Blade bolts to tight

I am old, slow and try not to overthing things. Every blade i put back on i put a dab of grease on the threads and zip them down with a few whacks of the impact. I know the world is gasping for air and clutching their chests at that statement. I do a couple hundred blades a year. Never had one come loose or snap a bolt or spindle or strip one. I know customers are risking certain death after i sharpen their blades.
 
I am working on one spindle that someone put an under grade 5 bolt in. I had tighten it to the spec per Hustler. The bolt snapped off while the customer was mowing his yard. Hopely the 9/32 LH bit will spin the remains out but I also have a #5 extractor coming in today in the order.
 
Sounds like fun.
I have a bunch of Ez outs my father gave me. He got them from uncle sam when he was working for the CCC as a millwright during the depression. Haven't used the 1" one yet.
 
I was going to a set from McMasters but the set is on a 6-8 week B/O so I just order the size I needed currently. Hopeful they are a lot better than those junk HFT ones as the first one I tried rounded off the spiral part.
 
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Hammermechanicman said:
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I switched from a 40 gal horiz compressor to the vertical quincy. Takes up half the space.
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I got a hydrovane compressor from a service station that was closing down with a 200 gallon vertical tank .
The tank lives outside the workshop next to the LPG bottles & oxy storage .
I bought a $ 100 bolt on green house to cover the compressor .
Liberated a lot of space .
The workshop was then plumbed with 1" plastic water pipe which is supposed to be good for 150 psi .
That idea came from a closed down truck work shop & saved a fortune on installation because the pipe is all compression fittings & the polly pipe is cheap
All of the droppers have a tap on the end for water removal & the air outlets are in T fittings
Dirt cheap & only took a day to do so I now have 10 air outlets inside & 4 outside .This allows the air hoses to be short and it is the hose length that really give you grief .
 
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Hammermechanicman said:
Sounds like a nice setup.
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Took a long while to work out
Previously I had a std 10 gallon tank with twin cylinder compressor on top that could not keep up with the big air tools
Then we needed something for the 1" gun the landlord got for working on old farm tractors so I got the hydrovane ( really quiet ) compressor & receiver .
In the mean time he got the roadwork compressor really cheap so we could tow it into the paddock to work on stuff in situ so the hydrovane sat there .
Then I got 10 retractable air reels with 30' of hose on each & saw how the professional workshop had set things up.
Never thought of using blue line water pipe before and of course it is dirt cheap & so easy to install.
Being that all the lines are 1" there is no pressure drop and now most of the hoses I use are 10' to 20' and that makes a really big difference so the only long hoses are used for painting with a LPHV gun so having 60' of hose on that is no problem.
Been going to get some 1" outlets for ages but the number of times I need to use the 1" gun is not enough to justify the effort & the big gun lives in the back of the compressor trailer and that is 1/2 mile away .
 
StarTech said:
165 psi is way beyond the design spec of my Air Cat as it is designed for 90 psi supply.

Hopeful the air tank is designed for this much pressure and the tank is drained every so often to keep it from rusting out.
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Get out of the dark ages and buy you a good cordless impact. Milwaukee makes really good one with adjustable torque settings. It is on the heavy side but is real beast. Or you could go to Harbor Freight and buy the Earth Quake not as good as the Milwaukee has not setting but a beast as well.
 
hlw49 said:
Get out of the dark ages and buy you a good cordless impact. Milwaukee makes really good one with adjustable torque settings. It is on the heavy side but is real beast. Or you could go to Harbor Freight and buy the Earth Quake not as good as the Milwaukee has not setting but a beast as well.
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I stick with the Air Cat as at least it is half as noisy at 86 dBd than the HFT with is at 90 dBd. Every 3 dBd increase is double noise level.

As with Batteries I would be probably needing to replace the batteries every couple years. Besides I already had a air powered grease gun by HFT to fail on me.

My budget is too tight for that so I have buy very good tools that will last. My Air Cat has been with me for over 7 yrs now and my ears have thanked me for the lower noise levels.

Hopefully I will never a 3/4 or 1 inch impact though a 3/4 impact be needed later. But hopefully I will retire before having to need it. 2-1/2 yrs and counting down to retirement.
 
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