What garage/shop stuff did we get for x-mas...

This has been a quiet year but...

A bunch of new 1/2 drive, short, metric impact sockets, Williams brand, to replace the worn ones that came with a set from JC Whitney circa 1989, now I have good ones from 10mm to 36mm. The 15, 17 and 19 had the most wear You can order them as singles from McMaster-Carr, www.mcmaster.com.

Williams is a supplier for Snap-On and the Williams sockets are the same as the Snap-on industrial brands. The original 1/2 drive impact set was bought CHEAP to support a FJ60 reengine project. Ended up with a used forklift motor, with weber, headers, high flow exhaust. My step-brother drive the original engine after the water pump failed until the motor seized, cracked the head, warped the manifolds and burned out every last engine management sensor.

A metric thread gage from .25mm to 2.5mm thread range, maybe now I can get the threads from the grease fitting on the front u-joint right!

A couple of used machinist tool boxes from a local auction, and 8" and 12" dial and vernier calipers, metric and standard, some have already been regifted to fellow mechanics/machinists. Boxes are in the process of being cleaned up and refilled with drill bits, easy outs, mills, gauges, burrs, files and other tools of the trade.

A 240 volt, 5,000 watt, wall/ceiling mount electric garage heater from Northern Tool, now to get some 2" angle to make the wall mount and conduit pieces to wire it in on a new 30 amp circuit. This is being mounted over the wife's work area to swing from her bench to her woodworking tools. Her workspace is almost 40' from the potbelly stove.

A trailer to pull behind the ATV, I have some culvert work to do, and this is a great way to move both 3/4" gravel, native stone, and of course tools.

oh yea,

A new Yamaha Grizzly 700 4x4 ATV

A good new year to all...

Howard

 

wow you got a lot of neat stuff for Christmas.

 

Thanks...Instead of formal gifting this year, we kind of worked together and each got what they wanted. My wife got a trip to watch Tennessee play in the bowl game yesterday, with her sister, both Tennessee Alums, they are due back tomorrow.

The wife's sister got a muffler and heat shield for the jeep, wrangler sahara, installed by me on Thursday. The same auction as the machinist tool boxes got a wooden box of quality tablewear for my daughter, and some Tiffiney Style lamps, a old
rocking chair, with arms and a half dozen soft sided gun cases.

I used two of the gun cases and have already passed the rest on to a young man, trained as a carpenter, but working as a janitor at the VA to feed his family. We let him hunt on our land without the traditional half the meat. One of the dial calipers went to a former neighbor of mine, he was a farmer and did construction in the winter. He got virtually wiped out after 08 by a combination of spec homes that didn't sell, and drought. He was forced to sell all kinds of equipment, including his diesel crew cab, flatbed, 200 head of cattle and haying equipment. Luckily, his wife has a good job, but her puts her on the road 40 weeks a year.

We are careful shoppers, we try to avoid the malls and big box stores and try to gift things to people that actually mean something. I am more concerned in how my gifts improve people's lives instead of what I have received...

 

wileyC's belated Christmas

 

cool...I see some fine woodworking coming...

 

Not sure if it fits in this thread, but we (my hunting partner and I) process a lot of moose; we've been party to four this year alone. We've managed to outfit ourselves pretty well for processing all the meat ourselves. Our kit included tubs, grinder, slicer, smoker, sausage stuffer, and commercial vacuum sealer. Got one gift I wasn't expecting from my wife, a meat mixer (had been mixing by hand in the tubs before). It was a nice surprise, considering I thought I knew everything I was getting as we also have taken the "everyone gets what they want approach", although my wife insists on still wrapping everything and putting it under the tree.

Sorry if this doesn't fit this thread exactly, but hunting and fishing is what we do, we consider the processing equipment tools for doing the job.

 

It does fit the thread just fine...neat outdoor stuff for the holidays

Looks you are about ready to open your own butcher shop...no band saw yet? We used to process free range, organic pork (feral pigs) in Texas with a chain hoist w/spreader bar to get them up, half a dozen sharp knives, sharp ax to split bone, hand grinder with sausage stuffer cone and Sam's best "Food Service Film".

Since the feral pig population in Tennessee is quite small, and deer off our land is processed, the grinder now just processes chickpeas for humus and potatoes for latkas.

 

I got a couple things

Dewalt 20V cordless drill from the future bro in law:


Craftsman torque wrench from the fiance:

 

I have a friend with a band saw ... maybe soon for us. We have pulled out a sawzall on occasion.

 

The dewalt stuff is HANDY...how accurate is the digital torque wrench? I am still using the mechanical clicker style but might want to upgrade one day...

 

From Sears.com:

"Accurate to 2% clockwise and 3% counterclockwise"

Can't wait to try out the Dewalt drill. It will make small projects for the truck easier. I had a 12V craftsman and for jobs that required more torque (i.e. drilling holes in the frame to mount skid plates or my various ghetto fabbed mounts and brackets) I had to use my dad's 30 year old corded drill. This is a welcomed tool and I look forward to it lasting a very long time.

 

I find the battery powered stuff is much handier than running an airline and using an airdrill....but, the five horse compressor with 80 gallon tank takes a bit longer to run out of juice than the battery one.

I think the battery stuff is great for doing things like gates and fencing when you are a long way from utilities.

 

Do you ever make Jerky out of the moose meat?

 

yep.

 

Toys! I got a nice dremel kit

 

Cool, what rpm and what tips did you get? I have the industrial version, a air powered die grinder and several hundred various tools for it.

 

it is a dremel 3000 with just the basic accessory kit. enough for me, for the occasional use.