Anti-Vibration Shortcut

In January, I talked about Makita's Anti-Vibration Technology for demolition hammers. They had done a swell job and I commend them for it. Now, Bosch has a promotion coming up for their Anti-Vibration solution. I don't think of it as Anti-Vibration technology, but rather as more of a shortcut.

Free Anti-Vibration Gloves by Mail

That's right. Bosch isn't improving the tool they build at all. Instead, they're giving a mail-in certificate for a pair of padded gloves. As Matt called it, in 4 - 6 weeks you'll be enjoying a slightly more comfortable demolition experience. I don't think that'll quite meet the European standards coming up saying that the tools themselves need to reduce vibration. Ok, so this won't meet those guidelines at all.

A Real Shame

I think it's a real shame that Bosch hasn't addressed the tool itself yet, but instead is going to give people gloves. The vibrations from demolition hammers can cause some serious health problems through prolonged use, so ignoring the issue won't make it go away. What if I forget to wear those gloves? What if I find them to be too hot during the summer? What if a neighbor borrows the tool and doesn't have AV gloves? I really hope they come out with something decent down the road, because this isn't even as good as smoke and mirrors. This is way too transparent.

Closed for moving 3/23/2006 - 3/26/2006

I won't be posting the rest of this week as we move buildings. The one we currently occupy has served it's purpose, but we've just flat outgrown it and are bordered by other buildings on two sides, railroad tracks to the North, and a cliff to the east. The new one has a 6 acre lot with 4 of it available for additional growth as we need it. We'll also be along a busy street instead of tucked away in a corner, which should help our walk-in traffic substantially.

As you can see, we're not moving all that far. We're moving from 6620 F St to 7820 L St. It's only 1.07 miles between buildings according to my GPS. (Sorry for the sloppy drawing... I don't have PhotoShop at home and I'm not totally used to Gimp yet.)

The picture to the right was taken a while ago while the building was being re-assembled. There were literally iron beams and a foundation left when we were done pulling stuff off that we weren't going to re-use.

Consequently, this move means if you place an order after about noon on Wednesday the 22nd of March, the earliest it'll be processed is next Monday. We intend to be fully open and ready for business at the new location then. Our phones will not be answered Thursday through Sunday, nor will emails (unless we're way ahead of schedule, which the snow storm we had has pretty much ruled out.) With any luck, everything will be back to "Normal" next week with very few glitches along the way.

Wish us luck, and thanks to all of our customers for making this move not only possible, but necessary.
Brian, Matt and the rest of the ToolBarn.com staff.

First day of deconstruction

On the first day of deconstruction, I got to use the Makita HG1100 some. I was impressed with how quiet it was. It's not nearly as loud as a hair dryer, yet pushes a whole lot more heat. The weight was just right. I had already stated some of my physical observations on this model before I took it home, but now I got to actually use it on a job that it's intended for.

Even though the cord was in the way at times, I don't think I'd nominate it for a V28 cordless model for most jobs. The benefits of lightweight outweigh the coolness of cordless for this application. Even so, I'm sure that there are times where lack of cord would make for a better heating experience, so I may still have to suggest that to our rep as a future tool. It's not going to be a huge seller as a cordless.

Removed tile easily
Yes, we had pink tile in our bathroom on the walls. That was a factor when deciding to remodel, but there was also the fact that the tile in the shower was cracked and was leaking enough to cause some of the wood around the tub to rot. But that doesn't mean we want to replace everything. It's much easier to take tile off in smaller areas than replace the drywall.

By using the HG1100 on a setting of 4 (scale of 1 - 5) the adhesive quickly softened and we could peel off the tiles fairly cleanly by prying with a screwdriver, although a chisel or some other wide scraper would have probably been preferred. We just don't sell those yet, so I had to settle for a screwdriver (we'll be adding more hand tools to our inventory after we get moved into our new building.) It'll just take some solvent to remove the glue and we're in business on those walls without a lot of extra sanding. That'll make me happy.

Large areas were easier with a hammer
Since the removal of the glue is rather time consuming, large areas of tile were easiest removed with a hammer. Not only does this save some time, but it's also fun taking my frustrations out on this stupid pink tile. Ahhh... I should have done this ages ago. I used my Makita cordless circular saw to cut a nice straight line (I put the guide along the top of the tile) and we pulled a couple of walls down.

Next up: Flooring
Well, we peeled all the tile I think we'll be peeling for a while. Now that many of the walls are cleared out, we'll be removing the linoleum from the floor, which is one more use for the heat gun. We tried a little of the linoleum and it seems to be coming up pretty easily with a little heat, but I'll let you know for sure when we get it all out of there. Until then, I'll keep enjoying all the tools I'm getting to use for once instead of just creating a website about.