General On the Tools Trade Handyman Talk

[Miket12]

When my mum passed away, we were going through documents in her desk which included an envelope which contained my parents old passports. In everyone, dating back to the late 60's. my old man wore the same check jacket right through to his last passport from the 2000's.

But he did have a hard time throwing things away. When we were clearing out his shed, we found a set of wire strainers he'd used on the farm for putting up fences. He hadn't used them for at least 35 years but had kept them just in case "one day he needed them".

 

[bruce]

He hadn't used them for at least 35 years but had kept them just in case "one day he needed them".

What is wrong with that? Waste not want not. Farmers never throw things out.

 

[snake77]

When my mum passed away, we were going through documents in her desk which included an envelope which contained my parents old passports. In everyone, dating back to the late 60's. my old man wore the same check jacket right through to his last passport from the 2000's.

But he did have a hard time throwing things away. When we were clearing out his shed, we found a set of wire strainers he'd used on the farm for putting up fences. He hadn't used them for at least 35 years but had kept them just in case "one day he needed them".

My parents were bad for keeping everything. More so my mother. My father its more if it's to do with a hobby. I used to joke they were a bunch of wombles.

Sorting out the house after my mother passed and my father moved my sister would say how special all of this old stuff was. Tins to bake bread in that were crooked etc. We took the first piece of furniture my parents brought together down to my father. They were married 55 years so this thing was old. My sister thought it was special. My father asked if there was anything better up at the old house instead of that bloody thing.

My mother always watched her money. Then when she got sick she was handing out cash like a mob boss. I can afford to pay for petrol from Auckland to the Bay of Plenty. But it was hard to say no as she was insistent. I pretty much kept the money in my wallet to spend on the kids which she would of liked.

At one point near the end she told my father and sister that they need to look at her bed side cabinet. She then gave instructions about how to take it apart to find a secret sport we they found about $3500. They never would of found it otherwise. My father used to joke they had their money and she had her money.

 

[Miket12]

What is wrong with that? Waste not want not. Farmers never throw things out.

What's interesting is that a lot of his manual tools would be over 60 years old and still better than a lot you'd buy today. I've got an old drill brace of his that he was given as a present when he left a farm he was managing so would be over seventy years old.

We had a builder doing some work at our place when the electrician wanted the power off and so the builder asked if I had a battery drill powerful enough to put a 15mm dia hole through a 100mm wide beam as his battery drill had run out of juice. He laughed when I produced dad's old drill brace with a 5/8's bit..... by time he'd finished with it, he wanted to buy it from me.

I've got a relatively new Stanley crosscut saw that needs sharpening every couple of years.... and dad's old Disston and Son's saw is nearly 70 years old and never needs sharpening.

 

[bruce]

What's interesting is that a lot of his manual tools would be over 60 years old and still better than a lot you'd buy today. I've got an old drill brace of his that he was given as a present when he left a farm he was managing so would be over seventy years old.

We had a builder doing some work at our place when the electrician wanted the power off and so the builder asked if I had a battery drill powerful enough to put a 15mm dia hole through a 100mm wide beam as his battery drill had run out of juice. He laughed when I produced dad's old drill brace with a 5/8's bit..... by time he'd finished with it, he wanted to buy it from me.

I've got a relatively new Stanley crosscut saw that needs sharpening every couple of years.... and dad's old Disston and Son's saw is nearly 70 years old and never needs sharpening.

There is a reason farmers don't throw things out. My wife is a shocker, she likes things tidy and is always throwing my stuff out. That is why she is banned from my office.
As for the tool shed my son is more like me.
Farmers like having spares, there is a very good reason for that.
My tractor tool kit was massive.
It is difficult getting a mechanic to come out to the back paddock, especially in a hurry.
Not just farmers either

 

[Miket12]

There is a reason farmers don't throw things out. My wife is a shocker, she likes things tidy and is always throwing my stuff out. That is why she is banned from my office.
As for the tool shed my son is more like me.
Farmers like having spares, there is a very good reason for that.
My tractor tool kit was massive.
It is difficult getting a mechanic to come out to the back paddock, especially in a hurry.
Not just farmers either

That reminds me.... we found parts in his shed for dad's old '50's Ferguson TEA20 when he passed away.... 20 years after he'd sold it.

 

[Noitall]

What's interesting is that a lot of his manual tools would be over 60 years old and still better than a lot you'd buy today. I've got an old drill brace of his that he was given as a present when he left a farm he was managing so would be over seventy years old.

We had a builder doing some work at our place when the electrician wanted the power off and so the builder asked if I had a battery drill powerful enough to put a 15mm dia hole through a 100mm wide beam as his battery drill had run out of juice. He laughed when I produced dad's old drill brace with a 5/8's bit..... by time he'd finished with it, he wanted to buy it from me.

I've got a relatively new Stanley crosscut saw that needs sharpening every couple of years.... and dad's old Disston and Son's saw is nearly 70 years old and never needs sharpening.

I hear what you’re saying about the quality of older tools and not being a builder I’m not purchasing tools all the time to see the advancements, only having what I need for the limited use they get but as a painter I have festool sanders attached to a vacuum system and this has been a game changer. The sanders have gears and will strip the paint if required back to bare and I can do this and have next to no dust on me or breathing it. Amazing tool.

 

[bruce]

That reminds me.... we found parts in his shed for dad's old '50's Ferguson TEA20 when he passed away.... 20 years after he'd sold it.

View attachment 50595

I bet there is still a market for those parts

 

[bruce]

What's interesting is that a lot of his manual tools would be over 60 years old and still better than a lot you'd buy today.

Just IMO, cos everybody has one...but battery operated tools are shite ...give me mains power or elbow grease

 

[Noitall]

Just IMO, cos everybody has one...but battery operated tools are shite ...give me mains power or elbow grease

Got a bit ridiculous on commercial sites needing your leads constantly ticked off by an electrician though.

 

[bruce]

Got a bit ridiculous on commercial sites needing your leads constantly ticked off by an electrician though.

No problem, just supply a extra labourers to carry all the spare batteries around ...and forget the cost of the batteries and finding enough power points to charge them...what was that Bruce...battery tools are shite?

 

[Miket12]

I bet there is still a market for those parts

Especially around Northland and Coromandel beaches where they used to tow boats to the ramps.

 

[Noitall]

No problem, just supply a extra labourers to carry all the spare batteries around ...and forget the cost of the batteries and finding enough power points to charge them...what was that Bruce...battery tools are shite?

if i were a carpenter - Google Search

They have their place, if you carry 3 batteries and rotate them over the charger all day it works out as far as a sander goes, as I said earlier, I predominantly use a festool sander and vacuum which is run on leads but I have a battery sander too which is handy at times. Thought I’d better put a song on to keep it semi on topic, probably should start a toolbox thread if there isn’t one. I’d hate to be banned from this thread as well as the naughty chair.

 

[bruce]

if i were a carpenter - Google Search

They have their place, if you carry 3 batteries and rotate them over the charger all day it works out as far as a sander goes, as I said earlier, I predominantly use a festool sander and vacuum which is run on leads but I have a battery sander too which is handy at times. Thought I’d better put a song on to keep it semi on topic, probably should start a toolbox thread if there isn’t one. I’d hate to be banned from this thread as well as the naughty chair.

I like the original

 

[mt.wellington]

Got a bit ridiculous on commercial sites needing your leads constantly ticked off by an electrician though.

Just a ridiculous ass covering and money gathering exercise. I just go to an electrical store and buy the colourcoded tags. Fill them out myself and Bobs your trans neutral non binary uncle. If your lead is frayed or loose at the plugs then throw the whole thing out. Cost $40 for a decent trade standard one which is almost as much as it costs to get tests to tell you its shit...

No problem, just supply a extra labourers to carry all the spare batteries around ...and forget the cost of the batteries and finding enough power points to charge them...what was that Bruce...battery tools are shite?

Chargers need to be tagged as well lol...

 

[Noitall]

Just a ridiculous ass covering and money gathering exercise. I just go to an electrical store and buy the colourcoded tags. Fill them out myself and Bobs your trans neutral non binary uncle. If your lead is frayed or loose at the plugs then throw the whole thing out. Cost $40 for a decent trade standard one which is almost as much as it costs to get tests to tell you its shit...



Chargers need to be tagged as well lol...

I did some work as a painter at the airport 5 or so years ago and everybody there no matter trade is expected to wear a hard hat, safety goggles, high vis, id dangling around neck to sign in at different parts of airport, long sleeves, gloves to go with standard steel cap boots etc. All work was off scissor lifts and if you wanted a ladder you had to sign in for it but were expected to wait until a scissor lift became available rather than use a ladder if all were used. All rules from Australia and site safe.

 

[jonesy101]

Love love my 90s r&b and hip hop. R&B Friday's is a concert held pretty much each year in Aus where they get the stars around that time like blackstreet, TLC, 112, Dru Hill, Ashanti etc to come and perform. Not sure if they goto NZ but tickets generally sell out.

During covid, dj cassidy started "pass the mic' which brought our childhood artists back once more performing from their homes. Some may enjoy this: . There's quite a few episodes like this.

On a further note, does anyone have a list of artists/groups that became popular around that time from nz/au? Thinking names like 3 the hardway, kulcha, cdb, purest form? (this is more for my sis who seems to have forgotten what we used to listen to back in the day...she only knows more commercially accessible these days)

Haven't heard of R&B Friday's in NZ, but they had a Juicy festival which toured some of the regional areas of the North Island. The weather in the holiday spots here has been atrocious for the most part so the Mt Manganui leg got cancelled due to safety concerns. There was the likes of Ne-Yo, Twista, Chingy, Xhibit, Mya, Ja-Rule, Nelly and a couple of other artists from that late 90's early 2000 era. They got a good send off in Whangarei and have finished off with a few concerts in Aus.

 

[drake83]

Just a ridiculous ass covering and money gathering exercise. I just go to an electrical store and buy the colourcoded tags. Fill them out myself and Bobs your trans neutral non binary uncle. If your lead is frayed or loose at the plugs then throw the whole thing out. Cost $40 for a decent trade standard one which is almost as much as it costs to get tests to tell you its shit...



Chargers need to be tagged as well lol...

Everything needs to be tagged vacumns grinders sanders drills lucky 99.5 percent of my work is domestic fark commercial work

 

[mt.wellington]

if i were a carpenter - Google Search

They have their place, if you carry 3 batteries and rotate them over the charger all day it works out as far as a sander goes, as I said earlier, I predominantly use a festool sander and vacuum which is run on leads but I have a battery sander too which is handy at times. Thought I’d better put a song on to keep it semi on topic, probably should start a toolbox thread if there isn’t one. I’d hate to be banned from this thread as well as the naughty chair.

Tools like Festool will change your life. Things like PLS lasers, cordless 36V concrete saws and chainsaws, variable speed grinders and brushless drills have been a blessing for me. Type of things you just dont know what you would do without them. Cant believe we use to use transparent hoses filled with water and plumb bobs to level and plumb things before lasers lol...

 

[mt.wellington]

Everything needs to be tagged vacumns grinders sanders drills lucky 99.5 percent of my work is domestic fark commercial work

If its got a plug it needs to be tagged. Even just for a small mostly handtool outfit like my gang of 3 used to cost around $500 just to get onsite. The bigger outfit I work casually for now spend $12000 every 6 moths to have everything they own tested.

Thats just the very tip of the iceberg when it comes to large commercial operations that are run properly in terms of safety regulations.

Then you have full PPE so not just the standard hard hat, glasses, ear protection and gloves but also pants, long sleeve shirt, full face visor and respiratory gear for grinding, fence with scaf net for flying debris, fence or barricade for overhead work, mandatory toolbox every morning, caution tape, ... the list seems endless. Thats not counting the site safe passes, confined space pass, harness pass, respiratory/gas mask test, gas monitor pass, confined space pass, basic first aid standard unit, advanced first aid standard unit, hole watch pass, hot work permits for anything that produces a spark, confine space permits, air quality controls, JSA permits, noise permits, emergency evacuation procedures, traffic control permits/licence... another endless list.

That not even counting council regulations and permits. If I work under the drip line of a protected tree I sometimes have to hire an aborist to sit there for the entirety of the job just to make sure we dont hurt a leaf on it!

There are some jobs where we sit in the smoko shed for a whole week playing cards on full pay waiting for lock out systems and permits so we can start work.

I appreciate the safety awareness and all that but sometimes the amount of red tape and egg shells you have to navigate are more of a danger than the actual dangers they are trying to protect you from...