Tool Time

[Dumbest Known Time]

Hahahaha. Holy shit.

[climberevan]

Fuck, man. Just....fuck.

[Gunder]

A few more tid bits. Milton makes the best inflator I’ve ever used. The rest are shit.

it has a bunch of quick change tips. I use these two most.

For Air guns the coilhose pneumatics Typhoon is un matched

For oil and grease I like to use syringes and syringe bottles. Plus Boeshield T9 is way cheaper by the gallon.

For bike stands I’m using a Park Pro Stand mounted upside down to the ceiling so it telescopes out of the way.

it works well, but I think EVT is better. I really want to make a custom one once the lathe is done. I already have a large list in the waiting for lathe projects.

An ultrasonic cleaner is a must have for drive trains not to mention a shit ton of other uses.

I’ve shit kicked this one. Once it dies I’m going to invest in a larger one and plumb it into the shop sink.

For knives I’m a big fan of this Knipex and my old Snapon


Another must have is a good flashlight. I really like this solid titanium D4V2 it’s stupid bright.

and has a magnetic base.


And of course good drills and impacts are a must.


I do want to pick up a Snapon ¼ and ⅜ impact wrench to go with the power ratchet I have, but keep waiting for a deal on them.

Finally for shit that won’t budge, map gas and Posi lock pullers and blind bearing pullers.


At the end of the day, its worth investing in good quality tools. I cant afford cheap tools as its cheaper to just buy good shit the first time around. Plus for what bike shops charge for a full tune up these days, or suspension work, they pay for themselves in short time.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cd6MM...d=NmZiMzY2Mjc=

[Buzzworthy]

Is there such a thing as tool insurance because damn dood

[::: :::]

I dunno man, you could buy a lot of shop tunes liquidating all that

what is your day job again?
is your camera gear this intense?

[EWG]

We are not in fucking Kansas anymore.

I’m reeling.

[Gunder]

Is there such a thing as tool insurance because damn dood

Yes, its usually a rider on your home insurance. I have mine under a commercial policy but this a good reminder, its probable time to update it.

I dunno man, you could buy a lot of shop tunes liquidating all that

what is your day job again?
is your camera gear this intense?

HA, When I was in a local shop a couple of weeks ago picking up a rebuild kit, a full tune was something like $400. fuck that.

The camera gear is even more dialed as it pays for the rest of the shit I own.

I have found few things over the years about buying tools. Never pay retail, and Ideally get someone else to buy them for you.

Years ago I hosted Bike Mag's Bible buyers guide issue out of my house. I was gifted a complete set of Park tools by park for that. Granted over the years I have slowly been replacing a lot of that stuff with tools that I like better for specific jobs. I am a firm believer in never paying full retail for tools. For example you can often get Snapon brand new in the packaging off of Ebay for less than 50% of retail. I have also found if you show up on a tool truck with cash, you can often get a good deal... Snapon's bread and butter of corporate profits ins't selling tools, its financing tools to techs, when you pay cash, the driver keeps a lot of those profits and is motivated to make a deal. Tools always go on sale for Christmas and usually fathers day, it worth waiting to buy them until then, unless you absolutely need them to do a job that has to get done immediately. Also, Knipex and Festool is usually way cheaper on Amazon.de than it is from a US retailer, especially if exchange rates are favorable.

It pays dividends to invest the time to learn to fix your own shit, regardless if its bikes, cars, home stuff. None of it is rocket science. If you are paying someone else to work on your stuff, you are not only buying them their tools, but paying them handsomely for their time and knowledge. I learned a long time ago, anytime you have something that needs to get fixed, for less than the cost of paying someone to fix it, you can go buy the best tools money can buy. Then next time you need to do the same repair ( there will always be a next time) all it will cost you is parts and the more you do it the faster it gets... so it just gets cheaper. A few examples, around here a brake job on my truck is $1500+. it costs less than $60 for really good ratcheting brake caliper spreaders, buying top of the line parts is maybe $500 and it only takes me 15 minutes, so in 15 minutes work, I save close to a thousand bucks.... thats a pretty good hourly rate you are essentially paying yourself.

Another example, we needed new cabinets for one of the rooms in our house. For less than the cost of every quote we got, I was able to buy a full set of festools, a cabinet saw and use better materials to build nicer cabinets. When I redo my office at some point, its only going to cost me the building materials.... I'm just waiting for building materials to come back down to reasonable prices for that project.

Pre dad days, I used to do quite a bit of catalog shoots in the bike industry and was building and tearing down lots of bikes for those. Part of those contracts included a budget for the tools and time needed for that, so I got them to buy many of the tools. Since this is all for work, I also get to claim it all as a tax deduction as well. Finally when I help friends out with their bikes, ski mounts etc, they always gift me beer. So I dont buy beer. That alone pays for all of the tools as I really like to drink beer.

[EWG]

Yes, its usually a rider on your home insurance. I have mine under a commercial policy but this a good reminder, its probable time to update it.



HA, When I was in a local shop a couple of weeks ago picking up a rebuild kit, a full tune was something like $400. fuck that.

The camera gear is even more dialed as it pays for the rest of the shit I own.

I have found few things over the years about buying tools. Never pay retail, and Ideally get someone else to buy them for you.

Years ago I hosted Bike Mag's Bible buyers guide issue out of my house. I was gifted a complete set of Park tools by park for that. Granted over the years I have slowly been replacing a lot of that stuff with tools that I like better for specific jobs. I am a firm believer in never paying full retail for tools. For example you can often get Snapon brand new in the packaging off of Ebay for less than 50% of retail. I have also found if you show up on a tool truck with cash, you can often get a good deal... Snapon's bread and butter of corporate profits ins't selling tools, its financing tools to techs, when you pay cash, the driver keeps a lot of those profits and is motivated to make a deal. Tools always go on sale for Christmas and usually fathers day, it worth waiting to buy them until then, unless you absolutely need them to do a job that has to get done immediately. Also, Knipex and Festool is usually way cheaper on Amazon.de than it is from a US retailer, especially if exchange rates are favorable.

It pays dividends to invest the time to learn to fix your own shit, regardless if its bikes, cars, home stuff. None of it is rocket science. If you are paying someone else to work on your stuff, you are not only buying them their tools, but paying them handsomely for their time and knowledge. I learned a long time ago, anytime you have something that needs to get fixed, for less than the cost of paying someone to fix it, you can go buy the best tools money can buy. Then next time you need to do the same repair ( there will always be a next time) all it will cost you is parts and the more you do it the faster it gets... so it just gets cheaper. A few examples, around here a brake job on my truck is $1500+. it costs less than $60 for really good ratcheting brake caliper spreaders, buying top of the line parts is maybe $500 and it only takes me 15 minutes, so in 15 minutes work, I save close to a thousand bucks.... thats a pretty good hourly rate you are essentially paying yourself.

Another example, we needed new cabinets for one of the rooms in our house. For less than the cost of every quote we got, I was able to buy a full set of festools, a cabinet saw and use better materials to build nicer cabinets. When I redo my office at some point, its only going to cost me the building materials.... I'm just waiting for building materials to come back down to reasonable prices for that project.

Pre dad days, I used to do quite a bit of catalog shoots in the bike industry and was building and tearing down lots of bikes for those. Part of those contracts included a budget for the tools and time needed for that, so I got them to buy many of the tools. Since this is all for work, I also get to claim it all as a tax deduction as well. Finally when I help friends out with their bikes, ski mounts etc, they always gift me beer. So I dont buy beer. That alone pays for all of the tools as I really like to drink beer.

Ok, reality check here.

For 99% of the world I have a really nice bike tool collection. Or had (it's maybe a bit out of date for some of the newer stuff). My construction tools are also pretty sweet, IMO. Like Gunder, many of my bike tools came from when I was more deeply in the bike industry - in my case, running a bike team sponsored by Pedros. For years I was unofficial bike tech support for a number of triathlon pros, on and off road, and was close to some bike shops, which is where all the Park and other tools came from. All at wholesale, prodeal or cheaper.

I also have a construction background (long story), and did a bunch of the work on my home myself, including a full kitchen cabinet install and custom steel/cable rail railings/guardrails, etc. I, like Gunder, essentially view projects as the opportunity to purchase permanently whatever tools that project needs. I agree with everything you said about doing stuff yourself and building your resources. I also love nice tools.

That said, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, GUNDER?!?!?!

Jesus, dude, your tool collection is way the fuck past what you need to do those jobs. It's essentially unbelievable. It's like saying I needed a local church so I built the Vatican. Dee's tool collection is fucking ridiculous and inspires insane jealousy. Yours, on the other hand, is so over the top it just makes me numb. I don't know what to think.

Nice.
Fucking.
Work.

I think the response I've settled on here is about a 5 minute slow golf clap. Well fucking done. I'm glad this shit exists somewhere.

[Gunder]

Ok, reality check here.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, GUNDER?!?!?!

Jesus, dude, your tool collection is way the fuck past what you need to do those jobs. It's essentially unbelievable. It's like saying I needed a local church so I built the Vatican. Dee's tool collection is fucking ridiculous and inspires insane jealousy. Yours, on the other hand, is so over the top it just makes me numb. I don't know what to think.

Nice.
Fucking.
Work.

I think the response I've settled on here is about a 5 minute slow golf clap. Well fucking done. I'm glad this shit exists somewhere.

HA. Its important to note that I didnt develop my collection of tools overnight, its been decades in the making. The key for me has been to only buy quality tools from the start. That way I am not constantly replacing broken ones, or "upgrading"...and remember at times, I have been Boarderline on having the same workload as some bike shops with the catalog shoots I used to do, or the Bike mag tests, etc.

The big take away I think here, is to identify what tools you will either use the most, or save you the most money on DIY projects than patiently wait for deals on those tools to materialize... dont just got out and buy a bunch of shit, especially at retail. Hell, I think the only thing in that entire collection, I actually paid full retail for is probably a BB tool or two that I needed for a specific job, and a few of the taps, that once again I needed to complete a specific project. So when I have "upgraded" a tool, I usually sell the previous one for either what I paid for it or in some cases more.

The machine tools are another example of buying smart. I bought the Bridgeport for $1500 and it came with over 10K worth of like new tooling. After rebuilding it, I probably got a total of $2k in it and I could easily sell it for over 5. The lathe will be worth quite a bit more when done.

[XXX-er]

So tools aren't really like crack to a tradesman ?

[adrenalated]

Jesus, dude, your tool collection is way the fuck past what you need to do those jobs. It's essentially unbelievable.

So you mean to say that having the specific specialty tools of a bike shop, machine shop, auto mechanic shop, and tradesmen, all under one roof, but much nicer tools than most of those individual professional shops would have, is somehow unnecessary? I don't believe you.

[EWG]

So you mean to say that having the specific specialty tools of a bike shop, machine shop, auto mechanic shop, and tradesmen, all under one roof, but much nicer tools than most of those individual professional shops would have, is somehow unnecessary? I don't believe you.

You forgot small electronics repair.

[Gunder]

So you mean to say that having the specific specialty tools of a bike shop, machine shop, auto mechanic shop, and tradesmen, all under one roof, but much nicer tools than most of those individual professional shops would have, is somehow unnecessary? I don't believe you.

You forgot small electronics repair.

Ha. You can probably add plumbing to that list too... I just haven't posted those drawers as they are a bit of a shit show. I haven't found a good way to organize them yet...

Lets face it, I like to work with my hands. I am very fortunate that I get paid to live my lifestyle, ski, bike and travel. So just about the only thing I actually spend money on is tools, and I get to write them off as well. I find working in my shop relaxing and and I enjoy it, especially after spending hours on the computer editing photos. It's also the one time I actually use my Engineering Degree.

Its one thing to own good quality tools, but its also important that you do quality work with them. If you are going to invest in them, than you should also invest in doing good quality work as well. I personally dont believe in doing anything half ass.... I learned a long time ago, that if I do something half ass it always comes back and bites me in the ass. So I always strive to do everything at 100% of my best, wether that is my day job, my garden, riding bikes, or making shit in the shop.

This is a set of night stands I built for my wife last year as an anniversary present to match the bed my dad built for us as a wedding present.






They are solid mahogany, with solid birds eye maple fronts and dovetailed baltic birch drawers.



This is a custom camera plate I made for my 1DXMK3 cameras. It is about ⅓ the thickness of any of the commercially available tripod plates, so it is way more comfortable in the hand, but more importantly to me, weighs a hell of a lot less.

With good technique its possible to do good work with way cheaper tools, but if your are seeking that last 10% of quality and performance, high quality tools are the key.

[EWG]

New tool day.

[Gunder]

New tool day.

You are going to like those hex-plus keys.

[EWG]

You are going to like those hex-plus keys.

Was working on a guitar bridge with the 1.5 and it was pure joy.

[Dee Hubbs]

Going backwards to a regular hex key (especially a cheaper brand) after using the hex plus feels weak and sloppy.

[J. Barron DeJong]

New tool day!



(Apologies, Gunder. Intent isn’t to make you jealous.)

[Gunder]

New tool day!



(Apologies, Gunder. Intent isn’t to make you jealous.)

Nice, those look pretty good. These are the 3 sets I own.

The Wolftooths live in my riding pack, and they double as tire levers. The Unior's in the middle are my go to these days. They are about 15mm longer than the Park ones and have lower profile nose. Plus they just feel better than the Park's. The Parks have been relegated to my travel bag. The tips are wide enough they dont fit as easily into a 12 speed chain as the Unior's and they are too stiff. Plus its nice having the spring feature on these types of pliers IMOP.

[climberevan]

Let's start a game: post a pic of a tool that you own and which fully satisfies the need you have. Then Gunder will post a pic of the 2-6 examples of tools he has that fit the same niche.

Winner is the person who stumps Gunder. Here's the best effort I can come up with today. I have 4 of these.

[EWG]

Let's start a game: post a pic of a tool that you own and which fully satisfies the need you have. Then Gunder will post a pic of the 2-6 examples of tools he has that fit the same niche.

Winner is the person who stumps Gunder. Here's the best effort I can come up with today. I have 4 of these.

Did you not see the furniture he built? He probably has like 50 solutions to the problem this solves.

But I like the game.

[adrenalated]

Most of my more obscure yet useful tools needed to go into storage temporarily so here's the best I can do right now:

[Gunder]

Let's start a game: post a pic of a tool that you own and which fully satisfies the need you have. Then Gunder will post a pic of the 2-6 examples of tools he has that fit the same niche.

Winner is the person who stumps Gunder. Here's the best effort I can come up with today. I have 4 of these.

I do not own a single miter clamp. In fact I sold all of the ones that I did own. I dont have a need for them, as I use my Festool Domino for just about every wood joint. For box's I like to use dovetails.


For cutting miter's or doing most cross cuts, I have a Festool Kapex.

I replaced it's fence, with Incra rails, as they are super precise for making repeated cuts.

For dovetails, or most router projects, I have a router lift built into the wing of my cabinet saw. I use the Incra fence system for that, as it allows you to cut super precise dovetails or any box joint for that matter without the need for a dedicated jig.

I didnt like the lack of dust collection on the top side, so I machined up some AL, and made a dust collection port for it.


For dust collection, I use a Festool Midi with Bluetooth for most of my tools. I own a Festool CT15 that lives under the miter saw and is dedicated to it.

One of my next projects after I finish the lathe will be do re-do the wings for my cabinet saw. My plan is to build it into a custom cutting station that not only incorporates the router lift, but will also incorporate a custom version of Festoo'ls MFT table system with dedicated mounts / cutting slots for both ripping and cross cut setups with my track saw.

[Gunder]

Most of my more obscure yet useful tools needed to go into storage temporarily so here's the best I can do right now:

Too easy.

I also have its magnetic brother.

I also have some Storz Grasping Laparoscopy Forceps I ordered that should be here any day now.

I ordered those with the specific purpose of routing cables in E-bikes as they are a pain in the ass to route between the motor and frame. They will supplement my Park internal cable routing kit.

[toast2266]

Is it bad that I think the most impressive part of Gunder's shop is how clean it is?