What tools/gadgets have you bought from China for DIY projects that turned out better than expected for the price? Multimeters, soldering machines, etc.
>>2860719I have dozens of chinktools. Most recently, I bought pic related, a Makita 18V compatible mini chainsaw, obviously without chang batteries. For $25, using my original Makita batteries, I'm pretty sure it's not any worse than the original $180 Makita mini chainsaw. Construction is of course weaker, but it does have a brushless motor, can cut pretty much anything up to its whole blade length.I have a couple multimeters, one with integrated basic oscilloscope. Bunch of 900M compatible cheap soldering irons. Those aren't especially great, but they work and they're cheap.Couple IWISS crimping tools, those are pretty good. Boruit headlamps, although they used to be better a few years ago. New models have more shitty controls.
>>2860719Oh, good thread. Dont buy the chinese weed puller, if they are out of aluminum, they are shit lol
>>2860719Considering the ridiculous price of name brand ones, I’ve had pretty good luck with some of the Chinesium mechanic’s stick lights. Considering they’re like 2 for $15-$25 on Amazon and probably much cheaper on Ali, they’re a steal compared to $70+ for stuff like Astro or Streamlight and even more for tool truck stuff.The 2 consistent downsides compared to the lights costing 10x as much- the Chink ones never have super strong rare earth magnets like the good ones and they always have shitty lithium cells. As for the magnet, they’re normally good enough to balance the light somewhere, or you could probably glue a better magnet on but I haven’t gone that far. As for the batteries, tons of them have 18650s that will run great for a few dozen charge cycles, then they drop off a cliff. But if you buy one damn Kobalt battery pack on clearance, you can get 6 or 12 name brand 18650s for a couple dollars a piece and stick them in the lights.As for the rest of the Chinesium, I still can’t recommend much that you would expect to be made out of proper steel. It’s almost always a disappointment and you bust some knuckled and need to get a name brand one after a couple used.
>>2860719Fwiw, that multimeter is probably fine for low voltage stuff as long as it’s accurate out of the box. The chinks are good with cheap electronics. This $7 Hyper Tough meter has been solid, downsides compared to a Klein meter 10x the price would be a screen that loses visibility at certain angles, a finnicky power button, and the biggest issue with ALL cheap meters, the leads kind of suck because they’re never going to give you proper silicone leads
>>2860768Seeing workbench pictures is like pron to me. It always gets me in the mood to do some diy stuff. Has anyone ever made a thread for it?
>>2860857There’s been a bunch. You’re supposed to be talking shit about the OSB surface because I was too cheap to go with an $80 sheet of plywood.
>>2860719ANENG MultimeterRiden RD6018 lab power supplyTS100 soldering ironall top notch.
>>2861125They named it OSB because they couldn't spell POS.
>>2861131I did MDF for the last one, I honestly liked that, it was heavy which helped to stabilize the bench at my last house since the bench wasn’t secured to the wall like my current one.The OSB is annoying because of the splinters, but I would roll any leftover paint or polyurethane on the surface after projects and that made it better. The workbench surface is sacraficial because blades and drill bits and punches are going to make holes in it. Half a sheet of OSB is cheap and easy to replace,Maybe I will do MDF for the next surface. Two downsides to that is #1 the weight of sheets of 3/4” thick MDF when I need to tie them on the roof rack of the car and #2 being that moisture and liquids will fuck up MDF, however I normally get some oil and PB Blaster and other stuff soaking into the surface and the water can’t soak in when you spilled half a quart of 5w-30 on there.
>>2860761Yes, avoid aluminum ones and only get aluminium ones.
>>2861127$70 for a power supply, holy shit. That's cheap.
>>2860719I've been pretty happy with every Harbor Freight welder I've ever used.
>>2861409Which model did you get?
>>2860719makita clone leaf blowermakita clone hedge trimmerDPS5015 up to 50 volt at 15 amp power supply works really well and very low noise.all sorts of little buck and boost converters.diy fm radio mp3 bluetooth players.Sure 2 X 100Watt Dual Channel Class D HiFi Power Audio Amplifier Board - T-AMP AA-AB32971.SUNGOLDPOWER ARC MMA 200A Welder worked great when you replace the welding cables and ground clamp.various small engine carburetors that were of better quality than the OEM ones.but a whole bunch of things that were garbage.
>>2861140I put a sheet of masonite on mine, smooth last forever, if it ever gets fucked up, just replace it.
>>2861392It's DC to DC so you need a powerbrick which kinda doubles the price.Still best price/performance in that performance range.Also you can hook up multiple to a single powerbrick if you need different voltages and aren't maxing out on the amps of the brick.
>>2861140>Maybe I will do MDF for the next surface.Don't kid yourself thinking you will wear out any surface you larper.
>>2861542It only takes one LARP with a live drill and sharpened 3/8” bit to punch holes in the OSB on accident.
>>2861392Bench power supplies in general have gotten really cheap lately. Not sure what the AliExpress prices are like, but even on Amazon, you can get 30V/10A power supplies for like $50 these days. I think I got mine for $70 or $80 a couple years ago, and there were cheaper options but this one claimed to be a switching mode supply? Or not a switch mode? Whatever one is cleaner power meant there were other cheaper options if you don’t care about that.I don’t even do much electronics stuff, but at $50-$60, I recommend everybody buy one. They’re great for charging random batteries and recovering cells in larger packs, and you can test or troubleshoot things easier, like if you come across some old device with no charger or power supply or a dead battery, get it going with the variable power supply and see if it actually works then decide if you want to order a new battery or charger for the thing.
>>2861392>>2861545Also super budget mode power supply, pretty sure I paid like $10 for this board. I think it was like 5V-30V in, so you could easily put a USB into it for lower power stuff.Also there’s those new tiny USB-C boards that you can select which power you want by soldering a tab. It was 5V-9V-12V and maybe 15V as well? Pair that with a more powerful USB-C power brick and you could get creative with those.
>>2861545or just build one from random parts like I did, the only thing that was purchased specifically to build this was the meters. It's a scavenged transformer from a UPS, and a 10 amp voltage regulator I got from somewhere. The VR is attached to the bottom of the heat sink with the fan.
>>2861667or this one that was 1.5 amps max output.
Thoughts about these chink diesel heaters? Will it burst into flames and kill my whole family?
>>2861757just flip the "I'm a chink don't kill me" switch.
>>2861768Don't listen to anon that just makes a sinkhole at your location
i bought a whole bunch of <$20.00 multimeters for shits and giggles off ali. all of them were comically bad or dangerous, but i did like this zt100. has decent features and was fairly accurate referenced off my rigol gear
>>2861757What is it powered by?
>>286182512v>>2861757i had one in my garage for NY winters. It worked okay and never burst into flames. probably better for the intended use, a van.you do need to figure out a pass through for the exhaust so get a few sheets of tin and some snippers/rivet gun
>>2860719new chinkshit drill grinder. slantys did a pretty good job getting the basic geometry right. took about 25 drills and fine tuning with a dial indicator to get it where i was happy. even came with inch collets but missing a few sizes since they cant figure out fractions. overall im pleased so far and it was like a quarter the price of a nice used darex
>>2862152picel of drill point
>>2862152What’s the deal with that thing? And the Darex, just googled those and the priced are crazy. Are they that much better than the $99 Drill Doctor?
>>2860761I bought one of the things you jam into the ground and twist (there used to be a brand that had a late night ad for it 20 years ago) and all the prongs snapped right off from some thin roots instantly.
not tool, but a handheld vaccum and a handheld cleaning brush, really useful for bathroom tiles and even clothes , shit just uses 18650 batteries so it will be easy to replace once they die
>>2862240>handheld vaccum and a handheld cleaning brush>shit just uses 18650 batterieslink plz
>>2862153Nice, but $400 could buy me a lot of cheapo chinkshit drillbits.
>>2862307I’ll defend him slightly with my much more affordable Drill Doctor…To start, cheapo chinkshit drillbits don’t really work in any material that requires sharpening to begin with, so we’re going to have to assume you’re not using the cheapest possible drill bits and won’t get nearly as many for $400.And then you gotts make the assumption that you’re going to have that project where things aren’t going as planned, and you can dull 3 bits in a single hole… or you can dull the same bit 3 times. And some of these sharpeners will bring a lot of bits up to better-than-factory sharpness, so you can get cheap bits that weren’t sharpened properly in China and get them cutting through soft to medium materials very well. And then if your drill bits are no longer a one time use consumable, you can drop a few bucks on good drill bits that stay sharp longer and get you through projects faster, and the less time you waste, the faster that sharpener pays for itself.
>>2862244https://aliexpress.com/item/1005006203678054.htmlhttps://aliexpress.com/item/1005006437114222.htmlcurrent brush price is fucking absurd,i got it for half the current price, the vacuum can be had for less, I can confirm the brush uses 18650, i opened it yesterday because it lost some power and it was a diode that disconnected so I re soldered it and it was as good as new, some russian guy on youtube opened the vacuum and replaced the cells with more powerful ones so these are 100% serviceable which i like
>>2862152>>2862154Those Chinese drill grinders with their proper collets beat the absolute shit out of any Drill Dr. and their finicky bullshit plastic chuck and associated bullshit plastic components.
>>2862434IIRC the 13a and 13b are the two basic machine setups. One does web thinning and the other does split points... I can't remember which is which, do your own research and watch a couple videos on jewtoob. Mr. Pete covers a couple differences on them if I remember right.
>>2862434never had a problem with my drill doctor. made me wonder when AVE couldn't figure out how to use it.
>>2862583He's a boomer but we love him for it.
>>2862435if the chinks would give it a grinding wheel with a crisp square corner, the mr13A cheapest model would be fine. but the wheel has a small radius and cant split the point down to a knife at the centerlinethis one, mr-13D, relieves the flank less than a full split point and does a web thin as a 3rd operation to almost eliminate the chisel pointthis grind doesnt cut at the center quite as well as a factory point but doesnt walk and will start in a very light centerpunch divot
>>2861824I have that exact same multi-meter, but mine as branded ANENG.
>>2862434>>2862583I never had an issue with mine either. As a man, I hate reading instructions, but they’re actually pretty helpful on the Drill Doctor because it gets wonky if you don’t set it up right. And it takes a couple uses before you remember where the lines go and make sure to get the split point lined up correctly on the second step. I’m not saying the Drill Doctor is the best machinist grade piece of equipment, but it works well for me when I want to bring bits from a high quality set back to life instead of throwing it out or mangling the thing with the bench grinder by hand.
>>2862643I’m always confused who actually makes them because even many of the better store brand meters look rebranded. Like the Southwire meters at Lowe’s were the same as these Reed Instruments and Amazon Commercial meters on Amazon, but those weren’t the worst Chinesium. And then that babby Uni-T 100A AC/DC clamp meter, it looks like the same thing is rebranded by some other brands including the BSide brand like this meter >>2861824Speaking of, those Amazon Commercial meters went on sale for dirt cheap when they were getting rid of them, and I regret not jumping on it. Fwiw, a lot of the Amazon Basics branded stuff seems like the same old cheap Chinesium, but the Amazon Commercial stuff I have used and seen has been a higher quality more like stuff you would order from Grainger, like it’s being manufactured by a better brand and the stuff goes on sale for super cheap.
>>2862588he's not old enough to be a boomer.
>>2860751Anyone have any experience with these reciprocating saws? I'd imagine these might be a bit more complicated for mr. chang to copy.
>>2862825For $25 you might as well give it a shot, the proper Makita is like $120. It's probably going to work if you don't try to drive it too hard. Just don't buy the ultra-cheap batteries.
>>2862825The cheap Chinese knockoffs, no. But the Hackzall type saws, yes. Tbqhwy, it’s kind of surprising how much faster the full size orbital guy goes, not sure if it’s the power or the weight or what. I’m convinced the Hackzall is only really worth it for conduit or PVC overhead on a ladder.
>>2862620Nice, didn't even see the 13D on your original pic until I read this post and went back and looked. I've had mine for a few years now and I don't think the D model was even an option at that point. In fact I bought one of the first ones on e-bay if I remember right. Some reseller ordered like 3 of them in and had them on e-bay for pretty cheap. $200ish vs $400 that most of them were at the time. Looks like I have a 13A. My camera on my phone is dogshit... I'll try and get a better pic of the point here in a few minutes... They cut like a hot damn. I'm not concerned about getting the chisel point down to nothing because I can always drill a small pilot hole. >>2862583>>2862645I've sharpened many bits with a Drill Dr as well. It's just not as nice to use and the grind quality is not as nice either. Every time I use a Drill Dr. the crappy plastic body, lack of weight, the shoddy plastic chuck, and the anemic motor that you can hear struggling make me want to chuck it in the trash. I really need to take this drill sharpener to my farm shop and leave it there and then bring the Drill Dr. 750x home where it will see less use.
>>2862912Well this is about the best picture I can get of the damn grind... My camera just plain sucks. It's a gorgeous grind though. The relief grind almost does away with the chisel all the way, but lacks a tiny bit. Like I said, a small pilot hole would take care of it no problem, and honestly a pilot wouldn't even be 100% necessary. The other night when I was drilling through some solid 2" toolbar I did a 1/4" pilot hole for a 5/8" bit because that was what I had right there in front of me. I took the 1/4" all the way to where I could feel it was about to punch through the other side and then stopped. filled it up with dark cutting fluid and then punched through with the 5/8". Worked awesome as it got the cutting fluid as it needed it while it progressed through the hole.
>>2862912I will admit that the Drill Doctor motor sounds a bit weak. It’s fine for touching up bits, but the larger you go, the weaker it sounds. And it’s not exactly the thing to reprofile a totally fucked 3/8”+ drill bit.
This multimeter. It's about 5-6 years old. The only issue with it is that the leads oxidized in time but I managed to restore them with a pencil eraser.
>>2862956also a DAC from FiiO, I've had it for about 10-12 years so far and I've used it daily.
>>2862919looks like good grind. camers either cant focus or make every little nick on the edge look like a giant defectchang did a good job making a repeatable grind which is 99% of a good cutting drill regardless of point type. these are much easier to get the drill set in than a drill doctor and everything is more rigidi had gotten really good with the cheap grinding attachment in picel. they are a pain to get dialed in and slow to use. plus you have to fuck with the little locating finger for different size ranges of drills. they also put too much clearance on the point which causes the drill to want to auger in and/or the outside corner chips easily. they also leave a bigger than hand ground chisel in the center which makes drilling take so much more forcei tried changs grinder at 118 degrees and was also impressed with its ability to grind a good traditional point. its so quick to use too. i can hand grind well from working in machine shops, but even the best is still a few thou mismatched side to sideim ordering the special 14 and 15mm collets and holder from chinkshit express to do a pile of 17/32 drills for 1/2 bolt clearance holes
>>2862858I do have a wurth branded one I use at work and yeah, even that is mostly useful for quick, easy jobs when you only have one hand free or jist don't want to bust out the full sized one. Even the full sized makita is kinda weak compared to a corded one which is why I'm kinda skeptical about this. I mean it is just 30 bucks but I'd like to avoid just spending money on e-waste if possible.
>>2860719The Yihua 929 desoldering iron has been great. Same for my KSGER T12 station. Also got a USB tester and part tester that have been real handy, and a nanoDLA.
>>2862956I’ve been happy with my Uni-T, although they don’t really seem like a total Chinesium company. They seem like they might be an OEM for some other name brands or come from the same factory. Same type, probably same exact leads as I got with my Klein and Southwire meter. When you go with the real Chinesium, first thing you will notice is the total dogshit leads they come with. The wires are real hard plastic and the strain relief begins to crack quickly and the probe tips are barely stuck in the plastic handles so they bend when trying to jam them in terminals. Also Uni-T isn’t Chinesium cheap, they’re close to Klein pricing. If I wanted the same features in a Klein from Home Depot, it probably would only cost another $15-$20. Meanwhile there’s 1000A no-name AC/DC clamp meters for like $35 on Amazon, although it’s your gamble if you ever want to stick those probes in anything >120V.
>>2862967>im ordering the special 14 and 15mm collets and holder from chinkshit express to do a pile of 17/32 drills for 1/2 bolt clearance holesDoes it even need a special holder? They're just some kinda ER collet aren't they? I remember looking into getting a larger one to fill the spare slot, but never did. I usually hand grind most stuff 1/4" and larger unless I need an absolutely perfect grind. The small ones are where I struggle to get things lined up properly by hand. If I do break a bit and want to re-sharpen it I'll usually chop it off real close to right with an angle grinder and cut-off wheel just to save time and wear and tear at the grinder.
Cable tensioner off AliExpress, for hanging stringer lights outside. $8 and works fantastically well. The anchors can be removed too, you just need a screwdriver, so I can use it for holiday lighting projects that aren't permanent
>>2860719Owon SDM1041, I love the meter but it is slow to measure capacitance and will not do inductance. Current only to 10A as well. However 55,000 count is fantastic and it responds quickly, can also log data and plot it in a spreadsheet to make stupid characteristic curves for shitty vacuum tubes but I have yet to do that. Considering that Owon handheld digiscope Kerry Wong reviewed at some point since I only have a 100MHz analog which is a little long in the tooth and needs some work.
>>2862647In china there are towns dedicated to producing specific machinery / tools. On a single street there may be multiple competitors producing the exact same machine, but with different model names. The same manufacturer is constantly copying off their competitors and making updates to their designs without revising the model name. You may find out the city or the town something is made in, but never the manufacturer. However if you approach a manufacturer about getting spare parts for a machine, you will get blacklisted by the true manufacturer of the machine for not going to them first.
>>2864108>OwonThis is the first time I've noticed someone else using an Owon meter. I didn't know anything about them but found one of their meters when I was searching for a specific product.I had a situation where I needed to monitor ac volts between a couple of points outside while I did adjustments inside. I came across an ad for the Owon BC35T+ which connects to a smart phone through an app. I purchased it and installed the app. With the Owon connected to the measuring points outside, I could watch the meter on the app inside while I made changes that affected the meter reading. It worked great and I was very happy with it.I have several other meters that are my 'go-to' devices depending on the application so I don't use the Owon now but I have it stored without the batteries installed knowing if a need for remote monitoring arises I have a meter for it.
>>2864309I never like those OEM chinky apps, you never know how long they'll be supported. If it used something open source or used by lots of manufacturers I'd have less qualms. Pulseview app when?
>>2864133Ahh I love the stories of business in China. They’re second only to that old old copypasta of Anon who spent 2 summers in Africa trying to teach them how to farm and survive, only to return and find out they spent the profit from their crops on little trinkets instead of fertilizer for the next growing season.
