Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...

[jakesmith]

I got an air nail gun with a small compressor, it’s amazing. Makes things so quick and easy. When you want to quickly hold something in place whilst you fix it to something, it saves loads of messing about.

[Pheo]

jakesmith said:

I got an air nail gun with a small compressor, it’s amazing. Makes things so quick and easy. When you want to quickly hold something in place whilst you fix it to something, it saves loads of messing about.

I have an electric one from Tacwise which is similar. It’s great for architrave and the like.

[agent006]

I must be the only one who has bought an impact driver and doesn't really rate it. Yes, it's fine for blatting screws into any old thing you don't care about, but if you want any sort of control over the process it's pretty much useless. It's a decent makita one, but my (also makita) big combi drill is better in just about any circumstance. I wish I'd bought a smaller drill/driver instead. About the only job I really needed the impact driver for was driving big 20cm long screws through a staircase into a joist.

On the other hand, my indispensable tool is a Stanley "titan" knife. Way better than a standard Stanley.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-titan-heavy-dut...

[psi310398]

Mr Pointy said:

ave you tried using a sprayer to paint items like skirtings & architraves as well as flat surfaces like walls & doors? I guess you would be best off using water based paint rather than oil based, but I wonder what the finish is like.

Yes,

I used water-based eggshell on the whole. It finishes well but with the same risks as automotive spraying unless the fan and the distance are right - overspray, orange peel, runs. But practice and non-bleed masking makes perfect!

[dickymint]

agent006 said:

I must be the only one who has bought an impact driver and doesn't really rate it. Yes, it's fine for blatting screws into any old thing you don't care about, but if you want any sort of control over the process it's pretty much useless. It's a decent makita one, but my (also makita) big combi drill is better in just about any circumstance. I wish I'd bought a smaller drill/driver instead. About the only job I really needed the impact driver for was driving big 20cm long screws through a staircase into a joist.

On the other hand, my indispensable tool is a Stanley "titan" knife. Way better than a standard Stanley.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-titan-heavy-dut...

My Makita impact driver has 4 speed/torque settings - capable of "blatting screws into any old thing" or gently screwing a switch socket into a back box

[Grobag]

A log splitter..... no more wearing yourself out whacking seven bells out of it with an axe and wrestling with it when it gets stuck, just plonk it on and press a button

[jakesmith]

dickymint said:

My Makita impact driver has 4 speed/torque settings - capable of "blatting screws into any old thing" or gently screwing a switch socket into a back box

Surely it's more a first fix tool anyway for fixing stud frames and stuff than fininshing stuff

[dmsims]

jakesmith said:

dickymint said:

My Makita impact driver has 4 speed/torque settings - capable of "blatting screws into any old thing" or gently screwing a switch socket into a back box

Surely it's more a first fix tool anyway for fixing stud frames and stuff than fininshing stuff

I have just using a normal drill/driver for 100mm screws

[dickymint]

jakesmith said:

dickymint said:

My Makita impact driver has 4 speed/torque settings - capable of "blatting screws into any old thing" or gently screwing a switch socket into a back box

Surely it's more a first fix tool anyway for fixing stud frames and stuff than fininshing stuff

You could say that i agree with but they are no longer the flat out blatting tools of old - small, lightweight and capable of most tasks............

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

Edited because I was pissed

Edited by dickymint on Monday 8th October 10:16

[James_B]

As per the suggestion on another thread I bought an SDS+ drill. It’s not the most powerful, it’s the cordless Ryobi one, but I’m very impressed so far. It got through concrete far easier than I’d imagined it would.

[guindilias]

hooblah said:

Got a link for Toolstation?

I don't understand, if it's meant for nails how do you drive threaded studs with it?

Edited by hooblah on Friday 5th October 23:06

They're dirt cheap on Ebay if you don't mind an older one - I have two, one is a repeater (takes a strip of cartridges),the other is a single-shot one where you put in a new cartridge manually each time, I don't think either were more than about £70.
Just make sure you get the right size cartridges if you get a Hilti or a Ramset, they aren't interchangeable. Here's some fixings and cartridges if you buy a Hilti - https://tradefixdirect.com/hilti-type-cartridge-na...

[guindilias]

Here's a Ramset similar to mine on Ebay, with cartridges and fixings thrown in..
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ramset-MasterShot-0-22-...

[Mr Pointy]

Where does all of the concrete that used to be in the hole go to? I can understand wood can compress out io fthe way of the nail/stud, but concrete won't.

[skwdenyer]

Mr Pointy said:

Where does all of the concrete that used to be in the hole go to? I can understand wood can compress out io fthe way of the nail/stud, but concrete won't.

Essentially turns to dust. Concrete isn't 100% packed, so there's a little space for fine dust to be "absorbed" for want of a better term.

Clearly there's a difference between concrete and, say, glass in this regard.

[guindilias]

Mr Pointy said:

Where does all of the concrete that used to be in the hole go to? I can understand wood can compress out io fthe way of the nail/stud, but concrete won't.

Same place it would go if you spent ages hammering in a masonry nail - it just squishes away out of the way!
They are SERIOUSLY powerful tools, I posted a vid before where a fella was popping nails though, I thing, 1/4" steel plate - with a "light" cartridge.
I have a box of the "black" ones and really can't imagine anything you might need to use a fixing on that they wouldn't get it through - even cast iron columns, that sort of thing - apparently the heat from the nail being belted in softens the iron enough that it takes the fixing, all in a fraction of a second (due to the friction from the shanks) then cools down - don't go touching it for a few minutes.
Note that not all powder powered nail guns are safe for use with "black" cartridges - one of mine is not rated for them, one is. I have forgotten.
So I continue merrily on my way not knowing, until one will eventually explode in my face.
Yay!

[tim0409]

I bought this endoscope from amazon during last year's prime day (I think it was only around £15-20) and I find it extremely useful. A few weeks ago I needed to locate an external fan that had been plasterboarded over during a refurb; instead of cutting away a finished wall I was able to drill a 10mm hole in roughly the correct place and have a good look around. I've lost count of the times I've used it for similar stuff.

[guindilias]

Also brilliant for putting down the spark plug holes in your car engine to see if it's coked up, or it's blown a hole in a piston, or if the bore walls need honed and the pistons sorted with new rings.

[gothatway]

And good for poking into that hole under the front step where you were told there was a snake lurking.

(There wasn't)

[classicaholic]

I had a camera like that and the instructions had printed in big letters “ not for internal body use”!

[guindilias]

Bet you had it up there as soon as you got it out of the box...