Tool Time

[EWG]

AND ANOTHER THING. Screwdrivers. Let's start this fight up again.

The background, as alluded to, is that as my kids have left my house to go to college they are getting tool kits to go with them. But they get the old stuff, so I get to set up again in some areas where I didn't have multiple sets. Sweet for me. Screwdrivers, because they constantly wear out, are one of those areas.

I am a Klein guy. But I could be convinced to change. Trying to decide between Klein, Wera and Wiha.

You may propose another brand with compelling evidence.

Go.

[beaterdit]

Can’t hurt to test it a bit
(The ratio for road seems tight fore/aft 48/52 so that too will be an adjustment for me also [45/55]…maybe it shakes out all ok)

Splitting hairs but I’ve seen a few sources that recommend 50/50 if doing a lot of hills ie: descending. That’s mostly all I do on the road bike and how I roll. I’m only 145 dry and also in the 75-80 psi camp. 25mm tubeless tires, with sealant. I know bigger guys who roll 75 but still seems a bit scary to me conceptually.

edit: that Silca calculator has me at 90+ psi in multiple different scenarios. Seems out of date?

[HankScorpio]

Ok you guys are all using compressors for bike tires? Am I that far off the back? It was always beaten into my head by my wrenching mentors that they are inaccurate and not suitable for 110psi.

Am I just going full dinosaur here?

I mainly use my compressor to mount tubeless tires. I use the floor pump for almost everything else.


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[SKIP IN7RO]

AND ANOTHER THING. Screwdrivers. Let's start this fight up again.

The background, as alluded to, is that as my kids have left my house to go to college they are getting tool kits to go with them. But they get the old stuff, so I get to set up again in some areas where I didn't have multiple sets. Sweet for me. Screwdrivers, because they constantly wear out, are one of those areas.

I am a Klein guy. But I could be convinced to change. Trying to decide between Klein, Wera and Wiha.

You may propose another brand with compelling evidence.

Go.

PB Swiss, Felo, Picquic all available in red

[EWG]

PB Swiss, Felo, Picquic all available in red

As is Wiha, which I think is where I'm leaning if I don't just stay with Klein. But I've worked with a lot of German engineers doing work in the brewing industry, and the tolerances are fairly incredible, so I kinda want to try the German tools...

[Dee Hubbs]

PM’d you about the pump.

[J. Barron DeJong]

…I've worked with a lot of German engineers doing work in the brewing industry…

Huh. Wonder if we run in any overlapping circles. Ever been to Drinktec?

[jamal]

The silca calulator was way off for me especially for the mtb tires. Recommended something like 16psi. zipp one seems more consistent across sizes

https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure

was browsing hex wrenches the other day and came across these, might try a set

https://3989ac5bcbe1edfc864a-0a7f10f...ure/HexPro.pdf

[EWG]

Huh. Wonder if we run in any overlapping circles. Ever been to Drinktec?

Nope. By the time I was going to make the trip the bubble had started to burst. But I went to CBC for about 5-6 straight years.

[J. Barron DeJong]

Nope. By the time I was going to make the trip the bubble had started to burst. But I went to CBC for about 5-6 straight years.

Haven’t been to CBC. Our company does work on the filling/packaging side of high volume breweries, so about the only one that we work with that would be considered ‘craft’ would be Sam Adams. I don’t personally work on brewery stuff any more, but the company still does lots of work for all the mega breweries.

[bamboocoreONLY]

The silca calulator was way off for me especially for the mtb tires. Recommended something like 16psi. zipp one seems more consistent across sizes

https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure

was browsing hex wrenches the other day and came across these, might try a set

https://3989ac5bcbe1edfc864a-0a7f10f...ure/HexPro.pdf

I love pivot head hex wrenches in the shop. There's always a tight spot these help in.

[singlesline]

Lezyne seems to have stopped making it, but I upgraded to the "ABS-2" chuck ~5 years ago and have really liked it: https://www.thebike-shop.com/product...p-250389-1.htm

They make solid pumps for a reasonable price.

That said, I've been thinking about picking up one of these pumps with an air chamber for seating stubborn tubeless tires: https://www.blackburndesign.com/p/ch...100000018.html
I felt one in the shop and it seemed really solid, but I see a lot of reviews of premature failure...but maybe a lifetime warranty makes that risk OK?

[climberevan]

Speaking of chucks, the ENVE one that comes on their badass digital inflator (Dee, do you have one of those?) is pretty great. I like it better than the Silca Hiro. It's also (theoretically) cheaper. If can figure out how to buy one, I will. https://www.enve.com/product/presta-air-valve-chuck/

Lezyne also makes dual chamber pumps. https://ride.lezyne.com/collections/...sure-overdrive

[ticketchecker]

That is beautiful. And slightly shame inducing [emoji23] .


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Slightly?


Sent from the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen

[Dee Hubbs]

Speaking of chucks, the ENVE one that comes on their badass digital inflator (Dee, do you have one of those?) is pretty great. I like it better than the Silca Hiro. It's also (theoretically) cheaper. If can figure out how to buy one, I will. https://www.enve.com/product/presta-air-valve-chuck/

No I don’t have one of those, you think I just like burning money?
Although last night I did make an $2100 eBay bid on a Phill Wood Spoke Cutter that needed a $1200 factory service…. But that would have been practice.

Did you mean just the Enve inflator head, or the $750 Enve Pressure Station.

The only time I really use my compressor is to seat tubeless tires, or the blow gun to clean something out.
It’s kinda broken and does not shut off when the tank reaches full pressure, so it will constantly run. I’ve been watching HomeDepot for a great deal to come up, but I’d rather buy 6 over priced Japanese 1/4” sockets than a new compressor.

[climberevan]

Haha! Spoke cutter is definitely a good call. I can think of at least 2 times in the last 20 years when I would have used one, so maybe I'll bid against you.

I meant the whole inflator thing, which really is pretty badass. You should definitely try the chuck, at least.

I have like 6 air compressors so I assumed everyone would have at least 2. My shop one has a tiny leak that makes it come on in the middle of the night so the GF makes me turn it off.

If you're shopping, go for the California Air Tools super quiet ones. They are pretty nice and indeed incredibly quiet. I have one with dual aluminum tanks that is only like 40#.

[Dee Hubbs]

Haha! Spoke cutter is definitely a good call. I can think of at least 2 times in the last 20 years when I would have used one, so maybe I'll bid against you.

I have a Hozan spoke cutter to do one or 2 cuts. It’s handy to replace broken spokes as I only need to have full length banks at home, and then cut them to length.
But to cut full batches from blanks, a Phil Woods cutter is a must. But they are not available to buy, and their waitlist is 2+ years out.
Idiots are trying to sell them for $6000:
https://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/3206523/
I’ll eventually find an old shop getting rid of one for what they paid for it 20 years ago.

[singlesline]

Lezyne also makes dual chamber pumps. https://ride.lezyne.com/collections/...sure-overdrive

This little note seems like it would be exceedingly annoying though:

Note: When using the Digital Pressure Overdrive as a regular pump, you must fill the air chamber before air will begin to flow into empty tire/tube. When topping off a tire/tube that already has pressure in it, the chamber will have to reach the same pressure the tire/tube is at first before it will begin to inflate it further.

90+% of my floor pump use is adjusting pressure on already-seated tires. Hook it up, make 4-5 strokes, unhook, etc. Having to equalize pressure into the tubeless chamber with extra strokes every time you want to add a little air to the tire would be a pain.

[VTskibum]

This little note seems like it would be exceedingly annoying though:

Note: When using the Digital Pressure Overdrive as a regular pump, you must fill the air chamber before air will begin to flow into empty tire/tube. When topping off a tire/tube that already has pressure in it, the chamber will have to reach the same pressure the tire/tube is at first before it will begin to inflate it further.

90+% of my floor pump use is adjusting pressure on already-seated tires. Hook it up, make 4-5 strokes, unhook, etc. Having to equalize pressure into the tubeless chamber with extra strokes every time you want to add a little air to the tire would be a pain.

This is the exact feedback I've heard from a few people with these. The day to day PITA factor of that far outweighs the less occasional tubeless installation. I have a small pancake compressor I use, but honestly more often just use my Specialized Air Tool MTB pump, which is best I've ever used.

[EWG]

Phil Wood spoke cutter. For all your dentistry needs.

Dee was already in a league of his own, and this within a small subset of the population, in TGR, where there are some serious tool hounds. Add a Phil Wood spoke cutter and, at that point, I think he just ascends to the clouds.

And am I the only one who is having trouble reconciling that statement with the one about waiting for a $150 pancake compressor to go on sale at Home Depot? Fuck Dee, you literally have plier sets that cost more than that. Buy the damn compressor.

[Dee Hubbs]

And am I the only one who is having trouble reconciling that statement with the one about waiting for a $150 pancake compressor to go on sale at Home Depot? Fuck Dee, you literally have plier sets that cost more than that. Buy the damn compressor.

Or a 3/8" ratchet (and maybe a 1/4")

[rideit]

Relax, Dee is just waiting for this to go on sale.

https://www.processingmagazine.com/n...air-compressor

Or one of these used.

[Dee Hubbs]

Picked up some new sliding T-handle hex wrenches.



I saw some USAG ones on sale, and figured I’d give them a try.

https://www.usag.it/catalog/en/produ...th_sliding_bar

They are an Italian brand, (I alwas assumed they were American) and have a good reputation in the Motorcycle mechanic circle.
I saw them on sale on a tool site that only sells European and Japanese imported tools, and all the USAG were on sale, plus a site wide coupon made them half the (full) price of the similar PB Swiss sliding hex set.
They only arrived yesterday, just before a business trip today, so I was only able to unpack them, color code them and hang them on the tool wall.
Mrs Dee wanted to know why I was in the garage instead of packing my suitcase for our trip.
I didn’t dare tell her it was because of new tools….

[Gunder]

Ok, most of you have seen my Home Ski Bench setup over in Tech Talk... figured its time I post the bike side of things my home shop
My main bench for bike stuff

The vice is a 6" Wilton tradesman that I picked up for $75 and restored.
The screwdrivers are PB Swiss (I have a full set) and Wera with the strike handles. I dont use them often, but the WERA's with the ¼ Drive socket adapter in the heads is nice for stubborn screws.

The T handles are a full set of PBSwiss by .5mm I dont think I have ever used some of the odd sizes like 7mm... but I picked them up in Switzerland years ago when there was a pretty good exchange rate.

These are Hout drill index's, I have a full set of fractional, Number, Letter, Silver Deming, as well as metric, plus Fosters and Left hand drills ( for removing stuck bolts).

That green unit on top of the left hadn't drill index is a drill bit sharpener.... its nice to have, especially if you drill lots of steel.
The cabinets under the bench are a set of Vidmar's that I restored and painted with a full automotive paint system. That painting project was practice for the lathe I am restoring.

The Vidmar's make Snapon tool boxes look cheaply made. Each drawer is rated for over 500Lb's and they are way deeper than a standard box, so you can fit more shit in them... in this case tools.
I rarely use T wrenches these days. As I prefer the PB Swiss screwdriver handles for assembly with hex and Torx. For taking shit apart, or torquing it, down, sockets all the way for me.

The Wera driver is a torque limiting screw driver. The Torque wrenches are all Snapon, with the exception of one being a CDI. Snapon owns CDI and they are identical except the Snapon ones have a nicer handle the CDI is ¼ the price. All of my sockets are PBSwiss for Torx and metric hex, the rest are Snapon. PB Swiss makes the best hex sockets I have found. They are hard to find, but are worth it as they last forever, like I am still using them a decade latter. I'd like to try the Nepros sockets at some point. My rachets are all Snapon and Nepros. I find I gravitate toward the Nepros ratchets each time. I especially like their ⅜ as it is in the same body as their long ¼ drive. For confined areas the Snapon TZERO with its spraug clutch is really nice (same tech as an Industry 9 hub). Those hex keys are WERA stainless steel and I forget what they called that specific set, but they have a unique tip that will often grab stripped hex heads that nothing else will.

All of my sockets are Snapon Flank Drive plus, with the exception of the mid length sockets, I prefer standard flank drive for those as the Flank Drive plus tolerances can be too tight on rusted fasteners.
This is my ½ drive socket drawer, once again all Snapon, including the impacts.

Al of my Crowfeet are also Snapon.

These are my go to for doing any suspension work, or working on seatposts. However you can always use a Park Cone wrench as a Crowfoot.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...e-jpg.1676371/
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...e-jpg.1676374/
Thats a good trick to know. I just used it last week on a Vorspring Smashpot conversion as its the only thing that would fit in the narrow slot.
On to the Bike specific tools

I prefer Felco for cable cutters these days, and Unior for chain Link pliers. The Knipex are flush cut pliers specific for plastics IE zip ties. The long grey pliers are made by VAR and are cable end ferrule crimpers. Most of the BB sockets are for E-bikes these days, with the exception of the ChrisKing one. Supposedly Abbey is about to launch a set of these this fall and I will be upgrading. I really like the Abbey chain wrench for removing front sprockets on E-Bikes, but prefer the Pedros vicegrip for cassettes. I am big fan of the Abbie Crombie as well as the Crombie socket.

This is my drawer for dealing with Bike hydraulics, brakes / suspension. The chamferless sockets and dust wiper installers are all Abbey. I really like the Park bleeders as well. The two grey shafts at top are FOX factory tools for loosening the ends of the fork shafts. The union strap wrench is awesome on air cans. For seal / oil ring removal, I use a variety of tools, but mostly the brass / plastic picks in the middle, or the Matthew (Identical to snapon) seal remover set (bottom) for really stubborn ones. The park sealant injector is nice for tubeless setups as I tend to use more sealant than recommended.

This is my bearing removal drawer. I've not found a press system that I am fully stoked on. I like the Abbey press better than the Park one for pivot's but the park one has a better cup system for those. The Park has a quicker method of setting up the press. Unfortunately they use different sized shafts, so not that compatible... once I finish my lathe rebuild, I will probably make these all custom as needed.

Shaft clamps and crown race puller. I almost never used the derailleur hanger alignment tool. Especially since switching all of my bikes over to AXS. If I have shifting issues, 99% of the time its a hanger and for $20 its not worth trying to straighten them.

All of my pliers are either Knipex or Engineer. I like the Engineer ones for screw removal, and their nylon tip ones can be good for suspension rebuilds. For a while Craftsman was rebranding the Knipex and I picked up a few before they stopped at ⅓ the normal price.

For retaining rings, I prefer Wiha as their tips are angled and notched to prevent the rings from going flying. For other snap rings, I like a combination of Knipex and Wilde. Wilde makes these for Proto / Snapon... they are all identical other than the lable on them, and if you shop around you can pick them up quite easily for reasonable prices.

Hammer drawer... most dont get used much as I keep both Craftsman and a PBSwiss soft blow hanging up for easy reach. PBSwiss is the way to go for these IMOP. A few of those claw heads where my great-grandfathers and are over 100 years old.

Files, one set is dedicated to steel, one set thats specific for ALU and other non-ferris soft metals and a third set for wood. I like the Snapon handles, so use these on some of the non-snapon made files.

Metric wrenches, all Snapon, I have a full set of Flankdrive plus, plus a full set of ratcheting. The wrenches in the top left are Snapon Low-Torque. These are my go to for suspension work, they are very thin (not quite as thin as cone wrenches), but they won't sractch delicate suspension coatings as they have a very high polish on them. Expensive, but cheaper than fucking up a critical part.

My SAE wrenches are also all snapon with full sets of Flankdrive plus and in ratcheting. Those hex keys are the very hard to find full set of PBSwiss in Inch.

Picks, splungers and scribes. The Snapon picks maybe one of their best products... especially for the price. I find I use the dental pics a lot. Its worth buying medical grade for these, as they are much harder, stronger tips, plus they have small blades sharpened into them. I believe these are made by Hu-Friedley, but I'd lave to go look at them. Knipex is my go to for tweezers and their ball bearing tweezers really come in handy.

Punches and drifts. I have full set in both steel and brass. All of the steel ones are Starrett. They are the cats meow (I'm luke warm on their brass ones, I think Mayhew is better). Alignment punches are at the top center, followed by Starrett center punches. Their automatic punch is unrivaled. The set of brass punches bellow the red box are roll pin specific punches. To the right is a set of brass and steel starter punches. These have special concave tips, so they do not wander when you are trying to free a pin.
The red box is a set of PBSwiss metic punches.

They are nice, but I bent the small one. Starretts are stronger but only available in inch sizes. Next time I would get the shorter PB Swiss metic set without the handles.

Electrical. The crimpers on the right are Knipex multi crimps. I have not found anything they won't do, or that they dont make dies for. The bottom is a set of Snapon pin removers for electrical connections. These are going to get more commonly needed with E-bikes. As are the set of contact files, contact cleaning brushes and contact cleaning tweezers above. The contact cleaning tweezers are especially helpful to clean contacts on Ebike batteries and chargers where a contact brush won't fit. Back when I used to do a lot of camera repair, the contact cleaning brushes, especially with the fiberglass brush was a go to tool.

[Gunder]

Precision measuring. It's not worth waisting time or money on anything but Starrett or Mitutoyo here. Japan wins for the digital calipers and USA wins for the squares. Above the square set is a set of drill gauges. The exception here, is tape measures. I love the Fastcap ones. I have a inch / metric for general use and a dedicated metric one for cabinet making / wood working, as all of my wood working tools are Festool.

Incra makes nice rullers for layout work. The brass 45 is made by Bridge City Tools... those where the top of the top until they sold the company and now all of their new stuff is Chinese junk. The Starrett dual indicators are for tramming in the head of my mill.

Machine tool stuff. The parallels are all Starrett. The indicator holders are NOGA. For Tap Handles, nothing comes close to Starrett. Use them once and you will never touch a hardware store tap handle again. The Starrett tap guide is also a must for precision. I find that I use their bench block way more than I thought I would.

I keep all of my Taps, Dies and thread chasers organized by size. I am also starting to leave the correct tap drill in each bin, so I dont have to look them up each time.

Automotive tools. Once you use one of these ratcheting brake pad spreaders, you will never change your brakes any other way.

For nuts and bolt storage, etc, I have 3 sets of safe deposit boxes that I repurposed. Each drawer is its own thread size, so I can take it with me to a the work. I keep wood screws, bike parts by brand, etc, etc in the red plastic storage boxes. I hate waisting time looking for shit, so its all organzied.

I have a large FAMCO arbor press that I use for most bearings and pins. I also machined an adapter for it, so I can punch ski boots. Its from Kenosha WI, same as Snapon and the quality matches.
With that set of tools, there is rarely something I'm not set up for, but in the rare event that I do run into that situation, I have a Bridgeport, that I fully tore apart to the very last screw and fully rebuild when I bought it.


My current project is a 1944 Monarch 10EE Lathe. It was built for and delivered to Westinghouse for work on the Manhattan project at Hanford, so it quite literally helped win the war. I bought it a year ago, and am about half way done. So far I have fully stripped it, painted the main casting, and have fully rebuilt the DC Motor, rebuilt the DC Exciter and have rebuilt, and converted the 3 Phase AC motor / Generator unit to run on single phase.



Here I am testing the DC motor with a MEGGER after redoing all of it.

Same with the 3 Phase AC motor after converting it from 9 wire to 12 so I can run it on Single Phase without a VFD or rotary converter.


I have hand tied all of the wire looms. This creates a way tighter wire bundle than zip ties, its pretty quick to do (especially if you have ever set up a rope line at a ski area) and is the same as the factory originally used.

Here is a thread on the Monarch 10EE Rebuild.

Between the Bridgeport and the lathe (once its done) The bike industry can kiss my ass with its ever changing "standards".

If you guys want any details pics of any of the tools or have any of the questions, happy to help.