Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...

[Simpo Two]

Huntsman said:

I need a set of drill bits. 1mm to 10mm, maybe 12mm, in 0.5mm increments.

Mostly for drilling wood and grp, occasionally stainless steel.

I've had good service from a Bosch cobalt set.

What do we think?

My favourite drills are Dormer, but I'm not sure if stainless steel need more specialist drills. I bought some cobalt drill bits to drill out some bolts but they went blunt quickly and some snapped. The score line was roughly one bolt = one drill bit. Maybe don't buy them from eBay...? I hate metal, it is too bloody hard!

[dickymint]

Huntsman said:

I need a set of drill bits. 1mm to 10mm, maybe 12mm, in 0.5mm increments.

Mostly for drilling wood and grp, occasionally stainless steel.

I've had good service from a Bosch cobalt set.

What do we think?

These all day long............

https://ttp-hard-drills.com/

Not cheap at £86 for the set you want but will outlive you if you know how to sharpen drills and avoid snapping the smaller ones

[Arnold Cunningham]

I have a metric set of them

[cml24]

5s Alive said:

V6 Pushfit said:

Great post and I got the Kleenex ready but no moneyshot:

Where’s the link?

http://www.trackace.co.uk/


I've been surprised by how innacurate tracking has been on friends and family cars when done by the fast fit centres.

Edited by 5s Alive on Saturday 21st May 21:19

I might buy that system, looks useful.

I used to use two metal box section pieces zip tied to the wheels so they stuck out in front, then measured the gap at set distances with tape measures. Not that accurate, but just as accurate as a lazy shop. This was on an old mini and it felt there was always a job that meant the tracking had to be reset and I was a poor student that was willing to pay £20 or whatever the garage wanted.

[Arnold Cunningham]

I have a trackace system too. Not used it yet, but well recommended by bearman on the shedding thread

[Huntsman]

dickymint said:

Huntsman said:

I need a set of drill bits. 1mm to 10mm, maybe 12mm, in 0.5mm increments.

Mostly for drilling wood and grp, occasionally stainless steel.

I've had good service from a Bosch cobalt set.

What do we think?

These all day long............

https://ttp-hard-drills.com/

Not cheap at 86 for the set you want but will outlive you if you know how to sharpen drills and avoid snapping the smaller ones

I think drop the stainless requirement. When I need to do that I'll buy a drill of whatever size I need.

Will look at Dormer.

[Doofus]

dickymint said:

Huntsman said:

I need a set of drill bits. 1mm to 10mm, maybe 12mm, in 0.5mm increments.

Mostly for drilling wood and grp, occasionally stainless steel.

I've had good service from a Bosch cobalt set.

What do we think?

These all day long............

https://ttp-hard-drills.com/

Not cheap at 86 for the set you want but will outlive you if you know how to sharpen drills and avoid snapping the smaller ones

Arguably, if you can sharpen bits and not break them, then any set will outlive you.

[anonymous-user]

Huntsman said:

I need a set of drill bits. 1mm to 10mm, maybe 12mm, in 0.5mm increments.

Mostly for drilling wood and grp, occasionally stainless steel.

I've had good service from a Bosch cobalt set.

What do we think?

Aldi do wood point sets, you’ll get 4 sets for £24 that’ll last you 30 years on word and grp and there’s nothing wrong with them at all. If you can’t wait for the boxed set at £5.99 then just buy them when they come up as part of a bigger set.

Unlike metal bits you can go cheap on the soft material drills as they don’t generate the heat to knacker the tips as quickly.

No point (literally) in going for a brand.

[amateurdad]

Any recommendations for a reasonably priced low entry car jack?

[Arnold Cunningham]

Huntsman said:

I think drop the stainless requirement. When I need to do that I'll buy a drill of whatever size I need.

Will look at Dormer.

I had the Clarke cobalt set before. It was decent and a bit cheaper than the above.

[LeadFarmer]

amateurdad said:

Any recommendations for a reasonably priced low entry car jack?

I have a Halfords low profile trolley jack which is good.

[The Road Crew]

amateurdad said:

Any recommendations for a reasonably priced low entry car jack?

Clarke aluminium. The weight reduction is a very welcome blessing. Much better than my old one of a similar size which must've weighed twice as much!

[thebraketester]

amateurdad said:

Any recommendations for a reasonably priced low entry car jack?

Clarke 1.25t aluminium. Nice flat pad on top to avoid chewing up the underside of your car. Fairly light too.

[5s Alive]

cml24 said:

I might buy that system, looks useful.

Arnold Cunningham said:

I have a trackace system too. Not used it yet, but well recommended by bearman on the shedding thread

Some time preparing the track rod end threads pays dividends. Free up the lock nuts, thoroughly wire brush and grease the threads to ensure smooth movement then it's simple to adjust (lying) on the ground when on full lock each side. 90° turns for small adjustments, 180-360 for more. Normally equal adjustment both sides but can all be on one side if the steering wheel starts off centre and needs straightened.

Cars with low bodywork at the front (splitters etc) may need setting up at the back of the wheels but a reading of -7 min (toe-out) will actually be + 7 min toe-in.

Finding a clear, flat and level area is the real challenge.

[dickymint]

Huntsman said:

dickymint said:

Huntsman said:

I need a set of drill bits. 1mm to 10mm, maybe 12mm, in 0.5mm increments.

Mostly for drilling wood and grp, occasionally stainless steel.

I've had good service from a Bosch cobalt set.

What do we think?

These all day long............

https://ttp-hard-drills.com/

Not cheap at 86 for the set you want but will outlive you if you know how to sharpen drills and avoid snapping the smaller ones

I think drop the stainless requirement. When I need to do that I'll buy a drill of whatever size I need.

Will look at Dormer.

There are Dormer drills and there are Dormer drills! They make cheap st and ......... very very good drills

[darreni]

amateurdad said:

Any recommendations for a reasonably priced low entry car jack?

I recently bought this;

https://www.primetools.co.uk/product/facom-dl-2lp-...

The same company are selling it for £149 on Amazon.
Its great & very sturdy.

[AJLintern]

I have a standard low entry jack from SGS, but they also do an aluminium one which looks pretty good value when back in stock: https://www.sgs-engineering.com/tja15r-light-alumi...

[5s Alive]

I have the Costco Arcan aluminium [identical to one in image]- its still a heavy lump to carry any distance though and the handles are poorly placed for doing so. Sprung button split handle makes for easy transport/storage.


But if I were to replace it I'd probably go for the Arcan XL2T.

[Voldemort]

I'm never one to put somebody off spending some money on a shiny new tool. But.... in case you haven't considered it, you can drive a car up onto a plank of wood and, voila, you can suddenly get an ordinary jack under.

[5s Alive]

^^^


Yeah, but... what kind of wood, one thick piece chamfered at the end, multiple staggered thin pieces screwed and glued - aha, impact driver required! What kind of tools do I need to buy to cut and chamfer said wood. Mmm endless [expensive] choices.

Edited by 5s Alive on Tuesday 24th May 11:42