Hi, my name is Jason and I am addicted to tools.
My current craving is the Milwaukee 0880-20 18 Volt Cordless Wet/Dry Vacuum. It is going for $50 shipped on Amazon.
I also want the Bosch 4100 table saw that some have seen going for $419 at Lowes with the gravity rise stand. Sadly, it was still $599 at a Lowes I went to today. Maybe another Lowes will have it at the lower price. I will see.
Another thing I want is the 12″ Milwaukee slider for $449 It is still $699 at my Home Depot Stores.
I think I can overcome this with enough tools. I am thinking of building a reinforced shed to store all these tools. It will even come with its own alarm system.
Please share your story. Remember, a tool a day keeps the feelings of inadequacy away.
Replies
I try to keep the dream machine operating in low gear where a hundred dollar tool can get the yayas out and pacified for a while.
One tool that keeps coming back to the memory I can never recall the name.
The circular chainsaw blade deal that fits on a hand grinder. Sounds like a cheap fix that might carry me for a few weeks.
Carry on, wayward son.
94969.19
In the beginning there was Breaktime...
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I picked up one of those "chain saw thingies for a hand grinder" a couple years back. Used the heck out of it for some strange projects. It's mean little thing, but sure does the job of chewing up wood. I believe you can find it by running the name "Excalibur," on the net. Excalibur also makes an nice table saw guard with a dust pick-up and a heck of a jig saw.The reason I have what you want is I never lent it out before.
Edited 1/22/2009 3:08 am ET by dejure
That chain saw thingy can be found as Lancelot at Lee Valley.
Have a good day
CLiffy
Thanks. Had one for a few years now. Like others on the list, I was operating under the impression it was an Excalibur (I may have been the perpetrator of this incorrect presumption). My apologies (pretty bad when your tool addiction is so bad you can't remember everything you have).Here are a couple other scary tools that may be of interest: http://www.loghelp.com/tools/special_attachments.html http://pages.prodigy.net/dalecochoy/specialty.htm
It was just luck I knew what that was. I had one of my students ask me on Thursday if I knew what it was called. We looked it up then.
HAve a good day
Cliffy
I have one and it's a beaver on steriods but doesn't work well on my grinder using the guard, which I take off, so it's scary to use. I got into it once and was lucky it was just a scratch. Called Excaliber
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Just A Guy With A Hammer
I used an Excalibur to hog out the back of a solid mantel-- It was about 8"x12"x10', solid White Oak, milled right out of a dying tree in the customer's yard. It had to be scribed to fit tight to a fieldstone wall! Some day, after I scan those old photos, I'll post a thread on that job.But that Excalibur scared the **** out of me! I gripped that grinder so tight with both hands that they turned completely white. Took me several days to hollow fit it, and I could hardly hold a knife to cook dinner those evenings!My grinder (is it a Bosch?) has an on-off switch, not a deadman switch, so it was even scarier.AitchKay
>>>My grinder (is it a Bosch?) has an on-off switch, not a deadman switch, so it was even scarier.Yikes, that's all I can say. I've got one of those arm-eaters too....As for being addicted to tools, yup, I'm as guilty as the next guy. HD is advertising Jan. 29 as blow-out day here, and I'm already having a hard time sleeping at night.Scott.
You and me both, brother! Thought I had a crazed beaver by the tail. I had several times when the puppy kicked back and tried to eat me. I seriously thought about buying a pair of those loggers safety pants.
Just A Guy With A Hammer
Last year on Extreme Home Makover one of the guys was using that hog to do a wall carving on laminated 2x4s. It slipped and he was off to the hospital and out for the sesason. The showed the blood spattered on the walls of his tent.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
Are you sure it was not a half beaver whose parents were a wolverine and a beaver?For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
But if it's Dad were beaver and Mom wolverine what wood he be. I can here the guys now argueing. (Either way your gonna get your a*ss chewed off, by it or the guys.)
Just A Guy With A Hammer
...what wood he be
dang but some of the tales told in this thread give me the 'he be jeebees'.
Reminds me too much of a guy I knew that use to weld automotive gas tanks with the gas still in them.
Would hook a hose from a running car's exhaust into the gas tank to push out the oxygen and weld away.
Watched him doing it once for a while. He was a big guy and I stood in back of him.
94969.19 In the beginning there was Breaktime...
94969.1 Photo Gallery Table of Contents
I've heard of a guy that used to fill them to the top,light them,and then weld!
I have both Lancelots and have used them extensively - scary, yes - chainsaws don't cut, they chew - no mistakes allowed - that said, I use a Milwaukee with a paddle switch and have never had a 'kickback' like can occur with chainsaw - I use the guard on the Milwaukee as it adjusts out of the way of the action - that makes me feel more comfortable with my knuckles a fraction of an inch away from the cutters - I wear leather gloves - the biggest scare is sculpting using the bench vice and that machine singing a few inches away from my femoral artery - and my happy parts - I have worn chainsaw chaps, but admit not always - a versatile machine - set it up right, tho - "there's enough for everyone"
I have three grinders, a Milwalkee, a Maita and a Chigago disposable. The first two are variable speed and the Milwalkee has a dead-man switch. I wouldn't run the Excalibur without a variable speed and dead-man switch. Cutting down the RPM also made it a lot more controllable. Of course, following directions and paying attention to the direction it wants to pull is probably the most critical. If I flipped it over so it wanted to crawl to me I wouldn't touch it.Another toy of this caliber is one Sears sold. Its like a grinder with a set of skill saw blades side by side, but that run in opposite directions. It'll even eat metal. I grabbed one of those for some projects too and it'll get you or the job done also.
"Its like a grinder with a set of skill saw blades side by side, but that run in opposite directions."Sounds perfect for a barn-conversion job that's coming up -- The attached silo will have a circular stair winding up it. But the silo's pretty rough right now -- pigeon droppings, etc, and someone painted it once.I'm thinking get a good grip on the cord of that tool of yours, just above the plug, and swing it 'round my head while someone else raises and lowers my manlift.AitchKay
I've never tried the Excaliber, not quite as fast, but 36 grit sanding disks in the grinder work pretty fast for radical scribing:
If I had that and no gaurd, I'd be using my Milwaukee with the paddle trigger. That way if I dropped it nicking a finger or got it sucked out of my hand, it would be shutting down
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Yeah, I thought about buying another grinder, one with a deadman switch -- didn't, though. And ya gotta leave the guard off to get in there and do the job.AitchKay
As I've said before I'm surely not the brightest bulb in the box. My father showed me when I was in my teens how to pull the guard back on his worm drive and shave wood.
Everytime I've ever done that, everyone near me scatter. This little chain saw just seemed so easier to control, an illusion.
An important rule now that I'm older is to respect my age and infirmaries.
I don't see as well, move as fast or am as strong as I used to be. So I always take a breath and ask myself how long would it take me to heal if I do this and screw up.
I jumped on my low rider scaffold and proceeded to roll my fat arse off the porch. I only fell about 10" to the ground. I knocked myself out, dislocated my left arm and hurt my back. This was in Oct. and while my back is ok now my shoulder still hurts and keeps me up at night. Doc says it might be a couple months yet to be back to normal.
We gotta think a bit more about our tools as we get older.
Just A Guy With A Hammer
We sure do.I worked with some framers who took the guards right off of their sidewinders. They were actually pretty safe, though, because they stopped the blade dead with their fingers before they set the saw down.I know, I know, but I tried it, and it felt safe: Left hand reaches across with fingers flat to the blade, above the table, where the upper guard provides protection. Press on the side of the blade in back of the arbor, where the blade is turning down and away from the fingers.That was back before electric brakes...AitchKay
I'm walking around this week with a nice set of blue ribs, from of all things ....a shovel!
Had to dig out my water meter and valve vault last weekend. Below freezing all week, so in addtion to the leak water the ground was frozen down about 6". Got through the ice layer and into the mud. Some place between the two foot and three foot mark I slipped and drove the end of the shovel handel into the left side of my chest, right at shirt pocket level. Didn't think much about it when it happened. Between the cold and wet conditions and being a little miffed at digging this same spot out for the fouth time in six years, it was just another bump on the old body.
Wrong! Breathing, sleeping and lifting my left arm over shoulder height this week has been a literal pain
Something like that wpuldn't have slowed me down a nano secon in my thirties. In my sixties it sure puts a crimp in my production.
Do they make flack vest or some type of air bag for old folks?
(4 times?)
Ouch, time to design some sort of insulated containment canister for it
Never mind the flak vest....now is the time to get yourself "people" to do that stuff. You stand there and supervise. Holding a shovel, of course. ;0)
Heal soon
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
When it comes to tools, inthe words of the song... "they wan't me to go to rehab but I say no, no, no..."
I am going to Lowes.Webby
Ouch, time to design some sort of insulated containment canister for it
First three times it was a yard hydrant being hit by various bozo operators or truck drivers.
Renewed the whole water line between Christmass and New Years day. 600' of Wiresbo, assorted fittings, equipment rental, operator, and equipment charges were close to $3K, and I took out that darn "target hydrant." Put in a 55 gal drum vault for the new 3 distribution system so I don't have to shut down at the meter for a problem at only one of the three building.
This time it was a $1.25 PVC female adapter on the line out of the meter that must have had a flaw in it. Lucky I caught it right away. If it had run all night i would have had a 300' ice chute down to the creek, not to mention a hell of a water bill.
Ever try to get some young buck to work in wet freezing, muddy conditions? These weenies out here won't show up if it is "too nice to work", foget it if there is any inclement weather.
I just gotta a little more carefull. Try to remember that I'm not as quick or strong as I once thought I was. Alawys was a skinny. Now I'm just old and skinny, but hard work still doesn't scare me off.
"" I'm not as quick or strong as I once thought I was""
There's a recent country song that goes something like that, but I don't think he's talkin' about work....The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
I'm still in denial about that.
Viva Vi.....
What oldbeachbum said.
Just A Guy With A Hammer
You have a link for that?
I can find Lancelot but keep coming up empty on the Excalibur/Excaliber unless that's the name of the company
and I can't think up what a generic trade name might be for those things.
Thanks
94969.19 In the beginning there was Breaktime...
94969.1 Photo Gallery Table of Contents
http://www.classichandtools.com/acatalog/King-Arthurs-Tools.html this ones called lancelot
here's wher I got the photo
http://hardwareaisle.thisoldhouse.com/2007/05/get_medieval_on.html
Oops! My bad. I just ran out into the shop and looked mine is a Lancelot. I just always called it an excalibur.
Like I said I like to chuck this puppy on my 4" grinder.
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Just A Guy With A Hammer
Mea Culpa as well. Lancelot it is... But he said it first.He said it first!He started it!I didn't do nothin wrong, and anyway, he started it!AitchKayPS Well, I knew it wasn't a Guinevere, at least.
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Just A Guy With A Hammer
High, I'm Kelly and it's been three days since I bought a tool.........Okay, the vote is in, it's not a Lancelot anymore, it's an Excalibur, manufacturer's naming rights be damned (still looks like a duck eater though, doesn't it?).
Now that you mention it, it DOES look like a duck eater.AitchKay
Well, no sales yet here on the Milwaukee 12" slider or the Bosch 4100 tablesaw. I have been in everyday looking :(But... tomorrow I get to use my Milwaukee handheld remote camera! I have only used it one other time on a job looking for a wire inside a wall and this time I get to see how far up the insulation goes behind a cabinet so I can see if I can't stuff some more up there before I close it in. That one Excalibur wheel looks pretty cool. I would use it. Beats trying to finesse some wood that is in the way.
Hi Kelly! Three days is good! I am on day four now ;)
I'm online tonight looking for a dial indicator for MY NEW TABLE SAW !!!!
Does that count?...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
Oh..... do tell.... what new TS????
Woodtek 10" hybrid.
Small shop, no 220 and don't need it with this one.
It was born just before Christmas and I haven't finished tuning it in yet but it sure sounds sweet and can make lots of sawdust in a hurry.
argh, argh, argh!
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
Edited 1/24/2009 12:44 am by oldbeachbum
Sorry, looking seriously for a tool is kinda like the Bible verse that says, "if you've looked at a women in lust ..." Start over
The foregoing aside, I bought and Excalibur dial gauge, I mean a Lancelot, no, I mean a Wixy Digital Angle Gauge, or something. Anyway, it's one heckofa toy, I mean tool. It'll set the bandsaw table, my miter, my table saw, I stack it on my six foot level. What kind of dial indicator are you talking?
Just a basic one that can help me square the mitre gauge slots to the blade and I can use it with my jointer, planer and on my Shopsmith equipment. And also, to check arbor and blade runouts, etc.
I've been "making do" with a dial caliper, using the depth shaft as a kind of gauge. I'm not satisfied with that setup, though. I have so much tied up in tools I should invest in the proper instrument to set them up correctly. Why cheap out on something this simple?
Amazon seems to have quite a selection....The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
I'm still using a thing I designed and had machined out of aluminum twenty years ago (actually, I lost it in the sale of my shop back then, but tracked the guy who bought the shop down this year and bought it back for twenty dollars). It slides tightly in the miter track and I use it to set up everything from my miter to my blade [to the table top] and fence [to the blade]. It isn't digital, but when I was done setting my table saw up, you couldn't get a 2/1000th feeler gauge between either end of the [marked and rotated] blade and the fence or the gauge.
Just found this post. I suggest there is a reason it's scary to use...my best friend in Pasadena ca, 25 yrs+ carpenter and GC was using one on some timbers ...reframing a large house with 8 X 8s over a patio. Very fine carpenter. He caught the wheel on a knot and it kicked over toward his leg....caught his leg and artery. Came VERY CLOSE to biting it right there. He is NOT a careless guy. So when you use it, get very comfortable and familiar with it!! Good luck!
At its most basic level, capitalism offers people the freedom to choose where they work and what they do … the dignity that comes with profiting from their talent and hard work. … The free-market system also provides the incentives that lead to prosperity -- the incentive to work, to innovate, to save and invest wisely, and to create jobs for others.†-President George W. Bush
In other words, free-market capitalism is the best path to prosperity.
The two I have are called lancelot I think. I call 'em widow makers. Very handy when needed.
MikeInsert initially amusing but ultimately annoying catch phrase here.
I realized the reason I thought it was called Excalibur was that was the name of the first one I saw years ago. I finally remembered calling the manufacturer about where I could get one because the local tool house stopped haveing them The lady said they would no longer be selling them due to a class action law suit against them.
I found this disclosure curious and TMI from anyone being sued. I gave up my efforts to get one then about 6 months later this brand poped up and I bought it.
To corroberate my story I was googling,(honest), and while I didn't find what I was looking for I found this very interesting clip Of a Swedish Wood Carving Championship, oddly held at night which I don't understand.
Here ya go...
Link deleted so as not to get this sent to the Tavern
Sorry
Just A Guy With A Hammer
Edited 1/24/2009 10:21 am by jagwah
Edited 1/24/2009 2:22 pm by jagwah
Bet I can make more sawdust faster than you can!! Neener, neener, neener ;)
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
btw.............you NEED this
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
I reallllly need one of those!You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
I want one! I want one!I imagine you could nail off shear panel from 50 feet with that! Perhaps with a few shiners until you get it sighted in properly. :)BruceT
Jason, I bought a Ryobi disposable saw on wheels because my cabinet saw wasn't, well, portable. Though it left a lot to be desired, it was worth its weight in gold. When I found and excuse, I jumped to the Bosch with the gravity rise. What a major improvement, but it should be for a four hundred dollar price increase. The Ryobi had to have its guides cleaned every few days or you had to fight lowering and raising the blade. I haven't had that problem with the Bosch yet and I've had it for couple years. The biggest problem I have with it is that I have to be trained after every coffee break. As such, I have to rethink how to raise and lower it each time.
If you're going to buy a Bosch, make sure it's the new one with a riving knife. A good splitter is an investment. The type that come with the blade cover are little more than worthless. Most doing production won't bother putting it back on after they've made a cut tight against the fence, or a dado. I put a Merlin on my cabinet saw and it sure improves the machine's operation.
Edited 1/22/2009 3:18 am ET by dejure
I have a dewalt circular saw from thanksgiving 2007, brought it at ace super sale with rebate, Just in case I need one, it is still in the box unused.
Wallyo
Edited 1/23/2009 3:32 pm by wallyo
That's a new way to carve a turkey!...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
check out this other thread....maybe you can hook up with Julian and score something good
115645.1 click on this
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!