Norseman Drill company is made in Minnesota, another great company that is doing their best to keep jobs in America. They have a huge line of product, but all we really carry are the 175-AG style bit. These bits are their top of the line “super premium” bit. The reason we carry this one is that it has 3 flats on the shaft. Most of us use drills that have quick chucks, and the flats are great for hand drills. The 135 degree split point also makes it a top quality bit. We have used these to drill stainless with no problem.
Author Archives: Brandon
Preventing Theft
Unfortunately in the world today, we have to lock our doors and be concerned about preventing theft. But, such is life. There are two products that exist to address this for contractors. It is surprising to me that both of them were created outside of Chicago. The first solution was created by American Lock Company, which has been purchased by Masterlock. Both use the hockey puck style locks, and there are distinct advantages and disadvantages. I will discuss both. First the original American Lock 800, this product can be used to secure swinging doors on a van. The Hockey puck lock is protected on all sides and is very secure. The second solution is the Slick Lock, this utilizes the locking mechanism on the door of the vehicle and works really well on new vehicles.
Since both systems utilize the hockey puck locks, I will discuss the other differences. The Slick Lock is great for new vehicles, you don’t have to drill any holes, and it works on sliding doors. This is really important, as the American lock doesn’t have a solution for sliders. The disadvantage of the slick lock is that on old vans they often won’t work, because the hinges are sagging or the doors are a bit out of alignment. Now, that being said the other necessity for the slick lock is the spinner, this is so someone can’t take a 48″ pipe wrench and grab the hockey puck lock twist it off.
So the advantage of the American lock 800 is that it is very secure and it can be installed on older vehicles as long as the doors close. The disadvantage is that you have to drill six holes in your vehicle. That equals rust in Wisconsin. We use stainless hardware when we install it, and caulk it, but sooner or later it will rust.
The other two necessities are the covers which keep snow, ice, salt, etc. out of the hockey puck lock itself. The Reda Guard, was also invented in Illinois, it works with the American Lock 800. Slick Lock has their own cover, because the Reda Guard doesn’t work with the spinners.
Securing Vehicle Loads
Anyone who hauls equipment on your vehicle knows how important it is to keep it secure. We have a few different products that make it easy securing vehicle loads. We don’t recommend using bungee cords. Being in Milwaukee Wisconsin, we have a lot of cold weather, and actually I know a person whose bungee cord snapped and he got hooked in the cheek just like a fish. So, the two products we recommend are the buckle tie down straps, and the Rack-Strap. The Buckle Tie down straps are available in different sizes and are significantly less money. They are imported, so they are cheap but effective. The best way for securing equipment or products to a truck or van rack is clearly the Rack-Strap. This product is made in Oregon, it can be bolted or welded to your rack, and has different models for different types of racks. We have two pair of rack-straps mounted on our vehicles. The other reason that the rack straps are great is because they are always there.
Werner Fall Protection Full Body Harness
Werner has three basic types of fastening systems on there Full Body Harnesses. Parachute, Quick connect, and Tongue Buckle. Everything they manufacture has 5 point adjustment. We would not recommend 3 point adjustment on a harness due to circulation issues if a fall does occur.
The parachute or pass-through style is the least expensive and comes on the harnesses that are generally less than $50.
You will find it in the roofers kits, and any price point product. Again, beware of three point adjustment.
This is the worst type of fastening system. It constantly is loosening up, and creates a situation where the worker is not “fitted” properly and can be fined by OSHA.
The Quick connect is the most expensive version available, this was created to make it quick to disconnect with your gloves on.
There are certain scenarios that this may be necessary.
Generally though, this buckle is harder to adjust for comfort and is similar to the parachute buckle in the loosening up part.
The Tongue Buckle, is the middle of the road in price. But it is far and away the best type of fastening system. There are two reasons: first is that it is a fixed in place, it will not loosen up on you. The second is that it is very easy to adjust.
Here are some harnesses made by Werner Ladder.
Roof Hooks
There are three different roof hooks that we carry. Each one has some benefits, and some drawbacks. All three are made of steel.
The basic is made by Werner Ladder, it is the 15-1 Steel Folding Roof Hook and is permanently installed on a ladder. The Werner 15-1 is spring loaded and pivots at 90 degrees, if you have a dedicated ladder to use this product might be great for you. But, it has points that tend to bite into the shingles, which often times is not desirable.
The second product is made by Tranzporter Roof Zone. It is made in China and is Zinc-plated. The Roof Zone 65005 is designed to attach to a ladder, but the manufacturer suggests that two are used.
The third and best product is made by Acro Roofing Products. Manufactured in the USA, Wisconsin to be specific, this product is the best choice. The Acro 11082 is designed to attach to a ladder and only one is needed.
Fall Protection
We sell Fall Protection. Harnesses, Lanyards, all that stuff. We have sold numerous brands, Miller, Elk River, DBI-Sala, Guardian, and now Werner. What differentiates them? Why should someone pick one over the other?
Honestly, most people never really NEED it, except for the poor unlucky soul who’s time has come. I personally only know one person who is alive because of his harness and rope grab, when a swing stage let go and dropped 10 feet while he was on the 12th story.
Now, that being said, do you really NEED flood insurance? How often does that baby seat really get used? Not very often, and hopefully never, but the one time you NEED it . . . it needs to function properly.
So, what does that mean? “Function Properly” could mean it prevents you from falling to your death. But, if you are in a situation that you cannot be rescued within 10 minutes your body can go into “orthostatic intolerance” or “suspension trauma”. This means that your harness is killing you by cutting of blood flow. If you are wearing a poorly designed harness your femoral arteries can be pinched and you could go into cardiac arrest before you are rescued.
With this in mind, we first recommended the suspension trauma safety strap. This allowed a worker to stand in a loop attached to the harness to relieve the pressure applied to their legs. BUT, this didn’t address the real problem. The real problem is that most harnesses are designed poorly. If a harness was designed so the worker could be suspended and not risk cutting off blood flow you would have a solution.
This is why we have chosen to go with Werner Ladders’ new fall protection line. It is designed with a 5 point adjustment system, and the sub-pelvic strap is stitched in a different way than all of the other harnesses on the market. This is designed so that after a fall, there is enough room in the sub-pelvic strap, that the worker can actually pull themselves to a sitting position. This design was made possible after bringing in some super people who started their business in the rigging of stuntmen in Hollywood productions.