stuzbot
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2021
- Messages
- 472
After spending about an hour scrubbing away at my rear axle with a wire brush yesterday to get rid of surface rust and, while doing so, casting my eye down what seemed like acres more chassis still to do, I'm thinking I'm going to have to break out the power tools to get the job done before the heat death of the universe. I've got a cordless mini angle grinder [which takes my Makita batteries] with the Roloc adaptor, which means I can fit the mini nylon grinding discs on it.
Like this guy is using...
That should be good for most of the easier to reach areas, but I'm wondering about the harder to access parts, like the tops of cross-members, around pipes and cabling, inner parts of axle turrets etc.
I've got a Dremel copy tool too, which could get into those kind of areas. And it has a flexi-shaft attachment, which would be handy. But, the trouble with that is, it only has a 3mm shank. So it's a bit limited as to what kind of attachments it will take. And, being so small, they don't last long either.
I'm humming and hah-ing about whether to move up a rung in the rotary tool ladder by buying an el cheapo die grinder type thing. Those have a 6mm shank, so would allow the use of heavier duty attachments. And I already have a set of burrs and a set of grinding bits here. So that would save on consumables. But I'm a bit concerned the tool itself might be a bit bulky for squeezing into tight spaces.
Something like this:
Alternatively, I'm wondering whether something like a cheapo electric finger file might be more handy for that kind of thing. They look like they'd be pretty good accessibility-wise. But, again, I'm not sure how bulky the actualy body of the tool would be. Or how durable those sandpaper bands they take are?
Something like this:
As I've never used either of those tools, or even seen one in the flesh, I'm not sure how bulky either would be. It's hard to judge from just a photo. Or how heavy or annoyingly loud to be using, given I'll be lying under a motor, holding the tool overhead.
Anyone got any experience of either / or any other suggestions?
Oh. BTW. I don't have a compressor. So air tools are out. Which is a shame, as they tend to be nice and compact. But I do have a 1500W power pack, so corded tools are fine. They tend to be smaller than their cordless equivalents. If cordless is the best option, I have Makita and Kielder batteries. So something compatible with either of them.
Cheers.
Like this guy is using...
That should be good for most of the easier to reach areas, but I'm wondering about the harder to access parts, like the tops of cross-members, around pipes and cabling, inner parts of axle turrets etc.
I've got a Dremel copy tool too, which could get into those kind of areas. And it has a flexi-shaft attachment, which would be handy. But, the trouble with that is, it only has a 3mm shank. So it's a bit limited as to what kind of attachments it will take. And, being so small, they don't last long either.
I'm humming and hah-ing about whether to move up a rung in the rotary tool ladder by buying an el cheapo die grinder type thing. Those have a 6mm shank, so would allow the use of heavier duty attachments. And I already have a set of burrs and a set of grinding bits here. So that would save on consumables. But I'm a bit concerned the tool itself might be a bit bulky for squeezing into tight spaces.
Something like this:
Alternatively, I'm wondering whether something like a cheapo electric finger file might be more handy for that kind of thing. They look like they'd be pretty good accessibility-wise. But, again, I'm not sure how bulky the actualy body of the tool would be. Or how durable those sandpaper bands they take are?
Something like this:
As I've never used either of those tools, or even seen one in the flesh, I'm not sure how bulky either would be. It's hard to judge from just a photo. Or how heavy or annoyingly loud to be using, given I'll be lying under a motor, holding the tool overhead.
Anyone got any experience of either / or any other suggestions?
Oh. BTW. I don't have a compressor. So air tools are out. Which is a shame, as they tend to be nice and compact. But I do have a 1500W power pack, so corded tools are fine. They tend to be smaller than their cordless equivalents. If cordless is the best option, I have Makita and Kielder batteries. So something compatible with either of them.
Cheers.