Any of you lot welders? Going around in circles wondering about starting welding. Stick, MIG, TIG & the rest of the bloody acronym list... What would you start with? Stick looks more likely to teach the process from scratch (geddit ), but TIG looks far more useful, if a hundred or two more on startup. Not gonna be doing much, but there's an increasing list of 'it might be nice to have the facility' jobs.
Probably everything... That's my issue - it's a wide range of very varied possible jobs, hence TIG appealing. Was supposed to meet with giant blacksmith mate & have a go at some stuff, but, y'know, the bloody C-word intervened.
Haven't done any in years but I vote MIG as the most versatile, especially for small thin hobby stuff. But since the title is 'More Power' - Oxy Acetylene!
I've got loads of old tools of my dad's, very well made, including an old adjustable spanner like the one pictured at the start of this thread, pliers, trowels, screwdriver, saw, and his old pipe tobacco tins in which he kept his nails and screws. Most of these I still use, and I would never throw them out. No such thing as junk.
Here's some inspiration [to buy some more kit]: WWII 1944 REME TRAINING PAMPHLET WELDING TECHNIQUES OXY ACETYLENE ARC WAR OFFICE | eBay
Bosch multi-material drill bits. The blue ones, preferably in an impact driver Completely awesome. Wall tiles, brick, concrete, wood, plastic, metal. You won't usually get as clean a hole in wood as material specific bits & they often need a crisp punch mark in metal, but good lord they're handy. I may even like them as much as Forstners, and that's saying something. And who knew you could get sanding belt cleaning blocks?! (Probably quite a few of you, and you really should have mentioned it before.) Also superb. Adam Savage's YouTube channel is quite bad for the tool-addicted. He plainly has larger pockets than most, but his enthusiastic chatting about favourite tools while making odd stuff has inspired several 'I need want that' moments here. Worth a shufti: Tools: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJtitKU0CAehVwewqUdsYrDqg9Kp1jQvj Stuff: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJtitKU0CAegGi2QUH6ywt4EkjcR0jVam Etc. (The Ghostbusters thing turned into a long restoration of a vac form machine. And now I want to build one.) Adam Savage's Tested - YouTube
Nut-F$&kers! Ultimate nut-f-er in the post yesterday. Manual/Hammer Impact Driver. Never owned one before. There is a bolt with its name on it at work... Or a trip to A&E... No middle ground. SDS Drill & chisels arriving tomorrow. 'It was a great offer.' Sigh.
Y'know those 'pro' power tools? The ones that cost twice as much as the 'DIY' versions? Can't be worth the extra, can they? Bollocks. Impact & Driver acquired. Night & day. 3" Screws into oak in one shot... Slightly frightening. Even drilling simple holes is quicker/neater/easier to align. As for through metal... 'Oh. Errrm. That's what x bit's supposed to do then?' I may have a 'rotary tool' problem. Sigh. Bugger. Etc.
Stop it! I keep nearly buying things like that on eBay. Possible dangerous extension of my 'let's see if we can make this cack Chinesium tool actually work properly with hours of pointless tweaking' side-hobby.
Chinesium !? Good old British Empire stuff. See Australian Town and Country Journal Sat 18 May 1889, found on Trove. A Portable Power Drill. The accompanying engravings show the construction and a few of the special applications of a new portable drill, which is driven by power, has an automatic feed, and is intended to be used in any position where ratchet or other portable drills can be used, possessing some distinct advantages in the facility with which it can be adjusted to any desired position, and in the rapidity and accuracy of the work it is capable of doing.
Aware, mate The reference more to the dangerous escalation to a more space-destroying, expensive world of tool recovery. I keep looking at ancient rusty things & wondering if they'll fit in the garage/cellar/living room... Shapers look fascinating.
See page 189 of the final edition of "CAM" here: https://wartimecanada.ca/sites/default/files/documents/CAM 2-10_0.pdf
Simple genius. I have struggled with assorted cured ham knives. Sorted. https://youtube.com/shorts/HHk9mRS-Ilo?feature=share
