What did we get for Christmas?

[leehljp]

CapnCarl mentioned this on the New Years post, so I decided to start one dedicated to new toys:

What did you get for Christmas?

I got a Ryobi 18V Brushless drill driver, 18V Brushless 7 1/4 inch circular saw and the 18V Quiet Strike impact driver. I am impressed with each with the power over the first generation green tools that I already had. I was really impressed with the 7 1/4 circular saw. I only sawed a sheet of plywood in half and maybe a dozen cross cuts on 2x4s. Felt like using a corded circular saw. Sure beats the 5 1/2 saw that I had. The power was noticeably more.

I had the first generation green/lithium tools for several years as mentioned above, BUT my 12 year old grandson has been eyeing my tools jealously for sometime, so I cleaned them up and gave them to him for Christmas. The 18V drill driver, 18V impact driver and 5 1/2 circular saw, along with 3 lithium batteries and a charger were in great shape as I do take care of them. This is the grandson that when he was 6 asked if he could "weed" my garden and told me "Grandpa, I know the difference between weeds and garden plants!" He certainly did not learn that from his parents! Joe has been doing most of the needed small repairs on and around their house for the last 3 to 4 years, so I didn't mind giving him the tools. He has a good tool chest full of general around-the-house repair tools (including plumbing). Joe has the ability to spot the "root problem" and figure out how to fix it. (He is great at observation and insight to problem solving.) So I didn't mind giving him my older tools so that I could get some new ones!

[atgcpaul]

Our new apartment will be on the 12th floor. My wife, who really does always get me the perfect gift that I would never get for myself, bought me for my birthday (also in Dec) a pair of binoculars with a tripod mount that can also take digital pictures. I'll be working from home and she figured it would keep me occupied when work is slow. She also knows I'm a big Rear Window fan. I got a good chuckle out of it and I can't wait to use them. We apparently overlook some popular tourist sites--no, not a beach.

On the tool front, everyone knows they should never buy me tools because I'm... particular. I'm still kicking myself for not buying the Ryobi Airstrike cordless brad nailer during Black Friday. Now they're $30 more.

[LCHIEN]

Our new apartment will be on the 12th floor. My wife, who really does always get me the perfect gift that I would never get for myself, bought me for my birthday (also in Dec) a pair of binoculars with a tripod mount that can also take digital pictures. I'll be working from home and she figured it would keep me occupied when work is slow. She also knows I'm a big Rear Window fan. I got a good chuckle out of it and I can't wait to use them. We apparently overlook some popular tourist sites--no, not a beach.

On the tool front, everyone knows they should never buy me tools because I'm... particular. I'm still kicking myself for not buying the Ryobi Airstrike cordless brad nailer during Black Friday. Now they're $30 more.

Hey that Grace Kelly was something back then, wasn't she?

[JimD]

I got the Festool plunge and depth stop attachments for their multi tool and a track saw rip blade (freud). I don't have a Festool multi tool so I have a little adapting to do for it to work on my Fein 350Q. I got it mounted today but I have to put the adapter for the plunge mechanism on the mechanism before screwing it to the tool at the moment. Shimming may solve that and also align the magnet with the blade better, I will try that tonight or tomorrow. It's a bit of messing around but the Fein+Festool combination was only a little over $200 versus about 3X that for the Festool.

The rip blade is for ripping wood over 1 inch thick. I ripped southern yellow pine 2x12s with the stock blade on my DeWalt track saw but it struggled a little. I think a rip blade will totally solve that and also be better in hardwood up to the full 2 inch limit of the saw.

[cwsmith]

I spent so much for new camera equipment this year that I thought it best to forego anything on my personal Christmas wish list. Our son gave me a camera sling strap and a new book on Winston S. Churchill for my collection (I'm a big Churchill fan).

So the focus was on everyone else that matters in my life and all was well. Our son and his family drove in from Iowa for Christmas here and right now is out in the western part of the state at his best friends for New Years. We're a bit concerned with all the nasty weather between here and there and his return travel back to Iowa on Jan 2nd.

So, a very Merry Christmas was had here and I hope that you all had the same.

I wish each and every one of you the very best for the New Year's celebration and hope that 2018 brings you all great health and happiness,


CWS