Hi... I am new here to FSB and was just thinking of my new favorite tool since starting all of my latest projects. And that tool is the Milwaukee Port-A-Band saw. Before I bought one I did probably like most others and grind everything in sight with a damn hand grinder and about a hundred metal cutting disks (Norton should have given me a damn bulk discount by now). Now that I have been using my port-a-band, I don't see how I got by without it. I can now cut beautiful straight lines and not have to grind down every damn edge when I'm done. And what used to take me a half hour to cut only takes minutes or even seconds.

I was wondering what other tools yall have been using that made a huge impact in your work. Not only do I love my Bronco, I love all my tools as well. Too bad my wife doesn't feel the same. Ohh well, maybe I can get her replaced under warranty.

metabo grinder.
had enuff of burning up dewalts (2 in one year)

Honestly haven't heard of Metabo brand grinders. So far I have been lucky with my Dewalt grinder. But I can tell you my Makita 18VDC Lithium Ion Grinder is just about worthless. And I just bought it.

;I'll have t check out the porta bands. I've been drooooooling over a metal cutting band saw for years but can't justify the expense. Porta band gots to be less expensive.

Actually a milwaukee port a band will cost you around $300. If expense is the issue, you could easily pick up a normal table top bandsaw for about $90 and just replace the blade with a metal cutting one. But try picking that thing up and taking it to whatever your cutting. j/k

Harbor Freight had one for less than half the price. But I would definitely buy their in-store warranty replacement with it.

metabo grinder.
had enuff of burning up dewalts (2 in one year)

x2. We switched to Metabos here at our shop about 4 years ago when our welding supply pushed us to try one. Much longer lasting than the Dewalts, Milwaukees, Makitas and Ryobis we had been using before. The Milwaukees were about the best of the lot though..before we got hooked on the Metabos.

We do swear by our Dewalt compund 12" miter saws for cutting aluminum though.

10-4......milwaukee makes the best porta-band imho.

10-4......milwaukee makes the best porta-band imho.

x2. Their 110V sawzall can sure take a lot of abuse too.:thumbup And their 110V drill motors.

Wht's the concensus on battery drill motors? Getting ready to replace a very tired Dewalt 18V..

I bought a Makita 18V Lithium Ion Drill and man it has to be the best drill I have ever handled. It has a great feel to it. Its also a hammer drill. And the batteries last for longer than any others I have owned including the Dewalt 18V drill I replaced with this one. Check them out, and really look into the kits they offer, the price of each tool goes down a considerable amount. I bought the four pack that included the impact driver, and I dont think there has been a single day yet I haven't used the impact.

milwaukees & metabos cordless drills are both good tools.i think dewalt has gotten crappier over the last couple of years.

My three favorite tools:

http://oemfasteningsystems.thomasnet.com/ImgMedium/a0001148.jpg

http://www.rsci.com/uploads/images/18/duct-tape.jpg

http://www.villacero.com/english/images/productos/derivados/alambre_bobina/dda_bobina.jpg

Those three things can get you out of a lot of messes!!

I just bought a Ridgid 18v hammer drill. Seems to be of good quality. But the cool thing about it is that they will replace the batteries for free when they inevitably crap out. In fact, that was the main thing that convinced me to buy this brand. I've got perfectly good Dewalt and Porter-Cable drills laying around my shop right now that I don't use because the batteries are shot and it's just not worth the price of new batteries to replace them.

A B.F.H. is my personal favorite ....I find it so versatile.:smash

A couple of tools that I bought, and then wondered why I never had them before...

A craftsman bench/disc sander. Got it on sale for $60, put high quality norton abrasives on it, and I use it all the f'ing time. I fully expected it to crap out by now, but it is still going strong. I am considering turning an old table saw into a 14" disc sander since the 6" disc on my little craftsman works so good, but chews up the discs to quickly due to the small surface area... The disc part of the sander works great for cutting radii, like when rounding corners, even on very thick steel (used my 6" on up to 1" this material) and the belt sander works great for deburrig cuts, and end of the belt, at the roller is easily accesible for cleaning and adjusting tube notches.

The other tool/consumable that is a must have is quality abrasives. I used norton challenger line stuff almost exclusively until I discoverd Flexovit, the flexovit wheels dont last as long as the norton challenger's, but oh my god do they cut. Flap discs are another one that I will never be w/o in my shop again. They are incredibly versitile and leave a much nicer finish than grinding wheels.

*edit* btw, on the subject of grinders, I run a metabo 6.5" round body angle gringer, a 4" dewalt angle grinder w/ metal head (freebe on a rebate deal...) and a industrial Bosch 4.5" angle grinder (not the cheapies from Lowes). Of the 3 of them, I rebuild the metabo every year, and it gets used less and less now that I have the other 2. The bosch grinder is the only one that compares to the torque of the metabo, but it is holding up much better than the metabo. I have friends that have the old square body metabos, and have gotten upwards of 15 years of service out of them. The new round body ones do not even compare. I have heard this from several professional shops, as well as the repair facility that I buy my parts from. All of my grindres get used for light to moderate fabrication, probably 1-2 hours a day. The dewalt is holding up far better than I expected, but IMO is poorly designed from an ergonomic standpoint. The next time the metabo goes south, I am pitchng it and buying another Bosch, they have a better warranty, price, and so far w/ me anyhow, better longevity.

Later,
Jason

Flap disks are the only abrasive wheels I buy anymore. My friend had one and I just started grinding on an axle one day and was like holy shit, this thing works bad ass. You can shape and even remove large amounts of metal so much easier and so much more visually appealing than with grinding wheels.

Flap disks are the only abrasive wheels I buy anymore. My friend had one and I just started grinding on an axle one day and was like holy shit, this thing works bad ass. You can shape and even remove large amounts of metal so much easier and so much more visually appealing than with grinding wheels.

You will get tired of buying them if you use them for all general purpose grinding. I always use a grinding wheel to knock welds down, and then blend/finish w/ a flap disc. You cannot lean into them and make them cut deep or notch like you can a grinding disc, they are nice, but they defenitely have their limits. Plus, if you think they cut better than an abrasive wheel, you need to get some good abrasives, with just the weight of my grinder, the flexovits, or norton challangers will seriously cut/gouge metal. If you put some force on them, they blow cheap abrasive and flap wheels away. I suggest zirconium flap discs though (blue-green in color) they out last and out perform silicone oxide (red/brown/orange in color) discs about 2 to 1.

Mine would probably have to be torches or my mig. Couldnt have built any of the things I have today without them. Plus... I like fire

Jared

I"ll have to try those flexovit wheels. Should the big chain stores have them?

I"ll have to try those flexovit wheels. Should the big chain stores have them?

my local airgas stocks both, but if you have any welding supply store nearby, the should be able to order either brand for you. You can also order the stuff online from airgas' website, for pretty reasonable prices.

Later,
Jason

the best tool I have gotten this year was my Miller DVI MIG welder, it has worked out beter than I could have imagined. I did get a new LI Ion makita drill for work also to replace the DeWalt XRP drill I had, so far I like the LI Ion better.

3 air compressors running a 3/4inch impact, still need more air
and zip ties

My IR impact wrench.

Porter-cable makes a very good portable band saw:thumbup :beer

I have bought a lot of tools in the last few years. Too many to list but I’ll place the top 10 most useful ones here.

1. Millermatic 175 Mig Welder. I couldn’t have done half of the stuff I wanted to without one.

2. Parker 50 amp Plasma Cutter. It is my newest tool but I can already see it is going to save me a bunch of time cutting through steel.

3. HF angle grinders. although I may use them less now that I have the plasma they have got me through a lot of cutting jobs.

4. HF dana 44 u-joint and ball joint press. It may not seem like a big deal but it does it’s job well.

5. HF coil spring compressor. I have used it more times than I thought I would need it and on more than one vehicle.

6. Sears floor mounted drill press. Thanks Dad. I use it all the time and it’s a definite must have.

7. HF 19 volt cordless impact wrench. I use it often. It worked great when I was at the junkyard needing 32 lug nuts for my current SAS redo. I also use it when I’m too lazy to plug in the air compressor.

8. B&D Dremel tool. It is surprising how much this little tool is used. I burned up one after a couple years and am now on my second.

9. Craftsman 20 Gallon Air compressor. It’s 35 years + old and I have a lot of tools to go with it. I recently replaced the motor with a 5 HP 220V one and it works like a beast. Combined with the tools it is a keeper.

10. Special tools. Tape measurers, dial calipers, angle finders, leather gloves, auto darkening helmets, safety glasses, hand tools.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m220/4drbronko/0729-2111.jpg
28 volt cordless.