The WRONG Tool For The Job

[m6z]

I was using the wrong tool because I didn't have the right tool. That's the reason I'm here. It's also the reason why my tool box is practically full now.

 

[Bogie1632]

Using sockets, chrome and/or impact, on hydraulic presses to ya know...remove or install things. Shops were always too cheap to buy what we needed for it to just sit around for years.

Used pipe wrenches plenty of times on oversized fasteners on heavy equipment. Usually because it was at hand and the correct wrench or sockets wasn't. Also used them a few times on hydraulic fasteners to hold one end of a union.

V/R
Bogie

 

[harley jim]

you too?....misery loves company

Ditto.
They will schedule an auction for the week after the funeral.

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

 

[Hammer1963]

Used a pry bar to separate the windscreen wipers from their spindle. Thought id lever it off using the windscreen as the fulcrum. What an idiot I am. Broken windscreen. EDIT; One of those complete brain fart moments.

Should have took the time and went and bought the £5 separator.

I wish that I could say that I have not done the exact same thing, but yeah I've done it too

 

[Hammer1963]

Using Torx bits for hex head cap screws when correct bit is 10 feet away

 

[4 FN 27]

While I always try and use the correct tool for a given job there was a day when my BIL and I would challenge each other.

I handed him a 5 lb Mal, a Floor Jack and Jack Stand and his challenge was to remove the passenger side door from a 1980 Oldsmobile.

He took said challenge and an hour later it was off.

 

[toddmorr]

kitchen knife for a screwdriver...

yeah i've done that, really annoys my wife.

excellent thread btw

 

[engineer2]

I got flamed here in the early days for using a wood chisel as a pry bar until I noted it was a cheap HF model and no decent brand was harmed.

I've used sockets to press out bearings. (not uncommon)

Any nearby tool as a hammer.

Bench vise as a mini-press or metal bending tool.

Sacrificing an old miter saw blade to cut aluminum.

Wife's dishwasher as a parts cleaner (when she's not home of course)

 

[dogdog]

dependents on the task at hand and the tools at hand.. if it is something for the home, non-critical... no biggie, anything goes, the world is your oyster.. but if it is something like an aircraft where there is no second chance ..yup right tool for the right job in those scenario.. ...

 

[Minnesota Steve]

I just want to say, in a pinch under certain conditions... the claw of a hammer can be utilized as a wrench.

 

[Blt2Lst]

Using a Phillips screwdriver on a JIS screw.

Guilty as charged...

 

[redmondjp]

Guilty as charged...

I think that most have done this and not even known it! I didn't even know that JIS screws even existed until a friend who works a lot on Japanese cars and motorcycles told me about them.

 

[mbshop]

My brain.

 

[damon18]

Guilty as charged...

I just want to say, in a pinch under certain conditions... the claw of a hammer can be utilized as a wrench.

OK, now there is one I haven't tried!


Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[damon18]

I think that most have done this and not even known it! I didn't even know that JIS screws even existed until a friend who works a lot on Japanese cars and motorcycles told me about them.

I'm with you, probably just cussed the Phillip's screwdriver for not holding.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Blind1]

Our shark vacuum failed after a single month of ownership. We received the replacement parts (essentially an entirely new unit) but I couldn’t get one of the hose clips off the old unit and I couldn’t reach the tab to release it with any tool I could come up with.

So I cut the whole top of the handle off with a sawzall to get the leverage and correct angle to get a hook under the latch.

So maybe it was the right tool after all.

 

[itstippy]

Tools were scarce as a kid. If you had a big nut to get off and no big socket that fit and couldn't get at it with a pipe wrench you'd bang it loose counter-clockwise with a cold chisel and a hammer. Re-install the same way, going clockwise. Big nuts that were removed/reinstalled multiple times developed nice notches facing both ways - made removal & reinstall a piece of cake!

 

[PelicanPines]

My brain.

OMG I've done that one.

 

[BFBOB]

Using Torx bits for hex head cap screws when correct bit is 10 feet away

no-- but when the correct bit is 10 MILES away (or in one case 100 miles) ...
uh, ... mea culpa

 

[BFBOB]

I guess lineman's pliers are OK to use as a hammer, but it still drives me nuts to see electricians on home improvement shows use one to hammer NM staples.

Not me, ... because the place I mostly have to hammer staples is all framed in oak... 100 year OLD oak. Sometimes I drill pilot holes for the staples.

 

[DGersic]

At home, not so much, and nothing surprising.

But, we own a beach cottage that’s 900 miles away. It has almost no storage space, just one of those outdoor plastic storage boxes. And we rent it out. So we can’t have anything nice, it’d be destroyed or stolen.

When working on anything there, it’s usually not having the right tools for the job. Part of the challenge is getting the job done with the wrong tools.

Here’s an example from 2017. Under the kitchen sink was ugly.



We store a dishpan and some cleaners under here. People spill stuff, nobody cleans it up.

I cut this cover from treated plywood.



With one of those 16” long tool bag handsaws on the long cuts. To square up the inside corners, I used a utility knife and a hammer as an impromptu chisel. The cover was then wrapped with some plastic sheet I found at the hardware store, also cut with the utility knife (new blade).



After. It’s waterproof, weather proof, and easy to clean.

At home, I’d have gotten out two or three saws (table, band), and had nicer cuts that nobody will ever see or care about. I’d have used my air stapler instead of the tiny and cheap hand stapler. I’d probably have found ways to make it nicer, or closer fitting, and used more and nicer tools. But it works for what it needs to do.

The rest of the plywood was used to make this top hat shaped cover that protects the pvc pipe that is buried along the back of the house, but pops up here at the corner and runs above ground to the street.



The bottom half of this is buried to keep it in place, and beach chairs and stuff get tossed in this corner for storage.



Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[skruft]

In the past, I guess a common one would be using a badly worn screwdriver that chewed up the screw heads, or using a screwdriver to open paint cans.

 

[matt_i]

I had this beginner's lathe and I was a beginner. I was quite fearful of parting-off because the parting blade would sometimes catch in the cut and either snap off the tip or bend the workpiece if it was small diameter. I didn't know what was wrong at the time and it made me sweat thinking about it...so I would create a shallow groove longer than needed, break out a hacksaw, and with the lathe running, basically saw off the piece (the rotation does most of the work) and face it to length. Jack leg for sure.

The issue was the cross-slide leadscrew was worn out. I'm talking to the point where the Acme thread crests were needle sharp vees in the center of the travel. Replacing those the screw & nut made a light year of difference. In original condition, the parting blade would remove all of the backlash in a millisecond and the depth of cut increased probably close to 1/16" which overloaded everything....

 

[egnorant]

I used a chisel for scraping gaskets! I got away with it but the possibility of serious gouging makes me cringe.

As a youngling, my father tasked me with clearing brush and his tools of choice were a hatchet and some loppers. Worked but was really slow so I used a 3 cylinder Pinto with a truck bumper on the back that we (2 brothers) welded a sharpened blade onto about 4 inches off the ground. We then proceeded to back this device around the woods while quite successfully taking out brush, small trees and even some larger trees with repeated application. Had to pull it out a few times with the truck but overall was a hoot.

Bruce

 

[MushCreek]

I've always (and still do) use beat up screwdrivers for paint lids. I was over 60 before I owned the correct tool (they give 'em out for free with the paint), but of course, I usually can't find it.

 

[volvosrock]

I'm going to patent a lithium battery pack with a striking edge, for those times you need a power tool and a hammer

Lol.....guilty as charged.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[JiminAZ]

This thread brought to mind a vestige of my childhood. My Dad habitually used kitchen knives as a screwdriver. He also would frequently do work on switches or outlets hot.

Of course he combined the two and blew a literal hole through the thinner portion of one of the family steak knives about halfway down the edge. It was maybe 3/16 diameter, but the knife was still usable and remained in family service for years.

Wish I had a picture. Been thinking about him a lot as he passed this year.

 

[Bogie1632]

PPE and cheater pipes counts as a tools, yes? I stupidly wore glass eyeglasses for a quick assist and came close to losing my eye site.

Forgot where I had put this picture. Used it for a few years during safety meetings on proper use and need for PPE. Years ago I was on my way out of the shop to a training appointment and one of my Airman trainees asked for a hand getting a drain plug out of an aircraft tug. He had a 2 foot breaker bar on it but it wouldn't budge. Told him to use a cheater pipe but he looked at me confused. I grabbed a short one that was about 2x the diameter it should have been and slid under to give it a go. The plug broke free very easily with the additional leverage...but I still put all I had behind it. When the plug popped free the cheater pipe came off the bar and I managed to smack my GLASS eyeglasses with the pipe. As you can see in the pic I blew the center of the glass lense out.

My only saving Grace for my stupidity was I'd closed my eyes when I pulled. I felt the glass hit my eyelid but no blood. Still got a trip to the base clinic for them to make sure no glass got got in anywhere. I deservingly got all sorts of **** from my co-workers and ended up as my flights assistant safety NCO.

Needless to say, I always wear the correct PPE now.

V/R
Bogie

 

[Lucid Moments]

I think that most have done this and not even known it! I didn't even know that JIS screws even existed until a friend who works a lot on Japanese cars and motorcycles told me about them.

I will be honest I just now learned that there is a difference. I can guarantee that I don't own a single JIS screwdriver and I have worked on plenty of Hondas.

 

[Parrothead]

Vise Grips - They’re a hammer, vise, puller, pry bar, screw remover, nail remover, wire cutter, metal shaper, clamp, bolt remover, compression hose clamp remover, bottle opener, wine opener (with screw put in the cork), clamp for holding parts when painting, pipe wrench, and staple remover. I’ve used them for all of those things over the years.

 

[Hytekrednek]

once, long ago, I used a hammer as a self defense weapon/tool. I made my big brother mad somehow and he was out to get me. While running from bro, I snagged a little hammer, the little hammers with 3 or 4 brass handled screwdrivers inside each other then attached to the head, once he caught me, I smacked him in the head with it. Yep, it worked.
Give me some slack, I was only 5 or so years old. My brother has passed on, but we were best buds and got along great. Sorry bro! I was scared of you at the time.

 

[damon18]

Recently found this knife that belonged to my Dad. Back in the 60-70's when he was in the Navy this was used for pretty much everything around the house.

Obviously it would be used as a screwdriver and hammer (isn't everything?) But I also remember using it to dig up weeds from sidewalk cracks and paint scraping. Hey moving all the time didn't allow for a lot of tools to be brought along.

Sent from my SM-G973U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Lucid Moments]

Recently found this knife that belonged to my Dad. Back in the 60-70's when he was in the Navy this was used for pretty much everything around the house.

Obviously it would be used as a screwdriver and hammer (isn't everything?) But I also remember using it to dig up weeds from sidewalk cracks and paint scraping. Hey moving all the time didn't allow for a lot of tools to be brought along.

Sent from my SM-G973U using The Garage Journal mobile app

That looks like a K Bar which used to be, and may still be, US Marine Corp issue and was famous for being used for lots of things.

 

[damon18]

That looks like a K Bar which used to be, and may still be, US Marine Corp issue and was famous for being used for lots of things.

The blade says Schrade-Walden N.Y. USA

No military markings but Dad joined the Navy in 1953 and he always called it a survival knife, but I don't know exactly when he got it.

 

[sberry]

I was doing demo, had a pair of number 9 side cutters. My MIL said, I never knew 1 tool could do so many things.

 

[redmondjp]

Not me, ... because the place I mostly have to hammer staples is all framed in oak... 100 year OLD oak. Sometimes I drill pilot holes for the staples.

OMG I can't even imagine! I have 70-year-old fir-framed buildings that I maintain and the romex staples just bounce off of them and that's a soft wood.

 

[Bogie1632]

Could have used a shovel...but...doubled up the fork tines on a JCB skid steer and it became a shovel. Way better than digging by hand. Transplanted 10 trees, including some 20 foot pines, today with it...and made a hell of a mess in the yard..

Doubt the manufacture would approve of prying trees and footballs out of the ground.

V/R
Bogie