What new tools have you got lately?

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89Suburban

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@Ricko1966 ,

So this weekend I did the bubble balancer with your Y method. Turned out GREAT. She is smooth as silk I had her up to 85. Thanks for taking the time to teach me.

On another note, that screw drive bead breaker I got. I found it does not want to work on rims that don't have a good amount of lip on them for that hook to grab onto.

Here is an example of my '07's spare wheel. It did not want to grab the rim with that raised center sticking out like that. I hade to hold a prybar between the locking tooth and rim lip to get it to work.


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Camar068

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Last edited:

legopnuematic

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Decided to take advantage of the 20% off any item for inside track club members and picked up this 240v spot welder.
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I think this will be a big time saver not having to drill for spot welds and plug weld and grind plug welds.
 

Dejure

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Here's another "buyer's-remorse-I'm-over-that-now" tool, an HSFTOOLS F2W thermal camera.

I've wanted a thermal camera for years, but, well, cost. That said, I decided to bite the bullet and dropped the $300.00, after doing a lot of looking around.

Now, I can look at our ceiling, in the 105 F heat, and see where every 2x4 of each truss is. That thermal bridging thing (heat carried in and out of a house by way of those 2x's that seem like they should work like insulation, but don't). I can see the major heat leaks at each light can. I can see that 3-1/2" of insulation is 12", or more, less R38 insulation than I should have. Both for comfort in the most severe weather and for adding to the life of the HVAC and heat pump system.

I can look at that house and shop power panel and see the one breaker (or more) is running hotter than I like, so the connections at the breaker and the outlets downstream should be checked for solid connections, to minimize fire risk.

I can look at an outlet and see if it's running hot and in need of attention.

I can look at powered electronics boards and see if there is a hotspot developing.

I can look at a motor, electrical or gas, and see if it's running hotter than it should be.

I can see where insulation is lacking in exterior walls.

I can look into my backyard on one of those nights you cannot see your hand in front of your face and see the wildlife, or undesirables infiltrating by territory (164').

I can use the imager to find water leaks (cooler spots).

I can look at a wire and see if it's on the hot side of what it should be.

I can look in walls and if a wire is running hot, it may show.

. . . .


This has a readout telling you the hottest and coolest points in the screen image. A bullseye will hone in on the hot spot.

You have a variety of choices for image colors and patterns. Like white = hot, black = hot, red=hot and so on.


 

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bucket

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Decided to take advantage of the 20% off any item for inside track club members and picked up this 240v spot welder.
You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

I think this will be a big time saver not having to drill for spot welds and plug weld and grind plug welds.

I'm looking forward to your review on it.
 

Camar068

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10 yrs Air Force
Here's another "buyer's-remorse-I'm-over-that-now" tool, an HSFTOOLS F2W thermal camera.

I've wanted a thermal camera for years, but, well, cost. That said, I decided to bite the bullet and dropped the $300.00, after doing a lot of looking around.

Now, I can look at our ceiling, in the 105 F heat, and see where every 2x4 of each truss is. That thermal bridging thing (heat carried in and out of a house by way of those 2x's that seem like they should work like insulation, but don't). I can see the major heat leaks at each light can. I can see that 3-1/2" of insulation is 12", or more, less R38 insulation than I should have. Both for comfort in the most severe weather and for adding to the life of the HVAC and heat pump system.

I can look at that house and shop power panel and see the one breaker (or more) is running hotter than I like, so the connections at the breaker and the outlets downstream should be checked for solid connections, to minimize fire risk.

I can look at an outlet and see if it's running hot and in need of attention.

I can look at powered electronics boards and see if there is a hotspot developing.

I can look at a motor, electrical or gas, and see if it's running hotter than it should be.

I can see where insulation is lacking in exterior walls.

I can look into my backyard on one of those nights you cannot see your hand in front of your face and see the wildlife, or undesirables infiltrating by territory (164').

I can use the imager to find water leaks (cooler spots).

I can look at a wire and see if it's on the hot side of what it should be.

I can look in walls and if a wire is running hot, it may show.

. . . .


This has a readout telling you the hottest and coolest points in the screen image. A bullseye will hone in on the hot spot.

You have a variety of choices for image colors and patterns. Like white = hot, black = hot, red=hot and so on.


got a monocular for $450 on optics planet for hunting. Can be used for animal ID, tracking, deer down tracking/ID, or stuff around the house as well looking for insulation leaks and such.

as bad as some of the guys at the "farm" are at shooting deer, it will come in handy and save time.

Also, great to look at your breaker box/electrical for stuff that's getting too hot cuz a lug is loose.

[edit] GFI/GFCI breakers will always look hotter than the other breakers. Google if you need to know.
 

legopnuematic

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I'm looking forward to your review on it.
I have just played around with it making a couple of spot welds. Initial impression is, its pretty heavy (makes sense, its a big transformer), the 240v model seems to have plenty of oomph on 16-18 gauge steel. Tongs are kind of short for reach, but it appears that there are other styles available online for fairly reasonable prices.

A timer control would be nice for consistent spot welds, I have a couple ideas on how to add that functionality.
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Just a test on some scrap, but those two spots are holding tight. I hit the metal with a roloc disc and some weld through primer to see if it would work with weld through. It worked fine with the weld through primer.
You must be registered for see images attach

For the $150 regular price, not a bad value I think, with a coupon, even better. Should be a nice time and cost saver over plug welding with a mig or tig. I have a decent amount of work that it would be good for, but who knows when I'll get to doing those projects.

Also my mom gave me this nice mixing bowl she was going to get rid of. I think it will be useful around the shop. Or drill a hole in it and plop it on top of a carburetor.
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78C10BigTen

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I have just played around with it making a couple of spot welds. Initial impression is, its pretty heavy (makes sense, its a big transformer), the 240v model seems to have plenty of oomph on 16-18 gauge steel. Tongs are kind of short for reach, but it appears that there are other styles available online for fairly reasonable prices.

A timer control would be nice for consistent spot welds, I have a couple ideas on how to add that functionality.
You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Just a test on some scrap, but those two spots are holding tight. I hit the metal with a roloc disc and some weld through primer to see if it would work with weld through. It worked fine with the weld through primer.
You must be registered for see images attach

For the $150 regular price, not a bad value I think, with a coupon, even better. Should be a nice time and cost saver over plug welding with a mig or tig. I have a decent amount of work that it would be good for, but who knows when I'll get to doing those projects.

Also my mom gave me this nice mixing bowl she was going to get rid of. I think it will be useful around the shop. Or drill a hole in it and plop it on top of a carburetor.
You must be registered for see images attach
The engine masters elusive salad bowl!
 

Mr Clean

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Well it appears like @Ricko1966 has been crapping himself with whoa, because I haven't posted any new tools lately. So here you go little buddy. Swag Off Road finger break. Got it on a 4th of July sale. Long handle 3/8 flex head ratchet.
 

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legopnuematic

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Truck Model
Dart Swinger, Sierra 10, C10 Cheyenne, C10 Big Ten, Silverado 10, Ram 2500
Engine Size
225/6, 350 c.i., 350 c.i., 5.9l Cummins
Got this Stant cooling system pressure tester. May not be great for newer stuff with the lack of adapters, but luckily the stuff I find myself working on is old so shouldn't be an issue for me.

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