So, I made an order at Harbor Freight to get in on the Labor Day sale, and I used the main sale coupon to get 20% off the already absurd price on their Chinese knock-off ‘Porta-Band’ (Portable Band Saw), getting it for a mere $65.  I was going to get their horizontal band saw, but that would’ve been all my money, plus I found out that it wasn’t even on sale.  Then I saw the Porta-Band.  At any rate, I needed one or the other to cut stock into manageable pieces.  Especially cutting down round rod for the lathe.

I’ve only made a few test cuts with it, I’m ordering some more suitable bi-metal anti-vibration variable pitch blades from McMaster, and then I’ll probably be able to really review it next week or the week after.

I also bought their 1500-watt dual-temp heat gun, because I was really getting tired of having to lug around my SMD reflow soldering hot-air workstation just to shrink-tube something! It was 30% off at $10.

I ordered an air compressor, something I’ve desperately needed for YEARS, and it was 20% off, bringing it down to just $104…  But for some reason, they dropped it from my order and refunded the money.  It wasn’t out of stock or anything.  So now I have a compressor accessory set, an air filter, an airbrush hose…and no goddamned compressor!  What’s more, if I were to re-order it, I wouldn’t get the $25 off… I’m going to have words with them about that, but for the time being, I said screw it and decided that the $100 could be put into materials for projects in the meantime.

I found these great ear plugs at Amazon.  I’ll review them after they get a bit of use!