Sunday, November 04, 2007
garage bench, faulty grinders
I think we can all agree that I have done a horrendous job of updating this blog. I have been largely uninspired, and really haven't put much thought into new blog ideas because of life. Most of my time that isn't spent on work and family goes into improving the house.
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With that in mind, it occured to me that maybe I can devote some future blogs to home improvement.
anyhoo, on with the show.
One of the first things I did to the house was build a work bench. The garage is a 2-car garage and includes a alcove that was a good spot for a workbench. The workbench itself I built in July, and then shortly-thereafter, I put up the pegboard and put in some extra outlets. Now that it is getting colder, I like to park my truck in the garage, which means less floorspace for junk. That justified some shelves in the unused space above the bench.
This was a pretty cheap and simple idea, really. . The total was about $20, which has to be one of my cheapest projects ever. As you can see, I simply made a platform above the peg board, and suspended one end of the platform with the all-thread, which runs through the drywall and into some 2"x4"s that span the ceiling joist.
booya. That is how you build a workbench people.
here is a what a workbench looks like. W-o-r-k b-e-n-c-h.
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Something pretty interesting happened while building it. For those of you that have never cut a bolt in two, you have to file or grind down the threads so a nut will go on. I decided to use a $5.00 angle grinder that my dad bought. You read that correctly. $5.00 I would have guessed that is was the price of the cardboard box it came in.
When I asked my dad why he thought it was a good idea to buy it, he claimed that i might be okay to "use for one job". That makes sense, I guess. The funny thing is that it didn't even last that long.
It is picured below, and is probably the cheapest and most dangerous consumer product I have ever laid my hands on.
First of all, the on-switch didn't work. I guess I should say that the off-switch didn't work, because it wouldn't turn off. I plugged it in, and it was on.
I am glad I had it aimed away from face.
read the manual you say? I did!
I definatly agree that while the on/off switch can be "self-looked", I have to disagree that it can be turned on and off speedly. (see number 2 on the left in the picture below)
manual for the grinder #1 (click to zoom in)
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manual for the grinder #2 (click to zoom in)
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Second of all, once I started using it to grind, I put just a wee-bit of force on it, and it slowed down the wheel almost to a stand still, almost to fingernail filing speed. In fact, at full throttle, I probably could have stopped it with my hands. Then, all of a sudden, smoke started poring out of slits in the plastic housing. I am pretty sure that is what they were put there for, for the inevitable fire that would start inside.
It started to get pretty warm, and started making a griding noise. I was hoping for an open flame, but the smoke just billowed out, and it just stopped turning all together, so I threw it on the ground and let it die with compassion.
and that was it.
Honestly, I can't think of too many ways it could have been any more dangerous or of any poorer quality. I suppose it could have shocked me when I turned it on, or the wheel could have immediatly flew off and into my eyes, or maybe it could have somehow shattered like glass after dropping it once. Then again, who's to say that those things wouldn't have happend if I gave it time?
this is the very grinder in question
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Having seen this kind of failure before, I figured I burned up the coils of the stator of the motor. I actually found that kind of hard to believe, given the special design considerations covered in the manual: "The windings of the armature and stator are made of high intensity pokycaster round the copper wirehad got special insulation treatment." (see #1 on left)
It turns out all of their pokycaster insulation couldn't keep the coils in the magnets from igniting. see the pic below.
here is the inside, showing the burned coils
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Like I said, it almost seemed like it was designed to do harm. All it needed was a fuse! Maybe this is a new kind of cold war betwixt China and the US. They are trying to defeat us internally by killing off consumers with their shotty merchandise! Maybe I could work for them. I can design some disasterous products for the to sell to Americans. Here are some ideas:
1) A car that shifts into reverse and floors the engine when you put it into drive.
2) A light switch that uses your body to complete the circuit (read: it shocks you).
3) A house-hold door that hinges from the bottom and falls on you.
4) lawn darts. but sharper and harder to see.
5)plasma t.v.s that shoot balls of plasma at the viewers
6) infant toys that contain lead paint
Labels: home improvment
# posted by fooiemcgoo : 4:59 PM
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nuh uh. just the gear puller.
IT just occured to me how in-depth the manual was.
It is pretty clear that much more thought was put into that, rather then the actual product.
IT just occured to me how in-depth the manual was.
It is pretty clear that much more thought was put into that, rather then the actual product.
Are you sure there wasn't a footnote in the manual about "Warning: Explosive - May fail during first use."
I had a very similar experience with a $10 power drill I bought. It worked for about 1 minute, smoked for about 2, then it was dead.
A bench grinder’s accessories will also vary from one machine to another. Some have angled V-groove toolrests to allow for grinding of drill bits. Lamps are another accessory that users may find useful.
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