Product Cordless tools

[Susquatch]

I was reading an article about making battery packs for model planes, and the fellow was using a “Pencil” spot welder to weld on the tabs for the battery cells.

If I ever jump to cordless tools, that might be a good addition to allow me to remake my own battery packs.

I gave up trying to install replacement batteries. I just recycle them now. Makita in particular was fussy as hell. Someplace I read that they have a chip hidden in the battery pack that keeps track of battery use. Sort of like Canon or HP printer ink. But I have no real knowledge of it. Just hearsay.

 

[Chicken lights]

Friend of mine said to try that little guy on 5/16" bolts, sure enough it works.

The local bolt store told me to upgrade batteries to the 3.0 and boy what a difference. But you guys are all saying go to 5.0 or 6.0 batteries?

 

[Dan Dubeau]

3's will be fine on that impact. You really start to notice the bigger batteries on the higher draw tools like grinders and large impacts. They extra runtime actually makes them more of a usefull tool than a toy that runs out too quick.

 

[Susquatch]

But you guys are all saying go to 5.0 or 6.0 batteries?

That's the amp hours on the battery Dave. It's really only how long they last before needing to be recharged.

It could also be that the higher capacity batteries can supply more raw current but I have never seen any evidence of that.

 

[Chicken lights]

A grinder was my complaint to the bolt store, their answer was the 3's. And it was a game changer on power, that and a skil saw, they're actually usable tools now. Before with the small batteries they were useless

 

[Susquatch]

A grinder was my complaint to the bolt store, their answer was the 3's.

Just imagine what it would be like with a 15!

And that's assuming anyone can even afford it! I was afraid to look at the price.

 

[Chicken lights]

Just imagine what it would be like with a 15!

And that's assuming anyone can even afford it! I was afraid to look at the price.

How do you find the centre of a large hole?

Don't even think about it I'm talking metal, trying to measure an old part, to lay out on the new part where to drill

Then how do you get rid of the scruff around the hole? You guys talked me into a chamfer tool, but it's way too small. I just used a small file

Aluminum in this case, if it matters

 

[Susquatch]

How do you find the centre of a large hole?

Not sure what you are up to. It's hard to find the center of something that isn't there. For example a hole. Even so, once you find the center, how do you keep it? A DRO is very useful.

For small holes, we use a center punch. For big ones, maybe trace it out on paper and find the center of that.

You can find the center of a part using various methods, depending on the part's shape and the tools available. Here's a few ways to do it:

For Squares and Rectangles, draw diagonal lines from opposite corners. The intersection point is the center.

For round parts, draw any chord (a line connecting two points on the circumference). Find the midpoint of the chord. Draw a perpendicular line from the midpoint of the chord to the two opposite sides of the circle. This is a true diameter. The midpoint of the diameter is the center. You can also use a 45 square if you have one. Use a different chord if you are not sure.

A concave curved knife does a good job of carving away scruff. But ya, a file works good too.

 

[Chicken lights]

I got it close enough for government work, but how would you lay that out?

I could tape paper to the backside to try your two lines trick but I feel I'm missing something

@Susquatch loves my drafting skills

 

[ChazzC]

View attachment 63473
I got it close enough for government work, but how would you lay that out?

I could tape paper to the backside to try your two lines trick but I feel I'm missing something

@Susquatch loves my drafting skills

Now that I see the part, I would locate the features by lightly clamping the part in the milling vise, picking up the center of the large hole using the appropriate size cone

held in the spindle (set 0,0), use a smaller cone to get the coordinates of the two small holes and use an edge finder to pick up the four sides (the long sides - clamped in the vise jaws - can be located by touching off on the inside of the vise jaws with the edge finder). Can then use CAD or P/PAD (Paper/Pencil Assisted Design) to layout the new part.

I’m assuming that the pressed part is separate from the larger plat/sheet it is sitting on; if not, clamp the larger part directly on the mill table aligning it in X; pick up the sides using a fine point - the sharp pointer of a wiggler set or the pointed end of an edge finder, for example - I have a 0.1mm point I hold in a drill chuck I use for picking up center-punch marks:

 

[LenVW]

Just use a dial indicator to pickup that ‘large’ hole center.
That will provide you a datum to build from.

 

[ChazzC]

Just use a dial indicator to pickup that ‘large’ hole center.
That will provide you a datum to build from.

DTI?

 

[LenVW]

Not shore what you mean by DTI?

 

[LenVW]

This is what I would use . . .

 

[Susquatch]

I got it close enough for government work, but how would you lay that out?

I'm thick I guess Dave. Why do you need to know where the center is?

What are you doing?

 

[Chicken lights]

I'm thick I guess Dave. Why do you need to know where the center is?

What are you doing?

I drove over a pole, bent a fairing. The replacement I got from the wrecking yard didn't have the marker light holes. So I needed to measure and layout the old parts to replicate on the replacement

 

[Susquatch]

I drove over a pole, bent a fairing. The replacement I got from the wrecking yard didn't have the marker light holes. So I needed to measure and layout the old parts to replicate on the replacement

Ahhhh, I see! The job just got easier.

If you think trucks drive over poles, you should see what farm tractors do in the mixed forest/rock/farmland around here! I'm forever fixing lights, brackets, and frames on tractors and farm equipment!

Here is what I would do. KISS. I'd staple a piece of paper to a piece of plywood or junk wood. I'd put the plywood and paper behind the old sheet metal, spray paint a template or use punches and/or hole saws to mark the paper. Remove the paper and glue it to (or hold it against) the new sheet metal. Drill and cut new holes.

If you want to be a bit more precise, I'd assume you have a caliper (but maybe not a DTI - Dial Test Indicator @LenVW ).

Use the inside edge jaws of the caliper to measure the distance center to center of the screw holes. Call this D. The location of the bulb hole is D/2.

You can also use a geometry divider to locate the center hole. Locate the two screw holes with a marker, and draw a line between them. Use a divider (can be home made with holes for a screw and for a marker) to make arcs from both holes above and below the center hole. Draw a vertical line between the intersections. That locates the light hole.

If you don't have a geometry set, make a wooden divider with a nail for the screw centers and a hole drilled for a marker pen to draw the arcs.



See, my cad skills are just like yours!

Even easier is to lock your caliper at someplace slightly more or less than the center distance - no need to be precise. Mark the center from both screw holes - the true center is exactly 1/2 way between the two marks. Easy to eyeball.

 

[Chicken lights]

Ahhhh, I see! The job just got easier.

If you think trucks drive over poles, you should see what farm tractors do in the mixed forest/rock/farmland around here! I'm forever fixing lights, brackets, and frames on tractors and farm equipment!

Here is what I would do. KISS. I'd staple a piece of paper to a piece of plywood or junk wood. I'd put the plywood and paper behind the old sheet metal, spray paint a template or use punches and/or hole saws to mark the paper. Remove the paper and glue it to (or hold it against) the new sheet metal. Drill and cut new holes.

If you want to be a bit more precise, I'd assume you have a caliper (but maybe not a DTI - Dial Test Indicator @LenVW ).

Use the inside edge jaws of the caliper to measure the distance center to center of the screw holes. Call this D. The location of the bulb hole is D/2.

You can also use a geometry divider to locate the center hole. Locate the two screw holes with a marker, and draw a line between them. Use a divider (can be home made with holes for a screw and for a marker) to make arcs from both holes above and below the center hole. Draw a vertical line between the intersections. That locates the light hole.

If you don't have a geometry set, make a wooden divider with a nail for the screw centers and a hole drilled for a marker pen to draw the arcs.

View attachment 63498

See, my cad skills are just like yours!

Even easier is to lock your caliper at someplace slightly more or less than the center distance - no need to be precise. Mark the center from both screw holes - the true center is exactly 1/2 way between the two marks. Easy to eyeball.

I'll have to try that, thanks!

If you want guys that are tough on equipment, you need to work with farmers that are now logging

You get the best of both worlds, farmers that are too cheap to fix anything and loggers that don't think safety features are necessary

 

[ChazzC]

WOOT–WOOT: It's a DeWalt Sale!

 

[historicalarms]

I drove over a pole, bent a fairing. The replacement I got from the wrecking yard didn't have the marker light holes. So I needed to measure and layout the old parts to replicate on the replacement

man oh man i feel your pain...I used to try to use a hole saw to cut holes for new gauges and placing them correctly in an existing cluster of gauges already there drove me nuts....you see & notice your few thou f##$k up every time you scan those gauges