skfarmer has been a slacker

[skfarmer]

the last few months i have been busy as hell with lots of things. we have been cleaning my mom's house getting it ready for sale. meeting with attorneys to clean up the estate.  getting an appraisal on the house and showing to a couple interested parties. throw all of my other normal activities and well you get the idea.


anyhow, i have still been picking up things that i feel make my life easier....... oh i won't lie, some of them just make me happy.

get ready cuz here come lots of pics. let me know if you want more info on any particular item.

[skfarmer]

us general rolling 5 drawer rolling cart with side shelf. as some of you know, i have us general 72 inch cabinet with a montezuma crossover chest. i really like that setup and it serves me well but honestly it is just too damn heavy to push and pull around my shop. throw in the fact that when my shop is packed full there is just no room to maneuver a large cabinet around.

i have "lightly" stocked it with basic sets of sae and metric 3/8 sockets and wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, hammers bars and a few other odds and ends. it also has a cordless drill 1/4 hex impact driver, 3/8 impact flaslight and the basic accessories to go with them. that keeps it light and allows room to throw in job specific tools and have some foldable work space.  i want to keep it light enough to drag out into the yard for projects too large to fit inside as well.

[skfarmer]

maddox ball joint press. probably won't use this on many ball joints but got tired of bashing up u joints with a hammer in a vice or not having enough hands to hold everything straight in my 20 ton press with not enough hands. will probably add the accessory kit in the future.

[skfarmer]

wilde 12 pc punch and chisel set  with a few extra pin punch sizes. i really wanted a compact set of punches for the cart and when i saw the rubber holder to keep them organized i was sold.  the fact that all of it was on the 15% menards bag sale for slighly over 40 bucks i couldn't go wrong.

[skfarmer]

i had an old ancient set of sk impacts, 3/8 drive metric. really liked them but they were lacking a lot of sizes. this new sk set should keep me covered with no skips and the thought of them never being available again. well i guess it was a want.

[skfarmer]

titan pistol grip pliers. says made in china but they are really well made. i have been eyeing a set of these for years and finally scratched the itch

[skfarmer]

90 tooth gearwrench ratchets. i ordered these out of acme last summer. these fill a couple niches. i really like the single pawl danaher style ratchets. matco, armstrong etc.  with 60-88 clicks depending on the brand and vintage. some claim the 90 click models are inferior to the older, lower click models but i am going to figure that out on my own.

i didn't have a shorter locking flex in 1/2 and  and 1/4 and 3/8 are longer than my armstrong versions. that checked off a few want/need boxes and the softer/longer handles check off a few more boxes. they just plain feel good in my hands and ergonomics are now a factor. something i never though of only a few years ago.

the locking flex was a 3 pc. set and the long 3/8 was a single.

[hickory n Steel]

I assembled one of those carts for my dad.
It seems like a well made box.

[goodfellow]

Those are some very nice purchases Harlan. Good tools all. The SK set is a no brainer -- especially now that they (the company) have been sold. It's getting harder to find good US made NOS. Especially Craftsman and SK -  prices are going up rapidly.

The HF ball joint press is a keeper. That Maddox line is a big step above the old HF Pittsburgh offerings.

[bonneyman]

Agreed, nice stuff all around.

Ergonomics has become a big thing for me. As a youngin I could abuse my body and shake it off. Now more and more things cause pain - and it takes a week to subside. Gotta find a work around, and ergonomic tools really do help.

I have a pair of pistol grip needle nose I've had for 25 years. The design allowed me to see the tips when reaching into an electrical box. A necessary quality! Regular needle nose just wouldn't work for that. Some tool guy at the swap meet took Klein tools and did modifications to them. The bent grip needle nose was one I liked. Here it is in a grouping of work tools.

And you are wise to grab any NOS American S-K when you can. Those are going to get scarce and expensive in the future.