Some tools.
A Sydney hardware store chain, humorously called 'Total Tools' had a sale on recently. I went intending to get just an air compressor. One of a sensible, movable size, not my tiny one that was originally for airbrushing but is all that fits in my small cramped workshop, or the gi-normous 3-phase one I still don't have set up in my larger but unfinished workshop.
Turned out the store had a points deal - buy $2K of stuff, get a significant bonus to buy more stuff. So I added a Makita kit with a cordless drill and impact hammer. My old cordless drill was a freebe, worked great for years but used NiCad battery packs that are now dead.
With the bonus I bought some vices, clamps, big spanners, tap and die set, wire brushes...
They put on free pizzas and pretty girls too. I left, the compressor in wooden frame only just fitting into the car. Feeling pretty pleased with the day. Had picked up a catalog on the way out the door.
In the next few days, using the cordless drill I really like it. Nicely responsive, finely controlable speed. One warning - the torque limit adjusting ring only operates in 'screwdriver mode'. In the drilling and hammer modes there is no torque limiting. That's not really clear in the manual, and it SHOULD be because... this thing has monsterous torque. One of the first things I did was a (stupid) quick power test - fixed the short bar of a large allen key in the chuck, grabbed the long end of the allen key firmly, and gently pressed the trigger.
Oops. Even at low power it completely ignored my grip, ripping the bar out of my hand. Luckily, no injury though it hurt. So... don't try that. Also note to self - in drilling mode with large drill bits if the drill bit jams, this thing is going to rip the drill handle out of your grasp. I like it!
But there was one final nice surprise.
I happened to look through that catalog. Discovered that Makita has a 'redemption' deal going on several items, one being that kit I'd bought. You get a free thing... depending on what you bought. For that kit the 'thing' is a battery powered angle grinder. A GOOD one! This was totally unexpected. I'd already got some free stuff from adding that kit to my buy at the store, now more free stuff? And it's something I'd always wanted, whee!
I filled in the online form, emailed with a scan of the store invoice, not quite believing this would work. I hadn't even known what the word 'redemption' meant in this context till it was explained to me. Never was involved in such a deal before.
A few days later the angle grinder arrived. No battery pack, but the kit had included two. I haven't yet flattened a battery, but I'm told it will operate the grinder for quite a while. An hour? It's hard to believe. We'll see.
The grinder is *great*. Very much a Bwahhaha feeling, to have a no-cord portable grinder. It's a bit quieter than typical mains powered grinders too. As if that might be important for some reason...
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