What Did You Buy Today?

[Eyerelief]

I did notice last night that someone here had posted a photo of a sky hook in action. I obviously placed the do not tamper sticker in the wrong place. Apparently it was to point at a screw on the back of the housing. I tampered with that screw.

I figure this should be a good babysitting tool. I told all the grandsons to wear belts when they come over from now. If they will wear a belt, I will agree to "watch" them for a while.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

The labels were individually cut and in a clear plastic divided sleeve. single sleeve about 8.5x11. Shipped UPS in a padded envelope, the yellow ones with the asbestos padding on the sides. Just kidding, but you know which ones I am speaking of.

I didn't take any before pics. I went back to FB to see if I could find the posting but I failed. I am not very good at FB either. As my wife will attest, I am very bad about that not taking before pics. I get something in that I know needs work (and even some new stuff) and I start taking it apart the minute it shows up. Before I know it, its apart all over the workbench and the paying jobs are on the back burner. I am even worse about it if the item shows up on a Friday, then it is "drop everything and start the weekend".

my wife - "You need to grow up"
me - "NO - NO - NO!!!! while stomping my feet and spitting Lucky Charms everywhere (not the marshmallow ones, I picked those out and ate them first)

You did a nice job on it.

 

[wachuko]

I have found myself of late going around some of my tools due to not wanting to pick them up. Lazy? Scared I might drop them on my toe? Hurt my back? Mostly lazy. In any event, I realized it was time that I invest in or fabricate a winch of some type to help with some of the heavier pieces like a vise with a rotating base, large rotary table, or the tilting table that I typically find myself disassembling to mount it up so I dont have to lift the full Monty. Looked like the "Sky Hook" would be just the ticket until I saw what they want for one. I couldn't see paying that much. Fleabay has one pop up every now and again for $600-$700 but that still seemed high. Finally found one on FB for $400 in pretty bad shape. Rust, busted, missing handles, greasy. Used for sure. Figured that if it did what I needed it to do and I liked it, I could always trade up to a newer model down the road. It showed up on Friday. I guess I expected too much. The condition was as described, but the item itself isn't what I expected. I doubt I would pay $400 for a new one after seeing what this thing has for a soul. Spent the weekend taking it apart, cleaning everything up, painting etc. The CXA base didn't fit my Aloris CXA post so I had to open up the dovetails. Made two handles for it. Put the arm in the lathe and ran some sandpaper over it prior to paint (you can see yellow paint dust on the lathe chuck). Painted it with some Rusto implement paint.

Turned out OK so Monday morning I called the company and ordered some replacement decals. I was shocked to find that they wanted $20 for them but decided to in favor anyway. The only one I really wanted was the one that read 500 pound load limit. They said there would be a little bit for shipping when they actually shipped. Cant be too bad right? Just a couple of stickers. Put them in an envelope and put a stamp on it and I am good to go. NOPE. $30 bucks for shipping. Shame on me.

Got it all back together and stickered up. You will notice that the original manufacturer sticker is behind the hand wheel, I didn't disturb that one. The new company sticker is near the base. You can bet for $50 worth of stickers I am going to use every one.

Now before the P.E.T.L. (people for the ethical treatment of lathes) chime in, I have no intention of using this thing on my cross slide. I just couldn't hold it with one hand and snap a pic with my cell phone with the other. I have a heavy duty cart that I am going to mount it to. The cart will store the heavy items and those items will double as ballast.

The material this is manufactured with is not very robust, but 500 lbs isn't a tall order either (but I wont test it just the same). Hope I like it more over time, not very comfortable with my purchase at the moment

View attachment 460532

That came out looking like new... excellent work done! That is one of those purchases that I will be making in a few years... not getting any younger and need to be smarter on lifting stuff... I keep looking at FB Marketplace to see if one shows up for a low price...

You are not alone on falling for prices of stickers to get something to look stock/new. I went through the same with the Southworth hydraulic table cart that someone put on the curb to get rid off... table only needed a new battery to get it back operational... I only needed to paint the table to make it look like new again and got a set of factory stickers as well... I do not even want to remember the stupid amount I paid for those... but hey, the lift table was free…

 

[pontiac428]

So I've squawked plenty about my mag scale setup on my mill lately. I got my new glass slides from DHL this week. I did buy from Ditron; they heard my feedback and agreed that nine pin and optical would be the best solution. I know I've set myself up for fool me twice, but I really blame myself for not choosing the right read technology for my equipment to begin with. But I digress, let's talk about new goodies.

Ditron asked if I'd like some calipers. I looked at their catalog and saw they offer absolute scales and IP54 ratings, but what really impressed me is they got wise to battery consumption- now they auto shutoff, and use vastly superior CR2032 batteries. They're bragging up battery life, which means they've (slowly) absorbed our feedback on the mass-produced budget calipers that suck SR44 batts dry in one day. The cases are all metal. They're pretty heavy and chunky, but feel real good compared to the dollar store chinesium calipers we are all familiar with.

Of course, just like their bargain basement counterparts, these also gauge out perfectly. That's been one consistent thing about the cheapies. I usually use my stir-fry tools in dirty areas (welding bench, disassembly, etc.) and when I want mm/inch at the push of a button. I'll play with these for awhile and see if they live up to my first impression.

How much? $15 each. That's a lot like having a sore Dudelschwanz, you just can't beat it!

 

[Eyerelief]

That came out looking like new... excellent work done! That is one of those purchases that I will be making in a few years... not getting any younger and need to be smarter on lifting stuff... I keep looking at FB Marketplace to see if one shows up for a low price...

You are not alone on falling for prices of stickers to get something to look stock/new. I went through the same with the Southworth hydraulic table cart that someone put on the curb to get rid off... table only needed a new battery to get it back operational... I only needed to paint the table to make it look like new again and got a set of factory stickers as well... I do not even want to remember the stupid amount I paid for those...

Most of the time, if things clean up really good I will invest in such things. I have a 31 year old who has an engineering degree and every now and again shows interest having the shop. If he does want it, I want him to have it. Kinda hard to tell at this stage, he has lots of life ahead of him, and being a pilot in the Marine Corp absorbs most of his time. If he takes a different tangent in life, either the kids or I can sell this stuff off when I am down to just a couple fingers on each hand.

The Southworth table is a great investment in both time and money. Considering the cost of new, putting the stickers on it is a no brainer considering what you paid for it. I've seen your work, I am sure it was worth labeling properly. In my case, it just seemed like I was putting lipstick on a pig. We will see.

 

[extropic]

Dudelschwanz

Bagpipe? LOL

 

[Gnpenning]

I have found myself of late going around some of my tools due to not wanting to pick them up. Lazy? Scared I might drop them on my toe? Hurt my back? Mostly lazy. In any event, I realized it was time that I invest in or fabricate a winch of some type to help with some of the heavier pieces like a vise with a rotating base, large rotary table, or the tilting table that I typically find myself disassembling to mount it up so I dont have to lift the full Monty. Looked like the "Sky Hook" would be just the ticket until I saw what they want for one. I couldn't see paying that much. Fleabay has one pop up every now and again for $600-$700 but that still seemed high. Finally found one on FB for $400 in pretty bad shape. Rust, busted, missing handles, greasy. Used for sure. Figured that if it did what I needed it to do and I liked it, I could always trade up to a newer model down the road. It showed up on Friday. I guess I expected too much. The condition was as described, but the item itself isn't what I expected. I doubt I would pay $400 for a new one after seeing what this thing has for a soul. Spent the weekend taking it apart, cleaning everything up, painting etc. The CXA base didn't fit my Aloris CXA post so I had to open up the dovetails. Made two handles for it. Put the arm in the lathe and ran some sandpaper over it prior to paint (you can see yellow paint dust on the lathe chuck). Painted it with some Rusto implement paint.

Turned out OK so Monday morning I called the company and ordered some replacement decals. I was shocked to find that they wanted $20 for them but decided to in favor anyway. The only one I really wanted was the one that read 500 pound load limit. They said there would be a little bit for shipping when they actually shipped. Cant be too bad right? Just a couple of stickers. Put them in an envelope and put a stamp on it and I am good to go. NOPE. $30 bucks for shipping. Shame on me.

Got it all back together and stickered up. You will notice that the original manufacturer sticker is behind the hand wheel, I didn't disturb that one. The new company sticker is near the base. You can bet for $50 worth of stickers I am going to use every one.

Now before the P.E.T.L. (people for the ethical treatment of lathes) chime in, I have no intention of using this thing on my cross slide. I just couldn't hold it with one hand and snap a pic with my cell phone with the other. I have a heavy duty cart that I am going to mount it to. The cart will store the heavy items and those items will double as ballast.

The material this is manufactured with is not very robust, but 500 lbs isn't a tall order either (but I wont test it just the same). Hope I like it more over time, not very comfortable with my purchase at the moment

View attachment 460532

I realize this has a chain and gears. As I look at it I'm reminded of a drywall lift, which is a cable and lighter duty. Not sure what the load rating is for a DW lift but has anyone looked into converting one??

 

[Eyerelief]

I realize this has a chain and gears. As I look at it I'm reminded of a drywall lift, which is a cable and lighter duty. Not sure what the load rating is for a DW lift but has anyone looked into converting one??

This company makes this exact same unit with a cable instead of a chain. Same load limit. These units lift at a rate of 1” per hand wheel revolution. I’m guessing a drywall lift is a little faster. From a weight perspective I think a 12’ sheet of 5/8” drywall weights about 80 pounds (info I may never be able to forget no matter how hard I try) so I would guess that a drywall lift capacity would be double that implying that from a capacity alone perspective a drywall lift would be suitable for most items I am lifting.

 

[wachuko]

This company makes this exact same unit with a cable instead of a chain. Same load limit. These units lift at a rate of 1” per hand wheel revolution. I’m guessing a drywall lift is a little faster. From a weight perspective I think a 12’ sheet of 5/8” drywall weights about 80 pounds (info I may never be able to forget no matter how hard I try) so I would guess that a drywall lift capacity would be double that implying that from a capacity alone perspective a drywall lift would be suitable for most items I am lifting.

I realize this has a chain and gears. As I look at it I'm reminded of a drywall lift, which is a cable and lighter duty. Not sure what the load rating is for a DW lift but has anyone looked into converting one??

I was thinking more along the lines of using a small electric utility winch to make one…. I have one in a box that a friend gave me… 2,000 lbs capacity… but only need it for smaller stuff. I still have the gantry crane for the really heavy things.

And make something like this (smaller of course) and attach it to the lift cart (that is heavy as heck)…to get a setup that I can move around the garage…cart already has a 12 volt battery that I could use to power the winch…


Let me add it to my notebook before I forget…

 

[Mauzinette]

A pair of 3M chemical splash goggles aka Walter Whites and a KDS Japan stick-on self-adhesive tape measure.

I’m planning on sticking the tape measure on the side of my tool cart for taking those quick, approximate measurements.