1/2
Got up and to my project and on the first doug fir stud I drill into this morning- this happens. I've had tips break on cheap bits but never bend like this, like wtf even happen here?!
View all comments
What the heck happened?
I have no idea, cheap metal I guess. I used an old Dewalt bit to finish drilling the hole, zero issue. Bizarre.
That's why the last time my dad bought drill bits he broke the cycle and accepted the fact that everything is shit nowadays and just bought a no brand metal case that came with about a dozen bits of each size, 19 bit sizes total. Snapped a couple of smaller ones over the years, but there are plenty where they came from, lol.
It's like the last time I was in the market for a new grinder. A good grinder is like the holy Grail in my line of work. I had to come back to town between home Depot, ace, harbor freight like 4x over before finally getting one that was around $225. But it was by so much better than even my old 15 pound DeWalt grinder, at a fraction the weight and with more power. I just had to get through a bunch of "pro-sumer" grade trash at around the $100 price point before realizing. There's a step between professional and single use nowadays lol and that's where I rate the "pro-sumer" tools.
And I don't mean the harbor freight "just one job" sorta tools, it's the fake nice looking ones with the crappy plastic gears you wanna stay away from. They can't handle much abuse at alllllllll.
Another issue with those tools is that, unlike most proper professional grade tools, they are designed in a way that prevents them from being repaired. 5-10 minutes spent replacing a motor and belt on an air compressor, and checking that the belt is properly tensioned, turns into throwing the whole thing in the trash and buying a new one. This is the reason I kept my father's old table saw, which he had originally gotten from his father. It may be old and not as safe as a modern one (it's a Delta Homecraft from the 50's with a painted metal case and steel top), but it is serviceable and I don't use one enough to justify spending $500+ on a new one that's made of plastic so I can no longer stack 100+lbs of crap on it while it's being stored, lol.
I actually just replaced the motor to my compressor system with an old ass GE tri clad induction motor from decades ago. It's actually serviceable and still runs just fine.
That being said, some tools you might be surprised how much better the new ones are. The old heavy DeWalt grinder I mentioned was actually less powerful though maybe slightly more durable and about 15x heavier than the new DeWalt grinder I replaced it with. But the new one is hands down an upgrade in nearly every way. More torque, less bulk, etc. both of them are serviceable to a degree, the old one has brushes you can replace, I believe the new is some brushless system.
But the fact that a $100-150 tool could have those high tensile strength plastic gears is sad, to me. Technically they may be stronger than steel, but only if they remain in the proper temp range which isn't gonna happen with a professional tool. It's almost impressive, on one hand, how they are able to actually get these tools out there at such cheap price points. But on the other hand, you get what you pay for.
Yeah, I've broken plenty of tools (this post included technically 😆) and seen inside some of the garden tools especially. But that same quality is across the line so I believe it. I've been really pleases with Milwaukee. I got gifted a drill but it was some deal where they bought me the tool and the battery separate so no charger. Anyway, that battery had a bit of charge and I used that thing off and on for a month and finally I'm like, you know what, I'm just going to buy a set with a charger and that got me an impact and now it's pretty much all I own. That was like 2012 or 13 so been awhile so I've got quite the collection. But we've bought a lot of auction lots and there's always a broken ryobi hedger or a black and decker weed eater, just absolutely junk inside, the molded plastic handle is probably the most valuable thing there.
The way it works is the battery tech is proprietary and all tool manufacturers manufacture or have their own designs manufactured for them. That's why none of the batteries work across tools without modifications haha. It's actually a royal pain in the ass, even a single tool manufacturer might change their battery design a few times over and invalidate your whole setup. Pisses me off and is def not pro consumer. I don't think the tool manufacturers could do a better job making a battery than a specific battery manufacturer can.
But that pro sumer grade i talked about came into being seemingly within the last decade and some change or so. And all the good tools have been pushed into hundreds of dollars territory, unfortunately. At least for a professional tool to be used daily on jobs.
I see a lot of wood workers with those giant old steel beasts, like scroll saws too. Keep em lubed before use and they never get hot enough to burn up the motor, plus they guaged up (down) wire back then still so the connections are solid due to size alone. More like a weld than a solder. These days, the wires inside is as small as possible to still function.
Are we talking like a battery operated grinder? I'd assume for work you need a tool that lasts so wasn't sure how long that'd give you. However I have a Milwaukee chainsaw that I had very low hopes for but it rips!
Nah, we do way too much grinding for a battery to keep up. Shit, my air system can't even keep up if I use pneumatic grinders lol.
I work with composites like fiberglass, primarily boat building these days. I've got a workshop and can run cords easily enough. We have to grind between every single layup, just usually a quick scuff of the entire surface. But if you're doing repairs like I am, you also need to grind gelcoat off to expose raw glass. Or have to grind away excess if you didn't cut it before the glass hardened.
Just an ass load of grinding, really. I be out there GRINDIN.
Right on, sounds like an awesome gig, probably means you live near some water too!