need tool advice
in [Technical]
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From: Ad absurdum per aspera on 17 Dec 2009 23:31 > Another oddity here is a timing light. People hardly ever need timing > lights these days, but when you need one, you really really need one. > And it's something nobody else will give him. Dad gave me a Craftsman one maybe 30 years ago and I still use it, even though most of my cars these days have a computer that will take over the timing as soon as I remove the jumper. (I also count some inherited wrenches from the Diamond Calk Horseshoe Co. that are older than I am as being among my favorites.) Anyway, as others have alluded, (a) Craftsman is usually good enough for most purposes, and will certainly hold him until he develops personal tastes in tools and sources thereof; and (b) the art of shopping at Sears is to keep what you need in the back of your mind, know what it usually sells for, and wait for them to put it on a big sale. There are also certain Craftsman tools that are of interesting and useful outside-the-box design. You could do worse than the Crescent or Channellock homeowner set from the big-box stores, actually, for a kid just starting on a long road that never really ends. Even if the mainstream of what he buys, on and for the job, turns out to be a certain brand that a franchisee brings around on a truck, everything has its niche. I have some tools that have zero snob value -- a few aren't even objectively very good -- but which occasionally turn out to be the only thing that fits in some godforsaken snake burrow that constitutes maintenance access in the computer-addled imagination of some soft-handed clean-suited "engineer" (don't get me started!). Happy holidays, --Joe
From: Steve W. on 17 Dec 2009 23:55 Ad absurdum per aspera wrote: >> Another oddity here is a timing light. People hardly ever need timing >> lights these days, but when you need one, you really really need one. >> And it's something nobody else will give him. > > Dad gave me a Craftsman one maybe 30 years ago and I still use it, > even though most of my cars these days have a computer that will take > over the timing as soon as I remove the jumper. (I also count some > inherited wrenches from the Diamond Calk Horseshoe Co. that are older > than I am as being among my favorites.) > > Anyway, as others have alluded, (a) Craftsman is usually good enough > for most purposes, and will certainly hold him until he develops > personal tastes in tools and sources thereof; and (b) the art of > shopping at Sears is to keep what you need in the back of your mind, > know what it usually sells for, and wait for them to put it on a big > sale. There are also certain Craftsman tools that are of interesting > and useful outside-the-box design. > > You could do worse than the Crescent or Channellock homeowner set from > the big-box stores, actually, for a kid just starting on a long road > that never really ends. Even if the mainstream of what he buys, on > and for the job, turns out to be a certain brand that a franchisee > brings around on a truck, everything has its niche. I have some tools > that have zero snob value -- a few aren't even objectively very good > -- but which occasionally turn out to be the only thing that fits in > some godforsaken snake burrow that constitutes maintenance access in > the computer-addled imagination of some soft-handed clean-suited > "engineer" (don't get me started!). > > Happy holidays, > --Joe > You mean you have some of those ground down, bent with the hot wrench and cut off wrenches too??? How about that set of cheap sockets that you grab when you find a half rotted off nut/bolt head that NOTHING fits. You know, the ones you drive on with a BFH then throw the entire thing away.... -- Steve W.
From: cuhulin on 18 Dec 2009 00:24 I have an open end wrench I ground down a bunch of years ago, so I could make it fit into a tight spot.Another one, a box end wrench, I cut in half, I don't remember why.Needle nose pliers I heated up and bent the jaws into a right angle.I have quite a few times before had to beat a wrench with whatever was handy to make it fit on a bolt or net. Some Craftsman wrenches are manufactured at a factory in Arkansas,,, I Say that is Good enough for anybody. cuhulin
From: Tegger on 18 Dec 2009 07:28 "Steve W." <csr684(a)NOTyahoo.com> wrote in news:hgf1ue$h80$1(a)aioe.org: > Ad absurdum per aspera wrote: >> I have some tools >> that have zero snob value -- a few aren't even objectively very good >> -- but which occasionally turn out to be the only thing that fits in >> some godforsaken snake burrow that constitutes maintenance access in >> the computer-addled imagination of some soft-handed clean-suited >> "engineer" (don't get me started!). >> >> >> > > You mean you have some of those ground down, bent with the hot wrench > and cut off wrenches too??? Done exactly that myself. That was the only way, for instance, of adjusting the master cylinder pushrod on my Honda without pulling the entire booster. Plus I had to make my own suspension-spring compressor tool when I could not find a usable one on the market. (Remember that some generations of older Hondas did NOT have Macpherson strut suspensions!) > > How about that set of cheap sockets that you grab when you find a half > rotted off nut/bolt head that NOTHING fits. You know, the ones you drive > on with a BFH then throw the entire thing away.... Living in the Rust Belt, I've faced this problem more times than I can count, and have used the same solution! I've also had to use a Dremel to make a new hex on rusted bolts because they were /so/ rounded-off that nothing would even stay on them, let alone fit. -- Tegger
From: N8N on 18 Dec 2009 08:13
On Dec 17, 6:22 pm, Tegger <inva...(a)invalid.inv> wrote: > "Steve W." <csr...(a)NOTyahoo.com> wrote innews:hgebkg$kmb$1(a)aioe.org: > > > I only wish they made a self guided > > grabber... Just finding those dropped parts can kill some serious > > time!! ;-) > > > Personally I think there is a time portal that dropped parts fall > > into. Then they return to the current time a few hours later.... > > I do believe the "lost parts" (and small tools) thing has become worse > since automakers started installing plastic splash shields under the > engine. I just drop the shield, and lo! Oftentimes the lost item suddenly > enters current time. To be fair, this problem has been around for a long time... really since the introduction of OHV V-8s. Remember pulling the rocker shaft assemblies and having one pushrod stick to its rocker arm, and then before you can grab it it falls off and disappears down into the lifter valley, meaning that unless you can fish it out with a grabber you have to pull the intake manifold and valley pan? I do :( Turns a quick valve seal replacement into a run to the parts store and a couple hours' extra work (of course most of that is because if you remove the intake and valley pan, you *have* to clean and paint them before reinstalling...) nate |