Sight for Sore Eyes - New tools

[Pat Dilling]

One of my biggest challenges while welding is seeing my work. I found this neat little "MIG Lite" at Eastwood.com. I tried it out today while practicing some panel welding and I really like it. The clamp portion is formed rubber and grips the tube well. The light is bright and comes with extra lenses. I do wish it hung down just a little further as there is a shadow edge right at the tip of the wire, but I can live with that. This should keep my beads from wandering.


I am a bit of a gadget guy and will share another recent acquisition from Harbor Freight. I got this sheet metal shear a couple weeks ago and have found it very useful. It cuts up to 14 gauge, it goes through 18 gauge like butter and leaves a very clean edge without distorting the metal at all. With a little effort you can scroll if your radius is not to tight. I really like it. Cost was about $40

[63t-cab]

Pat, how much was the light. I tend too have "can't see so good any more" when welding.

[sals54]

[Pat Dilling]

Pat, how much was the light. I tend too have "can't see so good any more" when welding.

I meant to put that in oops, it was $30, a little spendy for what it is, but hopefully worth it in the long run.

Sal, I'll get right on those projects, how does the second Tuesday next week sound?

[wdills]

That light looks cool. I spend 1/2 of my time trying to get a drop light to stay in the right spot so it will illuminate the area to be welded and not upset the auto-dark sensor in the helmet. Have you had it long enough to discover how long the battery will last?

[Pat Dilling]

No, not yet. But it is a single LED with a AAA battery so I expect it will last quite a while. Just have to remember to turn it off. It does have an auto shutoff after 30 minutes, but I have not left it on that long to see if it works.

Here is a link to Eastwood's page for it. There are reviews to read, mostly positive. http://www.eastwood.com/mig-light.html

[Jefscoupe]

I picked up a couple LED lights with clips at one of those cheapie Chinese tool stores a while back.
It wasn't until months later while welding on another car I saw one of those MIG lights advertised and immediately thought
of the ones I bought. They were made to clip onto a cap.
The clip was not made for a MIG gun but it works great and cost less than 10 bucks.

[wittsend]

Last week there was a yard sale in my neighborhood where they were selling boxes upon boxes of used, but quality (American made) tools. For all of $5 I picked up a Kett (USA) shear that is probably what the HF shear was knock off-ed from. I looked up the Kett and found it was a $250+ shear. The replacement cutters blades were more than the whole HF shear cost. I also got a Metabo shear (again, $5) and that was a $400+ shear with $50 replacement cutting blades. In the end I spent $105 and got $1,600 retail (new) in product. All be it used.

I too generally live out of a HF wallet (so to speak) and can appreciate what can be bought for so little. Then again it is a bit baffling the disparity in price. I mean if I but three of a specific HF tool in my lifetime for $50 each, or I buy one USA made similar tool for $250, what is really the better deal. Anyone else ever have these questions rattling in their brain?

[Pat Dilling]

Wow, that's quite a score at a yard sale. Most of the ones I find the people seem to know what they have and they are priced accordingly. I have some of the same thoughts. As a hobbyist, my tools generally spend a lot more time in my tool box than in my hands. If my only option were to buy new American made tools intended for professionals I would not have near as many as I do. Like you I could replace these tools a couple times before I reached the price of a high dollar professional gear. I love to support American manufacturing and commerce when I can. The way I figure it, Harbor Freight is an American company, the employees there are Americans in my community, the trucker that delivered the goods is probably an American too as are the warehouse workers. I feel the same way about Walmart and K-Mart.

[Chucks Stude]

Man, I just love new tools. Especially something that works as advertised. Makes ya feel warm and fuzzy all over!

[1954khardtop]

Pat, That light is a great idea! I wish I had one last week. Will be ordering from Eastwood soon, thanks!

[48skyliner]

People in the sheet metal fabrication business may refer to this style of shear as "Desoutter Shears" in the same way small cameras used to be referred to as "Kodaks". I have a Desoutter pneumatic shear that is about twice the length of the "Mighty Atom" pictured in this ad, but has about the same size head. Bought it many years ago at a pawn shop, pretty sure it originally came from Boeing. I am not familiar with the one Harbor Freight sells, but the pneumatic ones are, like most air tools, variable speed. Mine will cut a pretty small radius, but you can only control it easily if you run it at a slower speed. These tools were originally developed for the aircraft industry, and based on the attached ad from 1937, I am going to speculate that Desoutter invented this style of shear. You may note that they say "Only Desoutter make a pneumatic shear". I use mine a lot and it is a wonderful tool. I cut all of the body panels for the Stiletto with it, and was able to follow a line well enough that I only needed to smooth the edges with a file. After 25 years, I have only sharpened the cutter blades once, but I ALWAYS put a few drops of oil on the cutters before I use it.

http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1937/1937%20-%202745.PDF

The shear shown in the original post cuts out a small strip, which curls up as you go along, and causes very little distortion. The Desoutter style shear does not "waste" any metal, but the upper and lower pieces have to flex or bend to make room for the jaw of the tool, and this causes distortion if the metal is heavier. The Desoutter shear can cut a curve of smaller radius, and works best on thin metal.

Those little round flashlights they sell at Harbor Freight would be perfect for attachment to your MIG gun - small, light weight, 9 LEDs, three AAA batteries and very bright. You can buy them for about $2, and I think in most cases you could tape it on with electrical tape and make it work pretty well. Aluminum case and plastic lens, so it should be reasonably resistant to weld spatter, but I would tape it on as far back as possible. I am glad this was posted - I don't know why I didn't think of this years ago.