closest I could find:

halfords-tools.jpg


I've had that socket set ever since and it's been great. I've even had a few parts replaced under the lifetime guarantee but the hinges are now busted, the latches are worn out, the long 1/2" extension ball detent fell apart and the 3/8" ratchet has worn out. I can't find the old receipt, nor can I really be bothered to look any more.

With the hinges busted the set is open and has gathered condensation water that drips off the roof of the bobtail and some parts are going rusty. I also have no proper way of securing it for off road driving so it was time to do something. I bought a small 3-drawer tool chest in something like 2017 that now houses screwdrivers, impact sockets and extra stuff. A good set but not big enough to house all of the bits from the socket set. Looks a bit like this:

ken5940120k_3.jpg


Anyway, I saw that Halfords were now selling an empty case - with much improved hinges and latches - for their modular tool sets. The case holds three modular sets or can just be customised however you like. Seemed ideal so I picked one up. Obviously it comes without tools but the second picture gives a decent scale.

735997
735997a


It's a fair bit bigger than the old socket set and is only single sided, but as modular sections can be removed that's fine. I originally intended to just get some Shadow Foam and re-house my existing tools, but then I saw that their 3/8" modular set had 6-sided sockets. You maybe can't tell from the picture further up but other than the impact and 1/4" sockets they were all 12-sided. Sometimes essential but regularly a pain.

I picked up the 3/8" set with 100-tooth ratchet...
332470


...and will most likely add this 1/2" set too before long as these sockets are also 6-sided. No discount sadly, maybe there will be at some point.
332518

I'll order some Shadow Foam for the drawers in the chest and to transfer my spanners. 1/4" stuff can go in the drawers. Once organised I can figure out how to hold them all down safely, maybe I'll make a raised floor so I can slide the Halfords case underneath.

In other news, the Sealey tool kit that I built up over advent is nice. My only complaint is that they gave me a bunch of hex keys before they gave me the holder, so they were just floating around in the case for a week or so. Not too smart.
 
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What's AF sockets, @Matt2000 ?
Imperial sizes, or what you would consider normal in the US. :p

they generally get called AF here, with the inch measurements ‘across flats’.
 
Across flats, TIL. I guess that's to distinguish them from Whitworth?
Yes that seems to be it, the sizes can get a bit confusing....

Jaw+Gap+Conversion+Chart.jpg
 
That is the greatest chart ever.

What does BSW and BSF stand for? I'm assuming BSW is British Standard Whitworth, but that would be a guess.
That's correct, and BSF is British Standard Fine. Which is the fine version of Whitworth in the same way UNF is to UNC. Because British. :p
 
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Received my sheet of Shadow Foam today to help organise my tools. I plan to use it to move my spanners into the Halfords case shown above, but before that I wanted to organise some of the drawers on my small cabinet.

First off, my impact sockets. I have a mix of 3/8", 1/2" short and 1/2" long. This is what I came up with.



It's actually upside-down here, I will take it out and flip it before putting the drawer back. I'm fairly happy with it, definitely needs a dividing line between the 3/8" sockets (first two columns from the right) and the 1/2" short, probably some labelling and maybe colour coding too. Managed not to cut myself, which is an achievement in itself. This gets rid of one more loose toolbox.

I realised while I was finally putting the 1/2" short sockets in for the final time that I'm missing the 19mm, which I'm sure I will find at an inconvenient time. Not sure where that will go. Maybe I'll just throw it in the 32mm with a foam insert, I kept all of the cut out pieces for now.

For the spacing of the long sockets I used AAA batteries, just because I had a lot to hand and they were just right.
 
I did some more last night. These are a complete mix of tools from incomplete sets but they're what I have, maybe I can avoid losing any more now.

Screwdrivers. The Stanley one came free with the Freelander. :D


Driver bits and stuff. Maybe 1/4" will go in here too.


I went to Halfords yesterday to get the 1/2" modular set but they were out of stock, it's ordered for weekend collection. Once that's in place I can cut an accurate piece out of foam, rather than guessing.
 
Finally finished all of the Shadowfoam shenanigans.

Added labels to the sockets in the drawer, not amazing but good enough. Will probably rub off.


Finally got the second modular set for my Halfords case so I could cut a piece of foam to the exact size and start on me spanners. Spaced out with AAA batteries again.


Final result, lots crammed in. The 1/4" stuff just happened to fit in the front cutouts. Sockets in the new sets are all 6-sided. This case is fucking heavy but not much more than the old set was and half of the sockets I had were useless.


Labels done with paint marker again, they look a lot clearer on the picture than in reality. 8,10,13,15 and 17mm flex ratchets were from Aldi or Lidl recently, 17/19mm ratchet is from my old Halfords set.


Close ups. Also showing how I made my own crude cutout for a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter and added yellow paint to highlight the engraved size labels on the Halfords sets.


I'm not sure how this stuff will hold up, it's very soft. All of these are removable without much effort so the Shadowfoam may just fall apart in time.


Didn't cut myself even once, even I'm surprised.
 
The original Vise-Grip plier company was sold some years ago (I think to Black & Decker?), and the new owner moved production to China to cut costs. The US factory and tooling were sold and the original design continued under the name Eagle Grip. Apparently Eagle Grip has announced they are shutting down - so no more US-made locking pliers. Well, I bought a pair.

PXL_20230127_164348615.jpg


I already have a pair of locking pliers, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not getting these sooner. Although they look nearly identical to the imports, these feel much more substantial in the hand. The stamped parts are thicker and all the joints are tighter with less slop than the ones I currently own.
 
I have a big table in my garage, started out as a normal but rather sturdy table, steel frame and 3cm thick wooden top. Welded a frame with angle iron to the bottom, partially for extra strength and also so I had a base for what is basically a big shelf. Under that I mounted some big industrial nylon wheels/castors to lift it to a nice working height and so I can easily move it around in the garage.
Today I wanted to put it under the porch behind the house to make room so I can finally put the Ford inside to start working on it. Only to realise that by adding the angle iron frame and the wheels, it no longer fits through the door when I put it on its side.
Dug up some square tubing from the shed that is bigger than the legs (a little too big actually) after some cutting, drilling and welding the bottom part was detachable. With the added bonus that it is now a lot easier/lighter to flip it on its side. The table itself is too heavy to lift on my own and I underestimated how much the angle iron frame, 18mm plywood and wheels added.
 
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