Amazon vs Ebay

I've been toying with buying an Epson LCD projector for awhile now--specifically the Epson EX7210.  I've read all the reviews at Amazon and CNET, but I've been wondering whether I should buy it through Amazon, or Ebay.

Frankly, I haven't used Ebay for a long time, as it seems to be a haven for scammers, but I don't really have any other guarantee that Amazon is scam-free either--the only thing they've got going for them is that you can buy directly from them and cut out the possible middle men or scammers.

Bottom line is that Amazon makes me feel a lot safer to buy from than Ebay nowadays.

Why have an emergency spill response plan?

I was walking around or facility the other day, and I was amazed by the amount of leaky oil drums.  They all had those spill containment pallet things, but they still leak--I didn't realize how leaky they were, I guess.  Because I like to review things, I asked a passing maintenance guy about whether they liked those pallets, or would rather fix the drum.  He said, whether they fix the drum or not, they have to have the pallet--because of their plan for emergency spill response.

As I am not actually in a place where I have to know what the heck that is, I asked him what it is.   He said it's from OSHA, so I looked it up.  Actually, it is within the OSHA 1910 parameters, and it pertains to each industrial facility having some kind of emergency containment contingency plan in case of spills.  And, in most cases, the ony way to contain multiple drums of oil is to keep them inside a plastic pallet with some kind of high berm.

Fishbone Diagram Template

Don't know whether anyone can use something like this, but I've posted my concept of an Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram Template--for whatever you need it for.

It's a "Cause and Effect" Diagram, and you can use it to determine what is causing problems, be it people, machinery, methods, measurements, environment/milieu or material related.  I drew this just to be silly -- the fishbone certainly doesn't HAVE to look like a fish to be effective.  Credit goes to Kaoru Ishikawa for his ingenius metaphor.  You could probably even use it in your house, but it was developed more for industrial purposes.

Top 3 Best Industrial Supply Companies

I purchase safety supplies once every couple of weeks, and I have to find dependable companies that will get their industrial grade gear to me in a timely manner, and I decided that I wanted to review some industrial supply websites this week.

I have dealt with quite a few of these types of companies, but these 3 companies have given me good products, customer service, prices, and fast delivery:

Grainger.com -- this company is well established and will provide some of the best products you can find.  I find their local sales guy to be a bit pushy,but the company as a whole is top-notch.  I usually get bolts, tools, and other gear from them.

CreativeSafetySupply.com -- This company is an online safety supply company, and I get my floor tape and industrial label printers (and supplies) from them because they are fast and their prices were the best around.  I called them to order our thermal printer, and both guys I talked to were knowledgeable and helpful.

Airgas.com -- This company is where I get my welding supplies, and they have a local store where I can take my bottle of argon for my mig setup.

I also use other companies, and Amazon, too, but I prefer to use the companies above for those specific items.

TOAST KAIZEN Video Review (Page 2)

Personally, I liked Hamilton's approach--he shows us in REAL-WORLD terms how to identify waste.  He makes it very clear, and he is a normal-looking guy with a confidence of his material.  He shows us that making anything can be related back to a simpler job everyone has done, like making a piece of toast for breakfast.  He breaks it all down on what he did that produced inefficiency, how he could speed up time, reduce product waste, and reduce wasteful movements.  I will now do some more study on it and how it can relate to an office worker like myself.

I liked it.  We both looked at each other (the engineer guy who I will keep anonymous), and sort of went "Wow!  Why don't they make OTHER videos that simple?"

Truth be told, they do--one of them is called "5S Garage ."

So, long and the short of it--I liked it and recommend it for beginning lean training and kaizen training videos.

BACK to Page 1

Hobart 225 vs Hobart 140 Welder Review (part 2)

(Continued from page 1)



The Hobart, on the other hand, is a wirefeed arc welder (much like a mig welder) runs on 110/120Volt, and is seriously underpoweredfor doing anything over 1/8" steel.  On the other hand, it is handier to take places and work in the field and there is WAY less of a learning curve.

Lincoln 225 Welder vs. Hobart Handler 140 Welder Comparison Review

I'm going to try my hand at doing a welder comparison review:

I'll be pitting the Lincoln 225 Welder vs the Hobart Handler 140 Welder.

Why those two?  Well, because they're the ones I have at hand.  One is my own, and the other is at my job, so I think I can be slightly unbiased.

I have the lincoln 225 arc welder "tombstone" at home.  It is a great arc welder, but it's different from the hobart.  It's a traditional stick arc welder, and it runs on 220/225V power, so you might need to buy a dryer adapter to hook it up at your house.  Most shops have a line hooked up for 220, so that shouldn't be a problem in a workshop.

I like it a lot, and it can weld the crap out of most anything I throw at it.  I had to learn how to weld with stick, as you must get the hang of striking the arc without sticking it to the work and burning out the entire electrode like a sparkler.

Continue to page 2 of welder review