Tools, Tips and Tricks

Wayne, I was under the impression it dropped down towards 0F, but that may have been further west from you.
I consider a few degrees below freezing best winter temps. Not too cold - just cold enough to keep things dry. I hate it when boots and gloves constantly get wet from slush.
-10C or 14F right now. We’re expecting more snow this evening and then melting temps again for a couple days :frowning:

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Here a tip I used today. I have a old HF Portland 110 volt electric chain saw, 6 years old or more. I got a notice years ago on a recall on that chain saw of a faulty trigger switch breaking on them. Now years later I decided to get a new replacement chain for it because it was really worn out, the saw is still running great no problem with the trigger switch. I went down to Harbor freight to buy a new 14" chain saw blade. Nope they do not sale them in the store anymore, you have to buy them online at HF website. So I went back home looked on their site for a replacement saw chain 14" for the Portland saw. You can not buy one, they do not sale them for that saw or the newer model. WHAT! , you got to be kindling me.
The new Portland chain saw was $44.00.
So I took my old chain saw back down to Harbor freight and said this saw has a recall on it for a faulty electric switch. They looked up the 6 year old recall in their recall book and verified the model number with my saw. It seems recalls do not go invalid after a few years at HF stores.
I walked out the door with a brand new Portland 14" chain saw for free. I did put a two year limited replacement warranty on it for $14.00.
Before that warranty is up I am going to go down to HF and get a another one for a worn out chain that they do not sale for a replacement on that saw chain for that model.
I love it when things all work out for good.
Thank You Yehovah Almighty God for a blessing in disguise today in Yeshua Name.

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I picked up a chain and bar at Tractor Supply for mine. Oregon brand.

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yeah i got the oregon bar and chain for my electric and it makes a huge difference.

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Built this custom walk behind welder a few years ago 150 amp ZENA ( located in Tennessee) high frequency stick welder mounted on a DR mower base…has 2500






watt power inverter and is self propelled 4 forward speeds and 1 reverse. 14.5 Kawasaki electric start. don’t use it as much as I thought I would but still handy to have around and easy to load on my trailer…

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I need something just like that! Is that an alternator?
Can you describe it a bit more?

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yes it is ( was) an alternator… that has Been converted to full output. .look here https://www.zena.net/

and has 100% duty cycle… not 60% like most welders

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Back in the 1070’s, it was popular to rewire the alternator in your car to produce 120 volts or so, DC at up to 30 amps or more to run universal motor (tools with brushes) power tools where the grid wasn’t available. Really all you had to do was to have a switch to disconnect the alternator’s output from the car an connect it to a regular duplex receptacle (USA style). The multipole switch would also connect full battery voltage to the field of the alternator (bypassing the regulator) I plugged a DC volt meter into on half of the receptacle so could see it from inside the car (with its hood up. of course) Then start the car and throttle up.to about 130 volts and prop the throttle. Did a lot of sawing and drilling out on our land at the time.
130 volts DC is probably not the safest thing in the world to have running around, so caution was necessary…

Pete Stanaitis

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That is a cracking portable welder you have put together there Dennis well done .

This i think will be the welders of the future once the price come down to what the average Joe can afford , i like that this is being tested by a non paid guy that i have watched for a few years on his Diesel heater project ,so i would take his word over any company blur .

Dave

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Does everything I would want out of a multi-purpose machine. I would like to see it tested by some one with actual test equipment, like the Torque Test Channel. If it was priced around $2500 then it would be in the same ball park as a Lincoln multi-process unit with a spool gun but with the ability to laser clean and cut. Really not that bad at 5 grand. That would be the equivalent of about a hundred eggs in the U.S. I’ll start a go fund me page and get a lot of saps to buy it for me.

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I am guessing it will take quite a while for these to drop in price. If I had the extra 5k to buy one, I would have one. I can’t justify it at this point though.

And I think he got it for free for his video “it was nice of them to send me one to test”.

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I found out the dental pick they sell at harbor freight work extremely well for removing wires from small connectors. And I also found out, I suck at crimping the small connectors. :slight_smile:

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It is best if you have the correct crimpers for the size of connector, wire gauge, and brand / style. Sometimes you can get the factory ones at a swap meet, or surplus, otherwise way too expensive for hobby use. I bought a used pair of (factory) crimpers at a ham-fest once, and they work excellent. the “one size fits all” crimpers can work, if you get a good pair, Molex brand, or other quality made. Most of the time I use solder-pocket connectors, solder splice and heat-shrink tubing, or just screw-clamp type terminal strips. Your results will vary! :cowboy_hat_face:

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part of the issue for sure. :slight_smile:

The other part is I am using the jst 2.0 connectors, and they are too small to hold them correctly with my fingers. I figured out, I needed to make a ‘jig’ of sorts to hold them at the correct distance from the crimpers. Part of that issue is I am using 20ga wire instead of 22+ ga wire the connectors are designed for. (the other end of this wire is using 2.54), and it is really too thick so I cant bend the tabs parallel before I start… I just plugged it into a male connector and trimmed off some of the plastic to hold it, and while not perfect, it actually turned out okay.

The racheting crimpers I have are knockoffs of the higher end ones with the same adjustments. But they pressing down perfectly square either.

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Apparently someone hacked together a DIY crimping machine for the larger crimps.

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Yup, and the time and effort needed to get thru the learning curve doesn’t seem worth it to me, because I wouldn’t use the skill often enough. So I just use solder whenever possible.
Rindert

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With the right size wire, it isn’t that hard. I think I ruined like 4 the first time I did it.
Only needing exactly 2mm of wire showing and the not bending the tabs parallel first got me the first time. :slight_smile: This was just too thick of wire, but I didn’t want to wait two weeks for shipping again. I would have melted the insulation even if I used the low temp solder paste.

If I can solder, I usually do or I will do both. Tiny connectors and too large of wire isn’t a good combination. :slight_smile:

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This guy tested various methods of how to rejuvenate flap wheels. He isn’t quite as entertaining or scientific as the guy that tests power tools, but still fairly rigorous.

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Here is a neat little tool for 2500 bucks. :slight_smile: You attach your cutter like a plasma, gas torch, laser torch, etc or if you just want to draw, I suppose a pen would work too. It has an onscreen that you can design simple stuff or you can draw up your own designs in a cad program and feed it to it. It doesn’t have the largest reach. There is another manufacturer that has a $10k that lets you move it during the cut so it is continuous. And really the nice part is the size of it, you can stow it away in a small spot.

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