Hooniverse Asks: What’s a tool or device you’re excited about?

Jeff Glucker

/comment

Comments

Yesterday, I received an M18 battery in the mail. I’ve made my choice and I’m going to stay within the Milwaukee family of tools. That means more M12 and M18 batteries are in my future. Especially when I need good power to move a lot of air. Which is the case with the tool that also arrived shortly after the M18 extended life battery; the Milwaukee wet-dry vac. And I’m unreasonably excited about it.

Now, let’s get this straight right away – this isn’t a paid ad or post. We’d call that out with a disclaimer. Instead, I spent my own dough on this (Wow, what a noble journalist!) and stared at the tracking updates until it arrived. Now I can vacuum my car whenever I want! And why am I so excited about that?!

Maybe it’s part of getting older. You get amped about different things in life. And today, as I’m a few months away from turning 40, that means I get fucking PUMPED to own my own portable, cordless wet-dry vac.

What tool or device are you excited about right now? Also, if Milwaukee is listening – I’d love to turn this into a paid post. Hit me up…

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 64 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here

32 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What’s a tool or device you’re excited about?”

  1. onrails Avatar
    onrails

    I replaced my air tools with electric last year. I went Dewalt mostly because I already had a few batteries that worked with them but no complaints. The old 30 gallon wake-the-family-up-when-it-kicks-on-in-the-middle-of-the-night-because-I-forgot-to-turn-it-off-and-it-has-a-slow-leak compressor and air tools went to the local high school shop class and the new 2 gallon pancake compressor for inflating tires is mounted up on the wall saving valuable floor space.

    The big impact gun was the 2nd highest torque rating they have (highest was $50+ more but I wanted a small job one too) and it’s only been defeated once so far doing something I think my air gun would have struggled with too. The small one has quickly become my go to tool when doing almost anything with fasteners since it came with quick change drill and screwdriver bits plus 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 inch socket adapters.

    Both are torquey and quiet which makes late nights with projects a lot more doable – our bedroom is right above the garage.

    Reply
    1. danleym Avatar
      danleym

      Funny- I’m moving the other way. I just bought a large air compressor for the first time (though apparently covid is slowing down Harbor Freight because I bought it 2 weeks ago and it still hasn’t shipped). I don’t think I’ll be using it nonstop, but I got tired of having to wait for my small compressor to catch up.

      At the same time, I bought a retractable air hose reel, which is going to get plumbed with copper and mounted to the ceiling, so no more stupid tangled up air hose that just took over a corner of the shop. I’m more excited about the real than I am the compressor.

      Reply
      1. onrails Avatar
        onrails

        A retractable hose reel is such a nice thing to have! A bit less applicable now that I only use the air for tires and the occasional sports ball, but still nice to not be tripping over it all the time or constantly coiling it back up at the end of each day. You’ll wonder why you didn’t do it years ago.

        Reply
    2. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      The reason I initially jumped into one family of tools is almost exactly related to the idea of your air compressor. I found one in the Harbor Freight catalog and showed it to Tim Odell. He said just go battery powered and stick with a specific family of tools instead, then you avoid the noise and all the other bullshit.

      Reply
      1. danleym Avatar
        danleym

        I’ve used the Milwaukee M18 line at work- I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Don’t get a battery powered angle grinder thought- that one sucked.

        Reply
  2. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    “And today, as I’m a few months away from turning 40, that means I get fucking PUMPED to own my own portable, cordless wet-dry vac.“

    Jeff, perhaps you could have worded that sentence so this doesn’t immediately come to mind.

    https://www.dhresource.com/0x0/f2/albu/g7/M00/FB/25/rBVaSVt0_52AGoR6AADHuxJf5K4734.jpg

    Reply
    1. Victor~~ Avatar
      Victor~~

      Did that help your problem ?/s

      Reply
    2. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      fucking a pump is different…

      Reply
  3. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    The most relaxing thing I know is working with wood; my working-on-cars-frustration-rate often peeks at 11/10. Taking down a tree, drying it as crack-free as possible, then building something that vaguely resembles what I intended to make…pure joy.

    The pandemic month so far has made me appreciate a very flexible and weirdly precise Japanese handsaw my wife gave me as a Christmas gift:

    https://www.gustavsenas.no/Media/Cache/Images/9/3/WEB_Image%20Japansag%20-%20Gyokucho%20Tanning%20To%20Sider%20210%20ma605393003672.Jpeg

    Better tools translate directly to better results, everyone here knows that from personal experience. But this one stands for the biggest improvement I have experienced in my hobby. A good share of the cuts I make with it are almost perfect, as good as I can be right now. Feels good!

    Reply
    1. onrails Avatar
      onrails

      What do you think makes it so precise? At first look handle length to saw length ratio seems to allow a lot more control over the straightness than a ‘normal’ hand saw. But I’m still curious how straight the up and down part can be. A lot of my non-machine sawing tends to bend to the left or right as I cut down through the wood.

      Reply
      1. Batshitbox Avatar
        Batshitbox

        That type of saw cuts on the pull stroke which eliminates a lot of deviation, the blade doesn’t bunch up going into the cut. Like pulling a cart on rotating casters, it’ll follow you; whereas when pushing it, it tries to get out of your way.
        There may be something in the set of the teeth that helps, too, I don’t know how they’re arranged.

        Reply
      2. Batshitbox Avatar
        Batshitbox

        That type of saw cuts on the pull stroke which eliminates a lot of deviation, the blade doesn’t bunch up going into the cut. Like pulling a cart on rotating casters, it’ll follow you; whereas when pushing it, it tries to get out of your way.
        There may be something in the set of the teeth that helps, too, I don’t know how they’re arranged.

        Reply
        1. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          ⬆️ That’s what the description said, too. The teeth are very fine, but sharp, and there’s no resistance or jumping either way. With the soft blade, it is still easy to cut wavy lines as @onrails said, so you have to be concentrated while cutting. But it’s also an advantage, as you can do quite intricate cuts for things that need to fit somewhere.

          Reply
  4. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
    SlowJoeCrow

    My venerable Makita DA391 right angle drill gets a surprising amount of use, because it has enough power and fits in tight spaces. Other than that my Park Tool repair stand makes all sorts of bicycle repairs so much easier.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f0b5f2afc6de74e245cc2fabbacd06a738e19b04180d6a6f7c2ec8ba0a9a8dbb.jpg

    Reply
    1. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      Seems I need one of those frequently, but then forget to buy one later.

      Reply
  5. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    I’m just happy to get my wire welder working again.

    Reply
    1. Batshitbox Avatar
      Batshitbox

      I just borrowed one, but haven’t plugged it in yet. I did buy some mild steel wire to replace the stainless that was in there, and made sure I had Argon/CO2 mix.

      Reply
    2. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Does that mean you have picked a project?

      Reply
      1. Zentropy Avatar
        Zentropy

        I wish. In this instance, I just needed to repair a bike rack.

        Reply
    3. nanoop Avatar
      nanoop

      I have one for more than a year now. Total arc time is like five minutes though: I am loving it, but it is so cumbersome when you can’t weld inside a shop, and you have to consider the forecast before putting up the bench.

      Reply
  6. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    Right now it’s my Antenna Analyzer ’cause I have three new High Frequency* HAM radio antennas to set up. It tells you what frequency your antenna has the best power transfer at using impedance matching and Standing Wave Ratio.
    In car speak, it’s like the tach/dwell/volt meter and timing light combo.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f9f9f507f213730f32d019bd0f29fa3a86dc9eff7e10a08ea2e00929c0c84baa.jpg

    *High Frequency is the lower frequencies in the HAM bands, not to be confused with Very High Frequency (VHF) or Ultra High Frequency (UHF), or plaid (Ghz).

    Reply
  7. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
    Peter Tanshanomi

    The same tool I’ve been irrationally excited about for nearly six years.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e96008c8815b59f91c092e260391d5d54f80a9f60b2deccbeb36a16af2aec244.jpg

    Reply
    1. nanoop Avatar
      nanoop

      Now you need a proper router in matching colors.

      Reply
      1. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
        Peter Tanshanomi

        Why would I want my router to match? It’s upstairs in my office.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/112f72bc423eddbc65ca76db5af87a6e78b38eabcdd52382f63f018ff09a3bf7.png

        Reply
        1. nanoop Avatar
          nanoop

          English doesn’t have enough words to express my feelings.

          Reply
  8. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    I do need to upgrade my cordless tools. I’m still using 20+ year old Craftsman 19.2V stuff.

    At this point it just excites me to find a type of hand tool that I don’t have. I recently upgraded my 15 year old DSLR camera with a newer used one from Ebay. The new camera came with a junk lens (still using my good Minolta Maxxum lenses from 20-30 years ago on a Sony Alpha). The zoom was really sticky on that junk lens. I decided to take it apart to see how it worked. Then I realized that I didn’t have the proper screwdriver. It requires #00, #000, and #0000 Phillips bits. Time to buy precision screwdrivers!

    Reply
    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      I went away from cordless stuff because all my batteries detoriated over time. Also, everything is more powerful connected to an outlet. How can you have 20+ yo batteries that still work well? Impressive!

      Reply
      1. P161911 Avatar
        P161911

        I did have to get replacement batteries. Hard to beat the convenience of cordless.

        Reply
  9. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    I bought a mid rise “portable” 2-post lift last year, but have yet to install it. I haven’t cleared out enough of the garage to pour the necessary footing.
    https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/679f5db9-10a8-426b-87c2-597d8233c5fa/svn/dannmar-car-lifts-m-6-64_1000.jpg

    A different kind of tool is this portable griddle. I bought it for trackside camping, but haven’t been racing since the purchase. It has nonetheless seen plenty of use on the home front making eggs and hash browns.
    https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0312/7695/7740/products/17_Table_Top_Griddle_LR-min_1024x1024.jpg

    Reply
  10. alex Avatar
    alex

    This has little to do with automotive, but the most fantastic tool I’ve ever used is something called the Paintshaver Pro. It’s a re-purposed angle grinder.

    https://paintshaver.com/paintshaver-pro/

    Reply
  11. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    Last one would be a multi-tool because it was the exact thing needed for a job modifying a kitchen cabinet (making fridge recess tall enough).

    Next one I’m not excited about because it will be a belt sander and it feels like I could be sanding for a month straight to renovate a pergola, part up to 20′ high.

    Reply
  12. salguod Avatar
    salguod

    A couple of years ago I bought a 18v Ryobi brushless chain saw and it’s fantastic. Perfect for the cleanup work I need to do around my property. It’s the biggest 18v that they make. Lightweight and powerful due to the brushless motor.

    I’m pretty invested in the 18v Ryobi world. If I was starting now I’d probably go Milwaukee, but I have 3 drills, a circular saw, reciprocating saw, a rotozip tool, a leaf blower, a string trimmer, a hand held vac, the chain saw, half a dozen batteries and a wall charger. I’m pretty much committed. The good news is that Ryobi has a huge selection of 18v tools and seems to be committed to this battery format for the foreseeable future.

    https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/733d6bed-1e1b-4ce6-8cbb-5ee1f0fa1b16/svn/ryobi-cordless-chainsaws-p549-64_1000.jpg

    Reply