What is Your Favorite Tool?

[larryh]

My favorite tool after only 2.75 weeks of owning this monster has been my debit card so I can get all these tools that have had to be bought LOL

Larry

[Clarke Echols]

A great big Caterpillar front-end loader.

That way, when somebody pulls my bus into a part of my yard where they filled a hole with pea gravel and the bus sinks down into it over a period of time, I can hook onto it with a cable and drag the blasted thing back up onto solid terra firma. :-)

My good friend who owns a large excavating/paving company is doing dirt work for a ridiculously amost obscene Walgreens store across the street, so he's going to send one of his guys over with the loader one of these days and drag it out.  It's the one I've been building that got pushed aside due to other demands on my time and resources. :-(

Rant mode ON:

OT: (Walgreens bought the corner lot across the street.  They are putting the parking lot 12 feet in the air above the street and the main floor level is up 13 feet above street level.  The bean brains, bean counters, or whatever else they're called at Walgreens corporate headquarters in Deerfield, IL told me they like the high profile for distant visibility.  Then they turn around and say they want to be good "coporate citizens" in the local community.  Nobody, including the contractors building it, like it.  It's taking on the appearance of an gaudy edifice honoring the Great God of Capitalist Corporate Greed -- or maybe it's just an idol to that same god.  Anyhow, they seem to be expecting us to come and worship at their throne.)  It would qualify as the "Most Ridiculous Item of the Day" on O'Reilly's show on Fox News!

But the developer tops 'em all!  He told me, "God made that hill and we don't have the right to cut it down."  Unbelievable!  (this was in a 3-way phone conference between me and the Walgreens real estate manager in Illinois and the developer in Denver.  What a bunch of clowns...

All I want is to lower it about 8 feet so it fits the neighborhood.  The city council agrees with me.  The city planners, city manager, and neighbors also.  So I guess I'll shop 1/3 mile away across the intersection, where the shopping area looks nicer and prices are cheaper.  They're no the only game in town.

Rant mode OFF.

My bride and I are coming up on our 40th wedding anniversary in two weeks!  That's been a real experience -- for her. :-)

CE

[DrivingMissLazy]

See! I told you guys the other day that if Clarke really had something to talk about he would post here.
Richard

[Merlin]

... All I want is to lower it about 8 feet so it fits the neighborhood.  The city council agrees with me.  The city planners, city manager, and neighbors also. 
CE

What dork in the city planning and zoning approved this "temple" in the first place?  Same crap goes on in my hometown, but we know where the city planners park their cars and they had better not try to approve something before it is well studied and approved by the neighbors.  Believe me, big developers don't give a whit about being good neighbors.  A bank put in a branch office beside my property and I had to watch 'em like a hawk when the parking lot was being put in.  They quietly moved the edge of the lot over on my property some four feet.  When I stopped the operation, they merely advised me to contact the bank's corporate office.  I didn't ... just stormed out to city hall and waltzed into the city engineers office ... told them what was happening.  The guy pulled out his copy of the plans and ... whoa ... the drawings were not the same as the set that I saw in the hands of the parking lot contractor.  It is sad that "us little people" have to constantly wage an uphill battle with big corporations.

Merlin

[H3Jim]

It does not appear that I have any new tools to add, however I will respond with what has been useful to me - I am about 3/4 done with the conversion, its usable and has working toilet , 16 cu ft refrig, shower - although its still visqueen lined, bath sink, bed, couch, dinette, generator, inverter, air conditioners, hardwood floors, stereo / home theater, TV, commercial carpet, blinds, all plumbing lines, pumps and tanks are in etc.

By far and away the tool I have used the most is the cordless 14 volt Makita.  Probably every project i take on, I use it for something.  I have 3 other Milwaukee corded drills too - a high torque, low speed for drilling those big holes, an angle for getting into tight places, and a high speed for drilling pocket holes and other small holes into the steel frame.

Next would be my skill saw, I have used that for almost every wood part I have made. 10" table saw too

Jig saw - Bosch - by far and away the best jig saw I have ever used.

Pocket hole jig - you just never know when / where you might use it, indispensable.

Mak board and BNO - could not have done it without the sage advice ( and the flames too)

Internet for shopping parts - spend more hours on the Internet than physically working on it.

my pockets that so far have been deep enough - just keep throwing $ at it, and it will get fixed sooner or later

My good friend Paul "Gabby" Gaboury - All the wonderful cabinet work would still not be done if not for him 

Pat Patterson, Bob Manemann, Jim "Chip" Maxwell, Dee Dillon, Matt Tonner, Virgil Hogue, Jim "RV Safetyman" Sheppard, Gary "Boogie the Cat" Stadler and Dennis Canfeild - all friends that lent a hand when it was needed!

UPS for bringing all those parts to my door, and leaving them with no signature required, even when I was not home!!!

Prevost the dealer / shop folks / parts department for all their help in shell maintenance and improvement.

Peninsula Windows for a great installation.

Dick Wright at Wrico - for getting me my start on some of the hard stuff.

Ronco Plastics for a great deal and good information on tanks

Assorted other power tools - biscuit joiner, sawzall, grinder, table sander, bosch 6" sander, Makita 4" sander, craftsman drill press, Grizzly band saw, Drill doctor, Dovetail jig, Delta router, sears router

Pickup truck for all those trips to the lumber yard, steel yard, Home Depot and Lowes.

[Clarke Echols]

... All I want is to lower it about 8 feet so it fits the neighborhood.  The city council agrees with me.  The city planners, city manager, and neighbors also. 
CE

What dork in the city planning and zoning approved this "temple" in the first place?  Same crap goes on in my hometown, but we know where the city planners park their cars and they had better not try to approve something before it is well studied and approved by the neighbors.  Believe me, big developers don't give a whit about being good neighbors.  A bank put in a branch office beside my property and I had to watch 'em like a hawk when the parking lot was being put in.  They quietly moved the edge of the lot over on my property some four feet.  When I stopped the operation, they merely advised me to contact the bank's corporate office.  I didn't ... just stormed out to city hall and waltzed into the city engineers office ... told them what was happening.  The guy pulled out his copy of the plans and ... whoa ... the drawings were not the same as the set that I saw in the hands of the parking lot contractor.  It is sad that "us little people" have to constantly wage an uphill battle with big corporations.

Merlin

The problem with Walgreens isn't at city hall.  The city planners don't like it.  The city manager doesn't like it.  The city council doesn't like it.  The neighbors don't like it.  But the LAW states that there are certain "uses by right" that come with "business" zoning.  And the city has codes and guidelines that must be followed.  But if Walgreens stays (barely) inside the codes and guidelines, the city cannot stop them from doing what they want within those limits.

Walgreens (like most corporations who have PR departments that generate barnyard solid waste (that's why it's called "BS") of the male bovine variety, and theirs keeps saying (like their real-estate guy was telling me) "We want to be good corporate citizens in the local community".  Translation:  "Come and worship at the throne of our Temple to the God Of Corporate Capitalist Greed, and be sure to drop your dollars in the till on your way out to show your proper respect for our having blessing you with Our Wondrous Corporate Presence."

There is a big difference between doing what is *legal*, and doing what is *right*.  And you're right.  The developers are as bad or worse than the Big Corporations.

Don't misunderstand, though.  I am a vocal supporter of private property rights and free enterprise.  But when Big Corporations come to town and push their weight around, that is not free enterprise, and it is abuse of private property rights as well.

So a bunch of us will simply collectively spit in their corporate eye and shop across the street and a block down the road...

Clarke

[DrivingMissLazy]

Would you rather have a big Buddhist temple? LOL
Richard

... All I want is to lower it about 8 feet so it fits the neighborhood.  The city council agrees with me.  The city planners, city manager, and neighbors also. 
CE

What dork in the city planning and zoning approved this "temple" in the first place?  Same crap goes on in my hometown, but we know where the city planners park their cars and they had better not try to approve something before it is well studied and approved by the neighbors.  Believe me, big developers don't give a whit about being good neighbors.  A bank put in a branch office beside my property and I had to watch 'em like a hawk when the parking lot was being put in.  They quietly moved the edge of the lot over on my property some four feet.  When I stopped the operation, they merely advised me to contact the bank's corporate office.  I didn't ... just stormed out to city hall and waltzed into the city engineers office ... told them what was happening.  The guy pulled out his copy of the plans and ... whoa ... the drawings were not the same as the set that I saw in the hands of the parking lot contractor.  It is sad that "us little people" have to constantly wage an uphill battle with big corporations.

Merlin

The problem with Walgreens isn't at city hall.  The city planners don't like it.  The city manager doesn't like it.  The city council doesn't like it.  The neighbors don't like it.  But the LAW states that there are certain "uses by right" that come with "business" zoning.  And the city has codes and guidelines that must be followed.  But if Walgreens stays (barely) inside the codes and guidelines, the city cannot stop them from doing what they want within those limits.

Walgreens (like most corporations who have PR departments that generate barnyard solid waste (that's why it's called "BS") of the male bovine variety, and theirs keeps saying (like their real-estate guy was telling me) "We want to be good corporate citizens in the local community".  Translation:  "Come and worship at the throne of our Temple to the God Of Corporate Capitalist Greed, and be sure to drop your dollars in the till on your way out to show your proper respect for our having blessing you with Our Wondrous Corporate Presence."

There is a big difference between doing what is *legal*, and doing what is *right*.  And you're right.  The developers are as bad or worse than the Big Corporations.

Don't misunderstand, though.  I am a vocal supporter of private property rights and free enterprise.  But when Big Corporations come to town and push their weight around, that is not free enterprise, and it is abuse of private property rights as well.

So a bunch of us will simply collectively spit in their corporate eye and shop across the street and a block down the road...

Clarke

[Casper4104]

Ok, this ain't really a bus thing so much.  I bought my bus already converted and haven't had to do much (yet).

My favorite tool is my 1964 9" South Bend model "C" metal lathe.  Flat leather belt, manually engaged back gears, 3 jaw chuck, 4 jaw chuck (my favorite), Faceplate, Driverplate, couple of centers, several dogs, nice selection of toolholders, drill checuk for the tailstock.  All bought at auction for $280 when the high school decided the kids didn't need to learn the craft anymore.

I'm now looking for a steal on a Bridgeport univeral milling machine - anybody got one?

Drill Doctor - none for me thanks, I have a good bench grinder.  It's easy once you learn how  :-)

Guess what I did for a living before I went back to school?

Tools tools, all god's chillun's loves tools.

Casper

[Hartley]

Ahhhh!  So many tools, so little time!

I think my absolute favorite would be the pouch on my belt.

It has gotten me out of so many jams!

Kinda like [Mcgiver]

It has a Buck knife,Brinkman flash lite, Two way screwdriver, and a Snap on mini Pliers with a side cutter!

I can almost do anything with theese Tools........

Nick-

Is that the one hanging over you belt buckle??? 

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Dave,

If I could carry all that stuff in that pouch, I wouldn't need a Belt....

Nick-

[Dallas]

I just had to add a new tool to my favorite tool list:

A Clarke 130EN gas/gasless 120V MIG welder.

My cheap piece of junk Campbell-Hausfeild Burnt it's gun and I couldn't find another that would work on it. Actually I did find one gun and hose, but it was $190 and I couldn't see putting that much money into the piece of junk.

I looked at a lot of different welders, including Millermatic 135, but I really couldn't afford that. I also looked at the Lincoln 140 but didn't like the gun it had with it. It didn't seem too much different than My C-H.

I went to our local farm store and they had some Lincolns and some cheap ones and then a whole stack of these Clarke machines.
It states that it does up to 1/4" mild steel and has a Tweco style gun. This unit was $350 and seemed a lot better built and heavier than the Lincoln I looked at.

Well, I took a chance and bought it and have been very well pleased. It actually does have good penetration, in fact penetrated to 3/16" in 1/4" mild steel. The duty cycle is only 20%, but, hey, I ain't that good a welder anyway to be able to run a bead that long. There's always something else I need to do.

Tomorrow, I may take the regulator I got with the C-H and hook it up to the new welder and see how it does on aluminum, although I doubt that it will do a very good job.

This machine seems to make a very smooth bead and has no problem with .035 flux core wire.

I just thought I'd pass this good news along!

Dallas

[Clarke Echols]

I like my MIG welder.  I was at a metal fab shop a few years back, and asked the owner if he knew where I could pick up a used MIG machine without paying an arm and a leg.  He sold me their Millermatic 185 (185-amp, 240 volt) machine for $200.  I remembered a 225-cubic-foot oxygen tank at a used tools shop in Denver so I called them.  They still had it for $100.  I bought it for $90.  I then traded it for a CO2-Argon blend bottle (full of gas) for another $70, and for under $400 I had a really nice, hardly used MIG machine,
including the new wire liner it needed.

It's a NICE machine!

Now if I could just find me a decent plasma cutter...

Clarke