New tools you've bought recently?

[Roert42]

I actually thought of one of those foot switches, but like you say, it’s the same price as the tool. And my use is heavy for a homeowner, but light for anybody who actually uses it to work for a living. Point is, I’m completely happy with one that has a cord on it, and I’m sure I’ll find a sale come Christmas time.

In the meantime, I’m just changing wheels on my old heavier, better one, but I’m still going to try to figure out how to put a switch right on the body of the broken one.

And one last thought on the foot switch: bad legs, that would be as risky as hot wiring it without a switch!

The one thing I’ve noticed about grinders, the nicer ones seem to have a lot less vibration.

I’ve had a few blue HF 4.”ones, a Porter cable 4.5”one, a dewalt 4.5” one, and a makita 5” one.

The HF and PC one were about the same, but the PC one latest 10x as long. The dewalt one is a little better with the vibration and has latest the longest. The Makita one is like driving a Lincoln vs riding a sports bike, almost no vibration.

9/10 I reach for the Makita even though it’s the heaviest because of that. Something else to consider besides just the sheer weight of the unit. Might be easier on the joints for longer use periods.

 

[Rick W]

I took the Harbor Freight warrior side grinder apart, here’s the pics

The two piece skinny black thing is the “clear plastic” slide that runs down the armature. When you push the orange button forward, that L-shaped head pushes in on the push button that actually turns the unit on and off.

Swi is right in the middle, with the button pointing towards the bottom of the picture. It’s actually a pretty stout switch, and it takes some pressure to click it on. I’m sure that that’s for safety.

I didn’t see how I could weld or glue that slide together, and I briefly considered making one out of a little strip of Aluminum, but I was not happy with the conductivity angle since it runs right up by the brushes and the armature

When I took the switch out, it’s about the size of a big sugar cube, or dice. I’m pretty sure it’s one of those switches that has two bars inside, and when you push the button, it flicks over into place. It makes contact on the two circuits, and when you release it, it bounces back, probably keep the contact from going all carbon.

I dug in the switch department of the shed of miracles, and I found a simple flat toggle switch. I took the old switch out, and I had to use a little fiber wheel to take away a little bit of the area that holds the switch. Then I cut a rectangular hole in the side of the cover below the armature. I had to add some wire to the hot leg, and I just put the neutral legs together with a butt connector. I don’t know if the switch will handle the amperage long term, but that switch is pennies, and now I can pop it out and change it without taking the tool apart.

The switch had little ears on the top and the bottom to snap into whatever you put it in, but the thickness of that handle wouldn’t let them flip out. I bathed it with E 6000, and put a couple zip ties on it until the glue sets. Should be ready to go tomorrow.

Was it worth it? If my time is worth two dollars an hour, I probably could’ve bought 10 more grinders, but it’s part of the hobby.