As long as we went back in time 6 years, I’ll just chime in again. I have 5 holders with sockets above my bench. Each holder has the larger 3/8" sockets down to the small 1/4". So I have regular SAE, Metric, then deep SAE and Deep metric and the 5th being 1/2" SAE. On my last project though I used about ten different sockets both metric and SAE. No way to put them back in the tool holder each time although that would work fine if you only needed a couple at a time. So at the end you just collect them all and sort them out. Color coding though is a great help. Why I picked blue and red I dunno. Maybe I got copied again.
@bing @circuitsmith @oldtimer-11. My Wen soldering gun still works, although I haven’t found much use for it recently. I don’t work on television sets any more and this soldering gun would be too big anyway. Electronics have really changed.
Well my last soldering job was repairing delicate connections in my phone charger. I found the soldering iron wasn’t as big a problem as my unsteady hand.
My 3/8" drive Husky socket set along with a few other tools has allowed me to keep my two push mowers going for years. One mower is an 18" Toro with a Tecumseh engine that I bought in 1988. The other mower is a Homelite-Jacobsen 20" with a Briggs & Stratton engine that I bought in 1992. The engine is shot on the newer mower because I used it a lot more. Both mowers have a cast aluminum deck and I am debating whether or not to buy a new engine for the newer mower. Apparently, the Product Safety Commission no longer allows mowers to be manufactured with a cast aluminum deck.
Still using my 1970 craftsman 1/2" ratchet wrench, it was a birthday gift from my girlfriend. The leather fringe jacket she bought me got wet and toasted, sentimental me bought a replacement so I could play Denniss Hopper from Easy Rider in a parade on my Triumph, sold the triumph after hip replacement as I was not willing to go testing the new hip on a kickstart, need a nice leather fringe jacket? I have a wrench from my grandfather, 2 round ends with multiple sizes, first one I would grab if I needed to loosen battery bolts.
When this popped up in my list of “new” topics I didn’t notice it was 6 years old.
This is the first time an old thread came up that hadn’t been revived by someone else.
The post before yours was removed, it was for a tool on Ebay.
A thread with 5 thousand views and WheresRick is an old thread without reading the date.
speaking of Rick, or whatever he calls himself these days . . .
Anybody heard from him lately?
It was revived by someone posting Spam which was removed .
You can get a 5.5 hp Predator engine from Harbor Freight for $119. I have heard it is a Chinese made Honda clone and s pretty good engine. My source is Youtube videos from people who say they bought them.
@oldtimer-11. I would buy a replacement engine, but other parts aren’t available. The mower is strictly a mulching mower with a shorter blade perpendicular to the longer blade. New blades are no longer available. The handle broke and I couldn’t get a new handle. I fixed the handle by putting the two ends where it broke into a piece of electrical conduit and then attached the conduit with sheet metal screws. That’s the story of my life. I buy something and then parts aren’t available. I bought a battery powered Black and Decker mower from a friend. I liked the quiet operation. After one season, the batteries had to be replaced–they were sealed lead acid batteries. These batteries only lasted two seasons. I bought another set of batteries. I mowed for 10 minutes and the mower quit. The controller board went out. The part is no longer available. I am sure that the new battery mowers with lithium Ion batteries are better.
I know what you mean, I no longer buy battery drills. Each new one I bought lasted a shorter time than the previous one. I work on nothing I can’t reach with an extension cord and the 1/2 drill that I bought from HF would drive screws right through the deck boards if I wanted and the 1/4 inch one is light and handy for $13. No, they are not pro quality and the convenience of high quality cordless tools would matter if I was working all day with them, but I am not and never will be.
I threw out my I-H Cub Cadet mower because the drive pulley shear pin took out the one side of the key way and I could not get another pulley. Afterward someone asked me why I did not just file another key way in the opposite side of the pulley and I gave myself a dope slap for missing such an obvious repair.
@oldtimer-11. I have a 3/8" variable speed Craftsman drill that my dad gave me for a Christmas present in 1979. I did replace the bearing plate, but it has seen a lot of use. I also bought a 1/2" Black and Decker hammer drill when I had to drill into concrete back in the early 1980s. I bored through a concrete foundation with a 1/2" masonry bit this past year to install a conduit for an electric line. Both drills are cord models. Both drills have been old friends. I did get a cordless drill for Christmas several years ago. It’s o.k. for light duty jobs.
Well don’t discount battery operated. I got into these a few years ago and really like them. I’ve got Porter Cable drill, vibrating saw, circular saw, B&D drill, DeWalt impact driver, and even a B&D pole saw. (Yeah I know they are all made by the same folks.) They have all worked without a flaw and are very handy. The only worthless one is the circular saw that wouldn’t even make it through 1/4" plywood. I think the main reason is the low capacity battery but I really don’t care to spend $70 for a hi amp battery to run a power saw. The vibrating saw does tend to use battery power up pretty fast but is great for sheet rock work.
My old battery drills died quickly, my newer Ryobi tools and batteries have lasted for several years.