what LARGER new tool are you looking to acquire?

[grumpyvette]

most of us have new years resolutions where we try to improve over the last years,
most of us want to do the common, deals of loosing weight, exercising more, make more money etc.
but on this thread, Id like you to post ,what LARGER new tool are you looking to acquire?
theres hundreds of things most of us wish we had that are on a wish list we are working on?
is it a CAR LIFT?
CAR TRANSPORT TRAILER
an engine crane with engine leveler?
a new torque wrench?
better jack stands?
a better engine stand?
IR temp gun?
new larger tool chest?
oil change drain/collection tank?
better battery charger?
solvent parts cleaner sink?
belt sander?
cross cut miter saw?
welding table?
engine test stand?
flow bench?
car ramps?
a paint spray booth?
a cam degree wheel?
dial indicators?
new multi meter?
new trouble code scanner?
valve spring compressors?
exhaust gas analyzer?
air compressor?
paint spray guns?
air ratchet tools
a bead blaster,
new TIG or MIG welder?
MILL?
DRILL PRESS?
LATHE?
hydraulic press?
https://www.drilldoctor.com/compare-drill-bit-sharpeners

if you can afford to buy one a MILL is a great shop tool addition

yeah a mill may be very expensive but its a great asset in this hobby.
I doubt many people are as involved with engine building as a hobby as I have over time become,
but having watched people that work in "MACHINE SHOPS "
that really should not have access to anything more high tech,
than a screw driver It became all too obvious I needed a mill.
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-larger-machine-tools-like-a-mill-lathe.8340/
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-are-you-looking-to-acquire.10920/#post-47935
http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/milling-machine-related.4231/#post-39800
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...and-lathe-info-you-might-need.2198/#post-8396
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ome-help-me-out-here-gentelmen.993/#post-3688
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...luid-chip-filter-for-my-mill.6093/#post-18813


I'm always amazed at the guys who don,t own a decent full size drill press , decent sturdy jack stands, an engine stand and some type of welder
http://www.americanmachinetools.com/how_to_use_a_milling_machine.htm

http://sherline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/mill_inst.pdf

http://www.custompartnet.com/calculator/milling-speed-and-feed

http://www.custompartnet.com/calculator/drilling-speed-and-feed

it never hurts to look over operating instructions for various machine tools,
you might be amazed at how often youll gain some insight or pick up a tip or two, in the process.
yes youll make stupid mistakes, try to learn exactly what you did wrong and not repeat the process, ask detailed questions, and if you can find a skilled mentor.
a great deal of power tool use is a skill you learn by working with the tool and watching others who can give valid advice.
you obviously will need the correct tooling, some idea of how to go about machining the parts,
drill bits, end mills and a decent vise to solidly hold the components you work on, and a constant bath of cutting and cooling fluid flowing over the machined areas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035K0XCC/ref=psdc_552882_t3_B0000DD2RO

 

[philly]

an a/c machine! summertime is coming!


http://www.robinair.com/products/cool-t ... ge-machine

http://www.tooltopia.com/robinair-34988 ... 7AodwisA2A

 

[philly]

and a flowbench!

http://www.flowperformance.com/price.html

 

[DorianL]

MIG... I really want one of those...

And a booster battery...

 

[Strictly Attitude]

TIG AC/DC with plasma cutter

 

[grumpyvette]

MIG... I really want one of those...

And a booster battery...

take the time and effort to find someone to teach you how to weld, my instructor in college swore "monkeys could be taught to MIG weld, so you numbskulls have a chance at it!"
doing it right DOES take some instruction and experience, theres a dozen threads on this with video links on the site
don,t forget youll ALSO need a tank of Shield gas, MIG WIRE and a self darkening face shield, gloves and leather apron

WE HAVE A WHOLE WELDING FORUM AREA
viewforum.php?f=60

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-stuff-like-this-amazingly-interesting.14129/

LEARNING TO WELD IS LIKE SEX BEFORE YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING IT MAY NOT SEEM INTERESTING OR WORTH THE EFFORT!, ONCE YOU DEVELOP SOME SKILLS YOU WONDER WHY IT TOOK YOU SO LONG, TOO GET INVOLVED, AND YOU REGRET ALL THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

several guys I know bought this recently and every ones pleased
http://www.welders-direct.com/mm5/merch ... ory_Code=M

Input Power
* 230 V, 25 A, 60 Hz, 1-Phase
* 120 V, 20 A, 60 Hz, 1-Phase

Rated Output
* 150 A at 23.5 VDC, 30% duty cycle (230V)
* 90 A at 20 VDC, 20% duty cycle (120V)

Welding Amperage Range
* 30 - 210 Amps

Wire Speed
* 60 - 460 IPM (1.5 - 11.7 m/min)

Net Weight
* 74lb (33.6 kg)

heres my mig you don,t kneed this but I got tired of playing with cheap welders and used the money from an engine I sold to buy it and don,t regret it a bit
http://www.welders-direct.com/mm5/merch ... ory_Code=M

Specifications

Input Power
Requires 1- phase power

Rated Output
200 Amps at 28 VDC, 60% duty cycle
250 Amps at 28 VDC, 40% duty cycle

Welding Amperage Range
30 - 300 Amps

Wire Speed
50 - 700 IPM (1.3 - 17.8 m/min)

Net Weight
194 lb (88 kg)
theres some basic tools like floor jacks, jack stands a good heavy duty drill press or mill, a good welder, a hydraulic press, a sturdy engine stand, drop lights, mechanics creeper and a few others that any basic auto repair shop needs

 

[grumpyvette]

this thread reminded me of this old humorous deal
DRILL PRESS:
A tall upright , and fairly powerful machine useful for suddenly snatching flat
metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you
in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting
the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set
in the corner where nothing could get to it.
great for snatching and shredding shirt sleeves and ties,
also quite useful for breaking the last drill bit of the correct size you need,
usually 5 minutes after the only store that has them closes
IT ALWAYS HELPS TO HAVE GOOD UNDER THE CAR LIGHTING

http://www.amazon.com/Designers-Edg...306&sr=8-13&keywords=portable+led+work+lights

http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-halogen-shop-light-66433.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035K0XCC/ref=psdc_552882_t3_B0000DD2RO

DROP LIGHTS
used to allow you to see under the car , but best at starting small fires or burning and breaking hard to locate expensive and unique size light bulbs
(the local auto parts store can only order in, never in stock)
any drop light designed for standard bulbs will fail to function,
within minutes of use.

WIRE WHEEL:
Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere far
under
the workbench with the speed of light.
Also removes fingerprints, and finger nails rather effectively,
great for flipping tiny steel wire bits into your eyes ,
requiring expensive trips to the emergency room.
and removing hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it
takes you to say, 'Oh sh --'

SKILL SAW:
A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.
also useful for acquiring interesting scars on knees, and forcing you to buy new shirts, designed to keep the band-aid company financially solvent


PLIERS:
Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the
creation
of blood-blisters., and can be used to short out battery terminals to get nasty burns on fingers, can be used to open a beer and chip razor sharp edge on bottles


BELT SANDER:
An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor
touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.and remove finger nails
can be very useful for snatching ties off your neck, and crack neck vertebra


HACKSAW:
One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board
principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked,
unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to
influence
its course, the more dismal your future becomes.
blades will never cut strait unless your fingers are in the way.
blades are designed to bind and break if your in a hurry and forgot to purchase several spare blades , but will last for months if you buy packs of several dozen top quality blades ... until the blades get mis-placed


VISE-GRIPS:
Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt
heads. the extra clamp leverage allows you to make spectacular and painful screw-ups, If nothing else is available, they can also be used
to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.
can be used to crush expensive small components ,also can be use with drill press if your creative to induce trips to emergency room, requiring multiple stitches, while simultaneously destroying cell phones too prevent you calling an ambulance.



OXYACETYLENE TORCH:
Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable
objects in your shop on fire.
Also handy for igniting the grease, under the car or upholstery on the opposite surface your welding, or igniting grease,
inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a
bearing race., left un-lit it can cause impressive explosions that blow the windows out of your shop,
tanks will almost always require refilling 10 minutes into any critical repair time
during any critical intensive repair



TABLE SAW:
A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood
projectiles for testing wall integrity.
exceptionally good at removing finger tips, or creating large deep scar tissue in hands.



HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK
Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you
have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack
handle firmly under the bumper. usually good for unexpectedly dropping the car during brake jobs warping expensive rotors on the floor, and cracking the calipers, and primarily designed to crush mechanics creepers and drop lights

BAND SAW:
A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops
to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more
easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside
of the line instead of the outside edge. blades can be replaced but generally will be out of stock when needed, looks impressive and works flawlessly until actually needed.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST:
A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of
everything, electrical or brake or fuel related
you forgot to disconnect.
usually won,t quite reach far enough to allow engine removal without damage to fender , grill, fender or hood paint, or radiators


PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER:
Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for
opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing
oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name
implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.
made from cheapest steel imaginable so it requires replacement frequently
designed to round off 5 minutes after the local auto parts and hardware store closes for a long weekend.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER:
A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common
slotted screws into non-removable screws and
butchering your palms.great for creating blood blisters, designed to provide long deep punctures in private anatomy features


PRY BAR:
A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip
or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a
50 cent part. designed to be 100% invisible until you break that $18 long screw driver thats no longer made with a life time warrantee that won,t be honored.

HOSE CUTTER:
A tool used to make hoses too short. but seems to work best on finger tips
designed by the guys who sell surgical stitching thread and antiseptic

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer
nowadays
is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most
expensive auto parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.
primary function seems to be producing loose black/purple thumb nails



UTILITY KNIFE:
Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard
cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly
well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids
in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks,
and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for
slicing work clothes, delicate inner thighs and private anatomy
but usually only while there,s either multiple witnesses,
who laugh about it for decades, or your not close to a phone.

Son of a b*tch TOOL:
Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage
while yelling 'Son of a b*tch' at the top of your
lungs.
It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.
and youll find it hit and bounced off and chipped a large chunk of paint off your cars new $5000 paint job,even if it was thrown in the opposite direction.

 

[Indycars]

Son of a b*tch TOOL:
Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage
while yelling 'Son of a b*tch' at the top of your
lungs.
It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

Yeap yeap, been there done that!!!!!

You saved the best for last! LOL

 

[philly]

hahahaha thats hilarious

 

[DorianL]

It must be fully padded. I once took out a gutter drain pipe with a broom. Also dented my new fridge with a high velocity screwdriver. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Indycars]

It must be fully padded. I once took out a gutter drain pipe with a broom. Also dented my new fridge with a high velocity screwdriver. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I didn't know they still made the high velocity model anymore. I loved mine, it always put a hole in the sheetrock exactly where I wanted to mount something on the wall.

 

[Strictly Attitude]

It must be fully padded. I once took out a gutter drain pipe with a broom. Also dented my new fridge with a high velocity screwdriver. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Fully padded like the walls in my room. :roll: :shock: :? :twisted: I was a hot head when I was younger but right now I have super patience. I think it is from painting and airbrushing cause those small fits of rage or even getting worked up can easily cause countlless hours of work.

 

[grumpyvette]

It must be fully padded. I once took out a gutter drain pipe with a broom. Also dented my new fridge with a high velocity screwdriver. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Fully padded like the walls in my room. :roll: :shock: :? :twisted: I was a hot head when I was younger but right now I have super patience. I think it is from painting and airbrushing cause those small fits of rage or even getting worked up can easily cause countlless hours of work.

not too mention a few stitches and lots of wasted cash, and
that (I'M AN IDIOT feeling , later when you realize that temper tantrum had you break something expensive and hard to replace) :roll:

 

[DorianL]

It must be fully padded. I once took out a gutter drain pipe with a broom. Also dented my new fridge with a high velocity screwdriver. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Fully padded like the walls in my room. :roll: :shock: :? :twisted: I was a hot head when I was younger but right now I have super patience. I think it is from painting and airbrushing cause those small fits of rage or even getting worked up can easily cause countlless hours of work.

not too mention a few stitches and lots of wasted cash, and
that (I'M AN IDIOT feeling , later when you realize that temper tantrum had you break something expensive and hard to replace) :roll:

Ooooh, I am a very different person now. I simply couldn't control the rage back then. I accept that. Now I a muuuuch more relaxed... However, come to think of it... I put that dent in the fridge last week. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Hmmm - I also once threw a small 4-inch paring knife into one of those hard plastic wind up cases for electric cables. The knife embedded itself 1.5 inches in there. That MUST have been going fast. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[philly]

someone i know threw a wrench after busting a knuckle... bounced off the wall with enough force to put two perfect notches in the fender of a freshly painted 240z with the open end... before he ever got to take the car out for a drive....

 

[DorianL]

I suppose where I got wiser is: to leave the room when you know there is something that you really don't want to harm, such as the car. I will actually walk a few steps away THEN blow a fuse.

I do enjoy the release of thoroughly destroying the odd frustrating piece of whatever :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Pulverizing a piece of drywall for example... my kids nearly break out the popcorn and convey, unequivocally, that they think I'm nuts. The running joke is they claim when they see a vein pulsing on my temple... time to leave the room. Yet I only ever get mad at my own clumsiness...

 

[grumpyvette]

when I was 16- 20 something I occasionally screamed and threw stuff when frustrated or when I injured myself, while working on the cars,
but for the last 35 plus years, I just walk away and slug down some coffee ,or a vodka or brandy, or two, and think things thru,
a day , spent, calming down from irrational frustration,while stepping away from the project, calming down and thinking things thru works wonders at times!
and if you think it over or make a trip to the emergency room as required,to get a few stitches,or what ever needs to be repaired on this old geezers body, I quickly realized , the the only result of those childish temper tantrums, just cost me more time ,money and more aggravation, and occasionally lost or broken parts or tools.. besides blood tends to screw up the paint and cause rust.

 

[Grumpy]

looking for a car transport trailer, I have gotten several questions related to trailers recently,
One factor you'll come rather quickly to realize,if your into the car and engine building hobby, is that you really need access to a pick-up truck and car transport trailer , and it helps to own them rather than depend on some neighbor who may not be home or willing to help on a minutes notice, simply because your very quickly find out your corvette is useless for transporting those deals , you'll find on half finished project cars,or when buying or building ,your car or transporting spare engines and differentials that you'll frequently find, that opportunity to buy them dirt cheap or at all,will be long gone if you are forced to wait a few weeks before you pick them up, you will need a second vehicle and a truck that can tow a decent trailer is a huge help. reading these should help

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...u-really-can-use-a-car-transport-trailer.845/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ailer-maintenance-carefully.11901/#post-56467

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/buying-out-of-state.11313/#post-51473

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-state-muscle-or-project-car.4318/#post-29221

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/fabricate-shop-crane.8789/#post-55522

if you have questions after reading through the linked info feel free to post, them.
I work on car trailer's frequently and have owned one or more for decades

I doubt youll find very many older guys involved in this hobby that don,t have a rather long list of short stories about finding a smoking deal on a great engine or some one elses , 1/2 forgotten or partly abandoned project car, that won,t bring up the fact that one of the big reasons they failed to jump on the deal at that time (other than the almost common lack of spare cash, most of us suffer from) and the reason was that they had no way to pick-up and transport the car or heavier engine parts, using the personal transportation car or hot-rod they were driving at the time they had that opportunity!
example
I had a neighbor just recently buy and install a complete tip forward front cap,on a 1955 chevy with a 454 BBC hes had for decades, but his house has a 1 car garage with an 8 ft ceiling height.

he had a tip off front cap like this car picture I found on the internet, (his car is black primer)
he now had the stock front cap sitting in his drive way, and what he said,was,that he had no place to store it, or way to transport it, so he was going to list it on CRAIGS LIST for a absurdly low $250 just so it would sell and disappear from his front yard ASAP!
I suggested he store it at my shop,as he was rather surely going to regret selling it (ESPECIALLY THAT CHEAPLY) or sell it to me, but he wanted cash that day and Id have had to wait to the weekend to get the cash that week,
now him not having a way to transport that front cap was very obviously not a unique issue!
at least half a dozen guys called to buy that, but surprisingly most wanted to have it DELIVERED FOR FREE,or ask if they could pay to have it delivered.
AMAZING!
I know that before I got my trailer decades ago,I passed on several decently priced used engines, simply due to not having a way to transport them, so that's a common issue!
(and YEAH! AFTER HE SOLD IT, he turned to me and said, damn, I just thought of something, .....I could have had you take it today and get it out of the driveway so my wife would not get in my face about "CAR TRASH BLOCKING THE DRIVEWAY" and let you pay me Saturday" I looked at him like he was NUTS and said "I suggested that 26 hours ago! when you first decided to sell!"

 

[busterrm]

I didn't know they still made the high velocity model anymore. I loved mine, it always put a hole in the sheetrock exactly where I wanted to mount something on the wall.

I can make any tool have high volocity, when I am mad!