Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Fallon]

Do you know if the batteries are interchangeable between those brands, though? I think DeWalt, Makita and Milwaukee have been pretty careful about that.

A 3d printer & a few wires & you can make your own adapters to go cross brand. https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=Battery+adapter&dwh=765db1c30f91dff. Most of those are a couple hours of start it & forget it print time & $1-2 of filiment.

I'm on the Ryobi train personally. I actually made a corded battery at one point. Stuffed an old 18v laptop power supply into a dead battery housing. Occasionally handy for longer uses near an outlet, like using the vac to clean the car.

 

[John_Mc]

Do you know if the batteries are interchangeable between those brands, though? I think DeWalt, Makita and Milwaukee have been pretty careful about that.

I can tell you that Milwaukee is not interchangeable with other brands. Many years ago, it was possible to "hotwire" one batter of similar voltage to get it to work with another brand (you could even make adapters using the top of a dead battery and the receptacle off a broken tool from another brand). I doubt that works anymore. Cordless tool batteries these days are not just batteries: they have some "brains" or sensors as well to communicate with the tool and charger.

 

[DMax82]

A 3d printer & a few wires & you can make your own adapters to go cross brand. Search Thingiverse - Thingiverse. Most of those are a couple hours of start it & forget it print time & $1-2 of filiment.

I'm on the Ryobi train personally. I actually made a corded battery at one point. Stuffed an old 18v laptop power supply into a dead battery housing. Occasionally handy for longer uses near an outlet, like using the vac to clean the car.

Wow, that is an awesome site! Thanks for sharing. Reminds me of Instructables.

 

[John_Mc]

A 3d printer & a few wires & you can make your own adapters to go cross brand. Search Thingiverse - Thingiverse. Most of those are a couple hours of start it & forget it print time & $1-2 of filiment.

I'm on the Ryobi train personally. I actually made a corded battery at one point. Stuffed an old 18v laptop power supply into a dead battery housing. Occasionally handy for longer uses near an outlet, like using the vac to clean the car.

I've done the same, making a corded adaptor, but that was many years ago (minus the 3-D printer, since I didn't have one way back when). Have you done this with recent vintage batteries and tools?

Did you design your own 3-D printed adaptor, or find one somewhere? I had not thought to look for one. If you know of some good ones, please pass along the links (maybe in a new thread?)

 

[California]

I'm on the Ryobi train personally. I actually made a corded battery at one point. Stuffed an old 18v laptop power supply into a dead battery housing. Occasionally handy for longer uses near an outlet, like using the vac to clean the car.

Ryobi here too. I found a Remington pole saw for $10 less battery and charger. Used a Ryobi flashlight as a battery holder (photo) to power it. Got up on the ladder and cut an oak branch that was chafing my powerline into my house - the same issue that was one cause for the severe wildfires in Northern California.

That hack was ugly but it got the job done. Here's my post where I described it in this thread in 2017. And another post showing it after I proved it worked. Later I moved the battery assembly to a fanny pack, that made the pole saw lighter, more maneuverable. I trimmed quite a bit of oak with it to get overhead clearance for the harvest transport trucks.

Then this year I bought Ryobi's 18v pole saw. It's lighter and the saw end is simpler, compared to the Remington that tended to get caught in small overhead branches. The Remington's chain and bar were apparently new and are interchangeable with Ryobi (both Oregon). The Remington was the best $10 I've spent recently!

 

[California]

Actually with the apple sauce its a 20 minute boil. I also can Blueberry jelly (to die for), Scuppernong jelly, tomatoes and salsa, jalapeno and banana pepper rings, and Mexican candy, oh, and I almost forgot.. canned pears...yummy.

I'd like to set up an outdoor kitchen sometime to keep the heat out of the house!

All of those sound tasty!

I have three of the old big Coleman 3-burner gas camp stoves and use one - fueled from a propane cylinder - at an outdoor sink occasionally when all the relatives come to visit the ranch. I have enough adapters, hoses, fittings to run all three. The center burner on these is hotter than a kitchen stove and the additional burners are at least equal.

Someday for a large canning project I'll set up an outdoor production line using these.

 

[5030]

Do you know if the batteries are interchangeable between those brands, though? I think DeWalt, Makita and Milwaukee have been pretty careful about that.

Haven't a clue. I'm on the HF / Bauer train myself. Sure like the Icon torque wrench too. Most torque wrenches only indicate prevailing torque in the right hand (tightening) direction. The Icon is both ways and I require prevailing torque on LH bolts too. Why I have a Snap-On. Usually a double direction wrench is very expensive (Snap-On). The Icon is a real bargain.

 

[Fallon]

I've done the same, making a corded adaptor, but that was many years ago (minus the 3-D printer, since I didn't have one way back when). Have you done this with recent vintage batteries and tools?

Did you design your own 3-D printed adaptor, or find one somewhere? I had not thought to look for one. If you know of some good ones, please pass along the links (maybe in a new thread?)

I just gutted a dead Ryobi battery & used a dremmel to make room for the cord & other parts. I now have a 3d printer, but would probably still just cannibalize another battery case i f I had to do it over again. My CAD & 3d modeling skills arent great.

It was a current generation Ryobi One+ lithium battery carcass i used. The batteries really only have the standard 18v + & - connections on them. Look inside most tools of any brand & you'll only find 2 connections. The additional contacts on the batteries are for charging not discharging functions. So you can ignore them & just wire up the + & - on an old laptop power supply easily enough. Some of the dual voltage Dewalts have extra lugs that are shorted together to toggle the battery between 20 & 40v, depending on the need of the tool.

The electronics in the battery prevent over discharging, overheating & run the status lights on the back. But they dont have any signaling back to the tool under operation. Well, other than just cutting output from the battery completely.

 

[thepumpguysc]

The Dewalt batteries MUST BE good, cuz that's what they use on "Moon Shiners" to pump mash from the 55 gallon barrel over to the "pot"..
They just hook up their 12v pump to the leads on the battery.. :drink:
I haven't seen them use a Bauer, Ryobi or a Milwaukee battery..
It MUST BE true.. cuz its on TV,, Lol

 

[4get gto]

The Dewalt batteries MUST BE good, cuz that's what they use on "Moon Shiners" to pump mash from the 55 gallon barrel over to the "pot"..
They just hook up their 12v pump to the leads on the battery.. :drink:
I haven't seen them use a Bauer, Ryobi or a Milwaukee battery..
It MUST BE true.. cuz its on TV,, Lol

You gotta admit those moonshiner dudes are some inventive folk.! 🛢