Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...

[5s Alive]

B'stard Child said:

I have a CO2 Fire Extinguisher at the front and rear of my garage hanging on the wall for if I ever need it

I normally do most welding on a bench unless working on a car (bench isn't big enough ) but I'd add remove absolutely everything you can from the area you are welding - even underseal a reasonable distance from where you are welding can burn quite nicely!!! and get yourself a little trigger bottle of water a lot cheaper than refilling a CO2 extinguisher

My dad's workplace had several welding stations in the same room. Metal benches, concrete floors, bare breeze block walls, even the windows were metal framed and there were large fire extinguishers on each of the four walls, which as a teenager I found odd as there wasn't anything apparently combustible.

That is until I had a go and, oh st - waste paper bin! Fortunately also metal. The smoke though, much of the 'paper' was oiled/waxed wrappings. Lesson learned.

[gtidriver]

GeneralBanter said:

What do the experienced massive think of this Festool saw, for occasional use but intended to be lifelong investment:

https://its.co.uk/pd/577420-Festool-TS-60-KEBQ-Plu...

Ive got the older but revised TS 55 and the HK 55EBQ. Both run on the different rails ie fixed and slide and just slide. Ive now bought the Cordless HKC 55EB and its is so much better not being tethered to a mains cable, and can run on both rails. I also bought the dust bag and that seams to gather up lots of dust as well. I got mine with a free battery as well from Nuts and Bolts. It's a shame they don't have a loyalty scheme as ive bought most of my Festool bits from them.

[guitarcarfanatic]

GeneralBanter said:

What do the experienced massive think of this Festool saw, for occasional use but intended to be lifelong investment:

https://its.co.uk/pd/577420-Festool-TS-60-KEBQ-Plu...

I used to have the Bosch track saw and got annoyed with the Mafell rails not being particularly sticky and I couldn't use aftermarket accessories easily. Massive regret I didn't just get Festool to start with!

So made the switch to the Festool - it's brilliant. I got the TS60 and the Festool Rails - Others fit, but they aren't actually that much more expensive if you wait for offers.

It's a great tool and very happy. TS60 is more powerful that the 55 (which is the usual complaint of the Festool saws).

Edited to add: Cheaper here - https://www.protrade.co.uk/product/festool-ts60k-p... (£648)

Edited by guitarcarfanatic on Wednesday 13th November 14:02

[Sway]

Never seen the festool tracks be close to the evolution in price tbh. The new v2 have arguably the best connecting system too, and really nice accessories like rail square.

I'd struggle to go for anything else.

For rail clamps, Axminster speed clamps are both superb and cheap.

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-trade-cla...

Cheap enough that the old approach of modding Irwin speedclamps is now redundant.

[guitarcarfanatic]

Sway said:

Never seen the festool tracks be close to the evolution in price tbh. The new v2 have arguably the best connecting system too, and really nice accessories like rail square.

I'd struggle to go for anything else.

For rail clamps, Axminster speed clamps are both superb and cheap.

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-trade-cla...

Cheap enough that the old approach of modding Irwin speedclamps is now redundant.

I paid £88 for my last 1.4m guiderail. I think the Evolution is £67? Happy to pay the extra TBH.

The new cammed Festool joiners are pretty good - I ended up getting a deal on this set - so have the square, joiners, clamps in a nice package.



Works well - in fact, I never bother using my Benchdogs fence and cross cut station - either it's small enough to use the mitre saw, or I use the rail square!

[ATG]

donkmeister said:

GeneralBanter said:

JimM169 said:

donkmeister said:

Wait... How do you check continuity with it?

I'm trying to understand how you test for continuity with a single probe.

I'm assuming one end of what you're testing on the top (handle) part and the other end of your test circuit on the blade part. Basically it's just a bulb and a battery?

No you touch one end, the other end you touch with the screwdriver tip while touching the screwdriver top.

It’s bloody brilliant.

Edited by GeneralBanter on Tuesday 12th November 16:29

You must have at least one very pointy finger, and very very long arms with multiple elbows if you find that more convenient than a test lead

Wonder what the threshold is? I've uncovered high-resistance connections with a multimeter, seems this tool would pass/fail but potentially it could be passing high resistance.

Yeah, given the resistance of the operator is going to be 100s of kilohms and will vary wildly depending on how hard they're holding the wire and how dry their skin is, I can't see how the probe could tell the difference between a 0.1 Ohm path and a 100 kilohm path. It's going to have to say "continuous" for both, surely?

[guitarcarfanatic]

Sway said:

For rail clamps, Axminster speed clamps are both superb and cheap.

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-trade-cla...

Cheap enough that the old approach of modding Irwin speedclamps is now redundant.

Christ, they are cheap. Bosch/Mafell sell some, but they are close to £50 a set!

[Sway]

I did make some modded irwin ones, chopping off some of the bar, then replacing the 'end' of the clamp with the chopped off bit to slide into the rail - essentially achieving the same outcome as the Axminster ones.

But with the price of those, it's a no brainer to not go through the faff.

[Mr Whippy]

I’ve not got those, but my Axminster twisty knob tail clamps and G clamp things were sensibly priced and have been faultless.

For stuff like this they seem to be very good.

[Mr Whippy]

I’m looking at a DRT50 Makita 18v router thing. They look ok on current deals at the moment.

I’ve seen a deal where you get almost everything and a pair of 5A batteries + charger, but the corner/offset thing is missing.


I’m not sure what that is useful for? Is it worth buying a kit with it, or is it likely to gather dust?

[rambo19]

JimM169 said:

That's a bloody good bit of advice, something that has never occurred to me to do!!

I always do my welding in the morning.

[dickymint]

ATG said:

donkmeister said:

GeneralBanter said:

JimM169 said:

donkmeister said:

Wait... How do you check continuity with it?

I'm trying to understand how you test for continuity with a single probe.

I'm assuming one end of what you're testing on the top (handle) part and the other end of your test circuit on the blade part. Basically it's just a bulb and a battery?

No you touch one end, the other end you touch with the screwdriver tip while touching the screwdriver top.

It’s bloody brilliant.

Edited by GeneralBanter on Tuesday 12th November 16:29

You must have at least one very pointy finger, and very very long arms with multiple elbows if you find that more convenient than a test lead

Wonder what the threshold is? I've uncovered high-resistance connections with a multimeter, seems this tool would pass/fail but potentially it could be passing high resistance.

Yeah, given the resistance of the operator is going to be 100s of kilohms and will vary wildly depending on how hard they're holding the wire and how dry their skin is, I can't see how the probe could tell the difference between a 0.1 Ohm path and a 100 kilohm path. It's going to have to say "continuous" for both, surely?

'it's the volts that jolt but the mills (of Amps) that kill" ..........I use a 'pen' as a check but always follow up with a meter when I've exposed the bare wires.

[Indecision]

Mr Whippy said:

I’m looking at a DRT50 Makita 18v router thing. They look ok on current deals at the moment.

I’ve seen a deal where you get almost everything and a pair of 5A batteries + charger, but the corner/offset thing is missing.


I’m not sure what that is useful for? Is it worth buying a kit with it, or is it likely to gather dust?

I use mine all the time, I’d say 95% with the trimmer base, 5% with the plunge base. Anything else almost certain to gather dust, depending what you use it for of course.

[MajorMantra]

I have the DRT50 (with the round black base plate, not the clear plastic one on the more recent model). Tbh I don't think it was a great buy – it's quite unstable unless you fit a wider base, partly as a big battery makes it top-heavy, and it doesn't have a proper micro-adjust for cutting depth. Yes, it's well-built like all Makita stuff, but I don't think it's massively well thought-out.

[Mr Whippy]

If you use the plunge base it looks like it has a fine grained plunge stop adjust… and the base is much larger.

I’m a bit new to it all so don’t know if that alleviates the issues you raise or not.

[MajorMantra]

Quite possibly, I don't have the plunge base.

Fwiw I've heard good things about the much cheaper Ryobi trim router. (And battery adapters are an option, I'm now running a Ryobi nail gun with Makita batteries.)

[gtidriver]

guitarcarfanatic said:

GeneralBanter said:

What do the experienced massive think of this Festool saw, for occasional use but intended to be lifelong investment:

https://its.co.uk/pd/577420-Festool-TS-60-KEBQ-Plu...

I used to have the Bosch track saw and got annoyed with the Mafell rails not being particularly sticky and I couldn't use aftermarket accessories easily. Massive regret I didn't just get Festool to start with!

So made the switch to the Festool - it's brilliant. I got the TS60 and the Festool Rails - Others fit, but they aren't actually that much more expensive if you wait for offers.

It's a great tool and very happy. TS60 is more powerful that the 55 (which is the usual complaint of the Festool saws).

Edited to add: Cheaper here - https://www.protrade.co.uk/product/festool-ts60k-p... (£648)

Edited by guitarcarfanatic on Wednesday 13th November 14:02

Bosch seams to be absolutely crap with compatibility with other brands. Ive got a Bosch track saw and no accessories are compatible with it, ive also got the biggest table saw which also no other manufacturers accessories fit, it wouldn't be so bad except Bosch make no accessories for it them selves.

Bosch are just st, Festool for the win. My Bosch stuff is for sale.

[RedWhiteMonkey]

gtidriver said:

Bosch seams to be absolutely crap with compatibility with other brands. Ive got a Bosch track saw and no accessories are compatible with it, ive also got the biggest table saw which also no other manufacturers accessories fit, it wouldn't be so bad except Bosch make no accessories for it them selves.

Bosch are just st, Festool for the win. My Bosch stuff is for sale.

You need to improve your sales pitch!

[DocJock]

number2 said:

Re. Stick Welder

I've jumped on this too. Looks like an interesting thing to learn and might come in useful one day - not for anything structural .

Hood, gloves, apron, arm covers, shoes required.

What to weld on though? It looks like welding benches are metal to avoid setting alight, so does one need a proper bench? Or maybe it's best to ask what to avoid doing?!

Workbench with a steel sheet on top.

[Indecision]

RZ1 said:

How did you secure it, rivets? doesn't look strong enough for screws and not enough space to have a bolt on the inside

Screwed into the case, maybe more plastic in my older one?