Wyoming B.S. Thread

Darn, the Rigid I use at work has em. Thinking of getting one for home too, but the 400 smackeroos is hard to swallow.... But it just stays so tight....

 

I've never had issues with any of the vises I've used with keeping them tight. But idk. Doesn't seem worth it for me. I'm not a professional using it 4-10 hours a day. Just hobby stuff. It's important to keep that perspective I think when shopping for most tools haha

 

I enjoy using a quality tool, I pay to keep myself happy. I hate using some shit that just is sloppy or doesn't work repeatedly the same way. That's how tools get thrown in my garage. Hell at work my channellocks (Chinese now) pissed me off and I used the 90 ton press to bend them into a U shape so no one would have to endure their shittiness again. I'm a tool snob and I'm unapologetic about it. I complain a lot when I work on someone else's vehicle with their tools if they're not up to my standard.

 

Sure I mean I don't like crap either. But I also don't require the top tier shit either. There's a good middle ground is my point. Like instead of all snap on or mac tools stanely and Craftsman are fine for example.

And a $400 vice sounds dope but really a 250 dollar one is gonna work just fine. A vice to me does not have to a precision insturment but can't be a floppy POS either. It's job is simple. Hold shit tight and let me beat the crap out if it and not fall apart for a few years. I figure with my useage it'll last a decade at least.

 

Old craftsman is good, but it's getting harder to find as it becomes more valuable. New craftsman can go suck a chode, Chinese bullshit with poorly stamped wrenches, soft metal working ends on screwdrivers, and non fiber reinforced plastics. Currently the cheapest I'm willing to go for everyday tools is S-K, I think they really hit the bang for the buck figure dead on. Their bundles are nice too if you're just starting out and it's all made in the US and lifetime warranty. The only thing in their lineup that's shit are their ratchets, and for those my go to is snapon still, won't trade those ratchets for anything. My vice is getting more and more use so I keep thinking about it, I currently have a cheapo that's not terrible but I dislike the jaw lineup and using it as a mini press causes it to splay. If it had adjustable gibs it would be fine, but it doesn't. Probably going to get the rigid, I get tools for a lifetime, and lucky for those tools my lifetime is likely shorter.

 

Just go get a harbor freight press. Haha then you don't need to use the vice for a press.

There are certainly some tools that would be lifetime type purchases. A vice very well could be one I think. Idk. I'd be more motivated if I had a better space haha

 

I have a HF press, I bent it almost immediately trying to do front wheel bearings... I've welded gussets on it, but well, it's still trash. Stuff like that I started building myself if I can't afford a good one. Fixing cheap shit takes almost as much time, so I might as well get something good out of the time wasted.

 

and that's why i didn't both trying to do the bearings haha

It still does the job for just about everything else you'd need it too. Again, just a hobby. I don't see the need to get a better press really.

 

Isn't it just their 12 ton version?

 

Yeah for me it's fun, not building tools, that's not always fun. But having a totally solid setup in the garage is fun. I hardly ever have to leave when I'm working to go get something I don't have or replace something that broke. The hobbies are the things I actually enjoy. I don't give a rat's ass about work, I just want to work on vehicles (either with friends or myself) and have a place to sleep. I'm hardly ever inside the house if the weather isn't complete shit. I'm either in the garage or at work, and one day soon (hunting now) I hope to be in the shop and not at work ever. Vehicles and camping, that's the dream. We will see, I have been working a side IT gig that may become remote full-time, in which case I can enjoy more free time. I hate the idea of selling so much of my life and health to line someone else's pockets, so I aim to cut down on both as soon as possible.

 

It's a modified 12ton, I've got a 40ton ram in it now haha.

 

well that would be cool. Wouldn't that be kind of what you had going on it Az?

 

ah that'd do it. 20ton or bust.

 

Yeah, maybe that has something to do with it.

 

Yeah, I still have that job actually, also remotely. It funds my truck shenanigans, cause there's no way my current day job could ever hope to.

 

It had the 12t when I bent it to shit though. It's reinforced pretty well now, the 40ton will bend the table before the arbor steeples again lol

 

wow really? that's lame.

I feel like i have the funds...at least for now with no house payment but no time


or space i guess. Least not a space I look forward to working in. Kind of a buzz kill.

 

Every time I come close to getting a better job I get shot down by something. Fucking COVID killed two jobs that were ready to hire me. My current work is hell on my body and stress and doesn't pay enough for that privilege. So getting frozen in my job search took away a lot of my spirit these past couple months, felt like a zombie with nothing to look forward to for weeks on end. But thankfully that little camping trip perked me up a bit. I'm just crossing my fingers everyday that I find a way out soon, it's a buzzkill, but it's my life. :/

 

bummer man.

Covid has changed my job a lot too. Some better, a lot not. But not in a way I wanna leave. So that sucks man. Hopefully shit blows over soon and jobs come back.

I haven't been camping once yet...still. Going to try this weekend with devin and co worker emily. Gonna just ground tent it up cause just need to get out.

 

Not sure we will get quite as nice of sunsets as you! But we made a trip to the new house this past weekend with a load of stuff. We do have a nice view of the southern Bighorn Range out the "back" of the house though. granted the picture doesnt really show it well.



The yard definitely needs some work (they only have grass in like 1/3rd of it). But the previous owners were there (they are renting our pace) and gave us some good spots for afterwork camping that are only a few minutes away in the BLM



Wife and I also have discovered we seem to be bad luck for the highways from Laurel to Worland. Made 5 trips and so far its been 4 accidents. 2 with fatalities. This last trip we had to wait for the Life Flight to take off. Also seems like Seat Belts are still an optional thing to people in WY.