Tool Talk

[Shimmy1]

Did anyone else get some new tools over the holiday?

It isn't quite as powerful as a 1" air, but it makes stuff happen without a tether.

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

FTC; I don't see a YouTube video on your channel for the tire changer in action.

I will include a video of the tire changer in action on my next video. Look for it Wednesday. It will be part of the 520-H wheel horse series.

Lol.. I too have been fighting flats on my rider....

The $45 tire changer was well worth the expense! It made swapping the tires so much easier.

It isn't quite as powerful as a 1" air, but it makes stuff happen without...

This is an awesome tool!! Jealous

 

[aighead]

I just, yesterday, bought one of these laser engravers. I'm very excited to try it out and see what happens, though it'll be a couple weeks until it shows up. Looks like it can engrave all kinds of junk and cut some stuff too! My wife has a Cricut which is similar but for lighter weight stuff (she sews and is crafty) and not as burny... Ideally, I'll think of something custom that people can't live without and sell the crap out of it, to the point of needing 5 engravers running all the time.

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

If anyone's interested here is a link of the video where I struggle with the tires on my little snowplow tractor. The new tool worked great!

I'm far from perfect and I typically include my screwups in the video's. I could easily edit them out, but figure it might help others out who are in the same position. The tire changes are the first portion of the video. The remaining video is me repairing other minor issues. I wrap up the video with a little snow plowing action. This tractor works great for a lil guy. Go go little Wheel Horse!

 

[aighead]

That little wheel horse gets it!

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

That little wheel horse gets it!

It really impressed me. This was my first time using it in several years as a snow plow. I think my weight / size helps. The majority of my time using it as a plow was from my younger years. Now I have little bit of a weight advantage! Over 200# versus the little 135# on average younger me. Thanks for watching. I try to have a little fun.

 

[aighead]

Bought on 2/1/2021, the laser engraver I mentioned above still hasn't been delivered yet. Supposedly this Monday, so, you know... only 2 and a half months later. Gearbest seems like a decent place to buy junk like this but after reading some reviews, specifically about shipping times, they seem a bit scammy. They do supposedly ship the items and they are fine but it also looks like they play around with money spent and the fees for shipping and customs. I don't know. It's been a bit frustrating to wait around this long. Hopefully it shows up in one piece. FWIW I could have got the same thing on Amazon for about a hundred bucks more.

 

[aighead]

Supposedly, the laser is on a truck bound for the compound today! Woop!

 

[aighead]

Alright, I haven't messed with something so enjoyable for a while. I got home and straight away set up the laser, watched 3 LightBurn (the recommended software) tutorials and got on my merry way. Ended up screwing around for about 7 and a half hours drawing different stuff and experimenting. I expected the learning curve to be much longer than it is as I made several engravings that I'm thrilled with, as first attempts. This is very exciting to me and I can see big potential for using it with who knows what. These were done on two different materials, a very small sample sized piece of plywood they send with the laser (I cut holes in it! Probably 1/8" thick) and a piece of cardboard/pressboard stuff I have covering my workbench. The only real problem I have so far is that the entire machine jumps around a bit as it moves. Slowing the machine down helps a lot but I'll have to figure out a way to bolt it to a stage of some sort.




I started off just printing random stuff on the cardboardy junk but it engraved beautifully. You can see just shapes drawn in the software, then two pictures, the little tree is a close replica to a tattoo I have and then the dark stuff near the top right is a map of my neighborhood, that one is blurry due to the machine shaking. Too cool!

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

Alright, I haven't messed with something so enjoyable for a while. I got home and straight away set up the laser

I bought a CNC laser awhile ago for an engraving project. They are really cool. I needed one for a custom engraving project. I have a few videos on the unit on my YouTube channel. Mine is a Fox Alien branded diode laser. In the future I hope build an enclosure for it. I'm not overly confident in the safety level of the Chinese supplied glasses.

The main reason I purchased it was to make black etching on mirror finish stainless steel plates. It has a lot of potential.

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

My new ratcheting load binders arrived yesterday. I am super excited to try them out. They look like well made units. Peerless brand ratcheting load binders. I like the fold down handle, the rubber grip on the body, and the ability to install a pad lock on the mechanism.

Now I just need to buy something to haul..... It's getting harder to hide my purchases from the wife. All my interests are big, heavy and often confused as junk by the un educated.

 

[DMiller]

Not sure like the Folding handle, makes slimmer but can also allow free roll off when not suppressed by contact.

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

I haven't used them yet, but did look at them closer in the garage last night. I think the folded handle would need pinned or wired to the chain in the folded position. This should prevent it from being able to unwind.

 

[aighead]

@Flat Thunder Channel I'll check out your videos, thanks for the heads up. That Fox Alien and the Ortur I have look like similar designs, at first glance. I didn't realize there were so many "affordable" laser etching options out there.

I bought some new glasses from Amazon that are supposedly in the range of protection needed because I didn't have much faith in them either. Even the ones I bought seem a bit less than desirable as I stare at the place being engraved. Seems like they could be darker. They are also yellow tinted(?) and made the outside world look real weird.

An enclosure seems like a good idea, and it sounds like well rated plastic is pretty easily available. If nothing else, for as long as these things take to do their work it'd be nice to set it and forget it while doing other stuff, without the eyewear. Also it would mean I could leave the laser in the workshop and it wouldn't get too dusty, and could make for easier exhausting too...

Have you built any kind of stand for yours? I've found that detailed work or short, multiple bursts will move my entire machine around causing inaccurate etching. There's a guy on the ForestryForums that built a pretty neat rig with his Ortur, here's his YT video, I really like the table and feet he's made to hold everything.

Also, the learning curve is interesting. At first things were great! Designs, on the sample wood they sent with the machine, and the pressboard/cardboard junk I've got covering my bench are very crisp and dark. I tossed some Balsa wood on for a different project and the burns came out very, very light, unless I etched about half the thickness of the wood away. I haven't messed around with other woods/materials yet but it'll be interesting to see how it goes. What I was trying on the balsa was a much more complex design than I'd tried previously and it appears as though I'll have to take the design apart and rework things a bit for it to etch properly.

 

[Spud_Monkey]

My new ratcheting load binders arrived yesterday. I am super excited to try them out. They look like well made units. Peerless brand ratcheting load binders. I like the fold down handle, the rubber grip on the body, and the ability to install a pad lock on the mechanism.

Now I just need to buy something to haul..... It's getting harder to hide my purchases from the wife. All my interests are big, heavy and often confused as junk by the un educated.

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I have 6 of them and love them, just hook your chain across the load and take the slack up with those and bind it down, take excess slack and wrap it around the handle after you fold them down. Get some oil on them and keep them oiled they work beautiful.

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

@Flat Thunder Channel
Have you built any kind of stand for yours? [/QUOTE]

No I have not built a stand yet, but I plan on building a solid one. I am going to place a camera inside the box. This will allow me to watch the unit operate remotely (from the house or away from the work bench). I think a heavy grade polycarbonate will work fine, but the bright light could bother your eyes. When I watch mine work I'm overly paranoid. I usually place my shade 5 oxy/act glasses over the ones supplied with the laser. I too would like to let it operate without worrying about stray beams of light. With any luck the should box will include an exhaust fan too.

I haven't had any issues with mine jumping around. It's really smooth being a belt drive. On the table/stand I will place reference blocks to capture the feet, but this is only for repeatability. I am going to burn a reference grid in the table for alignment / work piece reference.

Try burning in a power grid matrix as a test. This will allow you to more easily select power and feed settings. I found wood works best at lower to mid power levels with medium speed & multiple passes. Too hot/slow scorches the wood.

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

I have 6 of them and love them, just hook your chain across the load and take the slack up with those and bind it down, take excess slack and wrap it around the handle after you fold them down. Get some oil on them and keep them oiled they work beautiful.

It sounds like a winning combination! I am excited to test these out.

 

[skyking1]

I picked up a 1 3/8" and 1 7/16" combo wrenches at tractor supply to change a couple of hoses on the 120.
Now I have to cut a couple of cheater pipes I don't have the horsepower to break the nuts loose.

 

[Spud_Monkey]

I picked up a 1 3/8" and 1 7/16" combo wrenches at tractor supply to change a couple of hoses on the 120.
Now I have to cut a couple of cheater pipes I don't have the horsepower to break the nuts loose.

I actually need those two wrenches myself here. You could always use a 4 lb maul to hit the wrench to bust it loose, like using a impact.

 

[colson04]

I actually need those two wrenches myself here. You could always use a 4 lb maul to hit the wrench to bust it loose, like using a impact.

I've done that many times over the years