Or a 3/8" ratchet (and maybe a 1/4")Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
Attachment 417932
Attachment 417933
Printable View
Or a 3/8" ratchet (and maybe a 1/4")Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
Attachment 417932
Attachment 417933
Relax, Dee is just waiting for this to go on sale.
https://www.processingmagazine.com/n...air-compressor
Or one of these used.
Attachment 417934
Picked up some new sliding T-handle hex wrenches.
Attachment 418426
I saw some USAG ones on sale, and figured I’d give them a try.
https://www.usag.it/catalog/en/produ...th_sliding_bar
They are an Italian brand, (I alwas assumed they were American) and have a good reputation in the Motorcycle mechanic circle.
I saw them on sale on a tool site that only sells European and Japanese imported tools, and all the USAG were on sale, plus a site wide coupon made them half the (full) price of the similar PB Swiss sliding hex set.
They only arrived yesterday, just before a business trip today, so I was only able to unpack them, color code them and hang them on the tool wall.
Mrs Dee wanted to know why I was in the garage instead of packing my suitcase for our trip.
I didn’t dare tell her it was because of new tools….
Ok, most of you have seen my Home Ski Bench setup over in Tech Talk... figured its time I post the bike side of things my home shop
My main bench for bike stuff
Attachment 418512
The vice is a 6" Wilton tradesman that I picked up for $75 and restored.
The screwdrivers are PB Swiss (I have a full set) and Wera with the strike handles. I dont use them often, but the WERA's with the ¼ Drive socket adapter in the heads is nice for stubborn screws.
Attachment 418513
The T handles are a full set of PBSwiss by .5mm I dont think I have ever used some of the odd sizes like 7mm... but I picked them up in Switzerland years ago when there was a pretty good exchange rate.
These are Hout drill index's, I have a full set of fractional, Number, Letter, Silver Deming, as well as metric, plus Fosters and Left hand drills ( for removing stuck bolts).
Attachment 418514
That green unit on top of the left hadn't drill index is a drill bit sharpener.... its nice to have, especially if you drill lots of steel.
The cabinets under the bench are a set of Vidmar's that I restored and painted with a full automotive paint system. That painting project was practice for the lathe I am restoring.
Attachment 418477
The Vidmar's make Snapon tool boxes look cheaply made. Each drawer is rated for over 500Lb's and they are way deeper than a standard box, so you can fit more shit in them... in this case tools.
I rarely use T wrenches these days. As I prefer the PB Swiss screwdriver handles for assembly with hex and Torx. For taking shit apart, or torquing it, down, sockets all the way for me.
Attachment 418478
The Wera driver is a torque limiting screw driver. The Torque wrenches are all Snapon, with the exception of one being a CDI. Snapon owns CDI and they are identical except the Snapon ones have a nicer handle the CDI is ¼ the price. All of my sockets are PBSwiss for Torx and metric hex, the rest are Snapon. PB Swiss makes the best hex sockets I have found. They are hard to find, but are worth it as they last forever, like I am still using them a decade latter. I'd like to try the Nepros sockets at some point. My rachets are all Snapon and Nepros. I find I gravitate toward the Nepros ratchets each time. I especially like their ⅜ as it is in the same body as their long ¼ drive. For confined areas the Snapon TZERO with its spraug clutch is really nice (same tech as an Industry 9 hub). Those hex keys are WERA stainless steel and I forget what they called that specific set, but they have a unique tip that will often grab stripped hex heads that nothing else will.
Attachment 418479
All of my sockets are Snapon Flank Drive plus, with the exception of the mid length sockets, I prefer standard flank drive for those as the Flank Drive plus tolerances can be too tight on rusted fasteners.
This is my ½ drive socket drawer, once again all Snapon, including the impacts.
Attachment 418480
Al of my Crowfeet are also Snapon.
Attachment 418481
These are my go to for doing any suspension work, or working on seatposts. However you can always use a Park Cone wrench as a Crowfoot.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...e-jpg.1676371/
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...e-jpg.1676374/
Thats a good trick to know. I just used it last week on a Vorspring Smashpot conversion as its the only thing that would fit in the narrow slot.
On to the Bike specific tools
Attachment 418482
I prefer Felco for cable cutters these days, and Unior for chain Link pliers. The Knipex are flush cut pliers specific for plastics IE zip ties. The long grey pliers are made by VAR and are cable end ferrule crimpers. Most of the BB sockets are for E-bikes these days, with the exception of the ChrisKing one. Supposedly Abbey is about to launch a set of these this fall and I will be upgrading. I really like the Abbey chain wrench for removing front sprockets on E-Bikes, but prefer the Pedros vicegrip for cassettes. I am big fan of the Abbie Crombie as well as the Crombie socket.
Attachment 418483
This is my drawer for dealing with Bike hydraulics, brakes / suspension. The chamferless sockets and dust wiper installers are all Abbey. I really like the Park bleeders as well. The two grey shafts at top are FOX factory tools for loosening the ends of the fork shafts. The union strap wrench is awesome on air cans. For seal / oil ring removal, I use a variety of tools, but mostly the brass / plastic picks in the middle, or the Matthew (Identical to snapon) seal remover set (bottom) for really stubborn ones. The park sealant injector is nice for tubeless setups as I tend to use more sealant than recommended.
Attachment 418485
This is my bearing removal drawer. I've not found a press system that I am fully stoked on. I like the Abbey press better than the Park one for pivot's but the park one has a better cup system for those. The Park has a quicker method of setting up the press. Unfortunately they use different sized shafts, so not that compatible... once I finish my lathe rebuild, I will probably make these all custom as needed.
Attachment 418486
Shaft clamps and crown race puller. I almost never used the derailleur hanger alignment tool. Especially since switching all of my bikes over to AXS. If I have shifting issues, 99% of the time its a hanger and for $20 its not worth trying to straighten them.
Attachment 418487
All of my pliers are either Knipex or Engineer. I like the Engineer ones for screw removal, and their nylon tip ones can be good for suspension rebuilds. For a while Craftsman was rebranding the Knipex and I picked up a few before they stopped at ⅓ the normal price.
Attachment 418488
For retaining rings, I prefer Wiha as their tips are angled and notched to prevent the rings from going flying. For other snap rings, I like a combination of Knipex and Wilde. Wilde makes these for Proto / Snapon... they are all identical other than the lable on them, and if you shop around you can pick them up quite easily for reasonable prices.
Attachment 418489
Hammer drawer... most dont get used much as I keep both Craftsman and a PBSwiss soft blow hanging up for easy reach. PBSwiss is the way to go for these IMOP. A few of those claw heads where my great-grandfathers and are over 100 years old.
Attachment 418490
Files, one set is dedicated to steel, one set thats specific for ALU and other non-ferris soft metals and a third set for wood. I like the Snapon handles, so use these on some of the non-snapon made files.
Attachment 418491
Metric wrenches, all Snapon, I have a full set of Flankdrive plus, plus a full set of ratcheting. The wrenches in the top left are Snapon Low-Torque. These are my go to for suspension work, they are very thin (not quite as thin as cone wrenches), but they won't sractch delicate suspension coatings as they have a very high polish on them. Expensive, but cheaper than fucking up a critical part.
Attachment 418492
My SAE wrenches are also all snapon with full sets of Flankdrive plus and in ratcheting. Those hex keys are the very hard to find full set of PBSwiss in Inch.
Attachment 418493
Picks, splungers and scribes. The Snapon picks maybe one of their best products... especially for the price. I find I use the dental pics a lot. Its worth buying medical grade for these, as they are much harder, stronger tips, plus they have small blades sharpened into them. I believe these are made by Hu-Friedley, but I'd lave to go look at them. Knipex is my go to for tweezers and their ball bearing tweezers really come in handy.
Attachment 418494
Punches and drifts. I have full set in both steel and brass. All of the steel ones are Starrett. They are the cats meow (I'm luke warm on their brass ones, I think Mayhew is better). Alignment punches are at the top center, followed by Starrett center punches. Their automatic punch is unrivaled. The set of brass punches bellow the red box are roll pin specific punches. To the right is a set of brass and steel starter punches. These have special concave tips, so they do not wander when you are trying to free a pin.
The red box is a set of PBSwiss metic punches.
Attachment 418495
They are nice, but I bent the small one. Starretts are stronger but only available in inch sizes. Next time I would get the shorter PB Swiss metic set without the handles.
Attachment 418496
Electrical. The crimpers on the right are Knipex multi crimps. I have not found anything they won't do, or that they dont make dies for. The bottom is a set of Snapon pin removers for electrical connections. These are going to get more commonly needed with E-bikes. As are the set of contact files, contact cleaning brushes and contact cleaning tweezers above. The contact cleaning tweezers are especially helpful to clean contacts on Ebike batteries and chargers where a contact brush won't fit. Back when I used to do a lot of camera repair, the contact cleaning brushes, especially with the fiberglass brush was a go to tool.
Precision measuring. It's not worth waisting time or money on anything but Starrett or Mitutoyo here. Japan wins for the digital calipers and USA wins for the squares. Above the square set is a set of drill gauges. The exception here, is tape measures. I love the Fastcap ones. I have a inch / metric for general use and a dedicated metric one for cabinet making / wood working, as all of my wood working tools are Festool.
Attachment 418499
Incra makes nice rullers for layout work. The brass 45 is made by Bridge City Tools... those where the top of the top until they sold the company and now all of their new stuff is Chinese junk. The Starrett dual indicators are for tramming in the head of my mill.
Attachment 418500
Machine tool stuff. The parallels are all Starrett. The indicator holders are NOGA. For Tap Handles, nothing comes close to Starrett. Use them once and you will never touch a hardware store tap handle again. The Starrett tap guide is also a must for precision. I find that I use their bench block way more than I thought I would.
Attachment 418501
I keep all of my Taps, Dies and thread chasers organized by size. I am also starting to leave the correct tap drill in each bin, so I dont have to look them up each time.
Attachment 418502
Automotive tools. Once you use one of these ratcheting brake pad spreaders, you will never change your brakes any other way.
Attachment 418503
For nuts and bolt storage, etc, I have 3 sets of safe deposit boxes that I repurposed. Each drawer is its own thread size, so I can take it with me to a the work. I keep wood screws, bike parts by brand, etc, etc in the red plastic storage boxes. I hate waisting time looking for shit, so its all organzied.
Attachment 418504
I have a large FAMCO arbor press that I use for most bearings and pins. I also machined an adapter for it, so I can punch ski boots. Its from Kenosha WI, same as Snapon and the quality matches.
With that set of tools, there is rarely something I'm not set up for, but in the rare event that I do run into that situation, I have a Bridgeport, that I fully tore apart to the very last screw and fully rebuild when I bought it.
Attachment 418505
Attachment 418506
My current project is a 1944 Monarch 10EE Lathe. It was built for and delivered to Westinghouse for work on the Manhattan project at Hanford, so it quite literally helped win the war. I bought it a year ago, and am about half way done. So far I have fully stripped it, painted the main casting, and have fully rebuilt the DC Motor, rebuilt the DC Exciter and have rebuilt, and converted the 3 Phase AC motor / Generator unit to run on single phase.
Attachment 418507
Attachment 418508
Attachment 418509
Here I am testing the DC motor with a MEGGER after redoing all of it.
Attachment 418510
Same with the 3 Phase AC motor after converting it from 9 wire to 12 so I can run it on Single Phase without a VFD or rotary converter.
Attachment 418511
Attachment 418515
I have hand tied all of the wire looms. This creates a way tighter wire bundle than zip ties, its pretty quick to do (especially if you have ever set up a rope line at a ski area) and is the same as the factory originally used.
Here is a thread on the Monarch 10EE Rebuild.
Between the Bridgeport and the lathe (once its done) The bike industry can kiss my ass with its ever changing "standards".
If you guys want any details pics of any of the tools or have any of the questions, happy to help.
Hahahaha. Holy shit.
Fuck, man. Just....fuck.
A few more tid bits. Milton makes the best inflator I’ve ever used. The rest are shit.
Attachment 418517
it has a bunch of quick change tips. I use these two most.
Attachment 418518
For Air guns the coilhose pneumatics Typhoon is un matched
Attachment 418519
For oil and grease I like to use syringes and syringe bottles. Plus Boeshield T9 is way cheaper by the gallon.
Attachment 418520
For bike stands I’m using a Park Pro Stand mounted upside down to the ceiling so it telescopes out of the way.
Attachment 418521
it works well, but I think EVT is better. I really want to make a custom one once the lathe is done. I already have a large list in the waiting for lathe projects.
An ultrasonic cleaner is a must have for drive trains not to mention a shit ton of other uses.
Attachment 418523
I’ve shit kicked this one. Once it dies I’m going to invest in a larger one and plumb it into the shop sink.
For knives I’m a big fan of this Knipex and my old Snapon
Attachment 418524
Another must have is a good flashlight. I really like this solid titanium D4V2 it’s stupid bright.
Attachment 418525
and has a magnetic base.
Attachment 418526
And of course good drills and impacts are a must.
Attachment 418527
I do want to pick up a Snapon ¼ and ⅜ impact wrench to go with the power ratchet I have, but keep waiting for a deal on them.
Finally for shit that won’t budge, map gas and Posi lock pullers and blind bearing pullers.
Attachment 418528
At the end of the day, its worth investing in good quality tools. I cant afford cheap tools as its cheaper to just buy good shit the first time around. Plus for what bike shops charge for a full tune up these days, or suspension work, they pay for themselves in short time.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cd6MM...d=NmZiMzY2Mjc=
Is there such a thing as tool insurance because damn dood
I dunno man, you could buy a lot of shop tunes liquidating all that
what is your day job again?
is your camera gear this intense?
We are not in fucking Kansas anymore.
I’m reeling.
Yes, its usually a rider on your home insurance. I have mine under a commercial policy but this a good reminder, its probable time to update it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Buzzworthy
HA, When I was in a local shop a couple of weeks ago picking up a rebuild kit, a full tune was something like $400. fuck that.Quote:
Originally Posted by ::: :::
The camera gear is even more dialed as it pays for the rest of the shit I own.
I have found few things over the years about buying tools. Never pay retail, and Ideally get someone else to buy them for you.
Years ago I hosted Bike Mag's Bible buyers guide issue out of my house. I was gifted a complete set of Park tools by park for that. Granted over the years I have slowly been replacing a lot of that stuff with tools that I like better for specific jobs. I am a firm believer in never paying full retail for tools. For example you can often get Snapon brand new in the packaging off of Ebay for less than 50% of retail. I have also found if you show up on a tool truck with cash, you can often get a good deal... Snapon's bread and butter of corporate profits ins't selling tools, its financing tools to techs, when you pay cash, the driver keeps a lot of those profits and is motivated to make a deal. Tools always go on sale for Christmas and usually fathers day, it worth waiting to buy them until then, unless you absolutely need them to do a job that has to get done immediately. Also, Knipex and Festool is usually way cheaper on Amazon.de than it is from a US retailer, especially if exchange rates are favorable.
It pays dividends to invest the time to learn to fix your own shit, regardless if its bikes, cars, home stuff. None of it is rocket science. If you are paying someone else to work on your stuff, you are not only buying them their tools, but paying them handsomely for their time and knowledge. I learned a long time ago, anytime you have something that needs to get fixed, for less than the cost of paying someone to fix it, you can go buy the best tools money can buy. Then next time you need to do the same repair ( there will always be a next time) all it will cost you is parts and the more you do it the faster it gets... so it just gets cheaper. A few examples, around here a brake job on my truck is $1500+. it costs less than $60 for really good ratcheting brake caliper spreaders, buying top of the line parts is maybe $500 and it only takes me 15 minutes, so in 15 minutes work, I save close to a thousand bucks.... thats a pretty good hourly rate you are essentially paying yourself.
Another example, we needed new cabinets for one of the rooms in our house. For less than the cost of every quote we got, I was able to buy a full set of festools, a cabinet saw and use better materials to build nicer cabinets. When I redo my office at some point, its only going to cost me the building materials.... I'm just waiting for building materials to come back down to reasonable prices for that project.
Pre dad days, I used to do quite a bit of catalog shoots in the bike industry and was building and tearing down lots of bikes for those. Part of those contracts included a budget for the tools and time needed for that, so I got them to buy many of the tools. Since this is all for work, I also get to claim it all as a tax deduction as well. Finally when I help friends out with their bikes, ski mounts etc, they always gift me beer. So I dont buy beer. That alone pays for all of the tools as I really like to drink beer.
Ok, reality check here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunder
For 99% of the world I have a really nice bike tool collection. Or had (it's maybe a bit out of date for some of the newer stuff). My construction tools are also pretty sweet, IMO. Like Gunder, many of my bike tools came from when I was more deeply in the bike industry - in my case, running a bike team sponsored by Pedros. For years I was unofficial bike tech support for a number of triathlon pros, on and off road, and was close to some bike shops, which is where all the Park and other tools came from. All at wholesale, prodeal or cheaper.
I also have a construction background (long story), and did a bunch of the work on my home myself, including a full kitchen cabinet install and custom steel/cable rail railings/guardrails, etc. I, like Gunder, essentially view projects as the opportunity to purchase permanently whatever tools that project needs. I agree with everything you said about doing stuff yourself and building your resources. I also love nice tools.
That said, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, GUNDER?!?!?!
Jesus, dude, your tool collection is way the fuck past what you need to do those jobs. It's essentially unbelievable. It's like saying I needed a local church so I built the Vatican. Dee's tool collection is fucking ridiculous and inspires insane jealousy. Yours, on the other hand, is so over the top it just makes me numb. I don't know what to think.
Nice.
Fucking.
Work.
I think the response I've settled on here is about a 5 minute slow golf clap. Well fucking done. I'm glad this shit exists somewhere.
HA. Its important to note that I didnt develop my collection of tools overnight, its been decades in the making. The key for me has been to only buy quality tools from the start. That way I am not constantly replacing broken ones, or "upgrading"...and remember at times, I have been Boarderline on having the same workload as some bike shops with the catalog shoots I used to do, or the Bike mag tests, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
The big take away I think here, is to identify what tools you will either use the most, or save you the most money on DIY projects than patiently wait for deals on those tools to materialize... dont just got out and buy a bunch of shit, especially at retail. Hell, I think the only thing in that entire collection, I actually paid full retail for is probably a BB tool or two that I needed for a specific job, and a few of the taps, that once again I needed to complete a specific project. So when I have "upgraded" a tool, I usually sell the previous one for either what I paid for it or in some cases more.
The machine tools are another example of buying smart. I bought the Bridgeport for $1500 and it came with over 10K worth of like new tooling. After rebuilding it, I probably got a total of $2k in it and I could easily sell it for over 5. The lathe will be worth quite a bit more when done.
So tools aren't really like crack to a tradesman ?
So you mean to say that having the specific specialty tools of a bike shop, machine shop, auto mechanic shop, and tradesmen, all under one roof, but much nicer tools than most of those individual professional shops would have, is somehow unnecessary? I don't believe you.Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
You forgot small electronics repair.Quote:
Originally Posted by adrenalated
Quote:
Originally Posted by adrenalated
Ha. You can probably add plumbing to that list too... I just haven't posted those drawers as they are a bit of a shit show. I haven't found a good way to organize them yet...Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
Lets face it, I like to work with my hands. I am very fortunate that I get paid to live my lifestyle, ski, bike and travel. So just about the only thing I actually spend money on is tools, and I get to write them off as well. I find working in my shop relaxing and and I enjoy it, especially after spending hours on the computer editing photos. It's also the one time I actually use my Engineering Degree.
Its one thing to own good quality tools, but its also important that you do quality work with them. If you are going to invest in them, than you should also invest in doing good quality work as well. I personally dont believe in doing anything half ass.... I learned a long time ago, that if I do something half ass it always comes back and bites me in the ass. So I always strive to do everything at 100% of my best, wether that is my day job, my garden, riding bikes, or making shit in the shop.
This is a set of night stands I built for my wife last year as an anniversary present to match the bed my dad built for us as a wedding present.
Attachment 418559
Attachment 418560
Attachment 418561
Attachment 418562
Attachment 418563
Attachment 418564
They are solid mahogany, with solid birds eye maple fronts and dovetailed baltic birch drawers.
Attachment 418565
Attachment 418566
This is a custom camera plate I made for my 1DXMK3 cameras. It is about ⅓ the thickness of any of the commercially available tripod plates, so it is way more comfortable in the hand, but more importantly to me, weighs a hell of a lot less.
With good technique its possible to do good work with way cheaper tools, but if your are seeking that last 10% of quality and performance, high quality tools are the key.
New tool day.
Attachment 418845
You are going to like those hex-plus keys.Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
Was working on a guitar bridge with the 1.5 and it was pure joy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunder
Going backwards to a regular hex key (especially a cheaper brand) after using the hex plus feels weak and sloppy.
New tool day!
Attachment 418925
(Apologies, Gunder. Intent isn’t to make you jealous.)
Nice, those look pretty good. These are the 3 sets I own.Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Barron DeJong
Attachment 418963
The Wolftooths live in my riding pack, and they double as tire levers. The Unior's in the middle are my go to these days. They are about 15mm longer than the Park ones and have lower profile nose. Plus they just feel better than the Park's. The Parks have been relegated to my travel bag. The tips are wide enough they dont fit as easily into a 12 speed chain as the Unior's and they are too stiff. Plus its nice having the spring feature on these types of pliers IMOP.
Let's start a game: post a pic of a tool that you own and which fully satisfies the need you have. Then Gunder will post a pic of the 2-6 examples of tools he has that fit the same niche.
Winner is the person who stumps Gunder. Here's the best effort I can come up with today. I have 4 of these.
Attachment 418965
Did you not see the furniture he built? He probably has like 50 solutions to the problem this solves.Quote:
Originally Posted by climberevan
But I like the game.
Most of my more obscure yet useful tools needed to go into storage temporarily so here's the best I can do right now:
Attachment 418966
I do not own a single miter clamp. In fact I sold all of the ones that I did own. I dont have a need for them, as I use my Festool Domino for just about every wood joint. For box's I like to use dovetails.Quote:
Originally Posted by climberevan
Attachment 418968
For cutting miter's or doing most cross cuts, I have a Festool Kapex.
Attachment 418969
I replaced it's fence, with Incra rails, as they are super precise for making repeated cuts.
For dovetails, or most router projects, I have a router lift built into the wing of my cabinet saw. I use the Incra fence system for that, as it allows you to cut super precise dovetails or any box joint for that matter without the need for a dedicated jig.
Attachment 418970
I didnt like the lack of dust collection on the top side, so I machined up some AL, and made a dust collection port for it.
Attachment 418971
Attachment 418972
For dust collection, I use a Festool Midi with Bluetooth for most of my tools. I own a Festool CT15 that lives under the miter saw and is dedicated to it.
One of my next projects after I finish the lathe will be do re-do the wings for my cabinet saw. My plan is to build it into a custom cutting station that not only incorporates the router lift, but will also incorporate a custom version of Festoo'ls MFT table system with dedicated mounts / cutting slots for both ripping and cross cut setups with my track saw.
Too easy.Quote:
Originally Posted by adrenalated
Attachment 418975
I also have its magnetic brother.
I also have some Storz Grasping Laparoscopy Forceps I ordered that should be here any day now.
Attachment 418976
I ordered those with the specific purpose of routing cables in E-bikes as they are a pain in the ass to route between the motor and frame. They will supplement my Park internal cable routing kit.
Attachment 418977
Attachment 418978
Is it bad that I think the most impressive part of Gunder's shop is how clean it is?
Possibly. It's also possible that this thread should be titled OCD Time instead of tool time and many of us that post here, myself included, should look in the mirror.Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
Aha! But my new one is to close the link, not open it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunder
Is it possible that I now have a tool that you don’t already have multiples of? Also, my Park one technically opens and closes the link, so I have multiple closing tools! (Though the Park one actually sucks for closing the link, which is why I picked up this KMC closer.)
I normally keep it quite clean and organized, so its easy to find stuff and efficient... however it's a full on shit show at the moment, with the lathe completely torn apart. I just dont have enough space for projects that big so most the work benches are now covered in lathe parts.Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
I'd prefer CDO as thats alphabetical.Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
You got me there ;) While I may own lots of tools, all of them are ones that either perform a specific task, or enable me to do a job more effectively / efficiently. I just dont see the need for pliers to close the link. I have always just put the links together, grabbed the brake with one hand and pushed the cranks forward. It instantly locks the link in and takes less time than it would be to grab a pair of pliers and fumble with inserting them into the link section.Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Barron DeJong
Yeah, I’ve always managed fine in the past, but since starting the Queso dip routine I’m messing with links more often, and whether it’s the Queso or the links, they seem more difficult to close recently, so decided to splurge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunder
I bet its the wax build up. Wend sent me some of their chain wax a few years ago to try, and found that it was pretty worthless here in the PNW it just gunked up and didnt last. I'm a really big fan of just using Boeshield T9 and buy it by the gallon.Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Barron DeJong
Gunder…. That is very impressive. The neatness, organization and cleanliness is so amazing. The sheer amount of tools and knowledge you have is incredible!!!! Well done
Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandbox
Don’t want to derail this thread, but Wend Wax is apparently a pretty crappy product, so not shocking that you’d be disappointed:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunder
Attachment 419009
High quality Queso should be a cleaner and more slippery version of T-9, and I’d think it would have better longevity since it’s all lube no filler. Zero Friction has talked about testing T-9 when they have open time on a test rig, and I’m interested in seeing those results.
Wend is a pretty major OEM supplier for most of "wax and lube" companies in skiing, surfing and biking. At the end of the day, I'm not a fan of their products performance whether it's something they brand or that someone else does.Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Barron DeJong
The vast majority of all chain wear is not due to a lack of lubrication, but instead is from contamination. So the best way to increase chain life, like most mechanical things is to keep it clean. I use an ultrasonic cleaner ( use water and dawn in it, Simple Green will strip the anodizing on aluminum parts) to clean my drive train once a month or so (more often this year). My experience with traditional wax lubes is its more difficult to clean off, and more difficult to apply. I would much rather have a cleaner chain that is cleaned and lubed more often to reduce contamination, so thus I like wet lubes.
Wet lubes are also thiner, (even when wax is melted) so they do a better job of penetrating into the relative tight tolerances that make up the chain rollers. (I think you are noticing this with your quick links being more difficult to latch due to wax and containment build up). This same argument works for wet lubes over dry lubes in general. Liquids in general do a better job of penetration than solids. Just think about the difference between ice and water and which one will soak through a garment.
Most bike lube mfg's are just rebranding and relabeling industrial lubricants. A few things to note, I dont like WD40 for a lube. It is actually a Water Displacement formula and not a lubricant. It was designed to be a corrosion inhibitor and not a lubricant. Its used quite often as an industrial cleaner, but more relative to biking, it is commonly used as a CUTTING FLUID for aluminum.
Boeshield T9, was developed by Boeing and I am willing to bet they have done a hell of a lot more testing on what's the best lubricant for aluminum and other metals than any bike lube or website has done. It uses a solvent carrier, so It's thin, enabling it to seep into tight areas, the solvent helps flush gunk out, than evaporates and it dries into a film and doesn't seem to collect as much dirt and grime (contamination) as other lubes (wet or dry), it is easy to clean off and reapply. Since it uses a solvent carrier, each time you reapply it, you are essentially flushing the old stuff out, resulting in a cleaner chain. It is also very commonly used in industry for lubricating industrial machine parts.
Ok all, since we are on the topic, what is Prolink Gold a rebrand of? I'd love to just buy it buy the gallon from the source...