Alternative Uses

[scbird94]

All tools are derived from the hammer, and can be used as such.

:

Does that mean i can use my new snap on tech wrench to pound ball joints out of control arms?

 

[Scout Driver]

Had the automatic transmission shift cable on my '78 Scout break when it was -20 degrees. Of course it broke when I was in "Drive" and was in a position where I had to back up. Took out the ****** access cover, shifter surround etc.. Hooked my Vise-Grip to the broken piece of cable to shift and get myself home.

Scott

 

[Eds_tls]

I use diagional cutters to clip my toe nails. Does that count?

Works great BTW

 

[truckdriver]

"-once saw someone wedge a screwdriver blade between the open end of a wrench and a nut to make a 1" wrench fit a 7/8" nut."

in a pinch a t-shirt layed across a bolt and an oversized socket forced on the bolt will keep the head of the bolt from rounding over.

I've used a penny,dime or nickel to take up the slack when we didn't have the correct wrench on the side of the road.

 

[diogenes]

I get real bad calluses on my heels. My wife's callus sanding thing is useless so I use a surform to remove them.

I use diagional cutters to clip my toe nails. Does that count?

Works great BTW

Damn. Here I thought I was a man and you guys are making me feel like a nancy. Damn.

 

[li0nhart123]

This afternoon I used My Shop-Vac to start the siphoning of my fuel tank.

...make sure you take out your vacuum filter as you are likely to **** in a small amount of gas which will stink for a while if it saturates the filter.

 

[Shadowdog500]

This afternoon I used My Shop-Vac to start the siphoning of my fuel tank.

...make sure you take out your vacuum filter as you are likely to **** in a small amount of gas which will stink for a while if it saturates the filter.

Woah. people have blown up from doing this. the sparks form the vacuum's motor and the gas fumes are not a good combo.

I've used a hammer as a thumb smasher, unfortunately it is always my thumb.

Chris

 

[00S4Boy]

Does that mean i can use my new snap on tech wrench to pound ball joints out of control arms?

Sure, how long is the warranty just do it right before it runs up and get a new one, never need to pay for calibrations.

 

[stewart]

hammer as a ratchet

thats good, very good!

 

[ihredo4]

I've used cutting torch in place of several tools, several times.

Case in point: turned the Acetylene up and the Oxygen down to get a nice long flame. Made short work of the wasp nest inside the piece of pipe. Never got stung once. They kind of looked cool to all inside the bulb of wax frozen in time.

 

[baucom]

I did this once....accidentally.....when I was younger and dumber

i used my truck as a dozer to knock down a garage.

 

[revkev6]

I've used a lincoln 110v mig welder as an ear hair trimmer.

I've used a busted up skid as a "sneaker/heal aerator"

my brother tried to use an old T-shirt as an exhaust hanger, directly beneath the gas tank of his 71 dart no less. We were driving through a shady part of town when some non english speakers pulled up next to us shouting out their window and pointing. took a minute or two to follow the pointing fingers to the trail of burning shirt behind us.

this same brother used a lighter on a dark night to check for a leak on a fuel pump.

I've used a driveshaft as both a pry bar and a tamping rod

my window scraper as a shovel when I decided the plowed 5' snowbank covering the available parking space near the door of the cute girls dorm room would not deter me from parking. got all four wheels of my cavelier off the ground on that one, and literally crawled under it to dig the snow out until the front wheels touched again.

A circular saw with an abrasive blade works extremely well to cut through plaster walls when you want to make a window between two rooms. It also makes it look like your house is on fire.....

I'm sure I've got lots of others if I think a minute.


another:

I've used aluminum tape to seal a saltwater fish tank that blew out a corner one night. sealed it right up til I got another tank ready.

 

[z28snksknr]

I've used an extension cord tied to the end of a broom handle to open my door (locked myself out). Reached in through the dog-door 5 feet away, got the extension cord around the inside knob, brought the end back to me so I could put tension on the cord, and opened the door.

I had an old '88 T-bird with the keypad entry in high school. I used to just lock my keys in the car and use the keypad to open it. Well, I learned how stupid that was when the battery died one day and I can't get in the car to open the hood. So, I crawled underneath the car, disconnected the fog light (I left on), and hooked up jumper cables to the leads, getting enough power to use the keypad to open the door.

 

[Brandon_Lutz]

A set of vice grips used as a steering wheel.

 

[speed bump]

I used my leatherman to pull my throttle cable after it broke one night.

I remember one night at work reading the daily safety briefing and it said "screwdrivers are not to be used as chisels", my boss looked up and said but those are usually the only chisels I can find.

 

[ukvauxtech]

I may have used snap on screwdrivers as prybars, punches or chisels..
keep that quiet though...

 

[commonut]

I used a baseball bat once to roll the lip on the rear guards of a mates BMW where it kept jagging on too wide tires

I see coat hangers as radio aerials get around from time to time. People especially like to bend them into a basic shape of Australia, that makes them slightly less dodgy!

 

[diogenes]

This afternoon I used My Shop-Vac to start the siphoning of my fuel tank.

...make sure you take out your vacuum filter as you are likely to **** in a small amount of gas which will stink for a while if it saturates the filter.

We had a lady try to use her Hoover to do that. Her old car had gas in it and the car she was using was out. She now needs a new vacuum, the old car suffered a sudden, and drastic, devaluation and she still needs gas for the car she's using.

On the up side, the firemen were laughing themselves silly when they heard what she had been trying to do.

 

[y20dth]

I know a machinist called Crazy Virgil who got pissed at at two customer and threw a big block chevy short block that they just unloaded back into the bed of their pickup truck so hard that it bounced up and smashed out the rear window of the cab. He said the two guys couldn't get out of there fast enough after that.

Chris

I'm seeing it happen right now !

LOL

 

[TAMPAGT07]

I used my whole body (several times) as a conductor of electricity. And it works very well, I might add.

 

[li0nhart123]

Not exactly tool related but I have heard that you can fix a mountain bike tire puncture by removing the tube and stuffing the tire with leaves, grass etc...to build up enough volume in it to support your weight and get yourself home.

 

[diogenes]

To channel Paul harvey: "Here's a strange..."

I have been having the devil of a time priming the oil pump on my wifes 96 Thunderbird after replacing the timing cover. After many different approaches, I finally bought a plumbing fitting with a ****** for a 1/4 inch hose and wrapped the threads with lots of Teflon tape. It fit snugly in the threaded hole just above the oil filter and I applied the business end of my shop vac to it with a generous application of duct tape, first to bring the hose down to a plastic tube, then a hose, then the nylon tubing that went to the ******.

I turned on the shop vac and then started the drill motor on the rod which I was using to turn the oil pump. Viola! Sudden and convincing oil pressure after DAYS of fiddling with the damn thing and getting nothing.

Your shop vac: Not just for dust bunnies anymore.

 

[crewchief888]

tire plugs used to patch a radiator hose.

i was out on a service call, far enough off road that i had no cell signal. my spuer duty was running a little warm, when i arrived at the jobsite, impopped the hood and afound a hole in the upper hose.

i went about repairing the machine i was there to work on, by then the engine had cooled down, i cleaned the hose withy brake cleaner, shoved a couple of hd plugs in the hole and wrapped the hose with electrical tape, and refilled the coolant.
it got me back to the shop, and never did leak !!!

 

[paramedic]

we got a live tree that wouldnt stand up straight for ****, so i fired up the chainsaw in the house and trimmed until it was straight, with my wife screaming obcenities for some reason. all said and done it was 3ft shorter and the wall side was completely gone. it looked liek horse **** but i fealt way better cause it won the first 2 hour battle then i dropped the nuke to win the war. oh yeh and wood chisels make great gasket scrapers when you lose yours.

 

[Bolster]

Back in my 1970s shop days, a 1/2 SO breaker bar HANDLE was highly valued because the handle was just the right size to enlarge the "unleaded" restrictor behind the gas cap. Then you could use leaded gas.

 

[mdbeck1]

Leaf blower to dry the wet tent out.
Set the tent up on the driveway with the door open a little bit. Insert the tip of the leaf blower and turn on. About 10-20 minutes later is is usually dry.

Piece of gas pipe for a cheater bar on my 3/8 ratchet.

Using a claw hammer to stretch fence.
Tie a loop in the barbed wire on each end.
Tie a double strand of bailing wire on one end and pass through the other loop.
Connect claws through the free end of the bailing wire and start turning the hammer on the barbed wire. The bailing wire wraps around the head end of the hammer and acts as a winch.

 

[mdbeck1]

Old VW Jack used as a porta power. It's small and can get inside doors to push the skin out.

 

[Scout Driver]

Back in my 1970s shop days, a 1/2 SO breaker bar HANDLE was highly valued because the handle was just the right size to enlarge the "unleaded" restrictor behind the gas cap. Then you could use leaded gas.

I remember Dad using a rubber ****** from a calf bottle as a reducer on the nozzle. Worked perfect for putting leaded gas in the pickup.

Scott

 

[MarcSeattle]

Using a 3 pound hammer as an engine tool on any American-made vehicle.

Oh wait, is that an alternate use or an intended use?

 

[MarcSeattle]

Originally Posted by Bolster
Back in my 1970s shop days, a 1/2 SO breaker bar HANDLE was highly valued because the handle was just the right size to enlarge the "unleaded" restrictor behind the gas cap. Then you could use leaded gas.

I remember Dad using a rubber ****** from a calf bottle as a reducer on the nozzle. Worked perfect for putting leaded gas in the pickup. Scott

We just machined reducer fittings for a standard nozzle and left one in the cab of each truck.

 

[sberry]

I got one, used a wire basket and a pressure washer to peel a bushel of potatoes.

 

[nate379]

Flat head screwdriver... I know everyone has a ton of them, but honestly when was the last time you actually used a flat head screw??

 

[crewchief888]

Flat head screwdriver... I know everyone has a ton of them, but honestly when was the last time you actually used a flat head screw??

every time i take something apart in my house it's got flat head screws in it.

my house was built in 1964, and had never been renovated or updated since it was built.

 

[larry_g]

I have one of those lawn vacuums that looks like a rotary mower. That thing is great for cleaning the shop floor and the deck. I have a fundamental problem with blowing dirt around in the shop, or sweeping waste out the door.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[sberry]

I have one of those lawn vacuums that looks like a rotary mower. That thing is great for cleaning the shop floor and the deck. I have a fundamental problem with blowing dirt around in the shop, or sweeping waste out the door.

lg
no neat sig line

Thats a great idea, I have a big dust issue, I take it they have one in Northern maybe?

 

[banditbigdog]

Used a small hyd. bottle jack to push a stuck torsion bar out of an S-10.
Wedged it up under the frame horizontally and pushed it right out.

Used a hypodermic needle to deflate an "overinflated" front axel CV boot.
Axle assy. / CV boot, joint came preassembled from AutoZone.

Did some stuff with my log splitter that I won't mention.
Lucky I didn’t get hurt.

Used ether to "inflate" new gamma goat tires.

Ran over tire / wheel assemblies with a deuce and a half to break the beads.

Used forklifts to destroy stuff.

 

[Scout Driver]

Flat head screwdriver... I know everyone has a ton of them, but honestly when was the last time you actually used a flat head screw??

Used one this morning working on an antique table

Scott

 

[tcianci]

I've done the leaf blower for the snow removal task, But once I saw a guy using a snow blower to clean up the leaves in his yard. The thing was chugging across the grass and spitting a pretty constant stream of leaves as it went!

Then there was my brother who tried to use his Dodge Omni as a real car!

 

[larry_g]

Thats a great idea, I have a big dust issue, I take it they have one in Northern maybe?

They may have one there, I have one that is similar to

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07177013000P?keyword=lawn+vacuum

That I have seen other places in different colors and brand names but essentially the same machine. I picked mine up used for $200. It also works great to **** up the leaves in the gravel driveway.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[R6 Racer]

Fixed a mountain bike tire with grass,1/2 a Tim Horton coffee cup & duct tape!
Used an 8mm & a 4mm alan key to tighten up a 12mm bolt on a mountain bike crank!
An air compressor makes a great motorcycle dryer!
Had a buddy way back when, & we made front & rear bumpers for his 4x4 pickup truck out of 2, 6'long pieces of train track! They were way cool!

Steve