Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Custom Corner New tools to make myself feel better

After having a tough year at work and not getting the graditude I felt I deserved (i.e. raise) I decided to cheer myself up. So I did what any mid 30's single guy would do....I went out and bought some tools that I have no idea how to use.

So what did I get.

1. A flux wire welder. I have no idea how to weld but I figured I would learn.

2. A powder coating system. Again, I have no idea how to use it but hey how hard can it be?

3. Bench grinder and a bunch of polishing stuff. Ok this one I know how to use.

So once I figure out how to use this stuff, I will post some pics.

Now I just have to wait for the UPS guy.

New tools rule!

For the powder coating, you might want to take look at the forums over at caswell.com. I don't know much about the powder coating either, but their metal polishing forum is quite good.

Thanks that site looks really helpful

Good for you. Take some time and learn how to use them then sit back and watch the ideas flow. I just recently got a new bigger mig welder, a band saw, a combo sander (belt and disc), a 9" grinder, and some hand tools. A powder coat gun is next as I just got a large electric oven from a customer that is now installed in the shop. Sure makes one feel better!

Nothing like tools to brighten up the day.
I bought some polishing wheels for my bench grinder a couple of weeks ago and started working on the upper and lower fork shrouds. It didn't involve any stripping or sanding but the actual polishing was a lot of fun.
Would like to get hold of a welding setup but that will have to wait.

It is funny how us guys love buying tools, I just tell the mrs it cannot be done properly unless I have the proper tools always works for me.

Latest bits n pieces

A mig welder - tried welding a spade ( not very good either)
Circular saw bench - used it a couple of times
Router - nice to make squiggly marks in wood
electric polisher - never used it yet
chain saw - used it to cut a tree down once

And I am sure there are other things as well, I spotted a Triton on ebay this afternoon in the Isle of man,(little Island west of the UK) looks very nice, mentioned it to her and got the reply how many bikes can you ride at once One love was my reply, you answered your own question then she said, even more

link to Triton http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V...me=STRK:MEWA:IT

Do you recommend the mig welder over other types? I did some wire welding in a factory back in college but I am not that good. I want a welder but don't know which type I should buy.
Thanks,

Yeah, new tools always make you feel good... I mad a few additions lately...
A table saw for Xmas- used it way too many times already(what did I ever do with out it?)

a cart for my mig and arc welders
a couple of air tools and some accessories for them ...

I learned how to weld with a flux core- the welds are messy with lots of spatter- but my work always held together.

My suggestion is to buy an inexpensive mig welder- cleaner welds.

birchr -

i just checked out that bike .... wow !

the thing you'll have to do is tell her to imagine how excited you'd be when you get home from riding that 2nd. bike.

It's lucky for you that you are single.....
I have tools I don't even remember how to use anymore...
The bad thing is my wife thinks I can now do anything, and even worse, expects me to as well!
Not only that, I get to work for my in laws and anybody else who she deems in need.
My saving grace is my 18 year old son and his gang who think my tools are fair game. As they steal, break, and lose my tools I find myself less able to service the needs of the masses....

mmmmm, new tools. The only things better are a great ride on a bike and a beautiful woman.

Noo tools rools.
I just got back from Sears with my brand new digital torque wrench, top quality T30 torx bit for socket set, and a brand spanking new socket set. My old set was in the freak toolbox last year when I went to Ga and needless to say, got soaked and ended up getting all crappy and rusty. They were at least 20 years old anyway so I fiugred I could use a nice new set with the nice big numbers for my old eyes. And these are 6 sided, not the 9 like the old ones. I gotta go pull the heads now and put in more cubes.

The local Harbor Frieght Tool store has had a new building going up for about a month now. On Monday I noticed the sign for the new business had gone up. Could not believe the clever demographic tie in. It's going to be a Hooters! Somebody is paying attention in marketing class.

Your local high school might have an adult ed program that includes welding classes.

I checked into that yesterday....the community college does.

MikeSr,
where's that harbor freight at? the only local one I know of is in schererville on 41 (and I don't remember any new contruction around there), and there's already a hooter's out by you on 45- maybe I need to get out more...

I've been to the Harbor Freight on 41. Bit of a drive from Romeoville. Is there one closer?

I may be going back a bit but here's my Christmas tool score:

Craftsman 10" Compound miter saw with the laser which I REALLY like
Craftsman 16" scroll saw
Craftsman 145 piece socket set, all 6 point, deepwell & regular (1/4", 3/8", & 1/2")
(can you tell I like Craftsman?)

I love my wife!!!

Dinqua:
I love those numbered sockets, my eyesight is also fading fast. I still have the old ones, but have been eying up a new set.

Grump:
Mother-in-Law's '88 Dodge Colt wouldn't start, even after being jumped twice...Guess who got persuaded into fixing it? Popped the hood and discovered the fan belt MIA. An hour and three bloody knuckles later I'm done. You are right, sometimes it doesn't have to have all the tools!

Good news is my two daughters pretty much keep out of my stuff. Daughters boyfriend, the MC mechanic occasionally uses a tool but always places it back where he found it. His stuff is nicer and more extensive than mine so I don't have to worry about anything coming up missing.

Al,
Been there, done that. Son is in an S10 club, he and a herd of other teenagers have made my garage their base of operations. I now am vaguely familiar with terms like "air ride" "suicide doors" and "fore (four?) links".....
There are pieces of 96 S10 truck all over my garage and back yard, and also air compressors, lines and valves, and even a scuba tank!
But my tool-based indentured servitude also extends into plumbing, house wiring, concrete work, and ceramic tile.
Sometimes having all these tools is not a good thing!!

Gratefully, mine is limited to work in the automotive area! Teens & trucks, have fun! I too used to having the garage as my sole domain, that might be painful. Glad he's working at your place versus hanging where he shouldn't!

Better for you he's there and comfortabe having his friends over, than out somewhere doing whatever unbeknownst to you until possibly too late. You're obviously a good dad to extend this courtesy to him. I get to work with my oldest son thru the daily bill-paying jobs and the custom bikes too. I highly recommend it.
As we are in the construction field, we have tools for everything imaginable. We have tools to repair tools! We love tools. Can't seem to have enough. Always looking for more, new, and better ones!

boogieman,
As I consider my posts of late, I am beginning to see myself as The Grumpy Old Man that Dana Carvey used to play on SNL... While I appreciate the fact that my son and his friends feel welcome at my home, these kids have no respect for tools or even in some cases no idea how to use them. I have several Dremel bits that are now nothing more than metal toothpicks. I have a collection of recip saw blades that are bent and toothless. I have RotoZip bits that are as blue as Triumph headers and as dull as a rubber float. My previously full standard and metric socket organizers in my tool box now look like the cratered surface of the moon, as there are more craters than sockets.... I have drill bits that are broken in half, and air tools that just go "pffft"... The best example of all is my favorite claw hammer. I remodelled the kitchen and the living room, replaced the front and rear doors, remodelled the entire downstairs, and worked on a few other people's houses with this hammer. You probably know how a hammer just becomes your favorite. It just feels good in your hand and you rarely miss with it....
The wife and I went away for 1 day to visit her father and when we returned there were 12 kids in my garage, working on an S10 truck. My favorite hammer was laying on the garage floor with it's claws missing. I asked my son what happened and he said "I dunno, I was just hammering with it and the claws fell off..."
My dad would have beat me till I couldn't grow no more....

I just said, "You owe me a new hammer"....

Grump:
That does sound painful but 20 years from now when someone asks your son how he got into cars/trucks/bikes, he will remember learning to work on his truck in your garage with your tools. By then he'll have regrets about how he treated your stuff, but that's part of growing up. I bet his buddies will say & feel the same.

My dad had nothing to do with fixing anything and had zero tools. He is a great dad, but motor vehicles just aren't his thing. I had a buddy whose dad had all of his tools hung in a particular spot in his garage. We hung out there as much as possible and I'm certain didn't put things back where they belonged. (don't recall ever breaking anything)Now when someone comments about how well my garage is organized, I tell them about my buddys dad, Mr. Combs!
Keep a stiff upper lip!

Stewart,
That's the one, on 41 and 30. I thought they were just extending the tool store at first. This could be like the Dunkin Donuts/31 Flavors combinations.
Sounds like a destination/starting point for a summer ride.
Mike Sr.

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Do you recommend the mig welder over other types?

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Gas shielding is great as long as you have a draft free work place. Just a little breeze blows the gas away and your weld won't be very good. Innershield (flux core) spatters the work but the shielding stands up better, a disc grinder with a wire wheel usually takes care of the spatters.

grump, you need to sit that boy down and have a nice old fashioned father and son talk about life. calm and pleasant, explain how if a tool is not put back where it came from and in the same or better condition than when grabbed...then we dont have that tool anymore and soon we wont have any tools!! now son, if you enjoy working on your trucks here, with your friends here, and you want to have the tools you need to do what you are needing done, then dont you think we need to step back and look at what we should be doing when it comes to tools. ITS CALLED RESPECT!!!!!! and if a kid dont get it when they are a kid then they will never get it and there is far to much lack of respect now!!! we need to get on these kids now!!! RESPECT!!! thats all it is, but it ties itself to so many other things, RESPONSIBILITY!!!! the heaviest word in the english vocab. and yet a person dosnt really know responsibilty without knowing respect!!! and so on and so on. so do him and his friends another big favor,(letting them use your stuff is one) insist on things being treated with respect and have responsibility for what they do and what they use, and the things you want to use again will be right where you left them in just the condition you left them in. if they are not, then soon they will have no tools and no way to work on there stuff... its really that simple boys!!! tell them how much you like the fact that they like working at your place cuz your learning some stuff and it reminds you of when you were there age. whatever you need to tell them to make them feel like your place is the place they want to be. i know...its nice to have yours at home doing stuff then who knows where. but you have to let them know there are life's rules to deal with. good luck, and if he breaks a hammer then he should replace that hammer, if he was at a friends house and broke a window, would his friends parents hope that he would pay for the window or at least offer?? i think so!! so why should you not then expect him to relace a hammer?? if he does not replace the hammer, then what has he learned?? of course none of this is any of my buisness, but i couldnt just let that post slide by, i just had to vent and get my 2 cents on the table. it just seems that wherever i turn these days i see no respect and it saddens me and worries me!!!

newt,
Man, you and I must have fallen from similar trees....
I've had the talks, some calmly and some not so calmly...
He is a good kid, and his friends all seem to be good kids, the problem is he is at that "stage" where he knows more than I ever will.... Hopefully I'll become smarter as he becomes older...
Enjoyed your "vent".. lol...

Sounds like you are on the right track. It takes a young man about 10 years to forget everything he "knew" at 16.

And the same 10 years for the realization that DAD has somehow re-acquired his own knowledge. Tough thing for some men (young or old) to admit. Be patient . He'll come around as you/he get/s older. All three of mine did anyhow.

Yep, generally turns out dear old dad DID know what the heck he was talking about!
Part of life's lessons, no shortcuts there.

I'm not worried about him....he's going to Wyotech this June.
As for the girls, he is a true motorhead.. They come around but when they start getting in the way or start demanding attention, he sends them packing.... lol...
Wish I had that kind of focus at his age... I would have a fleet of Triumphs in a much bigger garage by now...

Grump,
If your boy is sending the girls packing and they still crave
attention, send them my way. Since the wife left me I have
lots of room for them in my garage and a real attention for
details. LOL

Todd