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Re: Needle Scalers

It also washes out the oil... not sure if that would be good for the tool unless you were also oiling it on a regular basis. It would have to be very thin oil in cold conditions.

Re: Needle Scalers

I suppose if you must work in freezing temperatures you could try installing an air line oiler and fill it with airline antifreeze. Just remember methyl alcohol burns and is not healthy to breathe.

Re: Needle Scalers

I've also seen the air lines freeze up and block air flow completely. If you can't take them inside a warm building, the next best thing is to get gas line antifreeze flowing through them with an air chuck. Pretty much need a squirt bottle to get any volume into a 3/8 line.

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by old miner called Pop

Thinkin the biggest part of the problem with this air grinder is I am workin outside at night right now when the humidity is up the compressor makes a lot of moisture that goes through the air line and then into the grinder...its not so bad during the day but when the sun goes down it gets pretty bad. Inside a shop its not much of a problem at all.

I've had air tools frost up on the outside and the discharge during the winter & high humidity.

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by whtbaron

I've flushed them out with WD-40 and then followed up with oil. Pretty sure it was moisture from my old portable that f'd up my Snap On air grinder. You need to get some moisture traps and filters into that system or it will mess up your tools. Anything in there that can rust or pit will die a horrible death. Since I moved into the heated shop with the moisture trap at the compressor and filters at all the drops, I haven't had any probs and some of my cheap die grinders are getting pretty long in the tooth...

I think what I will do is just save that air grinder to use in the rare occasion when I am workin in our shop, or maybe when I get back to workin days whenever that might happen. You mentioned air die grinders...I have 2 or 3 cheap ones and I dont seem to have any problems using them outside at night. Maybe its because they dont pull as much air I dont know. As far as filters and traps all I ever needed before was one I put on the manifold right before the regulator and the outlet fittings are right after the regulator and I didnt have trouble with that setup until a few weeks ago when that filter/water trap fell apart after 4 or 5 years of use, I replaced it with a bigger one, the only snivel with that one is the valve to let the water out is plastic so I am wondering how long that will last

I have an electric die grinder I can use as well, and I still have the electric angle grinders

Re: Needle Scalers

I've flushed them out with WD-40 and then followed up with oil. Pretty sure it was moisture from my old portable that f'd up my Snap On air grinder. You need to get some moisture traps and filters into that system or it will mess up your tools. Anything in there that can rust or pit will die a horrible death. Since I moved into the heated shop with the moisture trap at the compressor and filters at all the drops, I haven't had any probs and some of my cheap die grinders are getting pretty long in the tooth...

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by CAVEMANN

I've filled them with SEAFOAM and occasionally solvent to help flush the crap out. clearances in those motors are pretty close & it doesn't take much to bind the vanes.

Thinkin the biggest part of the problem with this air grinder is I am workin outside at night right now when the humidity is up the compressor makes a lot of moisture that goes through the air line and then into the grinder...its not so bad during the day but when the sun goes down it gets pretty bad. Inside a shop its not much of a problem at all.

Re: Needle Scalers

I've filled them with SEAFOAM and occasionally solvent to help flush the crap out. clearances in those motors are pretty close & it doesn't take much to bind the vanes.

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by CAVEMANN

Small air motors have a rotor that has slots cut in it equal distances around it, the slots have vanes that slide in & out of the rotor to make contact with the rotor housing. If a small air motor won't start it probably has some gunk in the slots not allowing the vanes to slide freely. I've found that the little finger safety gadget can fall off with a little persuasion. Some larger air motors are piston units, most often a radial design.

Gunk...thats most likely the trouble lookin at the places I been workin my whole life and I guess when its humid and a bit chilly it causes the gunk to get stiffer. The riser i put on the pipe coming out the tank works good, I just put maybe a few ounces in it evry few hours when its down to about 20 degrees and it keeps things moving, i always put a bit of oil in the tool after I do this

Re: Needle Scalers

Small air motors have a rotor that has slots cut in it equal distances around it, the slots have vanes that slide in & out of the rotor to make contact with the rotor housing. If a small air motor won't start it probably has some gunk in the slots not allowing the vanes to slide freely. I've found that the little finger safety gadget can fall off with a little persuasion. Some larger air motors are piston units, most often a radial design.

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by Sberry

It should work dandy. I agree about the mud, my place is clean and cool in comparison. You would love the Chief with the wire wheel on it.

I dont know...maybe I am a wee bit too demanding with the stuff I work with...I figure stuff should work as hard as I do all day long with no quibbles about it. The 4 inch air grinder I got seems to stall out with the least little bit of water in the line. I changed the filter drain thing in my manifold the other day and drain it regular and it dont seem to help this problem much. Last night I went to grind a small goober off and it wouldn't even start. So I drained the filter and dumped some air tool oil in the grinder and it blew a bunch of water and oil just about evrywhere...I was a mess which is nothin new Im a greaseball at work anyway. Well it started then and stopped and after spinning the wheel by hand (oh my safety violation!!!) it started up. Now the needle scaler dont do this much at all unless its below 30 degrees, thren I spray some WD40 in it and put a wee bit of air dry in the riser I made coming off the tank. Maybe bein as how there a gizmo that rotates inside the grinder it gets bound up easier whereas the needle scaler is nothing but a hammer. I dont know I never had an air grinder apart but Ive had my share of needle scalers apart and know them pretty well.

Another little snivel Ive got about the grinder is the damn little lever you have to move out the way to mash the handle to make the grinder go, yeah I know its a safety thing but its a pain in the butt Im not used to. Thinkin about removing it but then MSHA would have a damn fit over it.

Speakin of which...safety and grinders...I know this aint the place and it should be in the dangerous tool thread we got goin on in the safety forum. Ive used grinders for years and years and for most of those years I used to take that damn guard off and throw it away. After I got told about it 6 or 7 times I put it back on. But in all that time I have never given myself a manicure with a grinder or cut a finger or my hands. Ive had em smashed doin other dumb s$%t but never had an issue or accident with a grinder...until...the damn guard got wore and started spinning like a propellor and ripped my thumb apart. So watch that guard when it wears it can be just as bad as not having a guard

Re: Needle Scalers

I got the Chief brand from HF about a month ago, and it seems to be well made, and looks to be the same unit as the Pro Point pictured in the previous posts in this thread. It has hardened rods, and is adjustable on the force of scaling by which setting you put it on. I've used it several times, and no deforming of the rod tips so far.

Re: Needle Scalers

About a month ago I got the Chief needle scaler from HF...I've not done heavy usage with it yet, only a few times, but it seems to perform well, and looks to be about the same as the Pro Forme pictured in the posts previously in this thread. It does have hardened rods, and so far no deformity in the ends of those using them on steel. I like the adjustability of the unit, and it seems to be well made.

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by whtbaron

Yea.... When I went to college I partied all night every 2nd night for weeks... a schedule like that might kill me now...

LOL not me!


I’d fall asleep way before that happens.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by old miner called Pop

Ha!! Well thats good you found it, at least the guy put it away...somewhere. I do that sometimes with my own stuff....

Yea.... Grandpa memory. I spend a way too much time these days looking for the tool I just put down. I've driven a swather for 27 hrs straight but I can't imagine welding that long. It gets to the point that you are really happy when the rabbit runs out of the grain at the end of the field and you're just happy that you weren't seeing things. You can only run on coffee for so long and then you start to lose alertness. When I went to college I partied all night every 2nd night for weeks... a schedule like that might kill me now...

Re: Needle Scalers

I burn and gouge well also. I think its easier with big ole fat carbon than little ones. I rarely do it at home. mI had a unit, used it about twice, lost it in a fire and borrowed my neighbors,,, then one came up foir sale, got it and havnt used it since. I can work long hours too but that type of thing would be grueling after a couple weeks. A wheel on the air just rips it so clean.

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by 12V71

Forgot to update this. Bonehead put it in the wrong toolbox. I found it 4 days later.

Ha!! Well thats good you found it, at least the guy put it away...somewhere. I do that sometimes with my own stuff...it all gets put away and evrything has its place...but there is days when you are in a hurry to get out of the rain or you are just too damn tired to care and it gets put in the wrong box or wrong spot. Next day...where is that damn thing? I know I put it away. 20 minutes later..or maybe even the next day when you are lookin for somethin else you find it...but you dont need it just then so you put it back in its proper place and tell it to stay there

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by Sberry

It should work dandy. I agree about the mud, my place is clean and cool in comparison. You would love the Chief with the wire wheel on it.

I thought about getting another one for that purpose...I really dont use a grinder all that much but they do come in handy sometimes. he most I use a grinder for is cleaning the slag off of a piece of plate I cut or the groove in a crack I gouge out and that really isnt that often. I make a pretty clean cut usually all I need to do is hit it with a chippin hammer or a scraper and off it comes. The cracks I gouge out I do with the jet arc and the slag just blows away, hit it a good lick with the neeedle scaler and then blow it out with my air chuck, heat it up with the weed burner and go to town weldin. Nail the weld with the needle scaler, wire brush it with the hand held one and repeat til she is filled up and lookin pretty and then on to next disaster


The thing is the more stuff I get out of the truck during the course of the day its just that much more I got to put away.

I hate wrappin up to leave. I would be content to just stay there and keep goin but they only allow me to work so many hours a day 14 is usually the limit but there have been times Ive never left the job until 4 days later...seriously...some stuff breaks that bad and they want this stuff up and goin as soon as possible and I stay and get it done. One Friday morning over in Locust Gap Slim the lead maintenance guy told me there is a crack in the lip of the Demag bucket can you fix it this afternoon? Sure I said..so I get to this thing and gouge out the crack and start preheating this thing...while I am preheating it I see another crack...and another crack..and another crack...til I get done lookin at this thing there is 7 cracks... evry one of them alongside the tooth bases and right through to the underside. I call Slim and tell him you have a big problem here. He comes over to look at it and makes a few phone calls. 10 minutes later he says fix it right whatever it takes get it goin as fast as possible. So we get 2 heavy pieces of c channel and weld em on the sides to prop the bucket up with the teeth pointed down and I get to work He stayed there that whole weekend with me kept me in coffee food fuel...went up to our shop and got me more wire rods and whatever else I needed and Joe asks him should I send another guy out there...Slim says no...I want this guy to do it that way I know it aint comin back apart. 430 am Monday morning it was done. 4 years later that bucket still diggin away at some of the nastiest damn rock you will find


They know when I do it its gonna stay together and be done right. Those jobs they keep me in coffee fuel and sometimes food. My wife aint happy when I do that but she knew when we got together what I was all about and accepted it,,,her dad and my dad were the same way so she understands it.

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by 12V71

Lost my good CP scaler last week... I think it's riding around in the kingpin box on a hay trailer. My guy got in a hurry to finish the deck work and forgot to check for tools.

Forgot to update this. Bonehead put it in the wrong toolbox. I found it 4 days later.

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by old miner called Pop

I saw some at the NAPA store today...I didnt know they sell them but they do at that one...I didnt get any so I dont know the price

Checking online, it doesn't look like they handle them on the Cdn. side... just gasket scrapers.

Re: Needle Scalers

It should work dandy. I agree about the mud, my place is clean and cool in comparison. You would love the Chief with the wire wheel on it.

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by Sberry

Pop, you are somewhat ahead of the curve. You found an economical rugged tool, works as good as any and dont need a payment plan for it. That is a spot is so hard to do a good job and it means everything. Prolly like the bird big ole torch cut groove welds done plenty hot with some thick tuff slag. Chisels and chippers have their place and in my case this is something I can live with 1 of, its incidental, can and will use it, set of needles would last my career and I do have a set for mine, still on originals.
I elude to this a bit in regards to tools when it comes to some advice.
We can read about hundred different brands and models, this is generic and a guy can figure that out if he wants but, while I dont build draglines with Pop can and have done similar work and tell this. A part timer, even general shop not including heavy fab but general even maint like most of us dont need to worry about the second set of needles, cannot simply have enough heavy hard work for it. Can tell from using over a long career, supervising use of Joe Hometime,,, and certainly Veg absoilutely can skip the needle repacement concern, cannot and never will wear them to the nubs.
Little like the 4 1/2 grinder in my case. We took some out and put one we kind of liked and could live with on the bench where the frequency was hi from several men, used daily, some hard, most modest and simply 1000s of cycles and can say like it as good or better, at least as good for our use as anything we ever tried.
I am a point aint looking for a lot of new but with some of the staples like the scaler where it applies I find that after a while a guy gets what it fits and less to do with the ultimate quality as it is the convenience and the practicality. This applies to a lot but looked at a good logo from someone knew what they were doing and it simply had a paint brush and said, Danner painting.
There are some things fine for hobby,,, I get all that and can spend but in the real world tell me at this point to tool up to do X work and I going to be simpler and less picky than I might have been a ffew decades earlier and require a little less top end. What has been proven beyond a doubt was the generic econo versions of most of this stuff has paid multiples, got some generic 1 wrenches have earned 100 times the cost of my snaps.

All I know is whats been workin well for me...like grinders...for some reason Im pure living hell on electric grinders...I always was...I dont think I personally abuse them by pushing to hard on them, what i think it is is the environment I work in...dust dirt mud rain snow...I blow these things out with an air chuck evry couple days but it dont seem to make any difference...so I got this 4 inch Chief air grinder from Harbor Freight...I used air grinders in the shipyards and what i was told some of them were as old as I am and they never had trouble with some of them...somethin to be said for that...anyone who has ever worked in a shipyard knows that evrything there takes a beating....Ill see what happens with this

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by old miner called Pop

They are at the one I go to, they dont have them on the shelf a lot though, I think whenever somone sees them they buy em all up, I ve only been able to get them there twice and I always got the only set they had.

I saw some at the NAPA store today...I didnt know they sell them but they do at that one...I didnt get any so I dont know the price

Re: Needle Scalers

Pop, you are somewhat ahead of the curve. You found an economical rugged tool, works as good as any and dont need a payment plan for it. That is a spot is so hard to do a good job and it means everything. Prolly like the bird big ole torch cut groove welds done plenty hot with some thick tuff slag. Chisels and chippers have their place and in my case this is something I can live with 1 of, its incidental, can and will use it, set of needles would last my career and I do have a set for mine, still on originals.
I elude to this a bit in regards to tools when it comes to some advice.
We can read about hundred different brands and models, this is generic and a guy can figure that out if he wants but, while I dont build draglines with Pop can and have done similar work and tell this. A part timer, even general shop not including heavy fab but general even maint like most of us dont need to worry about the second set of needles, cannot simply have enough heavy hard work for it. Can tell from using over a long career, supervising use of Joe Hometime,,, and certainly Veg absoilutely can skip the needle repacement concern, cannot and never will wear them to the nubs.
Little like the 4 1/2 grinder in my case. We took some out and put one we kind of liked and could live with on the bench where the frequency was hi from several men, used daily, some hard, most modest and simply 1000s of cycles and can say like it as good or better, at least as good for our use as anything we ever tried.
I am a point aint looking for a lot of new but with some of the staples like the scaler where it applies I find that after a while a guy gets what it fits and less to do with the ultimate quality as it is the convenience and the practicality. This applies to a lot but looked at a good logo from someone knew what they were doing and it simply had a paint brush and said, Danner painting.
There are some things fine for hobby,,, I get all that and can spend but in the real world tell me at this point to tool up to do X work and I going to be simpler and less picky than I might have been a ffew decades earlier and require a little less top end. What has been proven beyond a doubt was the generic econo versions of most of this stuff has paid multiples, got some generic 1 wrenches have earned 100 times the cost of my snaps.

Re: Needle Scalers

Originally Posted by whtbaron

Are the replacement needles a regular shelf item at HF? I don't see any parts listed in the PA catalogue.

They are at the one I go to, they dont have them on the shelf a lot though, I think whenever somone sees them they buy em all up, I ve only been able to get them there twice and I always got the only set they had.