Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Cubdriver]

PB Swiss makes nice stuff...  Go for some Knipex pliers next.      (You said you wanted help, right?  I'm trying to expand your horizons.)

-Pat

Not quite sure if that's the type of 'help' my wife would like me to get!

Too late - you're one of us now!  We're like the Borg, but more fun.  (Handy hint from previous experience - if possible, have packages delivered at work. )

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

Please help, I've purchased six ratcheting screwdrivers this week, and I'm planning on buying a seventh. I never knew how good a ratcheting mechanism could be until I used a PB Swiss...

Thing is a joy in the hand, and easily 20 years old, but long ago discontinued.

I stand by my earlier praise of the Facom R1Pico ratchet set. Current product.

For those of us in the inchy world, the Chapman 7331 set is also very useful.  I'm still using the one I got when I started at National Semi back in the summer of 1984, though I should look in to ordering a few replacement bits for it one of these days.  Some of them are a bit worn after nearly 40 years...

https://www.amazon.com/Chapman-MFG-7331-Standard-Screwdriver/dp/B0000WSYYW/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=chapman+tool+set&qid=1654705885&sprefix=chapman%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A29YT8079PEQ8C&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExTFlQWk4zVFVBWFZTJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTYyOTg2M0ZVS04wSTNLUkc1USZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzM2NDc3M0cxTlVOUjBGMEFVOCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

-Pat

[AVGresponding]

Please help, I've purchased six ratcheting screwdrivers this week, and I'm planning on buying a seventh. I never knew how good a ratcheting mechanism could be until I used a PB Swiss...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283934640712



*mic drop*



Welcome to the Test Equipment Anonymous thread, aka Tool Enablers Association

[mnementh]

Hardly a *mic drop* moment buddy, but a decent set nonetheless. I have a number of sets of conventional ratchets in all different levels of quality. What we were talking about is specialty ratchet wrenches and screwdrivers. 

   The great value of this one is how effing tiny the head is... and the ultra-fine ratchet with tiny thumbwheel that really works, and the near-zero ratchet drag. All added up, it is a tool that simply does everything better when working in a confined space.

You can get in 2-3mm away from a corner wall with it, and the depth is... well, however long your 1/4" hex bit is plus 0.5mm. I've cut down the hex shank on a bit with a Dremel to make it another 10-12mm shallower in a few cases...

TL/DR version: When you need it, this thing is a lifesaver.

mnem
*witchet-watchet...witchet-watchet...*

[Robert763]

I will be off the blog for a few days. Going on a short, but much anticipated, vacation (holiday). It's been a few years since my last get away and last Summer was a complete bust due to my now resolved medical issues.

There might be several vices involved but there will be no pictures, no evidence, no social media. And my lips will be forever sealed.     

Have a good time then you bloody killjoy, deny us any pleasure in seeing what you get upto  , hopefully lady cop will going with you?

I’m hitting Vegas in November. I’ll make up for med with photos you don’t want to see 

I'm considering a trip to Nevada in November but not to Vegas, If I go it will be to Gerlach. I'd probably stop at Reno for a night as I can get a cheap hotel. Accomodation in Gerlach is "basic".

[AVGresponding]

Hardly a *mic drop* moment buddy, but a decent set nonetheless. I have a number of sets of conventional ratchets in all different levels of quality. What we were talking about is specialty ratchet wrenches and screwdrivers. 

   The great value of this one is how effing tiny the head is... and the ultra-fine ratchet with tiny thumbwheel that really works, and the near-zero ratchet drag. All added up, it is a tool that simply does everything better when working in a confined space.

You can get in 2-3mm away from a corner wall with it, and the depth is... well, however long your 1/4" hex bit is plus 0.5mm. I've cut down the hex shank on a bit with a Dremel to make it another 10-12mm shallower in a few cases...

TL/DR version: When you need it, this thing is a lifesaver.

mnem
*witchet-watchet...witchet-watchet...*

Believe it or not, your experience with these is not unique; I have a Bahco set with exactly such an item in it.





I was not referring to any discussion about speciality ratchets, that's entirely in your imagination. I was in fact referencing the statement "I never knew how good a ratcheting mechanism could be until I used a PB Swiss...".

This is exactly why Vince gets annoyed with you; you half-read something then go off half-cocked.

[mansaxel]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283934640712

The audacity of pricing that at 500€-ish is very attractive. They must mean business, on a level beyond Stahlwille (whose equivalent can be had for a mere 379U$D ). I suppose this is how Gucci sells handbags.

I've got a Kamasa Tools (Swedish importer/rebrander of once Japanese and Taiwanese tools, now from everywhere; usually decent quality) set, whose equivalent today costs about 70€. I've augmented it with Gedore and Matador pieces, so is more complete now. I also have AF and Whitworth sockets, but still lack the BA ones.

To me, the imperial sizes are pretty much seldom-use tools, except for the 9/16" wrench that I need to winterize the pool pump. Therefore I can buy "our own brand" stuff without risking too much.

[mansaxel]

I'm considering a trip to Nevada in November but not to Vegas, If I go it will be to Gerlach. I'd probably stop at Reno for a night as I can get a cheap hotel. Accomodation in Gerlach is "basic".

Speed record reunion?

I'm not going to Vegas until April. NAB. Been a few times earlier. Still haven't touched a gambling utensil while there. Or made a fool of myself. BD would probably consider it a failed Vegas trip. 

[HighVoltage]

Please help, I've purchased six ratcheting screwdrivers this week, and I'm planning on buying a seventh. I never knew how good a ratcheting mechanism could be until I used a PB Swiss...

You better do not look at the WERA ratchet sets!

[bd139]

I will be off the blog for a few days. Going on a short, but much anticipated, vacation (holiday). It's been a few years since my last get away and last Summer was a complete bust due to my now resolved medical issues.

There might be several vices involved but there will be no pictures, no evidence, no social media. And my lips will be forever sealed.     

Have a good time then you bloody killjoy, deny us any pleasure in seeing what you get upto  , hopefully lady cop will going with you?

I’m hitting Vegas in November. I’ll make up for med with photos you don’t want to see 

I'm considering a trip to Nevada in November but not to Vegas, If I go it will be to Gerlach. I'd probably stop at Reno for a night as I can get a cheap hotel. Accomodation in Gerlach is "basic".

Sounds like fun  . Newly employed again (ffs) so this is for aws:ReInvent only to leverage the free flights and expenses for a bit so will end up heading somewhere similarly more interesting on an internal flight for a week after 

[mnementh]

Hardly a *mic drop* moment buddy, but a decent set nonetheless. I have a number of sets of conventional ratchets in all different levels of quality. What we were talking about is specialty ratchet wrenches and screwdrivers. 

   The great value of this one is how effing tiny the head is... and the ultra-fine ratchet with tiny thumbwheel that really works, and the near-zero ratchet drag. All added up, it is a tool that simply does everything better when working in a confined space.

You can get in 2-3mm away from a corner wall with it, and the depth is... well, however long your 1/4" hex bit is plus 0.5mm. I've cut down the hex shank on a bit with a Dremel to make it another 10-12mm shallower in a few cases...

TL/DR version: When you need it, this thing is a lifesaver.

mnem
*witchet-watchet...witchet-watchet...*

Believe it or not, your experience with these is not unique; I have a Bahco set with exactly such an item in it.   

I was not referring to any discussion about speciality ratchets, that's entirely in your imagination. I was in fact referencing the statement "I never knew how good a ratcheting mechanism could be until I used a PB Swiss...".

This is exactly why Vince gets annoyed with you; you half-read something then go off half-cocked.

You didn't say that much, man... hard to "half-read" it. 

Now if you'd posted that BAHCO set as a *mic drop* moment... I'd probably have agreed, and said how wonderful they both are for the same exact reasons I stated above. 

There was absolutely zero ragging on your stuff; in fact I complimented it. I just went on to explain specifically why these tiny witchet-watchets are so effing awesome to everybody who might be reading, not just you, my friend. Why is that offensive?

mnem
 

[BU508A]

PB Swiss makes nice stuff...  Go for some Knipex pliers next.      (You said you wanted help, right?  I'm trying to expand your horizons.)

-Pat

Not quite sure if that's the type of 'help' my wife would like me to get!

Well, YOU are here, your wife not. 
Means: we are trying to help YOU and you can be sure: we'll do our best. 

[mnementh]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283934640712

The audacity of pricing that at 500€-ish is very attractive. They must mean business, on a level beyond Stahlwille (whose equivalent can be had for a mere 379U$D ). I suppose this is how Gucci sells handbags.

I've got a Kamasa Tools (Swedish importer/rebrander of once Japanese and Taiwanese tools, now from everywhere; usually decent quality) set, whose equivalent today costs about 70€. I've augmented it with Gedore and Matador pieces, so is more complete now. I also have AF and Whitworth sockets, but still lack the BA ones.

To me, the imperial sizes are pretty much seldom-use tools, except for the 9/16" wrench that I need to winterize the pool pump. Therefore I can buy "our own brand" stuff without risking too much.

I find it difficult to believe that such a basic set can be worth such money myself; Particularly the gold-plated set here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384799978100    

I've owned the likes of Snap-On, Proto, Cornwell, Matco and S&K, all back when they were still at the top of their game and simply some of the finest tools you could buy. Even Snap-On/Cornwell/Matco straight off the truck were only ~$250 for a similar 1/4" drive 3-5° ratchet set; and they brought them to you at work and similarly brought you the replacements under warranty.

That said... all of the above have also offered gold-plated "anniversary" sets... though usually, they were produced as raffle swag.

Is that pricing from the MFR or markup by the distributor, I wonder? 

mnem
Everything costs more. Music sucks. GET OFF MY LAWN, YA GORRAM NOISY-ASS LITTLE PUNKS!!!

[Cerebus]

... I also have AF and Whitworth sockets, but still lack the BA ones. ...

AF doesn't mean what you think it means, which from context is some sort of imperial sizing. "AF" just stands for "across flats" so a 10mm AF socket is just as much a 'thing' as a 1/2" AF socket. Don't worry, you're not the first to draw the same erroneous conclusion.

[bd139]

I heard someone mention Knipex. Can someone recommend a suitably decent pair of their needle nose pliers for electronics work? I actually have no pliers at the moment at all as I knackered the Piergiacomi ones. Need to have grips on and cutters. Utterly fed up of shit ones.

[Cerebus]

... as I knackered the Piergiacomi ones.

Is that because they are fragile, or did you just müller them? Serious question...

[bd139]

... as I knackered the Piergiacomi ones.

Is that because they are fragile, or did you just müller them? Serious question...

A combination of both factors. They are quite brittle high carbon steel ones so I lost a few mm off the end of one of the jaws trying to undo an awkward nut.

[mansaxel]

... I also have AF and Whitworth sockets, but still lack the BA ones. ...

AF doesn't mean what you think it means, which from context is some sort of imperial sizing. "AF" just stands for "across flats" so a 10mm AF socket is just as much a 'thing' as a 1/2" AF socket. Don't worry, you're not the first to draw the same erroneous conclusion.

Oh, I fully well know what "AF" stands for; it's just -- as you allude -- that I'm using it to distinguish between BSW (which marks the spanner/socket with the thread size, not the jaw size) and UN* spanner sizes. Since Metric is sensible and descriptive in a way that the circumlocuting talk of  "No 5 drill" and similar will never be, no-one bothers to add "AF" to metric sizes, we all know 10mm is for M6, 13 for M8 and 16/17 is for M10 (that's a DIN / ISO conflict..).

OTOH, in hunting grams of (especially unsprung) vehicle weight, some manufacturers tend to downsize hex head sizes pretty aggressively. This Monday, I encountered M8 with 10mm head, M10 with 13mm, and M12 with 15mm.  This is similar to the austerity measure of wartime Britain, where BSW head sizes were reduced one step to save material. Even if it now is for other reasons.

[BU508A]

I heard someone mention Knipex. Can someone recommend a suitably decent pair of their needle nose pliers for electronics work? I actually have no pliers at the moment at all as I knackered the Piergiacomi ones. Need to have grips on and cutters. Utterly fed up of shit ones.

I'm not sure, if I would recommend the needle nose pliers from Knipex.
I'm having now for 20 years a P-500 from ideal-tek and it is working as precisely as on the first day. See the picture below. Sadly, it isn't available anymore. As a backup, I've bought some years ago a Piergiacomi PN-2016 and I hate it. No comparison to the P-500. When I'm using the PN-2016 it feels clumsy and imprecise.

Then I got on a birthday a Lindström RX-7890 and this is imo a suitable replacement for the P-500. See picture below.

As a side-note: I've payed for the P-500 ca. CHF 15.- (twenty years ago) and the RX-7890 costs around 78.- Euro.

P-500:


RX-7890:

[bd139]

Thanks for the tips BU

I am adding them to my spreadsheet (yes I am that bored that I am creating a pliers selection spreadsheet) 

[mnementh]

I heard someone mention Knipex. Can someone recommend a suitably decent pair of their needle nose pliers for electronics work? I actually have no pliers at the moment at all as I knackered the Piergiacomi ones. Need to have grips on and cutters. Utterly fed up of shit ones.

General purpose, like 5.5"/140mm long snipe-nose with serrated jaws?

Look for the 25-1-140; or if you want overmolded grips, the 25-2-140.

Slightly longer, 6"/160mm, look for 25-1-160 or 25-2-160. They also have a longer cutter section, which can be nice.

https://www.knipex.com/service/downloads

Or more precision stuff like for electronics assembly work? Of course for that you know I'll recommend the following...

https://www.lindstromtools.com/media/media-download/catalogue/lindstrom_catalog.pdf

https://xuron.com/index.php/main/downloads

And you might want to look into Apex Tools' industrial line... I understand they're still pretty decent:

https://www.apextoolgroup.com/content/apex-tool-group-industrial-hand-tools-catalog-1

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

They stood up to my high school electronics class ... I was definitely one of the gentler students (ie. with half a clue what I was doing, instead of no clue).  I want one only for that reason.  This US price is getting more reasonable, but the cross-border shipping kills the deal...

You had electronics in high school?! Jealous

*raises a paw*   Ummm... wood shop, machine shop, and motorhead shop too... 

*remembering fondly that  moment when I asked old man Kirsch what 3-phase meant, and he drew those infamous 3 nested sine waves on the chalkboard...*

mnem
I also remember almost getting kicked out of school for bringing a MicroFlame torch      to solder some coil bobbins we made out of brass stock...     

What!! I only had woodwork, metalwork, chemistry, physics and technical drawing.

[mansaxel]

I heard someone mention Knipex. Can someone recommend a suitably decent pair of their needle nose pliers for electronics work? I actually have no pliers at the moment at all as I knackered the Piergiacomi ones. Need to have grips on and cutters. Utterly fed up of shit ones.

I'd like to put a word in for Pastorino. I've had a couple pairs over the years and they simply seem like an extension of my mind, and grip where I want. Their handles are clad with a sturdy non-slip foam that keeps them very secure in the hand. I like that.

For cutters, nothing of course beats Lindström. Although the Knipex Superknips comes close.

[bd139]

General purpose, like 5.5"/140mm long snipe-nose with serrated jaws?

Look for the 25-1-140; or if you want overmolded grips, the 25-2-140.

Slightly longer, 6"/160mm, look for 25-1-160 or 25-2-160. They also have a longer cutter section, which can be nice.

That's actually about right. I need some general buggery ones and some precision ones. Top ranking on the spreadsheet now for the general purpose ones.

Xcelite 170M are turning up in the sidecutter category as I used to use them professionally and they are dirt cheap and last long enough 

Note: I want something I am not going to cry about when I kill them.

[bd139]

I heard someone mention Knipex. Can someone recommend a suitably decent pair of their needle nose pliers for electronics work? I actually have no pliers at the moment at all as I knackered the Piergiacomi ones. Need to have grips on and cutters. Utterly fed up of shit ones.

I'd like to put a word in for Pastorino. I've had a couple pairs over the years and they simply seem like an extension of my mind, and grip where I want. Their handles are clad with a sturdy non-slip foam that keeps them very secure in the hand. I like that.

For cutters, nothing of course beats Lindström. Although the Knipex Superknips comes close.

Thanks will have a look.

I am not looking at Lindstrom. They are really nice but out of budget unfortunately. I have owned a pair before