Air Rachet Talk.....

[David Despain]

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...6&group_ID=806&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

i believe that it is the same as the 1/4" drive air ratchet just with a 3/8 anvil. at least that is what the dealer told me many months ago. i think if u have a good dealer he should be able to swap between 1/4 and 3/8 anvils on most of their ratchets, torque wrenches, air ratchets etc. i couldnt promise that its possible on all of them or that he would be willing to do it, but i know they can on some. i have a mac shop apron that is mechanix wear so i bet their gloves and other mac branded things are as well. but unfortunatly our mac guy went out of business a few months ago, although i hadnt seen him here in the daytime for about 6 months so i will just have to wait i guess or get it online. i also hate the logos or decoration they put on their gloves i guess its just all targeted towards the nascar crowd. and for all of you who didnt get the email this morning snap-on now has free shipping for orders under 500$ until the end of the year. now i have no excuse to get a few things i have been waiting for a dealer for.

 

[john]

Our MAC guy went out of business too. I think life is hard for the Matco and MAC guys. It sucks. We didn't buy that much from our MAC guy, so I guess we contributed to his demise in a way.

I actually like the MAC logo. On a lot of the rebadge stuff, I like the MAC stuff better than the Blue-Point or Matco stuff. I think MAC does a better job of rebadging than Snap-on and Matco do.

 

[JSQ]

Our MAC and Cornball guys are total weirdos.
The Snap-On dude is pretty NASCARed out, but he can at least carry on a semi normal conversation.

PS what's up with Snap-On guys and blue tooth?
And thanks but no thanks on the dartboard.

 

[john]

Oh Jack, you're just jealous because you don't have these:

You know you want em. Come on, fess up.

 

[F18Guy]

Great Thread....thanks for the comments. I just pulled the trigger on a PTR225A 3/8 Mini air rachet and a SGDMRC44BG Screwdriver, Ratcheting, Soft Grip, Standard. I'll give this new air rachet a good tryout and report later.

John, tell me more about this MG31......

 

[Ho]

man, the MG... it a lot of punch in a small package.

 

[F18Guy]

Come on Ho.....I need more....LOL!

 

[john]

Paul, you're going to love that screwdriver. It's awesome. The tail cap is a micro driver too:

And I'm digging the green color. The uglier the better.

This MG31 is interesting. The more I play with it, the more I like it. Here's a pic of it:

The MG31 is slightly smaller than the IM3100:

The above pic makes the MG31 appear almost as large as the IM3100, but here are the two bodies side by side:

In your hand, the MG31 feels considerably smaller. The weight difference is also substantial. The MG31 weighs 3 lbs., 3.5 oz. with a Dynaswivel and plug attached:

The IM3100 weighs 4 lbs., 6.5 oz. with a Dynaswivel and plug attached, but without the boot:

I took the boot off for weighing because the MG31 doesn't have a boot yet.

I think the IM3100 has a nicer trigger action. The MG31's trigger action is still very good though. Superb actually.

As you know, the IM3100's selection looks like this:

The swinging bar is used to select the direction. Swing the bar to the right to tighten and to the left to loosen. This is a very intuitive system and I really like it. The knurled bezel is used to select power level. If you adjust the power level, that adjustment affects both reverse and forward power levels.

The MG31's selection is different from that of the IM3100. Here's the MG31 in tightening mode:

Just push the bar forward to tighten and push the bar rearward to loosen. This is also a very intuitive system.

The tip of the bar selector is knurled so that you can turn it and select the tightening power. There's a guide on the back of the unit that shows the power level:

Pushing the bar forward or backward does not change the power level selected.

In loosen mode, the MG31 works at full power, no matter what power level is selected for tightening. In other words, the power selection affects only the tightening and the unit always works at Armgaeddon mode for loosening. This is a key difference between the MG31 and IM3100, and I really like this feature. Even when set to tighten at full power, if you set the unit for loosening, you can actually feel the difference in power, so the M31 has greater power in reverse like all good impacts.

There's no stealth mode on the MG31, if this even matters to you.

The "MG31" name is spot on. This thing sounds just like a maschinengewehr in operation. If Snap-on had named this impact the "MG34" or "MG42", the name would definitely fit. The cadence is really fast. The impacts almost blur together. Hitler's Zipper reincarnated.

The IM3100 is still my field impact:

I stole our shop IM3100 for my field set, so we were left with only 1/2" impacts in the shop box. These units are very large, heavy, and can be clumsy to use for most jobs. So that's why we got the MG31 for the shop set.

 

[F18Guy]

And I'm digging the green color. The uglier the better.

Yeah I like the green.....when I first started out, everything was orange....so now my box looks funky lol! I have been looking at the soft grip stuff for a while now because I really don't like the feel of my older orange plastic handled Snap-On drivers. I have the set that comes with 2 torx drivers, 1 mini rachet, 1 regular rachet, and of course 6 non racheting screwdrivers.

That MG31 looks like something out of a sci-fi movie....pure bad ass! I think I need a cigar now after viewing all of this tool porn

Maybe when I get home...I can share some porn as well....

 

[David Despain]

john i agree with you on the mac branded things. they are some of the better done stuff. our cornhole guy is totally clueless about the kind of stuff we need at the airport. he tried to sell me a bunch of metric stuff and even a serpentine belt tool set. the funniest thing about cornhole stuff is in their monthly flyers; its always got a couple of pages of stuff like shirts and models and harely collectilbe pocket knives and its all in real-tree camo. although i must admit i would like the hip flask that seems to be in there every other month. and one time they had a tiffiany style lamp that ran off a rechargeable battery for the top of your tool box. i wish i could find those flyers on line.

paul i dont know if u have ever used the interchangeable shank screwdriver line, but if not let me just say that i really like them & u will be happy with it. my wife got me the master set http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...group_ID=13205&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog for my birthday a few years ago when they only had it in red so it doesnt match the rest of my stuff which is orange. she wanted me to leave my regular and stubby orange handle ratcheting screwdrivers at home so she can use them...but lest i digress. it is really handy. i typically use the stubby handle with the medium shank in it. fits my hand really well. i leave the long shank with a wobble bit in the long handle and they are both on my cart. the stubby shank and 1/4" driver i just leave in my screwdriver drawer and grab them when needed. i think that its cool because of the interchangeable shanks and in order to take advantage of that you need the stubby too. sorry this is so long, i just love to chat and bullshit about tools

john do you guys sell a magnetic bit holder like the red one in my screwdriver drawer?

 

[john]

I also can't say enough about those soft-grip interchangeable shank drivers. They're just superb. As David predicts, soon you'll be getting the stubby shank and long shank, and then the flex shank, and then the 1/4" nut driver shank, and the stubby handle, and then the Penta-Grip handle. It never ends.

I like the green color a lot because it's different from the usual red. When your tools are sorted by color, it's much easier to find them inside a crowded drawer. The dayglo green is also brighter than the red and thus you're a little less likely to leave it somewhere after the job is finished (like in a customer's car). Our shop drivers are red and Ho has the green set for his field set. My field set is red as well. I wish I had gotten orange or green instead.

My "go to" combo's are the standard handle with the stubby shank and the stubby handle with the standard shank. The long, flex, and nut driver shanks stay in reserve.

 

[john]

David, being a Korean, I think the Realtree and Mossy Oak stuff is hilarious. If my dream were to own a trailer and take it bass fishing or to the next Buckmasters Convention, maybe I would like that Advantage camouflage stuff. Throw in a Sea Doo and one of those ridiculous big-screen TV's for good measure.

But I think it's just reality that the tool companies have to market using that stuff. It's not very different from the Mustang and Mopar edition KRL's. Even though Matco, MAC, and Snap-on are top quality tool companies, the vast majority of their market is blue collar mechanics. I think their Grey Poupon marketing is limited to clients like NASA.

No, we don't have any of those magnetic bit holders. But doesn't Snap-on still sell that Blue-Point bit holder? I thought I saw it in the last catalog. We use a home-made ghetto rig for our bits:

I made that one up by cutting some Matco bit holders and fitting them onto the Ernst socket rail. We use that for the shop box and we use those dinky Ullman Devices vinyl bit holders for our field sets.


Paul, here's a pic of the nut driver and flex shanks for your driver:

Also, don't forget that you can use 1/4" extensions to make your screwdriver as long as you want:

 

[F18Guy]

Oh Shit!! Whiskey Tango Alert....LOL....I have all of my bits in a zip lock bag..I didn't even think of a magnetic bit holder...

 

[rtiqulatendisco]

Sorry to butt in but what size air hose are you guys using in the shop and on the trail?

 

[F18Guy]

James,

At home I am running the 3/8" (9.5mm) diameter hose which is the same I used to use at work while wrenching on Helos. That hose is rated at 300 PSI.

I am not sure of the actual diameter of the Power Tank Hose. If my thinking is correct, the diameter for a field hose should be a bit smaller in order transfer air from the tank to the tool more efficiently

Hopefully John will add....