LocostUSA.com

Yeah but but it will clearly lift more. The complete Miata engine (with alt, intake and exhaust header) and tranny is only 360#. Pictured above I used my crane to move the old chassis out of the garage and I'm sure it weighed more than 500#.
I'll give the ol girl a n A-. (the top bracing is not welded on straight)

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Thanks I'll go buy it. You made my day. Any day I get to buy tools is a good day, Russ

The Miata motor should be easy. I was using mine for a 350 Chevy with the tranny bolted on and it worked fine. It did have some bounce, but still held up fine.

Not to get too far off topic, but is the miata engine really that light? Is that a firsthand measurement, or does it come from a reliable source?

I wouldn't call that light, or me reliable for that matter but that's what it weighed balanced on my old hefty mamma bathroom scale and it seems to be somewhat in line with other numbers I've seen thrown around. This was a 1.6liter FWIW.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

They have their reconditioned welders on sale super cheap. I bought one for my dad's garage: $129 for a gas/flux core 120 amp welder.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=55250

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

I wish I had tried these sooner. Freaking awesome. I bought a pack of 3 for $6.99 and so far I am very impressed. These things cost $8 each at Lowes. I bought the 60 grit and they are ideal for flush grinding welds, like on the sides of the chassis where the Aluminum body must go. As for durability and consistency of quality I can't say, but the first disc I put on my grinder has been a dandy. They leave the metal surface smooth, almost shiny, unlike the grinder wheel I had been using.

Overall Grade: A+

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Central Machinery is Harbor Freight's "house brand" for tools.

I recently had a great experience with Central Machinery's Customer Service. Be warned - they outsource their customer service to non-native english speakers, but if you speak clearly and verify every bit of information you give them (double check your address, the part number, etc.) then they will deliver!

I broke a cast iron hinge on my Central Machinery bandsaw and they replaced it, no questions asked. The part came 2 weeks later...

I was very surprised.

I love those flap wheels! I buy them almost every time I go into that store anymore. I go thru them pretty quick though. The 120 grit ones make really nice dressing wheels for welds after you have ground them down with the 60 grit wheels. They are also very nice for grinding down surface roughness before polishing - just be carefull. They will fall apart after a while, but it takes a lot of use to get there. By then you are ready to use a new wheel.

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Build sold to a new loving home. May start another one when I have more time to devote to it. For now I play with my boat, Datsun 240Z, and GS700 motorcycle.

Unrelated project, was making drawers. Since I don't have a woodshop I got to review some HF tools.1.75hp Plunge router C Motor is powerful and it is reliable, but there is a problem. The thing is out of balance and vibrates to beat hell. On top of that the chuck sticks and the wrenches that come with it bend and become useless the first time you try to get a bit out. Additionally it doesn't come with a guide for the HF Dovetail machine.

So I had to buy some of the Router guides. D. Being HF brand you might expect them to bolt up to the HF router. They don't. I gave them a marginal passing grade only because I was able to redrill the mounting plate and make it work.

Dovetail Machine. B. Works OK. The guides are super soft Aluminum and bend really easily which eventually becomes a problem.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Heat Gun. D. Worked fine until it accidently got tugged off of my workbench and fell 3.5 feet onto the floor. This dislodged its delicate inner workings and produced an eye opening fireworks display complete with copious amounts of smoke the next time I tried to use it.

As a general rule I have learned that if a tool with a motor and moving parts costs $9.99 at HF it isn't worth carrying out of the store.

Floor staplerD. Got the job done but barely. Every staple jam results in the need for disassembly and repair. Spend your money on a high dollar rental unit. I went through three of these installing about 300 SF of hardwood flooring.

Dual Mig 151 welder. B. I got mine reconditioned for $129. I've had the gun apart to work on the switch that turns the wire feed on and off a couple times. I think I finally got it sorted out. Not a bad welder if you don't mind working on annoying crap from time to time. It's a 220V unit and I have it set up with gas and it welds pretty good. Better than my 120V Mig 131 model that they no longer sell.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Northern Tool 14” Carbide Dry Cut Saw

I’ve been running one of these damn near daily for a year now. For comparison sake, I used the Porter Cable equivalent in a shop for about 3 weeks. The PC was a slightly better saw, but not much. I would give the NT saw a B-. The blade is of good quality and lasts a long time. The blade guard is beefy and works great. In the last year I’ve had to sharpen the blade once. I’ve cut 3”x.120 tube, 2” x 2” x 1/8” angle, ½” round bar, and everything in between. It makes great 45* cuts in angle and tube. Cuts require no dressing. This saw really speeds up cutting and assembly of tables, frames, etc.

I have only two complaints. 1) the supplied little handle is weak and didn’t even fit on the screw shaft. I welded a 6” T handle on the shaft before I even cut with the saw. 2) The main hinge mechanism is a little weak and the saw twists/binds as the blade enters the piece. This problem is solved by using two hands to make *every* cut – use your left hand to pull the trigger and use your right hand on top of the blade cover to guide the saw into the work.

Saw is available here http://www2.northerntool.com/product/200326857.htm and at http://www.amazon.com.

Peter

I've always wanted one of those, I think I'd spend the extra $90 for the dewalt version though.

I picked up one of the HF tubing notchers. Of course, it needed some adjustment when I bought it. The tube and the hole saw were not lined up. I used some washers to shim out the tube, and it actually made some pretty decent notches. I spent a little extra money and bought the hole saw from Home Depot. It was not round, and wobbled when I turned on the drill press (another HF purchase). Below are some pics of the notcher before I shimmed it, and a pic of the finished joint.

The Princess Auto version of these are to be avoided, they are cheap, but fall apart quickly, I had one disintegrate while in use, the largest piece caught me right on the end of the pecker, not fun (yes I had pants on).

at 3x the price, the flap wheels from the local welding supply store here in town last more than 3x as long, and much fewer embarassing injuries.

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Pictures of just a few of my projects