Messages

1

Talk Story / Re: Time For Something Funny: The Video Version

« on: December 07, 2006, 07:42:29 AM »

I have two contributions, I found both to be hilarious!  I hope you enjoy these also.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4462362555112619726&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3172796488988773473&hl=en

Sonic

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Talk Story / Re: 6.5 magnitude quake in Hawaii

« on: October 17, 2006, 06:09:22 AM »

My experiences are similar to everyone else's, quake woke me up at 7:08am but I went back to sleep.  The lack of AC woke me up the second time, it gets really hot where I live.  I didn't get power back the whole day or night, so I had plenty of opportunities to use my lights.  I'm not really sure when power came back up as I went to sleep at around 12:30am and I had power when I woke up this morning.

After having spent all day and night with no power I have to say that I'll make sure to prepare better for a possible next time.  I didn't really have anything to eat all day except some snacks(potato chips, cookies, etc) I'll definitely stock up on some food that doesn't need to be cooked!  Needless to say that I made a trip to a convenience store before heading to work today to get something to eat.  Unfortunately they only had nachos, but it was the best nachos I ever had!

I'm glad to hear that nothing major happened to the rest of the HAT.  And besides going a little hungry, nothing major happened around here either.

Thanks to everyone for the concern...  This has definitely been a learning experience for me.

Sonic

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Talk Story / Re: Happy B-day Big Honu

« on: July 31, 2006, 08:53:09 AM »

Same here, sounds like you had a good one.

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Talk Story / Re: ok ya electrnic gurus and everyone

« on: July 31, 2006, 08:49:05 AM »

That's a great idea Raggie, let us know how it works out.

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Talk Story / Re: ok ya electrnic gurus and everyone

« on: July 26, 2006, 09:27:32 AM »

I missed the part about the small stuff on a board, I was thinking more along the lines of soldering wires on to LED leads or audio/video connectors, etc.  Doing circuit boards is a lot more complicated.  You need some steady hands to do the fine/small stuff.  And I think a really fine tip would help also. 

If you're de-soldering components on a board, a good de-soldering tool makes it a lot easier.  You could go with the copper braid or a suction tool, both work well with a little practice.  I like using a suction tool because it's faster, which means less chance of burning something in the process.  If you're using the copper braid, putting flux on it helps.

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Other Gear / Re: Skil iXO

« on: July 25, 2006, 06:34:58 AM »

Very true, Xochi.

I bought the Bosch as an addition to my Makita 14.4 nimh drill.  I just felt that it was getting way too heavy on the tool belt for what I used it for.  And so far it has handled drilling into wood up to 1/2" holes, so calling it a "drill" wouldn't be entirely inaccurate, but I understand your point(it doesn't have a chuck, so it's a driver).  Now I use the Makita for drilling holes larger than 1/2" only, the Bosch handles everything else.

For the professional, I wouldn't recommend this to be your ONLY drill/driver as it won't drill larger holes.  But it does work well for what I use it for.

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Talk Story / Re: ok ya electrnic gurus and everyone

« on: July 25, 2006, 06:13:50 AM »

Raggie,
I just sent you a PM, but I thought it might be a good idea to share with everone else here too.

I don't think I'm an expert, but I have been soldering for work for a long time and I've picked up some tips here and there that I find useful.  Hopefully it will help some of you out too.

1)Keeping the tip clean is key, like 45/70 mentioned.  Re-tin when needed.

2)If the solder isn't sticking, try scoring the surface.  Solder tends to stick to a rough surface better than a smooth one.  I usually use a knife or pick and make a cross hatch pattern.

3)If the solder still isn't sticking, try tinning both surfaces before joining together. 

4)Make sure your iron gets hot enough.  IMHO, 25-30 watts is minimum.  Using a low powered iron is the main cause of cold solder joints.  But the more powerful the iron, the better your timing has to be to avoid burning components.  The trick is to have a hot enough iron to make the whole blob molten at the same time.  If this takes too long to do and components burn, you need a hotter iron.  You can take the iron off as soon as the entire blob melts together.  It should only take half a second, 1-2 seconds at the most.  If the surface of the solder blob remains shiny, you did it right.

I hope this helps,
Sonic

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Other Gear / Re: Skil iXO

« on: July 19, 2006, 06:18:39 AM »

cool Sonic!!!! 
I am also looking for something similar like the Litheon pocket driver. Let us know how it works out...

Well, I've been pushing the Bosch hard the last two days trying to see what it can and can not do.  So far I stand by my original opinion.  It will struggle with tasks that other small cordless drills struggle with, like driving carriage bolts into wood or steel, drilling 1" holes in wood, etc.  But what I find pretty amazing is what it "can" do.  Today, I used it to drive about 30 1/4" x 2" screws into hard wood, pre-drill the holes for the screws, adjust several bolts in metal, etc. all on the batteries original factory charge.

About mid-day it finally gave in and I had to change the battery and I got a chance to put a battery on the charger for the first time.  To my pleasant surprise the freshly charged battery had even more power than the one with original/factory charge had when fresh.  Well I guess not so surprising.

The best part is that the battery fully charged in only 30 minutes.

Side-note:  My installation partner has been eye-balling this drill since I first brought it to work on Monday.  Today he told me that he's buying one for himself sometime this week.  I guess he likes it.

I'm still evaluating this drill, but I'm really happy with it so far.  I'll update this thread if there's more interest in it.

Sonic

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Talk Story / Re: Clerks 2

« on: July 16, 2006, 08:44:05 PM »

It'll be a little strange seeing the cast in color...But I look forward to it.

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Other Gear / Re: Skil iXO

« on: July 16, 2006, 08:34:47 PM »

Well I finaly broke down and bought the Bosch Litheon Pocket Driver.  I am very surprised at how much torque this little thing has.  And the best part, it will give you a 70% charge after 15 minutes, 100% after 30 minutes!  If I had to guess, I'd say it has just about as much power as my old 12v Dewalt, but a little less than half the size and weight.

I just picked it up on Friday, so I'll let you guys know how it does after using it for work for a few days.

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Other Gear / Re: Skil iXO

« on: July 13, 2006, 05:46:36 AM »

nice tool....   wonder if can mod it with some LEDs around the chuck tightener to give workspace light???   

If you're referring to the Bosch, it has built-in LED already.  The Skil doesn't though, and it runs on a 3.6v lithium ion so it's just asking for a luxeon upgrade!

Bosch also sells a smaller version like the Skil version above.  Always was interested due to the size - but I think the torque issue will be also an issue for some.  I have a 14.4v Bosch cordless that I *love* - has plenty of umph for driving screws were no screw has gone before!

That makes sense as I think Bosch is a subsidiary Skil, or is it the other way around...I haven't seen a smaller version of the Bosch, do you recall the model#?  I'm always interested in better tools, if it will make my job a little easier I'm interested.

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Other Gear / Re: Skil iXO

« on: July 12, 2006, 07:53:30 AM »

It's a great tool for light duty stuff like Bill mentioned, but isn't quite up to medium torque stuff.  I tried it again today with a fresh charge.  It handled light driving fine, like installing wall plates, unscrewing, etc.  But when I tried heavier duty, screwing into wood for example, it couldn't drive the screw all the way in.  And when I finished the screw by hand I found that it wasn't THAT hard.  So my original opinion stands, light duty stuff only.  But at that price, it's still a good value.

Hey Bill,
The only difference between the Bosch and an impact driver is that the bosch has 10 + 1 torque settings.  Impact drivers have one torque only, maximum.  That's the only reason I choose not to use one in my job, the torque settings really helps to prevent over torquing of screws.

I've been using my Makita 14.4 volt nimh for everything and I'm tired of carrying that thing around.  So I started looking for an alternative for light to medium duty use.  The Bosch has the look and 1/4" chuck of a cordless driver, the torque settings and power of a small drill.   Hopefully the Bosch will live up to expectations.

I think the Skil would be perfect for a computer tech, BTW.

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Other Gear / Re: Skil iXO

« on: July 10, 2006, 02:04:38 AM »

I just bought that one also, although I paid $40 for it.  I thought it would be a good cordless for my job.  It turns out that it isn't powerful enough for what I use it for  ...  And the charge is used up in a few uses due to pushing the torque too much.  I used it for screwdriving and small hole drilling into wood only, the battery lasted a little over one day, but struggled mightily towards the end of the day.  It also doesn't come with a removable/extra battery so it just wasn't ideal for "professional" use.  That said, it would be great for around the house/project type uses but should be kept to low-torque applications.

So I kept on looking for the ideal cordless driver for work and I think I found it in this one: 



    * 80 in. - lbs. of Torque  Drives 100 3-inch screws per battery charge
    * Ultra-Compact Power & Design  Almost half the size of a 12V compact drill/driver
    * LED Light  For tight spaces and applications
    * Forward/Reverse Button  Equally useful at driving or removing screws
    * Quick Change Chuck  Prevents bit loss in drill or drive mode - Pull to insert or release 1/4″ hex shank bits
    * 10+1 Clutch  Enables precision driving and eliminates over torque in soft base materials. Max mode allows pilot and other small bore holes
    * Variable Speed Trigger  For increased sensitivity and control

Includes:

    * (1) -- Carrying Case
    * (2) -- 1.5″ Power Drive Bits
    * (1) -- 30 Minute Charger
    * (2) -- Litheon™ 10.8V Batteries

It's only 6.5" long and weighs 1.8lbs.  Comes with 2 x 10.8v lithium ion batteries, has 10+1 torque settings and even has a built-in LED light!  IMHO, perfect for what I intend to use it for.

Don't get me wrong, I still think the Skil was an excellent value(even at $40, especially so at $22), just not for my work use.  But I think the Bosch will suit my work needs just fine.  But it's also significantly more expensive at around $130.

Sonic

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General Flashlight Discussion / Re: Luxeon Portable PWT

« on: July 07, 2006, 07:25:34 AM »

Ooooh...I can finally make a Green Lantern ring!!!

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Other Gear / Re: FirePiston- Neat survival tool

« on: June 29, 2006, 04:58:24 AM »

Sonic just do a search on "firepiston" on ebay, the mans name is Emil
and his on line store is "ebprimitives" just get the 22.00 model cause he sends allot
of extras tinder.  IgnitingBiscuits, a neat little tinder can that you put the ember into and blow
to get the fire, allot of stuff for the money. Nice guy very helpful.

 

Thanks, PKT!