As I may have mentioned before, a good friend of mine builds electric motorcycles as a hobby. (He and I have a lot in common -- I met him in the philosophy program some years ago, and he's the one who got me into Strongman competitions.) He's been doing everything out of his home shop with hand tools, and was mentioning today that a fender he installed required 21 bolts. I suggested a mini-impact wrench and some impact sockets for a Yuletide gift to himself.
Since some of you may be looking for gift ideas for a man in your life (or a statistically-unusual but not unheard-of woman), here is what I use.
The blue one is the Makita XDT11. The smaller red one is their XDT15. The smaller one is a better choice for bikes because it also has three power levels, which can help make sure you don’t strip or round off smaller bolts/screws. The bigger blue one is great for larger axle bolts on bikes, or general work on your truck.
My son prefers the American-made Milwaukee alternatives; they're heavier, but he thinks also stronger and more powerful. My sense is that there's plenty of power already for motorcycle bolts, which are often quite small. If anything I think the key issue is to balance the power you bring to the task with the risk of damaging the equipment (e.g. the bolt-stripping/rounding I was talking about).
That boy is, now that I think of it, hard on equipment. There's an appropriate Corb Lund song.
Maybe it's one of those things you learn with age and experience.
11 comments:
I don't have one of my own but those impact drivers are a godsend when working on old equipment at the railroad museum though, as you caution, they will round/strip/break nuts and bolts quickly, though usually not as badly as struggling with a standard electric drill-driver or a wrench that keeps slipping.
Most impact drivers are sensitive for feel, the harder you push, the more torque it will transmit before de-clutching.
My take on tool brands, and with many other products these days, is that as long as it is a fairly well known brand, most will serve well with minor differences. The user base, plentiful reviews and relentless competition have sorted out most of the real junk.
Agree that a cordless impact driver is an almost essential around the house and shop- plus the hex shank drill bits mean no need to drag a drill as well as a driver over to the job. In the shop we use them so frequently we have one driver for each bit, so we don't have to swap out the bits at assembly stations.
Good tune! What's the old saying? "could cross thread a bowling ball?"
Got to talking with my dad down in the cellar -I was 15 years old and had a 305 Honda transmission in pieces on the bench. Lot's of fiddly bits. He mentioned to me that at Pratt and Whitney, every washer was accounted for. If one was missing, that engine got torn down till they found it. And if one was left over, that engine got torn down till they found the spot it was destined for. "Reliable Engines". Daily Timewaster had a picture recently of a P47 that came home with a missing jug and the entire canopy and fuselage cover with black oil. R2800 powered.
Makita and Milwaukee Electric are now owned by the same Taiwan holding company.
At one time, Milwaukee Electric Tool Co (METCO) was owned by the Wisconsin Lutheran Synod--a gift from METCO's owner at his death.
IRS clamped down on the deal after 10 years or so; in preparation for selling the company (IPO) they hired a very smart and ambitious President who brought them from a $125-150 million outfit to well over $500 million in a short time. The IPO was a resounding success. About 30 (??) years later, it was sold to the company in Taiwan.
They were recognized as THE premium impact-tool builder in the US, nothing but 'industrial/contractor grade' in the '70's. They carried that reputation and used it with great success to introduce their line to the retail market which was the source of their growth.
I've got a 27 year old DeWalt Cordless Drill, the only problem has been batteries, and finally the trigger getting touch and go.
Guy I know who used to run a tool repari shop was a dedicated Makita man, but he's been retired now for more than a few years.
What I see around is that Milwaukee seems to be the popular brand with contractors and workers around here. My angle grinder, maybe my most used tool, especially back when I worked the metal shop, is a 25 year old corded Milwaukee- never given me a lick of trouble.
I think with cordless tools, the trick is to figure out who's going to stick with their battery format longest, otherwise, cheaper might be better. I've been picking up some Ryobi one stuff (drill and weak impact driver and some garden stuff) and maybe that's a good option for anyone not using their stuff for paid work, given the value.
I rarely use tools, but I get an inexplicable kick out of owning them, so I'd always be thrilled with one as a gift. There's nothing like a beautifully made, nearly indestructible tool.
My husband was brought up to believe you should never give your sweetheart anything with an electrical chord. I've never been able to persuade him otherwise: it arouses existential dread. Luckily I'm perfectly happy to receive flowers instead, or a gift certificate for a massage, or a book, or a nice cashmere throw. He always does well.
We have gone though several series of cordless tools, of different brands- the real game-changer for us was the switch to the new lithium batteries- they can stay on the shelf and not lose charge over time.
Tell your husband that it’s cool, Tex. As Raven points out, these are cordless.
My husband was brought up to believe you should never give your sweetheart anything with an electrical chord.
So, I guess he doesn't burden you with irons, or with the chore of ironing. He does that himself.... Come to that, dryers and washing machines use cords. Dishwashers. Ovens and ranges. Vacuum cleaners.
Hmm....
Eric Hines
Neither of us vacuums much, but on the rare occasion that vacuuming happens, it will probably be me. I once specifically asked him for a nice vacuum cleaner, because it's a real pleasure to use one with decent suction. It clearly gave him the heebie-jeebies--he could scarcely believe I was serious. As for other electrical appliances, we use them about equally, except that he cooks more than I do and I wash dishes more than he does. Appliances that we both use don't really come up as gifts, more as shared purchases. (And Grim, the archaic rule dates from before good batteries, but the superstitious dread still attaches to a cleaning device with or without a cord.)
We almost never iron, but it's true that on the very rare occasions when he needs a shirt ironed, he will ask and I will cheerfully iron. He reciprocates by dealing with anything electronic. I'm in charge of veterinary care, he maintains water filtration systems. I mostly handle anything that requires telephonic communication, but he takes care of the bills and finances.
I think the tradition against giving one's wife a cleaning appliance came from households in which the woman did nearly all the home-cleaning, and would not be expected to enjoy a gift that seemed more like a hated tool of her enforced drudgery. But even if that model applied to me, which it doesn't, my idea of a cool gift is more an obscure power tool that would be used for construction or repairs. In fact, however, I'd be quite unlikely to use such a tool unless it pertained to painting, the only construction/repair chore I routinely engage in out of sheer pleasure. So I'd be thrilled with a gift of paint or a lovely paintbrush. House paint is getting to be more expensive than jewelry these days.
Tell me his email, and I will helpfully point your husband to this list of gifts you would like.
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