Does tool selection compound the complexity of the job?

[toolaholic]

Redwood stairs to our hot tub had a section on the riser rotted out and rot on the treads around the screw holes. I fabricated a new riser section from cedar. I planed The 2x6 treads w/ a delta planer to 1x6s. 1x6 cedar was glued to the 1x6 redwood to make 2x6 treads. I used redwood solid stain do it's hard to see 2 differant woods used. Would have been less time just replacing treads. But I saved by using 1x6 instead if 2x6 for repair.

 

[Trey T]

OP: sure it can make things complicated. I preach about optimization of tool-set, which you have enough tools to get things done. I mentioned this several times on here but ppl just giggles.

It takes experience to be able to optimize your tool count/set

 

[sberry]

My ideal mechanic comes with a couple years of field service/installation experience to be well rounded. There is a time and place for it all but as my MIL commented one day during a demo job,,, I had no idea one pair of pliers could do so many things.

 

[joel63]

I was in the middle of a job today, and started wondering whether the fact that I have certain tools at my disposal makes a simple job become far more involved.

My wheelbarrow had a flat tire Saturday. Instead of fixing it, I rummaged around and found a small tractor front wheel/tire that would work . . . . with some modifications. The axle bore was larger than my wheelbarrow axle, so I found a piece of tubing that fit the bore, but was too small on the i.d. to fit the axle. I chucked the tube in the lathe and used a long drill bit to increase the i.d. to fit the axle, then chucked the axle and polished it a bit with some emery cloth, then fit it all together. It needed some side spacers to center the wheel on the axle, so I fabbed up a couple from some pvc pipe.

Two hours later, the wheelbarrow was back in service, and I finished the job I was doing.

Today. I was straightening up in the shop, and that flat tire/wheel from the wheelbarrow was on the bench. I decided to break it down and find the leak. Once I got the tire off the rim, I saw that it was a case of rusty rim due to water in the tire. I used an abrasive pad to scrub the tire bead clean, and set it aside. Then, I cleaned up the rim, taped up the bearing/axle openings and popped it into the blast cabinet, where I spent 40 minutes completely stripping it to bare metal inside and out, eliminating all trace of rust.
Now, I will have to prime and paint the rim, install a new valve stem (tubeless), and re-mount the tire.
Counting the Saturday wheel swap and axle-spacer machining time, today's tire and wheel cleaning, and tomorrow's prime & paint, then the re-mount and swap of the wheel back onto the wheelbarrow, I'll probably be into this at right about six hours.

Thinking about it while I was bead blasting that rim today, I realized that in different circumstances, when the tire went flat Saturday, I would have simply laid the wheelbarrow upside down, pushed the beads in, smeared a bit of silicone around the beads, and aired up the tire. Maybe ten minutes, tops, for basically the same result, a working wheelbarrow.

How often do you find yourself working longer and harder for a "fix" simply because you have the tools and capability to do so?

If you were satisfied and happy with the results, that's all that matters as I see it.