Power tools at the Co-op
 

Hi Folks,

We currently have a 5" side grinder, 6" wheel grinder and corded and cordless drills at the Co-op.
When we get back in to a larger space, we'll get the drill press out of storage.
We have access to lots of construction tools when we need to build something.

What power tools do you use at your Co-op?

Anybody using other big tools, like a bearing press, or arbor press?

Thanks and good health, Weogo

an air impact gun for breaking loose freewheels.
plus an air compressor... oil-filled type, for less noise.
***electric, rechargeable impact guns are now available.

a bigger, better bench grinder with a wire wheel on one side, and a 10" or so grinding wheel on the other end.

a solvent tank for cleaning up parts and general de-greasing... i fill mine with mineral spirits.

a small mig (mine) or tig welder... aluminum capable, if possible (not mine:-(... ).

i use my CC cylinder head porting tool frequently for custom fittings and special hole shapes... making brackets, de-burring parts, small polishing jobs, etc... a good dremel set would suffice for most similar tasks...

eventually, i'd like to get a metal lathe again... i sold mine three decades ago, and miss having it weekly, it seems... a small atlas/craftsman benchtop lathe is in the plans....

the solvent tank and air impact gun see the highest use here... the air impact gun is, by far, the most used of the listed tools.

Not a co-op but a bike shop. We have various drills but mainly used for ski tuning but the impact gun is great for breaking extra tight bolts or as maddog34 said freewheels and such. We have two air compressors and a cheapie parts washer which is still functional and I hope will last a year or two till we can get a better set up. We had some tools from the build out but generally nothing major and nothing we really use often anymore except for construction..

A lathe would be awesome and I have access to an old Unimat one which would be great but so little space and nobody to really run it (I have never really played with one). We have a Dremel tool which is nice for various jobs.

My favorite tool is the Bosch Screwdriver great for quickly removing bolts like rotors and stem faceplates without much torque which is handy so you can go back with a torque wrench as needed. Simple 1/4 bits and Bosch quality.

One of the employees at my old shop did have a welder and a full table and he used it semi often. He had also bought a hydraulic press but we also had people working on their cars after work and we really didn't use it for bicycle stuff ever at least not to my knowledge.

I think your bicycle tools should be the first priority and the stuff you have currently sounds like it is handy.

The electric tool I use the most is a rechargeable mini-dremel with a small sanding drum for prepping tubes for patches. The co-op has a drill press that doesn't get much use, used to have some corded dremels that somehow grew legs and disappeared, but the one that seems to get used most often is the handheld angle grinder used for lock-ectomies.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c57f479543.jpg

Volunteer shop

All bearings pressed by mechanical means

Yes we have an impact gun but rarely used.

20 gal compressor with hard air lines to work stations

Wire wheels on 3/8 corded drills for removing rust from handlebars

Bench grinder with stone on one side and wire wheel on the other.

Various battery and corded drills/drivers

Battery and electric angle grinders

Battery air inflator for portable shop operations

Hi Maddog,

For freewheels, we have a BAV(BigAxxVise) that holds the remover and we grunt them loose by hand.
It feels very satisfying when it breaks loose! : -)
An impact driver sounds like a useful option.
A compressor would also be handy as part of the cleaning process. Hopefully it will be oil-filled, and outside in a shed to lower the noise.
Anybody using an airline with a small diameter(1/8") steel tube to install/uninstall slide-on grips?

An 8" grinder was donated, has a wire wheel on one side. Will go to work when we have more space.
One shop uses a really low powered 6" grinder, because if someone gets their glove or a part caught in the wire wheel, the grinder will pretty much stall.

A cleaning station with a solvent tank and an ultrasonic cleaner would be sweet when there's space.
My dream is an area with a wash-down floor that has a pump pushing liquid through a filter system.
The county I live in has the cleanest water in the state.(After the paper mill shut down.)

The Tool Library has a MIG welder we can checkout as needed. I've heard of one shop welding old sockets to particularly stuck BB cups.
A volunteer brings in his torch set when needed.

Hadn't thought of a a Dremel, but we can get one pretty easily - lots of used ones floating around for low cost.

A metal lathe and mini-mill would be sweet.

VeganB, the Bosch screwdriver sounds like a time saver.

RCMoeur, Power-sanding tubes, hadn't thought of that. Lock-ectomies - yep, that's our common use of the side-grinder!
We have one patient volunteer who will sit with a bike combo lock, the ones with three-or four rings of numbers, and try every combo till it opens. The last one opened in less than fifteen minutes at something like 5-4-6.

Joe, We are in the all-hand-powered tube-filling camp. We now have one of the double-chamber pumps for tubeless tires. Compressor would be easier!
I forgot we have some 3" wire wheels for the drills.

Thanks and good health, Weogo

Not much in the way of power tools at the charity shop where I volunteer. We have a recirculating parts cleaner, a stand-mounted grinder/wire wheel, an electric hand drill, a Dremel, and a 30gal. air compressor.

Here's a photo I've posted several times here at BF. Takes a tedious several-minute task down to less than 30 seconds, and does a much better job of exposing clean virgin rubber for a reliable patch.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bb14da4f1.jpeg